scholarly journals A short, robust brain activation control task optimised for pharmacological fMRI studies

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica-Lily Harvey ◽  
Lysia Demetriou ◽  
John McGonigle ◽  
Matthew B Wall
Keyword(s):  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Control Task ◽  
Indirect Measure ◽  
Basic Task ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Task Conditions ◽  
Test Retest Reliability ◽  
The Brain

AbstractFunctional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a popular method for examining pharmacological effects on the brain; however the BOLD response is an indirect measure of neural activity, and as such is vulnerable to confounding effects of pharmacological probes. Controlling for such non-specific effects in pharmacological fMRI studies is therefore an important consideration. We have developed two variants of a standardized control task that are short (5 minutes duration) simple (for both the subject and experimenter), widely applicable, and yield a number of readouts in a spatially diverse set of brain networks. The tasks consist of four functionally discreet three-second trial types (plus additional null trials) and contain visual, auditory, motor and cognitive (eye-movements, and working memory tasks in the two task variants) stimuli. Performance of the tasks was assessed in a group of 15 subjects scanned on two separate occasions, with test-retest reliability explicitly assessed using intra-class correlation coefficients. Both tasks produced robust patterns of brain activation in the expected brain regions, and reliability coefficients for the tasks were generally high, with four out of eight task conditions rated as ‘excellent’, and only one out of eight rated as ‘poor’. Voxel-wise reliability measures also showed good spatial concordances with the brain activation results. Either of the two task variants would be suitable for use as a control task in future pharmacological fMRI studies or for any situation where a short, reliable, basic task paradigm is required. Stimulus code is available online for re-use by the scientific community.

scholarly journals A short, robust brain activation control task optimised for pharmacological fMRI studies

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica-Lily Harvey ◽  
Lysia Demetriou ◽  
John McGonigle ◽  
Matthew B. Wall
Keyword(s):  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Neurovascular Coupling ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Control Task ◽  
Physiological Factors ◽  
Basic Task ◽  
Task Conditions ◽  
Reliability Coefficients

Background Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a popular method for examining pharmacological effects on the brain; however, the BOLD response is dependent on intact neurovascular coupling, and potentially modulated by a number of physiological factors. Pharmacological fMRI is therefore vulnerable to confounding effects of pharmacological probes on general physiology or neurovascular coupling. Controlling for such non-specific effects in pharmacological fMRI studies is therefore an important consideration, and there is an additional need for well-validated fMRI task paradigms that could be used to control for such effects, or for general testing purposes. Methods We have developed two variants of a standardized control task that are short (5 minutes duration) simple (for both the subject and experimenter), widely applicable, and yield a number of readouts in a spatially diverse set of brain networks. The tasks consist of four functionally discrete three-second trial types (plus additional null trials) and contain visual, auditory, motor and cognitive (eye-movements, and working memory tasks in the two task variants) stimuli. Performance of the tasks was assessed in a group of 15 subjects scanned on two separate occasions, with test-retest reliability explicitly assessed using intra-class correlation coefficients. Results Both tasks produced robust patterns of brain activation in the expected brain regions, and region of interest-derived reliability coefficients for the tasks were generally high, with four out of eight task conditions rated as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’, and only one out of eight rated as ‘poor’. Median values in the voxel-wise reliability measures were also >0.7 for all task conditions, and therefore classed as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’. The spatial concordance between the most highly activated voxels and those with the highest reliability coefficients was greater for the sensory (auditory, visual) conditions than the other (motor, cognitive) conditions. Discussion Either of the two task variants would be suitable for use as a control task in future pharmacological fMRI studies or for any other investigation where a short, reliable, basic task paradigm is required. Stimulus code is available online for re-use by the scientific community.

scholarly journals Associations of Vitamin D and Vitamin K and Their Metabolites Across Four Regions of the Human Brain: The Memory and Aging Project (MAP) (FS05-02-19)

