scholarly journals Action Video Game Experience Related to Altered Large-Scale White Matter Networks

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diankun Gong ◽  
Weiyi Ma ◽  
Jinnan Gong ◽  
Hui He ◽  
Li Dong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Neural Plasticity ◽  
Action Potentials ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Cognitive Benefits ◽  
The Brain

With action video games (AVGs) becoming increasingly popular worldwide, the cognitive benefits of AVG experience have attracted continuous research attention over the past two decades. Research has repeatedly shown that AVG experience can causally enhance cognitive ability and is related to neural plasticity in gray matter and functional networks in the brain. However, the relation between AVG experience and the plasticity of white matter (WM) network still remains unclear. WM network modulates the distribution of action potentials, coordinating the communication between brain regions and acting as the framework of neural networks. And various types of cognitive deficits are usually accompanied by impairments of WM networks. Thus, understanding this relation is essential in assessing the influence of AVG experience on neural plasticity and using AVG experience as an interventional tool for impairments of WM networks. Using graph theory, this study analyzed WM networks in AVG experts and amateurs. Results showed that AVG experience is related to altered WM networks in prefrontal networks, limbic system, and sensorimotor networks, which are related to cognitive control and sensorimotor functions. These results shed new light on the influence of AVG experience on the plasticity of WM networks and suggested the clinical applicability of AVG experience.

scholarly journals Aberrant White Matter Networks Mediate Cognitive Impairment in Patients with Silent Lacunar Infarcts in Basal Ganglia Territory

2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (9) ◽  
pp. 1426-1434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinfu Tang ◽  
Suyu Zhong ◽  
Yaojing Chen ◽  
Kewei Chen ◽  
Junying Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Basal Ganglia ◽  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Diffusion Tensor ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Lacunar Infarcts ◽  
Healthy Elderly ◽  
Brain White Matter ◽  
Diffusion Tensor Imaging Tractography

Silent lacunar infarcts, which are present in over 20% of healthy elderly individuals, are associated with subtle deficits in cognitive functions. However, it remains largely unclear how these silent brain infarcts lead to cognitive deficits and even dementia. Here, we used diffusion tensor imaging tractography and graph theory to examine the topological organization of white matter networks in 27 patients with silent lacunar infarcts in the basal ganglia territory and 30 healthy controls. A whole-brain white matter network was constructed for each subject, where the graph nodes represented brain regions and the edges represented interregional white matter tracts. Compared with the controls, the patients exhibited a significant reduction in local efficiency and global efficiency. In addition, a total of eighteen brain regions showed significantly reduced nodal efficiency in patients. Intriguingly, nodal efficiency–behavior associations were significantly different between the two groups. The present findings provide new aspects into our understanding of silent infarcts that even small lesions in subcortical brain regions may affect large-scale cortical white matter network, as such may be the link between subcortical silent infarcts and the associated cognitive impairments. Our findings highlight the need for network-level neuroimaging assessment and more medical care for individuals with silent subcortical infarcts.

Fundamental Questions Surrounding Efforts to Improve Cognitive Function Through Video Game Training

2019 ◽  
pp. 432-454
Author(s):  
Adam Eichenbaum ◽  
Daphne Bavelier ◽  
C. Shawn Green
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Neural Plasticity ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Learning Gains ◽  
Critical Importance ◽  
Action Video Game ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Structure And Activity

Neural plasticity, or the ability of the brain to reorganize its structure and activity, is of critical importance. For nearly 50 years, the dominant framework in the field of learning and neural plasticity held that the brain was capable of truly large-scale changes only early in life. However, emerging evidence suggests that plasticity that had assumed to be “lost” due to age, injury, or disease may be at least partially re-established via genetic, pharmacological, and/or behavioral means. Yet, while it is true that humans retain a significant capacity to learn throughout the life span, a second roadblock frequently stands in the way of translating learning gains into practical real-world benefits. This obstacle is the “curse of specificity.” While it is true that, given appropriate training, humans will tend to improve on almost any task, the improvements that are observed are often confined to the exact training task, with little to no benefits of the training being observed for even seemingly very similar tasks. This chapter discusses the trend toward task-specific training on one working memory task, as well as the finding that action video game training does appear to lead to more generalizable improvements in cognitive performance.

What Has Direct Cortical and Subcortical Electrostimulation Taught Us about Neurolinguistics?

