In this talk, Richard J. Davidson explores recent scientific research on the neuroscience of positive human qualities and how they can be cultivated through contemplative practice. Distinctions among different forms of contemplative practices are introduced and shown to have different neural and behavioral consequences, as well as important consequences for physical health in both long-term and novice practitioners. New research also shows that meditation-based interventions delivered online can produce behavioral and neural changes. Collectively, this body of research indicates that we can cultivate adaptive neural changes and strengthen positive human qualities through systematic mental practice.
Showing posts with label neuroscience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label neuroscience. Show all posts
The Role of Sleep in Emotional Brain Processing
Cognitive neuroscience continues to build meaningful connections between affective behavior and human brain function. Within the biological sciences, a similar renaissance has taken place, focusing on the role of sleep in various neurocognitive processes and, most recently, on the interaction between sleep and emotional regulation. This review surveys an array of diverse findings across basic and clinical research domains, resulting in a convergent view of sleep-dependent emotional brain processing. On the basis of the unique neurobiology of sleep, the authors outline a model describing the overnight modulation of affective neural systems and the (re)processing of recent emotional experiences, both of which appear to redress the appropriate next-day reactivity of limbic and associated autonomic networks. Furthermore, a rapid eye movement (REM) sleep hypothesis of emotional-memory processing is proposed, the implications of which may provide brain-based insights into the association between sleep abnormalities and the initiation and maintenance of mood disturbances.
How we read each other's minds?
Sensing the motives and feelings of others is a natural talent for humans. But how do we do it? Here, Rebecca Saxe shares fascinating lab work that uncovers how the brain thinks about other peoples' thoughts -- and judges their actions.
Secrets of the Sleeping Brain
Why do we sleep? Although science has yet to explain the reason we spend one-third of our lives in this bizarre state, an exciting theory suggests that sleep can solidify newly learned memories by rewiring the architecture of brain.
Emerging neuroscience evidence also indicates that sleep can intelligently associate and integrate new memories together, performing a kind of "sleep-dependent alchemy." This phenomenon may fuel creative human insights, often reflected in dream content.
In addition to memory benefits, recent findings also suggest that sleep can "refresh" emotional brain reactivity, smoothing away the rough edges from our prior waking concerns, thereby allowing rational next-day decisions.
Emerging neuroscience evidence also indicates that sleep can intelligently associate and integrate new memories together, performing a kind of "sleep-dependent alchemy." This phenomenon may fuel creative human insights, often reflected in dream content.
In addition to memory benefits, recent findings also suggest that sleep can "refresh" emotional brain reactivity, smoothing away the rough edges from our prior waking concerns, thereby allowing rational next-day decisions.
Exploring the mind of a killer
Psychopathic killers are the basis for some must-watch TV, but what really makes them tick? Neuroscientist Jim Fallon talks about brain scans and genetic analysis that may uncover the rotten wiring in the nature (and nurture) of murderers. In a too-strange-for-fiction twist, he shares a fascinating family history that makes his work chillingly personal.
Neurons that Fire Together Also Conspire Together
Neurons that Fire Together Also Conspire Together: Is Normal Sleep Circuitry Hijacked to Generate Epilepsy?
Neuron 62, June 11, 2009 (DOI 10.1016/j.neuron.2009.05.015)
Mark P. Beenhakker and John R. Huguenard
Brain circuits oscillate during sleep. The same circuits appear to generate pathological oscillations. In this review, we discuss recent advances in our understanding of how epilepsy co-opts normal, sleep-related circuits to generate seizures.
Neuron 62, June 11, 2009 (DOI 10.1016/j.neuron.2009.05.015)
Mark P. Beenhakker and John R. Huguenard
Brain circuits oscillate during sleep. The same circuits appear to generate pathological oscillations. In this review, we discuss recent advances in our understanding of how epilepsy co-opts normal, sleep-related circuits to generate seizures.
How Technology May Soon "Read" Your Mind
Neuroscience has learned so much about how we think and the brain activity linked to certain thoughts that it is now possible - on a very basic scale - to read a person's mind.
Watch this CBS 60 Minutes video to learn more about how this incredible research lets scientists get a glimpse at your thoughts.
Watch this CBS 60 Minutes video to learn more about how this incredible research lets scientists get a glimpse at your thoughts.
