Brain Activities in a Skilled versus a Novice Artist: An fMRI Study

Leonardo ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert L. Solso
Keyword(s):  
Blood Flow ◽  
Parietal Region ◽  
Facial Information ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Magnetic Reso ◽  
Posterior Parietal ◽  
Motor Movements ◽  
The Right ◽  
A Site ◽  
The Brain

Functional Magnetic Reso-nance Imaging (fMRI) scans of a skilled portrait artist and of a non-artist were made as each drew a series of faces. There was a dis-cernible increase in blood flow in the right-posterior parietal region of the brain for both the artist and non-artist during the task, a site normally associated with facial per-ception and processing. However, the level of activation appeared lower in the expert than in the nov-ice, suggesting that a skilled artist may process facial information more efficiently. In addition, the skilled artist showed greater acti-vation in the right frontal area of the brain than did the novice, which the author posits indicates that such an artist uses “higher-or-der” cognitive functions, such as the formation of associations and planning motor movements, when viewing and drawing a face.

scholarly journals Neural Encoding of Acupuncture Needling Sensations: Evidence from a fMRI Study

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoling Wang ◽  
Suk-Tak Chan ◽  
Jiliang Fang ◽  
Erika E. Nixon ◽  
Jing Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Neural Encoding ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Posterior Parietal ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right ◽  
Neocortical Network ◽  
The Brain

Deqiresponse, a psychophysical response characterized by a spectrum of different needling sensations, is essential for Chinese acupuncture clinical efficacy. Previous neuroimaging research works have investigated the neural correlates of an overalldeqiresponse by summating the scores of different needling sensations. However, the roles of individual sensations in brain activity and how they interact with each other remain to be clarified. In this study, we applied fMRI to investigate the neural correlates of individual components ofdeqiduring acupuncture on the right LV3 (Taichong) acupoint. We selected a subset ofdeqiresponses, namely, pressure, heaviness, fullness, numbness, and tingling. Using the individual components ofdeqiof different subjects as covariates in the analysis of percentage change of bold signal, pressure was found to be a striking sensation, contributing to most of negative activation of a limbic-paralimbic-neocortical network (LPNN). The similar or opposite neural activity in the heavily overlapping regions is found to be responding to different needling sensations, including bilateral LPNN, right orbitofrontal cortex, and bilateral posterior parietal cortex. These findings provide the neuroimaging evidence of how the individual needle sensations interact in the brain, showing that the modulatory effects of different needling sensations contribute to acupuncture modulations of LPNN network.

scholarly journals Dissociating Neural Correlates of Action Monitoring and Metacognition of Agency

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (11) ◽  
pp. 3620-3636 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Miele ◽  
Tor D. Wager ◽  
Jason P. Mitchell ◽  
Janet Metcalfe
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Dorsal Striatum ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Action Monitoring ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Metacognitive Judgments ◽  
The Right ◽  
Reflective Processing ◽  
Increased Activity ◽  
The Brain

Judgments of agency refer to people's self-reflective assessments concerning their own control: their assessments of the extent to which they themselves are responsible for an action. These self-reflective metacognitive judgments can be distinguished from action monitoring, which involves the detection of the divergence (or lack of divergence) between observed states and expected states. Presumably, people form judgments of agency by metacognitively reflecting on the output of their action monitoring and then consciously inferring the extent to which they caused the action in question. Although a number of previous imaging studies have been directed at action monitoring, none have assessed judgments of agency as a potentially separate process. The present fMRI study used an agency paradigm that not only allowed us to examine the brain activity associated with action monitoring but that also enabled us to investigate those regions associated with metacognition of agency. Regarding action monitoring, we found that being “out of control” during the task (i.e., detection of a discrepancy between observed and expected states) was associated with increased brain activity in the right TPJ, whereas being “in control” was associated with increased activity in the pre-SMA, rostral cingulate zone, and dorsal striatum (regions linked to self-initiated action). In contrast, when participants made self-reflective metacognitive judgments about the extent of their own control (i.e., judgments of agency) compared with when they made judgments that were not about control (i.e., judgments of performance), increased activity was observed in the anterior PFC, a region associated with self-reflective processing. These results indicate that action monitoring is dissociable from people's conscious self-attributions of control.