2019 ◽  
pp. 185-211
Author(s):  
Hugues Duffau
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Great Accuracy ◽  
Subcortical White Matter ◽  
Cerebral Lesions ◽  
Physiological Basis ◽  
Postoperative Mri ◽  
The Brain

Investigating the neural and physiological basis of language is one of the most important challenges in neurosciences. Direct electrical stimulation (DES), usually performed in awake patients during surgery for cerebral lesions, is a reliable tool for detecting both cortical and subcortical (white matter and deep grey nuclei) regions crucial for cognitive functions, especially language. DES transiently interacts locally with a small cortical or axonal site, but also nonlocally, as the focal perturbation will disrupt the entire subnetwork sustaining a given function. Thus, in contrast to functional neuroimaging, DES represents a unique opportunity to identify with great accuracy and reproducibility, in vivo in humans, the structures that are actually indispensable to the function, by inducing a transient virtual lesion based on the inhibition of a subcircuit lasting a few seconds. Currently, this is the sole technique that is able to directly investigate the functional role of white matter tracts in humans. Thus, combining transient disturbances elicited by DES with the anatomical data provided by pre- and postoperative MRI enables to achieve reliable anatomo-functional correlations, supporting a network organization of the brain, and leading to the reappraisal of models of language representation. Finally, combining serial peri-operative functional neuroimaging and online intraoperative DES allows the study of mechanisms underlying neuroplasticity. This chapter critically reviews the basic principles of DES, its advantages and limitations, and what DES can reveal about the neural foundations of language, that is, the large-scale distribution of language areas in the brain, their connectivity, and their ability to reorganize.

scholarly journals Pairwise maximum entropy model explains the role of white matter structure in shaping emergent co-activation states

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arian Ashourvan ◽  
Preya Shah ◽  
Adam Pines ◽  
Shi Gu ◽  
Christopher W. Lynn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Maximum Entropy ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Structural Connectivity ◽  
Quantitative Relationship ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Maximum Entropy Model ◽  
Entropy Model ◽  
Activation Patterns ◽  
Co Activation

AbstractA major challenge in neuroscience is determining a quantitative relationship between the brain’s white matter structural connectivity and emergent activity. We seek to uncover the intrinsic relationship among brain regions fundamental to their functional activity by constructing a pairwise maximum entropy model (MEM) of the inter-ictal activation patterns of five patients with medically refractory epilepsy over an average of ~14 hours of band-passed intracranial EEG (iEEG) recordings per patient. We find that the pairwise MEM accurately predicts iEEG electrodes’ activation patterns’ probability and their pairwise correlations. We demonstrate that the estimated pairwise MEM’s interaction weights predict structural connectivity and its strength over several frequencies significantly beyond what is expected based solely on sampled regions’ distance in most patients. Together, the pairwise MEM offers a framework for explaining iEEG functional connectivity and provides insight into how the brain’s structural connectome gives rise to large-scale activation patterns by promoting co-activation between connected structures.

scholarly journals Glutamine synthetase expression in the brain during experimental acute liver failure (immunohistochemical study)

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 342-356
Author(s):  
T. Shulyatnikova ◽  
V. Tumanskiy
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Glutamine Synthetase ◽  
Liver Failure ◽  
Acute Liver Failure ◽  
Caudate Nucleus ◽  
Immunohistochemical Study ◽  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Progressive Increase ◽  
The Brain

The aim of the study was to determine the immunohistochemical level of glutamine synthetase (GS) expression in different brain regions in the conditions of experimental acute liver failure in rats. Materials and methods. The study was conducted in Wistar rats: 5 sham (control) animals and 10 rats with acetaminophen induced liver failure model (AILF). The immunohistochemical study of GS expression in the sensorimotor cortex, white matter, hippocampus, thalamus, caudate nucleus/putamen was carried out in the period of 12-24 h after acetaminophen treatment. Results. Beginning from the 6th hour after acetaminophen treatment all AILF-animals showed the progressive increase in clinical signs of acute brain disfunction finished in 6 rats by comatose state up to 24 h - they constituted subgroup AILF-B, “non-survived”. 4 animals survived until the 24 h - subgroup AILF-A, “survived”. In the AILF-B group, starting from 16 to 24 hours after treatment, a significant (relative to control) regionally-specific dynamic increase in the level of GS expression was observed in the brain: in the cortex – by 307.33 %, in the thalamus – by 249.47%, in the hippocampus – by 245.53%, in the subcortical white matter – by 126.08%, from 12th hour – in the caudate nucleus/putamen, by 191.66 %; with the most substantive elevation of GS expression in the cortex: by 4.07 times. Conclusion. Starting from the 16th hours after the acetaminophen treatment (from the 12th h in the caudate nucleus/putamen region) and up to 24 h, it is observed reliable compared to control dynamic increase in GS protein expression in the cortex, white matter, hippocampus, thalamus, caudate nucleus/putamen of the rat brain with the most significant elevation in the cortex among other regions. The heterogeneity in the degree of GS expression rising in different brain regions potentially may indicate regions more permeable for ammonia and/or other systemic toxic factors as well as heterogeneous sensitivity of brain regions to deleterious agents in conditions of AILF. Subsequently, revealed diversity in the GS expression reflects the specificity of reactive response of local astroglia in the condition of AILF-encephalopathy during specific time-period. The dynamic increase in the GS expression associated with impairment of animal state, indicates involvement of increased GS levels in the mechanisms of experimental acute hepatic encephalopathy.

