scholarly journals Reliability of task-specific neuronal activation assessed with functional PET, ASL and BOLD imaging

2021 ◽  
pp. 0271678X2110205
Author(s):  
Lucas Rischka ◽  
Godber M Godbersen ◽  
Verena Pichler ◽  
Paul Michenthaler ◽  
Sebastian Klug ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Glucose Metabolism ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Motor Coordination ◽  
Neuronal Response ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Absolute Quantification ◽  
Blood Oxygenation ◽  
Neuronal Activation ◽  
Bold Imaging

Mapping the neuronal response during cognitive processing is of crucial importance to gain new insights into human brain function. BOLD imaging and ASL are established MRI methods in this endeavor. Recently, the novel approach of functional PET (fPET) was introduced, enabling absolute quantification of glucose metabolism at rest and during task execution in a single measurement. Here, we report test-retest reliability of fPET in direct comparison to BOLD imaging and ASL. Twenty healthy subjects underwent two PET/MRI measurements, providing estimates of glucose metabolism, cerebral blood flow (CBF) and blood oxygenation. A cognitive task was employed with different levels of difficulty requiring visual-motor coordination. Task-specific neuronal activation was robustly detected with all three imaging approaches. The highest reliability was obtained for glucose metabolism at rest. Although this dropped during task performance it was still comparable to that of CBF. In contrast, BOLD imaging yielded high performance only for qualitative spatial overlap of task effects but not for quantitative comparison. Hence, the combined assessment of fPET and ASL offers reliable and simultaneous absolute quantification of glucose metabolism and CBF at rest and task.

scholarly journals The influence of sports practice and its prediction indicators on the performance of aerobic, motor, attention, cognitive flexibility and processing speed

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-372
Author(s):  
Rafaello Pinheiro Mazzoccante ◽  
Hugo De Luca Corrêa ◽  
José Luiz De Queiroz ◽  
Beatriz Raquel Castro de Sousa ◽  
Ioranny Raquel Castro de Sousa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Motor Coordination ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
And Control ◽  
Relationship Of

Introduction: Sports initiation is usually started during childhood and adolescence, and the beneficial effects of this practice for physical and motor capacities are already known. Recent research has shown the potential of sports to stimulate and modify cognitive development. Objective: To verify the relationship of sports practice during childhood on cardiorespiratory, motor, attention, cognitive flexibility and cognitive processing speed. Methods: 130 students aged 7 to 10 years participated in the study, of which 68 were athletes and 62 non-athletes, divided into sports group and control group. The researchers carried out three visits for the application of the research instruments, which were carried out in a randomized manner within the school premises, divided into three blocks: 1) attention test for cancellation and test of tracks A and B (applied collectively); 2) jumping tests; 3) anamnesis, body composition and the Körperkoordination für Kinder (KTK) test. Results: Children practicing sports obtained lower values ??in the weight (28 ± 10.08 kg vs 33.9 ± 15.3 kg), waist circumference (57.8 ± 7.7 cm vs 61.7 ± 9.6 cm) and circumference of the hip (69.1 ± 9.5 cm vs 72.8 ± 10.5 cm). In addition, we observed higher values ??in single-hops scores (96.9 ± 17.3 vs 85.6 ± 14.3) and lateral jumps scores (99.1 ± 18.8 vs 91.2 ± 18.0) compared to children who do not play sports. (p < 0.05). The high performance in single-heel jumps, side jumps, motor quotient, B-trails and B-A trails presented as predictors of sports practice (CI > 0.50). Conclusion: The results indicated a positive relationship between children practicing sports in childhood and interesting benefits in the ability of cognitive flexibility, without expressing differences in motor coordination compared to non-practicing children.

scholarly journals Eye Movements in Response to Pain-Related Feelings in the Presence of Low and High Cognitive Loads

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 92
Author(s):  
Ramtin Zargari Marandi ◽  
Camilla Ann Fjelsted ◽  
Iris Hrustanovic ◽  
Rikke Dan Olesen ◽  
Parisa Gazerani
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Pain Perception ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Load Level ◽  
Task Load ◽  
Pupillary Responses ◽  
Movement Characteristics

