Dissociable oscillatory networks support gain and loss processing in human orbitofrontal cortex

AbstractHuman neuroimaging and animal studies have linked neural activity in orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) to valuation of positive and negative outcomes. Additional evidence shows that neural oscillations, representing the coordinated activity of neuronal ensembles, support information processing in both animal and human prefrontal regions. However, the role of OFC neural oscillations in reward-processing in humans remains unknown, partly due to the difficulty of recording oscillatory neural activity from deep brain regions. Here, we examined the role of OFC neural oscillations (<30Hz) in reward processing by combining intracranial OFC recordings with a gambling task in which patients made economic decisions under uncertainty. Our results show that power in different oscillatory bands are associated with distinct components of reward evaluation. Specifically, we observed a double dissociation, with a selective theta band oscillation increase in response to monetary gains and a beta band increase in response to losses. These effects were interleaved across OFC in overlapping networks and were accompanied by increases in oscillatory coherence between OFC electrode sites in theta and beta band during gain and loss processing, respectively. These results provide evidence that gain and loss processing in human OFC are supported by distinct low-frequency oscillations in networks, and provide evidence that participating neuronal ensembles are organized functionally through oscillatory coherence, rather than local anatomical segregation.

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Neural substrates of propranolol-induced impairments in the reconsolidation of nicotine-associated memories in smokers

Translational Psychiatry ◽

10.1038/s41398-021-01566-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Xiao Lin ◽

Jiahui Deng ◽

Kai Yuan ◽

Qiandong Wang ◽

Lin Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Neural Activity ◽

Neural Substrates ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Reward Processing ◽

Memory Reconsolidation ◽

Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽

Resonance Imaging ◽

Postcentral Gyrus ◽

Propranolol Group ◽

Propranolol Administration

AbstractThe majority of smokers relapse even after successfully quitting because of the craving to smoking after unexpectedly re-exposed to smoking-related cues. This conditioned craving is mediated by reward memories that are frequently experienced and stubbornly resistant to treatment. Reconsolidation theory posits that well-consolidated memories are destabilized after retrieval, and this process renders memories labile and vulnerable to amnestic intervention. This study tests the retrieval reconsolidation procedure to decrease nicotine craving among people who smoke. In this study, 52 male smokers received a single dose of propranolol (n = 27) or placebo (n = 25) before the reactivation of nicotine-associated memories to impair the reconsolidation process. Craving for smoking and neural activity in response to smoking-related cues served as primary outcomes. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed during the memory reconsolidation process. The disruption of reconsolidation by propranolol decreased craving for smoking. Reactivity of the postcentral gyrus in response to smoking-related cues also decreased in the propranolol group after the reconsolidation manipulation. Functional connectivity between the hippocampus and striatum was higher during memory reconsolidation in the propranolol group. Furthermore, the increase in coupling between the hippocampus and striatum positively correlated with the decrease in craving after the reconsolidation manipulation in the propranolol group. Propranolol administration before memory reactivation disrupted the reconsolidation of smoking-related memories in smokers by mediating brain regions that are involved in memory and reward processing. These findings demonstrate the noradrenergic regulation of memory reconsolidation in humans and suggest that adjunct propranolol administration can facilitate the treatment of nicotine dependence. The present study was pre-registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (registration no. ChiCTR1900024412).

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The Role of Low-frequency Neural Oscillations in Speech Processing: Revisiting Delta Entrainment

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn_a_01410 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 31 (8) ◽

pp. 1205-1215 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Victor J. Boucher ◽

Annie C. Gilbert ◽

Boutheina Jemel

Keyword(s):

Speech Processing ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Phase Coherence ◽

