Elderly’s preferences towards rehabilitation robot appearance using electroencephalogram signal

Rehabilitation robots are becoming an important means of assisted living for the elderly, and the appearance of rehabilitation robots directly affects the willingness of the elderly to interact with the robots. Much of the current research on robot appearance preferences relies solely on subjective evaluations, which are relatively cheap, but do not reach deep into the brain to get an accurate grasp of how humans respond to robot appearance. Using electroencephalogram signal and questionnaire survey, we studied the preference of the elderly for abstract and figurative robots. The experimental materials are derived from the pictures of 10 robots in the market. The electroencephalogram signal are collected by BrainVision Recorder and processed by BrainVision Analyzer, as well as SPSS statistical analysis. Experiment shows that the peak of figurative robot pictures is higher and the fluctuation is more intense from 350 ms to 600 ms in the central region and the right half of parietal region. While the peak of abstract robot pictures is higher and the fluctuation is more intense in the prefrontal region, and the difference between abstract robot and figurative robot is not obvious in the occipital region. Based on the electroencephalogram signal and experimental results, it provides the possibility for objective preference evaluation of the elderly to the robot designed features.

PENGARUH RANGSANGAN PERMAINAN LOGIKA SEBELUM TANDING TERHADAP PENERAPAN DAN PENGEMBANGAN TAKTIK PERMAINAN BOLA BASKET PADA TIM UKM BOLA BASKET FAKULTAS KEDOKTERAN UNPAD

Logic is subset of philosophy that studies reasoning. This function is done by the prefrontal region. The purpose of this study is to know the effects of logical stimulation before match to the tactical application at the Basketball club in Faculty of Medicine, University of Padjadjaran. The study showed that the group that was given stimulation of logical games has a significantly higher mean (p<0.05). The conclusion of this study is logical stimulation can increase the capability of Basketball club, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Padjadjaran.

Your verbal questions beginning with 'what' will rapidly deactivate the left prefrontal cortex of listeners

The left prefrontal cortex is essential for verbal communication. It remains uncertain at what timing, to what extent, and what type of phrase initiates left-hemispheric dominant prefrontal activation during comprehension of spoken sentences. We clarified this issue by measuring event-related high-gamma activity during a task to respond to three-phrase questions configured in different orders. Questions beginning with a wh-interrogative deactivated the left posterior prefrontal cortex right after the 1st phrase offset and the anterior prefrontal cortex after the 2nd phrase offset. Left prefrontal high-gamma activity augmented subsequently and maximized around the 3rd phrase offset. Conversely, questions starting with a concrete phrase deactivated the right orbitofrontal region and then activated the left posterior prefrontal cortex after the 1st phrase offset. Regardless of sentence types, high-gamma activity emerged earlier, by one phrase, in the left posterior prefrontal than anterior prefrontal region. Sentences beginning with a wh-interrogative may initially deactivate the left prefrontal cortex to prioritize the bottom-up processing of upcoming auditory information. A concrete phrase may obliterate the inhibitory function of the right orbitofrontal region and facilitate top-down lexical prediction by the left prefrontal cortex. The left anterior prefrontal regions may be recruited for semantic integration of multiple concrete phrases.

PENGARUH RANGSANGAN PERMAINAN LOGIKA SEBELUM TANDING TERHADAP PENERAPAN DAN PENGEMBANGAN TAKTIK PERMAINAN BOLA BASKET PADA TIM UKM BOLA BASKET FAKULTAS KEDOKTERAN UNPAD

Logic is subset of philosophy that studies reasoning. This function is done by the prefrontal region. The purpose of this study is to know the effects of logical stimulation before match to the tactical application at the Basketball club in Faculty of Medicine, University of Padjadjaran. The study showed that the group that was given stimulation of logical games has a significantly higher mean (p<0.05). The conclusion of this study is logical stimulation can increase the capability of Basketball club, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Padjadjaran.

Characterisation of multimodal network organisation after focal prefrontal lesions in humans

