scholarly journals Hippocampal regenerative medicine: neurogenic implications for addiction and mental disorders

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Peyton ◽  
Alfredo Oliveros ◽  
Doo-Sup Choi ◽  
Mi-Hyeon Jang
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
General Population ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Psychiatric Illness ◽  
Neural Circuitry ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Disease ◽  
Motivated Behavior

AbstractPsychiatric illness is a prevalent and highly debilitating disorder, and more than 50% of the general population in both middle- and high-income countries experience at least one psychiatric disorder at some point in their lives. As we continue to learn how pervasive psychiatric episodes are in society, we must acknowledge that psychiatric disorders are not solely relegated to a small group of predisposed individuals but rather occur in significant portions of all societal groups. Several distinct brain regions have been implicated in neuropsychiatric disease. These brain regions include corticolimbic structures, which regulate executive function and decision making (e.g., the prefrontal cortex), as well as striatal subregions known to control motivated behavior under normal and stressful conditions. Importantly, the corticolimbic neural circuitry includes the hippocampus, a critical brain structure that sends projections to both the cortex and striatum to coordinate learning, memory, and mood. In this review, we will discuss past and recent discoveries of how neurobiological processes in the hippocampus and corticolimbic structures work in concert to control executive function, memory, and mood in the context of mental disorders.

scholarly journals Uncovering the spatio-temporal dynamics of value-based decision-making in the human brain: a combined fMRI–EEG study

2014 ◽  
Vol 369 (1655) ◽  
pp. 20130473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Larsen ◽  
John P. O'Doherty
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Choice Task ◽  
Binary Choice ◽  
Intraparietal Sulcus ◽  
Trial Onset ◽  
Eeg Data ◽  
Spatio Temporal

While there is a growing body of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) evidence implicating a corpus of brain regions in value-based decision-making in humans, the limited temporal resolution of fMRI cannot address the relative temporal precedence of different brain regions in decision-making. To address this question, we adopted a computational model-based approach to electroencephalography (EEG) data acquired during a simple binary choice task. fMRI data were also acquired from the same participants for source localization. Post-decision value signals emerged 200 ms post-stimulus in a predominantly posterior source in the vicinity of the intraparietal sulcus and posterior temporal lobe cortex, alongside a weaker anterior locus. The signal then shifted to a predominantly anterior locus 850 ms following the trial onset, localized to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and lateral prefrontal cortex. Comparison signals between unchosen and chosen options emerged late in the trial at 1050 ms in dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, suggesting that such comparison signals may not be directly associated with the decision itself but rather may play a role in post-decision action selection. Taken together, these results provide us new insights into the temporal dynamics of decision-making in the brain, suggesting that for a simple binary choice task, decisions may be encoded predominantly in posterior areas such as intraparietal sulcus, before shifting anteriorly.

scholarly journals Novel Inferences in a Multidimensional Social Network Use a Grid-like Code

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seongmin A. Park ◽  
Douglas S. Miller ◽  
Erie D. Boorman
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Entorhinal Cortex ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Cognitive Map ◽  
General Mechanism ◽  
Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
Flexible Behavior ◽  
Discrete Problems

ABSTRACTGeneralizing experiences to guide decision making in novel situations is a hallmark of flexible behavior. It has been hypothesized such flexibility depends on a cognitive map of an environment or task, but directly linking the two has proven elusive. Here, we find that discretely sampled abstract relationships between entities in an unseen two-dimensional (2-D) social hierarchy are reconstructed into a unitary 2-D cognitive map in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex. We further show that humans utilize a grid-like code in several brain regions, including entorhinal cortex and medial prefrontal cortex, for inferred direct trajectories between entities in the reconstructed abstract space during discrete decisions. Moreover, these neural grid-like codes in the entorhinal cortex predict neural decision value computations in the medial prefrontal cortex and temporoparietal junction area during choice. Collectively, these findings show that grid-like codes are used by the human brain to infer novel solutions, even in abstract and discrete problems, and suggest a general mechanism underpinning flexible decision making and generalization.

scholarly journals Exploring the Inner Workings of Neuron Circuits That Exhibit Persistent Activity To Explain How Working Memory and Executive Function Are Implemented in The Brain

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Gomez
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Persistent Activity ◽  
Storage Mechanism ◽  
Minimum Number ◽  
Task Processing ◽  
The Brain

In this research we explore in detail how a phenomenon called sustained persistent activity is achieved by circuits of interconnected neurons. Persistent activity is a phenomenon that has been extensively studied (Papoutsi et al. 2013; Kaminski et. al. 2017; McCormick et al. 2003; Rahman, and Berger, 2011). Persistent activity consists in neuron circuits whose spiking activity remains even after the initial stimuli are removed. Persistent activity has been found in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and has been correlated to working memory and decision making (Clayton E. Curtis and Daeyeol Lee, 2010). We go beyond the explanation of how persistent activity happens and show how arrangements of those basic circuits encode and store data and are used to perform more elaborated tasks and computations. The purpose of the model we propose here is to describe the minimum number of neurons and their interconnections required to explain persistent activity and how this phenomenon is actually a fast storage mechanism required for implementing working memory, task processing and decision making.

