scholarly journals A neurocognitive investigation of the impact of socialising with a robot on empathy for pain

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily S. Cross ◽  
Katie A. Riddoch ◽  
Jaydan Pratts ◽  
Simon Titone ◽  
Bishakha Chaudhury ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Social Robot ◽  
Functional Region ◽  
Repetition Suppression ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Empathy For Pain ◽  
The Impact

To what extent can humans form social relationships with robots? In the present study, we combined functional neuroimaging with a robot socialising intervention to probe the flexibility of empathy, a core component of social relationships, toward robots. Twenty-six individuals underwent identical fMRI sessions before and after being issued a social robot to take home and interact with over the course of a week. While undergoing fMRI, participants observed videos of a human actor or a robot experiencing pain or pleasure in response to electrical stimulation. Repetition suppression of activity in the pain network, a collection of brain regions associated with empathy and emotional responding, was measured to test whether socialising with a social robot leads to greater overlap in neural mechanisms when observing human and robotic agents experiencing pain or pleasure. In contrast to our hypothesis, functional region-of-interest analyses revealed no change in neural overlap for agents after the socialising intervention. Similarly, no increase in activation when observing a robot experiencing pain emerged post-socialising. Whole-brain analysis showed that, before the socialising intervention, superior parietal and early visual regions are sensitive to novel agents, while after socialising, medial temporal regions show agent sensitivity. A region of the inferior parietal lobule was sensitive to novel emotions, but only during the pre-socialising scan session. Together, these findings suggest that a short socialisation intervention with a social robot does not lead to discernible differences in empathy toward the robot, as measured by behavioural or brain responses. We discuss the extent to which longer term socialisation with robots might shape social cognitive processes and ultimately our relationships with these machines.

scholarly journals A neurocognitive investigation of the impact of socializing with a robot on empathy for pain

2019 ◽  
Vol 374 (1771) ◽  
pp. 20180034 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily S. Cross ◽  
Katie A. Riddoch ◽  
Jaydan Pratts ◽  
Simon Titone ◽  
Bishakha Chaudhury ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Social Robot ◽  
Human Robot Interaction ◽  
Functional Region ◽  
Repetition Suppression ◽  
Empathy For Pain ◽  
The Impact

To what extent can humans form social relationships with robots? In the present study, we combined functional neuroimaging with a robot socializing intervention to probe the flexibility of empathy, a core component of social relationships, towards robots. Twenty-six individuals underwent identical fMRI sessions before and after being issued a social robot to take home and interact with over the course of a week. While undergoing fMRI, participants observed videos of a human actor or a robot experiencing pain or pleasure in response to electrical stimulation. Repetition suppression of activity in the pain network, a collection of brain regions associated with empathy and emotional responding, was measured to test whether socializing with a social robot leads to greater overlap in neural mechanisms when observing human and robotic agents experiencing pain or pleasure. In contrast to our hypothesis, functional region-of-interest analyses revealed no change in neural overlap for agents after the socializing intervention. Similarly, no increase in activation when observing a robot experiencing pain emerged post-socializing. Whole-brain analysis showed that, before the socializing intervention, superior parietal and early visual regions are sensitive to novel agents, while after socializing, medial temporal regions show agent sensitivity. A region of the inferior parietal lobule was sensitive to novel emotions, but only during the pre-socializing scan session. Together, these findings suggest that a short socialization intervention with a social robot does not lead to discernible differences in empathy towards the robot, as measured by behavioural or brain responses. We discuss the extent to which long-term socialization with robots might shape social cognitive processes and ultimately our relationships with these machines. This article is part of the theme issue ‘From social brains to social robots: applying neurocognitive insights to human–robot interaction’.

scholarly journals Functional neuroimaging of psychiatric disorders: exploring hidden behaviour

2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 577-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. C. FLETCHER
Keyword(s):  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Healthy Person ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Unrealistic Expectation ◽  
Positron Emission ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Function Mapping

