Data-Driven Approach to the Analysis of Real-Time FMRI Neurofeedback Data: Disorder-Specific Brain Synchrony in PTSD

2021 ◽  
pp. 2150043
Author(s):  
Jana Zweerings ◽  
Kiira Sarasjärvi ◽  
Krystyna Anna Mathiak ◽  
Jorge Iglesias-Fuster ◽  
Fengyu Cong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Data Driven Approach

Brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) can be used in real-time fMRI neurofeedback (rtfMRI NF) investigations to provide feedback on brain activity to enable voluntary regulation of the blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal from localized brain regions. However, the temporal pattern of successful self-regulation is dynamic and complex. In particular, the general linear model (GLM) assumes fixed temporal model functions and misses other dynamics. We propose a novel data-driven analyses approach for rtfMRI NF using intersubject covariance (ISC) analysis. The potential of ISC was examined in a reanalysis of data from 21 healthy individuals and nine patients with post-traumatic stress-disorder (PTSD) performing up-regulation of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). ISC in the PTSD group differed from healthy controls in a network including the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). In both cohorts, ISC decreased throughout the experiment indicating the development of individual regulation strategies. ISC analyses are a promising approach to reveal novel information on the mechanisms involved in voluntary self-regulation of brain signals and thus extend the results from GLM-based methods. ISC enables a novel set of research questions that can guide future neurofeedback and neuroimaging investigations.

scholarly journals Study of the Influence of Age in 18F-FDG PET Images Using a Data-Driven Approach and Its Evaluation in Alzheimer’s Disease

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiehui Jiang ◽  
Yiwu Sun ◽  
Hucheng Zhou ◽  
Shaoping Li ◽  
Zhemin Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fdg Pet ◽  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Strong Negative Correlation ◽  
Neural Imaging ◽  
Age Correction ◽  
Data Driven Approach

Objectives. 18F-FDG PET scan is one of the most frequently used neural imaging scans. However, the influence of age has proven to be the greatest interfering factor for many clinical dementia diagnoses when analyzing 18F-FDG PET images, since radiologists encounter difficulties when deciding whether the abnormalities in specific regions correlate with normal aging, disease, or both. In the present paper, the authors aimed to define specific brain regions and determine an age-correction mathematical model. Methods. A data-driven approach was used based on 255 healthy subjects. Results. The inferior frontal gyrus, the left medial part and the left medial orbital part of superior frontal gyrus, the right insula, the left anterior cingulate, the left median cingulate, and paracingulate gyri, and bilateral superior temporal gyri were found to have a strong negative correlation with age. For evaluation, an age-correction model was applied to 262 healthy subjects and 50 AD subjects selected from the ADNI database, and partial correlations between SUVR mean and three clinical results were carried out before and after age correction. Conclusion. All correlation coefficients were significantly improved after the age correction. The proposed model was effective in the age correction of both healthy and AD subjects.

scholarly journals Emergence and organization of adult brain function throughout child development

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tristan S. Yates ◽  
Cameron T. Ellis ◽  
Nicholas B. Turk-Browne
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Brain Function ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Adult Brain ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Data Driven Approach ◽  
The Brain

AbstractAdult cognitive neuroscience has guided the study of human brain development by identifying regions associated with cognitive functions at maturity. The activity, connectivity, and structure of a region can be compared across ages to characterize the developmental trajectory of the corresponding function. However, observed developmental differences may not only reflect the maturation of the function but also its organization across the brain. That is, a function may be mature in children but supported by different brain regions and thus underestimated by focusing on adult regions. To test these possibilities, we investigated the presence, maturity, and localization of adult functions in children using probabilistic shared response modeling, a machine learning approach for functional alignment. After learning a lower-dimensional feature space from fMRI activity as adults watched a movie, we translated these shared features into the anatomical brain space of children 3–12 years old. To evaluate functional maturity, we correlated this reconstructed activity with the children’s actual fMRI activity as they watched the same movie. We found reliable correlations throughout cortex, even in the youngest children. The strength of the correlation in the precuneus, inferior frontal gyrus, and lateral occipital cortex increased over development and predicted chronological age. These age-related changes were driven by three types of developmental trajectories across distinct features of adult function: emergence from absence to presence, consistency in anatomical expression, and reorganization from one anatomical region to another. This data-driven approach to studying brain-wide function during naturalistic perception provides an abstract description of cognitive development throughout childhood.Significance StatementWhen watching a movie, your brain processes many types of information—plotlines, characters, locations, etc. A child watching this movie receives the same input, but some of their cognitive abilities (e.g., motion detection) are more developed than others (e.g., emotional reasoning). Beyond anatomical differences, when does the child brain begin to function like an adult brain? We used a data-driven approach to extract different aspects of brain activity from adults while they watched a movie during fMRI. We then predicted what the brain activity of a child would look like if they had processed the movie the same way. Comparing this prediction with actual brain activity from children allowed us to track the development of human brain function.

