Modulation of the Visual Word Retrieval System in Writing: A Functional MRI Study on the Japanese Orthographies

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine whether the act of writing involves different neuro-psychological mechanisms between the two script systems of the Japanese language: kanji (ideogram) and kana (phonogram). The main experiments employed a 2 × 2 factorial design that comprised writing-to-dictation and visual mental recall for kanji and kana. For both scripts, the actual writing produced a widespread fronto-parietal activation in the left hemisphere. Especially, writing of kanji activated the left posteroinferior temporal cortex (lPITC), whereas that of kana also yielded a trend of activation in the same area. Mental recall for both scripts activated similarly the left parieto-temporal regions including the lPITC. The writing versus mental recall comparison revealed greater activations in the left sensorimotor areas and right cerebellum. The kanji versus kana comparison showed increased responses in the left prefrontal and anterior cingulate areas. Especially, the lPITC showed a significant task-by-script interaction. Two additional control tasks, repetition (REP) and semantic judgment (SJ), activated the bilateral perisylvian areas, but enhanced the lPITC response only weakly. These results suggest that writing of the ideographic and phonographic scripts, although using the largely same cortical regions, each modulates the visual word-retrieval system according to their graphic features. Furthermore, comparisons with two additional tasks indicate that the activity of the lPITC increases especially in expressive language operations regardless of sensory modalities of the input stimulus.

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Central Nervous System Processing of Emotions in Children with Fecal Incontinence and Constipation

Zeitschrift für Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie und Psychotherapie ◽

10.1024/1422-4917/a000638 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 47 (1) ◽

pp. 67-71

Author(s):

Monika Equit ◽

Justine Niemczyk ◽

Anna Kluth ◽

Carla Thomas ◽

Mathias Rubly ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Central Nervous System ◽

Nervous System ◽

Fecal Incontinence ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Afferent Pathways ◽

Study Results ◽

Related Potentials ◽

The Central Nervous System ◽

Cortical Regions

Abstract. Objective: Fecal incontinence and constipation are common disorders in childhood. The enteric nervous system and the central nervous system are highly interactive along the brain-gut axis. The interaction is mainly afferent. These afferent pathways include centers that are involved in the central nervous processing of emotions as the mid/posterior insula and the anterior cingulate cortex. A previous study revealed altered processing of emotions in children with fecal incontinence. The present study replicates these results. Methods: In order to analyze the processing of emotions, we compared the event-related potentials of 25 children with fecal incontinence and constipation to those of 15 control children during the presentation of positive, negative, and neutral pictures. Results: Children with fecal incontinence and constipation showed altered processing of emotions, especially in the parietal and central cortical regions. Conclusions: The main study results of the previous study were replicated, increasing the certainty and validity of the findings.

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The Role of Primate Prefrontal Cortex in Bias and Shift Between Visual Dimensions

Cerebral Cortex ◽

10.1093/cercor/bhz072 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 85-99 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Farshad A Mansouri ◽

Mark J Buckley ◽

Daniel J Fehring ◽

Keiji Tanaka

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Top Down ◽

Attentional Processes ◽

Prefrontal Cortical ◽

Frontopolar Cortex ◽

Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽

Cortical Regions ◽

Visual Cortical ◽

Bilateral Lesions

Abstract Imaging and neural activity recording studies have shown activation in the primate prefrontal cortex when shifting attention between visual dimensions is necessary to achieve goals. A fundamental unanswered question is whether representations of these dimensions emerge from top-down attentional processes mediated by prefrontal regions or from bottom-up processes within visual cortical regions. We hypothesized a causative link between prefrontal cortical regions and dimension-based behavior. In large cohorts of humans and macaque monkeys, performing the same attention shifting task, we found that both species successfully shifted between visual dimensions, but both species also showed a significant behavioral advantage/bias to a particular dimension; however, these biases were in opposite directions in humans (bias to color) versus monkeys (bias to shape). Monkeys’ bias remained after selective bilateral lesions within the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), frontopolar cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), or superior, lateral prefrontal cortex. However, lesions within certain regions (ACC, DLPFC, or OFC) impaired monkeys’ ability to shift between these dimensions. We conclude that goal-directed processing of a particular dimension for the executive control of behavior depends on the integrity of prefrontal cortex; however, representation of competing dimensions and bias toward them does not depend on top-down prefrontal-mediated processes.

