scholarly journals Gender differences in functional connectivity of left-handers during the passage of an emotional stroop task

Author(s):  
T. V. Kutsenko

ntroduction. Neural correlates underlying the processing of emotional information, influence of emotional interference on cognitive control, gender difference in such activities remain a topic of research and discussion.Purpose. To study the connectivity of the brain regions involved in the processing of emotional information in left-handers, based on the EEG data obtained during their passage the emotional Stroop test (EST).Methods. EEG was registered during subjectpassage the EST successively two times. In EST a series including 240 words were presented at the center of the computer screen in one of two colors: red or green, words were emotional (negative) or neutral, shown in pseudorandom order. Some of these stimuli (target words names of animals and plants) participants were instructed to ignore (do not press any keys). Subjects were asked to respond with right hand (pressing P on a keyboard) for words printed in red and with left hand (pressing Q on a keyboard) for words printed in green. It was investigated source level functional connectivity (FC) in two groups of left-handers (17 to 22 years old): women (n=10) and men (n=10). FC was analysed between 21 regions of interest (ROI), selected on the base of fMRI research literature. Connections between ROIs were assessed using lagged phase synchronization (LPS) with eLORETA complex.Results. Statistically significant differences in FC by LPS between men and women groups were found only in first passage of EST. Particularly, FCof women, compared to men was: -higher between anterior cingulate cortex and left middle temporal area in delta band;-lower between left hippocampal formation and right frontal eye fields in beta-1;-and higher in beta-2 between right frontal eye fields and right anterior insula.were shorter for both emotional and neutral words. The interference effect was observed in both tests in women and only in the first test in men. Interference effect also was higher for responses with left hand for both groups. Repeated passage of the emotional Stroop test leads to reducing the effect of interference in men but not in women.Originality.The main neural networks have been identified, which in left-handed women are more involved in the processing of negative emotional information than in left-handed men.Conclusion. Compared to men, women have stronger connections of two areas of the brain involved in processing negatively colored emotional information, with other areas of the brain. The anterior cingulate cortex, which is considered to playan important role in attention and executive functions, is connected to the left middle temporal area, involved in the analysis of visual movement and words processing. Activation of theright anterior insular cortex, which is closely related to emotionalprocessing, is connected to the right frontal eye fields, which are known to play a key role in the goal directed eyes movements.Contrary, area of right frontal eye fields of men is more tightly connected to the contralateral left hippocampus, and is involved in semantic rather than emotional processing of information.Key words: emotional Stroop test;gender differences; left-handers; EEG; functional connectivity

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-64
Author(s):  
Xiping Liu ◽  
Yasutomo Imai ◽  
Yan Zhou ◽  
Sebastian Yu ◽  
Rupeng Li ◽  
...  

Functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (fcMRI), a specific form of MRI imaging, quantitatively assesses connectivity between brain regions that share functional properties. Functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging has already provided unique insights into changes in the brain in patients with conditions such as depression and pain and symptoms that have been reported by patients with psoriasis and are known to impact quality of life. To identify the central neurological impact of psoriasiform inflammation of the skin, we applied fcMRI analysis to mice that had been topically treated with the Toll-like receptor agonist, imiquimod (IMQ) to induce psoriasiform dermatitis. Brain insula regions, due to their suggested role in stress, were chosen as seed regions for fcMRI analysis. Mouse ear and head skin developed psoriasiform epidermal thickening (up to 4-fold, P < .05) and dermal inflammation after 4 days of topical treatment with IMQ. After fcMRI analysis, IMQ-treated mice showed significantly increased insula fc with wide areas throughout the brain, including, but not limited to, the somatosensory cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and caudate putamen ( P < .005). This reflects a potential central neurological impact of IMQ-induced psoriasis-like skin inflammation. These data indicate that fcMRI may be valuable tool to quantitatively assess the neurological impact of skin inflammation in patients with psoriasis.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-52
Author(s):  
María Claudia Scurtu ◽  
Vicente Manzano-Arrondo ◽  
Juan Francisco Rodríguez Testal

