The neurocognitive gains of diagnostic reasoning training using simulated interactive veterinary cases

AbstractThe present longitudinal study ascertained training-associated transformations in the neural underpinnings of diagnostic reasoning, using a simulation game named “Equine Virtual Farm” (EVF). Twenty participants underwent structural, EVF/task-based and resting-state MRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) before and after completing their training on diagnosing simulated veterinary cases. Comparing playing veterinarian versus seeing a colorful image across training sessions revealed the transition of brain activity from scientific creativity regions pre-training (left middle frontal and temporal gyrus) to insight problem-solving regions post-training (right cerebellum, middle cingulate and medial superior gyrus and left postcentral gyrus). Further, applying linear mixed-effects modelling on graph centrality metrics revealed the central roles of the creative semantic (inferior frontal, middle frontal and angular gyrus and parahippocampus) and reward systems (orbital gyrus, nucleus accumbens and putamen) in driving pre-training diagnostic reasoning; whereas, regions implicated in inductive reasoning (superior temporal and medial postcentral gyrus and parahippocampus) were the main post-training hubs. Lastly, resting-state and DTI analysis revealed post-training effects within the occipitotemporal semantic processing region. Altogether, these results suggest that simulation-based training transforms diagnostic reasoning in novices from regions implicated in creative semantic processing to regions implicated in improvised rule-based problem-solving.

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The neurocognitive gains of diagnostic reasoning training using simulated interactive veterinary cases

10.1101/650499 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Maaly Nassar

Keyword(s):

Problem Solving ◽

Resting State ◽

Semantic Processing ◽

Diffusion Tensor ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Inductive Reasoning ◽

Diagnostic Reasoning ◽

Angular Gyrus ◽

Simulation Game ◽

Postcentral Gyrus

ABSTRACTThe present longitudinal study ascertained training-associated transformations in the neural underpinnings of diagnostic reasoning, using a simulation game named “Equine Virtual Farm” (EVF). Twenty participants underwent structural, EVF/task-based and resting-state MRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) before and after completing their training on diagnosing simulated veterinary cases. Comparing playing veterinarian versus seeing a colorful image across training sessions revealed the transition of brain activity from scientific creativity regions pre-training (left middle frontal and temporal gyrus) to insight problem-solving regions post-training (right cerebellum, middle cingulate and medial superior gyrus and left postcentral gyrus). Further, applying linear mixed-effects modelling on graph centrality metrics revealed the central roles of the creative semantic (inferior frontal, middle frontal and angular gyrus and parahippocampus) and reward systems (orbital gyrus, nucleus accumbens and putamen) in driving pre-training diagnostic reasoning; whereas, regions implicated in inductive reasoning (superior temporal and medial postcentral gyrus and parahippocampus) were the main post-training hubs. Lastly, resting-state and DTI analysis revealed post-training effects within the occipitotemporal semantic processing region. Altogether, these results suggest that simulation-based training transforms diagnostic reasoning in novices from regions implicated in creative semantic processing to regions implicated in improvised rule-based problem-solving.

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Differing Spontaneous Brain Activity in Healthy Adults with Two Different Body Constitutions: A Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm8070951 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (7) ◽

pp. 951

Author(s):

Ching-Hsiung Liu ◽

Yen-Ying Kung ◽

Tzu-Chen Yeh ◽

Pei-Shan Hsu ◽

Ching-Ju Yang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽

Resting State ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽

Resonance Imaging ◽

Spontaneous Brain Activity ◽

Body Constitution ◽

Postcentral Gyrus

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners assess body constitution (BC) as a treatment basis for maintaining body homeostasis. We investigated patterns in spontaneous brain activity in different BC groups using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) and determined the relationship between these patterns and quality of life (QOL). Thirty-two healthy individuals divided into two groups (body constitution questionnaire (BCQ)-gentleness [BCQ-G] and BCQ-deficiency [BCQ-D]) based on the body constitution questionnaire (BCQ) underwent rsfMRI to analyze regional homogeneity (ReHo) and the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF). The World Health Organization Quality of Life Instruments (brief edition) scale was used to evaluate the QOL. The BCQ-G group (n = 18) had significantly greater ReHo values in the right postcentral gyrus and lower ALFF values in the brainstem than the BCQ-D group (n = 14). In the BCQ-D group, decreased ReHo of the postcentral gyrus correlated with better physiological functioning; increased ALFF in the brainstem correlated with poor QOL. BCQ-subgroup analysis revealed a nonsignificant correlation between ReHo and Yang deficiency/phlegm and stasis (Phl & STA). Nonetheless, the BCQ-D group showed a positive correlation between ALFF and Phl & STA in the parahippocampus. This study identified differences between BCQ-G and BCQ-D types of healthy adults based on the rsfMRI analysis. The different BCQ types with varied brain endophenotypes may elucidate individualized TCM treatment strategies.