Replay during sleep
Replay of rule-learning related neural patterns in the prefrontal cortex during sleep
Adrien Peyrache, Mehdi Khamassi, Karim Benchenane, Sidney I Wiener & Francesco P Battaglia
Nature Neuroscience, doi:10.1038/nn.2337
Slow-wave sleep (SWS) is important for memory consolidation. During sleep, neural patterns reflecting previously acquired information are replayed. One possible reason for this is that such replay exchanges information between hippocampus and neocortex, supporting consolidation. We recorded neuron ensembles in the rat medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to study memory trace reactivation during SWS following learning and execution of cross-modal strategy shifts. In general, reactivation of learning-related patterns occurred in distinct, highly synchronized transient bouts, mostly simultaneous with hippocampal sharp wave/ripple complexes (SPWRs), when hippocampal ensemble reactivation and cortico-hippocampal interaction is enhanced. During sleep following learning of a new rule, mPFC neural patterns that appeared during response selection replayed prominently, coincident with hippocampal SPWRs. This was learning dependent, as the patterns appeared only after rule acquisition. Therefore, learning, or the resulting reliable reward, influenced which patterns were most strongly encoded and successively reactivated in the hippocampal/prefrontal network.
Adrien Peyrache, Mehdi Khamassi, Karim Benchenane, Sidney I Wiener & Francesco P Battaglia
Nature Neuroscience, doi:10.1038/nn.2337
Slow-wave sleep (SWS) is important for memory consolidation. During sleep, neural patterns reflecting previously acquired information are replayed. One possible reason for this is that such replay exchanges information between hippocampus and neocortex, supporting consolidation. We recorded neuron ensembles in the rat medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to study memory trace reactivation during SWS following learning and execution of cross-modal strategy shifts. In general, reactivation of learning-related patterns occurred in distinct, highly synchronized transient bouts, mostly simultaneous with hippocampal sharp wave/ripple complexes (SPWRs), when hippocampal ensemble reactivation and cortico-hippocampal interaction is enhanced. During sleep following learning of a new rule, mPFC neural patterns that appeared during response selection replayed prominently, coincident with hippocampal SPWRs. This was learning dependent, as the patterns appeared only after rule acquisition. Therefore, learning, or the resulting reliable reward, influenced which patterns were most strongly encoded and successively reactivated in the hippocampal/prefrontal network.
Lessons from fMRI Studies of Emotion, Personality, and Social Cognition
Perspectives on Psychological Science a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science had these recent articles. Posted below are the links to the excellent debate/discussions about fMRI statistical analyses and interesting issues for scientific psychology.
Editor's Introduction to Vul et al. (2009) and Comments
Ed Diener
Puzzlingly High Correlations in fMRI Studies of Emotion, Personality, and Social CognitionEdward Vul, Christine Harris, Piotr Winkielman, and Harold Pashler
Commentary on Vul et al.'s (2009) "Puzzlingly High Correlations in fMRI Studies of Emotion, Personality, and Social Cognition"Thomas E. Nichols and Jean-Baptist Poline
Big Correlations in Little Studies: Inflated fMRI Correlations Reflect Low Statistical Power--Commentary on Vul et al. (2009)
Tal Yarkoni
Correlations in Social Neuroscience Aren't Voodoo: Commentary on Vul et al. (2009)
Matthew D. Lieberman, Elliot T. Berkman, and Tor D. Wager
Discussion of "Puzzlingly High Correlations in fMRI Studies of Emotion, Personality, and Social Cognition" by Vul et al. (2009)
Nicole A. Lazar
Correlations and Multiple Comparisons in Functional Imaging: A Statistical Perspective (Commentary on Vul et al., 2009Martin A. Lindquist and Andrew Gelman
Understanding the Mind by Measuring the Brain: Lessons From Measuring Behavior (Commentary on Vul et al., 2009)
Lisa Feldman Barrett
Reply to Comments on "Puzzlingly High Correlations in fMRI Studies of Emotion, Personality, and Social Cognition"
Edward Vul, Christine Harris, Piotr Winkielman, and Harold Pashler
Editor's Introduction to Vul et al. (2009) and Comments
Ed Diener
Puzzlingly High Correlations in fMRI Studies of Emotion, Personality, and Social CognitionEdward Vul, Christine Harris, Piotr Winkielman, and Harold Pashler