Theta Oscillations ◽

Neural Oscillations ◽

Acoustic Cues ◽

Low Frequency Oscillations ◽

Temporal Grouping ◽

Delta Oscillations

Studies that use measures of cerebro-acoustic coherence have shown that theta oscillations (3–10 Hz) entrain to syllable-size modulations in the energy envelope of speech. This entrainment creates sensory windows in processing acoustic cues. Recent reports submit that delta oscillations (<3 Hz) can be entrained by nonsensory content units like phrases and serve to process meaning—though such views face fundamental problems. Other studies suggest that delta underlies a sensory chunking linked to the processing of sequential attributes of speech sounds. This chunking associated with the “focus of attention” is commonly manifested by the temporal grouping of items in sequence recall. Similar grouping in speech may entrain delta. We investigate this view by examining how low-frequency oscillations entrain to three types of stimuli (tones, nonsense syllables, and utterances) having similar timing, pitch, and energy contours. Entrainment was indexed by “intertrial phase coherence” in the EEGs of 18 listeners. The results show that theta oscillations at central sites entrain to syllable-size elements in speech and tones. However, delta oscillations at frontotemporal sites specifically entrain to temporal groups in both meaningful utterances and meaningless syllables, which indicates that delta may support but does not directly bear on a processing of content. The findings overall suggest that, although theta entrainment relates to a processing of acoustic attributes, delta entrainment links to a sensory chunking that relates to a processing of properties of articulated sounds. The results also show that measures of intertrial phase coherence can be better suited than cerebro-acoustic coherence in revealing delta entrainment.

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Prestimulus feedback connectivity biases the content of visual experiences

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1817317116 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 116 (32) ◽

pp. 16056-16061 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Elie Rassi ◽

Andreas Wutz ◽

Nadia Müller-Voggel ◽

Nathan Weisz

Keyword(s):

Neural Activity ◽

Activity Patterns ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Stimulus Onset ◽

Neural Excitability ◽

Gamma Frequency ◽

Face Area ◽

Oscillatory Power ◽

The Impact

Ongoing fluctuations in neural excitability and in networkwide activity patterns before stimulus onset have been proposed to underlie variability in near-threshold stimulus detection paradigms—that is, whether or not an object is perceived. Here, we investigated the impact of prestimulus neural fluctuations on the content of perception—that is, whether one or another object is perceived. We recorded neural activity with magnetoencephalography (MEG) before and while participants briefly viewed an ambiguous image, the Rubin face/vase illusion, and required them to report their perceived interpretation in each trial. Using multivariate pattern analysis, we showed robust decoding of the perceptual report during the poststimulus period. Applying source localization to the classifier weights suggested early recruitment of primary visual cortex (V1) and ∼160-ms recruitment of the category-sensitive fusiform face area (FFA). These poststimulus effects were accompanied by stronger oscillatory power in the gamma frequency band for face vs. vase reports. In prestimulus intervals, we found no differences in oscillatory power between face vs. vase reports in V1 or in FFA, indicating similar levels of neural excitability. Despite this, we found stronger connectivity between V1 and FFA before face reports for low-frequency oscillations. Specifically, the strength of prestimulus feedback connectivity (i.e., Granger causality) from FFA to V1 predicted not only the category of the upcoming percept but also the strength of poststimulus neural activity associated with the percept. Our work shows that prestimulus network states can help shape future processing in category-sensitive brain regions and in this way bias the content of visual experiences.

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Connectivity-Related Roles of Contralesional Brain Regions for Motor Performance Early after Stroke

Cerebral Cortex ◽

10.1093/cercor/bhaa270 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Lukas Hensel ◽

Caroline Tscherpel ◽

Jana Freytag ◽

Stella Ritter ◽

Anne K Rehme ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Neural Activity ◽

Motor Performance ◽

Primary Motor Cortex ◽

Effective Connectivity ◽

Premotor Cortex ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽

Resonance Imaging ◽

Anterior Intraparietal Sulcus

Abstract Hemiparesis after stroke is associated with increased neural activity not only in the lesioned but also in the contralesional hemisphere. While most studies have focused on the role of contralesional primary motor cortex (M1) activity for motor performance, data on other areas within the unaffected hemisphere are scarce, especially early after stroke. We here combined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to elucidate the contribution of contralesional M1, dorsal premotor cortex (dPMC), and anterior intraparietal sulcus (aIPS) for the stroke-affected hand within the first 10 days after stroke. We used “online” TMS to interfere with neural activity at subject-specific fMRI coordinates while recording 3D movement kinematics. Interfering with aIPS activity improved tapping performance in patients, but not healthy controls, suggesting a maladaptive role of this region early poststroke. Analyzing effective connectivity parameters using a Lasso prediction model revealed that behavioral TMS effects were predicted by the coupling of the stimulated aIPS with dPMC and ipsilesional M1. In conclusion, we found a strong link between patterns of frontoparietal connectivity and TMS effects, indicating a detrimental influence of the contralesional aIPS on motor performance early after stroke.

