scholarly journals Learning the statistics of pain: computational and neural mechanisms

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flavia Mancini ◽  
Suyi Zhang ◽  
Ben Seymour
Keyword(s):  
Pain Intensity ◽  
Parietal Cortex ◽  
High Intensity ◽  
Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Statistical Inferences ◽  
Statistical Regularities ◽  
The Right

Abstract Pain invariably changes over time, and these temporal fluctuations are riddled with uncertainty about body safety. In theory, statistical regularities of pain through time contain useful information that can be learned, allowing the brain to generate expectations and inform behaviour. To investigate this, we exposed healthy participants to probabilistic sequences of low and high-intensity electrical stimuli to the left hand, containing sudden changes in stimulus frequencies. We demonstrate that humans can learn to extract these regularities, and explicitly predict the likelihood of forthcoming pain intensities in a manner consistent with optimal Bayesian models with dynamic update of beliefs. We studied brain activity using functional MRI whilst subjects performed the task, which allowed us to dissect the underlying neural correlates of these statistical inferences from their uncertainty and update. We found that the inferred frequency (posterior probability) of high intensity pain correlated with activity in bilateral sensorimotor cortex, secondary somatosensory cortex and right caudate. The uncertainty of statistical inferences of pain was encoded in the right superior parietal cortex. An intrinsic part of this hierarchical Bayesian model is the way that unexpected changes in frequency lead to shift beliefs and update the internal model. This is reflected by the KL divergence between consecutive posterior distributions and associated with brain responses in the premotor cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and posterior parietal cortex. In conclusion, this study extends what is conventionally considered a sensory pain pathway dedicated to process pain intensity, to include the generation of Bayesian internal models of temporal statistics of pain intensity levels in sensorimotor regions, which are updated dynamically through the engagement of premotor, prefrontal and parietal regions.

scholarly journals Different Brain Circuits Underlie Motor and Perceptual Representations of Temporal Intervals

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Domenica Bueti ◽  
Vincent Walsh ◽  
Chris Frith ◽  
Geraint Rees
Keyword(s):  
Parietal Cortex ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Temporal Information ◽  
Extrastriate Cortex ◽  
Reproduction Task ◽  
Temporal Reproduction ◽  
Temporal Intervals ◽  
Temporal Estimation ◽  
The Right

In everyday life, temporal information is used for both perception and action, but whether these two functions reflect the operation of similar or different neural circuits is unclear. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neural correlates of processing temporal information when either a motor or a perceptual representation is used. Participants viewed two identical sequences of visual stimuli and used the information differently to perform either a temporal reproduction or a temporal estimation task. By comparing brain activity evoked by these tasks and control conditions, we explored commonalities and differences in brain areas involved in reproduction and estimation of temporal intervals. The basal ganglia and the cerebellum were commonly active in both temporal tasks, consistent with suggestions that perception and production of time are subserved by the same mechanisms. However, only in the reproduction task was activity observed in a wider cortical network including the right pre-SMA, left middle frontal gyrus, left premotor cortex, with a more reliable activity in the right inferior parietal cortex, left fusiform gyrus, and the right extrastriate visual area V5/MT. Our findings point to a role for the parietal cortex as an interface between sensory and motor processes and suggest that it may be a key node in translation of temporal information into action. Furthermore, we discuss the potential importance of the extrastriate cortex in processing visual time in the context of recent findings.

Lateralization of the Posterior Parietal Cortex for Internal Monitoring of Self- versus Externally Generated Movements

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 1827-1835 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenji Ogawa ◽  
Toshio Inui
Keyword(s):  
Parietal Cortex ◽  
Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Clinical Findings ◽  
Visual Occlusion ◽  
Mouse Cursor ◽  
Posterior Parietal ◽  
Human Motor ◽  
The Right

