scholarly journals Watershed Brain Regions for Characterizing Brand Equity-Related Mental Processes

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1619
Author(s):  
Shinya Watanuki

Brand equity is an important intangible for enterprises. As one advantage, products with brand equity can increase revenue, compared with those without such equity. However, unlike tangibles, it is difficult for enterprises to manage brand equity because it exists within consumers’ minds. Although, over the past two decades, numerous consumer neuroscience studies have revealed the brain regions related to brand equity, the identification of unique brain regions related to such equity is still controversial. Therefore, this study identifies the unique brain regions related to brand equity and assesses the mental processes derived from these regions. For this purpose, three analysis methods (i.e., the quantitative meta-analysis, chi-square tests, and machine learning) were conducted. The data were collected in accordance with the general procedures of a qualitative meta-analysis. In total, 65 studies (1412 foci) investigating branded objects with brand equity and unbranded objects without brand equity were examined, whereas the neural systems involved for these two brain regions were contrasted. According to the results, the parahippocampal gyrus and the lingual gyrus were unique brand equity-related brain regions, whereas automatic mental processes based on emotional associative memories derived from these regions were characteristic mental processes that discriminate branded from unbranded objects.

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 800-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferath Kherif ◽  
Sandrine Muller

In the past decades, neuroscientists and clinicians have collected a considerable amount of data and drastically increased our knowledge about the mapping of language in the brain. The emerging picture from the accumulated knowledge is that there are complex and combinatorial relationships between language functions and anatomical brain regions. Understanding the underlying principles of this complex mapping is of paramount importance for the identification of the brain signature of language and Neuro-Clinical signatures that explain language impairments and predict language recovery after stroke. We review recent attempts to addresses this question of language-brain mapping. We introduce the different concepts of mapping (from diffeomorphic one-to-one mapping to many-to-many mapping). We build those different forms of mapping to derive a theoretical framework where the current principles of brain architectures including redundancy, degeneracy, pluri-potentiality and bow-tie network are described.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bahar Tunçgenç ◽  
Carolyn Koch ◽  
Amira Herstic ◽  
Inge-Marie Eigsti ◽  
Stewart Mostofsky

AbstractMimicry facilitates social bonding throughout the lifespan. Mimicry impairments in autism spectrum conditions (ASC) are widely reported, including differentiation of the brain networks associated with its social bonding and learning functions. This study examined associations between volumes of brain regions associated with social bonding versus procedural skill learning, and mimicry of gestures during a naturalistic interaction in ASC and neurotypical (NT) children. Consistent with predictions, results revealed reduced mimicry in ASC relative to the NT children. Mimicry frequency was negatively associated with autism symptom severity. Mimicry was predicted predominantly by the volume of procedural skill learning regions in ASC, and by bonding regions in NT. Further, bonding regions contributed significantly less to mimicry in ASC than in NT, while the contribution of learning regions was not different across groups. These findings suggest that associating mimicry with skill learning, rather than social bonding, may partially explain observed communication difficulties in ASC.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavithra Elumalai ◽  
Yasharth Yadav ◽  
Nitin Williams ◽  
Emil Saucan ◽  
Jürgen Jost ◽  
...  

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a set of neurodevelopmental disorders that pose a significant global health burden. Measures from graph theory have been used to characterise ASD-related changes in resting-state fMRI functional connectivity networks (FCNs), but recently developed geometry-inspired measures have not been applied so far. In this study, we applied geometry-inspired graph Ricci curvatures to investigate ASD-related changes in resting-state fMRI FCNs. To do this, we applied Forman-Ricci and Ollivier-Ricci curvatures to compare networks of ASD and healthy controls (N = 1112) from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange I (ABIDE-I) dataset. We performed these comparisons at the brain-wide level as well as at the level of individual brain regions, and further, determined the behavioral relevance of region-specific differences with Neurosynth meta-analysis decoding. We found brain-wide ASD-related differences for both Forman-Ricci and Ollivier-Ricci curvatures. For Forman-Ricci curvature, these differences were distributed across 83 of the 200 brain regions studied, and concentrated within the Default Mode, Somatomotor and Ventral Attention Network. Meta-analysis decoding identified the brain regions showing curvature differences as involved in social cognition, memory, language and movement. Notably, comparison with results from previous non-invasive stimulation (TMS/tDCS) experiments revealed that the set of brain regions showing curvature differences overlapped with the set of brain regions whose stimulation resulted in positive cognitive or behavioural outcomes in ASD patients. These results underscore the utility of geometry-inspired graph Ricci curvatures in characterising disease-related changes in ASD, and possibly, other neurodevelopmental disorders.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (12) ◽  
pp. 1796-1826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Nani ◽  
Jordi Manuello ◽  
Donato Liloia ◽  
Sergio Duca ◽  
Tommaso Costa ◽  
...  