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The Neural Substrates of In-Group Bias

Psychological Science ◽

10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02214.x ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 19 (11) ◽

pp. 1131-1139 ◽

Cited By ~ 233

Author(s):

Jay J. Van Bavel ◽

Dominic J. Packer ◽

William A. Cunningham

Keyword(s):

Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽

Dorsal Striatum ◽

Mixed Race ◽

Neural Substrates ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽

Intergroup Perception ◽

Amygdala Activity ◽

Group Members

Classic minimal-group studies found that people arbitrarily assigned to a novel group quickly display a range of perceptual, affective, and behavioral in-group biases. We randomly assigned participants to a mixed-race team and used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify brain regions involved in processing novel in-group and out-group members independently of preexisting attitudes, stereotypes, or familiarity. Whereas previous research on intergroup perception found amygdala activity—typically interpreted as negativity—in response to stigmatized social groups, we found greater activity in the amygdala, fusiform gyri, orbitofrontal cortex, and dorsal striatum when participants viewed novel in-group faces than when they viewed novel out-group faces. Moreover, activity in orbitofrontal cortex mediated the in-group bias in self-reported liking for the faces. These in-group biases in neural activity were not moderated by race or by whether participants explicitly attended to team membership or race, a finding suggesting that they may occur automatically. This study helps clarify the role of neural substrates involved in perceptual and affective in-group biases.

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Delineating implicit and explicit processes in neurofeedback learning

10.31234/osf.io/gykex ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Santiago Muñoz-Moldes ◽

Axel Cleeremans

Keyword(s):

Neural Activity ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Special Focus ◽

Learning Mechanisms ◽

Implicit Processes ◽

Fine Grained ◽

Promising Tool ◽

Explicit Processes ◽

Implicit And Explicit

Neurofeedback allows humans to self-regulate neural activity in specific brain regions and is considered a promising tool for psychiatric interventions. Recently, methods have been developed to use neurofeedback implicitly, prompting a theoretical debate on the role of awareness in neurofeedback learning. We offer a critical review of the role of awareness in neurofeedback learning, with a special focus on recently developed neurofeedback paradigms. We detail differences in instructions and propose a fine-grained categorization of tasks based on the degree of involvement of explicit and implicit processes. Finally, we review the methods used to measure awareness in neurofeedback and propose new candidate measures. We conclude that explicit processes cannot be eschewed in most current implicit tasks that have explicit goals, and suggest ways in which awareness could be better measured in the future. Investigating awareness during learning will help understand the learning mechanisms underlying neurofeedback learning and will help shape future tasks.

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Altered fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuation in Women with Premenstrual Syndrome Via Acupuncture at Sanyinjiao(SP6)

10.21203/rs.3.rs-17771/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Gaoxiong Duan ◽

Ya Chen ◽

Yong Pang ◽

Zhuo Feng ◽

Hai Liao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Trial ◽

Neural Activity ◽

Premenstrual Syndrome ◽

Temporal Cortex ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Inferior Temporal Cortex ◽

Frequency Fluctuation ◽

Clinical Trial Registration ◽

Acupuncture Stimulation

Abstract Background: Premenstrual Syndrome(PMS) is a prevalent gynecological disease and is significantly associated with abnormal neural activity. Acupuncture is an effective treatment on PMS in clinical practice. However, few studies have been performed to investigate whether acupuncture might modulate the abnormal neural activity in patients with PMS. Thereby, the aim of the study was to assess alterations of the brain activity induced by acupuncture stimulation in PMS patients. Methods: 20 PMS patients were enrolled in this study. All patients received a 6-min resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging(rs-fMRI) scan before and after electro-acupuncturing stimulation (EAS) at Sanyinjiao (SP6) acupoint in the late luteal phase of menstrual. Applied the fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuation(fALFF) method to examine EAS-related brain changes in PMS patients. Results: Compared with pre-EAS at SP6, increased fALFF value in several brain regions induced by SP6, including brainstem, right thalamus, bilateral insula, right paracentral lobule, bilateral cerebellum, meanwhile, decreased fALFF in the left cuneus, right precuneus, left inferior temporal cortex. Conclusions: Our findings provide imaging evidence to support that SP6-related acupuncture stimulation may modulate the neural activity in patients with PMS. This study may partly interpret the neural mechanisms of acupuncture at SP6 which is used to treat PMS patients in clinical. Trial registration:The study was registered on http://www.chictr.org.cn, the Clinical Trial Registration Number is ChiCTR-OPC-15005918, registry in 29/01/2015.