The affective dimension of pain contributes to pain perception. Cognitive load may influence pain-related feelings. Eye tracking has proven useful for detecting cognitive load effects objectively by using relevant eye movement characteristics. In this study, we investigated whether eye movement characteristics differ in response to pain-related feelings in the presence of low and high cognitive loads. A set of validated, control, and pain-related sounds were applied to provoke pain-related feelings. Twelve healthy young participants (six females) performed a cognitive task at two load levels, once with the control and once with pain-related sounds in a randomized order. During the tasks, eye movements and task performance were recorded. Afterwards, the participants were asked to fill out questionnaires on their pain perception in response to the applied cognitive loads. Our findings indicate that an increased cognitive load was associated with a decreased saccade peak velocity, saccade frequency, and fixation frequency, as well as an increased fixation duration and pupil dilation range. Among the oculometrics, pain-related feelings were reflected only in the pupillary responses to a low cognitive load. The performance and perceived cognitive load decreased and increased, respectively, with the task load level and were not influenced by the pain-related sounds. Pain-related feelings were lower when performing the task compared with when no task was being performed in an independent group of participants. This might be due to the cognitive engagement during the task. This study demonstrated that cognitive processing could moderate the feelings associated with pain perception.

STANDARDIZATION OF A HIGH-PERFORMANCE RT-qPCR FOR VIRAL LOAD ABSOLUTE QUANTIFICATION OF INFLUENZA A

2021 ◽  
pp. 114439
Author(s):  
L.A. Pereira ◽  
B.A. Lapinscki ◽  
M.C. Debur ◽  
J.S. Santos ◽  
R.R. Petterle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Viral Load ◽  
Influenza A ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Absolute Quantification

scholarly journals Daily Subacute Paraquat Exposure Decreases Muscle Function and Substantia Nigra Dopamine Level

2013 ◽  
pp. 313-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. FAHIM ◽  
S. SHEHAB ◽  
A. NEMMAR ◽  
A. ADEM ◽  
S. DHANASEKARAN ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tyrosine Hydroxylase ◽  
Substantia Nigra ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Motor Coordination ◽  
Neuronal Loss ◽  
Male Rats ◽  
Substantia Nigra Pars Compacta ◽  
Motor Deficit ◽  
Dopamine Level ◽  
Dopaminergic Neurodegeneration

The use of the herbicide paraquat (1,1'-dimethyl-4,4'-bipyridylium dichloride; PQ) which is widely used in agriculture is known to cause dopaminergic neurotoxicity. However, the mechanisms underlying this effect are not fully understood. This present study investigated the behavioral manifestations, motor coordination, and dopaminergic neurodegeneration following exposure to PQ. Male rats were injected with PQ (10 mg/kg i.p.) daily for three weeks. Rotarod systems were used for measuring locomotor activity and motor coordination. The effects of PQ on dorsiflexor, electrophysiologically-induced muscle contraction were studied. Dopamine concentrations in the ventral mesencephalon were measured by high performance liquid chromatography and the number of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra pars compacta was estimated by tyrosine hydroxylase immunohistochemistry. PQ induced difficulty in movement and significant reduction in motor activity and twitch tension at the dorsiflexor skeletal muscle. The number of tyrosine hydroxylase positive neurons was significantly less in the substantia nigra pars compacta and nigral dopamine level was significantly reduced in PQ treated animals (20.4±3.4 pg/mg) when compared with control animals (55.0±2.4 pg/mg wet tissue). Daily treatment of PQ for three weeks induces selective dopaminergic neuronal loss in the substantia nigra and significant behavioral and peripheral motor deficit effects.

scholarly journals Prefrontal D1 dopamine-receptor neurons and delta resonance in interval timing

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young-Cho Kim ◽  
Nandakumar S. Narayanan
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Interval Timing ◽  
Time Dependent ◽  
Performance Deficits ◽  
Timing Task ◽  
Memory Flexibility ◽  
Receptor Neurons

