Different Patterns Of Brain Activity Research Articles

Age-related cerebral changes during different n-back tasks: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy study.

The n-back task is a widely used paradigm to assess working memory and is commonly applied in research on age-related cognitive decline. However, studies utilizing functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to explore this area are limited. This study aims to investigate age-related differences in brain activation during the n-back task using fNIRS. fNIRS data were collected from 18 elderly and 19 young participants while performing different n-back tasks. Brain activation patterns and peripheral performance were compared between the two groups. Significant differences in brain activation patterns were observed between elderly and young participants. Under the 3-back condition, the older group exhibited reduced activation in brain regions adjacent to prefrontal cognitive areas compared to the younger group. Additionally, the older group's performance plateaued at the 2-back level, along with a decline in prefrontal activation. These findings may suggest potential markers for cognitive decline, providing a new target for future screening.

Cortical activation during the verbal fluency task for obstructive sleep apnea patients with depressive symptoms: A multi-channel fNIRS study.

The aim of our study was to elucidate differences in brain activity patterns among obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients, OSA patients with depressive symptoms, and healthy controls (HCs). We also investigated the relationship between brain function and depression in OSA patients. A total of 95 subjects were included in the study, including 34 OSA patients without depressive symptoms, 31 OSA patients with depressive symptoms, and 30 HCs. The 53-channel functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to monitor the concentration of oxy-hemoglobin (Oxy-Hb) in the brain, whereas the participants performed the verbal fluency task, and the degree of depression was scored using the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD-17). Hierarchical regression models were conducted to analyze the association of fNIRS features with depressive symptom. The Oxy-Hb changes of the three groups were significantly different in Channels 25 (H=9.878, p=.007) and 43 (H=6.957, p=.031). Inter-group comparisons showed that the Oxy-Hb change of Channel 25 (located in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex [DLPFC]) in OSA group was less than that in HC group (p=.006), and the Oxy-Hb change of Channel 43 (located in the right frontal polar region) in OSA group with depression was less than that in OSA group (p=.025). Spearman's test showed that there was a significant negative correlation between HAMD-17 scores and mean Oxy-Hb changes in Channel 43 (r=-.319, p<.05) in the OSA patients. Using hierarchical regression, Oxy-Hb changes in Channel 43 accounted for a significant proportion of the variation in outcome variables, even when accounting for other polysomnography features. Changes in the hemodynamic response of DLPFC may be a potential mechanism of executive dysfunction in OSA patients. And the right frontal polar region may be significant in assessing depressive symptoms in patients with OSA.

Brain morphological changes and functional neuroanatomy related to cognitive and emotional distractors during working memory maintenance in post-traumatic stress disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with abnormalities in the processing and regulation of emotion as well as cognitive deficits. This study evaluated the differential brain activation patterns associated with cognitive and emotional distractors during working memory (WM) maintenance for human faces between patients with PTSD and healthy controls (HCs) and assessed the relationship between changes in the activation patterns by the opposing effects of distraction types and gray matter volume (GMV). Twenty-two patients with PTSD and twenty-two HCs underwent T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and event-related functional MRI (fMRI), respectively. Event-related fMRI data were recorded while subjects performed a delayed-response WM task with human face and trauma-related distractors. Compared to the HCs, the patients with PTSD showed significantly reduced GMV of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) (p < 0.05, FWE-corrected). For the human face distractor trial, the patients showed significantly decreased activities in the superior frontal gyrus and IFG compared with HCs (p < 0.05, FWE-corrected). The patients showed lower accuracy scores and slower reaction times for the face recognition task with trauma-related distractors compared with HCs as well as significantly increased brain activity in the STG during the trauma-related distractor trial was observed (p < 0.05, FWE-corrected). Such differential brain activation patterns associated with the effects of distraction in PTSD patients may be linked to neural mechanisms associated with impairments in both cognitive control for confusable distractors and the ability to control emotional distraction.

