scholarly journals Relating the Past with the Present: Information Integration and Segregation during Ongoing Narrative Processing

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Claire H. C. Chang ◽  
Christina Lazaridi ◽  
Yaara Yeshurun ◽  
Kenneth A. Norman ◽  
Uri Hasson

Abstract This study examined how the brain dynamically updates event representations by integrating new information over multiple minutes while segregating irrelevant input. A professional writer custom-designed a narrative with two independent storylines, interleaving across minute-long segments (ABAB). In the last (C) part, characters from the two storylines meet and their shared history is revealed. Part C is designed to induce the spontaneous recall of past events, upon the recurrence of narrative motifs from A/B, and to shed new light on them. Our fMRI results showed storyline-specific neural patterns, which were reinstated (i.e., became more active) during storyline transitions. This effect increased along the processing timescale hierarchy, peaking in the default mode network. Similarly, the neural reinstatement of motifs was found during Part C. Furthermore, participants showing stronger motif reinstatement performed better in integrating A/B and C events, demonstrating the role of memory reactivation in information integration over intervening irrelevant events.

Author(s):  
Claire H. C. Chang ◽  
Christina Lazaridi ◽  
Yaara Yeshurun ◽  
Kenneth A. Norman ◽  
Uri Hasson

This study examined how the brain dynamically updates event representations by integrating new information over multiple minutes while segregating irrelevant input. A professional writer custom-designed a narrative with two independent storylines, interleaving across minute-long segments (ABAB). In the last (C) part, characters from the two storylines meet and their shared history is revealed. Part C is designed to induce the spontaneous recall of past events, upon the recurrence of narrative motifs from A/B, and to shed new light on them. Our fMRI results showed storyline-specific neural patterns, which were reinstated (i.e. became more active) during storyline transitions. This effect increased along the processing timescale hierarchy, peaking in the default mode network. Similarly, the neural reinstatement of motifs was found during part C. Furthermore, participants showing stronger motif reinstatement performed better in integrating A/B and C events, demonstrating the role of memory reactivation in information integration over intervening irrelevant events.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Chang ◽  
Christina Lazaridi ◽  
Yaara Yeshurun ◽  
Kenneth Norman ◽  
Uri Hasson

Abstract This study examined how the brain dynamically updates event representations by integrating new information over multiple minutes while segregating irrelevant input. A professional writer custom-designed a narrative with two independent storylines, interleaving across minute-long segments (ABAB). In the last (C) part, characters from the two storylines meet and their shared history is revealed. Part C is designed to induce the spontaneous recall of past events, upon the recurrence of narrative motifs from A/B, and to shed new light on them. Our fMRI results showed storyline-specific neural patterns, which were reinstated (i.e. became more active) during storyline transition. This effect increased along the processing timescale hierarchy, peaking in the default mode network. Similarly, the neural reinstatement of motifs was found during part C. Furthermore, participants showing stronger motif reinstatement performed better in integrating A/B and C events, demonstrating the role of memory reactivation in information integration over intervening irrelevant events.


Author(s):  
Sascha R. A. Alles ◽  
Anne-Marie Malfait ◽  
Richard J. Miller

Pain is not a simple phenomenon and, beyond its conscious perception, involves circuitry that allows the brain to provide an affective context for nociception, which can influence mood and memory. In the past decade, neurobiological techniques have been developed that allow investigators to elucidate the importance of particular groups of neurons in different aspects of the pain response, something that may have important translational implications for the development of novel therapies. Chemo- and optogenetics represent two of the most important technical advances of recent times for gaining understanding of physiological circuitry underlying complex behaviors. The use of these techniques for teasing out the role of neurons and glia in nociceptive pathways is a rapidly growing area of research. The major findings of studies focused on understanding circuitry involved in different aspects of nociception and pain are highlighted in this article. In addition, attention is drawn to the possibility of modification of chemo- and optogenetic techniques for use as potential therapies for treatment of chronic pain disorders in human patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 2358
Author(s):  
Maria Grazia Giovannini ◽  
Daniele Lana ◽  
Chiara Traini ◽  
Maria Giuliana Vannucchi

The microbiota–gut system can be thought of as a single unit that interacts with the brain via the “two-way” microbiota–gut–brain axis. Through this axis, a constant interplay mediated by the several products originating from the microbiota guarantees the physiological development and shaping of the gut and the brain. In the present review will be described the modalities through which the microbiota and gut control each other, and the main microbiota products conditioning both local and brain homeostasis. Much evidence has accumulated over the past decade in favor of a significant association between dysbiosis, neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. Presently, the pathogenetic mechanisms triggered by molecules produced by the altered microbiota, also responsible for the onset and evolution of Alzheimer disease, will be described. Our attention will be focused on the role of astrocytes and microglia. Numerous studies have progressively demonstrated how these glial cells are important to ensure an adequate environment for neuronal activity in healthy conditions. Furthermore, it is becoming evident how both cell types can mediate the onset of neuroinflammation and lead to neurodegeneration when subjected to pathological stimuli. Based on this information, the role of the major microbiota products in shifting the activation profiles of astrocytes and microglia from a healthy to a diseased state will be discussed, focusing on Alzheimer disease pathogenesis.


Leadership ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 174271502110636
Author(s):  
Edward Gosling

Leadership is fundamentally a social phenomenon, and a leader’s legitimacy in personal and social terms is determined partly by how effectively they incorporate the prototypical leader identity. Using the historical British officers’ mess as a case study, this article presents a conceptual examination of the function place can perform in the construction of collective leader identities and the interconnected influence shared history, materiality and social interaction can have in encouraging inclusivity in leadership. Leadership identity is an integral feature of military life which has historically drawn on complex cultural and legal traditions to underwrite the individual’s right to command. This article will argue that social places such as the officers’ mess have been utilised as a means of cultivating cohesion in the past and that they may have an application in furthering inclusive collective leader identities in the future.


