scholarly journals Cerebral Responses to Stationary Emotional Stimuli Measured by fMRI in Women with Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliane Maria Dias von Söhsten Lins ◽  
Roseli Saraiva Moreira Bittar ◽  
Paulo Rodrigo Bazán ◽  
Edson Amaro Júnior ◽  
Jeffrey Paul Staab
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Perception ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Threat Assessment ◽  
Vestibular Stimulation ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Angular Gyrus ◽  
Parahippocampal Gyrus ◽  
Vestibular Disorder ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Increased Activity

Abstract Introduction Persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD) is a functional vestibular disorder characterized by chronic dizziness, unsteadiness, and hypersensitivity to motion. Preexisting anxiety disorders and neurotic personality traits confer vulnerability to PPPD. High anxiety during acute vertigo or dizziness incites it. A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of chronic subjective dizziness found unexpectedly hypoactive responses to vestibular stimulation in cortical regions that integrate threat assessment and spatial perception. Objective This fMRI study used non-moving, but emotionally charged visual stimuli to investigate the brain's activity of PPPD patients and control subjects. Methods The participants included 16 women with PPPD and 16 age-matched women who recovered completely from acute episodes of vertigo or dizziness capable of triggering PPPD. Brain responses to positive, neutral, and negative figures from the International Affective Picture System were measured with fMRI and compared between the groups. Dizziness handicap, anxiety, and depression were assessed with validated questionnaires. Results Between group analyses: Participants with PPPD showed reduced activity in anterior cingulate cortex and increased activity in left angular gyrus in response to negative versus positive stimuli, which was not observed in recovered individuals. Within group analyses: Participants with PPPD had increased activity in visuospatial areas (parahippocampal gyrus, intraparietal sulcus) in negative versus positive and negative versus neutral contrasts, whereas recovered individuals had increased activity in anxiety regions (amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex). Conclusion Patients with PPPD may be more attuned to spatial elements than to the content of emotionally charged visual stimuli.

scholarly journals Collaborations and deceptions in strategic interactions revealed by hyperscanning fMRI

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siao-Shan Shen ◽  
Jen-Tang Cheng ◽  
Yi-Ren Hsu ◽  
Der-Yow Chen ◽  
Ming-Hung Weng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Trust ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Parahippocampal Gyrus ◽  
Strategic Interactions ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Competition Condition ◽  
The Social ◽  
Contextual Variability ◽  
Treasure Chest ◽  
The Right

Despite its ubiquity, deceiving as a social phenomenon is scarcely addressed with fMRI, partly due to the spontaneity and individual differences in cheating, and the contextual variability that fosters lying. In this hyperscanning fMRI study, the participant pairs (n=33) from Taipei and Tainan joined an opening-treasure-chest (OTC) game, where the dyads took alternative turns as senders (to inform) and receivers (to decide) for guessing the right chest. The cooperation condition was achieved by, upon successful guessing, splitting the $200NTD trial reward, thereby promoting mutual trust. The competition condition, in contrast, was done by, also upon winning, the latter receivers taking all the $150NTD reward, thereby encouraging strategic interactions. One key fMRI finding was the negative correlations between the connectivity of the right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ), known as the theory-of-mind function, and amygdala, parahippocampal gyrus, and rostral anterior cingulate (rACC), to senders' behavioral lying rates. Furthermore, the Multi-Voxel Pattern Analysis (MVPA) over multiple searchlight-identified Region-Of-Interests (ROIs), in classifying either the "truthful vs. lying in $150" or the "truthful in $200 vs. truthful in $150" conditions achieved 61% and 84.5% accuracy, respectively, reflecting the idiosyncratic brain networks involved in distinguishing the social trust vs. deceptions in the dyadic interactions.

scholarly journals Religious Belief and Cognitive Conflict Sensitivity: A Preregistered fMRI Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Hoogeveen ◽  
Lukas Snoek ◽  
Michiel van Elk
Keyword(s):  
Stroop Task ◽  
Cognitive Conflict ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Interference Effects ◽  
Standardized Measures ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Informational Conflict ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Increased Activity