Development of the triadic neural systems involved in risky decision-making during childhood

Risk-taking often occurs in childhood as a compex outcome influenced by individual, family, and social factors. The ability to govern risky decision-making in a balanced manner is a hallmark of the integrity of cognitive and affective development from childhood to adulthood. The Triadic Neural Systems Model posits that the nuanced coordination of motivational approach, avoidance and prefrontal control systems is crucial to regulate adaptive risk-taking and related behaviors. Although widely studied in adolescence and adulthood, how these systems develop in childhood remains elusive. Here, we show heterogenous age-related differences in the triadic neural systems involved in risky decision-making in 218 school-age children relative to 80 young adults. Children were generally less reward-seeking and less risk-taking than adults, and exhibited gradual increases in risk-taking behaviors from 6 to 12 years-old, which are associated with age-related differences in brain activation patterns underlying reward and risk processing. In comparison to adults, children exhibited weaker activation in control-related prefrontal systems, but stronger activation in reward-related striatal systems. Network analyses revealed that children showed greater reward-related functional connectivity within and between the triadic systems. Our findings support an immature and unbalanced developmental view of the core neurocognitive systems involved in risky decision-making and related behaviors in middle to late childhood.

An Affective EEG Analysis Method Without Feature Engineering

Emotional electroencephalography (EEG) signals are a primary means of recording emotional brain activity.Currently, the most effective methods for analyzing emotional EEG signals involve feature engineering and neuralnetworks. However, neural networks possess a strong ability for automatic feature extraction. Is it possible to discardfeature engineering and directly employ neural networks for end-to-end recognition? Based on the characteristics of EEGsignals, this paper proposes an end-to-end feature extraction and classification method for a dynamic self-attention network(DySAT). The study reveals significant differences in brain activity patterns associated with different emotions acrossvarious experimenters and time periods. The results of this experiment can provide insights into the reasons behind thesedifferences.

Exploring the relationship between physical activity and cognitive function: an fMRI pilot study in young and older adults.

There are limited studies exploring the relationship between physical activity (PA), cognitive function, and the brain processing characteristics in healthy older adults. A total of 41 participants (42.7 ± 20.5 years, 56.1% males) were included in the data analysis. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form was used to assess PA levels, and the Chinese version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Basic and the Flanker task were employed to evaluate cognitive function. Furthermore, fMRI technology was utilized to examine brain activation patterns. The cognitive function of the older adults was found to be significantly lower compared to the young adults. Within the older adults, those with high levels of PA exhibited significantly higher cognitive function than those with low and medium PA levels. The fMRI data showed significant differences in brain activation patterns among young adults across the different PA levels. However, such difference was not observed among older adults. A decline in cognitive function was observed among older adults. There was a significant correlation between the levels of PA and cognitive function in healthy older adults. The study demonstrated significant effects of PA levels on brain activation patterns in inhibitory control-related regions among young adults, while not significant among older adults. The findings suggest that neurological mechanisms driving the relationship between PA and cognitive function may differ between older and young adults.

Brain activation patterns of English language semantic processing in autistic groups

BackgroundAutism is a neurodevelopmental disorder, and there are certain differences in the brain activation patterns of English language semantic processing among autistic individuals. The research aims to explore the brain activation patterns of autistic groups during English semantic processing thus to enhance their understanding of language development.Subjects and MethodsThe study used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) technology, combined with the task paradigm of English word meaning processing, to study the brain activation patterns of individuals with autism. By comparing the differences in brain activation patterns between two groups in word meaning processing tasks, researchers attempted to reveal the specific neural mechanisms involved in language processing in autistic groups. At the same time, SPSS23.0 statistical software was used to process the data.ResultsThrough comparative experiments, the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) score and Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) score of the experimental group were 7.53 and 31.24 respectively; The HAMA and GSES scores of the control group were 10.84 and 25.81, respectively. The results indicate that the processing of English language word meanings has a brain activation effect on people with autism.Conclusions Research can promote the understanding of the cognitive and neural mechanisms of autism, and contribute to improving daily communication and life quality for autistic groups.AcknowledgementThe Education Department of Hainan Province (No. Hnjgzc2022-121); The Education Department of Hainan Province (No. Hnjgw2022-13).