During the last two decades, our inner sense of time has been repeatedly studied with the help of neuroimaging techniques. These investigations have suggested the specific involvement of different brain areas in temporal processing. At least two distinct neural systems are likely to play a role in measuring time: One is mainly constituted of subcortical structures and is supposed to be more related to the estimation of time intervals below the 1-sec range (subsecond timing tasks), and the other is mainly constituted of cortical areas and is supposed to be more related to the estimation of time intervals above the 1-sec range (suprasecond timing tasks). Tasks can then be performed in motor or nonmotor (perceptual) conditions, thus providing four different categories of time processing. Our meta-analytical investigation partly confirms the findings of previous meta-analytical works. Both sub- and suprasecond tasks recruit cortical and subcortical areas, but subcortical areas are more intensely activated in subsecond tasks than in suprasecond tasks, which instead receive more contributions from cortical activations. All the conditions, however, show strong activations in the SMA, whose rostral and caudal parts have an important role not only in the discrimination of different time intervals but also in relation to the nature of the task conditions. This area, along with the striatum (especially the putamen) and the claustrum, is supposed to be an essential node in the different networks engaged when the brain creates our sense of time.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mei Yan Melody Chan ◽  
Yvonne M.Y. Han

Abstract Background Impaired imitation has been found to be an important factor contributing to social communication deficits in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It has been hypothesized that the neural correlates of imitation, the mirror neuron system (MNS), are dysfunctional in ASD, resulting in imitation impairment as one of the key behavioral manifestations in ASD. Previous MNS studies produced inconsistent results, leaving the debate of whether mirror neurons are “broken” in ASD unresolved.Methods This meta-analysis aimed to explore the differences in MNS activation patterns between typically developing (TD) and ASD individuals when they observe/imitate biological motions with/without emotional components. Effect-size signed differential mapping (ES-SDM) was adopted to synthesize the available fMRI data. Results The MNS is dysfunctional in ASD; not only the brain regions containing mirror neurons were affected, the brain regions supporting MNS functioning were also impaired. Second, MNS dysfunction in ASD is modulated by task complexity; differential activation patterns during the presentation of “cold” and “hot” stimuli might be a result of atypical functional connectivity in ASD. Third, MNS dysfunction in ASD individuals is modulated by age. MNS regions were found to show delayed maturation; abnormal lateralization development in some of the brain regions also contributed to the atypical development of the MNS in ASD. Limitations We have attempted to include a comprehensive set of original data for this analysis. However, whole brain analysis data were not obtainable from some of the published papers, these studies could not be included as a result. Moreover, the results indicating the age effect on MNS in ASD could only be generalized to individuals aged 11-37, as MNS activation remains unstudied for populations beyond this age range. Also, the ES-SDM linear regression modelling might not be ideal to illustrate the associations between age and MNS activation; the meta-regression results should be treated with caution. Conclusion There is a “global” rather than a “local” network dysfunction, which may underlie the imitation impairments in individuals with ASD. Task complexity and age modulate the functioning of the MNS, which may explain the previous peculiar results contributing to the unresolved “broken mirror neuron” debate.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
João Castelhano ◽  
Gisela Lima ◽  
Marta Teixeira ◽  
Carla Soares ◽  
Marta Pais ◽  
...  

There is an increasing interest in the neural effects of psychoactive drugs, in particular tryptamine psychedelics, which has been incremented by the proposal that they have potential therapeutic benefits, based on their molecular mimicry of serotonin. It is widely believed that they act mainly through 5HT2A receptors but their effects on neural activation of distinct brain systems are not fully understood. We performed a quantitative meta-analysis of brain imaging studies to investigate the effects of substances within this class (e.g., LSD, Psilocybin, DMT, Ayahuasca) in the brain from a molecular and functional point of view. We investigated the question whether the changes in activation patterns and connectivity map into regions with larger 5HT1A/5HT2A receptor binding, as expected from indolaemine hallucinogens (in spite of the often reported emphasis only on 5HT2AR). We did indeed find that regions with changed connectivity and/or activation patterns match regions with high density of 5HT2A receptors, namely visual BA19, visual fusiform regions in BA37, dorsal anterior and posterior cingulate cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, and regions involved in theory of mind such as the surpramarginal gyrus, and temporal cortex (rich in 5HT1A receptors). However, we also found relevant patterns in other brain regions such as dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Moreover, many of the above-mentioned regions also have a significant density of both 5HT1A/5HT2A receptors, and available PET studies on the effects of psychedelics on receptor occupancy are still quite scarce, precluding a metanalytic approach. Finally, we found a robust neuromodulatory effect in the right amygdala. In sum, the available evidence points towards strong neuromodulatory effects of tryptamine psychedelics in key brain regions involved in mental imagery, theory of mind and affective regulation, pointing to potential therapeutic applications of this class of substances.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernest Mas-Herrero ◽  
Larissa Maini ◽  
Guillaume Sescousse ◽  
Robert J. Zatorre