Internal monitoring or state estimation of movements is essential for human motor control to compensate for inherent delays and noise in sensorimotor loops. Two types of internal estimation of movements exist: self-generated movements, and externally generated movements. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate differences in brain activity for internal monitoring of self- versus externally generated movements during visual occlusion. Participants tracked a sinusoidally moving target with a mouse cursor. On some trials, vision of either target (externally generated) or cursor (self-generated) movement was transiently occluded, during which subjects continued tracking by estimating current position of either the invisible target or cursor on screen. Analysis revealed that both occlusion conditions were associated with increased activity in the presupplementary motor area and decreased activity in the right lateral occipital cortex compared to a control condition with no occlusion. Moreover, the right and left posterior parietal cortex (PPC) showed greater activation during occlusion of target and cursor movements, respectively. This study suggests lateralization of the PPC for internal monitoring of internally versus externally generated movements, fully consistent with previously reported clinical findings.

Evidence for the Involvement of the Posterior Parietal Cortex in Coordination of Fingertip Forces for Grasp Stability in Manipulation

2003 ◽  
Vol 90 (5) ◽  
pp. 2978-2986 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Henrik Ehrsson ◽  
Anders Fagergren ◽  
Roland S. Johansson ◽  
Hans Forssberg
Keyword(s):  
Parietal Cortex ◽  
Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽  
Grip Force ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Load Force ◽  
Force Coordination ◽  
Grasp Stability ◽  
Posterior Parietal ◽  
The Right ◽  
Fingertip Forces

Grasp stability during object manipulation is achieved by the grip forces applied normal to the grasped surfaces increasing and decreasing in phase with increases and decreases of destabilizing load forces applied tangential to the grasped surfaces. This force coordination requires that the CNS anticipates the grip forces that match the requirements imposed by the self-generated load forces. Here, we use functional MRI (fMRI) to study neural correlates of the grip-load force coordination in a grip-load force task in which six healthy humans attempted to lift an immovable test object held between the tips of the right index finger and thumb. The recorded brain activity was compared with the brain activity obtained in two control tasks in which the same pair of digits generated forces with similar time courses and magnitudes; i.e., a grip force task where the subjects only pinched the object and did not apply load forces, and a load force task, in which the subjects applied vertical forces to the object without generating grip forces. Thus neither the load force task nor the grip force task involved coordinated grip-load forces, but together they involved the same grip force and load force output. We found that the grip-load force task was specifically associated with activation of a section of the right intraparietal cortex, which is the first evidence for involvement of the posterior parietal cortex in the sensorimotor control of coordinated grip and load forces in manipulation. We suggest that this area might represents a node in the network of cortical and subcortical regions that implement anticipatory control of fingertip forces for grasp stability.

Integration of Target and Effector Information in the Human Brain During Reach Planning

2007 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 188-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Beurze ◽  
F. P. de Lange ◽  
I. Toni ◽  
W. P. Medendorp
Keyword(s):  
Parietal Cortex ◽  
Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Insular Cortex ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Posterior Parietal ◽  
The Right ◽  
Integrative Processing ◽  
Reach Planning

To plan a reaching movement, the brain must integrate information about the location of the target with information about the limb selected for the reach. Here, we applied rapid event-related 3-T fMRI to investigate this process in human subjects ( n = 16) preparing a reach following two successive visual instruction cues. One cue instructed which arm to use; the other cue instructed the location of the reach target. We hypothesized that regions involved in the integration of target and effector information should not only respond to each of the two instruction cues, but should respond more strongly to the second cue due to the added integrative processing to establish the reach plan. We found bilateral regions in the posterior parietal cortex, the premotor cortex, the medial frontal cortex, and the insular cortex to be involved in target–arm integration, as well as the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and an area in the right lateral occipital sulcus to respond in this manner. We further determined the functional properties of these regions in terms of spatial and effector specificity. This showed that the posterior parietal cortex and the dorsal premotor cortex specify both the spatial location of a target and the effector selected for the response. We therefore conclude that these regions are selectively engaged in the neural computations for reach planning, consistent with the results from physiological studies in nonhuman primates.