Commentary on Vul et al.'s (2009) "Puzzlingly High Correlations in fMRI Studies of Emotion, Personality, and Social Cognition"Thomas E. Nichols and Jean-Baptist Poline
Big Correlations in Little Studies: Inflated fMRI Correlations Reflect Low Statistical Power--Commentary on Vul et al. (2009)
Tal Yarkoni
Correlations in Social Neuroscience Aren't Voodoo: Commentary on Vul et al. (2009)
Matthew D. Lieberman, Elliot T. Berkman, and Tor D. Wager
Discussion of "Puzzlingly High Correlations in fMRI Studies of Emotion, Personality, and Social Cognition" by Vul et al. (2009)
Nicole A. Lazar
Correlations and Multiple Comparisons in Functional Imaging: A Statistical Perspective (Commentary on Vul et al., 2009Martin A. Lindquist and Andrew Gelman
Understanding the Mind by Measuring the Brain: Lessons From Measuring Behavior (Commentary on Vul et al., 2009)
Lisa Feldman Barrett
Reply to Comments on "Puzzlingly High Correlations in fMRI Studies of Emotion, Personality, and Social Cognition"
Edward Vul, Christine Harris, Piotr Winkielman, and Harold Pashler
Neurons take a break during slow-wave sleep
The Human K-Complex Represents an Isolated Cortical Down-State
Science 22 May 2009:Vol. 324. no. 5930, pp. 1084 - 1087
The electroencephalogram (EEG) is a mainstay of clinical neurology and is tightly correlated with brain function, but the specific currents generating human EEG elements remain poorly specified because of a lack of microphysiological recordings. The largest event in healthy human EEGs is the K-complex (KC), which occurs in slow-wave sleep. Here, we show that KCs are generated in widespread cortical areas by outward dendritic currents in the middle and upper cortical layers, accompanied by decreased broadband EEG power and decreased neuronal firing, which demonstrate a steep decline in network activity. Thus, KCs are isolated "down-states," a fundamental cortico-thalamic processing mode already characterized in animals. This correspondence is compatible with proposed contributions of the KC to sleep preservation and memory consolidation.
Science 22 May 2009:Vol. 324. no. 5930, pp. 1084 - 1087
The electroencephalogram (EEG) is a mainstay of clinical neurology and is tightly correlated with brain function, but the specific currents generating human EEG elements remain poorly specified because of a lack of microphysiological recordings. The largest event in healthy human EEGs is the K-complex (KC), which occurs in slow-wave sleep. Here, we show that KCs are generated in widespread cortical areas by outward dendritic currents in the middle and upper cortical layers, accompanied by decreased broadband EEG power and decreased neuronal firing, which demonstrate a steep decline in network activity. Thus, KCs are isolated "down-states," a fundamental cortico-thalamic processing mode already characterized in animals. This correspondence is compatible with proposed contributions of the KC to sleep preservation and memory consolidation.
Early Birds and Night Owls
Homeostatic Sleep Pressure and Responses to Sustained Attention in the Suprachiasmatic Area
Christina Schmidt, Fabienne Collette, Yves Leclercq, Virginie Sterpenich, Gilles Vandewalle, Pierre Berthomier, Christian Berthomier, Christophe Phillips, Gilberte Tinguely, Annabelle Darsaud, Steffen Gais, Manuel Schabus, Martin Desseilles, Thien Thanh Dang-Vu, Eric Salmon, Evelyne Balteau, Christian Degueldre, André Luxen, Pierre Maquet, Christian Cajochen, and Philippe Peigneux
Science 24 April 2009 324: 516-519 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1167337] (in Reports)
Throughout the day, cognitive performance is under the combined influence of circadian processes and homeostatic sleep pressure. Some people perform best in the morning, whereas others are more alert in the evening. These chronotypes provide a unique way to study the effects of sleep wake regulation on the cerebral mechanisms supporting cognition. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in extreme chronotypes, we found that maintaining attention in the evening was associated with higher activity in evening than morning chronotypes in a region of the locus coeruleus and in a suprachiasmatic area (SCA) including the circadian master clock. Activity in the SCA decreased with increasing homeostatic sleep pressure. This result shows the direct influence of the homeostatic and circadian interaction on the neural activity underpinning human behavior.
