scholarly journals Smaller Volume in Left-Lateralized Brain Structures Correlates with Greater Experience of Negative Non-target Emotions in Neurodegenerative Diseases

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuan-Hua Chen ◽  
Alice Y Hua ◽  
Sandy J Lwi ◽  
Claudia M Haase ◽  
Howard J Rosen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Contaminated Food ◽  
Positive Target ◽  
Withdrawal Behaviors

Abstract Subjective emotional experience that is congruent with a given situation (i.e., target emotions) is critical for human survival (e.g., feeling disgusted in response to contaminated food motivates withdrawal behaviors). Neurodegenerative diseases including frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease affect brain regions critical for cognitive and emotional functioning, resulting in increased experience of emotions incongruent with the situation (i.e., non-target emotions, such as feeling happy when seeing someone grieving). We examined neuroanatomical correlates of subjective experience of non-target emotions in 147 patients with neurodegenerative diseases and 26 healthy individuals. Participants watched three films intended to elicit particular target emotions and rated their experience of negative and positive target and non-target emotions after watching each film. We found that smaller volume in left hemisphere regions (e.g., caudate, putamen, and dorsal anterior insula) was associated with greater experience of negative non-target emotions. Follow-up analyses confirmed that these effects were left-lateralized. No correlates emerged for positive non-target emotions. These findings suggest that volume loss in left-hemisphere regions produces a more diffuse, incongruent experience of non-target emotions. These findings provide a potential neuroanatomical basis for understanding how subjective emotional experience is constructed in the brain and how this can be disrupted in neurodegenerative disease.

scholarly journals Volumetric MRI analysis of brain structures in patients with history of first and repeated suicide attempts: a cross sectional study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milda Sarkinaite ◽  
Rymante Gleizniene ◽  
Virginija Adomaitiene ◽  
Kristina Dambrauskiene ◽  
Nijole Raskauskiene ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Suicide Attempt ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Cortical Thickness ◽  
Suicide Attempts ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Suicide Attempters ◽  
History Of

Abstract Background Structural brain changes are found in suicide attempters, as well as in patients with mental disorders. It remains unclear whether the suicidal behavior is related to atrophy of brain regions and how the morphology of specific brain areas is changing with each suicide attempt. This cross-sectional study examined volumetric differences in brain regions among patients with history of first and repeated suicide attempts in comparison to healthy controls (HC). Methods The sample consisted of 56 adults, non-psychotic patients without cognitive impairment and any organic brain disorders hospitalized after first suicide attempt (first SA) (n=29) and more than one suicide attempt (SA>1) during the lifetime (n=27); and 54 adult volunteers without history of mental disorder and suicide attempts, designated as HC. The MRI data were collected using 1.5 T Siemens Avanto scanner. Brain cortical thickness, grey and white matter volumes were measured using FreeSurfer 6.0 automatic segmentation technique. Results In comparison to HC, patients with first SA had 3.5, 3.58 and 4.19% significantly lower mean cortical thickness of the superior and rostral middle frontal areas of the left hemisphere and superior frontal area of the right hemisphere, respectively; 4.09, 4.02 and 4.49% lower mean cortical thickness of the inferior, middle and superior temporal areas of the left hemisphere, respectively. In comparison to HC, patients after SA>1 had a significantly lower mean cortical thickness (from 4.02 to 8.33%) in ten areas of frontal cortex of the left hemisphere and seven areas of the right hemisphere; from 3.90 to 6.04% difference in six areas of temporal cortex in both hemispheres. The comparison of hippocampus volume showed a significantly lower mean volume (7.86 to 9.89%) of left and right parts in patients with SA>1, but not in patients with first SA. Conclusions Hospitalized suicide attempters had lower frontal and temporal cortical thickness and smaller parts of hippocampus than HC; these differences were significantly higher in repeated suicide attempters than in patients with first SA. Our findings suggest that repeated suicidal behavior is associated with intensifying atrophy of specific brain structures, independently of diagnosis of depressive disorders.

scholarly journals Multi-Racial Normative Data for Lobar and Subcortical Brain Volumes in Old Age: Korean and Caucasian Norms May Be Incompatible With Each Other†

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Yong Choi ◽  
Jang Jae Lee ◽  
Kyu Yeong Choi ◽  
Uk-Su Choi ◽  
Eun Hyun Seo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
Normative Data ◽  
Brain Aging ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Normative Values ◽  
Aging Brain ◽  
Intracranial Volume ◽  
Brain Volumes ◽  
Subcortical Volumes