scholarly journals Cerebral [15O] Water Clearance in Humans Determined by Positron Emission Tomography: II. Vascular Responses to Vibrotactile Stimulation

1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hitoshi Fujita ◽  
Ernst Meyer ◽  
David C. Reutens ◽  
Hiroto Kuwabara ◽  
Alan C. Evans ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Positron Emission Tomography ◽  
Blood Flow ◽  
Emission Tomography ◽  
Mr Images ◽  
Vibrotactile Stimulation ◽  
Positron Emission ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Hand Area ◽  
Water Clearance

When used to measure blood flow, water leaves a residue in the vascular bed, which may contribute to the calculation of increased blood flow during functional activation of brain tissue. To assess the magnitude of this contribution with the two-compartment positron emission tomography (PET) method, we mapped the water clearance ( K1) of the brain as an index of cerebral blood flow (CBF) and the apparent vascular distribution of nonextracted H215O ( Vo). The latter map represented mainly the cerebral arterial and arteriolar volume. We also prepared subtraction maps (Δ K1, Δ Vo) of the response to vibrotactile stimulation of the fingertips of the right hand of six normal volunteers. Using magnetic resonance (MR) images of all subjects, the data were rendered into Talairach's stereotaxic coordinates and the averaged subtraction images (activation minus baseline) merged with the corresponding averaged MRI image. The Δ K1 map revealed the expected response in the primary sensory hand area; the Δ Vo response was located about 13 mm more anteriorly, close to the central fissure, most likely reflecting changes of the arteries feeding the primary sensory hand area. We conclude that cerebral perfusion and cerebrovascular responses to vibrotactile stimulation may occur in disparate locations that can be identified separately by using the two-compartment method.

scholarly journals PROTECTIVE MECHANISMS AGAINST HYPOXIA IN DIVING SIMULATION IN SWIMMERS

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-35
Author(s):  
E Podyacheva ◽  
T Zemlianukhina ◽  
E Simanovsky ◽  
E Fedorova ◽  
T Baranova
Keyword(s):  
Blood Flow ◽  
Cerebral Blood Flow ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Water Immersion ◽  
Training Session ◽  
Protective Mechanisms ◽  
Small Vessels ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Brain

Aim. The article deals with studying the systemic protective mechanisms of the brain against hypoxia during water immersion in highly skilled swimmers. Material and methods. 25 males aged 18–20 years were examined: 9 masters of sports, one master of sports of international class and 15 people not involved in sports. The study of cerebral blood flow was carried out by rheoencephalography (REG). REG was recorded at rest, when the face was immersed in water and during recovery. Examination was carried out 2 hours after the morning training session. In addition to cerebral blood flow, ECG and blood pressure were recorded at rest, during water immersion and recovery. Statistical data processing was performed using nonparametric Mann–Whitney and Wilcoxon criteria. Results. It was revealed that athletes at rest demonstrated more pronounced asymmetry of blood circulation and higher blood flow in the right hemisphere than people not involved in sports. However, during water immersion, the asymmetry disappears, blood flow improves, especially in the left hemisphere in the carotid artery territory as a result of a decrease in the tone of small vessels. In people not involved in sports, protective mechanisms are less pronounced. Conclusion. Vast experience in sports activities related to exercises performed in water and to training hypoxic exercises contributed to effective protective mechanisms against hypoxia based on the diving reflex.

Case Study

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 27-30
Author(s):  
Akash Shrikhande ◽  
Thierry Galvez ◽  
Nicolas Langendorfer ◽  
Krishna Jain ◽  
Rakesh Biswas
Keyword(s):  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Clinical Course ◽  
Parietal Region ◽  
Lower Zone ◽  
Left Thalamus ◽  
The Right ◽  
Contrast Ct ◽  
Supportive Management ◽  
The Brain

The authors discuss the clinical complexities surrounding an 85-year-old male complaining of left sided weakness for one month, along with cough and fever for 20 days. Findings on non-contrast CT scan of the brain showed an acute-on-chronic infarct in the right parietal region, in the territory of the right middle cerebral artery, with lacunar infarct in the left thalamus. A chest radiograph showed a heterogeneous opacity in the right lower zone, and air bronchogram with an elevated right dome of the diaphragm. The patient was diagnosed to have suffered a stroke with a subsequent right-sided pneumonia due to diaphragmatic palsy. The patient was put on ventilator and further supportive management was instituted. This article presents the clinical course of the case and the experiential learning associated with it.