AbstractIn the current preregistered fMRI study, we investigated the relationship between religiosity and behavioral and neural mechanisms of conflict processing, as a conceptual replication of the study by Inzlicht et al. (2009). Participants (N = 193) performed a gender-Stroop task and afterwards completed standardized measures to assess their religiosity. As expected, the task induced cognitive conflict at the behavioral level and at a neural level this was reflected in increased activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). However, individual differences in religiosity were not related to performance on the Stroop task as measured in accuracy and interference effects, nor to neural markers of response conflict (correct responses vs. errors) or informational conflict (congruent vs. incongruent stimuli). Overall, we obtained moderate to strong evidence in favor of the null hypotheses that religiosity is unrelated to cognitive conflict sensitivity. We discuss the implications for the neuroscience of religion and emphasize the importance of designing studies that more directly implicate religious concepts and behaviors in an ecologically valid manner.

scholarly journals Fear Processing in Dental Phobia during Crossmodal Symptom Provocation: An fMRI Study

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Hilbert ◽  
Ricarda Evens ◽  
Nina Isabel Maslowski ◽  
Hans-Ulrich Wittchen ◽  
Ulrike Lueken
Keyword(s):  
Visual Stimulation ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Auditory Stimuli ◽  
Symptom Provocation ◽  
Dental Phobia ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Neural Underpinnings

While previous studies successfully identified the core neural substrates of the animal subtype of specific phobia, only few and inconsistent research is available for dental phobia. These findings might partly relate to the fact that, typically, visual stimuli were employed. The current study aimed to investigate the influence of stimulus modality on neural fear processing in dental phobia. Thirteen dental phobics (DP) and thirteen healthy controls (HC) attended a block-design functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) symptom provocation paradigm encompassing both visual and auditory stimuli. Drill sounds and matched neutral sinus tones served as auditory stimuli and dentist scenes and matched neutral videos as visual stimuli. Group comparisons showed increased activation in the insula, anterior cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and thalamus in DP compared to HC during auditory but not visual stimulation. On the contrary, no differential autonomic reactions were observed in DP. Present results are largely comparable to brain areas identified in animal phobia, but also point towards a potential downregulation of autonomic outflow by neural fear circuits in this disorder. Findings enlarge our knowledge about neural correlates of dental phobia and may help to understand the neural underpinnings of the clinical and physiological characteristics of the disorder.

Decision-making under Risk: An fMRI Study

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 1642-1652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Hewig ◽  
Thomas Straube ◽  
Ralf H. Trippe ◽  
Nora Kretschmer ◽  
Holger Hecht ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Decision Making Under Risk ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Decision Under Risk ◽  
Decisions Under Risk ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Increased Activity

Recent research has focused on decision-making under risk and its neural bases. Two kinds of bad decisions under risk may be defined: too risky decisions and too cautious decisions. Here we show that suboptimal decisions of both kinds lead to increased activity in the anterior cingulate cortex in a Blackjack gambling task. Moreover, this increased activity is related to the avoidance of the negatively evaluated decision under risk. These findings complement other results suggesting an important role of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex in reward-based decision-making and conflict resolution.

Judgments About Others’ Trustworthiness: An fMRI Study

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 28-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Motoki Watabe ◽  
Hiroshi Ban ◽  
Hiroki Yamamoto
Keyword(s):  
Frontal Lobe ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Angular Gyrus ◽  
Left Frontal Lobe ◽  
Learning History ◽  
General Trust ◽  
Middle Range ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Trust Scale

We investigated how information about others’ trustworthiness affects brain region activation in a functional MRI (fMRI) study. Participants were given statements about a person’s behaviors and were asked to judge whether or not the person was trustworthy while undergoing fMRI imaging. Participants read 32 statements, half of which were relevant to making judgments about trustworthiness, and half of which were irrelevant to making judgments about trustworthiness. We found that making trustworthiness judgments when reading relevant statements was associated with differential activation in five regions: the angular gyrus (AG), anterior cingulate (AC), left frontal lobe (LF), right frontal lobe (RF), and putamen/caudate nucleus (PU/CA). Previous studies using highly abstract economic game situations have also shown activation in these regions. These regions are also related to the learning process and to theory-of-mind processing. In addition, we found that people with high or low scores on a general trust scale showed less activation than did people with middle-range scores. These results suggest that we use trial-and-error learning to decide whether to trust others, and that this learning history (represented here as general trust level) influences automatic processing of new trust judgments.

