The brain response interface: communication through visually-induced electrical brain responses

In recent years, neuroimaging studies of acupuncture have explored extensive aspects of brain responses to acupuncture in finding its underlying mechanisms. Most of these studies have been performed on healthy adults. Only a few studies have been performed on patients with diseases. Brain responses to acupuncture in patients with the same disease at different pathological stages have not been explored, although it may be more important and helpful in uncovering its underlying mechanisms. In the present study, we used fMRI to compare brain responses to acupuncture in patients with Bell’s palsy at different pathological stages with normal controls and found that the brain response to acupuncture varied at different pathological stages of Bell’s palsy. The brain response to acupuncture decreased in the early stages, increased in the later stages, and nearly returned to normal in the recovered group. All of the changes in the brain response to acupuncture could be explained as resulting from the changes in the brain functional status. Therefore, we proposed that the brain response to acupuncture is dependent on the brain functional status, while further investigation is needed to provide more evidence in support of this proposition.

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Children Processing Music: Electric Brain Responses Reveal Musical Competence and Gender Differences

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn.2003.15.5.683 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 15 (5) ◽

pp. 683-693 ◽

Cited By ~ 60

Author(s):

Stefan Koelsch ◽

Tobias Grossmann ◽

Thomas C. Gunter ◽

Anja Hahne ◽

Erich Schröger ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Cognitive Representation ◽

Brain Response ◽

Tonal Music ◽

Brain Potentials ◽

Music And Language ◽

Brain Responses ◽

Process Music ◽

And Gender ◽

The Brain

Numerous studies investigated physiological correlates of the processing of musical information in adults. How these correlates develop during childhood is poorly understood. In the present study, we measured event-related electric brain potentials elicited in 5and 9-year-old children while they listened to (major–minor tonal) music. Stimuli were chord sequences, infrequently containing harmonically inappropriate chords. Our results demonstrate that the degree of (in) appropriateness of the chords modified the brain responses in both groups according to music-theoretical principles. This suggests that already 5-year-old children process music according to a well-established cognitive representation of the major–minor tonal system and according to music-syntactic regularities. Moreover, we show that, in contrast to adults, an early negative brain response was left predominant in boys, whereas it was bilateral in girls, indicating a gender difference in children processing music, and revealing that children process music with a hemispheric weighting different from that of adults. Because children process, in contrast to adults, music in the same hemispheres as they process language, results indicate that children process music and language more similarly than adults. This finding might support the notion of a common origin of music and language in the human brain, and concurs with findings that demonstrate the importance of musical features of speech for the acquisition of language.

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Computation of Blast-Induced Traumatic Brain Injury

ASME 2009 Summer Bioengineering Conference, Parts A and B ◽

10.1115/sbc2009-204882 ◽

2009 ◽

Author(s):

M. S. Chafi ◽

G. Karami ◽

M. Ziejewski

Keyword(s):

Experimental Data ◽

Wave Propagation ◽

Blast Wave ◽

Human Head ◽

Propagation Model ◽

Head Model ◽

Brain Response ◽

Brain Responses ◽

The Impact ◽

The Brain

In this paper, an integrated numerical approach is introduced to determine the human brain responses when the head is exposed to blast explosions. The procedure is based on a 3D non-linear finite element method (FEM) that implements a simultaneous conduction of explosive detonation, shock wave propagation, and blast-brain interaction of the confronting human head. Due to the fact that there is no reported experimental data on blast-head interactions, several important checkpoints should be made before trusting the brain responses resulting from the blast modeling. These checkpoints include; a) a validated human head FEM subjected to impact loading; b) a validated air-free blast propagation model; and c) the verified blast waves-solid interactions. The simulations presented in this paper satisfy the above-mentioned requirements and checkpoints. The head model employed here has been validated again impact loadings. In this respect, Chafi et al. [1] have examined the head model against the brain intracranial pressure, and brain’s strains under different impact loadings of cadaveric experimental tests of Hardy et al. [2]. In another report, Chafi et al. [3] has examined the air-blast and blast-object simulations using Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) multi-material and Fluid-Solid Interaction (FSI) formulations. The predicted results of blast propagation matched very well with those of experimental data proving that this computational solid-fluid algorithm is able to accurately predict the blast wave propagation in the medium and the response of the structure to blast loading. Various aspects of blast wave propagations in air as well as when barriers such as solid walls are encountered have been studied. With the head model included, different scenarios have been assumed to capture an appropriate picture of the brain response at a constant stand-off distance of nearly 80cm (2.62 feet) from the explosion core. The impact of brain response due to severity of the blast under different amounts of the explosive material, TNT (0.0838, 0.205, and 0.5lb) is examined. The accuracy of the modeling can provide the information to design protection facilities for human head for the hostile environments.

