scholarly journals Trait paranoia shapes inter-subject synchrony in brain activity during an ambiguous social narrative

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily S. Finn ◽  
Philip R. Corlett ◽  
Gang Chen ◽  
Peter A. Bandettini ◽  
R. Todd Constable
Keyword(s):  
Correlation Analysis ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Complex Stimulus ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Syntactic Features ◽  
Specific Dimension ◽  
Trait Level ◽  
Social Narrative

ABSTRACTIndividuals often interpret the same event in different ways. How do personality traits modulate brain activity evoked by a complex stimulus? Here we report results from a naturalistic paradigm designed to draw out both neural and behavioral variation along a specific dimension of interest, namely paranoia. Participants listen to a narrative during functional MRI describing an ambiguous social scenario, written such that some individuals would find it highly suspicious, while others less so. Using inter-subject correlation analysis, we identify several brain areas that are differentially synchronized during listening between participants with high- and low trait-level paranoia, including theory-of-mind regions. Follow-up analyses indicate that these regions are more active to mentalizing events in high-paranoia individuals. Analyzing participants’ speech as they freely recall the narrative reveals semantic and syntactic features that also scale with paranoia. Results indicate that a personality trait can act as an intrinsic ‘prime’, yielding different neural and behavioral responses to the same stimulus across individuals.

Modular Encoding and Decoding Models Derived from Bayesian Canonical Correlation Analysis

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 979-1005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusuke Fujiwara ◽  
Yoichi Miyawaki ◽  
Yukiyasu Kamitani
Keyword(s):  
Correlation Analysis ◽  
Canonical Correlation Analysis ◽  
Canonical Correlation ◽  
Latent Variable ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Visual Image ◽  
Complex Stimulus ◽  
Neural Encoding ◽  
Neural Representations

Neural encoding and decoding provide perspectives for understanding neural representations of sensory inputs. Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have succeeded in building prediction models for encoding and decoding numerous stimuli by representing a complex stimulus as a combination of simple elements. While arbitrary visual images were reconstructed using a modular model that combined the outputs of decoder modules for multiscale local image bases (elements), the shapes of the image bases were heuristically determined. In this work, we propose a method to establish mappings between the stimulus and the brain by automatically extracting modules from measured data. We develop a model based on Bayesian canonical correlation analysis, in which each module is modeled by a latent variable that relates a set of pixels in a visual image to a set of voxels in an fMRI activity pattern. The estimated mapping from a latent variable to pixels can be regarded as an image basis. We show that the model estimates a modular representation with spatially localized multiscale image bases. Further, using the estimated mappings, we derive encoding and decoding models that produce accurate predictions for brain activity and stimulus images. Our approach thus provides a novel means of revealing neural representations of stimuli by automatically extracting modules, which can be used to generate effective prediction models for encoding and decoding.

scholarly journals Mirroring and beyond: coupled dynamics as a generalized framework for modelling social interactions

2016 ◽  
Vol 371 (1693) ◽  
pp. 20150366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uri Hasson ◽  
Chris D. Frith
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Shared Understanding ◽  
Complex Stimulus ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Mutual Adaptation ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Generalized Framework ◽  
Stimulus Shape

When people observe one another, behavioural alignment can be detected at many levels, from the physical to the mental. Likewise, when people process the same highly complex stimulus sequences, such as films and stories, alignment is detected in the elicited brain activity. In early sensory areas, shared neural patterns are coupled to the low-level properties of the stimulus (shape, motion, volume, etc.), while in high-order brain areas, shared neural patterns are coupled to high-levels aspects of the stimulus, such as meaning. Successful social interactions require such alignments (both behavioural and neural), as communication cannot occur without shared understanding. However, we need to go beyond simple, symmetric (mirror) alignment once we start interacting. Interactions are dynamic processes, which involve continuous mutual adaptation, development of complementary behaviour and division of labour such as leader–follower roles. Here, we argue that interacting individuals are dynamically coupled rather than simply aligned. This broader framework for understanding interactions can encompass both processes by which behaviour and brain activity mirror each other (neural alignment), and situations in which behaviour and brain activity in one participant are coupled (but not mirrored) to the dynamics in the other participant. To apply these more sophisticated accounts of social interactions to the study of the underlying neural processes we need to develop new experimental paradigms and novel methods of data analysis