scholarly journals The Cross-Modal Effects of Sensory Deprivation on Spatial and Temporal Processes in Vision and Audition: A Systematic Review on Behavioral and Neuroimaging Research since 2000

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Bell ◽  
Lisa Wagels ◽  
Christiane Neuschaefer-Rube ◽  
Janina Fels ◽  
Raquel E. Gur ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Temporal Processing ◽  
Neural Plasticity ◽  
Sensory Deprivation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Behavioral Performance ◽  
Brain Organization ◽  
Processing Resources ◽  
The Cross ◽  
The Brain

One of the most significant effects of neural plasticity manifests in the case of sensory deprivation when cortical areas that were originally specialized for the functions of the deprived sense take over the processing of another modality. Vision and audition represent two important senses needed to navigate through space and time. Therefore, the current systematic review discusses the cross-modal behavioral and neural consequences of deafness and blindness by focusing on spatial and temporal processing abilities, respectively. In addition, movement processing is evaluated as compiling both spatial and temporal information. We examine whether the sense that is not primarily affected changes in its own properties or in the properties of the deprived modality (i.e., temporal processing as the main specialization of audition and spatial processing as the main specialization of vision). References to the metamodal organization, supramodal functioning, and the revised neural recycling theory are made to address global brain organization and plasticity principles. Generally, according to the reviewed studies, behavioral performance is enhanced in those aspects for which both the deprived and the overtaking senses provide adequate processing resources. Furthermore, the behavioral enhancements observed in the overtaking sense (i.e., vision in the case of deafness and audition in the case of blindness) are clearly limited by the processing resources of the overtaking modality. Thus, the brain regions that were previously recruited during the behavioral performance of the deprived sense now support a similar behavioral performance for the overtaking sense. This finding suggests a more input-unspecific and processing principle-based organization of the brain. Finally, we highlight the importance of controlling for and stating factors that might impact neural plasticity and the need for further research into visual temporal processing in deaf subjects.

scholarly journals Message-Elicited Brain Response Moderates the Relationship Between Opportunities for Exposure to Anti-Smoking Messages and Message Recall

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 589-611
Author(s):  
Elissa C Kranzler ◽  
Ralf Schmälzle ◽  
Rui Pei ◽  
Robert C Hornik ◽  
Emily B Falk
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Communication Theory ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Message Processing ◽  
Memory Encoding ◽  
Brain Response ◽  
Real Cost ◽  
Social Processing ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Campaign success is contingent on adequate exposure; however, exposure opportunities (e.g., ad reach/frequency) are imperfect predictors of message recall. We hypothesized that the exposure-recall relationship would be contingent on message processing. We tested moderation hypotheses using 3 data sets pertinent to “The Real Cost” anti-smoking campaign: past 30-day ad recall from a rolling national survey of adolescents aged 13–17 (n = 5,110); ad-specific target rating points (TRPs), measuring ad reach and frequency; and ad-elicited response in brain regions implicated in social processing and memory encoding, from a separate adolescent sample aged 14–17 (n = 40). Average ad-level brain activation in these regions moderates the relationship between national TRPs and large-scale recall (p < .001), such that the positive exposure-recall relationship is more strongly observed for ads that elicit high levels of social processing and memory encoding in the brain. Findings advance communication theory by demonstrating conditional exposure effects, contingent on social and memory processes in the brain.