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Corticostriatal signatures of schadenfreude: evidence from Huntington’s disease

Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry ◽

10.1136/jnnp-2017-316055 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 89 (1) ◽

pp. 112-116 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Sandra Baez ◽

Mariana Pino ◽

Mildred Berrío ◽

Hernando Santamaría-García ◽

Lucas Sedeño ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Huntington's Disease ◽

Huntington’S Disease ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Reward Processing ◽

Social Emotion ◽

The Relationship ◽

Regional Brain Atrophy ◽

Shed Light

Schadenfreude—pleasure at others’ misfortunes—is a multidetermined social emotion which involves reward processing, mentalising and perspective-taking abilities. Patients with Huntington’s disease (HD) exhibit reductions of this experience, suggesting a role of striatal degeneration in such impairment. However, no study has directly assessed the relationship between regional brain atrophy in HD and reduced schadenfreude. Here, we assessed whether grey matter (GM) atrophy in patients with HD correlates with ratings of schadenfreude. First, we compared the performance of 20 patients with HD and 23 controls on an experimental task designed to trigger schadenfreude and envy (another social emotion acting as a control condition). Second, we compared GM volume between groups. Third, we examined brain regions where atrophy might be associated with specific impairments in the patients. While both groups showed similar ratings of envy, patients with HD reported lower schadenfreude. The latter pattern was related to atrophy in regions of the reward system (ventral striatum) and the mentalising network (precuneus and superior parietal lobule). Our results shed light on the intertwining of reward and socioemotional processes in schadenfreude, while offering novel evidence about their neural correlates.

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Altered fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation in women with premenstrual syndrome via acupuncture at Sanyinjiao (SP6)

Annals of General Psychiatry ◽

10.1186/s12991-021-00349-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Gaoxiong Duan ◽

Ya Chen ◽

Yong Pang ◽

Zhuo Feng ◽

Hai Liao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Neural Activity ◽

Premenstrual Syndrome ◽

Temporal Cortex ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Trial Registration ◽

Inferior Temporal Cortex ◽

Frequency Fluctuation ◽

Clinical Trial Registration ◽

Acupuncture Stimulation

Abstract Background Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a prevalent gynecological disease and is significantly associated with abnormal neural activity. Acupuncture is an effective treatment on PMS in clinical practice. However, few studies have been performed to investigate whether acupuncture might modulate the abnormal neural activity in patients with PMS. Thereby, the aim of the study was to assess alterations of the brain activity induced by acupuncture stimulation in PMS patients. Methods Twenty PMS patients were enrolled in this study. All patients received a 6-min resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scan before and after electro-acupuncturing stimulation (EAS) at Sanyinjiao (SP6) acupoint in the late luteal phase of menstrual. Fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) method was applied to examine the EAS-related brain changes in PMS patients. Results Compared with pre-EAS at SP6, increased fALFF value in several brain regions induced by SP6, including brainstem, right thalamus, bilateral insula, right paracentral lobule, bilateral cerebellum, meanwhile, decreased fALFF in the left cuneus, right precuneus, left inferior temporal cortex. Conclusions Our findings provide imaging evidence to support that SP6-related acupuncture stimulation may modulate the neural activity in patients with PMS. This study may partly interpret the neural mechanisms of acupuncture at SP6 which is used to treat PMS patients in clinical. Trial registration: The study was registered on http://www.chictr.org.cn. The Clinical Trial Registration Number is ChiCTR-OPC-15005918, registry in 29/01/2015.

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