Neuromarketing and decision-making: Classification of consumer preferences based on changes analysis in the EEG signal of brain regions

Neuromarketing involves the study of brain responses that focuses on understanding how consumers' brains respond to products and services, and how these responses influence their choice. Evidence suggests that electroencephalography (EEG) can provide valuable insight into consumer preferences and decision-making processes. This study aims is to assess the relative importance of right/left brain regions (including hemispheres, frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes) in the consumer choice towards E-commerce products. Also, this study aims to distinguishes the EEG characteristics of consumers’ preference using a classification system.Using a publicly available EEG neuromarketing dataset, the change in EEG signals has been evaluated by a mixed model for repeated measures for all brain regions. Four classification algorithms (k-NearestNeighbor, Random Forest, Neural Network, and Gradient Boosting) were used to distinguish like and dislike preferences.Greater EEG activity in the right hemisphere, right parietal, right occipital, and left occipital was related to like responses. Except for both sides of the temporal lobe, all the subdivisions of the brain considered showed a significant decrease of activity at 4000 ms for like-related responses. However, no significant change in the activity was related to the dislike response. The highest AUC of the four classifiers used was as follows: 76.61% for the right parietal lobe with Neural Network, 75.33% for the left parietal lobe with Gradient Boosting, 73.55% for the right frontal lobe with k-Nearest Neighbor and 72.62% for the right frontal lobe with Random Forest. Considering the significant difference between like and dislike responses at 4000 ms, Neural Network showed the best performance followed by Gradient Boosting.Our framework suggests that the formation of preferences (like and dislike) requires different patterns of brain activity and that Neural Network and Gradient Boosting are valuable tools for distinguishing consumer preference.

Electroencephalographic Characterization by Covariance Analysis in Men with Parkinson’s Disease Reveals Sex- and Age-Related Differences

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the fastest growing neurological disease associated with ageing; its symptomatology varies between sexes. Several quantitative electroencephalography analyses have been used to study the early stages and progression of PD. In this study, we aim to characterize the brain activity by considering the five brainwaves in an eyes-closed resting state, using covariance wavelet analysis (CWA) of electroencephalographic records (EEGs) to analyze the influence of sex and age. To effectively eliminate artifacts from the EEG dataset and extract pertinent brain activity, we employ the inverse wavelet analysis. EEGs from men with PD were divided into two age groups (PD &lt; 60 and PD &gt; 60 years old) with their respective age-matched controls (CL). Brain activity patterns in frequency and power domains were analyzed with the CWA. Main frequency profiles, global wavelet curves, power anomalies, and power per brainwave were used to illustrate the CWA patterns. Power anomalies were used to generate anteroposterior power gradients. In PD &lt; 60 men, frequency and power for the α brainwave decreased, while the δ brainwave increased. The θ brainwave increased and was dominant over the α brainwave in PD &gt; 60 men. The anteroposterior power gradient in PD &lt; 60 men had a positive slope, but it was negative in CL. In both PD and CL &gt; 60 men, the anteroposterior gradient was negative. In PD &gt; 60 men, the θ brainwave increased and became dominant. Men with PD had twice the θ brainwave increase. An inverse relationship between α and δ brainwaves was detected in a PD &lt; 60 sex comparison. A conventional EEG spectral analysis using CWA indicated significant differences in brain activity patterns in the PD/CL groups affected by sex and age, yielding previously unknown information.

Neural Correlates of Natural Scenes: Effects of Scene Category and Spatial Frequency on Preference and Brain Activation Responses