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Multi-scale dynamic mean field model (MDMF) relates resting-state brain dynamics with local cortical excitatory–inhibitory neurotransmitter homeostasis

Network Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/netn_a_00197 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-55

Author(s):

Amit Naskar ◽

Anirudh Vattikonda ◽

Gustavo Deco ◽

Dipanjan Roy ◽

Arpan Banerjee

Keyword(s):

Resting State ◽

Computational Models ◽

Field Model ◽

Diffusion Tensor ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Mean Field ◽

Clustering Coefficient ◽

Brain Dynamics ◽

Mean Field Model ◽

Multi Scale

Abstract Previous computational models have related spontaneous resting-state brain activity with local excitatory−inhibitory balance in neuronal populations. However, how underlying neurotransmitter kinetics associated with E-I balance governs resting state spontaneous brain dynamics remains unknown. Understanding the mechanisms by virtue of which fluctuations in neurotransmitter concentrations, a hallmark of a variety of clinical conditions relate to functional brain activity is of critical importance. We propose a multi-scale dynamic mean field model (MDMF) – a system of coupled differential equations for capturing the synaptic gating dynamics in excitatory and inhibitory neural populations as a function of neurotransmitter kinetics. Individual brain regions are modelled as population of MDMF and are connected by realistic connection topologies estimated from Diffusion Tensor Imaging data. First, MDMF successfully predicts resting-state functionalconnectivity. Second, our results show that optimal range of glutamate and GABA neurotransmitter concentrations subserve as the dynamic working point of the brain, that is, the state of heightened metastability observed in empirical blood-oxygen-level dependent signals. Third, for predictive validity the network measures of segregation (modularity and clustering coefficient) and integration (global efficiency and characteristic path length) from existing healthy and pathological brain network studies could be captured by simulated functional connectivity from MDMF model.

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Effects of Smoking on Regional Homogeneity in Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Resting-State Functional MRI Study

Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnagi.2020.572732 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Tianyi Zhang ◽

Xiao Luo ◽

Qingze Zeng ◽

Yanv Fu ◽

Zheyu Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽

Functional Mri ◽

Resting State ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Verbal Learning ◽

Regional Homogeneity ◽

Angular Gyrus ◽

Healthy Elderly ◽

Intrinsic Brain Activity

BackgroundSmoking is a modifiable risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, smoking-related effects on intrinsic brain activity in high-risk AD population are still unclear.ObjectiveWe aimed to explore differences in smoking effects on brain function between healthy elderly and amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) patients using ReHo mapping.MethodsWe identified 64 healthy elderly controls and 116 aMCI patients, including 98 non-smoking and 18 smoking aMCI. Each subject underwent structural and resting-state functional MRI scanning and neuropsychological evaluations. Regional homogeneity (ReHo) mapping was used to assess regional brain synchronization. After correction for age, gender, education, and gray matter volume, we explored the difference of ReHo among groups in a voxel-wise way based on analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), followed by post hoc two-sample analyses (p < 0.05, corrected). Further, we correlated the mean ReHo with neuropsychological scales.ResultsThree groups were well-matched in age, gender, and education. Significant ReHo differences were found among three groups, located in the left supramarginal gyrus (SMG) and left angular gyrus (AG). Specifically, non-smoking aMCI had lower ReHo in SMG and AG than smoking aMCI and controls. By contrast, smoking aMCI had greater AG ReHo than healthy controls (p < 0.05). Across groups, correlation analyses showed that left AG ReHo correlated with MMSE (r = 0.18, p = 0.015), clock drawing test (r = 0.20, p = 0.007), immediate recall (r = 0.36, p < 0.001), delayed recall (r = 0.34, p < 0.001), and auditory verbal learning test (r = 0.20, p = 0.007).ConclusionSmoking might pose compensatory or protective effects on intrinsic brain activity in aMCI patients.

