Frontal Lobe Activation Research Articles

Psychophysical assessment of a driver’s mental state in autonomous vehicles

Recently, there has been an increasing interest in the development of autonomous vehicles. However, some of the challenges that are associated with autonomous vehicles are yet to be resolved. Here, we investigate the user dependence on autonomous control in autopilot vehicles. Further, we verify whether drivers can control the vehicles in an appropriate manner after a system failure based on the range of biometric data. The participants in this study experienced three scenarios in a driving simulator: manual-driving, autonomous-driving, and system-failure scenarios, which forced the participants to resume manual control. The data obtained from salivary amylase depict that drivers tend to be anxious while performing the transition from the manual-driving scenario to the autonomous-driving scenario; however, all drivers have to be accustomed with the system in order to drive using a driving simulator. Thus, the difference of anxiety between various drivers is observed to be suppressed. The seat pressure data illustrate that an area having a value equal to 95% of the probability-deviation ellipse during the second day of the manual-driving and autonomous-driving scenarios is observed to have the largest value from among each driving scenario, which seems to be caused due to the driver’s concentration or fatigue. Further, the systolic blood pressures of all the drivers increased with time. However, in the autonomous-driving scenario, the average relative systolic blood pressure is, on the whole, higher than that in the manual-driving scenario. It is suggested that the drivers had never previously used an autonomous-driving system and that he/she may be uncomfortable or uneasy to autonomously control the brake, accelerator, and steering wheel. Additionally, after a system failure during the manual-driving scenario, the behavior is observed to be similar to that in the initial manual-driving scenario, and the totally average relative systolic blood pressure is higher than that during the initial manual-driving scenario. This indicates that the drivers’ mental workload is relatively low during the autonomous-driving scenario because they do not experience any stress from driving. However, the drivers’ systolic blood pressure increased because of the transition from autonomous driving to manual control and because of the mental workload to control the vehicle on their own just after using an autonomous-driving system. From the viewpoint of the brain activity in the left frontal lobe, the data indicates that the drivers’ cognition level during autonomous driving is lower than that during manual driving and that the declining tendency of the average relative hemoglobin concentration is remarkable during the manual-driving scenario after encountering a system failure. This is because the driver feels that he/she may commit mistakes during manual driving. Additionally, if he/she is driving an autonomous vehicle and if the autonomous-driving system failed, he/she does not need to pay attention to the surrounding subjects and control the vehicle. The eye-gaze data indicate that “mind distraction” occurred in the participants while resuming control after a system failure because their brain activity at this instance was relatively low. Our results indicate that drivers who depend on autonomous control systems experience stress upon switching to manual control after a system failure.

Neuroscience approach to ADHD related factors in children and adolescents

The purpose of this study was to investigate the neuropsychological aspects of cognitive, emotional and behavioral problems in children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) Although many studies on genetic, environmental, and social causes of ADHD have been made, we sought to clarify the mechanism of ADHD development based on more scientific knowledge. The neuroanatomical factors for ADHD are as follows: Children with ADHD have a reduced volume of structural abnormality or volume and white matter in the prefrontal cortex, basal ganglia, corpus callosum, and caudate compared with normal children. And neurobiologically, ADHD children and adolescents showed less activity of frontal lobe than normal children in both task memory task and exercise suppression task. In addition, dopamine, a neurotransmitter closely related to the basal ganglia and the prefrontal cortex, was overloaded with dopamine receptors in ADHD children and adolescents, indicating that the amount of dopamine actually acting on the brain was small. An analysis of neuroanatomical and neurophysiological factors for ADHD should provide a good understanding of the individual characteristics of ADHD children. It is hoped that children with ADHD will have a good foundation for brain-based education through strengthening brain plasticity and neural networks in the field of education

Frontal-Lobe Activation in Healthy Adults Using A Driving Simulator

Frontal-Lobe Activation in Healthy Adults Using A Driving Simulator

Towards Neuroadaptive Personal Learning Environments: Using fNIRS to Detect Changes in Attentional State

Towards Neuroadaptive Personal Learning Environments: Using fNIRS to Detect Changes in Attentional State

Typical asymmetry in the hemispheric activation during an fMRI verbal comprehension paradigm is related to better performance in verbal and non-verbal tasks in patients with epilepsy.

