Neural Representations of Abstract Concepts: Identifying Underlying Neurosemantic Dimensions

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 2157-2166
Author(s):  
Robert Vargas ◽  
Marcel Adam Just
Keyword(s):  
Imaging Data ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Representation Dimension ◽  
Behavioral Ratings ◽  
Verbal Representation ◽  
Neural Representations ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Multivariate Pattern ◽  
Neural Signatures

Abstract The abstractness of concepts is sometimes defined indirectly as lacking concreteness, this view provides little insight into their cognitive or neural basis. Multivariate pattern analytic techniques applied to functional magnetic resonance imaging data were used to characterize the neural representations of 28 individual abstract concepts. A classifier trained on the concepts’ neural signatures reliably decoded their neural representations in an independent subset of data for each participant. There was considerable commonality of the neural representations across participants as indicated by the accurate classification of each participant’s concepts based on the neural signatures obtained in other participants. Group-level factor analysis revealed 3 semantic dimensions underlying the 28 concepts, suggesting a brain-based ontology for this set of abstract concepts. The 3 dimensions corresponded to 1) the degree a concept was Verbally Represented; 2) whether a concept was External (or Internal) to the individual, and 3) whether the concept contained Social Content. Further exploration of the Verbal Representation dimension suggests that the degree a concept is verbally represented can be construed as a point on a continuum between language faculties and perceptual faculties. A predictive model, based on independent behavioral ratings of the 28 concepts along the 3 factor dimensions, provided converging evidence for the interpretations.

Individual Uniqueness in the Neonatal Functional Connectome

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiushi Wang ◽  
Yuehua Xu ◽  
Tengda Zhao ◽  
Zhilei Xu ◽  
Yong He ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Individual Identification ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Functional Connectome ◽  
Middle Range ◽  
Human Connectome Project ◽  
The Individual ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Identification Analysis ◽  
The Brain

Abstract The functional connectome is highly distinctive in adults and adolescents, underlying individual differences in cognition and behavior. However, it remains unknown whether the individual uniqueness of the functional connectome is present in neonates, who are far from mature. Here, we utilized the multiband resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data of 40 healthy neonates from the Developing Human Connectome Project and a split-half analysis approach to characterize the uniqueness of the functional connectome in the neonatal brain. Through functional connectome-based individual identification analysis, we found that all the neonates were correctly identified, with the most discriminative regions predominantly confined to the higher-order cortices (e.g., prefrontal and parietal regions). The connectivities with the highest contributions to individual uniqueness were primarily located between different functional systems, and the short- (0–30 mm) and middle-range (30–60 mm) connectivities were more distinctive than the long-range (>60 mm) connectivities. Interestingly, we found that functional data with a scanning length longer than 3.5 min were able to capture the individual uniqueness in the functional connectome. Our results highlight that individual uniqueness is present in the functional connectome of neonates and provide insights into the brain mechanisms underlying individual differences in cognition and behavior later in life.

scholarly journals Single units and conscious vision

1998 ◽  
Vol 353 (1377) ◽  
pp. 1801-1818 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
N. K. Logothetis
Keyword(s):  
Binocular Rivalry ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Visual Awareness ◽  
Physiological Data ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Binocular Fusion ◽  
Neural Representations ◽  
Multistable Perception ◽  
Visual Areas ◽  
Psychophysical Studies