Christina Schmidt, Fabienne Collette, Yves Leclercq, Virginie Sterpenich, Gilles Vandewalle, Pierre Berthomier, Christian Berthomier, Christophe Phillips, Gilberte Tinguely, Annabelle Darsaud, Steffen Gais, Manuel Schabus, Martin Desseilles, Thien Thanh Dang-Vu, Eric Salmon, Evelyne Balteau, Christian Degueldre, André Luxen, Pierre Maquet, Christian Cajochen, and Philippe Peigneux
Science 24 April 2009 324: 516-519 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1167337] (in Reports)
Throughout the day, cognitive performance is under the combined influence of circadian processes and homeostatic sleep pressure. Some people perform best in the morning, whereas others are more alert in the evening. These chronotypes provide a unique way to study the effects of sleep wake regulation on the cerebral mechanisms supporting cognition. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in extreme chronotypes, we found that maintaining attention in the evening was associated with higher activity in evening than morning chronotypes in a region of the locus coeruleus and in a suprachiasmatic area (SCA) including the circadian master clock. Activity in the SCA decreased with increasing homeostatic sleep pressure. This result shows the direct influence of the homeostatic and circadian interaction on the neural activity underpinning human behavior.
Exploring the re-wiring of the brain
Neuroscientist Michael Merzenich looks at one of the secrets of the brain's incredible power: its ability to actively re-wire itself. He's researching ways to harness the brain's plasticity to enhance our skills and recover lost function.
Role of Sleep in Cognition and Emotion
The Year in Cognitive Neuroscience 2009: Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1156: 168–197 (2009).
Matthew P. Walker
As critical as waking brain function is to cognition, an extensive literature now indicates that sleep supports equally important, different yet complementary operations. This review will consider recent and emerging findings implicating sleep and specific sleep-stage physiologies in the modulation, regulation, and even preparation of cognitive and emotional brain processes. First, evidence for the role of sleep in memory processing will be discussed, principally focusing on declarative memory. Second, at a neural level several mechanistic models of sleep-dependent plasticity underlying these effects will be reviewed, with a synthesis of these features offered that may explain the ordered structure of sleep, and the orderly evolution of memory stages. Third, accumulating evidence for the role of sleep in associative memory processing will be discussed,suggesting that the long-term goal of sleep may not be the strengthening of individual memory items, but, instead, their abstracted assimilation into a schema of generalized knowledge. Fourth, the newly emerging benefit of sleep in regulating emotional brain reactivity will be considered. Finally, and building on this latter topic, a novel hypothesis and framework of sleep-dependent affective brain processing will be proposed, culminating in testable predictions and translational implications for mood disorders.
Matthew P. Walker
As critical as waking brain function is to cognition, an extensive literature now indicates that sleep supports equally important, different yet complementary operations. This review will consider recent and emerging findings implicating sleep and specific sleep-stage physiologies in the modulation, regulation, and even preparation of cognitive and emotional brain processes. First, evidence for the role of sleep in memory processing will be discussed, principally focusing on declarative memory. Second, at a neural level several mechanistic models of sleep-dependent plasticity underlying these effects will be reviewed, with a synthesis of these features offered that may explain the ordered structure of sleep, and the orderly evolution of memory stages. Third, accumulating evidence for the role of sleep in associative memory processing will be discussed,suggesting that the long-term goal of sleep may not be the strengthening of individual memory items, but, instead, their abstracted assimilation into a schema of generalized knowledge. Fourth, the newly emerging benefit of sleep in regulating emotional brain reactivity will be considered. Finally, and building on this latter topic, a novel hypothesis and framework of sleep-dependent affective brain processing will be proposed, culminating in testable predictions and translational implications for mood disorders.
Influenced by reward?
How does reward expectation influence cognition in the human brain?
J Cogn Neurosci. 2008 Nov;20(11):1980-92.Click here to read
The prospect of reward changes how we think and behave. We investigated how this occurs in the brain using a novel continuous performance task in which fluctuating reward expectations biased cognitive processes between competing spatial and verbal tasks. Critically, effects of reward expectancy could be distinguished from induced changes in task-related networks. Behavioral data confirm specific bias toward a reward-relevant modality. Increased reward expectation improves reaction time and accuracy in the relevant dimension while reducing sensitivity to modulations of stimuli characteristics in the irrelevant dimension. Analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging data shows that the proximity to reward over successive trials is associated with increased activity of the medial frontal cortex regardless of the modality. However, there are modality-specific changes in brain activity in the lateral frontal, parietal, and temporal cortex. Analysis of effective connectivity suggests that reward expectancy enhances coupling in both early visual pathways and within the prefrontal cortex. These distributed changes in task-related cortical networks arise from subjects' representations of future events and likelihood of reward.