Hypertension ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 622-628
Author(s):  
Daniela Carnevale

The nervous system and the immune system share the common ability to exert gatekeeper roles at the interfaces between internal and external environment. Although interaction between these 2 evolutionarily highly conserved systems has been recognized for long time, the investigation into the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying their crosstalk has been tackled only in recent decades. Recent work of the past years elucidated how the autonomic nervous system controls the splenic immunity recruited by hypertensive challenges. This review will focus on the neural mechanisms regulating the immune response and the role of this neuroimmune crosstalk in hypertension. In this context, the review highlights the components of the brain-spleen axis with a focus on the neuroimmune interface established in the spleen, where neural signals shape the immune response recruited to target organs of high blood pressure.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (19) ◽  
pp. 10251
Author(s):  
Vladimir Sukhorukov ◽  
Dmitry Voronkov ◽  
Tatiana Baranich ◽  
Natalia Mudzhiri ◽  
Alina Magnaeva ◽  
...  

Aging is associated with a decline in cognitive function, which can partly be explained by the accumulation of damage to the brain cells over time. Neurons and glia undergo morphological and ultrastructure changes during aging. Over the past several years, it has become evident that at the cellular level, various hallmarks of an aging brain are closely related to mitophagy. The importance of mitochondria quality and quantity control through mitophagy is highlighted by the contribution that defects in mitochondria–autophagy crosstalk make to aging and age-related diseases. In this review, we analyze some of the more recent findings regarding the study of brain aging and neurodegeneration in the context of mitophagy. We discuss the data on the dynamics of selective autophagy in neurons and glial cells during aging and in the course of neurodegeneration, focusing on three mechanisms of mitophagy: non-receptor-mediated mitophagy, receptor-mediated mitophagy, and transcellular mitophagy. We review the role of mitophagy in neuronal/glial homeostasis and in the molecular pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and other disorders. Common mechanisms of aging and neurodegeneration that are related to different mitophagy pathways provide a number of promising targets for potential therapeutic agents.


Fluids ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lori A. Ray ◽  
Jeffrey J. Heys

Despite its small size, the brain consumes 25% of the body’s energy, generating its own weight in potentially toxic proteins and biological debris each year. The brain is also the only organ lacking lymph vessels to assist in removal of interstitial waste. Over the past 50 years, a picture has been developing of the brain’s unique waste removal system. Experimental observations show cerebrospinal fluid, which surrounds the brain, enters the brain along discrete pathways, crosses a barrier into the spaces between brain cells, and flushes the tissue, carrying wastes to routes exiting the brain. Dysfunction of this cerebral waste clearance system has been demonstrated in Alzheimer’s disease, traumatic brain injury, diabetes, and stroke. The activity of the system is observed to increase during sleep. In addition to waste clearance, this circuit of flow may also deliver nutrients and neurotransmitters. Here, we review the relevant literature with a focus on transport processes, especially the potential role of diffusion and advective flows.


Author(s):  
Bruce I. Blum

Fifty years ago there were no stored-program binary electronic computers. Indeed, in the mid 1940s computer was a job description; the computer was a person. Much has happened in the ensuing half-century. whereas the motto of the 1950s was “do not bend, spindle, or mutilate,” we now have become comfortable with GUI wIMP (i.e., Graphic User Interface; windows, Icons, Mouse, and Pointers). whereas computers once were maintained in isolation and viewed through large picture windows, they now are visible office accessories and invisible utilities. whereas the single computer once was a highly prized resource, modern networks now hide even the machines’ geographic locations. Naturally, some of our perceptions have adapted to reflect these changes; however, much of our understanding remains bound to the concepts that flourished during computing’s formative years. For example, we have moved beyond thinking of computers as a giant brain (Martin 1993), but we still hold firmly to our faith in computing’s scientific foundations. The purpose of this book is to look forward and speculate about the place of computing in the next fifty years. There are many aspects of computing that make it very different from all other technologies. The development of the microchip has made digital computing ubiquitous; we are largely unaware of the computers in our wrist watches, automobiles, cameras, and household appliances. The field of artificial intelligence (AI) sees the brain as an organ with some functions that can be modeled in a computer, thereby enabling computers to exhibit “intelligent” behavior. Thus, their research seeks to extend the role of computers through applications in which they perform autonomously or act as active assistants. (For some recent overviews of AI see waldrop 1987; Crevier 1993.) In the domain of information systems, Zuboff (1988) finds that computers can both automate (routinize) and informate, that is, produce new information that serves as “a voice that symbolically renders events, objects, and processes so that they become visible, knowable, and sharable in a new way” (p. 9).


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 247-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike W. Kaunzner ◽  
Susan A. Gauthier

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has developed into the most important tool for the diagnosis and monitoring of multiple sclerosis (MS). Its high sensitivity for the evaluation of inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes in the brain and spinal cord has made it the most commonly used technique for the evaluation of patients with MS. Moreover, MRI has become a powerful tool for treatment monitoring, safety assessment as well as for the prognostication of disease progression. Clinically, the use of MRI has increased in the past couple decades as a result of improved technology and increased availability that now extends well beyond academic centers. Consequently, there are numerous studies supporting the role of MRI in the management of patients with MS. The aim of this review is to summarize the latest insights into the utility of MRI in MS.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document