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Altered Long- and Short-Range Functional Connectivity in Patients with Betel Quid Dependence: A Resting-State Functional MRI Study

Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry ◽

10.1159/000453212 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 40 (6) ◽

pp. 1626-1636 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Tao Liu ◽

Jianjun Li ◽

Zhiqiang Zhang ◽

Qiang Xu ◽

Guangming Lu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Long Range ◽

Short Range ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Betel Quid ◽

Posterior Lobe ◽

Functional Connectivity Density ◽

Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽

The Right ◽

Mri Study

Objective: Addiction is a chronic relapsing brain disease. Brain structural abnormalities may constitute an abnormal neural network that underlies the risk of drug dependence. We hypothesized that individuals with Betel Quid Dependence (BQD) have functional connectivity alterations that can be described by long- and short-range functional connectivity density(FCD) maps. Methods: We tested this hypothesis using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from subjects of the Han ethnic group in Hainan, China. Here, we examined BQD individuals (n = 33) and age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy controls (HCs) (n = 32) in a rs-fMRI study to observe FCD alterations associated with the severity of BQD. Results: Compared with HCs, long-range FCD was decreased in the right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and increased in the left cerebellum posterior lobe (CPL) and bilateral inferior parietal lobule (IPL) in the BQD group. Short-range FCD was reduced in the right ACC and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), and increased in the left CPL. The short-range FCD alteration in the right ACC displayed a negative correlation with the Betel Quid Dependence Scale (BQDS) (r=-0.432, P=0.012), and the long-range FCD alteration of left IPL showed a positive correlation with the duration of BQD(r=0.519, P=0.002) in BQD individuals. Conclusions: fMRI revealed differences in long- and short- range FCD in BQD individuals, and these alterations might be due to BQ chewing, BQ dependency, or risk factors for developing BQD.

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Subliminal Convergence of Kanji and Kana Words: Further Evidence for Functional Parcellation of the Posterior Temporal Cortex in Visual Word Perception

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/0898929054021166 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 17 (6) ◽

pp. 954-968 ◽

Cited By ~ 108

Author(s):

Kimihiro Nakamura ◽

Stanislas Dehaene ◽

Antoinette Jobert ◽

Denis Le Bihan ◽

Sid Kouider

Keyword(s):

Temporal Cortex ◽

Visual Word ◽

Inferior Temporal Cortex ◽

Temporal Region ◽

Writing Systems ◽

Semantic Level ◽

Visual Words ◽

Processing Level ◽

Word Repetition ◽

Repetition Suppression

Recent evidence has suggested that the human occipito-temporal region comprises several subregions, each sensitive to a distinct processing level of visual words. To further explore the functional architecture of visual word recognition, we employed a subliminal priming method with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during semantic judgments of words presented in two different Japanese scripts, Kanji and Kana. Each target word was preceded by a subliminal presentation of either the same or a different word, and in the same or a different script. Behaviorally, word repetition produced significant priming regardless of whether the words were presented in the same or different script. At the neural level, this cross-script priming was associated with repetition suppression in the left inferior temporal cortex anterior and dorsal to the visual word form area hypothesized for alphabetical writing systems, suggesting that cross-script convergence occurred at a semantic level. fMRI also evidenced a shared visual occipito-temporal activation for words in the two scripts, with slightly more mesial and right-predominant activation for Kanji and with greater occipital activation for Kana. These results thus allow us to separate script-specific and script-independent regions in the posterior temporal lobe, while demonstrating that both can be activated subliminally.

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Task-Dependent Modulation of Regions in the Left Inferior Frontal Cortex during Semantic Processing

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/08989290152541485 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 829-843 ◽

Cited By ~ 177

Author(s):

A. L. Roskies ◽

J. A. Fiez ◽

D. A. Balota ◽

M. E. Raichle ◽

S. E. Petersen

Keyword(s):

Frontal Cortex ◽

Language Processing ◽

Semantic Processing ◽

Semantic Analysis ◽

Lexical Processing ◽

Temporal Cortex ◽

Dependent Manner ◽

Inferior Frontal Cortex ◽

Semantic Judgment ◽

The Right

To distinguish areas involved in the processing of word meaning (semantics) from other regions involved in lexical processing more generally, subjects were scanned with positron emission tomography (PET) while performing lexical tasks, three of which required varying degrees of semantic analysis and one that required phonological analysis. Three closely apposed regions in the left inferior frontal cortex and one in the right cerebellum were significantly active above baseline in the semantic tasks, but not in the nonsemantic task. The activity in two of the frontal regions was modulated by the difficulty of the semantic judgment. Other regions, including some in the left temporal cortex and the cerebellum, were active across all four language tasks. Thus, in addition to a number of regions known to be active during language processing, regions in the left inferior frontal cortex were specifically recruited during semantic processing in a task-dependent manner. A region in the right cerebellum may be functionally related to those in the left inferior frontal cortex. Discussion focuses on the implications of these results for current views regarding neural substrates of semantic processing.