J Cogn Neurosci. 2008 Nov;20(11):1980-92.Click here to read
The prospect of reward changes how we think and behave. We investigated how this occurs in the brain using a novel continuous performance task in which fluctuating reward expectations biased cognitive processes between competing spatial and verbal tasks. Critically, effects of reward expectancy could be distinguished from induced changes in task-related networks. Behavioral data confirm specific bias toward a reward-relevant modality. Increased reward expectation improves reaction time and accuracy in the relevant dimension while reducing sensitivity to modulations of stimuli characteristics in the irrelevant dimension. Analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging data shows that the proximity to reward over successive trials is associated with increased activity of the medial frontal cortex regardless of the modality. However, there are modality-specific changes in brain activity in the lateral frontal, parietal, and temporal cortex. Analysis of effective connectivity suggests that reward expectancy enhances coupling in both early visual pathways and within the prefrontal cortex. These distributed changes in task-related cortical networks arise from subjects' representations of future events and likelihood of reward.
Spontaneous neural activity during human slow wave sleep
Spontaneous neural activity during human slow wave sleep
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2008;105(39):15160-5.
Slow wave sleep (SWS) is associated with spontaneous brain oscillations that are thought to participate in sleep homeostasis and to support the processing of information related to the experiences of the previous awake period. At the cellular level, during SWS, a slow oscillation (<1 Hz) synchronizes firing patterns in large neuronal populations and is reflected on electroencephalography (EEG) recordings as large-amplitude, low-frequency waves. By using simultaneous EEG and event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we characterized the transient changes in brain activity consistently associated with slow waves (>140 μV) and delta waves (75–140 μV) during SWS in 14 non-sleep-deprived normal human volunteers. Significant increases in activity were associated with these waves in several cortical areas, including the inferior frontal, medial prefrontal, precuneus, and posterior cingulate areas. Compared with baseline activity, slow waves are associated with significant activity in the parahippocampal gyrus, cerebellum, and brainstem, whereas delta waves are related to frontal responses. No decrease in activity was observed. This study demonstrates that SWS is not a state of brain quiescence, but rather is an active state during which brain activity is consistently synchronized to the slow oscillation in specific cerebral regions. The partial overlap between the response pattern related to SWS waves and the waking default mode network is consistent with the fascinating hypothesis that brain responses synchronized by the slow oscillation restore microwake-like activity patterns that facilitate neuronal interactions.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2008;105(39):15160-5.
Slow wave sleep (SWS) is associated with spontaneous brain oscillations that are thought to participate in sleep homeostasis and to support the processing of information related to the experiences of the previous awake period. At the cellular level, during SWS, a slow oscillation (<1 Hz) synchronizes firing patterns in large neuronal populations and is reflected on electroencephalography (EEG) recordings as large-amplitude, low-frequency waves. By using simultaneous EEG and event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we characterized the transient changes in brain activity consistently associated with slow waves (>140 μV) and delta waves (75–140 μV) during SWS in 14 non-sleep-deprived normal human volunteers. Significant increases in activity were associated with these waves in several cortical areas, including the inferior frontal, medial prefrontal, precuneus, and posterior cingulate areas. Compared with baseline activity, slow waves are associated with significant activity in the parahippocampal gyrus, cerebellum, and brainstem, whereas delta waves are related to frontal responses. No decrease in activity was observed. This study demonstrates that SWS is not a state of brain quiescence, but rather is an active state during which brain activity is consistently synchronized to the slow oscillation in specific cerebral regions. The partial overlap between the response pattern related to SWS waves and the waking default mode network is consistent with the fascinating hypothesis that brain responses synchronized by the slow oscillation restore microwake-like activity patterns that facilitate neuronal interactions.
Spatial and contextual memories
Sleep modulates the neural substrates of both spatial and contextual memory consolidation.