ABSTRACTNeuroimaging studies have shown that, despite the abstractness of music, it may mimic biologically rewarding stimuli (e.g. food) in its ability to engage the brain’s reward circuity. However, due to the lack of research comparing music and other types of reward, it is unclear to what extent the recruitment of reward-related structures overlaps among domains. To achieve this goal, we performed a coordinate-based meta-analysis of 38 neuroimaging studies (703 subjects) comparing the brain responses specifically to music and food-induced pleasure. Both engaged a common set of brain regions including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, ventral striatum, and insula. Yet, comparative analyses indicated a partial dissociation in the engagement of the reward circuitry as a function of the type of reward, as well as additional reward type-specific activations in brain regions related to perception, sensory processing, and learning. These results support the idea that hedonic reactions rely on the engagement of a common reward network, yet through specific routes of access depending on the modality and nature of the reward.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuan-Peng Hu ◽  
Yi Huang ◽  
Simon B. Eickhoff ◽  
Kaiping Peng ◽  
Jie Sui

AbstractThe existence of a common beauty is a long-standing debate in philosophy and related disciplines. In the last two decades, cognitive neuroscientists have sought to elucidate this issue by exploring the common neural basis of the experience of beauty. Still, empirical evidence for such common neural basis of different forms of beauty is not conclusive. To address this question, we performed an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis on the existing neuroimaging studies of beauty appreciation of faces and visual art by non-expert adults (49 studies, 982 participants, meta-data are available at https://osf.io/s9xds/). We observed that perceiving these two forms of beauty activated distinct brain regions: while the beauty of faces convergently activated the left ventral striatum, the beauty of visual art convergently activated the anterior medial prefrontal cortex (aMPFC). However, a conjunction analysis failed to reveal any common brain regions for the beauty of visual art and faces. The implications of these results are discussed.


2002 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 327-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl L Grady ◽  
Michelle L Keightley

In this paper, we review studies using functional neuroimaging to examine cognition in neuropsychiatric disorders. The focus is on social cognition, which is a topic that has received increasing attention over the past few years. A network of brain regions is proposed for social cognition that includes regions involved in processes relevant to social functioning (for example, self reference and emotion). We discuss the alterations of activity in these areas in patients with autism, depression, schizophrenia, and posttraumatic stress disorder in relation to deficits in social behaviour and symptoms. The evidence to date suggests that there may be some specificity of the brain regions involved in these 4 disorders, but all are associated with dysfunction in the amygdala and dorsal cingulate gyrus. Although there is much work remaining in this area, we are beginning to understand the complex interactions of brain function and behaviour that lead to disruptions of social abilities.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron Parro ◽  
Matthew L Dixon ◽  
Kalina Christoff

AbstractCognitive control mechanisms support the deliberate regulation of thought and behavior based on current goals. Recent work suggests that motivational incentives improve cognitive control, and has begun to elucidate the brain regions that may support this effect. Here, we conducted a quantitative meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies of motivated cognitive control using activation likelihood estimation (ALE) and Neurosynth in order to delineate the brain regions that are consistently activated across studies. The analysis included functional neuroimaging studies that investigated changes in brain activation during cognitive control tasks when reward incentives were present versus absent. The ALE analysis revealed consistent recruitment in regions associated with the frontoparietal control network including the inferior frontal sulcus (IFS) and intraparietal sulcus (IPS), as well as consistent recruitment in regions associated with the salience network including the anterior insula and anterior mid-cingulate cortex (aMCC). A large-scale exploratory meta-analysis using Neurosynth replicated the ALE results, and also identified the caudate nucleus, nucleus accumbens, medial thalamus, inferior frontal junction/premotor cortex (IFJ/PMC), and hippocampus. Finally, we conducted separate ALE analyses to compare recruitment during cue and target periods, which tap into proactive engagement of rule-outcome associations, and the mobilization of appropriate viscero-motor states to execute a response, respectively. We found that largely distinct sets of brain regions are recruited during cue and target periods. Altogether, these findings suggest that flexible interactions between frontoparietal, salience, and dopaminergic midbrain-striatal networks may allow control demands to be precisely tailored based on expected value.


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