The Neuroscience of Learning Agility

2021 ◽  
pp. 118-142
Author(s):  
Kim E. Ruyle
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Limbic System ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Learning Agility ◽  
Attention Networks ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain

“The Neuroscience of Learning Agility” explores the relationship between neurobiology and learning agility. It provides an overview of the organization of the brain, focusing on the roles of the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex and how these particular brain regions relate to personality, executive function, and the metacompetencies of emotional intelligence and learning agility. The neuroscience of learning is discussed, including the brain’s attention networks, neuroplasticity, and biological underpinnings of memory. An argument is posited that the brain’s perceptions of threats directly impacts one’s personality and, by extension, influences one’s level of learning agility. The chapter concludes by providing neuroscience-based suggestions for developing learning agility.

Executive dysfunction, brain aging, and political leadership

2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Fisher ◽  
David L. Franklin ◽  
Jerrold M. Post
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Cognitive Functions ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
Executive Dysfunction ◽  
Amyloid Angiopathy ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Age Related

Decision-making is an essential component of executive function, and a critical skill of political leadership. Neuroanatomic localization studies have established the prefrontal cortex as the critical brain site for executive function. In addition to the prefrontal cortex, white matter tracts as well as subcortical brain structures are crucial for optimal executive function. Executive function shows a significant decline beginning at age 60, and this is associated with age-related atrophy of prefrontal cortex, cerebral white matter disease, and cerebral microbleeds. Notably, age-related decline in executive function appears to be a relatively selective cognitive deterioration, generally sparing language and memory function. While an individual may appear to be functioning normally with regard to relatively obvious cognitive functions such as language and memory, that same individual may lack the capacity to integrate these cognitive functions to achieve normal decision-making. From a historical perspective, global decline in cognitive function of political leaders has been alternatively described as a catastrophic event, a slowly progressive deterioration, or a relatively episodic phenomenon. Selective loss of executive function in political leaders is less appreciated, but increased utilization of highly sensitive brain imaging techniques will likely bring greater appreciation to this phenomenon. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was an example of a political leader with a well-described neurodegenerative condition (cerebral amyloid angiopathy) that creates a neuropathological substrate for executive dysfunction. Based on the known neuroanatomical and neuropathological changes that occur with aging, we should probably assume that a significant proportion of political leaders over the age of 65 have impairment of executive function.

scholarly journals Lower neural value signaling in the prefrontal cortex is related to childhood family income and depressive symptomatology during adolescence

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther E. Palacios-Barrios ◽  
Jamie L. Hanson ◽  
Kelly R. Barry ◽  
Dustin Albert ◽  
Stuart F. White ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Adolescent Depression ◽  
Family Income ◽  
Depressive Symptomatology ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Reward Learning ◽  
The Difference

AbstractLower family income during childhood is related to increased rates of adolescent depression, though the specific mechanisms are poorly understood. Evidence suggests that individuals with depression demonstrate hypoactivation in brain regions involved in reward learning and decision-making processes (e.g., portions of the prefrontal cortex). Separately, lower family income has been associated with neural alterations in similar regions. We examined associations between family income, depression, and brain activity during a reward learning and decision-making fMRI task in a sample of adolescents (full n=94; usable n=78; mean age=15.4 years). We identified neural regions representing 1) expected value (EV), the learned subjective value of an object, and 2) prediction error, the difference between EV and the actual outcome received. Regions of interest related to reward learning were examined in connection to childhood family income and parent-reported adolescent depressive symptoms. As hypothesized, lower activity in the subgenual anterior cingulate (sACC) for EV in response to approach stimuli was associated with lower childhood family income, as well as greater symptoms of depression measured one-year after the neuroimaging session. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that lower early family income leads to disruptions in reward and decision-making brain circuitry, which leads to adolescent depression.

