scholarly journals Object novelty and value coding segregate across functionally connected brain networks

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Ghazizadeh ◽  
MohammadAmin Fakharian ◽  
Arash Amini ◽  
Whitney Griggs ◽  
David A. Leopold ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Common Currency ◽  
Activation Dynamics ◽  
Fractal Patterns ◽  
The Common ◽  
Ventral Temporal Cortex ◽  
Value Coding ◽  
The Brain

AbstractNovel and valuable objects are motivationally attractive for animals including primates. However, little is known about how novelty and value processing is organized across the brain. We used fMRI in macaques to map brain activity to fractal patterns varying in either novelty or value dimensions in the context of functionally connected brain networks determined at rest. Results show unique combinations of novelty and value coding across the brain networks. Networks in the ventral temporal cortex and in the parietal cortex showed preferential coding of novelty and value dimensions, respectively, while a wider network composed of temporal and prefrontal areas (TP network), along with functionally connected portions of the striatum, amygdala, and claustrum, responded to both dimensions with similar activation dynamics. Our results support emergence of a common currency signal in the TP network that may underlie the common attitudes toward novel and valuable objects.

scholarly journals Brain Networks Sensitive to Object Novelty, Value, and Their Combination

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Ghazizadeh ◽  
Mohammad Amin Fakharian ◽  
Arash Amini ◽  
Whitney Griggs ◽  
David A Leopold ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Networks ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Common Currency ◽  
Brain Responses ◽  
Activation Dynamics ◽  
Fractal Patterns ◽  
The Common ◽  
Ventral Temporal Cortex ◽  
Value Coding ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Novel and valuable objects are motivationally attractive for animals including primates. However, little is known about how novelty and value processing is organized across the brain. We used fMRI in macaques to map brain responses to visual fractal patterns varying in either novelty or value dimensions and compared the results with the structure of functionally connected brain networks determined at rest. The results show that different brain networks possess unique combinations of novelty and value coding. One network identified in the ventral temporal cortex preferentially encoded object novelty, whereas another in the parietal cortex encoded the learned value. A third network, broadly composed of temporal and prefrontal areas (TP network), along with functionally connected portions of the striatum, amygdala, and claustrum, encoded both dimensions with similar activation dynamics. Our results support the emergence of a common currency signal in the TP network that may underlie the common attitudes toward novel and valuable objects.

NEUROECONOMICS, NEUROPHYSIOLOGY AND THE COMMON CURRENCY HYPOTHESIS

2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 419-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Landreth ◽  
John Bickle
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Dopamine Release ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
The Other ◽  
Common Currency ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Electrophysiological Methods

We briefly describe ways in which neuroeconomics has made contributions to its contributing disciplines, especially neuroscience, and a specific way in which it could make future contributions to both. The contributions of a scientific research programme can be categorized in terms of (1) description and classification of phenomena, (2) the discovery of causal relationships among those phenomena, and (3) the development of tools to facilitate (1) and (2). We consider ways in which neuroeconomics has advanced neuroscience and economics along each line. Then, focusing on electrophysiological methods, we consider a puzzle within neuroeconomics whose solution we believe could facilitate contributions to both neuroscience and economics, in line with category (2). This puzzle concerns how the brain assigns reward values to otherwise incomparable stimuli. According to the common currency hypothesis, dopamine release is a component of a neural mechanism that solves comparability problems. We review two versions of the common currency hypothesis, one proposed by Read Montague and colleagues, the other by William Newsome and colleagues, and fit these hypotheses into considerations of rational choice.

scholarly journals Attention enhances category representations across the brain with strengthened residual correlations to ventral temporal cortex

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arielle S Keller ◽  
Akshay V Jagadeesh ◽  
Lior Bugatus ◽  
Leanne M Williams ◽  
Kalanit Grill-Spector
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Cortical Region ◽  
Visual Responses ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Category Information ◽  
Ventral Temporal Cortex ◽  
Residual Correlations ◽  
The Brain