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The human cortical autonomic network and volitional exercise in health and disease

Applied Physiology Nutrition and Metabolism ◽

10.1139/apnm-2018-0305 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 43 (11) ◽

pp. 1122-1130 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Baraa K. Al-Khazraji ◽

J. Kevin Shoemaker

Keyword(s):

Current Knowledge ◽

Insular Cortex ◽

Cardiovascular Control ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Disease States ◽

Autonomic Activation ◽

Imaging Research ◽

Health And Disease ◽

Cortical Regions

The autonomic nervous system elicits continuous beat-by-beat homeostatic adjustments to cardiovascular control. These modifications are mediated by sensory inputs (e.g., baroreceptors, metaboreceptors, pulmonary, thermoreceptors, and chemoreceptors afferents), integration at the brainstem control centres (i.e., medulla), and efferent autonomic neural outputs (e.g., spinal, preganglionic, and postganglionic pathways). However, extensive electrical stimulation and functional imaging research show that the brain’s higher cortical regions (e.g., insular cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex) partake in homeostatic regulation of the cardiovascular system at rest and during exercise. We now appreciate that these cortical areas form a network, namely the “cortical autonomic network” (CAN), which operate as part of a larger central autonomic network comprising 2-way communication of cortical and subcortical areas to exert autonomic influence. Interestingly, differential patterns of CAN activity and ensuing cardiovascular control are present in disease states, thereby highlighting the importance of considering the role of CAN as an integral aspect of cardiovascular regulation in health and disease. This review discusses current knowledge on human cortical autonomic activation during volitional exercise, and the role of exercise training on this activation in both health and disease.

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Functional Role of the Left Ventral Occipito-Temporal Cortex in Reading

Advances in Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering - Biomedical Engineering and Cognitive Neuroscience for Healthcare ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-2113-8.ch020 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 192-200

Author(s):

Geqi Qi ◽

Jinglong Wu

Keyword(s):

Functional Properties ◽

Functional Role ◽

Word Processing ◽

Functional Organization ◽

Temporal Cortex ◽

Visual Word ◽

Word Form ◽

Considerable Debate ◽

Two Sides

The sensitivity of the left ventral occipito-temporal (vOT) cortex to visual word processing has triggered a considerable debate about the functional role of this region in reading. The debate rests largely on the issue whether this particular region is specifically dedicated to reading and the extraction of invariant visual word form. A lot of studies have been conducted to provide evidences supporting or against the functional specialization of this region. However, the trend is showing that the different functional properties proposed by the two kinds of view are not in conflict with each other, but instead show different sides of the same fact. Here, the authors focus on two questions: firstly, where do the two views conflict, and secondly, how do they fit with each other on a larger framework of functional organization in object vision pathway? This review evaluates findings from the two sides of the debate for a broader understanding of the functional role of the left vOT cortex.

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The Human Intraparietal Sulcus Modulates Task-Evoked Functional Connectivity

Cerebral Cortex ◽

10.1093/cercor/bhz133 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 (3) ◽

pp. 875-887

Author(s):

Kai Hwang ◽

James M Shine ◽

Dillan Cellier ◽

Mark D’Esposito

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Temporal Cortex ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Intraparietal Sulcus ◽

Top Down ◽

Adaptive Communication ◽

Wide Range ◽

Functional Connectivity Strength ◽

Ventral Temporal Cortex ◽

Cortical Regions

Abstract Past studies have demonstrated that flexible interactions between brain regions support a wide range of goal-directed behaviors. However, the neural mechanisms that underlie adaptive communication between brain regions are not well understood. In this study, we combined theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the sources of top-down biasing signals that influence task-evoked functional connectivity. Subjects viewed sequences of images of faces and buildings and were required to detect repetitions (2-back vs. 1-back) of the attended stimuli category (faces or buildings). We found that functional connectivity between ventral temporal cortex and the primary visual cortex (VC) increased during processing of task-relevant stimuli, especially during higher memory loads. Furthermore, the strength of functional connectivity was greater for correct trials. Increases in task-evoked functional connectivity strength were correlated with increases in activity in multiple frontal, parietal, and subcortical (caudate and thalamus) regions. Finally, we found that TMS to superior intraparietal sulcus (IPS), but not to primary somatosensory cortex, decreased task-specific modulation in connectivity patterns between the primary VC and the parahippocampal place area. These findings demonstrate that the human IPS is a source of top-down biasing signals that modulate task-evoked functional connectivity among task-relevant cortical regions.

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