Brain aging is becoming an increasingly important topic, and the norms of brain structures are essential for diagnosing neurodegenerative diseases. However, previous studies of the aging brain have mostly focused on Caucasians, not East Asians. The aim of this paper was to examine ethnic differences in the aging process of brain structures or to determine to what extent ethnicity affects the normative values of lobar and subcortical volumes in clinically normal elderly and the diagnosis in multi-racial patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Lobar and subcortical volumes were measured using FreeSurfer from MRI data of 1,686 normal Koreans (age range 59–89) and 851 Caucasian, non-Hispanic subjects in the ADNI and OASIS datasets. The regression models were designed to predict brain volumes, including ethnicity, age, sex, intracranial volume (ICV), magnetic field strength (MFS), and MRI scanner manufacturers as independent variables. Ethnicity had a significant effect for all lobar (|β| > 0.20, p < 0.001) and subcortical regions (|β| > 0.08, p < 0.001) except left pallidus and bilateral ventricles. To demonstrate the validity of the z-score for AD diagnosis, 420 patients and 420 normal controls were selected evenly from the Korean and Caucasian datasets. The four validation groups divided by race and diagnosis were matched on age and sex using a propensity score matching. We analyzed whether and to what extent the ethnicity adjustment improved the diagnostic power of the logistic regression model that was built using the only z-scores of six regions: bilateral temporal cortices, hippocampi, and amygdalae. The performance of the classifier after ethnicity adjustment was significantly improved compared with the classifier before ethnicity adjustment (ΔAUC = 0.10, D = 7.80, p < 0.001; AUC comparison test using bootstrap). Korean AD dementia patients may not be classified by Caucasian norms of brain volumes because the brain regions vulnerable to AD dementia are bigger in normal Korean elderly peoples. Therefore, ethnicity is an essential factor in establishing normative data for regional volumes in brain aging and applying it to the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases.

scholarly journals Dominant hemisphere lateralization of cortical parasympathetic control as revealed by frontotemporal dementia

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (17) ◽  
pp. E2430-E2439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine C. Guo ◽  
Virginia E. Sturm ◽  
Juan Zhou ◽  
Efstathios D. Gennatas ◽  
Andrew J. Trujillo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Frontotemporal Dementia ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
The Body ◽  
Hemispheric Lateralization ◽  
Dominant Hemisphere ◽  
Autonomic Tone ◽  
Parasympathetic Control ◽  
Cortical Representations

The brain continuously influences and perceives the physiological condition of the body. Related cortical representations have been proposed to shape emotional experience and guide behavior. Although previous studies have identified brain regions recruited during autonomic processing, neurological lesion studies have yet to delineate the regions critical for maintaining autonomic outflow. Even greater controversy surrounds hemispheric lateralization along the parasympathetic–sympathetic axis. The behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), featuring progressive and often asymmetric degeneration that includes the frontoinsular and cingulate cortices, provides a unique lesion model for elucidating brain structures that control autonomic tone. Here, we show that bvFTD is associated with reduced baseline cardiac vagal tone and that this reduction correlates with left-lateralized functional and structural frontoinsular and cingulate cortex deficits and with reduced agreeableness. Our results suggest that networked brain regions in the dominant hemisphere are critical for maintaining an adaptive level of baseline parasympathetic outflow.

scholarly journals Volumetric MRI Analysis of Brain Structures in Patients With History of First and Repeated Suicide Attempts: A Cross Sectional Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milda Sarkinaite ◽  
Rymante Gleizniene ◽  
Virginija Adomaitiene ◽  
Kristina Dambrauskiene ◽  
Nijole Raskauskiene ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Suicide Attempt ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Cortical Thickness ◽  
Suicide Attempts ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Suicide Attempters ◽  
History Of