There has been a great deal of research on emotional information processing within the field of clinical psychology. Many tests have been developed and the emotional Stroop test is one of the most used. However, some versions of the Stroop test have methodological issues when used to study word-colour interferences, especially when the words are emotionally charged. We present a computer-assisted version of the emotional Stroop test called Tastiva, which is highly versatile, useful, and accessible, in addition to being easy to use and widely applicable. The Tastiva software and User Manual is available on the University of Seville website: http://grupo.us.es/recursos/Tastiva/index.htm. We also present a case study using neutral and sexual content words, in which the program calculates the word exposure time by analysing the behaviour of the respondent. One of its novel contributions is the graphic presentation of meas-ures: response time, errors, and non-response to stimuli.


2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (9) ◽  
pp. 1825-1836 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. J. A. van der Werff ◽  
J. N. Pannekoek ◽  
I. M. Veer ◽  
M.-J. van Tol ◽  
A. Aleman ◽  
...  

BackgroundChildhood emotional maltreatment (CEM) has been associated with disturbances in emotional and behavioral functioning, and with changes in regional brain morphology. However, whether CEM has any effect on the intrinsic organization of the brain is not known. In this study, we investigated the effects of CEM on resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) using seeds in the limbic network, the default-mode network (DMN) and the salience network, and the left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC).MethodUsing 3-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), resting-state functional MRI (RS-fMRI) scans were obtained. We defined seeds in the bilateral amygdala, the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and the left dmPFC, and used these to examine whether individuals reporting CEM (n=44) differed from individuals reporting no CEM (n=44) in RSFC with other brain regions. The two groups were matched for age, gender, handedness and the presence of psychopathology.ResultsCEM was associated with decreased RSFC between the right amygdala and the bilateral precuneus and a cluster extending from the left insula to the hippocampus and putamen. In addition, CEM was associated with decreased RSFC between the dACC and the precuneus and also frontal regions of the brain.ConclusionsWe found that CEM has a profound effect on RSFC in the limbic network and the salience network. Regions that show aberrant connectivity are related to episodic memory encoding, retrieval and self-processing operations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuejin Ma ◽  
Jianxia Tan ◽  
Lin Jiang ◽  
Xuqin Wang ◽  
Bochao Cheng ◽  
...  

Intellectual disability (ID) is associated with aberrant structural and functional development of the brain, yet how the dynamical developmental changes of the structure and function of ID from childhood to around puberty remains unknown. To explore the abnormal developmental trajectories of structure and function, 40 children with ID aged 6–13 years and 30 sex-, age-, and educational level-matched healthy controls (HC) with age range from 6 to 13 were recruited. The automatic voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and resting-state functional connectivity (FC) analyses were adopted to delineate the structural and functional differences. Significantly decreased total gray matter volume (GMV) and white matter volume (WMV) in children with ID were found, and the developmental trajectories of GMV and WMV in children with ID showed an opposite direction as compared with HC. The voxel-wise VMB analysis further revealed significantly increased GMV in the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), bilateral orbital part of the inferior frontal gyrus (orb_IFG.L, orb_IFG.R), right cuneus (cuneus.R), and bilateral middle frontal gyrus (MFG.L, MFG.R) in children with ID. The following seed-based whole-brain functional connectivity analyses of the brain areas with changed GMV found decreased FCs between the cuneus.R and left intraparietal sulcus (IPS.L) and between the MFG.R and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in children with ID. Moreover, negative correlations between GMV values in the dmPFC, orb_IFG.L, cuneus.R, and intelligence quotient (IQ) scores and positive correlations between the FCs of the cuneus.R with IPS.L and MFG.R with ACC and IQ scores were found in children with ID and HC. Our findings provide evidence for the abnormal structural and functional development in children with ID and highlight the important role of frontoparietal network in the typical development. The abnormal development of GMV and functional couplings found in this study may be the neuropathological bases of children with ID.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 479-486
Author(s):  
Sung-Yoon WON ◽  
Dong-Eun LEE