scholarly journals EEGG: An Analytic Brain-computer Interface Algorithm

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gang Liu ◽  
Jing Wang
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Classification Performance ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Computer Interface ◽  
Eeg Signals ◽  
Eeg Data ◽  
Data Driven Approach ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Brain

<div><div> <p><a></a></p><div> <p><a></a><a><i>Objective. </i></a>Modeling the brain as a white box is vital for investigating the brain. However, the physical properties of the human brain are unclear. Therefore, BCI algorithms using EEG signals are generally a data-driven approach and generate a black- or gray-box model. This paper presents the first EEG-based BCI algorithm (EEGBCI using Gang neurons, EEGG) decomposing the brain into some simple components with physical meaning and integrating recognition and analysis of brain activity. </p> <p><i>Approach. </i>Independent and interactive components of neurons or brain regions can fully describe the brain. This paper constructed a relationship frame based on the independent and interactive compositions for intention recognition and analysis using a novel dendrite module of Gang neurons. A total of 4,906 EEG data of left- and right-hand motor imagery(MI) from 26 subjects were obtained from GigaDB. Firstly, this paper explored EEGG’s classification performance by cross-subject accuracy. Secondly, this paper transformed the trained EEGG model into a relation spectrum expressing independent and interactive components of brain regions. Then, the relation spectrum was verified using the known ERD/ERS phenomenon. Finally, this paper explored the previously unreachable further BCIbased analysis of the brain. </p> <p><i>Main results. </i>(1) EEGG was more robust than typical “CSP+” algorithms for the poorquality data. (2) The relation spectrum showed the known ERD/ERS phenomenon. (3) Interestingly, EEGG showed that interactive components between brain regions suppressed ERD/ERS effects on classification. This means that generating fine hand intention needs more centralized activation in the brain. </p> <p><i>Significance. </i>EEGG decomposed the biological EEG-intention system of this paper into the relation spectrum inheriting the Taylor series (<i>in analogy with the data-driven but human-readable Fourier transform and frequency spectrum</i>), which offers a novel frame for analysis of the brain.</p> </div> </div></div><div><p></p></div>

scholarly journals Can we predict real-time fMRI neurofeedback learning success from pre-training brain activity?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amelie Haugg ◽  
Ronald Sladky ◽  
Stavros Skouras ◽  
Amalia McDonald ◽  
Cameron Craddock ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Treatment Success ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Activity Levels ◽  
Success Predictors ◽  
Learning Success ◽  
Study Database

AbstractNeurofeedback training has been shown to influence behavior in healthy participants as well as to alleviate clinical symptoms in neurological, psychosomatic, and psychiatric patient populations. However, many real-time fMRI neurofeedback studies report large interindividual differences in learning success. The factors that cause this vast variability between participants remain unknown and their identification could enhance treatment success. Thus, here we employed a meta-analytic approach including data from 24 different neurofeedback studies with a total of 401 participants, including 140 patients, to determine whether levels of activity in target brain regions during pre-training functional localizer or no-feedback runs (i.e., self-regulation in the absence of neurofeedback) could predict neurofeedback learning success. We observed a slightly positive correlation between pre-training activity levels during a functional localizer run and neurofeedback learning success, but we were not able to identify common brain-based success predictors across our diverse cohort of studies. Therefore, advances need to be made in finding robust models and measures of general neurofeedback learning, and in increasing the current study database to allow for investigating further factors that might influence neurofeedback learning.

scholarly journals People with nicotine dependence use-disorder exhibit more prefrontal activity during preparatory control but reduced anterior cingulate activity during reactive control

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shivam Kalhan ◽  
Li Peng Evelyn Chen ◽  
Marta Garrido ◽  
Robert Hester
Keyword(s):  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Stop Signal ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Reactive Control ◽  
Control Activity ◽  
Neural Processes