Modulation of Cortical Activity During Different Imitative Behaviors

2003 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 460-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Koski ◽  
Marco Iacoboni ◽  
Marie-Charlotte Dubeau ◽  
Roger P. Woods ◽  
John C. Mazziotta
Keyword(s):  
Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Mirror Neuron ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Right Hand ◽  
Tightly Coupled ◽  
Posterior Parietal ◽  
The Right ◽  
And Control

Imitation is a basic form of motor learning during development. We have a preference to imitate the actions of others as if looking in a mirror (specular imitation: i.e., when the actor moves the left hand, the imitator moves the right hand) rather than with the anatomically congruent hand (anatomic imitation: i.e., actor and imitator both moving the right hand). We hypothesized that this preference reflects changes in activity in previously described frontoparietal cortical areas involved in directly matching observed and executed actions (mirror neuron areas). We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study brain activity in normal volunteers imitating left and right hand movements with their right hand. Bilateral inferior frontal and right posterior parietal cortex were more active during specular imitation compared with anatomic imitation and control motor tasks. Furthermore this same pattern of activity was also observed in the rostral part of the supplementary motor area (SMA-proper) of the right hemisphere. These findings suggest that the degree of involvement of frontoparietal mirror areas in imitation depends on the nature of the imitative behavior, ruling out a linguistic mediation of these areas in imitation. Moreover, activity in the SMA appears to be tightly coupled to frontoparietal mirror areas when subjects copy the actions of others.

Integration of Target and Effector Information in Human Posterior Parietal Cortex for the Planning of Action

2005 ◽  
Vol 93 (2) ◽  
pp. 954-962 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Pieter Medendorp ◽  
Herbert C. Goltz ◽  
J. Douglas Crawford ◽  
Tutis Vilis
Keyword(s):  
Parietal Cortex ◽  
Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Target Location ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Right Hand ◽  
Pointing Movements ◽  
Posterior Parietal ◽  
The Right

Recently, using event-related functional MRI (fMRI), we located a bilateral region in the human posterior parietal cortex (retIPS) that topographically represents and updates targets for saccades and pointing movements in eye-centered coordinates. To generate movements, this spatial information must be integrated with the selected effector. We now tested whether the activation in retIPS is dependent on the hand selected. Using 4-T fMRI, we compared the activation produced by movements, using either eyes or the left or right hand, to targets presented either leftward or rightward of central fixation. The majority of the regions activated during saccades were also activated during pointing movements, including occipital, posterior parietal, and premotor cortex. The topographic retIPS region was activated more strongly for saccades than for pointing. The activation associated with pointing was significantly greater when pointing with the unseen hand to targets ipsilateral to the hand. For example, although there was activation in the left retIPS when pointing to targets on the right with the left hand, the activation was significantly greater when using the right hand. The mirror symmetric effect was observed in the right retIPS. Similar hand preferences were observed in a nearby anterior occipital region. This effector specificity is consistent with previous clinical and behavioral studies showing that each hand is more effective in directing movements to targets in ipsilateral visual space. We conclude that not only do these regions code target location, but they also appear to integrate target selection with effector selection.

scholarly journals Attentional bias to threat and gray mater volume morphology in high anxious individuals

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua M. Carlson ◽  
Lin Fang
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Bias ◽  
Parietal Cortex ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Brain Morphology ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
Posterior Parietal ◽  
The Right

AbstractIn a sample of highly anxious individuals, the relationship between gray matter volume brain morphology and attentional bias to threat was assessed. Participants performed a dot-probe task of attentional bias to threat and gray matter volume was acquired from whole brain structural T1-weighted MRI scans. The results replicate previous findings in unselected samples that elevated attentional bias to threat is linked to greater gray matter volume in the anterior cingulate cortex, middle frontal gyrus, and striatum. In addition, we provide novel evidence that elevated attentional bias to threat is associated with greater gray matter volume in the right posterior parietal cortex, cerebellum, and other distributed regions. Lastly, exploratory analyses provide initial evidence that distinct sub-regions of the right posterior parietal cortex may contribute to attentional bias in a sex-specific manner. Our results illuminate how differences in gray matter volume morphology relate to attentional bias to threat in anxious individuals. This knowledge could inform neurocognitive models of anxiety-related attentional bias to threat and targets of neuroplasticity in anxiety interventions such as attention bias modification.

