Physiological and Psychological Responses to Coding Combined with Horticultural Activity

This study was conducted to determine the physiological and psychological benefits of integrating software coding and horticultural activity. Participants included 30 adults in their 20s. The subjects randomly engaged in activities—namely, connecting Arduino components, coding, planting, and a combined coding and horticultural activities. During the activity, two subjective evaluations were conducted at the end of each activity, and participants’ brain waves were measured. The spectral edge frequency 50% of alpha spectrum band (ASEF50) and ratio of sensorimotor rhythm from mid beta to theta (RSMT) were activated in the prefrontal lobe as participants performed combined coding and horticultural activities. When performing these combined activities, relative beta (RB) increased, and relative theta (RT) decreased in the prefrontal lobe. In addition, ASEF50, relative low beta (RLB), and relative mid beta (RMB) were activated during plant-based activities (planting and a combined coding and horticultural activities). The subjective evaluations revealed that the plant-based activities had a positive effect on participants’ emotions. This study shows that activities combining coding and horticulture had a positive impact on physiological relaxation and increased concentration in adults compared with other activities and was also linked with positive subjectively reported emotions.

Pregabalin alleviates postherpetic neuralgia by downregulating spinal TRPV1 channel protein

Purpose: To determine the mechanism involved in pregabalin-induced alleviation of postherpetic neuralgia in a rat model.Methods: Ninety-sixty healthy Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were assigned to sham, model andpregabalin groups (32 rats per group). A model of postherpetic neuralgia (PN) was established. The expressions of IL-1β and TNF-α in spinal cord tissue were determined 7 days after administration of treatments. The proportions of fluorescence areas in astrocytes in the dorsal horn, prefrontal lobe and hippocampus, and level of spinal cord TRPV1 channel protein in each group were evaluated.Results: Relative to model rats, IL-1β and TNF-α in spinal cord of pregabalin rats were significantly reduced (p < 0.05). The areas of fluorescence in astrocytes in dorsal horn of spinal cord, prefrontal lobe and hippocampus of model group were significantly increased, relative to sham, but were decreased in rats in pregabalin group (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Pregabalin significantly alleviates postherpetic neuralgia via mechanisms which may be related to the inflammatory response of spinal dorsal horn and downregulation of TRPV1 channel protein expression. This finding may be useful in developing new drugs for alleviating postherpetic neuralgia.

Segmentation of Prefrontal Lobe Based on Improved Clustering Algorithm in Patients with Diabetes

Diabetics are prone to postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD). The occurrence may be related to the damage of the prefrontal lobe. In this study, the prefrontal lobe was segmented based on an improved clustering algorithm in patients with diabetes, in order to evaluate the relationship between prefrontal lobe volume and COPD. In this study, a total of 48 diabetics who underwent selective noncardiac surgery were selected. Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images of the patients were segmented based on the improved clustering algorithm, and their prefrontal volume was measured. The correlation between the volume of the prefrontal lobe and Z -score or blood glucose was analyzed. Qualitative analysis shows that the gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid based on the improved clustering algorithm were easy to distinguish. Quantitative evaluation results show that the proposed segmentation algorithm can obtain the optimal Jaccard coefficient and the least average segmentation time. There was a negative correlation between the volume of the prefrontal lobe and the Z -score. The cut-off value of prefrontal lobe volume for predicting POCD was <179.8, with the high specificity. There was a negative correlation between blood glucose and volume of the prefrontal lobe. From the results, we concluded that the segmentation of the prefrontal lobe based on an improved clustering algorithm before operation may predict the occurrence of POCD in diabetics.