How does attention enhance neural representations of goal-relevant stimuli while suppressing representations of ignored stimuli across regions of the brain? While prior studies have shown that attention enhances visual responses, we lack a cohesive understanding of how selective attention modulates visual representations across the brain. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while participants performed a selective attention task on superimposed stimuli from multiple categories and used a data-driven approach to test how attention affects both decodability of category information and residual correlations (after regressing out stimulus-driven variance) with category-selective regions of ventral temporal cortex (VTC). Our data reveal three main findings. First, when two objects are simultaneously viewed, the category of the attended object can be decoded more readily than the category of the ignored object, with the greatest attentional enhancements observed in occipital and temporal lobes. Second, after accounting for the response to the stimulus, the correlation in the residual brain activity between a cortical region and a category-selective region of VTC was elevated when that region's preferred category was attended vs. ignored, and more so in the right occipital, parietal, and frontal cortices. Third, we found that the stronger the residual correlations between a given region of cortex and VTC, the better visual category information could be decoded from that region. These findings suggest that heightened residual correlations by selective attention may reflect the sharing of information between sensory regions and higher-order cortical regions to provide attentional enhancement of goal-relevant information.

scholarly journals Effector-independent brain network for auditory-motor integration: fMRI evidence from singing and cello playing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Segado ◽  
Robert J. Zatorre ◽  
Virginia B. Penhune
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Auditory Feedback ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
List Type ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Monitoring And Control ◽  
Pitch Regulation ◽  
The Brain

AbstractMany everyday tasks share high-level sensory goals but differ in the movements used to accomplish them. One example of this is musical pitch regulation, where the same notes can be produced using the vocal system or a musical instrument controlled by the hands. Cello playing has previously been shown to rely on brain structures within the singing network for performance of single notes, except in areas related to primary motor control, suggesting that the brain networks for auditory feedback processing and sensorimotor integration may be shared (Segado et al. 2018). However, research has shown that singers and cellists alike can continue singing/playing in tune even in the absence of auditory feedback (Chen et al. 2013, Kleber et al. 2013), so different paradigms are required to test feedback monitoring and control mechanisms. In singing, auditory pitch feedback perturbation paradigms have been used to show that singers engage a network of brain regions including anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), anterior insula (aINS), and intraparietal sulcus (IPS) when compensating for incorrect pitch feedback, and posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) and supramarginal gyrus (SMG) when ignoring it (Zarate et al. 2005, 2008). To determine whether the brain networks for cello playing and singing directly overlap in these sensory-motor integration areas, in the present study expert cellists were asked to compensate for or ignore introduced pitch perturbations when singing/playing during fMRI scanning. We found that cellists were able to sing/play target tones, and compensate for and ignore introduced feedback perturbations equally well. Brain activity overlapped for singing and playing in IPS and SMG when compensating, and pSTG and dPMC when ignoring; differences between singing/playing across all three conditions were most prominent in M1, centered on the relevant motor effectors (hand, larynx). These findings support the hypothesis that pitch regulation during cello playing relies on structures within the singing network and suggests that differences arise primarily at the level of forward motor control.HighlightsExpert cellists were asked to compensate for or ignore introduced pitch perturbations when singing/playing during fMRI scanning.Cellists were able to sing/play target tones, and compensate for and ignore introduced feedback perturbations equally well.Brain activity overlapped for singing and playing in IPS and SMG when compensating, and pSTG and dPMC when ignoring.Differences between singing/playing across were most prominent in M1, centered around the relevant motor effectors (hand, larynx)Findings support the hypothesis that pitch regulation during cello playing relies on structures within the singing network with differences arising primarily at the level of forward motor control

Biophysical Aspects of EEG and MEG Generation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wytse J. Wadman ◽  
Fernando H. Lopes da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Electromagnetic Fields ◽  
Maxwell Equations ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Electrical Field ◽  
The Third ◽  
Scalp Eeg ◽  
External Electromagnetic Fields ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Physical Principles