Chronic exposure to seizures in patients with left hemisphere (LH) epileptic focus could favor higher activation in the contralateral hemisphere during language processing, but the cognitive effects of this remain unclear. This study assesses the relationship between asymmetry in hemispheric activation during language fMRI and performance in verbal and non-verbal tasks. Whereas prior studies primarily used fMRI paradigms that favor frontal lobe activation and less prominent activation of the medial or superior temporal lobes, we used a verbal comprehension paradigm previously demonstrated to activate reliably receptive language areas. Forty-seven patients with drug-resistant epilepsy candidates for surgery underwent a multidisciplinary assessment, including a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation and an fMRI verbal comprehension paradigm. Patients were distributed in two groups depending on laterality indexes (LI): typical hemispheric asymmetry (unilateral left activation preponderance; n = 23) and atypical hemispheric asymmetry (bilateral or unilateral right preponderance; n = 24). Right-handedness and right hemisphere (RH) focus were significant predictors of typical asymmetry. Patients with typical activation pattern presented better performance intelligence quotient and verbal learning than patients with atypical hemispheric asymmetry (for all, p < 0.014). Patients with LH focus had more frequently atypical hemispheric asymmetry than patients with RH focus (p = 0.05). Specifically, they showed lower LI and this was related to worse performance in verbal and non-verbal tasks. In conclusion, an increased activation of homologous RH areas for verbal comprehension processing could imply a competition of cognitive resources in the performance of the same task, disrupting cognitive performance.

Dysfunctional frontal lobe activity during inhibitory tasks in individuals with childhood trauma: An event-related potential study.

BackgroundIndividuals who experience childhood trauma are vulnerable to various psychological and behavioral problems throughout their lifetime. This study aimed to investigate whether individuals with childhood trauma show altered frontal lobe activity during response inhibition tasks.MethodsIn total, 157 healthy individuals were recruited and instructed to perform a Go/Nogo task during electroencephalography recording. Source activities of N2 and P3 of Nogo event-related potentials (ERP) were analyzed. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS) were applied. Individuals were divided into three groups based on their total CTQ score: low CTQ, middle CTQ, and high CTQ groups.ResultsThe high CTQ group exhibited significantly higher BIS scores than the low CTQ group. P3 amplitudes of the differences between Nogo and Go ERP waves exhibited higher mean values in the low CTQ than the high CTQ group, with trending effects. In Nogo-P3, the source activities of the right anterior cingulate cortex, bilateral medial frontal cortex (MFC), bilateral superior frontal gyrus (SFG), and right precentral gyrus were significantly lower in the high CTQ than the low CTQ group. Motor impulsivity showed a significant negative correlation with activities of the bilateral MFC and SFG in Nogo-P3 conditions.ConclusionsOur study revealed that individuals with childhood trauma have inhibitory failure and frontal lobe dysfunction in regions related to Nogo-P3.

Altered Neurocognitive Processing of Tactile Stimuli in Patients with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

Chronic pain in complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) has been linked to tactile misperceptions and deficits in somatotopic representation of the affected limb. In this study, we identify altered cognitive processing of tactile stimuli in CRPS patients that we propose marks heterogeneity in tactile decision-making mechanisms. In a case-control design, we compared middle- and late-latency somatosensory evoked potentials in response to pseudorandomized mechanical stimulation of the digits of both hands (including CRPS-affected and nonaffected sides) between 13 CRPS patients and 13 matched healthy controls. During a task to discriminate the digit simulated, patients (compared with controls) had significantly lower accuracy and slowed response times but with high between-subject variability. At middle latencies (124–132 ms), tactile processing in patients relative to controls showed decrements in superior parietal lobe and precuneus (that were independent of task demands) but enhanced activity in superior frontal lobe (that were task-dependent). At late latencies, patients showed an augmented P300-like response under task demands that localized to the supplementary motor area. Source activity in the supplementary motor area correlated with slowed response times, although its scalp representation intriguingly correlated with better functioning of the affected limb, suggesting a compensatory mechanism. Future research should investigate the clinical utility of these putative markers of tactile decision-making mechanisms in CRPS. PerspectiveWe present evidence of altered but highly variable cognitive processing (124–268 ms latency) in response to mechanical tactile stimuli in patients with CRPS compared with healthy controls. Such mid- to late-latency responses could potentially provide convenient and robust biomarkers of abnormal perceptual decision-making mechanisms in CRPS to aid in clinical detection and treatment.