From the outset, people have had high expectations of functional neuroimaging. Many will have been disappointed. After roughly a decade of widespread use, even an enthusiastic advocate must be diffident about the impact of the two most frequently used techniques – positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) – upon clinical psychiatry. Perhaps this disappointment arises from an unrealistic expectation of what these techniques are able to tell us about the workings of the normal and the disordered brain. Anyone who hoped for intricate and unambiguous region-to-function mapping was always going to be disappointed. This expectation presupposes, among other things, a thorough understanding of the cognitive functions that are to be mapped onto the brain regions. This understanding, however, while developing, is still rudimentary. Mapping disorder along comparable lines is even more complex since it demands two levels of understanding. The first is of the healthy region-to-function mapping, the second of the disordered region-to-function mapping, which immediately demands a consideration of the nature of the function in the disordered state. After all, someone with schizophrenia, when confronted with a psychological task, might tackle it in a very different way, in terms of the cognitive strategies used, from a healthy person confronted with the same task. The observation that brain activity differs across the two individuals would only be interpretable insofar as one thoroughly understood the processes that each individual invoked in response to the task demands.

scholarly journals A Probabilistic Functional Atlas of Human Occipito-Temporal Visual Cortex

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 603-619 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona Rosenke ◽  
Rick van Hoof ◽  
Job van den Hurk ◽  
Kalanit Grill-Spector ◽  
Rainer Goebel
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Functional Region ◽  
Accurate Localization ◽  
Imaging Research ◽  
Ventral Temporal Cortex

Abstract Human visual cortex contains many retinotopic and category-specific regions. These brain regions have been the focus of a large body of functional magnetic resonance imaging research, significantly expanding our understanding of visual processing. As studying these regions requires accurate localization of their cortical location, researchers perform functional localizer scans to identify these regions in each individual. However, it is not always possible to conduct these localizer scans. Here, we developed and validated a functional region of interest (ROI) atlas of early visual and category-selective regions in human ventral and lateral occipito-temporal cortex. Results show that for the majority of functionally defined ROIs, cortex-based alignment results in lower between-subject variability compared to nonlinear volumetric alignment. Furthermore, we demonstrate that 1) the atlas accurately predicts the location of an independent dataset of ventral temporal cortex ROIs and other atlases of place selectivity, motion selectivity, and retinotopy. Next, 2) we show that the majority of voxel within our atlas is responding mostly to the labeled category in a left-out subject cross-validation, demonstrating the utility of this atlas. The functional atlas is publicly available (download.brainvoyager.com/data/visfAtlas.zip) and can help identify the location of these regions in healthy subjects as well as populations (e.g., blind people, infants) in which functional localizers cannot be run.

The role of neuroimaging in understanding the impact of neuroplasticity after CNS damage

2015 ◽  
pp. 161-173
Author(s):  
Nick Ward
Keyword(s):  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Recovery Of Function ◽  
Complete Recovery ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Functional Brain Imaging ◽  
Brain Organization ◽  
Brain Reorganization ◽  
Invasive Techniques ◽  
The Impact

After stroke, there is little restitution of neural tissue, but reorganization of surviving neural networks appears to be important for recovery of function. Non-invasive techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging and magnetoencephalography allow some aspects of this brain reorganization to be studied. For example, early after stroke there appears to be an upregulation in task-related activity, which diminishes with time and recovery. Those with the most complete recovery tend to have the most ‘normal’ activation pattern, and those with less complete recovery tend to rely on additional brain regions. This reorganization is functionally relevant. Advances in functional neuroimaging allow the study of alterations in connections between brain regions. Understanding how brain organization is related to anatomical damage, as well as impairment and recovery that can take place over weeks and months following stroke opens the way for functional brain imaging to become a clinically useful tool in rehabilitation.

scholarly journals The Exercising Brain: Changes in Functional Connectivity Induced by an Integrated Multimodal Cognitive and Whole-Body Coordination Training

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Traute Demirakca ◽  
Vita Cardinale ◽  
Sven Dehn ◽  
Matthias Ruf ◽  
Gabriele Ende
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Brain Plasticity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Posterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Coordination Training ◽  
Brain Changes ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Brain