This chapter reviews the essential physical principles involved in the generation of electroencephalographic (EEG) and magnetoencephalographic (MEG) signals. The general laws governing the electrophysiology of neuronal activity are analyzed within the formalism of the Maxwell equations that constitute the basis for understanding electromagnetic fields in general. Three main topics are discussed. The first is the forward problem: How can one calculate the electrical field that results from a known configuration of neuronal sources? The second is the inverse problem: Given an electrical field as a function of space and time mostly recorded at the scalp (EEG/MEG), how can one reconstruct the underlying generators at the brain level? The third is the reverse problem: How can brain activity be modulated by external electromagnetic fields with diagnostic and/or therapeutic objectives? The chapter emphasizes the importance of understanding the common biophysical framework concerning these three main topics of brain electrical and magnetic activities.

scholarly journals Principles governing the topological organization of object selectivities in ventral temporal cortex

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiyuan Zhang ◽  
Ke Zhou ◽  
Pinglei Bao ◽  
Jia Liu
Keyword(s):  
Visual Processing ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
High Dimensional ◽  
Complex Object ◽  
Object Space ◽  
Minimization Principle ◽  
Topological Organization ◽  
Ventral Temporal Cortex ◽  
Dimensional Object ◽  
The Brain

To achieve the computational goal of rapidly recognizing miscellaneous objects in the environment despite large variations in their appearance, our mind represents objects in a high-dimensional object space to provide separable category information and enable the extraction of different kinds of information necessary for various levels of the visual processing. To implement this abstract and complex object space, the ventral temporal cortex (VTC) develops different object-selective regions with a certain topological organization as the physical substrate. However, the principle that governs the topological organization of object selectivities in the VTC remains unclear. Here, equipped with the wiring cost minimization principle constrained by the wiring length of neurons in the human temporal lobe, we constructed a hybrid self-organizing map (SOM) model as an artificial VTC (VTC-SOM) to explain how the abstract and complex object space is faithfully implemented in the brain. In two in silico experiments with the empirical brain imaging and single-unit data, our VTC-SOM predicted the topological structure of fine-scale functional regions (face-, object-, body-, and place-selective regions) and the boundary (i.e., middle Fusiform Sulcus) in large-scale abstract functional maps (animate vs. inanimate, real-word large-size vs. small-size, central vs. peripheral), with no significant loss in functionality (e.g., categorical selectivity, a hierarchy of view-invariant representations). These findings illustrated that the simple principle utilized in our model, rather than multiple hypotheses such as temporal associations, conceptual knowledge, and computational demands together, was apparently sufficient to determine the topological organization of object-selectivities in the VTC. In this way, the high-dimensional object space is implemented in a two-dimensional cortical surface of the brain faithfully.

scholarly journals Neural underpinnings of morality judgment and moral aesthetic judgment

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiuping Cheng ◽  
Xue Wen ◽  
Guozhen Ye ◽  
Yanchi Liu ◽  
Yilong Kong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Aesthetic Judgment ◽  
Aesthetic Pleasure ◽  
Neural Underpinnings ◽  
Motor Representations ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain

AbstractMorality judgment usually refers to the evaluation of moral behavior`s ability to affect others` interests and welfare, while moral aesthetic judgment often implies the appraisal of moral behavior's capability to provide aesthetic pleasure. Both are based on the behavioral understanding. To our knowledge, no study has directly compared the brain activity of these two types of judgments. The present study recorded and analyzed brain activity involved in the morality and moral aesthetic judgments to reveal whether these two types of judgments differ in their neural underpinnings. Results reveled that morality judgment activated the frontal, parietal and occipital cortex previously reported for motor representations of behavior. Evaluation of goodness and badness showed similar patterns of activation in these brain regions. In contrast, moral aesthetic judgment elicited specific activations in the frontal, parietal and temporal cortex proved to be involved in the behavioral intentions and emotions. Evaluation of beauty and ugliness showed similar patterns of activation in these brain regions. Our findings indicate that morality judgment and moral aesthetic judgment recruit different cortical networks that might decode others' behaviors at different levels. These results contribute to further understanding of the essence of the relationship between morality judgment and aesthetic judgment.

