scholarly journals Walking through Architectural Spaces: The Impact of Interior Forms on Human Brain Dynamics

Author(s):  
Maryam Banaei ◽  
Javad Hatami ◽  
Abbas Yazdanfar ◽  
Klaus Gramann
2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 153-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Alstott

Abstract Whole brain emulation (WBE) is the possible replication of human brain dynamics that reproduces human behavior. If created, WBE would have significant impact on human society, and forecasts frequently place WBE as arriving within a century. However, WBE would be a complex technology with a complex network of prerequisite technologies. Most forecasts only consider a fraction of this technology network. The unconsidered portions of the network may contain bottlenecks, which are slowly-developing technologies that would impede the development of WBE. Here I describe how bottlenecks in the network can be non-obvious, and the merits of identifying them early. I show that bottlenecks may be predicted even with noisy forecasts. Accurate forecasts of WBE development must incorporate potential bottlenecks, which can be found using detailed descriptions of the WBE technology network. Bottlenecks identification can also increase the impact of WBE researchers by directing effort to those technologies that will immediately affect the timeline of WBE development


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. eaau8535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kanika Bansal ◽  
Javier O. Garcia ◽  
Steven H. Tompson ◽  
Timothy Verstynen ◽  
Jean M. Vettel ◽  
...  

The human brain is a complex dynamical system, and how cognition emerges from spatiotemporal patterns of regional brain activity remains an open question. As different regions dynamically interact to perform cognitive tasks, variable patterns of partial synchrony can be observed, forming chimera states. We propose that the spatial patterning of these states plays a fundamental role in the cognitive organization of the brain and present a cognitively informed, chimera-based framework to explore how large-scale brain architecture affects brain dynamics and function. Using personalized brain network models, we systematically study how regional brain stimulation produces different patterns of synchronization across predefined cognitive systems. We analyze these emergent patterns within our framework to understand the impact of subject-specific and region-specific structural variability on brain dynamics. Our results suggest a classification of cognitive systems into four groups with differing levels of subject and regional variability that reflect their different functional roles.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 132
Author(s):  
Giorgio Margaritondo ◽  
Yeukuang Hwu

The high longitudinal and lateral coherence of synchrotron X-rays sources radically transformed radiography. Before them, the image contrast was almost only based on absorption. Coherent synchrotron sources transformed radiography into a multi-faceted tool that can extract information also from “phase” effects. Here, we report a very simple description of the new techniques, presenting them to potential new users without requiring a sophisticated background in advanced physics. We then illustrate the impact of such techniques with a number of examples. Finally, we present the international collaboration SYNAPSE (Synchrotrons for Neuroscience—an Asia-Pacific Strategic Enterprise), which targets the use of phase-contrast radiography to map one full human brain in a few years.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ammar Zaghlool ◽  
Adnan Niazi ◽  
Åsa K. Björklund ◽  
Jakub Orzechowski Westholm ◽  
Adam Ameur ◽  
...  

AbstractTranscriptome analysis has mainly relied on analyzing RNA sequencing data from whole cells, overlooking the impact of subcellular RNA localization and its influence on our understanding of gene function, and interpretation of gene expression signatures in cells. Here, we separated cytosolic and nuclear RNA from human fetal and adult brain samples and performed a comprehensive analysis of cytosolic and nuclear transcriptomes. There are significant differences in RNA expression for protein-coding and lncRNA genes between cytosol and nucleus. We show that transcripts encoding the nuclear-encoded mitochondrial proteins are significantly enriched in the cytosol compared to the rest of protein-coding genes. Differential expression analysis between fetal and adult frontal cortex show that results obtained from the cytosolic RNA differ from results using nuclear RNA both at the level of transcript types and the number of differentially expressed genes. Our data provide a resource for the subcellular localization of thousands of RNA transcripts in the human brain and highlight differences in using the cytosolic or the nuclear transcriptomes for expression analysis.


NeuroImage ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 118551
Author(s):  
J.A. Galadí ◽  
S. Silva Pereira ◽  
Y. Sanz Perl ◽  
M.L. Kringelbach ◽  
I. Gayte ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Kupis ◽  
Zachary T. Goodman ◽  
Salome Kornfeld ◽  
Celia Romero ◽  
Bryce Dirks ◽  
...  