Reduced inhibitory control and a hypersensitivity to reward are key deficits in drug-dependents, however, they tend to be studied in isolation. Here we seek to understand the neural processes underlying control over reward and how this is different in people with a nicotine use disorder (pNUD). A novel variant of the monetary incentive delay task was performed by pNUD (n = 20) and non-smokers (n = 20), where we added a stop-signal component such that participants had to inhibit prepotent responses to earn a larger monetary reward. Brain activity was recorded using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We estimated stop signal reaction times (SSRT), an indicator of impulsivity, and correlated these with brain activity. Inhibitory accuracy scores did not differ between the control group and pNUD. However, pNUD had slower SSRTs, suggesting that they may find it harder to inhibit responses. Brain data revealed that pNUD had greater preparatory control activity in the middle frontal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus prior to successful inhibitions over reward. In contrast, non-smokers had greater reactive control associated with more activity in the anterior cingulate cortex during these successful inhibitions. SSRT-brain activity correlations revealed that pNUD engaged more control related prefrontal brain regions when SSRTs are slower. Overall, whilst the inhibition accuracy scores were similar between groups, differential neural processes and strategies were used to successfully inhibit a prepotent response. The findings suggest that increasing preparatory control in pNUD may be one possible treatment target in order to increase inhibitory control over reward.

scholarly journals Peripheral arterial stiffness during electrocutaneous stimulation is positively correlated with pain-related brain activity and subjective pain intensity: an fMRI study

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshio Tsuji ◽  
Fumiya Arikuni ◽  
Takafumi Sasaoka ◽  
Shin Suyama ◽  
Takashi Akiyoshi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arterial Stiffness ◽  
Pain Intensity ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Electrocutaneous Stimulation ◽  
Pain Matrix ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Subjective Pain ◽  
Peripheral Arterial

AbstractBrain activity associated with pain perception has been revealed by numerous PET and fMRI studies over the past few decades. These findings helped to establish the concept of the pain matrix, which is the distributed brain networks that demonstrate pain-specific cortical activities. We previously found that peripheral arterial stiffness $${\beta }_{\text{art}}$$ β art responds to pain intensity, which is estimated from electrocardiography, continuous sphygmomanometer, and photo-plethysmography. However, it remains unclear whether and to what extent $${\beta }_{\text{art}}$$ β art aligns with pain matrix brain activity. In this fMRI study, 22 participants received different intensities of pain stimuli. We identified brain regions in which the blood oxygen level-dependent signal covaried with $${\beta }_{\text{art}}$$ β art using parametric modulation analysis. Among the identified brain regions, the lateral and medial prefrontal cortex and ventral and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex were consistent with the pain matrix. We found moderate correlations between the average activities in these regions and $${\beta }_{\text{art}}$$ β art (r = 0.47, p < 0.001). $${\beta }_{\text{art}}$$ β art was also significantly correlated with self-reported pain intensity (r = 0.44, p < 0.001) and applied pain intensity (r = 0.43, p < 0.001). Our results indicate that $${\beta }_{\text{art}}$$ β art is positively correlated with pain-related brain activity and subjective pain intensity. This study may thus represent a basis for adopting peripheral arterial stiffness as an objective pain evaluation metric.

scholarly journals Brain reactivity using fMRI to insomnia stimuli in insomnia patients with discrepancy between subjective and objective sleep

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Young-Bo Kim ◽  
Nambeom Kim ◽  
Jae Jun Lee ◽  
Seo-Eun Cho ◽  
Kyoung-Sae Na ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Cognitive Distortion ◽  
Sleep Diary ◽  
Bold Signal ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level ◽  
General Anxiety ◽  
Sleep Deficit ◽  
Perception Of Sleep

AbstractSubjective–objective discrepancy of sleep (SODS) might be related to the distorted perception of sleep deficit and hypersensitivity to insomnia-related stimuli. We investigated differences in brain activation to insomnia-related stimuli among insomnia patients with SODS (SODS group), insomnia patients without SODS (NOSODS group), and healthy controls (HC). Participants were evaluated for subjective and objective sleep using sleep diary and polysomnography. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was conducted during the presentation of insomnia-related (Ins), general anxiety-inducing (Gen), and neutral (Neu) stimuli. Brain reactivity to the contrast of Ins vs. Neu and Gen vs. Neu was compared among the SODS (n = 13), NOSODS (n = 15), and HC (n = 16) groups. In the SODS group compared to other groups, brain areas including the left fusiform, bilateral precuneus, right superior frontal gyrus, genu of corpus callosum, and bilateral anterior corona radiata showed significantly increased blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal in the contrast of Ins vs. Neu. There was no brain region with significantly increased BOLD signal in the Gen vs. Neu contrast in the group comparisons. Increased brain activity to insomnia-related stimuli in several brain regions of the SODS group is likely due to these individuals being more sensitive to sleep-related threat and negative cognitive distortion toward insomnia.