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Altered Spontaneous Brain Activity Patterns and Functional Connectivity in Adults With Intermittent Exotropia: A Resting-State fMRI Study

Frontiers in Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnins.2021.746882 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 ◽

Author(s):

Xueying He ◽

Jie Hong ◽

Qian Wang ◽

Yanan Guo ◽

Ting Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Resting State ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Angular Gyrus ◽

Precentral Gyrus ◽

Intermittent Exotropia ◽

Parietal Lobule ◽

The Right ◽

Left Middle

The purpose of this study is to investigate brain functional changes in patients with intermittent exotropia (IXT) by analyzing the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) of brain activity and functional connectivity (FC) using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). There were 26 IXT patients and 22 age-, sex-, education-, and handedness-matched healthy controls (HCs) enrolled who underwent rs-fMRI. The ALFF, fractional ALFF (fALFF) values in the slow 4 and slow 5 bands, and FC values were calculated and compared. The correlations between ALFF/fALFF values in discrepant brain regions and clinical features were evaluated. Compared with HCs, ALFF/fALFF values were significantly increased in the right angular gyrus (ANG), supramarginal gyrus (SMG), inferior parietal lobule (IPL), precentral gyrus (PreCG), and the bilateral inferior frontal gyri (IFG), and decreased in the right precuneus gyrus (PCUN), left middle occipital gyrus (MOG), and postcentral gyrus (PoCG) in IXT patients. The Newcastle Control Test score was negatively correlated with ALFF values in the right IFG (r = −0.738, p < 0.001). The duration of IXT was negatively correlated with ALFF values in the right ANG (r = −0.457, p = 0.049). Widespread increases in FC were observed between brain regions, mainly including the right cuneus (CUN), left superior parietal lobule (SPL), right rolandic operculum (ROL), left middle temporal gyrus (MTG), left IFG, left median cingulate gyrus (DCG), left PoCG, right PreCG, and left paracentral gyrus (PCL) in patients with IXT. No decreased FC was observed. Patients with IXT exhibited aberrant intrinsic brain activities and FC in vision- and eye movement-related brain regions, which extend current understanding of the neuropathological mechanisms underlying visual and oculomotor impairments in IXT patients.

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Modulation of brain activity by selective attention to audiovisual dialogues

10.1101/781344 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Alina Leminen ◽

Maxime Verwoert ◽

Mona Moisala ◽

Viljami Salmela ◽

Patrik Wikman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Selective Attention ◽

Semantic Processing ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Real Life ◽

Superior Temporal Gyrus ◽

Visual Quality ◽

Angular Gyrus ◽

Facial Movements ◽

Fmri Study ◽

The Right

AbstractIn real-life noisy situations, we can selectively attend to conversations in the presence of irrelevant voices, but neurocognitive mechanisms in such natural listening situations remaiin largely unexplored. Previous research has shown distributed activity in the mid superior temporal gyrus (STG) and sulcus (STS) while listening to speech and human voices, in the posterior STS and fusiform gyrus when combining auditory, visual and linguistic information, as well as in lefthemisphere temporal and frontal cortical areas during comprehension. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we investigated how selective attention modulates neural responses to naturalistic audiovisual dialogues. Our healthy adult participants (N = 15) selectively attended to video-taped dialogues between a man and woman in the presence of irrelevant continuous speech in the background. We modulated the auditory quality of dialogues with noise vocoding and their visual quality by masking speech-related facial movements. Both increased auditory quality and increased visual quality were associated with bilateral activity enhancements in the STG/STS. In addition, decreased audiovisual stimulus quality elicited enhanced fronto-parietal activity, presumably reflecting increased attentional demands. Finally, attention to the dialogues, in relation to a control task where a fixation cross was attended and the dialogue ignored, yielded enhanced activity in the left planum polare, angular gyrus, the right temporal pole, as well as in the orbitofrontal/ventromedial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate gyrus. Our findings suggest that naturalistic conversations effectively engage participants and reveal brain networks related to social perception in addition to speech and semantic processing networks.

