Light Through the Fog: Using Precision fMRI Data to Disentangle the Neural Substrates of Cognitive Control

Cognitive control, the ability to engage in goal-related behavior, is linked to frontal, parietal, andcingulate brain regions. However, the underlying function(s) of these regions is still in question,with ongoing discussions about their specificity and/or multifunctionality. These brain regionsare also among the most variable across individuals, which may confound multi-functionalitywith inter-individual heterogeneity. Precision fMRI extended data acquisition from singleindividuals allows for reliable individualized mapping of brain organization. We reviewexamples of recent studies that use precision fMRI to surmount inter-individual variability infunctional neuroanatomy. These studies provide evidence of interleaved specialized andmultifunctional regions in the frontal cortex. We discuss the potential for these techniques toaddress outstanding controversies on the neural underpinnings of cognitive control.

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Neural Mechanisms Underlying the Dynamic Updating of Native Language

Neurobiology of Language ◽

10.1162/nol_a_00023 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 1 (4) ◽

pp. 492-522

Author(s):

Kelly Sharer ◽

Malathi Thothathiri

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Frontal Cortex ◽

Relative Clause ◽

Sentence Comprehension ◽

Functional Neuroimaging ◽

Native Language ◽

Neural Substrates ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Functional Roles ◽

Garden Path

Language users encounter different sentence structures from different people in different contexts. Although syntactic variability and adults’ ability to adapt to it are both widely acknowledged, the relevant mechanisms and neural substrates are unknown. We hypothesized that syntactic updating might rely on cognitive control, which can help detect and resolve mismatch between prior linguistic expectations and new language experiences that countervail those expectations and thereby assist in accurately encoding new input. Using functional neuroimaging (fMRI), we investigated updating in garden-path sentence comprehension to test the prediction that regions within the left inferior frontal cortex might be relevant neural substrates, and additionally, explored the role of regions within the multiple demand network. Participants read ambiguous and unambiguous main-verb and relative-clause sentences. Ambiguous relative-clause sentences led to a garden-path effect in the left pars opercularis within the lateral frontal cortex and the left anterior insula/frontal operculum within the multiple demand network. This effect decreased upon repeated exposure to relative-clause sentences, consistent with updating. The two regions showed several contrastive patterns, including different activation relative to baseline, correlation with performance in a cognitive control task (the Stroop task), and verb-specificity versus generality in adaptation. Together, these results offer new insight into how the brain updates native language. They demonstrate the involvement of left frontal brain regions in helping the language system adjust to new experiences, with different areas playing distinct functional roles.

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Antagonism between brain regions relevant for cognitive control and emotional memory facilitates the generation of humorous ideas

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-89843-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Florian Bitsch ◽

Philipp Berger ◽

Andreas Fink ◽

Arne Nagels ◽

Benjamin Straube ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Positive Emotions ◽

Emotional Memory ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Neural Mechanisms ◽

Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽

Frontal Brain ◽

Successful Resolution ◽

Neural Underpinnings ◽

The Brain

AbstractThe ability to generate humor gives rise to positive emotions and thus facilitate the successful resolution of adversity. Although there is consensus that inhibitory processes might be related to broaden the way of thinking, the neural underpinnings of these mechanisms are largely unknown. Here, we use functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, a humorous alternative uses task and a stroop task, to investigate the brain mechanisms underlying the emergence of humorous ideas in 24 subjects. Neuroimaging results indicate that greater cognitive control abilities are associated with increased activation in the amygdala, the hippocampus and the superior and medial frontal gyrus during the generation of humorous ideas. Examining the neural mechanisms more closely shows that the hypoactivation of frontal brain regions is associated with an hyperactivation in the amygdala and vice versa. This antagonistic connectivity is concurrently linked with an increased number of humorous ideas and enhanced amygdala responses during the task. Our data therefore suggests that a neural antagonism previously related to the emergence and regulation of negative affective responses, is linked with the generation of emotionally positive ideas and may represent an important neural pathway supporting mental health.

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The Neural Basis of Religious Cognition

Current Directions in Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/0963721419898183 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 126-133 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Jordan Grafman ◽

Irene Cristofori ◽

Wanting Zhong ◽

Joseph Bulbulia

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Religious Beliefs ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Social Reasoning ◽

Adaptive Responses ◽

Neural Basis ◽

Complex Interplay ◽

Social Motivations ◽

Neural Underpinnings ◽

The Brain

Religion’s neural underpinnings have long been a topic of speculation and debate, but an emerging neuroscience of religion is beginning to clarify which regions of the brain integrate moral, ritual, and supernatural religious beliefs with functionally adaptive responses. Here, we review evidence indicating that religious cognition involves a complex interplay among the brain regions underpinning cognitive control, social reasoning, social motivations, and ideological beliefs.