Cannabidiol Has a Unique Effect on Global Brain Activity: A Pharmacological, Functional MRI Study in Awake Mice 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aymen Sadaka ◽  
Ana Ozuna ◽  
Richard Ortiz ◽  
Praveen Kulkarni ◽  
Clare Johnson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Stress Disorders ◽  
Functional Coupling ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Dose Dependent ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Background: The phytocannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) is a potential treatment for post-traumatic stress disorders. How does CBD interact with the brain to alter behavior? We hypothesized that CBD would produce a dose-dependent reduction in brain activity and functional coupling in neural circuitry associated with fear and defense. Methods: During the scanning session awake mice were given vehicle or CBD (3, 10, or 30 mg/kg I.P.) and imaged for 10 min post treatment. Mice were also treated with the 10 mg/kg dose of CBD and imaged one hr later for resting state BOLD functional connectivity (rsFC). Imaging data were registered to a 3D MRI mouse atlas providing site-specific information on 138 different brain areas. Blood samples were collected for CBD measurements.Results: CBD produced a dose-dependent polarization of activation along the rostral-caudal axis of the brain. The olfactory bulb and prefrontal cortex showed an increase in positive BOLD whereas the brainstem and cerebellum showed a decrease in BOLD signal. This negative BOLD affected many areas connected to the ascending reticular activating system (ARAS). The ARAS was decoupled to much of the brain but was hyperconnected to the olfactory system and prefrontal cortex. The pattern of ARAS connectivity closely overlapped with brain areas showing high levels N-acyl-phosphatidylethanolamines-specific phospholipase D (NAPE-PLD) messenger RNA.Conclusion: The CBD-induced decrease in ARAS activity is consistent with an emerging literature suggesting that CBD reduces autonomic arousal under conditions of emotional and physical stress. The putative target and mechanism of action is NAPE-PLD the enzyme responsible for the biosynthesis of lipid signaling molecules like anandamide.

scholarly journals Use of Radiographic Criteria for Proximal Humeral Head Migration After Dislocation of the Shoulder to Identify Damage to Its Rotator Cuff

2019 ◽  
Vol 100 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-101
Author(s):  
A. P. Stepanchenko ◽  
G. V. Fedoruk ◽  
A. A. Makovskiy ◽  
V. E. Dubrov ◽  
R. V. Zaytsev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rotator Cuff ◽  
Correlation Analysis ◽  
Humeral Head ◽  
Shoulder Dislocation ◽  
Older Patients ◽  
Subacromial Space ◽  
Rotator Cuff Injury ◽  
Mri Study ◽  
Mri Measurements

Objective. To assess whether radiographic criteria for proximal humeral head migration can be used as screening of damage to the rotator cuff after dislocation in patients over 45 years of age.Material and methods. The study included the results of a follow-up of 101 patients after shoulder dislocation without signs of damage to the rotator cuff before injury. Damage to the rotator cuff was assessed using MRI, followed by a correlation analysis between the results of measuring the height of the subacromial space with radiography and MRI.Results. Signs of cranial migration of the humeral head are detected statistically significantly more frequently in the group of older patients than in that of young ones (F=0.009; p<0.05). MRI study statistically significantly more often revealed signs of damage to the rotator cuff in the older patients than in the young ones (F=0.009; p<0.05). There was a high correlation between the humeral head migration index and the MRI measurements of the acromiohumeral interval (r=0.93, p<0.05).Conclusion. The acromiohumeral index, as well as MRI, can be used as a criterion for rotator cuff injury. This study has shown that the older patients have a 19-fold higher risk for damage to the rotator cuff from a dislocated shoulder (95% CI 6.93–52.11). Thus, attention should be paid to the presence of radiographic signs of rotator cuff injury in all patients after dislocation of the shoulder.

scholarly journals Acute Phase Neuronal Activity for the Prognosis of Stroke Recovery

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filippo Zappasodi ◽  
Patrizio Pasqualetti ◽  
Paolo M. Rossini ◽  
Franca Tecchio
Keyword(s):  
Acute Phase ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Stroke Recovery ◽  
Clinical State ◽  
Middle Cerebral Artery Territory ◽  
Clinical Recovery ◽  
Wide Group ◽  
Promising Line ◽  
Bilateral Impairment

Strokes causing similar lesions and clinical states can be followed by diverse regains of neurological functions, indicating that the clinical recovery can depend on individual modulating factors. A promising line to disclose these factors, to finally open new therapeutic strategies, is to search for individual indices of recovery prognosis. Here, we pursued on strengthening the value of acute phase electrophysiological biomarkers for poststroke functional recovery in a wide group of patients. We enrolled 120 patients affected by a monohemispheric stroke within the middle cerebral artery territory (70 left and 50 right damages) and collected the NIH stroke scale (NIHSS) score in the acute phase (T0, median 4 days) and chronic follow-up (T1, median 6 months). At T0, we executed electrophysiological noninvasive assessment (19-channel electroencephalography (EEG) or 28 channels per side magnetoencephalography (MEG)) of brain activity at rest by means of band powers in the contra- and ipsilesional hemispheres (CLH, ILH) or the homologous area symmetry (HArS). Low-band (2-6 Hz) HArS entered the regression model for predicting the stabilized clinical state (p<0.001), with bilateral impairment correlated with a poor outcome. Present data strengthen the fact that low-band impairment of homologous ipsi- and contralesional hemispheric regions in the acute stroke indicate a negative prognosis of clinical recovery.