Brain activation during thoughts of one’s own death and its linear and curvilinear correlations with fear of death in elderly individuals: An fMRI study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kanan Hirano ◽  
Kentaro Oba ◽  
Toshiki Saito ◽  
Shohei Yamazaki ◽  
Ryuta Kawashima ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activation ◽  
Posterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Fear Of Death ◽  
Brain Responses ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Negative Linear Correlation ◽  
The Right ◽  
Older Populations ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Existential Issues

Facing one’s own death and managing the fear of it are important existential issues, particularly in older populations. Although recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have investigated brain responses to death-related stimuli, none has examined whether the brain activation was specific to self-death or how it was related to the fear of death. In this study, during the fMRI measurements, 34 elderly participants (aged 60–72) were presented with either death-related or death-unrelated negative words and asked to evaluate these words based on their relevance to ‘self’ or ‘other’. Result showed that only the left supplementary motor area (SMA) was selectively activated during self-relevant judgments on death-related words. Regression analyses of the effect of fear of death on brain activation during death-related thoughts identified a significant negative linear correlation in the right supramarginal gyrus (SMG) and an inverted-U-shaped correlation in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) only during self-relevant judgments. Our results demonstrated the involvement of the SMA in existential aspect within thoughts of death. The distinct fear-of-death-dependent responses in the SMG and PCC may reflect fear-associated distancing of the physical self and the processing of death-related thoughts as a self-relevant future agenda, respectively.

Distinct Patterns of Neural Modulation during the Processing of Conceptual and Syntactic Anomalies

2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 272-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gina R. Kuperberg ◽  
Phillip J. Holcomb ◽  
Tatiana Sitnikova ◽  
Douglas Greve ◽  
Anders M. Dale ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hemodynamic Response ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Neural Systems ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Neural Modulation ◽  
Pragmatic Information ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Temporal Windows

The aim of this study was to gain further insights into how the brain distinguishes between meaning and syntax during language comprehension. Participants read and made plausibility judgments on sentences that were plausible, morpho-syntactically anomalous, or pragmatically anomalous. In an event-related potential (ERP) experiment, morphosyntactic and pragmatic violations elicited significant P600 and N400 effects, respectively, replicating previous ERP studies that have established qualitative differences in processing conceptually and syntactic anomalies. Our main focus was a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study in which the same subjects read the same sentences presented in the same pseudorandomized sequence while performing the same task as in the ERP experiment. Rapid-presentation event-related fMRI methods allowed us to estimate the hemodynamic response at successive temporal windows as the sentences unfolded word by word, without assumptions about the shape of the underlying response function. Relative to nonviolated sentences, the pragmatic anomalies were associated with an increased hemodynamic response in left temporal and inferior frontal regions and a decreased response in the right medial parietal cortex. Relative to nonviolated sentences, the morphosyntactic anomalies were associated with an increased response in bilateral medial and lateral parietal regions and a decreased response in left temporal and inferior frontal regions. Thus, overlapping neural networks were modulated in opposite directions to the two types of anomaly. These fMRI findings document both qualitative and quantitative differences in how the brain distinguishes between these two types of anomalies. This suggests that morphosyntactic and pragmatic information can be processed in different ways but by the same neural systems.