Abstract Background: Structural brain changes are found in suicide attempters, as well as in patients with mental disorders. It remains unclear whether the suicidal behavior is related to atrophy of brain regions and how the morphology of specific brain areas is changing with each suicide attempt. This cross-sectional study examined volumetric differences in brain regions among patients with history of first and repeated suicide attempts in comparison to healthy controls (HC).Methods: The sample consisted of 56 adults, non-psychotic patients without cognitive impairment and any organic brain disorders hospitalized after first suicide attempt (first SA) (n=29) and more than one suicide attempt (SA>1) during the lifetime (n=27); and 54 adult volunteers without history of mental disorder and suicide attempts, designated as HC. The MRI data were collected using 1.5 T Siemens Avanto scanner. Brain cortical thickness, grey and white matter volumes were measured using FreeSurfer 6.0 automatic segmentation technique.Results: In comparison to HC, patients with first SA had 3.5, 3.58 and 4.19% significantly lower mean cortical thickness of the superior and rostral middle frontal areas of the left hemisphere and superior frontal area of the right hemisphere, respectively; 4.09, 4.02 and 4.49 % lower mean cortical thickness of the inferior, middle and superior temporal areas of the left hemisphere, respectively. In comparison to HC, patients after SA>1 had a significantly lower mean cortical thickness (from 4.02 to 8.33%) in ten areas of frontal cortex of the left hemisphere and seven areas of the right hemisphere; from 3.90 to 6.04% difference in six areas of temporal cortex in both hemispheres. The comparison of hippocampus volume showed a significantly lower mean volume (7.86 to 9.89%) of left and right parts in patients with SA>1, but not in patients with first SA. Conclusions: Hospitalized suicide attempters had lower frontal and temporal cortical thickness and smaller parts of hippocampus than HC; these differences were significantly higher in repeated suicide attempters than in patients with first SA. Our findings suggest that repeated suicidal behavior is associated with intensifying atrophy of specific brain structures, independently of diagnosis of depressive disorders.

scholarly journals The neural representation of visually evoked emotion is high-dimensional, categorical, and distributed across transmodal brain regions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomoyasu Horikawa ◽  
Alan S. Cowen ◽  
Dacher Keltner ◽  
Yukiyasu Kamitani
Keyword(s):  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Dimensional Space ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
High Dimensional ◽  
High Dimensional Space ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Affective Dimensions

SummaryCentral to our subjective lives is the experience of different emotions. Recent behavioral work mapping emotional responses to 2185 videos found that people experience upwards of 27 distinct emotions occupying a high-dimensional space, and that emotion categories, more so than affective dimensions (e.g., valence), organize self-reports of subjective experience. Here, we sought to identify the neural substrates of this high-dimensional space of emotional experience using fMRI responses to all 2185 videos. Our analyses demonstrated that (1) dozens of video-evoked emotions were accurately predicted from fMRI patterns in multiple brain regions with different regional configurations for individual emotions, (2) emotion categories better predicted cortical and subcortical responses than affective dimensions, outperforming visual and semantic covariates in transmodal regions, and (3) emotion-related fMRI responses had a cluster-like organization efficiently characterized by distinct categories. These results support an emerging theory of the high-dimensional emotion space, illuminating its neural foundations distributed across transmodal regions.

scholarly journals Dissociable Mechanisms of Verbal Working Memory Revealed through Multivariate Lesion Mapping

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 2542-2554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Ghaleh ◽  
Elizabeth H Lacey ◽  
Mackenzie E Fama ◽  
Zainab Anbari ◽  
Andrew T DeMarco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Superior Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Auditory Information ◽  
Verbal Information ◽  
Task Conditions

Abstract Two maintenance mechanisms with separate neural systems have been suggested for verbal working memory: articulatory-rehearsal and non-articulatory maintenance. Although lesion data would be key to understanding the essential neural substrates of these systems, there is little evidence from lesion studies that the two proposed mechanisms crucially rely on different neuroanatomical substrates. We examined 39 healthy adults and 71 individuals with chronic left-hemisphere stroke to determine if verbal working memory tasks with varying demands would rely on dissociable brain structures. Multivariate lesion–symptom mapping was used to identify the brain regions involved in each task, controlling for spatial working memory scores. Maintenance of verbal information relied on distinct brain regions depending on task demands: sensorimotor cortex under higher demands and superior temporal gyrus (STG) under lower demands. Inferior parietal cortex and posterior STG were involved under both low and high demands. These results suggest that maintenance of auditory information preferentially relies on auditory-phonological storage in the STG via a nonarticulatory maintenance when demands are low. Under higher demands, sensorimotor regions are crucial for the articulatory rehearsal process, which reduces the reliance on STG for maintenance. Lesions to either of these regions impair maintenance of verbal information preferentially under the appropriate task conditions.