Geraldine Rauchs, Pierre Orban, Christina Schmidt, Genevieve Albouy, Evelyne Balteau, Christian Degueldre, Caroline Schnackers, Virginie Sterpenich, Gilberte Tinguely, Andre Luxen, Pierre Maquet, Philippe Peigneux
PLoS ONE 2008;3(8):e2949.
Background: It is known that sleep reshapes the neural representations that subtend the memories acquired while navigating in a virtual environment. However, navigation is not process-pure, as manifold learning components contribute to performance, notably the spatial and contextual memory constituents. In this context, it remains unclear whether post-training sleep globally promotes consolidation of all of the memory components embedded in virtual navigation, or rather favors the development of specific representations.
Methods: Here, we investigated the effect of post-training sleep on the neural substrates of the consolidation of spatial and contextual memories acquired while navigating in a complex 3D, naturalistic virtual town. Using fMRI, we mapped regional cerebral activity during various tasks designed to tap either the spatial or the contextual memory component, or both, 72 h after encoding with or without sleep deprivation during the first post-training night.
Results: Behavioral performance was not dependent upon post-training sleep deprivation, neither in a natural setting that engages both spatial and contextual memory processes nor when looking more specifically at each of these memory
representations. At the neuronal level however, analyses that focused on contextual memory revealed distinct correlations between performance and neuronal activity in frontal areas associated with recollection processes after post-training sleep,
and in the parahippocampal gyrus associated with familiarity processes in sleep-deprived participants. Likewise, efficient spatial memory was associated with posterior cortical activity after sleep whereas it correlated with parahippocampal/
medial temporal activity after sleep deprivation. Finally, variations in place-finding efficiency in a natural setting encompassing spatial and contextual elements were associated with caudate activity after post-training sleep, suggesting
the automation of navigation.
Conclusion: These data indicate that post-training sleep modulates the neural substrates of the consolidation of both the spatial and contextual memories acquired during virtual navigation.
Geraldine Rauchs, Pierre Orban, Christina Schmidt, Genevieve Albouy, Evelyne Balteau, Christian Degueldre, Caroline Schnackers, Virginie Sterpenich, Gilberte Tinguely, Andre Luxen, Pierre Maquet, Philippe Peigneux
PLoS ONE 2008;3(8):e2949.
Background: It is known that sleep reshapes the neural representations that subtend the memories acquired while navigating in a virtual environment. However, navigation is not process-pure, as manifold learning components contribute to performance, notably the spatial and contextual memory constituents. In this context, it remains unclear whether post-training sleep globally promotes consolidation of all of the memory components embedded in virtual navigation, or rather favors the development of specific representations.
Methods: Here, we investigated the effect of post-training sleep on the neural substrates of the consolidation of spatial and contextual memories acquired while navigating in a complex 3D, naturalistic virtual town. Using fMRI, we mapped regional cerebral activity during various tasks designed to tap either the spatial or the contextual memory component, or both, 72 h after encoding with or without sleep deprivation during the first post-training night.
Results: Behavioral performance was not dependent upon post-training sleep deprivation, neither in a natural setting that engages both spatial and contextual memory processes nor when looking more specifically at each of these memory
representations. At the neuronal level however, analyses that focused on contextual memory revealed distinct correlations between performance and neuronal activity in frontal areas associated with recollection processes after post-training sleep,
and in the parahippocampal gyrus associated with familiarity processes in sleep-deprived participants. Likewise, efficient spatial memory was associated with posterior cortical activity after sleep whereas it correlated with parahippocampal/
medial temporal activity after sleep deprivation. Finally, variations in place-finding efficiency in a natural setting encompassing spatial and contextual elements were associated with caudate activity after post-training sleep, suggesting
the automation of navigation.
Conclusion: These data indicate that post-training sleep modulates the neural substrates of the consolidation of both the spatial and contextual memories acquired during virtual navigation.
Emotional Context
Decoding of affective facial expressions in the context of emotional situations
Monika Sommera, Katrin Döhnela, Jörg Meinhardtb and Göran Hajaka
Neuropsychologia Volume 46, Issue 11, September 2008, Pages 2615-2621
Background: The ability to recognize other persons’ affective states and to link these with aspects of the current situation arises early in development and is precursor functions of a Theory of Mind (ToM). Until now, studies investigated either the processing of affective faces or affective pictures.