過去研究證實人們偏好自然景觀更甚於都市景觀，然而這類環境尚不清楚是否有關鍵的視覺特徵造成這樣的影響。本研究以景觀分類加上影像低階視覺特徵的觀點，探討不同景觀類型與空間頻率構成的環境影像偏好，並深入討論景觀影像刺激對人體大腦反應之影響。研究方法為將環境影像分為三種景觀類型與兩種空間頻率類別共六種景觀類型，利用持續注意力測驗、偏好問卷與功能性磁振造影儀器進行實驗。研究結果顯示景觀類型對偏好具有顯著差異(F=19.42, p&lt;0.001)，以海岸類型偏好平均數(3.39)為最高；空間頻率對偏好之影響雖無顯著，但當景觀類型與空間頻率共同作用時，對偏好亦有影響；在景觀影像刺激對大腦反應之結果，主要具有顯著活化的腦區為枕葉中之舌回(lingual gyrus)與楔葉(cuneus)；而觀看都市類型影像相較於海岸類型，海馬旁回(parahippocampal gyrus)會具有顯著活化的現象。藉由本研究結果能夠提供景觀影像低階視覺特徵對人們感知之影響的研究觀點，並瞭解人們與自然環境間互動的關係。Previous researches have shown that human have a preference for images of natural scenes over built environments, and being in or viewing natural scenes can improve attention and psychological benefits. However, what are the features in the landscapes that produce these benefits? The purpose of this study is to explore the responses of brain activation to natural scenes. We focused on the relationship between individuals’perceptions and the environmental features. In this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to monitor brain activity responses. Participants were asked to perform the Sustained Attention to Response Test (SART), answer the preference question scales, while viewing a mixture of photographs of scene category (coast, forest, and urban) and different spatial frequency (low and high frequency). The result shows that there is interaction effect of scene category and spatial frequency on preference. People prefer coast and forest than urban. The result shows that there were different patterns of brain activation associated with different landscapes, activation responses were commonly found in lingual gyrus and cuneus. In viewing urban minus coast images condition, the parahippocampal gyrus were found activated. The findings of this study provide a viewpoint to the influence of landscape features on human perceptions, and how individuals interact with nature and environment.

Neural activation to infant cry among Latina and non-Latina White mothers

Cultural neuroscience is an emerging framework positing that culture (for example, values, beliefs, practices, and modes of emotional expression) critically informs socialization goals and desired behaviors, which are perhaps accompanied by differential patterns of brain activation. Using fMRI, the current study examines brain activation to infant cry stimuli and matched white noise among 50 first-time biological mothers identifying as Latina or White in the United States. Results showed that brain activation to infant cries in the right posterior insula, left cerebellum, and left auditory were higher for White mothers compared to Latina mothers, p’s < .05. White mothers showed greater activation to cry sounds compared to white noise in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, left somatosensory, right and left premotor cortices, p’s < .05, whereas Latina mothers did not. These brain regions are involved in motor planning, movement, sensory processing, and social information processing. It is important to note that mothers in the two groups did not show differences in stress and behavioral parenting measures. Therefore, Latina and White mothers differentially recruiting brain regions related to infant parenting behaviors indicates the potential role of cultural context in shaping patterns of neural activation. Our exploratory analysis suggests that this difference might be due to greater pre-parenting exposure among Latina mothers to children compared to White mothers. Taken together, although our data did not completely explain the differences in brain activation between groups, findings suggest potential culture-related influences in brain activation occurring in the postpartum period.

Orbitofrontal cortex functional connectivity changes in patients with binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa.

We aimed to define the shared and unshared functional neurobiological underpinnings of binge eating disorder (BED) and bulimia nervosa (BN). These disorders both involve loss of control over binge eating, but differ based on purging behavior and body image distortion. BED and BN have also been found to show differences in brain activation patterns in reward sensitivity. We enrolled 13 and 12 drug-naive and medication-free women with BED and BN, respectively, and 22 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. We performed an orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)-seeded resting-state whole brain functional connectivity (FC) analysis among the groups. In this study, BED patients exhibited significantly higher impulsivity than controls, whereas the difference in impulsivity between BN and controls was not significant. Participants with BED and BN showed weaker FC between the left lateral OFC and the right precuneus than controls. In the BED only group, the FC strength between these regions was negatively correlated with self-reported impulsivity. In both BED and BN, FC between the left lateral OFC and the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was weaker than that in controls. In BED, FC between the left medial OFC and the right cerebellar lobule IV was stronger than that of other groups. Our current results suggest similarities and differences between BED and BN in OFC-seeded FC with respect to reward processing. In particular, FC of the OFC in BED patients showed a significant correlation with their high impulsivity, which may reflect a decline in executive control over binge eating.

Sex-Specific Brain Activations during Single-Leg Exercise.