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xueyan Fu ◽  
Will Patterson ◽  
Gregory Dolnikowski ◽  
Bess Dawson-Hughes ◽  
Martha Morris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vitamin D ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Vitamin K ◽  
Vitamin D3 ◽  
Rank Order ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Multiple Regions ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Objectives Very little is known about the forms of vitamin D and vitamin K in the human brain. The objective of this study is to evaluate concentrations of vitamin D and vitamin K forms in human brain and their correlations across four human brain regions. Methods Vitamin D [D3, 25(OH)D and 1,25(OH)2D] and vitamin K [phylloquinone and menaquinone-4 (MK4)] concentrations were measured by LC/MS/MS and HPLC, respectively, in four brain regions from post-mortem samples obtained from participants in the Rush Memory and Aging Project (n = 130, mean age 82 yrs, 81% female). The brain regions analyzed were the mid-frontal cortex (MF) and mid-temporal cortex (MT) [two regions important for memory in Alzheimer's Disease (AD)], the cerebellum (CR, a region not affected by AD), and the anterior watershed white matter (AWS, a region associated with vascular disease). The correlations among the vitamin forms across brain regions were calculated using Spearman rank order correlation coefficients. Significance was set at P < 0.001. Results The average concentrations of vitamin D3, 25(OH)D and MK4 were 604 pg/g, 535 pg/g, and 3.4 pmol/g, respectively. 25(OH)D and MK4 were detected in >95% of the brain samples. Nearly 92% of 1,25(OH)2D and 80% of phylloquinone samples had concentrations below the limit of assay detection (LOD) 1,25(OH)2D = 20 ng/g, phylloquinone = 0.1 pmol/g). Vitamin D3 and 25(OH)D concentrations were positively correlated across all four regions (all Spearman r ≥ 0.78, P < 0.0001). The 1,25(OH)2D was significantly correlated between the MF and CR regions only (Spearman r = 0.30, P < 0.001, all other P ≥ 0.002). MK4 and PK were positively correlated across the four regions studied (MK4 all Spearman r ≥ 0.78, phylloquinone r ≥ 0.49, all P < 0.001). Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first evaluation of the concentrations of vitamin D and vitamin K forms in multiple regions of the human brain. Overall, the vitamin D and vitamin K forms were each positively correlated across the four brain regions studied. Future studies are needed to clarify the roles of these nutrients in AD and dementia. Funding Sources National Institute of Aging.

scholarly journals Algebra dissociates from arithmetic in the brain semantic network

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dazhi Cheng ◽  
Mengyi Li ◽  
Naiyi Wang ◽  
Liangyuan Ouyang ◽  
Xinlin Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Supplementary Motor Area ◽  
Semantic Network ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Motor Area ◽  
Angular Gyrus ◽  
Precentral Gyrus ◽  
Single Trial ◽  
Brain Behavior ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Background Mathematical expressions mainly include arithmetic (such as 8 − (1 + 3)) and algebraic expressions (such as a − (b + c)). Previous studies shown that both algebraic processing and arithmetic involved the bilateral parietal brain regions. Although behavioral and neuropsychological studies have revealed the dissociation between algebra and arithmetic, how algebraic processing is dissociated from arithmetic in brain networks is still unclear. Methods Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), this study scanned 30 undergraduates and directly compared the brain activation during algebra and arithmetic. Brain activations, single-trial (item-wise) interindividual correlation and mean-trial interindividual correlation related to algebra processing were compared with those related to arithmetic. Results Brain activation analyses showed that algebra elicited greater activation in the angular gyrus and arithmetic elicited greater activation in the bilateral supplementary motor area, left insula, and left inferior parietal lobule. Interindividual single-trial brain-behavior correlation revealed significant brain-behavior correlations in the semantic network, including the middle temporal gyri, inferior frontal gyri, dorsomedial prefrontal cortices, and left angular gyrus, for algebra. For arithmetic, the significant brain-behavior correlations were located in the phonological network, including the precentral gyrus and supplementary motor area, and in the visuospatial network, including the bilateral superior parietal lobules. Conclusion These findings suggest that algebra relies on the semantic network and arithmetic relies on the phonological and visuospatial networks.

scholarly journals Concept generation techniques change patterns of brain activation during engineering design

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tripp Shealy ◽  
John Gero ◽  
Mo Hu ◽  
Julie Milovanovic
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Morphological Analysis ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Concept Generation ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Cognitive Activation ◽  
The Brain

Abstract This paper presents the results of studying the brain activations of 30 engineering students when using three different design concept generation techniques: brainstorming, morphological analysis, and TRIZ. Changes in students’ brain activation in the prefrontal cortex were measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. The results are based on the area under the curve analysis of oxygenated hemodynamic response as well as an assessment of functional connectivity using Pearson’s correlation to compare students’ cognitive brain activations using these three different ideation techniques. The results indicate that brainstorming and morphological analysis demand more cognitive activation across the prefrontal cortex (PFC) compared to TRIZ. The highest cognitive activation when brainstorming and using morphological analysis is in the right dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC) and ventrolateral PFC. These regions are associated with divergent thinking and ill-defined problem-solving. TRIZ produces more cognitive activation in the left DLPFC. This region is associated with convergent thinking and making judgments. Morphological analysis and TRIZ also enable greater coordination (i.e., synchronized activation) between brain regions. These findings offer new evidence that structured techniques like TRIZ reduce cognitive activation, change patterns of activation and increase coordination between regions in the brain.