This study investigated the impact of “life kinetik” training on brain plasticity in terms of an increased functional connectivity during resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). The training is an integrated multimodal training that combines motor and cognitive aspects and challenges the brain by introducing new and unfamiliar coordinative tasks. Twenty-one subjects completed at least 11 one-hour-per-week “life kinetik” training sessions in 13 weeks as well as before and after rs-fMRI scans. Additionally, 11 control subjects with 2 rs-fMRI scans were included. The CONN toolbox was used to conduct several seed-to-voxel analyses. We searched for functional connectivity increases between brain regions expected to be involved in the exercises. Connections to brain regions representing parts of the default mode network, such as medial frontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex, did not change. Significant connectivity alterations occurred between the visual cortex and parts of the superior parietal area (BA7). Premotor area and cingulate gyrus were also affected. We can conclude that the constant challenge of unfamiliar combinations of coordination tasks, combined with visual perception and working memory demands, seems to induce brain plasticity expressed in enhanced connectivity strength of brain regions due to coactivation.

scholarly journals Inverse relationship between brain glucose and ketone metabolism in adults during short-term moderate dietary ketosis: A dual tracer quantitative positron emission tomography study

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (7) ◽  
pp. 2485-2493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre Courchesne-Loyer ◽  
Etienne Croteau ◽  
Christian-Alexandre Castellano ◽  
Valérie St-Pierre ◽  
Marie Hennebelle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Positron Emission Tomography ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Healthy Adults ◽  
Emission Tomography ◽  
Energy Requirements ◽  
Brain Glucose ◽  
Positron Emission ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Brain Energy

Ketones (principally β-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate (AcAc)) are an important alternative fuel to glucose for the human brain, but their utilisation by the brain remains poorly understood. Our objective was to use positron emission tomography (PET) to assess the impact of diet-induced moderate ketosis on cerebral metabolic rate of acetoacetate (CMRa) and glucose (CMRglc) in healthy adults. Ten participants (35 ± 15 y) received a very high fat ketogenic diet (KD) (4.5:1; lipid:protein plus carbohydrates) for four days. CMRa and CMRglc were quantified by PET before and after the KD with the tracers, 11C-AcAc and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG), respectively. During the KD, plasma ketones increased 8-fold ( p = 0.005) while plasma glucose decreased by 24% ( p = 0.005). CMRa increased 6-fold ( p = 0.005), whereas CMRglc decreased by 20% ( p = 0.014) on the KD. Plasma ketones were positively correlated with CMRa (r = 0.93; p < 0.0001). After four days on the KD, CMRa represented 17% of whole brain energy requirements in healthy adults with a 2-fold difference across brain regions (12–24%). The CMR of ketones (AcAc and β-hydroxybutyrate combined) while on the KD was estimated to represent about 33% of brain energy requirements or approximately double the CMRa. Whether increased ketone availability raises CMR of ketones to the same extent in older people as observed here or in conditions in which chronic brain glucose hypometabolism is present remains to be determined.

scholarly journals Functional networks of empathy: A systematic review and meta-analysis of fMRI studies of empathy for observed pain

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Fallon ◽  
Carl Roberts ◽  
Andrej Stancak
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Likelihood Estimation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Therapeutic Interventions ◽  
Clinical Aspects ◽  
Pain Processing ◽  
Empathy For Pain ◽  
Contrast Analysis

See published version here: https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsaa090 Background: Empathy is a phenomenon which incorporates cognitive and affective processes with importance for socio-political, interpersonal and clinical aspects of everyday life. Functional neuroimaging studies of empathy for pain demonstrate rich and heterogeneous patterns of brain activation. However, previous meta-analyses of such studies indicated a limited array of concordant activations focused on bilateral anterior insula (AI) and anterior/anterior mid-cingulate cortex (ACC/aMCC), which points to the need for further research to resolve this dichotomy. Greater understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms of empathy for pain has potential for research, therapeutic interventions and social applications.Objective: To conduct coordinate based meta-analysis (activation likelihood estimation, ALE) investigating neurobiological processes associated with empathy for observed pain. Data source: We adhered to the ‘Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRIMSA) method. Thirty-four studies comprising 897 participants and 420 reported foci were selected for ALE meta-analysis from a systematic review. In addition we contrasted ALE maps of empathy for pain with those of directly perceived pain processing in healthy people from a previous comprehensive meta-analysis (180 studies, Tanasescu 2016). Results: The ALE results revealed consistent activation across studies for empathy for observed pain in aMCC, bilateral AI, supramarginal and lateral occipitotemporal regions and inferior frontal gyri. Conjunction analysis highlighted a broad degree of overlap for empathy and direct experience of pain, but contrast analysis also indicated distinct patterns of activation for empathy for pain, particularly in bilateral supramarginal and occipitotemporal regions.Conclusion: The findings reveal an extended bilateral network underpinning empathy for observed pain which incorporates brain regions with relevance for pain processing, interoception, social cognition, and self-other distinction. The present analysis highlights an important role for supramarginal and occipitotemporal cortices in empathic responses to observed pain which were previously largely overlooked.