AbstractConsiderable evidence has shown that prefrontal neurons expressing D1-type dopamine receptors (D1DRs) are critical for working memory, flexibility, and timing. This line of work predicts that frontal neurons expressing D1DRs mediate cognitive processing. During timing tasks, one form this cognitive processing might take is time-dependent ramping activity — monotonic changes in firing rate over time. Thus, we hypothesized the prefrontal D1DR+ neurons would strongly exhibited time-dependent ramping during interval timing. We tested this idea using an interval-timing task in which we used optogenetics to tag D1DR+ neurons in the mouse medial frontal cortex (MFC). While 23% of MFC D1DR+ neurons exhibited ramping, this was significantly less than untagged MFC D1DR+ neurons. By contrast, MFC D1DR+ neurons had strong delta-frequency (1-4 Hz) coherence with other MFC ramping neurons. This coherence was phase-locked to cue onset and was strongest early in the interval. To test the significance of these interactions, we optogenetically stimulated MFC D1DR+ neurons early vs. late in the interval. We found that 2-Hz stimulation early in the interval was particularly effective in rescuing timing-related behavioral performance deficits in dopamine-depleted animals. These findings provide insight into MFC networks and have relevance for disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia.Significance StatementPrefrontal D1DRs are involved in cognitive processing and cognitive dysfunction in human diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia. We use optogenetics to identify these neurons, as well as neurons that are putatively connected to MFC D1DR+ neurons. We study these neurons in detail during an elementary cognitive task. These data could have relevance for cognitive deficits for Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, and other diseases involving frontal dopamine.

scholarly journals Electronic Health Record's Effects on the Outpatient Office Visit and Clinical Education

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 765 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie B Sandoval ◽  
Mary Val Palumbo ◽  
Vicki Hart
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Clinical Education ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Office Visit ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
Electronic Health ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Positive Effect

Background: During an office visit, the provider has the important cognitive task of attending to the patient while actively using the electronic health record (EHR).  Prior literature suggests that EHR may have a positive effect on simple tasks, but a negative effect on tasks that require complex cognitive processes.  No study has examined the provider’s perception of EHR on multiple distinct aspects of the office visit.Methods: We surveyed providers/preceptors regarding their perception of EHR on multiple aspects of the office visit.  We summarized their EHR utilization history and their perceptions of the EHR during the visit using descriptive statistics.  We tested for associations between time spent using the EHR and distinct aspects of the visit using Chi-square tests of association.Results: In total, 83 providers/preceptors reported use of EHR (response rate 52%). Provider/preceptors reported an overall negative effect of EHR on the patient-provider connection, but an overall positive effect on the review of medications/medical records, communication between providers, review of results with patients and review of follow-up to testing results with patients. The effect of EHR on history taking and teaching students was neutral.  We observed no correlation between the provider’s time spent using the EHR and their perception of its effectiveness.Conclusions:  Providers reported a positive perception of EHR on aspects of the office visit that involved a single cognitive task.  However, providers reported a negative perception of EHR on patient-provider connection, which involves a high degree of cognitive processing.

scholarly journals The Cumulative Influence of Hyperoxia and Hypercapnia on Blood Oxygenation and R2*

2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (12) ◽  
pp. 2032-2042 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos C Faraco ◽  
Megan K Strother ◽  
Jeroen CW Siero ◽  
Daniel F Arteaga ◽  
Allison O Scott ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Venous Blood ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
Blood Oxygenation ◽  
Cerebrovascular Reactivity ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Tissue Water ◽  
Bold Mri ◽  
Bold Imaging ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
Oxygenation Level

Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR)-weighted blood-oxygenation-level-dependent magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD-MRI) experiments are frequently used in conjunction with hyperoxia. Owing to complex interactions between hyperoxia and hypercapnia, quantitative effects of these gas mixtures on BOLD responses, blood and tissue R2∗, and blood oxygenation are incompletely understood. Here we performed BOLD imaging (3T; TE/TR = 35/2,000 ms; spatial resolution = 3×3×3.5 mm3) in healthy volunteers ( n = 12; age = 29±4.1 years) breathing (i) room air (RA), (ii) normocapnic-hyperoxia (95% O2/5% N2, HO), (iii) hypercapnic-normoxia (5% CO2/21% O2/74% N2, HC-NO), and (iv) hypercapnic-hyperoxia (5% CO2/95% O2, HC-HO). For HC-HO, experiments were performed with separate RA and HO baselines to control for changes in O2. T2-relaxation-under-spin-tagging MRI was used to calculate basal venous oxygenation. Signal changes were quantified and established hemodynamic models were applied to quantify vasoactive blood oxygenation, blood–water R∗2, and tissue-water R∗2. In the cortex, fractional BOLD changes (stimulus/baseline) were HO/RA = 0.011 ± 0.007; HC-NO/RA = 0.014±0.004; HC-HO/HO = 0.020±0.008; and HC-HO/RA = 0.035 ±0.010; for the measured basal venous oxygenation level of 0.632, this led to venous blood oxygenation levels of 0.660 (HO), 0.665 (HC-NO), and 0.712 (HC-HO). Interleaving a HC-HO stimulus with HO baseline provided a smaller but significantly elevated BOLD response compared with a HC-NO stimulus. Results provide an outline for how blood oxygenation differs for several gas stimuli and provides quantitative information on how hypercapnic BOLD CVR and R∗2 are altered during hyperoxia.

scholarly journals The effects of Processing Instruction on the acquisition of English simple past tense: Age and cognitive task demands

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Benati ◽  
Tanja Angelovska
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
School Age ◽  
Processing Instruction ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Sentence Level ◽  
Post Test

AbstractThe present study investigates the effects of Processing Instruction on two different age groups and the role that cognitive task demands might play in the results generated by Processing Instruction. This study includes school-age children and adult native speakers of German learning English as a foreign language – a language combination not previously investigated within the Processing Instruction and individual differences research paradigm. The present study investigates directly whether two different age groups will benefit equally from Processing Instruction in altering their reliance on lexical temporal indicators and redirecting their attention to verb forms on Processing Instruction activities with different cognitive demands. The grammatical feature chosen for this study is the English past simple tense marking tested on both interpretation and production measures. The results from this study provide further evidence that the Processing Instruction is an effective instructional treatment in helping school-age children and adult L2 learners to make accurate form-meaning connections. The results from the first sentence-level interpretation task and the production task showed that Processing Instruction has positive and equal effects on both age groups (school-age learners and adults). The positive effects of instruction were maintained over the delayed post-test for both age groups who made similar gains on the immediate post-test. The results from the second (cognitively more complex) sentence-level interpretation task indicated that the adults made greater gains than school-age learners. However, both groups retained the positive effects of instruction over time. The difference in gains between the two age groups on the second sentence-level interpretation task can be explained in terms of cognitive processing load.

scholarly journals EFFECT OF HYDROALCOHOLIC EXTRACT OF ACHYRANTHES ASPERA ON HALOPERIDOLINDUCED PARKINSON’S DISEASE IN WISTAR RATS

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chitra V ◽  
Manasa K ◽  
Mythili A ◽  
Tamilanban T ◽  
Gayathri K
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Wistar Rats ◽  
Psychotic Disorders ◽  
Motor Coordination ◽  
Intraperitoneal Administration ◽  
Antioxidant Property ◽  
Electrochemical Detector ◽  
Achyranthes Aspera

  Objective: Prolonged usage of neuroleptics in psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia provokes extrapyramidal symptoms that are also seen in Parkinson’s disease. An attempt has been made to study the neuroprotective role of Achyranthes aspera hydroalcoholic (HA) extract on haloperidol-induced Parkinson’s symptoms in Wistar rats.Methods: The present study deals with the antiparkinson effect of HA extract of A. aspera on haloperidol (2 mg/kg intraperitoneal administration)- induced catatonia in Wistar rats. The motor coordination in case of haloperidol-treated animals was studied by performing rotarod test and hang test. Dopamine and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid were estimated using an electrochemical detector and high-performance liquid chromatography. The antioxidant status was also assessed to know the neurotoxicity of haloperidol by estimating the levels of lipid peroxidation, superoxide dismutase, glutathione (GSH) peroxidase, and reduced GSH by performing individual assays.Results: All these assessments were done on 24 Wistar rats which were divided into four groups (n=6). HA was administered at 200 and 400 mg/kg doses, 30 minutes before haloperidol treatment for 20 days. HA significantly (*p<0.05, **p<0.01) improved the antioxidant status.Conclusion: The results shown that HA shows a protective role in haloperidol catalepsy and also possess antioxidant property.

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