Figures that can be seen in more than one way are invaluable tools for the study of the neural basis of visual awareness, because such stimuli permit the dissociation of the neural responses that underlie what we perceive at any given time from those forming the sensory representation of a visual pattern. To study the former type of responses, monkeys were subjected to binocular rivalry, and the response of neurons in a number of different visual areas was studied while the animals reported their alternating percepts by pulling levers. Perception–related modulations of neural activity were found to occur to different extents in different cortical visual areas. The cells that were affected by suppression were almost exclusively binocular, and their proportion was found to increase in the higher processing stages of the visual system. The strongest correlations between neural activity and perception were observed in the visual areas of the temporal lobe. A strikingly large number of neurons in the early visual areas remained active during the perceptual suppression of the stimulus, a finding suggesting that conscious visual perception might be mediated by only a subset of the cells exhibiting stimulus selective responses. These physiological findings, together with a number of recent psychophysical studies, offer a new explanation of the phenomenon of binocular rivalry. Indeed, rivalry has long been considered to be closely linked with binocular fusion and stereopsis, and the sequences of dominance and suppression have been viewed as the result of competition between the two monocular channels. The physiological data presented here are incompatible with this interpretation. Rather than reflecting interocular competition, the rivalry is most probably between the two different central neural representations generated by the dichoptically presented stimuli. The mechanisms of rivalry are probably the same as, or very similar to, those underlying multistable perception in general, and further physiological studies might reveal a much about the neural mechanisms of our perceptual organization.

scholarly journals Emotional contagion of pain across different social cues shares common and process-specific neural representations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng Zhou ◽  
Jialin Li ◽  
Weihua Zhao ◽  
Lei Xu ◽  
Xiaoxiao Zheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Emotional Contagion ◽  
Social Cues ◽  
Thermal Stimulation ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Fmri Data ◽  
Whole Brain ◽  
Neural Representations ◽  
Experienced Pain ◽  
Multivariate Pattern

AbstractInsular and anterior cingulate cortex activation across vicarious pain induction procedures suggests that they are core pain empathy nodes. However, pain empathic responses encompass emotional contagion as well as unspecific arousal and overlapping functional activations are not sufficient to determine shared and process-specific neural representations. We employed multivariate pattern analyses to fMRI data acquired during physical and affective vicarious pain induction and found spatially and functionally similar cross-modality (physical versus affective) whole-brain vicarious pain-predictive patterns. Further analyses consistently identified shared neural representations in the bilateral mid-insula. Mid-insula vicarious pain patterns were not sensitive to capture non-painful arousing negative stimuli but predicted self-experienced pain during thermal stimulation, suggesting process-specific representation of emotional contagion for pain. Finally, a domain-general vicarious pain pattern which predicted vicarious as well as self-experienced pain was developed. Our findings demonstrate a generalizable neural expression of vicarious pain and suggest that the mid-insula encodes emotional contagion for pain.

Neuropsychological Measures in the Diagnosis of ADHD in Preschool: Can Developmental Research Inform Diagnostic Practice?

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (11) ◽  
pp. 1588-1604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Merkt ◽  
Michael Siniatchkin ◽  
Franz Petermann
Keyword(s):  
Basic Research ◽  
Behavioral Observation ◽  
Developmental Research ◽  
Delay Aversion ◽  
Neuropsychological Measures ◽  
Behavioral Ratings ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Continuous Performance Tests ◽  
Diagnostic Capacity ◽  
The Individual

Objective: The diagnosis of ADHD in preschool is challenging. Behavioral ratings are less reliable, but the value of neuropsychological tests in the diagnosis of ADHD has been debated. Method: This article provides an overview of neuropsychological measures utilized in preschoolers with ADHD (3-5 years). In addition, the manuscript discusses the extent to which these measures have been tested for their diagnostic capacity. Results: The diagnostic utility of computerized continuous performance tests and working memory subtests from IQ-batteries has been demonstrated in a number of studies by assessing their psychometric properties, sensitivity, and specificity. However, findings from developmental and basic research attempting to describe risk factors that explain variance in ADHD show the most consistent associations of ADHD with measures of delay aversion. Conclusion: Results from developmental research could benefit studies that improve ADHD diagnosis at the individual level. It might be helpful to consider testing as a structured situation for behavioral observation by the clinician.