Control of the anterior cingulate/mPFC over the amygdala: a longitudinal fMRI study in patients with panic disorder

2007 ◽  
Vol 40 (05) ◽  
Author(s):  
N Chechko ◽  
M Czisch ◽  
A Erhardt ◽  
D Hoehn ◽  
R Wehrle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Panic Disorder ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Fmri Study

Ventrolateral Preoptic Nucleus of Hypothalamus: A Possible Target for Deep Brain Stimulation for Treating Sexual Dysfunction

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3 And 4) ◽  
pp. 99-102
Author(s):  
Fariborz Ghaffarpasand ◽  
◽  
Mousa Taghipour ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Deep Brain Stimulation ◽  
Sexual Dysfunction ◽  
Sexual Function ◽  
Brain Stimulation ◽  
Sexual Behaviors ◽  
Angular Gyrus ◽  
Parahippocampal Gyrus ◽  
Left Caudate ◽  
Ventrolateral Preoptic Nucleus ◽  
Deep Brain

Sexual function and orientation is a complex platform of human personality which is being modulated by several brain circuities which is less understood currently. Recently, several studies have demonstrated interesting results regarding the role of several brain locations in sexual behaviors and orientation. Sexual arousal in homosexual men is associated with activation of the left angular gyrus, left caudate nucleus, Ventrolateral Preoptic (VLPO) Nucleus of Hypothalamus and right pallidum; while it is associated with bilateral lingual gyrus, right hippocampus, and right parahippocampal gyrus in heterosexual men. We postulate that sexual-orientation behaviors are being mediated by several circuits in the brain in the center of which the VLPO is playing an indistinguishable role. We hypothesize that the different aspects of the sexual dysfunction could be associated with innate or acquired lesions of VLPO. Accordingly, the electrical stimulation of the nucleus in those with sexual dysfunction would be a treatment option. Thus the VLPO could be considered a target for Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) in individuals with impaired sexual function.

scholarly journals Differences in empathy toward patients between medical and nonmedical students: an fMRI study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shin Ah Kim ◽  
Young-Mee Lee ◽  
Stephan Hamann ◽  
Sang Hee Kim
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Patient Perspective ◽  
Medical Curriculum ◽  
Imaging Study ◽  
Cognitive Empathy ◽  
Functional Brain Imaging ◽  
Temporal Region ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Imaging Results ◽  
Increased Activity

AbstractThere is growing concern about a potential decline in empathy among medical students over time. Despite the importance of empathy toward patients in medicine, it remains unclear the nature of the changes in empathy among medical students. Thus, we systematically investigated affective and cognitive empathy for patients among medical students using neuroscientific approach. Nineteen medical students who completed their fifth-year medical curriculum and 23 age- and sex-matched nonmedical students participated in a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Inside a brain scanner, all participants read empathy-eliciting scenarios while adopting either the patient or doctor perspective. Brain activation and self-reported ratings during the experience of empathy were obtained. Behavioral results indicated that all participants reported greater emotional negativity and empathic concern in association with the patient perspective condition than with the doctor perspective condition. Functional brain imaging results indicated that neural activity in the posterior superior temporal region implicated in goal-relevant attention reorienting was overall increased under the patient perspective than the doctor perspective condition. Relative to nonmedical students, medical students showed decreased activity in the temporoparietal region implicated in mentalizing under the patient perspective versus doctor perspective condition. Notably, this same region showed increased activity under the doctor versus patient condition in medical students relative to nonmedical students. This study is among the first to investigate the neural mechanisms of empathy among medical students and the current findings point to the cognitive empathy system as the locus of the primary brain differences associated with empathy toward patients.

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