Neurological and behavioural correlates of construal in economic decision-making under cognitive load.

Impaired functional neuronal connectivity in schizophrenia negative symptoms.

Although prior research has examined the psychological and neural correlates of guilt and shame, the cognitive antecedents that trigger them, as well as their transformation into social behavior, remain insufficiently understood. We developed a novel task to investigate how two cognitive antecedents, harm and responsibility, elicit guilt and shame, and how these emotions subsequently drive compensatory behavior, by combining functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with computational modeling in human participants. Behaviorally, we found that harm had a stronger impact on guilt, whereas responsibility had a stronger impact on shame. Moreover, compared to shame, guilt exerted a greater effect on compensation. Computational modeling results indicated that the integration of harm and responsibility by individuals is consistent with the phenomenon of responsibility diffusion. The fMRI results revealed that brain regions associated with inequity representation (posterior insula) and value computation (striatum) encode this integrated measure. Individual differences in responsibility-driven shame sensitivity were associated with activity in theory-of-mind regions (e.g. temporoparietal junction). Guilt-driven and shame-driven compensatory behavior recruited distinct neural substrates, with shame-driven compensatory sensitivity being more strongly linked to activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex, a region implicated in cognitive control. Our findings provide computational, algorithmic, and neural accounts of guilt and shame.

Oscillatory control of cortical space as a computational dimension.

Emotion regulation emerges during childhood and engages prefrontal brain systems. While most developmental studies focus on the neural underpinnings of negative emotion regulation, less is known about the neuroanatomical correlates of positive emotion regulation. In adults, prefrontal areas in the left hemisphere are critical for positive emotion regulation, but whether this association is present in children is unknown. We investigated whether smaller gray matter volume in left prefrontal regions related to worse positive emotion regulation in children with and without dyslexia. Because dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental disorder of reading in which there may be greater variability in left prefrontal structures, it offers a unique window into the neural basis of positive emotion regulation. Sixty-nine children (ages 7-13) were asked to hide their feelings while watching film clips that elicited either amusement or disgust, and evaluate their emotion regulation performance. Parents reported on children's everyday emotion regulation. Across the sample, children with smaller volumes in left prefrontal regions (i.e., lateral orbitofrontal cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) had greater facial behavior (i.e., suggesting worse positive emotion regulation) yet more positive self-reported emotion regulation success during the amusement trial (i.e., suggesting more favorable self-evaluation). These regions did not relate to disgust regulation, however. Children with more positive views of their emotion regulation success also had better everyday parent-reported emotion regulation. Results suggest that positive emotion regulation in childhood relies on left prefrontal regions and a more optimistic view of one's emotion regulation abilities, regardless of one's actual emotional behavior, may confer real-world advantages.

The ability to engage in everyday tasks, such as walking, requires the integration of cognitive and motor processes. How these processes integrate may be discernable through the relation of brain activity patterns to behavioral performance, particularly in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), examination of which has been restricted because of the limitations in experimental design. We related behavior (cognition, walking) to brain activity, as measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy, under dual-task conditions (cognition while walking) in healthy young adults. Our probe design enabled us to examine eight regions of interest across PFC and motor cortex to identify key areas related to behavior. Healthy young adults (N = 19) engaged in standing cognition (Serial 3 subtraction), single-task walking, and dual-task walking. We used functional near-infrared spectroscopy to identify regions associated with increases or decreases in activity under dual-task relative to the other conditions. We observed differences in brain activity patterns by task across multiple regions of interest, mostly in PFC. Specifically, more lateral regions were related to attention-demanding tasks, whereas motor tasks were related to relatively medial regions. Our results relate behavior to brain activity, as measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy, under dual-task conditions. Our finding of relatively lateral PFC activity during attention-demanding tasks provides insights into behavioral and brain processes during experimental analogues of everyday activity, bringing us closer to understanding behavior-brain relations in the real world. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

A major challenge for adaptive agents is achieving behavioral flexibility without compromising stability-particularly in goal-directed learning within uncertain environments. Agents must adjust as goals shift while maintaining resilience against noisy signals, necessitating the delicate tradeoff: balancing flexibility for goal pursuit with stability for preventing erratic behavior. To investigate how the brain navigates this dilemma, we combined model simulations with behavioral and fMRI data collected during a goal-directed learning task under varying levels of uncertainty. Our simulations revealed that model-free learning struggles with the flexibility-stability trade-off, whereas model-based learning allows for flexible goal pursuit with varying degrees of stability. Interestingly, human participants displayed both stable and flexible goal-directed behavior. The fMRI data uncovered the underlying mechanism: goals and uncertainty are represented as factorized embeddings in the lateral prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortex. Notably, the neural separability of goals and their resilience to uncertainty in these regions correlated with participants' behavioral flexibility and stability.

