scholarly journals Brain Activation during Thoughts of One’s Own Death and Its Linear and Curvilinear Correlations with Fear of Death in Elderly Individuals: An fMRI Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kanan Hirano ◽  
Kentaro Oba ◽  
Toshiki Saito ◽  
Shohei Yamazaki ◽  
Ryuta Kawashima ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activation ◽  
Posterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Fear Of Death ◽  
Supramarginal Gyrus ◽  
Brain Responses ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Negative Linear Correlation ◽  
The Right ◽  
Older Populations ◽  
Existential Issues

Abstract Facing one’s own death and managing the fear of death are important existential issues, particularly in older populations. Although recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have investigated brain responses to death-related stimuli, none has examined whether this brain activation was specific to one’s own death or how it was related to dispositional fear of death. In this study, during fMRI, 34 elderly participants (aged, 60–72 years) were presented with either death-related or death-unrelated negative words and asked to evaluate the relevance of these words to the “self” or the “other.” The results showed that only the left supplementary motor area (SMA) was selectively activated during self-relevant judgments of death-related words. Regression analyses of the effect of fear of death on brain activation during death-related thoughts identified a significant negative linear correlation in the right supramarginal gyrus (SMG) and an inverted-U-shaped correlation in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) only during self-relevant judgments. Our results suggest potential involvement of the SMA in the existential aspect of thoughts of death. The distinct fear-of-death-dependent responses in the SMG and PCC may reflect fear-associated distancing of the physical self and the processing of death-related thoughts as a self-relevant future agenda, respectively.

Brain activation during thoughts of one’s own death and its linear and curvilinear correlations with fear of death in elderly individuals: An fMRI study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kanan Hirano ◽  
Kentaro Oba ◽  
Toshiki Saito ◽  
Shohei Yamazaki ◽  
Ryuta Kawashima ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activation ◽  
Posterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Fear Of Death ◽  
Brain Responses ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Negative Linear Correlation ◽  
The Right ◽  
Older Populations ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Existential Issues

Facing one’s own death and managing the fear of it are important existential issues, particularly in older populations. Although recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have investigated brain responses to death-related stimuli, none has examined whether the brain activation was specific to self-death or how it was related to the fear of death. In this study, during the fMRI measurements, 34 elderly participants (aged 60–72) were presented with either death-related or death-unrelated negative words and asked to evaluate these words based on their relevance to ‘self’ or ‘other’. Result showed that only the left supplementary motor area (SMA) was selectively activated during self-relevant judgments on death-related words. Regression analyses of the effect of fear of death on brain activation during death-related thoughts identified a significant negative linear correlation in the right supramarginal gyrus (SMG) and an inverted-U-shaped correlation in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) only during self-relevant judgments. Our results demonstrated the involvement of the SMA in existential aspect within thoughts of death. The distinct fear-of-death-dependent responses in the SMG and PCC may reflect fear-associated distancing of the physical self and the processing of death-related thoughts as a self-relevant future agenda, respectively.

scholarly journals Changes of Entropy Connectivity of the Default Mode and Central Executive Networks in ASD

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haichen Zhao ◽  
Rui Lv ◽  
Xiaotao Cai ◽  
Guangyu Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Disorders ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Posterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Central Executive ◽  
Association Cortex ◽  
Supramarginal Gyrus ◽  
Default Mode ◽  
Functional Changes ◽  
The Right

Abstract Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous disorder characterized by different levels of repetitive and stereotypic behavior as well as cognitive deficit. Brain structural and functional changes of individuals with ASD have been reported in previous investigations. To provide more implications for clinical diagnosis and treatment of ASD, it is necessary to further explore the changes of cerebral neural activities in ASD.Method: We reinvestigate the brain functional networks (viz. the default mode network (DMN) and central executive network (CEN)) of ASD utilizing entropy connectivity (a kind of causal connectivity) method and nodal degree (a topological property in graph theoretical analysis). Eighty-nine patients with ASD and 94 age-matched typical developing (TD) teenagers participated in this study.Result: Two-sample t tests revealed weakened entropy connectivity in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the left supramarginal gyrus in the CEN, as well as reduced entropy connectivity in the ventral posterior cingulate cortex and the retrosplenial cingulate cortex but enhanced asynchronous output entropy connectivity from the right dorsal frontal cortex to the left piriform cortex in the DMN in patients with ASD. In addition, we also noted significantly decreased nodal degrees in the right somatosensory association cortex and the supramarginal gyrus in individuals with ASD.Limitation: The differences of data from different sites in MRI acquisition settings, such as keep eye open or close, decline the credibility of the results. And further discussion is blocked for BAs template, the lack of ADOS data in ABIDE I and regardless of the effect of sensorimotor related cortex. Conclusion: These findings indicate that overconnecitivity and underconnecitivity in the CEN and DMN might be an important factor that contributes to executive and cognitive disorders of individuals with ASD.

scholarly journals The Neural Correlates of Mental Rotation Abilities in Cannabis-Abusing Patients with Schizophrenia: An fMRI Study