A Parametric Approach to Orthographic Processing in the Brain: An fMRI Study

2000 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. -A. Tagamets ◽  
Jared M. Novick ◽  
Maria L. Chalmers ◽  
Rhonda B. Friedman
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Healthy Adult ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Orthographic Processing ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
Parametric Approach ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Brain

Brain activation studies of orthographic stimuli typically start with the premise that different types of orthographic strings (e.g., words, pseudowords) differ from each other in discrete ways, which should be reflected in separate and distinct areas of brain activation. The present study starts from a different premise: Words, pseudowords, letterstrings, and false fonts vary systematically across a continuous dimension of familiarity to English readers. Using a one-back matching task to force encoding of the stimuli, the four types of stimuli were visually presented to healthy adult subjects while fMRI activations were obtained. Data analysis focused on parametric comparisons of fMRI activation sites. We did not find any region that was exclusively activated for real words. Rather, differences among these string types were mainly expressed as graded changes in the balance of activations among the regions. Our results suggests that there is a widespread network of brain regions that form a common network for the processing of all orthographic string types.

scholarly journals Reliability of the fMRI-based assessment of self-evaluation in individuals with internet gaming disorder

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Bach ◽  
Holger Hill ◽  
Iris Reinhard ◽  
Theresa Gädeke ◽  
Falk Kiefer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Internet Gaming Disorder ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Gaming Disorder ◽  
Retest Reliability ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Internet Gaming ◽  
Test Retest Reliability

AbstractThe self-concept—defined as the cognitive representation of beliefs about oneself—determines how individuals view themselves, others, and their actions. A negative self-concept can drive gaming use and internet gaming disorder (IGD). The assessment of the neural correlates of self-evaluation gained popularity to assess the self-concept in individuals with IGD. This attempt, however, seems to critically depend on the reliability of the investigated task-fMRI brain activation. As first study to date, we assessed test–retest reliability of an fMRI self-evaluation task. Test–retest reliability of neural brain activation between two separate fMRI sessions (approximately 12 months apart) was investigated in N = 29 healthy participants and N = 11 individuals with pathological internet gaming. We computed reliability estimates for the different task contrasts (self, a familiar, and an unknown person) and the contrast (self > familiar and unknown person). Data indicated good test–retest reliability of brain activation, captured by the “self”, “familiar person”, and “unknown person” contrasts, in a large network of brain regions in the whole sample (N = 40) and when considering both experimental groups separately. In contrast to that, only a small set of brain regions showed moderate to good reliability, when investigating the contrasts (“self > familiar and unknown person”). The lower reliability of the contrast can be attributed to the fact that the constituting contrast conditions were highly correlated. Future research on self-evaluation should be cautioned by the findings of substantial local reliability differences across the brain and employ methods to overcome these limitations.

scholarly journals Emergence of the Affect from the Variation in the Whole-Brain Flow of Information

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Soheil Keshmiri ◽  
Masahiro Shiomi ◽  
Hiroshi Ishiguro
Keyword(s):  
Information Flow ◽  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Whole Brain ◽  
Affect States ◽  
Flow Of Information ◽  
The Brain

Over the past few decades, the quest for discovering the brain substrates of the affect to understand the underlying neural basis of the human’s emotions has resulted in substantial and yet contrasting results. Whereas some point at distinct and independent brain systems for the Positive and Negative affects, others propose the presence of flexible brain regions. In this respect, there are two factors that are common among these previous studies. First, they all focused on the change in brain activation, thereby neglecting the findings that indicate that the stimuli with equivalent sensory and behavioral processing demands may not necessarily result in differential brain activation. Second, they did not take into consideration the brain regional interactivity and the findings that identify that the signals from individual cortical neurons are shared across multiple areas and thus concurrently contribute to multiple functional pathways. To address these limitations, we performed Granger causal analysis on the electroencephalography (EEG) recordings of the human subjects who watched movie clips that elicited Negative, Neutral, and Positive affects. This allowed us to look beyond the brain regional activation in isolation to investigate whether the brain regional interactivity can provide further insights for understanding the neural substrates of the affect. Our results indicated that the differential affect states emerged from subtle variation in information flow of the brain cortical regions that were in both hemispheres. They also showed that these regions that were rather common between affect states than distinct to a specific affect were characterized with both short- as well as long-range information flow. This provided evidence for the presence of simultaneous integration and differentiation in the brain functioning that leads to the emergence of different affects. These results are in line with the findings on the presence of intrinsic large-scale interacting brain networks that underlie the production of psychological events. These findings can help advance our understanding of the neural basis of the human’s emotions by identifying the signatures of differential affect in subtle variation that occurs in the whole-brain cortical flow of information.

scholarly journals Entropy of the Multi-Channel EEG Recordings Identifies the Distributed Signatures of Negative, Neutral and Positive Affect in Whole-Brain Variability