Economic Decision Making, Emotion, and Prefrontal Cortex

2016 ◽  
pp. 122-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salim Lahmiri
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Economic Decision ◽  
Financial Decision Making ◽  
Economic Decision Making ◽  
Formal Framework ◽  
Financial Decision ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain

How diverse regions of the brain are coordinated to produce objective-directed decision is the essence of neuroeconomics. Indeed, the latter is a formal framework to describe the involvement of numerous brain regions including frontal, cingulate, parietal cortex, and striatum in economic and financial decision-making process. The purpose of this chapter is to explain the relationship between economic decision making and emotion on one hand, and the relationship between economic decision making and prefrontal cortex on the other hand.

Executive Function

Coming of Age ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 56-68
Author(s):  
Cheryl L. Sisk ◽  
Russell D. Romeo
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Emotional Valence ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
The Face ◽  
And Behaviors ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Time Frames

Chapter 5 focuses on adolescent maturation of cognitive abilities and executive function—the capacity to control and coordinate thoughts and behavior. Executive function emerges from interactions among three major brain regions: the prefrontal cortex (behavioral modulation), amygdala (emotional valence), and ventral striatum (motivation and reward). The triadic model provides a conceptual framework for understanding the neural basis for higher risk-taking by adolescents. This model proposes that adolescent maturation of prefrontal cortex, striatum, and amygdala occurs along different time frames, with the striatum and amygdala maturing sooner than the prefrontal cortex. Thus, early in adolescence, decisions and behaviors are more heavily influenced by rewards and emotions in the face of relative lack of prefrontal control. As the prefrontal cortex matures during late adolescence, decisions and behaviors become more guided by executive function. This chapter also discusses research on the importance of social context and peer pressure in decision-making by adolescents. Finally, the chapter discusses how research showing that prefrontal maturation is protracted (extending into the third decade of life) has influenced court decisions and shaped policy in the U.S. juvenile justice system.

scholarly journals A Cerebral Organoid Connectivity Apparatus to Model Neuronal Tract Circuitry

Micromachines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1574
Author(s):  
Denise A. Robles ◽  
Andrew J. Boreland ◽  
Zhiping P. Pang ◽  
Jeffrey D. Zahn
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cell ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Stem Cell Differentiation ◽  
Signal Propagation ◽  
Neural Circuitry ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Grid Pattern

Mental disorders have high prevalence, but the efficacy of existing therapeutics is limited, in part, because the pathogenic mechanisms remain enigmatic. Current models of neural circuitry include animal models and post-mortem brain tissue, which have allowed enormous progress in understanding the pathophysiology of mental disorders. However, these models limit the ability to assess the functional alterations in short-range and long-range network connectivity between brain regions that are implicated in many mental disorders, e.g., schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders. This work addresses these limitations by developing an in vitro model of the human brain that models the in vivo cerebral tract environment. In this study, microfabrication and stem cell differentiation techniques were combined to develop an in vitro cerebral tract model that anchors human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cerebral organoids (COs) and provides a scaffold to promote the formation of a functional connecting neuronal tract. Two designs of a Cerebral Organoid Connectivity Apparatus (COCA) were fabricated using SU-8 photoresist. The first design contains a series of spikes which anchor the CO to the COCA (spiked design), whereas the second design contains flat supporting structures with open holes in a grid pattern to anchor the organoids (grid design); both designs allow effective media exchange. Morphological and functional analyses reveal the expression of key neuronal markers as well as functional activity and signal propagation along cerebral tracts connecting CO pairs. The reported in vitro models enable the investigation of critical neural circuitry involved in neurodevelopmental processes and has the potential to help devise personalized and targeted therapeutic strategies.

scholarly journals Comparing two neurocognitive models of self-control during dietary decisions

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 957-966 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Cosme ◽  
Rita M Ludwig ◽  
Elliot T Berkman
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Model Comparison ◽  
Choice Model ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Dual Process ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal

Abstract Self-control is the process of favoring abstract, distal goals over concrete, proximal goals during decision-making and is an important factor in health and well-being. We directly compare two prominent neurocognitive models of human self-control with the goal of identifying which, if either, best describes behavioral and neural data of dietary decisions in a large sample of overweight and obese adults motivated to eat more healthfully. We extracted trial-by-trial estimates of neural activity during incentive-compatible choice from three brain regions implicated in self-control, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, ventral striatum and ventromedial prefrontal cortex and assessed evidence for the dual-process and value-based choice models of self-control using multilevel modeling. Model comparison tests revealed that the value-based choice model outperformed the dual-process model and best fit the observed data. These results advance scientific knowledge of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying self-control-relevant decision-making and are consistent with a value-based choice model of self-control.

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