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stéphane Potvin ◽  
Josiane Bourque ◽  
Myriam Durand ◽  
Olivier Lipp ◽  
Pierre Lalonde ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Rotation ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Mental Rotation Task ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Supramarginal Gyrus ◽  
Cannabis Abuse ◽  
Visuospatial Abilities ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Left Thalamus ◽  
The Right

Growing evidence suggests that cannabis abuse/dependence is paradoxically associated with better cognition in schizophrenia. Accordingly, we performed a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of visuospatial abilities in 14 schizophrenia patients with cannabis abuse (DD), 14 nonabusing schizophrenia patients (SCZ), and 21 healthy controls (HCs). Participants performed a mental rotation task while being scanned. There were no significant differences in the number of mistakes between schizophrenia groups, and both made more mistakes on the mental rotation task than HC. Relative to HC, SCZ had increased activations in the left thalamus, while DD patients had increased activations in the right supramarginal gyrus. In both cases, hyper-activations are likely to reflect compensatory efforts. In addition, SCZ patients had decreased activations in the left superior parietal gyrus compared to both HC and DD patients. This latter result tentatively suggests that the neurophysiologic processes underlying visuospatial abilities are partially preserved in DD, relative to SCZ patients, consistently with the findings showing that cannabis abuse in schizophrenia is associated with better cognitive functioning. Further fMRI studies are required to examine the neural correlates of other cognitive dysfunctions in schizophrenia patients with and without comorbid cannabis use disorder.

scholarly journals Caregiver Stress and Empathy: Neural and Hormonal Correlates

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 179-179
Author(s):  
Shalmali Mirajkar ◽  
David Warren ◽  
Janelle Beadle
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Chronic Conditions ◽  
Posterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Supramarginal Gyrus ◽  
Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽  
Tend And Befriend ◽  
The Right

Abstract Providing care to older adults with chronic conditions can be emotionally meaningful and stressful. The tend-and-befriend theory highlights the role of affiliation/empathy in stress reduction, but it has not been established whether this theory extends to caregivers for older adults. Addressing this gap, we assessed caregiver empathy and stress through behavioral, hormone, and neuroimaging measures. In Experiment 1, we compared 19 caregivers (Mage=67.1) to 24 non-caregivers (Mage=72.6), and found that caregivers with a greater reduction in cortisol to an empathic context showed greater prosocial behavior (r2=0.3). In experiment 2 (N=32), we examined differences between caregivers and non-caregivers in whole brain resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) with seed regions of interest (posterior cingulate cortex (PCC); amygdala), and covariation of RSFC with empathy (α=0.05). For emotional empathy, caregivers had stronger connectivity between the PCC seed, medial prefrontal cortex, and right supramarginal gyrus, and between the amygdala seed and the right middle frontal gyrus.

Sex differences in brain activation patterns during processing of positively and negatively valenced emotional words

2006 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALEX HOFER ◽  
CHRISTIAN M. SIEDENTOPF ◽  
ANJA ISCHEBECK ◽  
MARIA A. RETTENBACHER ◽  
MICHAEL VERIUS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activation ◽  
Superior Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Gender Disparity ◽  
Emotional Stimuli ◽  
Supramarginal Gyrus ◽  
Activation Patterns ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Emotional Words ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Diseases ◽  
The Right

Background. Previous studies have suggested that men and women process emotional stimuli differently. In this study, we used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate gender differences in regional cerebral activity during the perception of positive or negative emotions.Method. The experiment comprised two emotional conditions (positively/negatively valenced words) during which fMRI data were acquired.Results. Thirty-eight healthy volunteers (19 males, 19 females) were investigated. A direct comparison of brain activation between men and women revealed differential activation in the right putamen, the right superior temporal gyrus, and the left supramarginal gyrus during processing of positively valenced words versus non-words for women versus men. By contrast, during processing of negatively valenced words versus non-words, relatively greater activation was seen in the left perirhinal cortex and hippocampus for women versus men, and in the right supramarginal gyrus for men versus women.Conclusions. Our findings suggest gender-related neural responses to emotional stimuli and could contribute to the understanding of mechanisms underlying the gender disparity of neuropsychiatric diseases such as mood disorders.

scholarly journals Hypocretin-deficient narcolepsy patients have abnormal brain activation during humor processing

SLEEP ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilde T Juvodden ◽  
Dag Alnæs ◽  
Martina J Lund ◽  
Espen Dietrichs ◽  
Per M Thorsby ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Middle Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Precentral Gyrus ◽  
Permutation Testing ◽  
Supramarginal Gyrus ◽  
Subcortical Regions ◽  
The Right ◽  
Movie Ratings