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Comparison of Resting-State Spontaneous Brain Activity between Treatment-Naive Patients with Schizophrenia and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

10.21203/rs.3.rs-410695/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Xiao-Man Yu ◽

Lin-Lin Qiu ◽

Hai-Xia Huang ◽

Xiang Zuo ◽

Zhen-He Zhou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽

Resting State ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Subscale Score ◽

Angular Gyrus ◽

Obsessive Compulsive ◽

Spontaneous Brain Activity ◽

Compulsive Disorder ◽

Treatment Naïve ◽

The Right

Abstract Background: Schizophrenia (SZ) and Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) share many demographic and clinical symptoms, genetic risk factors, pathophysiological underpinnings, and brain structure and function. However, the differences in the spontaneous brain activity patterns between the two diseases remain unclear. Here this study aimed to compare the features of intrinsic brain activity in treatment-naive patients with schizophrenia (SZ) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and to explore the relationship between spontaneous brain activity and the severity of symptoms. Methods: Twenty-two treatment-naive patients with SZ, twenty-seven treatment-naive patients with OCD, and sixty healthy controls underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo) and degree of centrality (DC) of SZ group, OCD group and healthy control (HC) group were compared. Results: Compared with SZ group and HC group, patients with OCD had significantly higher ALFF in the right angular gyrus and the left middle frontal gyrus/precentral gyrus, and significantly lower ALFF in the left superior temporal gyrus/insula/rolandic operculum and the left postcentral gyrus. Compared with HC group, lower ALFF values in the right supramarginal gyrus/inferior parietal lobule and DC values of the right lingual gyrus/calcarine fissure and surrounding cortex of the two patient groups, higher ReHo values in OCD group and lower ReHo values in SZ group in the right angular gyrus/middle occipital gyrus brain region, and higher DC values in the right inferior parietal lobule/angular gyrus in SZ group were documented in the present study. In addition, the ALFF values of the left postcentral gyrus were positively correlated with positive subscale score and general psychopathology subscale score respectively on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) in SZ group. The ALFF values in the left superior temporal gyrus/insula/rolandic operculum of patients with OCD were positively correlated with compulsion subscale score and total score respectively on the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). Conclusion: Our data showed various patterns of spontaneous brain activity damage in resting-state between treatment-naive patients with SZ and OCD, which might imply different underlying neurobiological mechanisms in SZ and OCD.

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Facial Expression Recognition and ReHo Analysis in Major Depressive Disorder

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.688376 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Sijia Liu ◽

Ruihua Ma ◽

Yang Luo ◽

Panqi Liu ◽

Ke Zhao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Facial Expression ◽

Resting State ◽

Facial Expression Recognition ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Angular Gyrus ◽

Expression Recognition ◽

Neural Basis ◽

Superior Frontal Gyrus ◽

The Right

Objective: To explore the characteristics of expression recognition and spontaneous activity of the resting state brain in major depressive disorder (MDD) patients to find the neural basis of expression recognition and emotional processing.Methods: In this study, two of the six facial expressions (happiness, sadness, anger, fear, aversion, and surprise) were presented in quick succession using a short expression recognition test. The differences in facial expression recognition between MDD patients and healthy people were compared. Further, the differences in ReHo values between the two groups were compared using a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan to investigate the characteristics of spontaneous brain activity in the resting state and its relationship with clinical symptoms and the accuracy of facial expression recognition in patients with MDD.Results: (1) The accuracy of facial expression recognition in patients with MDD was lower than that of the HC group. There were differences in facial expression recognition between the two groups in sadness-anger (p = 0.026), surprise-aversion (p = 0.038), surprise-happiness (p = 0.014), surprise-sadness (p = 0.019), fear-happiness (p = 0.027), and fear-anger (p = 0.009). The reaction time for facial expression recognition in the patient group was significantly longer than that of the HC group. (2) Compared with the HC group, the ReHo values decreased in the left parahippocampal gyrus, left thalamus, right putamen, left putamen, and right angular gyrus, and increased in the left superior frontal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, left medial superior frontal gyrus, and right medial superior frontal gyrus in the patient group. (3) Spearman correlation analysis showed no statistical correlation between ReHo and HAMD-17 scores in MDD patients (p > 0.05). The ReHo value of the left putamen was negatively correlated with the recognition of fear-surprise (r = −0.429, p = 0.016), the ReHo value of the right angular gyrus was positively correlated with the recognition of sadness-anger (r = 0.367, p = 0.042), and the ReHo value of the right medial superior frontal gyrus was negatively correlated with the recognition of fear-anger (r = −0.377, p = 0.037).Conclusion: In view of the different performance of patients with MDD in facial expression tasks, facial expression recognition may have some suggestive effect on the diagnosis of depression and has clinical guiding significance. Many brain regions, including the frontal lobe, temporal lobe, striatum, hippocampus, and thalamus, in patients with MDD show extensive ReHo abnormalities in the resting state. These brain regions with abnormal spontaneous neural activity are important components of LCSPT and LTC circuits, and their dysfunctional functions cause disorder of emotion regulation. The changes in spontaneous activity in the left putamen, right angular gyrus, and right medial superior frontal gyrus may represent the abnormal pattern of spontaneous brain activity in the neural circuits related to emotion perception and may be the neural basis of facial expression recognition.

