scholarly journals Activity in the dorsal ACC causes deterioration of sequential motor performance due to anxiety

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gowrishankar Ganesh ◽  
Takehiro Minamoto ◽  
Masahiko Haruno
Keyword(s):  
Motor Performance ◽  
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Action Sequences ◽  
Performance Deterioration ◽  
Stimulation Of

Abstract Performance anxiety can profoundly affect motor performance, even in experts such as professional athletes and musicians. Previously, the neural mechanisms underlying anxiety-induced performance deterioration have predominantly been investigated for individual one-shot actions. Sports and music, however, are characterized by action sequences, where many individual actions are assembled to develop a performance. Here, utilizing a novel differential sequential motor learning paradigm, we first show that performance at the junctions between pre-learnt action sequences is particularly prone to anxiety. Next, utilizing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we reveal that performance deterioration at the junctions is parametrically correlated with activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). Finally, we show that 1 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the dACC attenuates the performance deterioration at the junctions. These results demonstrate causality between dACC activity and impairment of sequential motor performance due to anxiety, and suggest new intervention techniques against the deterioration.

Anterior Cingulate Implant for Alcohol Dependence

Neurosurgery ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 78 (6) ◽  
pp. E883-E893 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk De Ridder ◽  
Patrick Manning ◽  
Paul Glue ◽  
Gavin Cape ◽  
Berthold Langguth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Alcohol Dependence ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex

Abstract BACKGROUND AND IMPORTANCE: Alcohol dependence is related to dysfunctional brain processes, in which a genetic background and environmental factors shape brain mechanisms involved with alcohol consumption. Craving, a major component determining relapses in alcohol abuse, has been linked to abnormal brain activity. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: We report the results of a treatment-intractable, alcohol-addicted patient with associated agoraphobia and anxiety. Functional imaging studies consisting of functional magnetic resonance imaging and resting-state electroencephalogram were performed as a means to localize craving-related brain activation and for identification of a target for repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and implant insertion. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex with a double-cone coil transiently suppressed his very severe alcohol craving for up to 6 weeks. For ongoing stimulation, 2 “back-to-back” paddle electrodes were implanted with functional magnetic resonance imaging neuronavigation guidance for bilateral dorsal anterior cingulate cortex stimulation. Using a recently developed novel stimulation design, burst stimulation, a quick improvement was obtained on craving, agoraphobia, and associated anxiety without the expected withdrawal symptoms. The patient has remained free of alcohol intake and relieved of agoraphobia and anxiety for over 18 months, associated with normalization of his alpha and beta activity on electroencephalogram in the stimulated area. He perceives a mental freedom by not being constantly focused on alcohol. CONCLUSION: This case report proposes a new pathophysiology-based target for the surgical treatment of alcohol dependence and suggests that larger studies are warranted to explore this potentially promising avenue for the treatment of intractable alcohol dependence with or without anxiety and agoraphobia.

scholarly journals A network for computing value homeostasis in the human medial prefrontal cortex

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keno Juechems ◽  
Jan Balaguer ◽  
Santiago Herce Castañón ◽  
María Ruz ◽  
Jill X. O’Reilly ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Financial Outcomes ◽  
A Value ◽  
Frontal Brain

AbstractHumans and other animals make decisions in order to satisfy their goals. However, it remains unknown how neural circuits compute which of multiple possible goals should be pursued (e.g. when balancing hunger and thirst) and combine these signals with estimates of available reward alternatives. Here, humans undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) accumulated two distinct assets over a sequence of trials. Financial outcomes depended on the minimum cumulate of either asset, creating a need to maintain “value homeostasis” by redressing any imbalance among the assets. BOLD signals in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) tracked the level of homeostatic imbalance among goals, whereas the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) signalled the level of homeostatic redress incurred by a choice, rather than the overall amount received. These results suggest that a network of medial frontal brain regions compute a value signal that maintains homeostatic balance among internal goals.