Dominance of the Right Hemisphere and Role of Area 2 in Human Kinesthesia

2005 ◽  
Vol 93 (2) ◽  
pp. 1020-1034 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eiichi Naito ◽  
Per E. Roland ◽  
Christian Grefkes ◽  
H. J. Choi ◽  
Simon Eickhoff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Anterior Part ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Superior Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Lateral Part ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Hemisphere Dominance ◽  
The Right ◽  
Processus Styloideus ◽  
Motor Areas

We have previously shown that motor areas are engaged when subjects experience illusory limb movements elicited by tendon vibration. However, traditionally cytoarchitectonic area 2 is held responsible for kinesthesia. Here we use functional magnetic resonance imaging and cytoarchitectural mapping to examine whether area 2 is engaged in kinesthesia, whether it is engaged bilaterally because area 2 in non-human primates has strong callosal connections, which other areas are active members of the network for kinesthesia, and if there is a dominance for the right hemisphere in kinesthesia as has been suggested. Ten right-handed blindfolded healthy subjects participated. The tendon of the extensor carpi ulnaris muscles of the right or left hand was vibrated at 80 Hz, which elicited illusory palmar flexion in an immobile hand (illusion). As control we applied identical stimuli to the skin over the processus styloideus ulnae, which did not elicit any illusions (vibration). We found robust activations in cortical motor areas [areas 4a, 4p, 6; dorsal premotor cortex (PMD) and bilateral supplementary motor area (SMA)] and ipsilateral cerebellum during kinesthetic illusions (illusion-vibration). The illusions also activated contralateral area 2 and right area 2 was active in common irrespective of illusions of right or left hand. Right areas 44, 45, anterior part of intraparietal region (IP1) and caudo-lateral part of parietal opercular region (OP1), cortex rostral to PMD, anterior insula and superior temporal gyrus were also activated in common during illusions of right or left hand. These right-sided areas were significantly more activated than the corresponding areas in the left hemisphere. The present data, together with our previous results, suggest that human kinesthesia is associated with a network of active brain areas that consists of motor areas, cerebellum, and the right fronto-parietal areas including high-order somatosensory areas. Furthermore, our results provide evidence for a right hemisphere dominance for perception of limb movement.

“How Did I Make It?”: Uncertainty about Own Motor Performance after Inhibition of the Premotor Cortex

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 1052-1061 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Bolognini ◽  
Luca Zigiotto ◽  
Maíra Izzadora Souza Carneiro ◽  
Giuseppe Vallar
Keyword(s):  
Motor Performance ◽  
Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽  
Performance Monitoring ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Motor Task ◽  
Single Pulse ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Cathodal Tdcs ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Right

Optimal motor performance requires the monitoring of sensorimotor input to ensure that the motor output matches current intentions. The brain is thought to be equipped with a “comparator” system, which monitors and detects the congruence between intended and actual movement; results of such a comparison can reach awareness. This study explored in healthy participants whether the cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the right premotor cortex (PM) and right posterior parietal cortex (PPC) can disrupt performance monitoring in a skilled motor task. Before and after tDCS, participants underwent a two-digit sequence motor task; in post-tDCS session, single-pulse TMS (sTMS) was applied to the right motor cortex, contralateral to the performing hand, with the aim of interfering with motor execution. Then, participants rated on a five-item questionnaire their performance at the motor task. Cathodal tDCS of PM (but not sham or PPC tDCS) impaired the participants' ability to evaluate their motor performance reliably, making them unconfident about their judgments. Congruently with the worsened motor performance induced by sTMS, participants reported to have committed more errors after sham and PPC tDCS; such a correlation was not significant after PM tDCS. In line with current computational and neuropsychological models of motor control and awareness, the present results show that a mechanism in the PM monitors and compares intended versus actual movements, evaluating their congruence. Cathodal tDCS of the PM impairs the activity of such a “comparator,” disrupting self-confidence about own motor performance.

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