Lesion research in humans and non-human primates classically maps the behavioral effects of focal damage to the directly-injured brain region. However, given the interconnectedness of the brain, it has long been known that such damage can also have distant effects. Modern imaging methods provide new ways to assess those effects. Further, triangulating across these methods in a lesion model may shed light on the biological basis of structural and functional networks in the healthy brain. We characterised network organization assessed with multiple MRI imaging modalities in 13 patients with chronic focal damage affecting either superior or inferior frontal gyrus (SFG, IFG) and 18 demographically-matched healthy Controls. We first defined structural and functional network parameters for the two frontal regions-of-interest in healthy Controls, and then used voxel-based morphology (VBM) and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) analyses to investigate structural grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) differences between patients and Controls. The functional and structural networks defined in healthy participants were then used to constrain interpretation of the whole brain network effects in patients. Finally, we applied dual regression to examine the differences in functional coupling to large-scale resting state networks (RSNs), focusing on the RSNs which most overlapped structurally with the lesion sites. Overall, the results show that lesions are associated with widespread within-network GM loss at sites distal from the lesion, yet leave WM and RSNs relatively preserved. Lesions to either prefrontal region had a very similar impact on structural networks, but SFG lesions had larger impact on RSNs than did IFG lesions. The findings provide evidence for causal contributions of specific prefrontal regions to structural and functional brain networks in humans, relevant to interpreting connectomic findings in studies of healthy people or those with psychiatric illnesses.

Rest Functional Brain Maturation during the First Year of Life

The first year of life is a key period of brain development, characterized by dramatic structural and functional modifications. Here, we measured rest cerebral blood flow (CBF) modifications throughout babies’ first year of life using arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging sequence in 52 infants, from 3 to 12 months of age. Overall, global rest CBF significantly increased during this age span. In addition, we found marked regional differences in local functional brain maturation. While primary sensorimotor cortices and insula showed early maturation, temporal and prefrontal region presented great rest CBF increase across the first year of life. Moreover, we highlighted a late and remarkably synchronous maturation of the prefrontal and posterior superior temporal cortices. These different patterns of regional cortical rest CBF modifications reflect a timetable of local functional brain maturation and are consistent with baby’s cognitive development within the first year of life.

An fNIRS examination of executive function in bilingual young children

Aims: The present study aims to examine: (1) the relationship between young children’s bilingualism and their performance in the Dimensional Card Change Sort (DCCS) task; and (2) whether prefrontal activation was associated with children’s bilingualism and executive function. Methodology: Children performed three sessions of the DCCS and their brain activity during the task was measured using functional nearinfrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Data and analysis: A sample of bilingual children ( N = 49) was recruited from a preschool with an English immersion program. We examined whether children’s performance in the DCCS was related to their bilingualism and whether the changes in oxygenated hemoglobin in the prefrontal regions were related to their bilingualism and performance in the DCCS. Findings/conclusions: Results showed that children’s English ability was significantly correlated with their behavioral performance in DCCS, and predicted children’s group membership (pass or perseverate). Furthermore, children in the pass group significantly activated the prefrontal cortex than those in the perseverate group, and activation in the prefrontal region was significantly correlated with children’s English ability. Originality: The current study first examined the effect of children’s bilingualism on their executive function and prefrontal activation.

Opposite effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on sustained attention in individuals with high and low levels of dispositional mindfulness

Objective: Some studies suggest a link between mindfulness and attentional functioning. Using transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS), we tested the hypothesis that mindfulness might improve vigilance through enhanced prefrontal functioning. Methods: We compared the performance of individuals with low versus high dispositional mindfulness (LDM vs HDM) under anodal tDCS of the right prefrontal region and in a sham condition. Results: The stimulation improved vigilance performance in the LDM group and reduced it in the HDM group. No difference was found between the groups in the sham condition. Conclusions: The results fit with the view that lower mindfulness is associated with lower attentional functioning, such that individuals with low mindfulness benefit from the anodal stimulation of the right prefrontal region in a vigilance task. We tentatively suggest that individuals with high dispositional mindfulness might have directed more attention to the physical discomfort produced by the stimulation (e.g., itching), thereby reducing the attention directed to the task (and, consequently, performance in this task). In sum, our results suggest a positive link between dispositional mindfulness, prefrontal functioning and vigilance performance.

Neuropathic Pain Linked to Defective Dopaminergic Inhibition in Anterior Cingulate Cortex

Pyramidal neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a prefrontal region involved in processing the affective components of pain, display hyperexcitability in chronic neuropathic conditions and their silencing abolishes hyperalgesia in rodents. We show here that dopamine, through D1-like receptor signaling, inhibits layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons of mouse ACC. Hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels control the firing activity of these pyramidal neurons. Through Gs-coupled D1-like receptors, dopamine induces the opening of HCN channels at physiological membrane potentials, driving a significant decrease in input resistance and excitability. Systemic L-DOPA rescues HCN channel activity, pyramidal excitability in ACC as well as sensory phenotype in neuropathic mice while microinjection of a selective D1-like agonist in ACC induces relief of ongoing pain in neuropathic animals. We conclude that decreased dopaminergic inhibition in ACC plays a critical role in an abnormal top-down modulation leading to neuropathic pain.