Methods: In the present study, we tried to realize a scenario more similar to every day situations. We employed fMRI and used a picture matching task to explore the neural correlates associated with the integration and decoding of facial affective expressions in the context of affective situations. In the emotion condition, the participants judged an emotional facial expression with respect to the content of an emotional picture. In the two other conditions, participants indicated colour matches on the background of either affective or scrambled pictures.
Results: In contrast to colour matching on scrambled pictures, colour matching on emotional pictures resulted in longer reaction times and increased activation of the bilateral fusiform and occipital gyrus. These results indicated that, although task irrelevant, participants may attend to the emotional background of the pictures. The emotion task was associated with higher reaction times and with activation of the bilateral fusiform and occipital gyrus. Additionally, emotion attribution induced left amygdala activity. Possibly, attention processes and amygdala projections modulated the activation found in the occipital and fusiform areas. Furthermore, the involvement of the amygdala in the ToM precursor ability to link facial expressions with an emotional situation may indicate that the amygdala is involved in the development of stable ToM abilities.
Monika Sommera, Katrin Döhnela, Jörg Meinhardtb and Göran Hajaka
Neuropsychologia Volume 46, Issue 11, September 2008, Pages 2615-2621
Background: The ability to recognize other persons’ affective states and to link these with aspects of the current situation arises early in development and is precursor functions of a Theory of Mind (ToM). Until now, studies investigated either the processing of affective faces or affective pictures.
Methods: In the present study, we tried to realize a scenario more similar to every day situations. We employed fMRI and used a picture matching task to explore the neural correlates associated with the integration and decoding of facial affective expressions in the context of affective situations. In the emotion condition, the participants judged an emotional facial expression with respect to the content of an emotional picture. In the two other conditions, participants indicated colour matches on the background of either affective or scrambled pictures.
Results: In contrast to colour matching on scrambled pictures, colour matching on emotional pictures resulted in longer reaction times and increased activation of the bilateral fusiform and occipital gyrus. These results indicated that, although task irrelevant, participants may attend to the emotional background of the pictures. The emotion task was associated with higher reaction times and with activation of the bilateral fusiform and occipital gyrus. Additionally, emotion attribution induced left amygdala activity. Possibly, attention processes and amygdala projections modulated the activation found in the occipital and fusiform areas. Furthermore, the involvement of the amygdala in the ToM precursor ability to link facial expressions with an emotional situation may indicate that the amygdala is involved in the development of stable ToM abilities.
How Sleep affects Memory and Congition
Functional neuroimaging insights into how sleep and sleep deprivation affect memory and cognition.
Chee Michael WL and Chuah Lisa YM b
Current Opinion in Neurology. 24(4):417-423, August 2008.
Purpose of review: The review summarizes current knowledge about what fMRI has revealed regarding the neurobehavioral correlates of sleep deprivation and sleep-dependent memory consolidation.
Recent findings: Functional imaging studies of sleep deprivation have characterized its effects on a number of cognitive domains, the best studied of these being working memory. There is a growing appreciation that it is important to consider inter individual differences in vulnerability to sleep deprivation, task and task difficulty when interpreting imaging results. Our understanding of the role of sleep and the dynamic evolution of offline memory consolidation has benefited greatly from human imaging studies. Both hippocampal-dependent and hippocampal-independent memory systems have been studied.
Summary: Functional imaging studies contrasting sleep-deprived and well-rested brains provide substantial evidence that sleep is highly important for optimal cognitive function and learning. The experimental paradigms developed to date merit evaluation in clinical settings to determine the impact of sleep disruption in sleep disorders.
Chee Michael WL and Chuah Lisa YM b
Current Opinion in Neurology. 24(4):417-423, August 2008.
Purpose of review: The review summarizes current knowledge about what fMRI has revealed regarding the neurobehavioral correlates of sleep deprivation and sleep-dependent memory consolidation.
Recent findings: Functional imaging studies of sleep deprivation have characterized its effects on a number of cognitive domains, the best studied of these being working memory. There is a growing appreciation that it is important to consider inter individual differences in vulnerability to sleep deprivation, task and task difficulty when interpreting imaging results. Our understanding of the role of sleep and the dynamic evolution of offline memory consolidation has benefited greatly from human imaging studies. Both hippocampal-dependent and hippocampal-independent memory systems have been studied.
Summary: Functional imaging studies contrasting sleep-deprived and well-rested brains provide substantial evidence that sleep is highly important for optimal cognitive function and learning. The experimental paradigms developed to date merit evaluation in clinical settings to determine the impact of sleep disruption in sleep disorders.