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Commonality and Specificity of Acupuncture Action at Three Acupoints as Evidenced by fMRI

The American Journal of Chinese Medicine ◽

10.1142/s0192415x12500528 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 40 (04) ◽

pp. 695-712 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Joshua D. Claunch ◽

Suk-Tak Chan ◽

Erika E. Nixon ◽

Wei Qiao Qiu ◽

Tara Sporko ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hippocampal Formation ◽

Brain Network ◽

Manual Acupuncture ◽

Brain Response ◽

Medial Temporal Lobes ◽

Global Networks ◽

Temporal Lobes ◽

Brain Responses ◽

The Brain ◽

Subgenual Cingulate

Previous work from our team and others has shown that manual acupuncture at LI4 (hegu), ST36 (zusanli), and LV3 (taichong) deactivates a limbic-paralimbic-neocortical brain network, and at the same time activates somatosensory regions of the brain. The objective of the present study was to explore the specificity and commonality of the brain response to manual acupuncture at LI4, ST36, and LV3, acupoints that are located on different meridians and are used to treat pain disorders. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to monitor the brain responses to acupuncture at three different acupoints; we examined 46 healthy subjects who, according to their psychophysical responses, experienced deqi sensation during acupuncture. Brain responses to stimulation at each of the acupoints were displayed in conjunction with one another to show the spatial distribution. We found clusters of deactivation in the medial prefrontal, medial parietal and medial temporal lobes showing significant convergence of two or all three of the acupoints. The largest regions showing common responses to all three acupoints were the right subgenual BA25, right subgenual cingulate, right isthmus of the cingulum bundle, and right BA31. We also noted differences in major sections of the medial prefrontal and medial temporal lobes, with LI4 predominating in the pregenual cingulate and hippocampal formation, ST36 predominating in the subgenual cingulate, and LV3 predominating in the posterior hippocampus and posterior cingulate. The results suggest that although these acupoints are commonly used for anti-pain and modulatory effects, they may mobilize the same intrinsic global networks, with substantial overlap of common brain regions to mediate their actions. Our findings showing preferential response of certain limbic-paralimbic structures suggests acupoints may also exhibit relative specificity.

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Motor Intention Determines Sensory Attenuation of Brain Responses to Self-initiated Sounds

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn_a_00552 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 26 (7) ◽

pp. 1481-1489 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

Jana Timm ◽

Iria SanMiguel ◽

Julian Keil ◽

Erich Schröger ◽

Marc Schönwiesner

Keyword(s):

Motor Cortex ◽

Primary Motor Cortex ◽

Forward Model ◽

Movement Planning ◽

Brain Response ◽

Brain Responses ◽

Model Account ◽

Sensory Attenuation ◽

The Brain ◽

Movement Intention

One of the functions of the brain is to predict sensory consequences of our own actions. In auditory processing, self-initiated sounds evoke a smaller brain response than passive sound exposure of the same sound sequence. Previous work suggests that this response attenuation reflects a predictive mechanism to differentiate the sensory consequences of one's own actions from other sensory input, which seems to form the basis for the sense of agency (recognizing oneself as the agent of the movement). This study addresses the question whether attenuation of brain responses to self-initiated sounds can be explained by brain activity involved in movement planning rather than movement execution. We recorded ERPs in response to sounds initiated by button presses. In one condition, participants moved a finger to press the button voluntarily, whereas in another condition, we initiated a similar, but involuntary, finger movement by stimulating the corresponding region of the primary motor cortex with TMS. For involuntary movements, no movement intention (and no feeling of agency) could be formed; thus, no motor plans were available to the forward model. A portion of the brain response evoked by the sounds, the N1-P2 complex, was reduced in amplitude following voluntary, self-initiated movements, but not following movements initiated by motor cortex stimulation. Our findings demonstrate that movement intention and the corresponding feeling of agency determine sensory attenuation of brain responses to self-initiated sounds. The present results support the assumptions of a predictive internal forward model account operating before primary motor cortex activation.

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Consciousness

10.1093/oso/9780199674923.003.0037 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Anil K. Seth

Keyword(s):

Conscious Experience ◽

Real Problem ◽

Active Inference ◽

Biological Mechanisms ◽

Specific Content ◽

Brain Responses ◽

Biomimetic Approach ◽

Multiple Levels ◽

In Virtue Of ◽

The Brain

Consciousness is perhaps the most familiar aspect of our existence, yet we still do not know its biological basis. This chapter outlines a biomimetic approach to consciousness science, identifying three principles linking properties of conscious experience to potential biological mechanisms. First, conscious experiences generate large quantities of information in virtue of being simultaneously integrated and differentiated. Second, the brain continuously generates predictions about the world and self, which account for the specific content of conscious scenes. Third, the conscious self depends on active inference of self-related signals at multiple levels. Research following these principles helps move from establishing correlations between brain responses and consciousness towards explanations which account for phenomenological properties—addressing what can be called the “real problem” of consciousness. The picture that emerges is one in which consciousness, mind, and life, are tightly bound together—with implications for any possible future “conscious machines.”