Obesity is associated with negative physical and mental health outcomes. Being overweight/obese is also associated with executive functioning impairments and structural changes in the brain. However, the impact of body mass index (BMI) on the relationship between brain dynamics and executive function (EF) is unknown. The goal of the study was to assess the modulatory effects of BMI on brain dynamics and EF. A large sample of publicly available neuroimaging and neuropsychological assessment data collected from 253 adults (18–45 years; mean BMI 26.95 kg/m2 ± 5.90 SD) from the Nathan Kline Institute (NKI) were included (http://fcon_1000.projects.nitrc.org/indi/enhanced/). Participants underwent resting-state functional MRI and completed the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) test battery (1). Time series were extracted from 400 brain nodes and used in a co-activation pattern (CAP) analysis. Dynamic CAP metrics including dwell time (DT), frequency of occurrence, and transitions were computed. Multiple measurement models were compared based on model fit with indicators from the D-KEFS assigned a priori (shifting, inhibition, and fluency). Multiple structural equation models were computed with interactions between BMI and the dynamic CAP metrics predicting the three latent factors of shifting, inhibition, and fluency while controlling for age, sex, and head motion. Models were assessed for the main effects of BMI and CAP metrics predicting the latent factors. A three-factor model (shifting, inhibition, and fluency) resulted in the best model fit. Significant interactions were present between BMI and CAP 2 (lateral frontoparietal (L-FPN), medial frontoparietal (M-FPN), and limbic nodes) and CAP 5 (dorsal frontoparietal (D-FPN), midcingulo-insular (M-CIN), somatosensory motor, and visual network nodes) DTs associated with shifting. A higher BMI was associated with a positive relationship between CAP DTs and shifting. Conversely, in average and low BMI participants, a negative relationship was seen between CAP DTs and shifting. Our findings indicate that BMI moderates the relationship between brain dynamics of networks important for cognitive control and shifting, an index of cognitive flexibility. Furthermore, higher BMI is linked with altered brain dynamic patterns associated with shifting.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ammar Zaghlool ◽  
Adnan Niazi ◽  
Åsa K. Björklund ◽  
Jakub Orzechowski Westholm ◽  
Adam Ameur ◽  
...  

AbstractTranscriptome analysis has mainly relied on analyzing RNA sequencing data from whole cells, overlooking the impact of subcellular RNA localization and its influence on our understanding of gene function, and interpretation of gene expression signatures in cells. Here, we performed a comprehensive analysis of cytosolic and nuclear transcriptomes in human fetal and adult brain samples. We show significant differences in RNA expression for protein-coding and lncRNA genes between cytosol and nucleus. Transcripts displaying differential subcellular localization belong to particular functional categories and display tissue-specific localization patterns. We also show that transcripts encoding the nuclear-encoded mitochondrial proteins are significantly enriched in the cytosol compared to the rest of protein-coding genes. Further investigation of the use of the cytosolic or the nuclear transcriptome for differential gene expression analysis indicates important differences in results depending on the cellular compartment. These differences were manifested at the level of transcript types and the number of differentially expressed genes. Our data provide a resource of RNA subcellular localization in the human brain and highlight differences in using the cytosolic or the nuclear transcriptomes for differential expression analysis.


2017 ◽  
pp. 3-12
Author(s):  
Riitta Hari ◽  
Aina Puce

Neuronal communication in the brain is associated with minute electrical currents that give rise to both electrical potentials on the scalp (measurable by means of electroencephalography [EEG]) and magnetic fields outside the head (measurable by magnetoencephalography [MEG]). Both MEG and EEG are noninvasive neurophysiological methods used to study brain dynamics, that is temporal changes in the activation patterns, and sequences in signal progression. Differences between MEG and EEG mainly reflect differences in the spread of electric and magnetic fields generated by the same electric currents in the human brain. This chapter provides an overall description of the main principles of MEG and EEG and provides background for the following chapters in this and subsequent sections.


2018 ◽  
pp. 165-183
Author(s):  
Subha Subramanian ◽  
James B. Potash

Epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation (DNAm), histone acetylation and methylation, and those directed by small RNAs, are widely studied in psychiatry and may play a role in the etiology and pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders. This chapter provides a brief overview of the mechanisms regulating these epigenetic marks and the challenges in obtaining biologically meaningful epigenetic data, given the inaccessibility of the living human brain. Significant results to date from studies on the epigenetics of psychiatric disorders are presented, including the impact of stress on DNAm in psychiatric risk genes such as FKBP5, and the impact of drugs of abuse and of psychiatric medications on histone modifications. Future directions are discussed, including the study of newly discovered aspects of DNAm: 5-hydroxymethylcytosine and non-CpG methylation. Ongoing work aims to uncover neurobiological mechanisms of illness and to find epigenetic biomarkers in peripheral tissues that inform diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic response.


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