Emotion Modulates Default Activity
Emotional Experience Modulates Brain Activity During Fixation Periods Between Tasks
Sean Pitroda, Mike Angstadt, Michael S. McCloskey, Emil F. Coccaro, K. Luan Phan
Neuroscience Letters
Background: Functional imaging studies have begun to identify a set of brain regions whose brain activity is greater during 'rest' (e.g., fixation) states than during cognitive tasks. It has been posited that these regions constitute a network that supports the brain's default mode, which is temporarily suspended during specific goal-directed behaviors. Exogenous tasks that require cognitive effort are thought to command reallocation of resources away from the brain's default state. However, it remains unknown if brain activity during fixation periods between active task periods is influenced by previous task-related emotional content.
Methods: We examined brain activity during periods of FIXATION (viewing and rating gray-scale images) interspersed among periods of viewing and rating complex images ('PICTURE') with positive, negative, and neutral affective content.
Results: We show that a selected group of brain regions (PCC, precuneus, IPL, vACC) do exhibit activity that is greater during FIXATION (>PICTURE); these regions have previously been implicated in the "default brain network". In addition, we report that activity within precuneus and IPL in the FIXATION period is attenuated by the precedent processing of images with positive and negative emotional content, relative to non-emotional content.
Conclusion: These data suggest that the activity within regions implicated in the default network is modulated by the presence of environmental stimuli with motivational salience and, thus, adds to our understanding of the brain function during periods of low cognitive, emotional, or sensory demand.
Sean Pitroda, Mike Angstadt, Michael S. McCloskey, Emil F. Coccaro, K. Luan Phan
Neuroscience Letters
Background: Functional imaging studies have begun to identify a set of brain regions whose brain activity is greater during 'rest' (e.g., fixation) states than during cognitive tasks. It has been posited that these regions constitute a network that supports the brain's default mode, which is temporarily suspended during specific goal-directed behaviors. Exogenous tasks that require cognitive effort are thought to command reallocation of resources away from the brain's default state. However, it remains unknown if brain activity during fixation periods between active task periods is influenced by previous task-related emotional content.
Methods: We examined brain activity during periods of FIXATION (viewing and rating gray-scale images) interspersed among periods of viewing and rating complex images ('PICTURE') with positive, negative, and neutral affective content.
Results: We show that a selected group of brain regions (PCC, precuneus, IPL, vACC) do exhibit activity that is greater during FIXATION (>PICTURE); these regions have previously been implicated in the "default brain network". In addition, we report that activity within precuneus and IPL in the FIXATION period is attenuated by the precedent processing of images with positive and negative emotional content, relative to non-emotional content.
Conclusion: These data suggest that the activity within regions implicated in the default network is modulated by the presence of environmental stimuli with motivational salience and, thus, adds to our understanding of the brain function during periods of low cognitive, emotional, or sensory demand.
Neuroscience Peer Review
Read about this consortium of journals that enables reviews to be transferred from one journal to another!
I definitely like this concept. This will reduce the time and effort involved in the peer review of submissions and speed publications of the results. This system is completely voluntary for authors. If the reviews from the first journal do not seem likely to facilitate acceptance at another journal, the authors can send the paper directly to the second journal as a fresh submission. However, if the author feels that the reviews may be helpful,transferring them can accelerate the editorial process.
Here is a link to the participating journals.
For reviewers besides reducing the load they also have the option to release their names along with the review in the event that the paper is transferred to another journal. I like transparency and hence support this idea.
Anyways, a definite thumbs up from me for the whole process. The flexibility is the system should suffice everyone to participate in it.
I definitely like this concept. This will reduce the time and effort involved in the peer review of submissions and speed publications of the results. This system is completely voluntary for authors. If the reviews from the first journal do not seem likely to facilitate acceptance at another journal, the authors can send the paper directly to the second journal as a fresh submission. However, if the author feels that the reviews may be helpful,transferring them can accelerate the editorial process.
Here is a link to the participating journals.
For reviewers besides reducing the load they also have the option to release their names along with the review in the event that the paper is transferred to another journal. I like transparency and hence support this idea.
Anyways, a definite thumbs up from me for the whole process. The flexibility is the system should suffice everyone to participate in it.
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