Truncal Instability and Titubation in Patients With Acute Encephalopathy With Reduced Subcortical Diffusion

The present retrospective study aimed to investigate the presence of truncal instability or titubation after the first seizure and second phase in patients with acute encephalopathy with reduced subcortical diffusion (AED). Of the 15 patients with AED who were admitted to our hospital for 3 years and 2 months and had reached developmental milestones for sitting before disease onset, six experienced moderate-to-severe truncal instability while sitting after the first seizure. These patients had a significantly longer first seizure duration and significantly lower GCS scores 12–24 h after the first seizure, as well as significantly higher Tada score and Creatinine and blood glucose levels than those with mild or no truncal instability while in a seated position after the first seizure. Three 1-year-old children with bilateral frontal lobe lesions, particularly in the bilateral prefrontal lobe regions, demonstrated truncal titubation, which has not previously been reported as a clinical feature of AED. Tada score reported to be a predictor of AED prognosis and truncal instability in the sitting position after the first seizure may represent disease severity, but not the specific lesions. Conversely, truncal titubation might be suggestive of bilateral frontal lobe lesions, particularly in patients without severe instability. Further studies on the role of bilateral prefrontal lobe lesions to truncal titubation in patients with AED using more objective evaluation methods, such as stabilometry, are necessary.

ML of Striatum rs-fMRI Features Predicts TLE Diagnosis

Objective: To determine whether patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) exhibit aberrant resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI)-functional connectivity and build an individualized TLE prediction model using ML (ML). Methods: Sixty TLE patients and fifty-one controls underwent rs-fMRI scanning. The striatum was divided into 12 striatal seeds. rs-FC was compared between groups to enable TLE classification based on striatal FC using the SPM12, SVM and PRONTO softwares. Bilateral striatal FC values were extracted and significance values were obtained using leave-one-out (LOO) SVM analysis and permutation testing (2,000) for cross-validation.Results: Patients with TLE exhibited a significantly decreased rs-FC between the left inferior ventral striatum and the right posterior central gyrus, left superior frontal gyrus;and between the left dorsal rostral putamen and right superior parietal lobule, right middle frontal gyrus. And between right dorsal caudate And left prefrontal lobe, and right middle temporal gyrus. rs-fMRI analysis a revealed significantly increased FC between the left inferior ventral striatum seed and right anterior cingulate in TLE patients (p<0.05). Right dorsal caudate FC may distinguish individuals with TLE from controls with 79.08% Accuracy, including a 72.77% Sensitivity and 76.44% Specificity, resulting in an AUC of 0.71 (p <0 .01). The areas informing classification included left prefrontal lobe, right middle temporal gyrus, and left superior parietal lobule.Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate aberrant FC in certain brain regions, such as the right dorsal caudate, may play an important role as potential biomarkers of TLE and highlight the utility of ML-based models for clinical decision making.

A Preliminary Study of Abnormal Centrality of Cortical Regions and Subsystems in Whole Brain Functional Connectivity of Autism Spectrum Disorder Boys

The abnormal cortices of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) brains are uncertain. However, the pathological alterations of ASD brains are distributed throughout interconnected cortical systems. Functional connections (FCs) methodology identifies cooperation and separation characteristics of information process in macroscopic cortical activity patterns under the context of network neuroscience. Embracing the graph theory concepts, this paper introduces eigenvector centrality index (EC score) ground on the FCs, and further develops a new framework for researching the dysfunctional cortex of ASD in holism significance. The important process is to uncover noticeable regions and subsystems endowed with antagonistic stance in EC-scores of 26 ASD boys and 28 matched healthy controls (HCs). For whole brain regional EC scores of ASD boys, orbitofrontal superior medial cortex, insula R, posterior cingulate gyrus L, and cerebellum 9 L are endowed with different EC scores significantly. In the brain subsystems level, EC scores of DMN, prefrontal lobe, and cerebellum are aberrant in the ASD boys. Generally, the EC scores display widespread distribution of diseased regions in ASD brains. Meanwhile, the discovered regions and subsystems, such as MPFC, AMYG, INS, prefrontal lobe, and DMN, are engaged in social processing. Meanwhile, the CBCL externalizing problem scores are associated with EC scores.