Face-selective Activation in a Congenital Prosopagnosic Subject

2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 419-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uri Hasson ◽  
Galia Avidan ◽  
Leon Y. Deouell ◽  
Shlomo Bentin ◽  
Rafael Malach
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Brain Lesion ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Face Identification ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Anatomical Location ◽  
Congenital Prosopagnosia ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Brain

Congenital prosopagnosia is a severe impairment in face identification manifested from early childhood in the absence of any evident brain lesion. In this study, we used fMRI to compare the brain activity elicited by faces in a congenital prosopagnosic subject (YT) relative to a control group of 12 subjects in an attempt to shed more light on the nature of the brain mechanisms subserving face identification. The face-related activation pattern of YT in the ventral occipito-temporal cortex was similar to that observed in the control group on several parameters: anatomical location, activation profiles, and hemispheric laterality. In addition, using a modified vase – face illusion, we found that YT's brain activity in the face-related regions manifested global grouping processes. However, subtle differences in the degree of selectivity between objects and faces were observed in the lateral occipital cortex. These data suggest that face-related activation in the ventral occipito-temporal cortex, although necessary, might not be sufficient by itself for normal face identification.

Partially Distributed Representations of Objects and Faces in Ventral Temporal Cortex

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 580-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice J. O'Toole ◽  
Fang Jiang ◽  
Hervé Abdi ◽  
James V. Haxby
Keyword(s):  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
High Spatial Frequency ◽  
Object Classification ◽  
Classification Model ◽  
Neural Structure ◽  
Line Drawings ◽  
Object Categories ◽  
Ventral Temporal Cortex

Object and face representations in ventral temporal (VT) cortex were investigated by combining object confusability data from a computational model of object classification with neural response confusability data from a functional neuroimaging experiment. A pattern-based classification algorithm learned to categorize individual brain maps according to the object category being viewed by the subject. An identical algorithm learned to classify an image-based, view-dependent representation of the stimuli. High correlations were found between the confusability of object categories and the confusability of brain activity maps. This occurred even with the inclusion of multiple views of objects, and when the object classification model was tested with high spatial frequency “line drawings” of the stimuli. Consistent with a distributed representation of objects in VT cortex, the data indicate that object categories with shared image-based attributes have shared neural structure.

scholarly journals Neural Underpinnings of Morality Judgment and Moral Aesthetic Judgment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiuping Cheng ◽  
Xue Wen ◽  
Yanchi Liu ◽  
Lei Mo
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Aesthetic Judgment ◽  
Aesthetic Pleasure ◽  
Neural Underpinnings ◽  
Motor Representations ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Morality judgment usually refers to the evaluation of moral behavior`s ability to affect others` interests and welfare, while moral aesthetic judgment often implies the appraisal of moral behavior's capability to provide aesthetic pleasure. Both are based on the behavioral understanding. To our knowledge, no study has directly compared the brain activity of these two types of judgments. The present study recorded and analyzed brain activity involved in the morality and moral aesthetic judgments to reveal whether these two types of judgments differ in their neural underpinnings. Results reveled that morality judgment activated the frontal, parietal and occipital cortex previously reported for motor representations of behavior. Evaluation of goodness and badness showed similar patterns of activation in these brain regions. In contrast, moral aesthetic judgment elicited specific activations in the frontal, parietal and temporal cortex proved to be involved in the behavioral intentions and emotions. Evaluation of beauty and ugliness showed similar patterns of activation in these brain regions. Our findings indicate that morality judgment and moral aesthetic judgment recruit different cortical networks that might decode others' behaviors at different levels. These results contribute to further understanding of the essence of the relationship between morality judgment and aesthetic judgment.

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