Females have an increased incidence of musculoskeletal injuries compared to males. Sex differences in neuromuscular control has been widely studied regarding the dynamics and muscle activity during preplanned movements. While muscle activation patterns and movement biomechanics are understood to differ between sexes, it is not well understood how sex influences brain activity for lower extremity movement. Since the brain plays a vital role for voluntary movement and joint stability, it is important to understand the sex differences in brain function in order to better understand neuromuscular control associated with increased musculoskeletal injury risk in female. The purpose of this study is to understand the differences in brain activation patterns between sexes during a simple active knee extension-flexion movement. It was hypothesized that females would demonstrate higher cortical activation in the somatosensory areas compared to males as a compensatory strategy. Cross-Sectional Study. Thirteen males and seventeen females who were healthy and physically active participated in this study (Male: 23.7±3.8 years, 74.5±13.5 kg, 172.3±6.4 cm; Female: 20.6±1.6 years, 65.4±12.8 kg, 163±6.1 cm). Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were obtained during a simple left knee extension-flexion exercise with their own leg weight while lying on the MRI table. The blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signals were compared between sexes. There was significantly greater activation in the visual cortices and premotor cortex in females compared to males during the studied movement. Males demonstrated significantly greater activation in the right cerebellum. The results revealed sex differences in BOLD signal during simple knee extension-flexion movement. The results suggest that sex may be a biological factor in understanding brain activity associated with knee motor control. Level 3.

Sleep associated electrophysiological activity in subjects at different levels of risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease

AbstractBackgroundAlzheimer’s disease (AD) is tightly associated with sleep alterations: as the disease progresses, sleep quality worsens. Therefore, the study of sleep patterns in interaction with other variables could constitute an early biomarker of AD. It is widely known that sleep alterations lead to an impaired cognitive functioning and performance, and recent studies evidence a positive feedback between amyloid beta (AB) accumulation and sleep. Consequently, sleep could constitute an interesting target for interventions aimed at altering the course of the disease. In the present study, we studied the relationship between self‐reported measures of sleep quality (i.e. number of hours of sleep) and the electrophysiological activity at resting‐state recorded using magnetoencephalography (MEG).MethodThe sample for this study was composed of healthy adults, with varying risks of developing AD (direct relatives vs non‐relatives, and APOE‐E4 carriers vs non‐carriers). All participants completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, underwent a MEG scan, and were genotyped for their APOE carriage.ResultPreliminary results show different patterns of brain activation in areas classically associated with the development of AD, in relatives and non‐relatives, in relation with the number of hours of sleep. Non‐relatives present a significant cluster that encompases areas such as the precuneus, where a positive correlation is found between the power in the low beta (12‐20Hz) frequency band and the number of hours of sleep. Relatives do not show clusters where relative power and hours of sleep correlate significantly.ConclusionAlthough further research is needed, a possible interpretation of these results could be the following: non‐relatives’ brain functioning in areas of the default‐mode network, typically associated with AD, are more affected by the number of hours of sleep than relatives, who may not benefit as much due to early damage interfering with the protective effect of sleep.

Event-related potential and lexical decision task in dyslexic adults: Lexical and lateralization effects.

Developmental dyslexia is a specific learning disorder that presents cognitive and neurobiological impairments related to different patterns of brain activation throughout development, continuing in adulthood. Lexical decision tasks, together with electroencephalography (EEG) measures that have great temporal precision, allow the capture of cognitive processes during the task, and can assist in the understanding of altered brain activation processes in adult dyslexics. High-density EEG allows the use of temporal analyses through event-related potentials (ERPs). The aim of this study was to compare and measure the pattern of ERPs in adults with developmental dyslexia and good readers, and to characterize and compare reading patterns between groups. Twenty university adults diagnosed with developmental dyslexia and 23 healthy adult readers paired with dyslexics participated in the study. The groups were assessed in tests of intelligence, phonological awareness, reading, and writing, as well as through the lexical decision test (LDT). During LDT, ERPs were recorded using a 128-channel EEG device. The ERPs P100 occipital, N170 occipito-temporal, N400 centro-parietal, and LPC centro-parietal were analyzed. The results showed a different cognitive profile between the groups in the reading, phonological awareness, and writing tests but not in the intelligence test. In addition, the brain activation pattern of the ERPs was different between the groups in terms of hemispheric lateralization, with higher amplitude of N170 in the dyslexia group in the right hemisphere and opposite pattern in the control group and specificities in relation to the items of the LDT, as the N400 were more negative in the Dyslexia group for words, while in the control group, this ERP was more pronounced in the pseudowords. These results are important for understanding different brain patterns in developmental dyslexia and can better guide future interventions according to the changes found in the profile.