Entropy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (12) ◽  
pp. 1228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soheil Keshmiri ◽  
Masahiro Shiomi ◽  
Hiroshi Ishiguro
Keyword(s):  
Positive Affect ◽  
Fundamental Property ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Whole Brain ◽  
Eeg Recordings ◽  
Negative Feelings ◽  
The Brain

Individuals’ ability to express their subjective experiences in terms of such attributes as pleasant/unpleasant or positive/negative feelings forms a fundamental property of their affect and emotion. However, neuroscientific findings on the underlying neural substrates of the affect appear to be inconclusive with some reporting the presence of distinct and independent brain systems and others identifying flexible and distributed brain regions. A common theme among these studies is the focus on the change in brain activation. As a result, they do not take into account the findings that indicate the brain activation and its information content does not necessarily modulate and that the stimuli with equivalent sensory and behavioural processing demands may not necessarily result in differential brain activation. In this article, we take a different stance on the analysis of the differential effect of the negative, neutral and positive affect on the brain functioning in which we look into the whole-brain variability: that is the change in the brain information processing measured in multiple distributed regions. For this purpose, we compute the entropy of individuals’ muti-channel EEG recordings who watched movie clips with differing affect. Our results suggest that the whole-brain variability significantly differentiates between the negative, neutral and positive affect. They also indicate that although some brain regions contribute more to such differences, it is the whole-brain variational pattern that results in their significantly above chance level prediction. These results imply that although the underlying brain substrates for negative, neutral and positive affect exhibit quantitatively differing degrees of variability, their differences are rather subtly encoded in the whole-brain variational patterns that are distributed across its entire activity.

scholarly journals An fMRI investigation of the neural correlates underlying the autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR)

Bioimpacts ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 295-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryson C. Lochte ◽  
Sean A Guillory ◽  
Craig A. H. Richard ◽  
William M. Kelley
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activation ◽  
Emotional Arousal ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Light Touch ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Internal Sensation ◽  
Affiliative Behaviors ◽  
Significant Activation

Introduction: The "autonomous sensory meridian response" (ASMR) is a neologism used to describe an internal sensation of deep relaxation and pleasant head tingling which is often stimulated by gentle sounds, light touch, and personal attention. Methods: An fMRI-based methodology was employed to examine the brain activation of subjects prescreened for ASMR-receptivity (n=10) as they watched ASMR videos and identified specific moments of relaxation and tingling. Results: Subjects who experienced ASMR showed significant activation in regions associated with both reward (NAcc) and emotional arousal (dACC and Insula/IFG). Brain activation during ASMR showed similarities to patterns previously observed in musical frisson as well as affiliative behaviors. Conclusion: This is the first study to measure the activation of various brain regions during ASMR and these results may help to reveal the mechanistic underpinnings of this sensation.

Brain activation following peripheral administration of the GLP-1 receptor agonist exendin-4

2011 ◽  
Vol 301 (4) ◽  
pp. R1011-R1024 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena-Dana Baraboi ◽  
David H. St-Pierre ◽  
Julie Shooner ◽  
Elena Timofeeva ◽  
Denis Richard
Keyword(s):  
Vagus Nerve ◽  
Mrna Expression ◽  
Supraoptic Nucleus ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Nodose Ganglion ◽  
Central Regions ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Pituitary Adrenal Axis

The aim of our study was to investigate the anorectic and brain stimulatory effects of various doses of exendin-4 (Ex-4) and to investigate the role of the vagus nerve in Ex-4-induced brain activation. A dose-related increase in c- fos mRNA expression was observed following Ex-4 administration (0.155–15.5 μg/kg). Doses of Ex-4 that caused anorexia without aversive effects (0.155, 0.775 μg/kg) induced c- fos expression in the hypothalamic arcuate and paraventricular (PVH; parvocellular) nuclei as well as in the limbic and brainstem structures. Doses of Ex-4 that caused aversion (1.55, 15.5 μg/kg) stimulated the same regions (in a more intense way) and additionally activated the magnocellular hypothalamic structures (supraoptic nucleus and PVH magnocellular). The brain c- fos pattern induced by Ex-4 showed both similarities and differences with that induced by refeeding. Subdiaphragmatic vagotomy significantly blunted the stimulation of c- fos mRNA expression induced by Ex-4 in the nodose ganglion, the medial part of nucleus of the solitary tract, and the parvocellular division of the PVH. Pretreatment with Ex-9-39 (330 μg/kg ip) impaired the neuronal activation evoked by Ex-4 in all brain regions and in the nodose ganglion. Effects of Ex-4 on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity were not altered by vagotomy. Results of this study demonstrate and relate the anorectic and brain stimulatory effects of aversive and nonaversive doses of Ex-4 and indicate that the activation of specific central regions induced by the peripheral administration of Ex-4 is, at least in part, dependent on the integrity of the vagus nerve.

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