The Inhibition of High Load Task on Individual Cognition：A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscope Study

Background: Cognitive load plays a vital role in human cognitive activities, and effective measurement and intervention of cognitive load can improve learners' learning effect. As a new method of measurement, physiological measurement can show the neural mechanism of cognitive overload. MRI and EEG, as the first physiological measurement methods, have made great contributions to the related research of cognition，but they have unavoidable flaws to a certain extent. As a new physiological measurement method in recent years, fNIRS can effectively avoid the influence of the above equipment on the experiment. This study uses fNIRS to measure cognitive load with the N-back classic paradigm, aiming to explore whether the sensitivity of the prefrontal area to the task and the difficulty of the task will affect the cognitive load of the individual. Results: Through the GLM model to concretely analyze the brain activation area and use repeated measurement analysis of variance to compare behavioral data, it can be concluded that the prefrontal cortex can be effectively activated under the stimulation of work tasks. In a certain range, the prefrontal lobe activation becomes more obvious with the increase of cognitive load, but when the cognitive load exceeds the maximum limit that the prefrontal lobe can handle, the prefrontal lobe will be in a negative activation state.Conclusion: These results suggest when the task load is appropriate, the PFC can be most effectively activated for working memory processing. Therefore, learners should be analyzed in teaching activities so as to choose appropriate teaching content to ensure the maximization of teaching effect.

Assessing the Retest Reliability of Prefrontal EEG Markers of Brain Rhythm Slowing in the Eyes-Closed Resting State

Objective. We examined whether prefrontal lobe EEG markers of slower brain rhythms, which are correlated with functional brain aging, can reliably reflect those of other brain lobes, as measured by a multichannel device. Methods. EEG measurements were taken of 112 healthy individuals aged 20 to 69 years in the eyes-closed resting state. A 5-minute measurement was taken at 8 regions (Fp1, Fp2, F3, F4, T3, T4, O1, O2). Indices (median frequency [MDF], peak frequency [PF]) that quantitatively reflect the characteristics of EEG slowing, and traditional commonly used spectral indices (absolute powers as delta, theta, alpha, beta, and relative power as alpha-to-theta ratio [ATR]), were extracted from the EEG signals. For these indices, the differences between the prefrontal lobe and other areas were analyzed and the test-retest reproducibility was investigated. Results. The EEG slowing indicators showed high conformity over all brain lobes and stable reproducibility. On the other hand, the typical EEG spectral indicators delta, theta, alpha, beta, and ATR differed between brain regions. Conclusion. It was found that EEG slowing markers, which were used for assessing the aging or degeneration of brain functions, could be reliably extracted from a prefrontal EEG alone. Significance. These findings suggest that EEG prefrontal markers may reflect markers of other brain regions when a multi-channel device is used. Thus, this method may constitute a low-cost, wearable, wireless, easily accessible, and noninvasive tool for neurological assessment that could be used in the early detection of cognitive decline and in the prevention of dementia.

S139. PROGRESSIVE DETERIORATION OF WHITE MATTER TRACTS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA: A DIFFUSION MRI STUDY ON A LARGE SINGLE COHORT USING NORMATIVE MODELS

Background Current diffusion MRI studies of schizophrenia are limited by methodology and sample size. With normative models and the largest single-site cohort, we aimed to delineate a comprehensive profile of tract alteration in unaffected siblings, first-episode schizophrenia (FES), and chronic schizophrenia. Methods A total of 277 patients with schizophrenia, 81 unaffected siblings, and 1023 healthy people underwent diffusion-weighted imaging on the same 3T scanner. Generalized fractional anisotropy (GFA), mean diffusivity (MD), radial diffusivity (RD), and axial diffusivity (AD), were sampled along 45 major neural tracts. A normative model was built from the images of 1023 healthy people; Z scores represented the normalized deviation of the index value from that of the age- and sex-matched healthy population. Results Widespread involvement of neural tracts was found in patients with FES, and the tracts connecting the prefrontal lobe were the most severely affected. In patients with chronic schizophrenia, virtually all neural tracts were altered, with the tracts connecting the sensorimotor cortex the least affected. A significant negative correlation was observed between GFA alterations and the duration of illness. In unaffected siblings, scattered tracts were involved in GFA, but not in MD or RD. Discussion The study revealed widespread white matter involvement in the early stages of schizophrenia. The alteration continues to progress from the neural tracts connecting the prefrontal lobe to the entire brain. Compared to a large sample of normal controls, the attenuated peak and rapid decline of white matter GFA across the lifespan suggest that schizophrenia is associated with neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative abnormalities of white matter.