Effect of mother's voice on neonatal respiratory activity and EEG delta amplitude.

While the influence of the mother's voice on neonatal heart‐rate response and its relevant activity on cerebral cortex and the autonomic nervous system (ANS) are well known, few studies have assessed its influence on respiratory activity. We investigated the relationship among the respiration rate, the delta wave amplitudes through electroencephalography, and the basal state of ANS through the respiratory variability index while 22 full‐term neonates hear their mother's voice and an unknown voice. It was found that when respiratory variability was large, a transient (<5 s) change in respiration rates was observed in response to an unknown voice, while a greater increase in the delta wave amplitude was observed in the frontal lobe than the parietal one in response to the mother's voice. Conversely, when respiratory variability was small, a sustained increase (>10 s) in respiration rates was observed in response to the mother's voice, while a greater increase in the delta wave amplitude was found in both the frontal and parietal lobes. These results suggest that the basal state of ANS influences the latency of increases in respiration rates. Furthermore, induced by the mother's voice, transient increases in respiration rates are reduced in association with frontal lobe activity, and sustained increases in respiration rates are promoted in association with frontal and parietal lobe activities.

The Perspectives of Primary Mathematics Teacher Candidates about Equal Sign: The EEG Case

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the primary mathematics teacher candidates' perceptions about the equal sign within the scope of neuroscience studies. To reveal their perceptions about the equal sign, three types of addition operations were asked to the participants: , , . Their brain waves were recorded by EEG device named as Neuron-Spectrum 4. Moreover, their ideas about the types of the questions were asked to support EEG data. As a result, it was found that the teacher candidates had more cognitive activity in parietal lobe while solving the questions of type two and three. In addition to this, they also showed more cognitive activity in frontal lobe for the type three questions. EEG results reveal that they had difficulty to answer these questions than the questions of type one as they also wrote on the interview form.

Put down that smartphone and read to me!

Shared reading between a mother and child is known to benefit that toddler's cognition, social and emotional development, and brain growth. But just what happens inside the brain? To answer this, Hutton et al provide a rather novel, cross-sectional study of 22 low-socioeconomic status mothers and their 4-year-old girls, who completed a functional MRI using an established story-listening task, followed by videotaped observation of an uncoached mother-daughter reading session of the same age-appropriate picture book. Shared-reading scores were positively correlated with functional MRI activation of left frontal and temporal lobes plus the anterior insula, parahippocampus, and putamen. In the reading sessions, only 6 of 22 mother-child dyads shared reading spontaneously without an external prompt, while 10 more required a prompt by the research coordinator. Six did not read at all, due to maternal distraction usually by a smartphone. Shared reading quality scores were significantly negatively correlated with maternal distraction by smartphones. Maternal shared reading experience plays an important role in development of emergent literacy skills for young children. This joint task is associated with brain activation of key language structures, which can be followed by functional MRI. One might wonder whether these same critical brain structures are activated in the child who “interacts” alone with a book on a computer, tablet, or smartphone. Most certainly, a parent more preoccupied with operating a smartphone than interacting with his child adversely affects intellectual development. Article page 204 ▶ Shared Reading Quality and Brain Activation during Story Listening in Preschool-Age ChildrenThe Journal of PediatricsVol. 191PreviewTo explore the relationship between maternal shared reading quality (verbal interactivity and engagement) and brain function during story listening in at-risk, preschool-age children, in the context of behavioral evidence and American Academy of Pediatrics, recommendations. Full-Text PDF

College Binge Drinking Associated with Decreased Frontal Activation to Negative Emotional Distractors during Inhibitory Control.