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Light through the fog: using precision fMRI data to disentangle the neural substrates of cognitive control

Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences ◽

10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.12.004 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 40 ◽

pp. 19-26

Author(s):

Derek M Smith ◽

Diana C Perez ◽

Alexis Porter ◽

Ally Dworetsky ◽

Caterina Gratton

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Neural Substrates ◽

Fmri Data

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Individual variability in the human connectome maintains selective cross-modal consistency and shares microstructural signatures

10.1101/2021.04.01.438129 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Esin Karahan ◽

Luke Tait ◽

Ruoguang Si ◽

Aysegul Ozkan ◽

Maciek Szul ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Individual Variability ◽

Interindividual Variation ◽

Imaging Data ◽

Significant Alignment ◽

Visual Cortices ◽

Neural Underpinnings ◽

Lower Variability

Individuals are different in their behavioural responses and cognitive abilities. Neural underpinnings of individual differences are largely unknown. Here, by using multimodal imaging data including diffusion MRI, functional MRI and MEG, we show the consistency of interindividual variation of connectivity across modalities. We demonstrated that regional differences in individual variability of structural and functional connectomes is characterized by higher variability in association cortices and lower variability in sensory and visual cortices. This pattern is consistent across all modalities at varying degrees as shown by significant alignment between functional and structural connectome variabilities at several clusters of brain regions. Variability in connectivity is associated with cortical myelin content and microstructural properties of connections. Our findings contribute to understanding of individual differences in functional and structural organization of brain and facilitate fingerprinting applications.

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Antagonism Between Brain Regions Relevant for Cognitive Control and Emotional Memory Facilitates the Generation of Humorous Ideas

10.1101/2020.06.03.131417 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Florian Bitsch ◽

Philipp Berger ◽

Andreas Fink ◽

Arne Nagels ◽

Benjamin Straube ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Positive Emotions ◽

Emotional Memory ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Neural Mechanisms ◽

Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽

Frontal Brain ◽

Successful Resolution ◽

Neural Underpinnings ◽

The Brain

AbstractThe ability to generate humor gives rise to positive emotions and thus facilitate the successful resolution of adversity. Although there is consensus that inhibitory processes might be related to broaden the way of thinking, the neural underpinnings of these mechanisms are largely unknown. Here, we use functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, a humorous alternative uses task and a stroop task, to investigate the brain mechanisms underlying the emergence of humorous ideas in 24 subjects. Neuroimaging results indicate that greater cognitive control abilities are associated with increased activation in the amygdala, the hippocampus and the superior and medial frontal gyrus during the generation of humorous ideas. Examining the neural mechanisms more closely shows that the downregulation of frontal brain regions is associated with an upregulation in the amygdala, which is concurrently linked with an increased number of humorous ideas and enhanced amygdala responses during the task. Our data therefore suggests that a neural antagonism previously related to the emergence and regulation of negative affective responses, is linked with the generation of emotionally positive ideas and may represent an important neural pathway supporting mental health.

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Neural Underpinnings of Numerical and Spatial Cognition: An fMRI Meta-Analysis of Brain Regions Associated with Symbolic Number, Arithmetic, and Mental Rotation

10.31234/osf.io/dyqrx ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Zachary Hawes ◽

H Moriah Sokolowski ◽

Chuka Bosah Ononye ◽

Daniel Ansari

Keyword(s):

Mental Rotation ◽

Parietal Lobe ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Likelihood Estimation ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Angular Gyrus ◽

Number Representation ◽

Neural Underpinnings ◽

The Right ◽

Symbolic Number

Where and under what conditions do spatial and numerical skills converge and diverge in the brain? To address this question, we conducted a meta-analysis of brain regions associated with basic symbolic number processing, arithmetic, and mental rotation. We used Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) to construct quantitative meta-analytic maps synthesizing results from 86 neuroimaging papers (~ 30 studies/cognitive process). All three cognitive processes were found to activate bilateral parietal regions in and around the intraparietal sulcus (IPS); a finding consistent with shared processing accounts. Numerical and arithmetic processing were associated with overlap in the left angular gyrus, whereas mental rotation and arithmetic both showed activity in the middle frontal gyri. These patterns suggest regions of cortex potentially more specialized for symbolic number representation and domain-general mental manipulation, respectively. Additionally, arithmetic was associated with unique activity throughout the fronto-parietal network and mental rotation was associated with unique activity in the right superior parietal lobe. Overall, these results provide new insights into the intersection of numerical and spatial thought in the human brain.