Acetaminophen Reduces Social Pain

2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 931-937 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Nathan DeWall ◽  
Geoff MacDonald ◽  
Gregory D. Webster ◽  
Carrie L. Masten ◽  
Roy F. Baumeister ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Social Rejection ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Physical Pain ◽  
Social Pain ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex

Pain, whether caused by physical injury or social rejection, is an inevitable part of life. These two types of pain—physical and social—may rely on some of the same behavioral and neural mechanisms that register pain-related affect. To the extent that these pain processes overlap, acetaminophen, a physical pain suppressant that acts through central (rather than peripheral) neural mechanisms, may also reduce behavioral and neural responses to social rejection. In two experiments, participants took acetaminophen or placebo daily for 3 weeks. Doses of acetaminophen reduced reports of social pain on a daily basis (Experiment 1). We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure participants’ brain activity (Experiment 2), and found that acetaminophen reduced neural responses to social rejection in brain regions previously associated with distress caused by social pain and the affective component of physical pain (dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula). Thus, acetaminophen reduces behavioral and neural responses associated with the pain of social rejection, demonstrating substantial overlap between social and physical pain.

scholarly journals Talent in the taxi: a model system for exploring expertise

2009 ◽  
Vol 364 (1522) ◽  
pp. 1407-1416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Woollett ◽  
Hugo J. Spiers ◽  
Eleanor A. Maguire
Keyword(s):  
Model System ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Taxi Drivers ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Use Of Expertise ◽  
Widespread Interest ◽  
Key Questions ◽  
Extensive Practice

While there is widespread interest in and admiration of individuals with exceptional talents, surprisingly little is known about the cognitive and neural mechanisms underpinning talent, and indeed how talent relates to expertise. Because many talents are first identified and nurtured in childhood, it can be difficult to determine whether talent is innate, can be acquired through extensive practice or can only be acquired in the presence of the developing brain. We sought to address some of these issues by studying healthy adults who acquired expertise in adulthood. We focused on the domain of memory and used licensed London taxi drivers as a model system. Taxi drivers have to learn the layout of 25 000 streets in London and the locations of thousands of places of interest, and pass stringent examinations in order to obtain an operating licence. Using neuropsychological assessment and structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging, we addressed a range of key questions: in the context of a fully developed brain and an average IQ, can people acquire expertise to an exceptional level; what are the neural signatures, both structural and functional, associated with the use of expertise; does expertise change the brain compared with unskilled control participants; does it confer any cognitive advantages, and similarly, does it come at a cost to other functions? By studying retired taxi drivers, we also consider what happens to their brains and behaviour when experts stop using their skill. Finally, we discuss how the expertise of taxi drivers might relate to the issue of talent and innate abilities. We suggest that exploring talent and expertise in this manner could have implications for education, rehabilitation of patients with cognitive impairments, understanding individual differences and possibly conditions such as autism where exceptional abilities can be a feature.

scholarly journals Neural correlates of beauty retouching to enhance attractiveness of self-depictions in women

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chisa Ota ◽  
Tamami Nakano
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Facial Attractiveness ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Amygdala Activity ◽  
Increased Activity

AbstractBeauty filters, while often employed for retouching photos to appear more attractive on social media, when used in excess cause images to give a distorted impression. The neural mechanisms underlying this change in facial attractiveness according to beauty retouching level remain unknown. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging in women as they viewed photos of their own face or unknown faces that had been retouched at three levels: no, mild, and extreme. The activity in the nucleus accumbens (NA) exhibited a positive correlation with facial attractiveness, whereas amygdala activity showed a negative correlation with attractiveness. Even though the participants rated others’ faces as more attractive than their own, the NA showed increased activity only for their mildly retouched own face and the amygdala exhibited greater activation in the others’ faces condition than the own face condition. Moreover, amygdala activity was greater for extremely retouched faces than for unretouched or mildly retouched faces for both conditions. Frontotemporal and cortical midline areas showed greater activation for one’s own than others’ faces, but such self-related activation was absent when extremely retouched. These results suggest that neural activity dynamically switches between the NA and amygdala according to perceived attractiveness of one’s face.

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