The transition to college is associated with an increase in heavy episodic alcohol use, or binge drinking, during a time when the prefrontal cortex and prefrontal-limbic circuitry continue to mature. Traits associated with this immaturity, including impulsivity in emotional contexts, may contribute to risky and heavy episodic alcohol consumption. The current study used blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) multiband functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess brain activation during a task that required participants to ignore background images with positive, negative, or neutral emotional valence while performing an inhibitory control task (Go-NoGo). Subjects were 23 college freshmen (seven male, 18–20 years) who engaged in a range of drinking behavior (past 3 months’ binge episodes range = 0–19, mean = 4.6, total drinks consumed range = 0–104, mean = 32.0). Brain activation on inhibitory trials (NoGo) was contrasted between negative and neutral conditions and between positive and neutral conditions using non-parametric testing (5000 permutations) and cluster-based thresholding (z = 2.3), p ≤ 0.05 corrected. Results showed that a higher recent incidence of binge drinking was significantly associated with decreased activation of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC), and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), brain regions strongly implicated in executive functioning, during negative relative to neutral inhibitory trials. No significant associations between binge drinking and brain activation were observed for positive relative to neutral images. While task performance was not significantly associated with binge drinking in this sample, subjects with heavier recent binge drinking showed decreased recruitment of executive control regions under negative versus neutral distractor conditions. These findings suggest that in young adults with heavier recent binge drinking, processing of negative emotional images interferes more with inhibitory control neurocircuitry than in young adults who do not binge drink often. This pattern of altered frontal lobe activation associated with binge drinking may serve as an early marker of risk for future self-regulation deficits that could lead to problematic alcohol use. These findings underscore the importance of understanding the impact of emotion on cognitive control and associated brain functioning in binge drinking behaviors among young adults.

A novel method for tracking and analysis of EEG activation across brain lobes

Abstract Electroencephalography (EEG) measures the electrical activity of brain that is generated by the synchronized activity of thousands of neurons. In this paper, our first goal is to develop a novel method to track the EEG activation in different brain regions involved in the processing of target and non-target stimuli in oddball paradigm. Secondly we want to identify the difference in the pattern of activation for different oddball tasks. The EEG data has been acquired from twenty healthy volunteers for the visual oddball experiment. In the task two types of visual stimuli target (rare) and non-target (frequent) were randomly presented. The subjects were instructed to press the enter button when they identify the target stimuli. The EEG data acquired is converted into EEG topo-maps. In our method the flow of activation between consecutive topo-maps is estimated by using Horn and Schunck Optical Flow estimation method. It helps to generate the motion field between consecutive topo-maps which is considered as flow of activation between two time frames. Different motion vectors are clustered into a group based on the activation level. These clusters are tracked between different frames as a measure of the activation flow. Finally we analyze the flow of activation across different brain lobes for different cases encountered in the Oddball paradigm by plotting average activation graph with respect to time. Analysis of the data has revealed that high activation has been observed in the Frontal and Occipital lobes in general for the oddball task. Frontal lobe shows high activation for target with response case, this is followed by the Occipital lobe. The activation in frontal lobe starts increasing from frame no 60 (240 ms) (out of 125 frames). Occipital lobe shows high activation for target with no response and no target no response cases in the region from 40 to 60 frames. Parietal lobe shows high activation for target with response near the end of task from frame no. 100 onwards. Hence, we have been able to identify different patterns in the activation flow that differentiates different Oddball tasks. This activation pattern is consistent with the event related potential signal generated by the Oddball paradigm. The pattern for the individual subjects also follow the average pattern of high activation in the frontal and occipital region for target and non target stimuli. We have also used cross correlation (a classical connectivity method) for comparison of the results. A subjective comparison of the results show that our proposed method is capable of tracking the EEG activation.