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Neuroplasticity

The Oxford Handbook of Neurolinguistics ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190672027.013.10 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 230-260

Author(s):

Judy S. Reilly ◽

Lara R. Polse

Keyword(s):

Neural Plasticity ◽

Late Onset ◽

Neural Substrates ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Developing Brain ◽

Perinatal Stroke ◽

Alternative Pathways ◽

Affective Expression ◽

Unilateral Brain ◽

Irreparable Damage

With respect to language, it has long been observed that children who experience early unilateral brain injury do not show the same irreparable damage as do adults with homologous late-onset strokes. Neural plasticity has been proposed as the explanation for such differential linguistic profiles; that is, the plasticity of the young, developing brain allows the possibility for extensive adaptation and organization following a neural insult. Recent research, however, suggests that there are limits to this ability to adapt and organize. Results from a another communicative system, affect, suggest that children with unilateral pre- or perinatal stroke show similar (albeit subtler) effects to adults with homologous late-onset injuries. This chapter presents findings on language development in children who sustained a pre- or perinatal unilateral stroke, and complements these studies with a discussion of affective expression in these same children. These prospective studies of children with perinatal stroke provide a unique window into the development of the neural substrates for language and affect. Specifically, they afford a context to investigate the degree to which particular brain regions may be privileged for specific behavioral functions, as well as how the developing brain adapts to organize alternative pathways in the wake of an early insult.

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Aerobic Exercise Induces Alternative Splicing of Neurexins in Frontal Cortex

Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology ◽

10.3390/jfmk6020048 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 48

Author(s):

Elisa Innocenzi ◽

Ida Cariati ◽

Emanuela De Domenico ◽

Erika Tiberi ◽

Giovanna D’Arcangelo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alternative Splicing ◽

Aerobic Exercise ◽

Frontal Cortex ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Splice Variants ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Synaptic Function ◽

Molecular Changes ◽

Beneficial Effects ◽

The Impact

Aerobic exercise (AE) is known to produce beneficial effects on brain health by improving plasticity, connectivity, and cognitive functions, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are still limited. Neurexins (Nrxns) are a family of presynaptic cell adhesion molecules that are important in synapsis formation and maturation. In vertebrates, three-neurexin genes (NRXN1, NRXN2, and NRXN3) have been identified, each encoding for α and β neurexins, from two independent promoters. Moreover, each Nrxns gene (1–3) has several alternative exons and produces many splice variants that bind to a large variety of postsynaptic ligands, playing a role in trans-synaptic specification, strength, and plasticity. In this study, we investigated the impact of a continuous progressive (CP) AE program on alternative splicing (AS) of Nrxns on two brain regions: frontal cortex (FC) and hippocampus. We showed that exercise promoted Nrxns1–3 AS at splice site 4 (SS4) both in α and β isoforms, inducing a switch from exon-excluded isoforms (SS4−) to exon-included isoforms (SS4+) in FC but not in hippocampus. Additionally, we showed that the same AE program enhanced the expression level of other genes correlated with synaptic function and plasticity only in FC. Altogether, our findings demonstrated the positive effect of CP AE on FC in inducing molecular changes underlying synaptic plasticity and suggested that FC is possibly a more sensitive structure than hippocampus to show molecular changes.

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Neural substrates of propranolol-induced impairments in the reconsolidation of nicotine-associated memories in smokers

Translational Psychiatry ◽

10.1038/s41398-021-01566-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Xiao Lin ◽

Jiahui Deng ◽

Kai Yuan ◽

Qiandong Wang ◽

Lin Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Neural Activity ◽

Neural Substrates ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Reward Processing ◽

Memory Reconsolidation ◽

Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽

Resonance Imaging ◽

Postcentral Gyrus ◽

Propranolol Group ◽

Propranolol Administration

AbstractThe majority of smokers relapse even after successfully quitting because of the craving to smoking after unexpectedly re-exposed to smoking-related cues. This conditioned craving is mediated by reward memories that are frequently experienced and stubbornly resistant to treatment. Reconsolidation theory posits that well-consolidated memories are destabilized after retrieval, and this process renders memories labile and vulnerable to amnestic intervention. This study tests the retrieval reconsolidation procedure to decrease nicotine craving among people who smoke. In this study, 52 male smokers received a single dose of propranolol (n = 27) or placebo (n = 25) before the reactivation of nicotine-associated memories to impair the reconsolidation process. Craving for smoking and neural activity in response to smoking-related cues served as primary outcomes. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed during the memory reconsolidation process. The disruption of reconsolidation by propranolol decreased craving for smoking. Reactivity of the postcentral gyrus in response to smoking-related cues also decreased in the propranolol group after the reconsolidation manipulation. Functional connectivity between the hippocampus and striatum was higher during memory reconsolidation in the propranolol group. Furthermore, the increase in coupling between the hippocampus and striatum positively correlated with the decrease in craving after the reconsolidation manipulation in the propranolol group. Propranolol administration before memory reactivation disrupted the reconsolidation of smoking-related memories in smokers by mediating brain regions that are involved in memory and reward processing. These findings demonstrate the noradrenergic regulation of memory reconsolidation in humans and suggest that adjunct propranolol administration can facilitate the treatment of nicotine dependence. The present study was pre-registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (registration no. ChiCTR1900024412).

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