Acetaminophen Reduces Social Pain

2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 931-937 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Nathan DeWall ◽  
Geoff MacDonald ◽  
Gregory D. Webster ◽  
Carrie L. Masten ◽  
Roy F. Baumeister ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Social Rejection ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Physical Pain ◽  
Social Pain ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex

Pain, whether caused by physical injury or social rejection, is an inevitable part of life. These two types of pain—physical and social—may rely on some of the same behavioral and neural mechanisms that register pain-related affect. To the extent that these pain processes overlap, acetaminophen, a physical pain suppressant that acts through central (rather than peripheral) neural mechanisms, may also reduce behavioral and neural responses to social rejection. In two experiments, participants took acetaminophen or placebo daily for 3 weeks. Doses of acetaminophen reduced reports of social pain on a daily basis (Experiment 1). We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure participants’ brain activity (Experiment 2), and found that acetaminophen reduced neural responses to social rejection in brain regions previously associated with distress caused by social pain and the affective component of physical pain (dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula). Thus, acetaminophen reduces behavioral and neural responses associated with the pain of social rejection, demonstrating substantial overlap between social and physical pain.

scholarly journals Framing and Self-Responsibility Modulate Brain Activities in Decision Escalation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ting-Peng Liang ◽  
Yuwen Li ◽  
Nai-Shing Yen ◽  
Ofir Turel ◽  
Sen-Mou Hsu
Keyword(s):  
Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Human Decision

Abstract Background: Escalation of commitment is a common bias in human decision making. The present study examined (1) differences in neural recruitment for escalation and de-escalation decisions of prior investments, and (2) how the activations of these brain networks are modulated by two factors that are often argued to modulate the behavior: (i) self-responsibility, and (ii) framing of the success probabilities. Results: Imaging data were obtained from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) applied to 29 participants. A whole-brain analysis was conducted to compare brain activations between conditions. ROI analysis, then, was used to examine if these significant activations were modulated by two contextual factors. Finally, mediation analysis was applied to explore how the contextual factors affect escalation decisions through brain activations. The findings showed that (1) escalation decisions are faster than de-escalation decisions, (2) the corresponding network of brain regions recruited for escalation (anterior cingulate cortex, insula and precuneus) decisions differs from this recruited for de-escalation decisions (inferior and superior frontal gyri), (3) the switch from escalation to de-escalation is primarily frontal gyri dependent, and (4) activation in the anterior cingulate cortex, insula and precuneus were further increased in escalation decisions, when the outcome probabilities of the follow-up investment were positively framed; and activation in the inferior and superior frontal gyri in de-escalation decisions were increased when the outcome probabilities were negatively framed. Conclusions: Escalation and de-escalation decisions recruit different brain regions. Framing of possible outcomes as negative leads to escalation decisions through recruitment of the inferior frontal gyrus. Responsibility for decisions affects escalation decisions through recruitment of the superior (inferior) gyrus, when the decision is framed positively (negatively).

scholarly journals Exploring Cortical Attentional System by Using fMRI during a Continuous Perfomance Test

2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. Tana ◽  
E. Montin ◽  
S. Cerutti ◽  
A. M. Bianchi
Keyword(s):  
Performance Test ◽  
Continuous Performance Test ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Brain Network ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Visual Object ◽  
Bold Response ◽  
Object Processing ◽  
The Right

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed in eight healthy subjects to identify the localization, magnitude, and volume extent of activation in brain regions that are involved in blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response during the performance of Conners' Continuous Performance Test (CPT). An extensive brain network was activated during the task including frontal, temporal, and occipital cortical areas and left cerebellum. The more activated cluster in terms of volume extent and magnitude was located in the right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Analyzing the dynamic trend of the activation in the identified areas during the entire duration of the sustained attention test, we found a progressive decreasing of BOLD response probably due to a habituation effect without any deterioration of the performances. The observed brain network is consistent with existing models of visual object processing and attentional control and may serve as a basis for fMRI studies in clinical populations with neuropsychological deficits in Conners' CPT performance.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document