Cannabinoid modulation of brain activation during volitional regulation of negative affect in trauma-exposed adults

Emotion dysregulation is considered a core component of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Cognitive reappraisal is one therapeutic emotion regulation strategy that has been widely studied among individuals with mood and anxiety disorders, and numerous differences in brain activation patterns have been shown between individuals with and without PTSD during tasks of cognitive reappraisal. Prior research among healthy subjects suggests that an acute, low dose of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) could attenuate the neurophysiological discrepancies that exist between individuals with and without PTSD during tasks of emotional processing; however, the effect of an acute, low dose of THC on corticolimbic activity during emotion regulation among individuals with PTSD has not yet been studied. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of THC on negative affect and brain activation in a priori regions of interest during cognitive reappraisal among trauma-exposed individuals with and without PTSD. Using a double-blind design, 51 individuals were randomized to receive THC or placebo (PBO) before participating in a well-established emotion regulation task during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). THC but not PBO reduced negative affect during reappraisal, and THC increased dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) activation in response to neutral images. Individuals with PTSD displayed less activation in the angular gyrus, overall, compared to the trauma-exposed control (TEC) group, however THC increased angular gyrus activation in the PTSD group so that there was no significant difference in angular gyrus activation between the TEC and PTSD groups that received THC. Compared to PBO, THC also increased cerebellar activation during exposure to neutral images in individuals with PTSD. Lastly, in participants that received THC, greater posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)/precuneus activation during reappraisal was associated with less self-reported negative affect following reappraisal blocks. Together these findings suggest that THC may prove to be a beneficial pharmacological adjunct to cognitive reappraisal therapy in the treatment of PTSD.

The influence of error detection and error significance on neural and behavioral correlates of error processing in a complex choice task

Error detection and error significance form essential mechanisms that influence error processing and action adaptation. Error detection often is assessed by an immediate self-evaluation of accuracy. Our study used cognitive neuroscience methods to elucidate whether self-evaluation itself influences error processing by increasing error significance in the context of a complex response selection process. In a novel eight-alternative response task, our participants responded to eight symbol stimuli with eight different response keys and a specific stimulus-response assignment. In the first part of the experiment, the participants merely performed the task. In the second part, they also evaluated their response accuracy on each trial. We replicated variations in early and later stages of error processing and action adaptation as a function of error detection. The additional self-evaluation enhanced error processing on later stages, probably reflecting error evidence accumulation, whereas earlier error monitoring processes were not amplified. Implementing multivariate pattern analysis revealed that self-evaluation influenced brain activity patterns preceding and following the response onset, independent of response accuracy. The classifier successfully differentiated between responses from the self- and the no-self-evaluation condition several hundred milliseconds before response onset. Subsequent exploratory analyses indicated that both self-evaluation and the time on task contributed to these differences in brain activity patterns. This suggests that in addition to its effect on error processing, self-evaluation in a complex choice task seems to have an influence on early and general processing mechanisms (e.g., the quality of attention and stimulus encoding), which is amplified by the time on task.

The Impact of Mental Stress on Cardiovascular Health-Part II.