Neural Mechanisms of Visual Attention: Object-Based Selection of a Region in Space

2000 ◽  
Vol 12 (supplement 2) ◽  
pp. 106-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine M. Arrington ◽  
Thomas H. Carr ◽  
Andrew R. Mayer ◽  
Stephen M. Rao
Keyword(s):  
Visual Attention ◽  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Unbounded Region ◽  
Object Based ◽  
Selection Of

Objects play an important role in guiding spatial attention through a cluttered visual environment. We used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (ER-fMRI) to measure brain activity during cued discrimination tasks requiring subjects to orient attention either to a region bounded by an object (object-based spatial attention) or to an unbounded region of space (location-based spatial attention) in anticipation of an upcoming target. Comparison between the two tasks revealed greater activation when attention selected a region bounded by an object. This activation was strongly lateralized to the left hemisphere and formed a widely distributed network including (a) attentional structures in parietal and temporal cortex and thalamus, (b) ventral-stream object processing structures in occipital, inferior-temporal, and parahippocampal cortex, and (c) control structures in medial-and dorsolateral-prefrontal cortex. These results suggest that object-based spatial selection is achieved by imposing additional constraints over and above those processes already operating to achieve selection of an unbounded region. In addition, ER-fMRI methodology allowed a comparison of validly versus invalidly cued trials, thereby delineating brain structures involved in the reorientation of attention after its initial deployment proved incorrect. All areas of activation that differentiated between these two trial types resulted from greater activity during the invalid trials. This outcome suggests that all brain areas involved in attentional orienting and task performance in response to valid cues are also involved on invalid trials. During invalid trials, additional brain regions are recruited when a perceiver recovers from invalid cueing and reorients attention to a target appearing at an uncued location. Activated brain areas specific to attentional reorientation were strongly right-lateralized and included posterior temporal and inferior parietal regions previously implicated in visual attention processes, as well as prefrontal regions that likely subserve control processes, particularly related to inhibition of inappropriate responding.

scholarly journals An extension of Phase Linearity Measurement for revealing cross frequency coupling among brain areas

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierpaolo Sorrentino ◽  
Michele Ambrosanio ◽  
Rosaria Rucco ◽  
Fabio Baselice
Keyword(s):  
A Priori ◽  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Real Data ◽  
Frequency Synchronization ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Neural Ensembles ◽  
Frequency Coupling ◽  
Cross Frequency Coupling ◽  
Reconstructed Data

Abstract Background Brain areas need to coordinate their activity in order to enable complex behavioral responses. Synchronization is one of the mechanisms neural ensembles use to communicate. While synchronization between signals operating at similar frequencies is fairly straightforward, the estimation of synchronization occurring between different frequencies of oscillations has proven harder to capture. One specifically hard challenge is to estimate cross-frequency synchronization between broadband signals when no a priori hypothesis is available about the frequencies involved in the synchronization. Methods In the present manuscript, we expand upon the phase linearity measurement, an iso-frequency synchronization metrics previously developed by our group, in order to provide a conceptually similar approach able to detect the presence of cross-frequency synchronization between any components of the analyzed broadband signals. Results The methodology has been tested on both synthetic and real data. We first exploited Gaussian process realizations in order to explore the properties of our new metrics in a synthetic case study. Subsequently, we analyze real source-reconstructed data acquired by a magnetoencephalographic system from healthy controls in a clinical setting to study the performance of our metrics in a realistic environment. Conclusions In the present paper we provide an evolution of the PLM methodology able to reveal the presence of cross-frequency synchronization between broadband data.

scholarly journals Modulatory effects of ayahuasca on personality structure in a traditional framework

2020 ◽  
Vol 237 (10) ◽  
pp. 3161-3171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nige Netzband ◽  
Simon Ruffell ◽  
S. Linton ◽  
W. F. Tsang ◽  
T. Wolff
Keyword(s):  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Comparison Group ◽  
Mystical Experience ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Psychological Healing ◽  
Neo Personality Inventory ◽  
Trait Level ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Abstract Ayahuasca is a psychoactive plant brew containing dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). It originates from the Amazon basin, where it is used primarily for ceremonial purposes. Ayahuasca tourists are now entering certain communities seeking alternative physical or psychological healing, as well as spiritual growth. Rationale Recent evidence has shown that the similar acting psychedelic compound, psilocybin, facilitated long-term increases in trait openness following a single administration. Objectives This paper assesses the impact of ayahuasca on personality in a traditional framework catering for ayahuasca tourists. Method Within a mixed design, we examined the effect of ayahuasca on participants’ personality (measured by the NEO Personality Inventory 3 questionnaire) across time (pre- to post-ayahuasca administration, and 6-month follow-up), relative to a comparison group (who did not ingest ayahuasca). Results The results demonstrated significant increases in agreeableness pre- and post-ayahuasca administration and significant reductions in neuroticism in 24 participants, relative to the comparison group. Both of these changes were sustained at 6-month follow-up, and trait level increases were also observed in openness at this stage. Additionally, greater perceived mystical experience (measured using the Mystical Experience Questionnaire 30) was associated with increased reductions in neuroticism. Conclusions These findings, which indicate a positive mediating effect of ayahuasca on personality, support the growing literature suggesting potential therapeutic avenues for serotonergic psychedelics.

scholarly journals Trait paranoia shapes inter-subject synchrony in brain activity during an ambiguous social narrative

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily S. Finn ◽  
Philip R. Corlett ◽  
Gang Chen ◽  
Peter A. Bandettini ◽  
R. Todd Constable
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Social Narrative
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