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Study of EEG characteristics while solving scientific problems with different mental effort

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-03321-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Yanmei Zhu ◽

Qian Wang ◽

Li Zhang

Keyword(s):

Problem Solving ◽

Semantic Processing ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Educational Practice ◽

Mental Effort ◽

Cognitive Resources ◽

Visuospatial Processing ◽

Physiological Approach ◽

Functional Topography ◽

The Brain

AbstractStudying the mental effort in problem-solving is important to the understanding of how the brain allocates cognitive resources to process information. The electroencephalogram is a promising physiological approach to assessing the online mental effort. In this study, we investigate the EEG indicators of mental effort while solving scientific problems. By manipulating the complexity of the scientific problem, the level of mental effort also changes. With the increase of mental effort, theta synchronization in the frontal region and lower alpha desynchronization in the parietal and occipital regions significantly increase. Also, upper alpha desynchronization demonstrates a widespread enhancement across the whole brain. According to the functional topography of brain activity in the theta and alpha frequency, our results suggest that the mental effort while solving scientific problems is related to working memory, visuospatial processing, semantic processing and magnitude manipulation. This study suggests the reliability of EEG to evaluate the mental effort in an educational context and provides valuable insights into improving the problem-solving abilities of students in educational practice.

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Altered Spontaneous Brain Activity of Children with Unilateral Amblyopia: A Resting State fMRI Study

Neural Plasticity ◽

10.1155/2019/3681430 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2019 ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

Peishan Dai ◽

Jinlong Zhang ◽

Jing Wu ◽

Zailiang Chen ◽

Beiji Zou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Visual Cortex ◽

Primary Visual Cortex ◽

Resting State ◽

Function Analysis ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Angular Gyrus ◽

Spontaneous Brain Activity ◽

Analysis Methods ◽

Local Brain

Objective. This study is aimed at investigating differences in local brain activity and functional connectivity (FC) between children with unilateral amblyopia and healthy controls (HCs) by using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Methods. Local activity and FC analysis methods were used to explore the altered spontaneous brain activity of children with unilateral amblyopia. Local brain function analysis methods included the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF). FC analysis methods consisted of the FC between the primary visual cortex (PVC-FC) and other brain regions and the FC network between regions of interest (ROIs-FC) selected by independent component analysis. Results. The ALFF in the bilateral frontal, temporal, and occipital lobes in the amblyopia group was lower than that in the HCs. The weakened PVC-FC was mainly concentrated in the frontal lobe and the angular gyrus. The ROIs-FC between the default mode network, salience network, and primary visual cortex network (PVCN) were significantly reduced, whereas the ROIs-FC between the PVCN and the high-level visual cortex network were significantly increased in amblyopia. Conclusions. Unilateral amblyopia may reduce local brain activity and FC in the dorsal and ventral visual pathways and affect the top-down attentional control. Amblyopia may also alter FC between brain functional networks. These findings may help understand the pathological mechanisms of children with amblyopia.

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