scholarly journals Investigating the Cocaine-induced Reduction of Potassium Current on the Generation of Action Potentials Using a Computational Model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hadi Borjkhani ◽  
◽  
Mehdi Borjkhani ◽  
Morteza A. Sharif ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Computational Model ◽  
Action Potentials ◽  
Potassium Current ◽  
Drugs Of Abuse ◽  
Potassium Conductance ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Chaotic Regime ◽  
Chaotic Oscillations ◽  
Sodium Potassium ◽  
The Brain

Introduction: Drugs of abuse, including cocaine, affect different brain regions and lead to pathological memories. These abnormal memories may occur due to the changes in synaptic transmissions or variations in synaptic properties of neurons. It has been shown that cocaine inhibits delayed rectifying potassium currents in affected regions of the brain and can have a role in the formation of pathological memories. Purpose: This study investigates how the change in the conductance of delayed rectifying potassium channels can affect the produced action potentials using a computational model. Methods: We present a computational model with different channels and receptors, including sodium, potassium, calcium, NMDARs, and AMPARs, which can produce burst-type action potentials. In the simulations, by changing the delayed rectifying potassium conductance bifurcation diagram is calculated. Conclusion: Results show that for a specific range of potassium conductance, a chaotic regime emerges in produced action potentials. These chaotic oscillations may play a role in inducing abnormal memories.

scholarly journals Functionnectome: a framework to analyse the contribution of brain circuits to fMRI

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Nozais ◽  
Stephanie Forkel ◽  
Chris Foulon ◽  
Laurent Petit ◽  
Michel Thiebaut de Schotten
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Functional Networks ◽  
Language Functions ◽  
Brain Circuits ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
Joint Contribution ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain

Abstract In recent years, the field of functional neuroimaging has moved from a pure localisationist approach of isolated functional brain regions to a more integrated view of those regions within functional networks. The methods used to investigate such networks, however, rely on local signals in grey matter and are limited in identifying anatomical circuitries supporting the interaction between brain regions. Mapping the brain circuits mediating the functional signal between brain regions would propel forward our understanding of the brain’s functional signatures and dysfunctions. We developed a novel method to unravel the relationship between brain circuits and functions: The Functionnectome. The Functionectome combines the functional signal from fMRI with the anatomy of white matter brain circuits to unlock and chart the first maps of functional white matter. To showcase the versatility of this new method, we provide the first functional white matter maps revealing the joint contribution of connected areas to motor, working memory, and language functions. The Functionnectome comes with an open source companion software and opens new avenues into studying functional networks by applying the method to already existing dataset and beyond task fMRI.

scholarly journals Twenty-First Birthday Drinking: Extreme Drinking Episodes and White Matter Microstructural Changes in the Fornix and Corpus Callosum

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassandra L. Boness ◽  
Ozlem Korucuoglu ◽  
Jarrod M Ellingson ◽  
Anne M. Merrill ◽  
Yoanna E. McDowell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Corpus Callosum ◽  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Heavy Drinking ◽  
Alcohol Exposure ◽  
The Body ◽  
High Dose ◽  
Birthday Celebration ◽  
Brain Changes ◽  
The Brain

Twenty-first birthday drinking is characterized by extreme alcohol consumption. Accumulating evidence suggests that high-dose bingeing is related to structural brain changes and cognitive deficits. This is particularly problematic in the transition from adolescence to adulthood when the brain is still maturing, elevating the brain’s sensitivity to the acute effects of alcohol intoxication. Heavy drinking is associated with reduced structural integrity in the hippocampus and corpus callosum and is accompanied by cognitive deficits. However, there is little research examining changes in the human brain related to discrete heavy drinking episodes. The present study investigated whether alcohol exposure during a 21st birthday celebration would result in changes to white matter microstructure by utilizing Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) measures and a quasi-experimental design. By examining structural changes in the brain from pre- to post-celebration within subjects (N = 49) prospectively, we were able to more directly observe brain changes following an extreme drinking episode. Region of interest analyses demonstrated increased fractional anisotropy (FA) in the posterior fornix (p < 0.0001) and in the body of the corpus callosum (p = 0.0029) from pre- to post-birthday celebration. These results suggest acute white matter damage to the fornix and corpus callosum following an extreme drinking episode, which is especially problematic during continued neurodevelopment. Twenty-first birthday drinking may, therefore, be considered an important target event for preventing acute brain injury in young adults.

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