The aim of this study was to determine whether chewing gum affects cognitive function and stress relief. Sixty volunteers (mean age 23.3±3.01 years) without general or neuropsychiatric disease were recruited, and Stroop tests and stress surveys were conducted. Volunteers were administered performed a General and Emotional Stroop test with and without chewing gum, and the response time was recorded. The response time after chewing gum was significantly faster while conducting the General Stroop test. Stimulation of chewing gum may increase blood flow to the brain, which results in increased cognitive function. The response time was longer in the incongruent stimuli test compared to the congruent stimuli test, due to the effect of Stroop interference. However, when the chewing gum stimulus was introduced, the possibility of effectively reducing this effect. Stress index and response time of negative stimuli test showed weak positive correlation. This study suggests that chewing gum may play a positive role in increasing cognitive function and relieving stress.


2020 ◽  
pp. 10.1212/CPJ.0000000000000996
Author(s):  
Roshni Abee Patel ◽  
Jessica Joyce ◽  
Natalie Witek ◽  
Mitra Afshari

A 60-year old previously healthy left-handed man presented to clinic with 6 months of progressive slowness and stiffness on the left side. He described loss of dexterity in the left hand and feeling of “heaviness” in the left leg. On exam, he exhibited mild bradyphrenia and hypophonia, moderate left arm and leg bradykinesia and rigidity, and left leg hesitations and reduced left arm-swing upon walking (video 1). A month prior, he had undergone MRIs of the brain and cervical spine with and without gadolinium that were unremarkable. Initial serum testing including complete blood count, comprehensive metabolic panel, thyroid stimulating hormone, ceruloplasmin, and vitamin B12 levels were all unremarkable. The differential diagnosis at presentation included the spectrum of parkinsonian disorders with Parkinson's Disease being the most likely given his age group and the asymmetric parkinsonism. He was diagnosed with suspected Parkinson's Disease and levodopa therapy was initiated as the he felt his symptoms were functionally-limiting.


2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian W. Haas ◽  
Kazufumi Omura ◽  
Zenab Amin ◽  
R. Todd Constable ◽  
Turhan Canli

Author(s):  
George C. Ruben ◽  
William Krakow

Tobacco primary cell wall and normal bacterial Acetobacter xylinum cellulose formation produced a 36.8±3Å triple-stranded left-hand helical microfibril in freeze-dried Pt-C replicas and in negatively stained preparations for TEM. As three submicrofibril strands exit the wall of Axylinum , they twist together to form a left-hand helical microfibril. This process is driven by the left-hand helical structure of the submicrofibril and by cellulose synthesis. That is, as the submicrofibril is elongating at the wall, it is also being left-hand twisted and twisted together with two other submicrofibrils. The submicrofibril appears to have the dimensions of a nine (l-4)-ß-D-glucan parallel chain crystalline unit whose long, 23Å, and short, 19Å, diagonals form major and minor left-handed axial surface ridges every 36Å.The computer generated optical diffraction of this model and its corresponding image have been compared. The submicrofibril model was used to construct a microfibril model. This model and corresponding microfibril images have also been optically diffracted and comparedIn this paper we compare two less complex microfibril models. The first model (Fig. 1a) is constructed with cylindrical submicrofibrils. The second model (Fig. 2a) is also constructed with three submicrofibrils but with a single 23 Å diagonal, projecting from a rounded cross section and left-hand helically twisted, with a 36Å repeat, similar to the original model (45°±10° crossover angle). The submicrofibrils cross the microfibril axis at roughly a 45°±10° angle, the same crossover angle observed in microflbril TEM images. These models were constructed so that the maximum diameter of the submicrofibrils was 23Å and the overall microfibril diameters were similar to Pt-C coated image diameters of ∼50Å and not the actual diameter of 36.5Å. The methods for computing optical diffraction patterns have been published before.


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