Sharing De-identified Medical Images Electronically for Research: A Survey of Patients' Opinion regarding Data Management

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 212-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasha Mahmoud ◽  
Alan R. Moody ◽  
Moran Foster ◽  
Natasha Girdharry ◽  
Loreta Sinn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Computed Tomography ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Medical Images ◽  
Data Access ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Electronic Survey ◽  
Greater Toronto Area ◽  
Secondary Usage ◽  
The Individual ◽  
University Degree

Purpose Secondary usage of patient data has recently become of increasing interest for the development and application of computer analytic techniques. Strict oversight of these data is required and the individual patients themselves are integral to providing guidance. We sought to understand patients' attitudes to sharing their imaging data for research purposes. These images could provide a great wealth of information for researchers. Methods Patients from the Greater Toronto Area attending Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre for imaging (magnetic resonance imagining, computed tomography, or ultrasound) examination areas were invited to participate in an electronic survey. Results Of the 1083 patients who were approached (computed tomography 609, ultrasound 314, and magnetic resonance imaging 160), 798 (74%) agreed to take the survey. Overall median age was 60 (interquartile range = 18, Q1 = 52, Q3 = 70), 52% were women, 42% had a university degree, and 7% had no high school diploma. In terms of willingness to share de-identified medical images for research, 76% were willing (agreed and strongly agreed), while 7% refused. Most participants gave their family physicians (73%) and other physicians (57%) unconditional data access. Participants chose hospitals/research institutions to regulate electronic images databases (70%), 89% wanted safeguards against unauthorized access to their data, and over 70% wanted control over who will be permitted, for how long, and the ability to revoke that permission. Conclusions Our study found that people are willing to share their clinically acquired de-identified medical images for research studies provided that they have control over permissions and duration of access.

Linking brain imaging signals to visual perception

2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 229-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDREW E. WELCHMAN ◽  
ZOE KOURTZI
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Brain Imaging ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
3D Perception ◽  
Multimodal Data ◽  
Psychological States ◽  
Perceptual Judgments ◽  
Brain Circuits ◽  
Brain Imaging Data

AbstractThe rapid advances in brain imaging technology over the past 20 years are affording new insights into cortical processing hierarchies in the human brain. These new data provide a complementary front in seeking to understand the links between perceptual and physiological states. Here we review some of the challenges associated with incorporating brain imaging data into such “linking hypotheses,” highlighting some of the considerations needed in brain imaging data acquisition and analysis. We discuss work that has sought to link human brain imaging signals to existing electrophysiological data and opened up new opportunities in studying the neural basis of complex perceptual judgments. We consider a range of approaches when using human functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify brain circuits whose activity changes in a similar manner to perceptual judgments and illustrate these approaches by discussing work that has studied the neural basis of 3D perception and perceptual learning. Finally, we describe approaches that have sought to understand the information content of brain imaging data using machine learning and work that has integrated multimodal data to overcome the limitations associated with individual brain imaging approaches. Together these approaches provide an important route in seeking to understand the links between physiological and psychological states.

Changes in the Mechanical Environment of Stenotic Arteries During Interaction With Stents: Computational Assessment of Parametric Stent Designs

2005 ◽  
Vol 127 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerhard A. Holzapfel ◽  
Michael Stadler ◽  
Thomas C. Gasser
Keyword(s):  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Constitutive Models ◽  
Scientific Basis ◽  
Geometrical Model ◽  
Material Behavior ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Mechanical Environment ◽  
Contact Algorithm ◽  
Stent Type ◽  
The Individual