Processing Words with Emotional Connotation: An fMRI Study of Time Course and Laterality in Rostral Frontal and Retrosplenial Cortices

2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Allison Cato ◽  
Bruce Crosson ◽  
Didem Gökçay ◽  
David Soltysik ◽  
Christina Wierenga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Course ◽  
Retrosplenial Cortex ◽  
Word Generation ◽  
Baseline Task ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
External Sources ◽  
Time Courses ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Internal Generation

Responses of rostral frontal and retrosplenial cortices to the emotional significance of words were measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Twenty-six strongly righthanded participants engaged in a language task that alternated between silent word generation to categories with positive, negative, or neutral emotional connotation and a baseline task of silent repetition of emotionally neutral words. Activation uniquely associated with word generation to categories with positive or negative versus neutral emotional connotation occurred bilaterally in rostral frontal and retrosplenial cortices. Furthermore, the time courses of activity in these areas differed, indicating that they subserve different functions in processing the emotional connotation of words. Namely, the retrosplenial cortex appears to be involved in evaluating the emotional salience of information from external sources, whereas the rostral frontal cortex also plays a role in internal generation of words with emotional connotation. In both areas, activity associated with positive or negative emotional connotation was more extensive in the left hemisphere than the right, regardless of valence, presumably due to the language demands of word generation. The present findings localize specific areas in the brain that are involved in processing emotional meaning of words within the brain's distributed semantic system. In addition, time course analysis reveals diverging mechanisms in anterior and posterior cortical areas during processing of words with emotional significance.

Asymmetric Processing of Numerical and Nonnumerical Magnitudes in the Brain: An fMRI Study

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tali Leibovich ◽  
Stephan E. Vogel ◽  
Avishai Henik ◽  
Daniel Ansari
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Magnitude ◽  
Comparison Task ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Surface Areas ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Numerical Magnitudes ◽  
The Right ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
The Brain

It is well established that, when comparing nonsymbolic magnitudes (e.g., dot arrays), adults can use both numerical (i.e., the number of items) and nonnumerical (density, total surface areas, etc.) magnitudes. It is less clear which of these magnitudes is more salient or processed more automatically. In this fMRI study, we used a nonsymbolic comparison task to ask if different brain areas are responsible for the automatic processing of numerical and nonnumerical magnitudes, when participants were instructed to attend to either the numerical or the nonnumerical magnitudes of the same stimuli. An interaction of task (numerical vs. nonnumerical) and congruity (congruent vs. incongruent) was found in the right TPJ. Specifically, this brain region was more strongly activated during numerical processing when the nonnumerical magnitudes were negatively correlated with numerosity (incongruent trials). In contrast, such an interference effect was not evident during nonnumerical processing when the task-irrelevant numerical magnitude was incongruent. In view of the role of the right TPJ in the control of stimulus-driven attention, we argue that these data demonstrate that the processing of nonnumerical magnitudes is more automatic than that of numerical magnitudes and that, therefore, the influence of numerical and nonnumerical variables on each other is asymmetrical.

scholarly journals Suppression of Non-Selected Meanings Via Hippocampal Inhibition as a Possible Brain Mechanism For Ambiguity Resolution: An fMRI Study Using The Word Fragment Completion Task

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxim Kireev ◽  
Alexander Korotkov ◽  
Ruslan Masharipov ◽  
Maya Zheltyakova ◽  
Denis Cherednichenko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ambiguity Resolution ◽  
Word Fragment ◽  
Bold Signal ◽  
Word Fragment Completion ◽  
Completion Task ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Ambiguous Stimuli ◽  
Induced Forgetting ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Dealing with ambiguity, one usually selects one meaning unconsciously and remains unaware of the alternative meanings. The brain systems dealing with multiple meanings of ambiguous stimuli are relatively well studied, while the brain processing of their non-selected meanings is relatively less investigated. The current functional MRI event-related study used a modified version of the word fragment completion task to reveal possible brain mechanisms involved in processing the non-selected meaning of ambiguous stimuli. Some noun stimuli were ambiguous, and the others were not. Adjectives created contexts strongly biasing the choice of the noun meaning in one or the other way. All ambiguous and unambiguous noun stimuli were presented twice during the experiment. It was revealed that ambiguity resolution was associated with a decrement in the BOLD signal within the right and left hippocampi. This finding supported one of the tested hypotheses assumed that non-selected meanings are actively suppressed. The similarity between this result and BOLD signal changes observed for suppression-induced forgetting for purging unwanted memories from awareness allows suggesting the general neurophysiological basis for voluntary and automatic inhibitory awareness control.

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