Increased activity in the right prefrontal cortex measured using near-infrared spectroscopy during a flower arrangement task

Objective: Flower arrangement program (FAP) horticultural therapy promotes psychological, social and physiological wellness and recovery. Moreover, FAPs have been used to evaluate the outcomes related to visuospatial working memory; yet, most of these studies used subjective outcome measures such as behavioural observations and questionnaires. Few studies report objective evaluations of FAP effects in humans. In the present study, we measured the effects of an FAP task on frontal lobe activity in healthy participants using near-infrared spectroscopy. We quantified salivary amylase levels as an indicator of stress level during the FAP.Methods: The FAP task involved a predetermined arrangement pattern of natural materials (flowers and leaves) that required the participants to identify where a given material should be placed and temporarily memorise the designated position to complete the flower arrangement. The FAP task was compared to the block-tapping task (BTT), which is routinely used to evaluate visuospatial working memory.Results: Both the FAP task and BTT positively stimulated the right prefrontal cortex; however, stress was more effectively limited during the performance of the FAP task.Conclusions: Our data suggest that FAP therapy may be useful for the rehabilitation of patients who are sensitive to stress.

Breakfast meals and emotions: Implicit and explicit assessment of the visual experience

AbstractUnderstanding implicit (unconscious) emotions and motivational behavior tendencies may provide further information for better understanding consumer response to food. Videos (n = 8) of breakfast meals were presented to participants (n = 40) with concurrent measurement of motor expression (automated facial expression analysis; AFEA), neurologic activity (electroencephalography; EEG), and physiologic activity (electrocardiography; ECG) as indicators of implicit responses. Explicit responses (overall acceptability, check‐all‐that‐apply emotion term list) were assessed following each video presentation. The withdrawal emotion, disgust, was significantly chosen more for videos less liked, while approach emotions, good and happy were significantly chosen for videos liked more (p &lt; .05). Acceptability was significantly different (p &lt; .05) across meal types. Differences were observed in AFEA between a control (calming, positive beach scene video) and the breakfast meal videos. ECG and EEG supported explicit responses. Using only visual stimuli, implicit and explicit responses differed in response to breakfast meals, enhancing understanding of emotional and behavior tendencies to foods. Challenges with assessing implicit emotional responses necessitates further research in defining appropriate controls, standard methodologies and data interpretation procedures.Practical applicationsIn this study, we illustrated that the visual sense alone is sufficient to influence differences among acceptable food products and influence motivational behavior tendencies. Interpretation of “liked” foods using facial expression, as an indication of emotion, brain (frontal lobe) activity, as an indication of motivational behavioral tendencies, and heart rate, as an indication of arousal, is advanced through this study. This information can be applied in recognizing the input of visual information in creating an approach or withdrawal connection to a food, meal or non‐food consumable product. Appearance, such as influenced by packaging and lighting in retail supermarkets and presentation of meals in foodservice operations, may influence underlying emotions that ultimately influence product success. This research is of value to food product developers, sensory scientists, marketing professionals, food retailers, and foodservice operations. This information also may be applied to non‐food consumer products.

Central and Peripheral Effects of Transcutaneous Acupuncture Treatment for Nausea in Patients with Diabetic Gastroparesis

Background/AimsNausea, an unpleasant symptom of diabetic gastroparesis (DMGP), has been reported to be alleviated by needleless transcutaneous electrical acupuncture (TEA). Our study was designed to utilize electroencephalography (EEG) and electrogastrography (EGG) recordings to investigate the central and peripheral responses of TEA in the treatment of nausea in DMGP patients.MethodsEleven DMGP subjects underwent simultaneous EEG and EGG testing while grading the severity of nausea following 30-minute intervals of: (1) baseline, (2) visual stimulation (VS) to provoke more nausea, (3) active VS together with TEA, and (4) TEA alone, and a final 15-minute recording without any intervention.ResultsThe nausea score was increased to 5.9 ± 1.5 with VS (P < 0.05, vs 3.5 ± 1.0 at baseline), then reduced to 3.5 ± 1.2 with VS plus TEA, and to 2.5 ± 1.3 with TEA alone, while it continued at a score of 2.9 ± 1.0 post TEA (all significant, P < 0.05, vs VS without TEA). The mean percentage of normal gastric slow waves was decreased to 60.0 ± 5.7% with VS (P < 0.05, vs 66.6 ± 4.5% at baseline), then improved to 69.2 ± 4.8% with VS plus TEA, and maintained at 70 ± 3.6% with TEA alone. During initial VS, EEG signals showed right inferior frontal activity as the prominent finding, but during VS with TEA, left inferior frontal activity predominated.ConclusionsIn DMGP, TEA improves gastric dysrhythmia and ameliorates nausea. TEA treatment of nausea provoked by VS resulted in a change of dominance from right to left inferior frontal lobe activity. These data provide new understandings of peripheral and central mechanisms for nausea, and potential future directions for DMGP treatment approaches.