Endothelial dysfunction is one of the earliest manifestations of atherosclerosis, contributing to its development and progression. Mental stress induces endothelial dysfunction through increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system, release of corticotropin-releasing hormone from the hypothalamus, inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) synthesis by cortisol, and increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Mental-stress-induced increased output of the sympathetic nervous system and concomitant withdrawal of the parasympathetic inflammatory reflex results in systemic inflammation and activation of a neural–hematopoietic–arterial axis. This includes the brainstem and subcortical regions network, bone marrow activation, release of leukocytes into the circulation and their migration to the arterial wall and atherosclerotic plaques. Low-grade, sterile inflammation is involved in all steps of atherogenesis, from coronary plaque formation to destabilisation and rupture. Increased sympathetic tone may cause arterial smooth-muscle-cell proliferation, resulting in vascular hypertrophy, thus contributing to the development of hypertension. Emotional events also cause instability of cardiac repolarisation due to brain lateralised imbalance of cardiac autonomic nervous stimulation, which may lead to asymmetric repolarisation and arrhythmia. Acute emotional stress can also provoke severe catecholamine release, leading to direct myocyte injury due to calcium overload, known as myocytolysis, coronary microvascular vasoconstriction, and an increase in left ventricular afterload. These changes can trigger a heart failure syndrome mimicking acute myocardial infarction, characterised by transient left ventricular dysfunction and apical ballooning, known as stress (Takotsubo) cardiomyopathy. Women are more prone than men to develop mental-stress-induced myocardial ischemia (MSIMI), probably reflecting gender differences in brain activation patterns during mental stress. Although guidelines on CV prevention recognise psychosocial factors as risk modifiers to improve risk prediction and decision making, the evidence that their assessment and treatment will prevent CAD needs further evaluation.

Comparative Functional Connectivity of Core Brain Regions between Implicit and Explicit Memory Tasks Underlying Negative Emotion in General Anxiety Disorder.

ObjectiveTo investigate not only differential patterns of functional connectivity of core brain regions between implicit and explicit verbal memory tasks underlying negatively evoked emotional condition, but also correlations of functional connectivity (FC) strength with clinical symptom severity in patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).MethodsThirteen patients with GAD and 13 healthy controls underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging for memory tasks with negative emotion words.ResultsClinical symptom and its severities of GAD were potentially associated with abnormalities of task-based FC with core brain regions and distinct FC patterns between implicit vs. explicit memory processing in GAD were potentially well discriminated. Outstanding FC in implicit memory task includes positive connections of precentral gyus (PrG) to inferior frontal gyrus and inferior parietal gyrus (IPG), respectively, in encoding period; a positive connection of amygdala (Amg) to globus pallidus as well as a negative connection of Amg to cerebellum in retrieval period. Meanwhile, distinct FC in explicit memory included a positive connection of PrG to inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) in encoding period; a positive connection of the anterior cingulate gyrus to superior frontal gyrus in retrieval period. Especially, there were positive correlation between GAD-7 scores and FC of PrG-IPG (r2 = 0.324, p = 0.042) in implicit memory encoding, and FC of PrG-ITG (r2 = 0.378, p = 0.025) in explicit memory encoding.ConclusionThis study clarified differential patterns of brain activation and relevant FC between implicit and explicit verbal memory tasks underlying negative emotional feelings in GAD. These findings will be helpful for an understanding of distinct brain functional mechanisms associated with clinical symptom severities in GAD.

Prefrontal hyperactivation during dual-task walking related to apathy symptoms in older individuals.

Increasing evidence associates apathy with worsening in cognitive performance and greater risk of dementia, in both clinical and healthy older populations. In older adults with neurocognitive disorders, apathy has also been related to specific fronto-subcortical structural abnormalities, thus differentiating apathy and major depressive disorder. Yet, the neural mechanisms associated with apathy in healthy older adults are still unclear. In the present study, we investigated the frontal cortical response during a dual-task walking paradigm in forty-one healthy older adults with and without apathy symptoms, controlling for depressive symptoms. The dual-task walking paradigm included a single cognitive task (2-back), a single motor task (walking), and a dual-task condition (2-back whilst walking). The cortical response was measured by means of functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS). The results revealed that participants with apathy symptoms showed greater activation of subregions of the prefrontal cortex and of the premotor cortex compared to healthy controls during the single cognitive component of the dual-task paradigm, whilst cognitive performance was equivalent between groups. Moreover, increased cortical response during the cognitive task was associated with higher odds of exhibiting apathy symptoms, independently of depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that apathy may be related to differential brain activation patterns in healthy older individuals and are in line with previous evidence of the distinctiveness between apathy and depression. Future research may explore the long-term effects of apathy on the cortical response in healthy older adults.