Clinical studies have identified factors such as the stent design and the deployment technique that are one cause for the success or failure of angioplasty treatments. In addition, the success rate may also depend on the stenosis type. Hence, for a particular stenotic artery, the optimal intervention can only be identified by studying the influence of factors such as stent type, strut thickness, geometry of the stent cell, and stent–artery radial mismatch with the wall. We propose a methodology that allows a set of stent parameters to be varied, with the aim of evaluating the difference in the mechanical environment within the wall before and after angioplasty with stenting. Novel scalar quantities attempt to characterize the wall changes in form of the contact pressure caused by the stent struts, and the stresses within the individual components of the wall caused by the stent. These quantities are derived numerically and serve as indicators, which allow the determination of the correct size and type of the stent for each individual stenosis. In addition, the luminal change due to angioplasty may be computed as well. The methodology is demonstrated by using a full three-dimensional geometrical model of a postmortem specimen of a human iliac artery with a stenosis using imaging data. To describe the material behavior of the artery, we considered mechanical data of eight different vascular tissues, which formed the stenosis. The constitutive models for the tissue components capture the typical anisotropic, nonlinear and dissipative characteristics under supra-physiological loading conditions. Three-dimensional stent models were parametrized in such a way as to enable new designs to be generated simply with regard to variations in their geometric structure. For the three-dimensional stent–artery interaction we use a contact algorithm based on smooth contact surfaces of at least C1-continuity, which prevents numerical problems known from standard facet-based contact algorithm. The proposed methodology has the potential to provide a scientific basis for optimizing treatment procedures and stent geometries and materials, to help stent designers examine new stent designs “virtually,” and to assist clinicians in choosing the most suitable stent for a particular stenosis.

scholarly journals Shared neural representations of cognitive conflict and negative affect in the medial frontal cortex

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luc Vermeylen ◽  
David Wisniewski ◽  
Carlos González-García ◽  
Vincent Hoofs ◽  
Wim Notebaert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Negative Affect ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Supplementary Motor Area ◽  
Cognitive Conflict ◽  
Medial Frontal Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Neural Representations ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Multivariate Pattern

AbstractInfluential theories of medial frontal cortex (MFC) function suggest that the MFC registers cognitive conflict as an aversive signal, but no study directly tested this idea. Instead, recent studies suggested that non-overlapping regions in the MFC process conflict and affect. In this pre-registered human fMRI study, we used multivariate pattern analyses to identify which regions respond similarly to conflict and aversive signals. The results reveal that, of all conflict- and value-related regions, the ventral pre-supplementary motor area (or dorsal anterior cingulate cortex) showed a shared neural pattern response to different conflict and affect tasks. These findings challenge recent conclusions that conflict and affect are processed independently, and provide support for integrative views of MFC function.

scholarly journals Decoding Music-Evoked Emotions in the Auditory and Motor Cortex

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vesa Putkinen ◽  
Sanaz Nazari-Farsani ◽  
Kerttu Seppälä ◽  
Tomi Karjalainen ◽  
Lihua Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Instrumental Music ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Film Clips ◽  
Cortical Regions ◽  
Multivariate Pattern

Abstract Music can induce strong subjective experience of emotions, but it is debated whether these responses engage the same neural circuits as emotions elicited by biologically significant events. We examined the functional neural basis of music-induced emotions in a large sample (n = 102) of subjects who listened to emotionally engaging (happy, sad, fearful, and tender) pieces of instrumental music while their hemodynamic brain activity was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Ratings of the four categorical emotions and liking were used to predict hemodynamic responses in general linear model (GLM) analysis of the fMRI data. Multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) was used to reveal discrete neural signatures of the four categories of music-induced emotions. To map neural circuits governing non-musical emotions, the subjects were scanned while viewing short emotionally evocative film clips. The GLM revealed that most emotions were associated with activity in the auditory, somatosensory, and motor cortices, cingulate gyrus, insula, and precuneus. Fear and liking also engaged the amygdala. In contrast, the film clips strongly activated limbic and cortical regions implicated in emotional processing. MVPA revealed that activity in the auditory cortex and primary motor cortices reliably discriminated the emotion categories. Our results indicate that different music-induced basic emotions have distinct representations in regions supporting auditory processing, motor control, and interoception but do not strongly rely on limbic and medial prefrontal regions critical for emotions with survival value.

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