Simultaneous bilateral cochlear implants: Developmental advances do not yet achieve normal cortical processing.

BackgroundSimultaneous bilateral cochlear implantation promotes symmetric development of bilateral auditory pathways but binaural hearing remains abnormal. To evaluate whether bilateral cortical processing remains impaired in such children, cortical activity to unilateral and bilateral stimuli was assessed in a unique cohort of 16 children who received bilateral cochlear implants (CIs) simultaneously at 1.97 ± 0.86 years of age and had ~4 years of CI experience, providing the first opportunity to assess electrically driven cortical development in the absence of reorganized asymmetries from sequential implantation.MethodsCortical activity to unilateral and bilateral stimuli was measured using multichannel electro‐encephalography. Cortical processing in children with bilateral CIs was compared with click‐elicited activity in 13 normal hearing children matched for time‐in‐sound. Source activity was localized using the Time Restricted, Artefact and Coherence source Suppression (TRACS) beamformer method.ResultsConsistent with dominant crossed auditory pathways, normal P1 activity (~100 ms) was weaker to ipsilateral stimuli relative to contralateral and bilateral stimuli and both auditory cortices preferentially responded to the contralateral ear. Right hemisphere dominance was evident overall. Children with bilateral CIs maintained the expected right dominance but differences from normal included: (i) minimal changes between ipsilateral, contralateral and bilateral stimuli, (ii) weaker than normal contralateral stimulus preference, (iii) symmetric activity to bilateral stimuli, and (iv) increased occipital lobe recruitment during bilateral relative to unilateral stimulation. Between‐group contrasts demonstrated lower than normal activity in the inferior parieto‐occipital lobe (suggesting deficits in sensory integration) and greater than normal left frontal lobe activity (suggesting increased attention), even during passive listening.ConclusionsTogether, findings suggest that early simultaneous bilateral cochlear implantation promotes normal‐like auditory symmetry but that abnormalities in cortical processing consequent to deafness and/or electrical stimulation through two independent speech processors persist.

Quantitative EEG Signatures through Amplitude and Phase Modulation Patterns

Cortical spatiotemporal signal patterns based on object recognition can be discerned from visual stimulation. These are in the form of amplitude modulation (AM) and phase modulation (PM) patterns, which contain perceptual information gathered from sensory input. A high-density Electroencephalograph (EEG) device consisting of 48 electrodes with a spacing of 5 mm was utilized to measure frontal lobe activity in order to capture event-related potentials from visual stimuli. Four randomized stimuli representing different levels of salient responsiveness were measured to determine if mild stimuli can be discerned from more extreme stimuli. AM/PM response patterns were detected between mild and more salient stimuli across participants. AM patterns presented distinct signatures for each stimulus. AM patterns had the highest number of incidents detected in the middle of the frontal lobe. Through this work, we can expand our encyclopedia of neural signatures to object recognition, and provide a broader understanding of quantitative neural responses to external stimuli. The results provide a quantitative approach utilizing spatiotemporal patterns to analyze where distinct AM patterns can be linked to object perception.

Functional NIRS Measurement of Cytochrome-C-Oxidase Demonstrates a More Brain-Specific Marker of Frontal Lobe Activation Compared to the Haemoglobins.

