Neural correlates of durable memories across the adult lifespan: brain activity at encoding and retrieval

The nature of firefighters` duties requires them to work for long periods under unfavorable conditions. To perform their jobs effectively, they are required to endure long hours of extensive, stressful training. Creating such training environments is very expensive and it is difficult to guarantee trainees’ safety. In this study, firefighters are trained in a virtual environment that includes virtual perturbations such as fires, alarms, and smoke. The objective of this paper is to use machine learning methods to discern encoding and retrieval states in firefighters during a visuospatial episodic memory task and explore which regions of the brain provide suitable signals to solve this classification problem. Our results show that the Random Forest algorithm could be used to distinguish between information encoding and retrieval using features extracted from fNIRS data. Our algorithm achieved an F-1 score of 0.844 and an accuracy of 79.10% if the training and testing data are obtained at similar environmental conditions. However, the algorithm’s performance dropped to an F-1 score of 0.723 and accuracy of 60.61% when evaluated on data collected under different environmental conditions than the training data. We also found that if the training and evaluation data were recorded under the same environmental conditions, the RPM, LDLPFC, RDLPFC were the most relevant brain regions under non-stressful, stressful, and a mix of stressful and non-stressful conditions, respectively.

Download Full-text

Brain hemodynamic response in Examiner–Examinee dyads during spatial short-term memory task: an fNIRS study

Experimental Brain Research ◽

10.1007/s00221-021-06073-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Francesco Panico ◽

Stefania De Marco ◽

Laura Sagliano ◽

Francesca D’Olimpio ◽

Dario Grossi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Cognitive Processes ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Spatial Working Memory ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Memory Task ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Short Term ◽

Term Memory ◽

The Real

AbstractThe Corsi Block-Tapping test (CBT) is a measure of spatial working memory (WM) in clinical practice, requiring an examinee to reproduce sequences of cubes tapped by an examiner. CBT implies complementary behaviors in the examiners and the examinees, as they have to attend a precise turn taking. Previous studies demonstrated that the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) is activated during CBT, but scarce evidence is available on the neural correlates of CBT in the real setting. We assessed PFC activity in dyads of examiner–examinee participants while completing the real version of CBT, during conditions of increasing and exceeding workload. This procedure allowed to investigate whether brain activity in the dyads is coordinated. Results in the examinees showed that PFC activity was higher when the workload approached or reached participants’ spatial WM span, and lower during workload conditions that were largely below or above their span. Interestingly, findings in the examiners paralleled the ones in the examinees, as examiners’ brain activity increased and decreased in a similar way as the examinees’ one. In the examiners, higher left-hemisphere activity was observed suggesting the likely activation of non-spatial WM processes. Data support a bell-shaped relationship between cognitive load and brain activity, and provide original insights on the cognitive processes activated in the examiner during CBT.

Download Full-text

Context Memory Encoding and Retrieval Temporal Dynamics are Modulated by Attention across the Adult Lifespan

eNeuro ◽

10.1523/eneuro.0387-20.2020 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. ENEURO.0387-20.2020

Author(s):

Soroush Mirjalili ◽

Patrick Powell ◽

Jonathan Strunk ◽

Taylor James ◽

Audrey Duarte

Keyword(s):

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Memory Encoding ◽

Adult Lifespan ◽

Context Memory ◽

Encoding And Retrieval

Download Full-text

“Grammar box” in the brain

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x03270151 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 26 (6) ◽

pp. 672-673

Author(s):

Valéria Csépe

Keyword(s):

Human Brain ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Modular Architecture ◽

Activity Data ◽

The Brain ◽

Semantic Domains

Brain activity data prove the existence of qualitatively different structures in the brain. However, the question is whether the human brain acts as linguists assume in their models. The modular architecture of grammar that has been claimed by many linguists raises some empirical questions. One of the main questions is whether the threefold abstract partition of language (into syntactic, phonological, and semantic domains) has distinct neural correlates.

Download Full-text

Human Chemosignals and Brain Activity: A Preliminary Meta-analysis of the Processing of Human Body Odors

Chemical Senses ◽

10.1093/chemse/bjaa067 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 45 (9) ◽

pp. 855-864

Author(s):

Elisa Dal Bò ◽

Claudio Gentili ◽

Cinzia Cecchetto

Keyword(s):

Brain Activity ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽

Relevant Information ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Specific Information ◽

Emotional States ◽

Body Odor ◽

The Right ◽

Body Odors

Abstract Across phyla, chemosignals are a widely used form of social communication and increasing evidence suggests that chemosensory communication is present also in humans. Chemosignals can transfer, via body odors, socially relevant information, such as specific information about identity or emotional states. However, findings on neural correlates of processing of body odors are divergent. The aims of this meta-analysis were to assess the brain areas involved in the perception of body odors (both neutral and emotional) and the specific activation patterns for the perception of neutral body odor (NBO) and emotional body odor (EBO). We conducted an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis on 16 experiments (13 studies) examining brain activity during body odors processing. We found that the contrast EBO versus NBO resulted in significant convergence in the right middle frontal gyrus and the left cerebellum, whereas the pooled meta-analysis combining all the studies of human odors showed significant convergence in the right inferior frontal gyrus. No significant cluster was found for NBOs. However, our findings also highlight methodological heterogeneity across the existing literature. Further neuroimaging studies are needed to clarify and support the existing findings on neural correlates of processing of body odors.

Download Full-text

Using fMRI to Study the Neural Correlates of Virtual Reality Analgesia

CNS Spectrums ◽

10.1017/s1092852900024202 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 45-51 ◽

Cited By ~ 61

Author(s):

Hunter G. Hoffman ◽

Todd L. Richards ◽

Aric R. Bills ◽

Trevor Van Oostrom ◽

Jeff Magula ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Medical Problem ◽

Control Technique ◽

Medical Procedures ◽

Burn Wound ◽

Pain Ratings ◽

Subjective Pain

ABSTRACTExcessive pain during medical procedures, such as burn wound dressing changes, is a widespread medical problem and is especially challenging for children. This article describes the rationale behind virtual reality (VR) pain distraction, a new non-pharmacologic adjunctive analgesia, and gives a brief summary of empirical studies exploring whether VR reduces clinical procedural pain. Results indicate that patients using VR during painful medical procedures report large reductions in subjective pain. A neuroimaging study measuring the neural correlates of VR analgesia is described in detail. This functional magnetic resonance imaging pain study in healthy volunteers shows that the large drops in subjective pain ratings during VR are accompanied by large drops in pain-related brain activity. Together the clinical and laboratory studies provide converging evidence that VR distraction is a promising new non-pharmacologic pain control technique.

Download Full-text