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Conditional Entropy: A Potential Digital Marker for Stress

Entropy ◽

10.3390/e23030286 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 286

Author(s):

Soheil Keshmiri

Keyword(s):

Resting State ◽

Nearest Neighbor ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Solution Concept ◽

Conditional Entropy ◽

K Nearest Neighbor ◽

Brain Response ◽

Substantial Progress ◽

Eeg Recordings ◽

The Brain

Recent decades have witnessed a substantial progress in the utilization of brain activity for the identification of stress digital markers. In particular, the success of entropic measures for this purpose is very appealing, considering (1) their suitability for capturing both linear and non-linear characteristics of brain activity recordings and (2) their direct association with the brain signal variability. These findings rely on external stimuli to induce the brain stress response. On the other hand, research suggests that the use of different types of experimentally induced psychological and physical stressors could potentially yield differential impacts on the brain response to stress and therefore should be dissociated from more general patterns. The present study takes a step toward addressing this issue by introducing conditional entropy (CE) as a potential electroencephalography (EEG)-based resting-state digital marker of stress. For this purpose, we use the resting-state multi-channel EEG recordings of 20 individuals whose responses to stress-related questionnaires show significantly higher and lower level of stress. Through the application of representational similarity analysis (RSA) and K-nearest-neighbor (KNN) classification, we verify the potential that the use of CE can offer to the solution concept of finding an effective digital marker for stress.

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Predicting optimal deep brain stimulation parameters for Parkinson’s disease using functional MRI and machine learning

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-23311-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Alexandre Boutet ◽

Radhika Madhavan ◽

Gavin J. B. Elias ◽

Suresh E. Joel ◽

Robert Gramer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Machine Learning ◽

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Deep Brain Stimulation ◽

Brain Stimulation ◽

A Priori ◽

Brain Response ◽

Brain Responses ◽

Clinical Benefits ◽

Deep Brain

AbstractCommonly used for Parkinson’s disease (PD), deep brain stimulation (DBS) produces marked clinical benefits when optimized. However, assessing the large number of possible stimulation settings (i.e., programming) requires numerous clinic visits. Here, we examine whether functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can be used to predict optimal stimulation settings for individual patients. We analyze 3 T fMRI data prospectively acquired as part of an observational trial in 67 PD patients using optimal and non-optimal stimulation settings. Clinically optimal stimulation produces a characteristic fMRI brain response pattern marked by preferential engagement of the motor circuit. Then, we build a machine learning model predicting optimal vs. non-optimal settings using the fMRI patterns of 39 PD patients with a priori clinically optimized DBS (88% accuracy). The model predicts optimal stimulation settings in unseen datasets: a priori clinically optimized and stimulation-naïve PD patients. We propose that fMRI brain responses to DBS stimulation in PD patients could represent an objective biomarker of clinical response. Upon further validation with additional studies, these findings may open the door to functional imaging-assisted DBS programming.

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The Right Hemisphere Is Responsible for the Greatest Differences in Human Brain Response to High-Arousing Emotional versus Neutral Stimuli: A MEG Study

Brain Sciences ◽

10.3390/brainsci11080960 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (8) ◽

pp. 960

Author(s):

Mina Kheirkhah ◽

Philipp Baumbach ◽

Lutz Leistritz ◽

Otto W. Witte ◽

Martin Walter ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Human Brain ◽

Right Hemisphere ◽

Emotional Stimuli ◽

Brain Response ◽

Whole Brain ◽

Brain Responses ◽

Cortical Regions ◽

The Right ◽

Healthy Participants

Studies investigating human brain response to emotional stimuli—particularly high-arousing versus neutral stimuli—have obtained inconsistent results. The present study was the first to combine magnetoencephalography (MEG) with the bootstrapping method to examine the whole brain and identify the cortical regions involved in this differential response. Seventeen healthy participants (11 females, aged 19 to 33 years; mean age, 26.9 years) were presented with high-arousing emotional (pleasant and unpleasant) and neutral pictures, and their brain responses were measured using MEG. When random resampling bootstrapping was performed for each participant, the greatest differences between high-arousing emotional and neutral stimuli during M300 (270–320 ms) were found to occur in the right temporo-parietal region. This finding was observed in response to both pleasant and unpleasant stimuli. The results, which may be more robust than previous studies because of bootstrapping and examination of the whole brain, reinforce the essential role of the right hemisphere in emotion processing.

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