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is an increasingly common neuromonitoring technique used to observe evoked haemodynamic changes in the brain in response to a stimulus. The measurement is typically in terms of concentration changes of oxy- (∆HbO2) and deoxy- (∆HHb) haemoglobin. However, noise from systemic fluctuations in the concentration of these chromophores can contaminate stimulus-evoked haemodynamic responses, leading to misinterpretation of results. Short-separation channels can be used to regress out extracerebral haemodynamics to better reveal cerebral changes, significantly improving the reliability of fNIRS. Broadband NIRS can be used to additionally monitor concentration changes of the oxidation state of cytochrome-c-oxidase (∆oxCCO). Recent studies have shown ∆oxCCO to be a depth-dependent and hence brain-specific signal. This study aims to investigate whether ∆oxCCO can produce a more robust marker of functional activation. Continuous frontal lobe NIRS measurements were collected from 17 healthy adult volunteers. Short 1 cm source-detector separation channels were regressed from longer separation channels in order to minimise the extracerebral contribution to standard fNIRS channels. Significant changes in ∆HbO2 and ∆HHb were seen at 1 cm channels but were not observed in ∆oxCCO. An improvement in the haemodynamic signals was achieved with regression of the 1 cm channel. Broadband NIRS-measured concentration changes of the oxidation state of cytochrome-c-oxidase has the potential to be an alternative and more brain-specific marker of functional activation.

The potential of neuroimaging for identifying predictors of adolescent alcohol use initiation and misuse.

Dysfunction in brain regions underlying impulse control, reward processing and executive function have been associated previously with adolescent alcohol misuse. However, identifying pre-existing neurobiological risk factors, as distinct from changes arising from early alcohol-use, is difficult. Here, we outline how neuroimaging data can identify the neural predictors of adolescent alcohol-use initiation and misuse by using prospective longitudinal studies to follow initially alcohol-naive individuals over time and by neuroimaging adolescents with inherited risk factors for alcohol misuse. A comprehensive narrative of the literature regarding neuroimaging studies published between 2010 and 2016 focusing on predictors of adolescent alcohol use initiation and misuse. Prospective, longitudinal neuroimaging studies have identified pre-existing differences between adolescents who remained alcohol-naive and those who transitioned subsequently to alcohol use. Both functional and structural grey matter differences were observed in temporal and frontal regions, including reduced brain activity in the superior frontal gyrus and temporal lobe, and thinner temporal cortices of future alcohol users. Interactions between brain function and genetic predispositions have been identified, including significant association found between the Ras protein-specific guanine nucleotide releasing factor 2 (RASGRF2) gene and reward-related striatal functioning. Neuroimaging predictors of alcohol use have shown modest utility to date. Future research should use out-of-sample performance as a quantitative measure of a predictor's utility. Neuroimaging data should be combined across multiple modalities, including structural information such as volumetrics and cortical thickness, in conjunction with white-matter tractography. A number of relevant neurocognitive systems should be assayed; particularly, inhibitory control, reward processing and executive functioning. Combining a rich magnetic resonance imaging data set could permit the generation of neuroimaging risk scores, which could potentially yield targeted interventions.

Increased brain connectivity and activation after cognitive rehabilitation in Parkinson\u2019s disease: a randomized controlled trial

Cognitive rehabilitation programs have demonstrated efficacy in improving cognitive functions in Parkinson’s disease (PD), but little is known about cerebral changes associated with an integrative cognitive rehabilitation in PD. To assess structural and functional cerebral changes in PD patients, after attending a three-month integrative cognitive rehabilitation program (REHACOP). Forty-four PD patients were randomly divided into REHACOP group (cognitive rehabilitation) and a control group (occupational therapy). T1-weighted, diffusion weighted and functional magnetic resonance images (fMRI) during resting-state and during a memory paradigm (with learning and recognition tasks) were acquired at pre-treatment and post-treatment. Cerebral changes were assessed with repeated measures ANOVA 2 × 2 for group x time interaction. During resting-state fMRI, the REHACOP group showed significantly increased brain connectivity between the left inferior temporal lobe and the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex compared to the control group. Moreover, during the recognition fMRI task, the REHACOP group showed significantly increased brain activation in the left middle temporal area compared to the control group. During the learning fMRI task, the REHACOP group showed increased brain activation in the left inferior frontal lobe at post-treatment compared to pre-treatment. No significant structural changes were found between pre- and post-treatment. Finally, the REHACOP group showed significant and positive correlations between the brain connectivity and activation and the cognitive performance at post-treatment. This randomized controlled trial suggests that an integrative cognitive rehabilitation program can produce significant functional cerebral changes in PD patients and adds evidence to the efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation programs in the therapeutic approach for PD.