scholarly journals Functional neuroimaging and schizophrenia: a view towards effective connectivity modeling and polygenic risk

2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-289 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Effective Connectivity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Imaging Genetics ◽  
Causal Modeling ◽  
Intermediate Phenotype ◽  
Polygenic Risk ◽  
Intermediate Phenotypes ◽  
Psychiatric Syndrome ◽  
The Impact

We review critical trends in imaging genetics as applied to schizophrenia research, and then discuss some future directions of the field. A plethora of imaging genetics studies have investigated the impact of genetic variation on brain function, since the paradigm of a neuroimaging intermediate phenotype for schizophrenia first emerged. It was initially posited that the effects of schizophrenia susceptibility genes would be more penetrant at the level of biologically based neuroimaging intermediate phenotypes than at the level of a complex and phenotypically heterogeneous psychiatric syndrome. The results of many studies support this assumption, most of which show single genetic variants to be associated with changes in activity of localized brain regions, as determined by select cognitive controlled tasks. From these basic studies, functional neuroimaging analysis of intermediate phenotypes has progressed to more complex and realistic models of brain dysfunction, incorporating models of functional and effective connectivity, including the modalities of psycho-physiological interaction, dynamic causal modeling, and graph theory metrics. The genetic association approaches applied to imaging genetics have also progressed to more sophisticated multivariate effects, including incorporation of two-way and three-way epistatic interactions, and most recently polygenic risk models. Imaging genetics is a unique and powerful strategy for understanding the neural mechanisms of genetic risk for complex CNS disorders at the human brain level.

scholarly journals The impact on social relationships of moving from congregated settings to personalized accommodation

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy McConkey ◽  
Brendan Bunting ◽  
Fiona Keogh ◽  
Edurne Garcia Iriarte
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Statistical Analyses ◽  
Multivariate Statistical Analyses ◽  
Multivariate Statistical ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Impact

A natural experiment contrasted the social relationships of people with intellectual disabilities ( n = 110) before and after they moved from congregated settings to either personalized accommodation or group homes. Contrasts could also be drawn with individuals who had enduring mental health problems ( n = 46) and who experienced similar moves. Face-to-face interviews were conducted in each person’s residence on two occasions approximately 24 months apart. Multivariate statistical analyses were used to determine significant effects. Greater proportions of people living in personalized settings scored higher on the five chosen indicators of social relationships than did persons living in grouped accommodation. However, multivariate statistical analyses identified that only one in five persons increased their social relationships as a result of changes in their accommodation, particularly persons with an intellectual disability and high support needs. These findings reinforce the extent of social isolation experienced by people with disabilities and mental health problems that changes in their accommodation only partially counter.

scholarly journals Fifty Years of Prefrontal Cortex Research: Impact on Assessment

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 755-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul W. Burgess ◽  
Donald T. Stuss
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Ecological Validity ◽  
Research Impact ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Assessment Practice ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
The Impact

AbstractOur knowledge of the functions of the prefrontal cortex, often called executive, supervisory, or control, has been transformed over the past 50 years. After operationally defining terms for clarification, we review the impact of advances in functional, structural, and theoretical levels of understanding upon neuropsychological assessment practice as a means of identifying 11 principles/challenges relating to assessment of executive function. Three of these were already known 50 years ago, and 8 have been confirmed or emerged since. Key themes over this period have been the emergence of the use of naturalistic tests to address issues of “ecological validity”; discovery of the complexity of the frontal lobe control system; invention of new tests for clinical use; development of key theoretical frameworks that address the issue of the role of prefrontal cortex systems in the organization of human cognition; the move toward considering brain systems rather than brain regions; the advent of functional neuroimaging, and its emerging integration into clinical practice. Despite these huge advances, however, practicing neuropsychologists are still desperately in need of new ways of measuring executive function. We discuss pathways by which this might happen, including decoupling the two levels of explanation (information processing; brain structure) and integrating very recent technological advances into the neuropsychologist’s toolbox. (JINS, 2017,23, 755–767)

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