Sleep Duration, Sleep Apnea, and Gray Matter Volume

2021 ◽  
pp. 089198872098891
Author(s):  
Regina Eun Young Kim ◽  
Robert Douglas Abbott ◽  
Soriul Kim ◽  
Robert Joseph Thomas ◽  
Chang-Ho Yun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sleep Apnea ◽  
Sleep Duration ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Bootstrap Sampling ◽  
Matter Volume

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of sleep duration on brain structures in the presence versus absence of sleep apnea in middle-aged and older individuals. The study investigated a population-based sample of 2,560 individuals, aged 49-80 years. The presence of sleep apnea and self-reported sleep duration were examined in relation to gray matter volume (GMV) in total and lobar brain regions. We identified ranges of sleep duration associated with maximal GMV using quadratic regression and bootstrap sampling. A significant quadratic association between sleep duration and GMV was observed in total and lobar brain regions of men with sleep apnea. In the fully adjusted model, optimal sleep durations associated with peak GMV between brain regions ranged from 6.7 to 7.0 hours. Shorter and longer sleep durations were associated with lower GMV in total and 4 sub-regions of the brain in men with sleep apnea.

scholarly journals Pain Detection and the Privacy of Subjective Experience

2007 ◽  
Vol 33 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 433-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam J. Kolber
Keyword(s):  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Physical Pain ◽  
Medical Evidence ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Positron Emission ◽  
Pain Symptoms ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Neuroimaging Techniques

A neurologist with abdominal pain goes to see a gastroenterologist for treatment. The gastroenterologist asks the neurologist where it hurts. The neurologist replies, “In my head, of course.” Indeed, while we can feel pain throughout much of our bodies, pain signals undergo most of their processing in the brain. Using neuroimaging techniques like functional magnetic resonance imaging (“fMRI”) and positron emission tomography (“PET”), researchers have more precisely identified brain regions that enable us to experience physical pain. Certain regions of the brain's cortex, for example, increase in activation when subjects are exposed to painful stimuli. Furthermore, the amount of activation increases with the intensity of the painful stimulus. These findings suggest that we may be able to gain insight into the amount of pain a particular person is experiencing by non-invasively imaging his brain.Such insight could be particularly valuable in the courtroom where we often have no definitive medical evidence to prove or disprove claims about the existence and extent of pain symptoms.

scholarly journals Assessment of brain reference genes for RT-qPCR studies in neurodegenerative diseases

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasmus Rydbirk ◽  
Jonas Folke ◽  
Kristian Winge ◽  
Susana Aznar ◽  
Bente Pakkenberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
Reference Genes ◽  
Target Gene ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Quantitative Real Time Pcr ◽  
Human Brain Tissue ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Gene Expression Levels

Abstract Evaluation of gene expression levels by reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) has for many years been the favourite approach for discovering disease-associated alterations. Normalization of results to stably expressed reference genes (RGs) is pivotal to obtain reliable results. This is especially important in relation to neurodegenerative diseases where disease-related structural changes may affect the most commonly used RGs. We analysed 15 candidate RGs in 98 brain samples from two brain regions from Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), Multiple System Atrophy, and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy patients. Using RefFinder, a web-based tool for evaluating RG stability, we identified the most stable RGs to be UBE2D2, CYC1, and RPL13 which we recommend for future RT-qPCR studies on human brain tissue from these patients. None of the investigated genes were affected by experimental variables such as RIN, PMI, or age. Findings were further validated by expression analyses of a target gene GSK3B, known to be affected by AD and PD. We obtained high variations in GSK3B levels when contrasting the results using different sets of common RG underlining the importance of a priori validation of RGs for RT-qPCR studies.

scholarly journals Maternal stress during pregnancy alters fetal cortico-cerebellar connectivity in utero and increases child sleep problems after birth

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion I. van den Heuvel ◽  
Jasmine L. Hect ◽  
Benjamin L. Smarr ◽  
Tamara Qawasmeh ◽  
Lance J. Kriegsfeld ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prenatal Stress ◽  
Sleep Problems ◽  
Brain Connectivity ◽  
Fetal Brain ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
In Utero ◽  
Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽  
Child Sleep ◽  
Maternal Prenatal Stress

AbstractChild sleep disorders are increasingly prevalent and understanding early predictors of sleep problems, starting in utero, may meaningfully guide future prevention efforts. Here, we investigated whether prenatal exposure to maternal psychological stress is associated with increased sleep problems in toddlers. We also examined whether fetal brain connectivity has direct or indirect influence on this putative association. Pregnant women underwent fetal resting-state functional connectivity MRI and completed questionnaires on stress, worry, and negative affect. At 3-year follow-up, 64 mothers reported on child sleep problems, and in the subset that have reached 5-year follow-up, actigraphy data (N = 25) has also been obtained. We observe that higher maternal prenatal stress is associated with increased toddler sleep concerns, with actigraphy sleep metrics, and with decreased fetal cerebellar-insular connectivity. Specific mediating effects were not identified for the fetal brain regions examined. The search for underlying mechanisms of the link between maternal prenatal stress and child sleep problems should be continued and extended to other brain areas.

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