Abstract Study Objectives To assess brain activation patterns in response to fun-rated and neutral-rated movies we performed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a humor-paradigm in narcolepsy type 1 (NT1) patients with cataplexy (muscle atonia triggered by emotions) and controls. Methods The fMRI-humor-paradigm consisted of short movies (25/30 with a humorous punchline; 5/30 without a humorous punchline [but with similar build-up/anticipation]) rated by participants based on their humor experience. We included 41 NT1 patients and 44 controls. Group-level inferences were made using permutation testing. Results Permutation testing revealed no group differences in average movie ratings. fMRI analysis found no group differences in brain activations to fun-rated movies. Patients showed significantly higher activations compared to controls during neutral-rated movies; including bilaterally in the thalamus, pallidum, putamen, amygdala, hippocampus, middle temporal gyrus, cerebellum, brainstem and in the left precuneus, supramarginal gyrus, and caudate. We found no brain overactivation for patients during movies without a humorous punchline (89.0% neutral-rated). Group analyses revealed significantly stronger differentiation between fun-rated and neutral-rated movies in controls compared with patients (patients showed no significant differentiation), including bilaterally in the inferior frontal gyrus, thalamus, putamen, precentral gyrus, lingual gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, occipital areas, temporal areas, cerebellum and in the right hippocampus, postcentral gyrus, pallidum, and insula. Conclusion Patients showed significantly higher activations in several cortical and subcortical regions during neutral-rated movies, with no differentiation from activations during fun-rated movies. This lower threshold for activating the humor response (even during neutral-rated movies), might represent insight into the mechanisms associated with cataplexy.

Working memory dysfunction in schizophrenia patients with obsessive-compulsive symptoms: An fMRI study

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 160-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Bleich-Cohen ◽  
T. Hendler ◽  
R. Weizman ◽  
S. Faragian ◽  
A. Weizman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Distinct Pattern ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Similar Reduction ◽  
Activation Patterns ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
The Right

AbstractBackground:A substantial proportion of schizophrenia patients also meets DSM-IV criteria for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Schizophrenia with OCD (“schizo-obsessive”) patients are characterized by distinct clinical characteristics, treatment response and prognosis. Whether schizo-obsessive patients exhibit a distinct pattern of brain activation is yet unknown. To address this question, the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study explicitly compared alterations in brain activation and functional connectivity (FC) underlying a working memory deficit in schizophrenia patients with and without OCD.Methods:fMRI was applied during the N-back working memory (WM) task in three groups: schizo-obsessive (n = 16), schizophrenia (n = 17) and matched healthy volunteers (n = 20). WM-related activation in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the right caudate nucleus, brain areas relevant to schizophrenia and OCD, and FC analysis were used for the evaluation.Results:The two schizophrenia groups with and without OCD exhibited a similar reduction in activation in the right DLPFC and right caudate, as well as decreased FC compared to the healthy controls. Notably, reduced regional brain activation was not related to severity of schizophrenic or OCD symptoms.Conclusions:Schizo-obsessive patients do not differ from their non-OCD schizophrenia counterparts in brain activation patterns during the N-back WM task. Cognitive paradigms taping alternative neural networks (e.g., orbitofrontal cortex) particularly relevant to OCD, are warranted in the search for potential distinctive brain activation patterns of the schizo-obsessive subgroup.

BRAIN RESPONSES TO PRICE INCREASE OF LUXURY VERSUS FASHION BRANDS AN FMRI STUDY

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 104-104
Author(s):  
Hanah Choi ◽  
◽  
DongHyun Kim ◽  
EunJu Lee ◽  
Eunju Ko
Keyword(s):  
Price Increase ◽  
Brain Responses ◽  
Fmri Study

Improvement in prefrontal thalamic connectivity during the early course of the illness in recent-onset psychosis: a 12-month longitudinal follow-up resting-state fMRI study

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Daniel Bergé ◽  
Tyler A. Lesh ◽  
Jason Smucny ◽  
Cameron S. Carter
Keyword(s):  
Resting State ◽  
Resting State Fmri ◽  
Functional Changes ◽  
Recent Onset ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Clinical Meaning ◽  
Mixed Pattern ◽  
The Right ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Background Previous research in resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) has shown a mixed pattern of disrupted thalamocortical connectivity in psychosis. The clinical meaning of these findings and their stability over time remains unclear. We aimed to study thalamocortical connectivity longitudinally over a 1-year period in participants with recent-onset psychosis. Methods To this purpose, 129 individuals with recent-onset psychosis and 87 controls were clinically evaluated and scanned using rs-fMRI. Among them, 43 patients and 40 controls were re-scanned and re-evaluated 12 months later. Functional connectivity between the thalamus and the rest of the brain was calculated using a seed to voxel approach, and then compared between groups and correlated with clinical features cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Results At baseline, participants with recent-onset psychosis showed increased connectivity (compared to controls) between the thalamus and somatosensory and temporal regions (k = 653, T = 5.712), as well as decreased connectivity between the thalamus and left cerebellum and right prefrontal cortex (PFC; k = 201, T = −4.700). Longitudinal analyses revealed increased connectivity over time in recent-onset psychosis (relative to controls) in the right middle frontal gyrus. Conclusions Our results support the concept of abnormal thalamic connectivity as a core feature in psychosis. In agreement with a non-degenerative model of illness in which functional changes occur early in development and do not deteriorate over time, no evidence of progressive deterioration of connectivity during early psychosis was observed. Indeed, regionally increased connectivity between thalamus and PFC was observed.

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