Prefrontal cortex (PFC) is known to modulate the visual system to favor goal-relevant information by accentuating task-relevant stimulus dimensions. Does the brain broadly re-configures itself to optimize performance by stretching visual representations along task-relevant dimensions? We considered a task that required monkeys to selectively attend on a trial-by-trial basis to one of two dimensions (color or motion direction) to make a decision. Although effects were most prominent in frontal areas, representations stretched along task-relevant dimensions in all sites considered: V4, MT, lateral PFC, frontal eye fields (FEF), lateral intraparietal cortex (LIP), and inferotemporal cortex (IT). Spike timing was crucial to this code. A deep learning model was trained on the same visual input and rewards as the monkeys. Despite lacking an explicit selective attention or other control mechanism, by minimizing error during learning, the model’s representations stretched along task-relevant dimensions, indicating that stretching is an adaptive strategy.

IntroductionLifestyle factors are important predictors of successful aging, and targeted interventions could be key to mitigating the negative effects of aging. Episodic memory is of particular interest as it is notably sensitive to aging. Given the social, intellectual, and physical stimulation that choral singing provides, along with the enjoyment it offers which is a strong motivator, it has been suggested as a particularly promising intervention to promote successful aging.MethodThirty-four participants, aged 65 to 75 at recruitment, took part in a choral singing intervention involving 47 weekly 1.5-h rehearsals. The study included examinations at three time points: T1, T2, and T3. A control period (T1-T2) was followed by the intervention period (T2-T3), each lasting approximately 11 months. At each assessment, episodic memory was measured with the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS-LMI, WMS-LMII), and participants completed an fMRI Face-Name Paired Associates Task (FN-PA) to examine brain activity during memory encoding and retrieval.ResultsPartial correlation analyses, adjusting for age and cognitive ability, showed significant improvements in episodic memory following both the control period (T1-T2) and the choir intervention (T2-T3), but only the latter scaled with rehearsal attendance. Right hippocampal activity during encoding in the FN-PA task also correlated with attendance, and with age. Additionally, task-dependent functional connectivity increased between the right lateral prefrontal cortex, left posterior fusiform cortex and left hippocampus, while connectivity between the right lateral prefrontal cortex and the left inferior frontal gyrus decreased after the intervention.DiscussionThese findings suggest that regular participation in choral singing may enhance episodic memory and have a positive influence on related brain networks in older adults. The suggestive dose–response effect highlights choir singing as an engaging, multifaceted activity with the potential to contribute to cognitive resilience in aging populations.

Elucidating the impact of aging on the structure and function of neurons is key to understanding the mechanisms underlying synaptic dysfunction and ensuing susceptibility to age-related cognitive decline. The role of structural alterations in the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) has been extensively addressed. In addition, numerous studies point to the importance of inflammation and the increase of oxidative stress during aging, with mitochondria as one of the key cellular organelles involved. Here, we used 3D high-resolution serial block-face scanning electron microscopy to visualize the ultrastructure of synapses on pyramidal neurons in area 46 of the LPFC in rhesus monkeys at different stages across their adult lifespan. Our results revealed a general loss of synapses with age, mainly driven by the loss of asymmetric axospinous synapses. We observed a larger bouton volume but not larger spine or postsynaptic density (PSD) surface in the aged group compared to all other groups, along with a weaker correlation between spine and synaptic size. Additionally, we found morphological changes in mitochondria in the aged compared to middle-aged and young monkeys. Altogether, our data show ultrastructural changes that suggest an improper synaptic scaling and possible mitochondrial dysfunction that might take place after middle-age. We studied the impact of curcumin as a long-term dietary supplement and found that it ameliorated some of these age-related changes at middle-age by preserving the spine and PSD morphology and their size relationship, and also mitochondrial morphology, which might allow for maintaining synaptic function during aging, resulting in a delayed cognitive decline.

BackgroundCognitive dysfunction is one of the most debilitating non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). This study aimed to explore the interplay between altered neurotransmitter activities, including dopamine and acetylcholine, and brain metabolism in cognitive decline in PD.MethodsWe enrolled 172 PD patients (mean ± SD age 69.8 ± 8.6 years; 93 females) who underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging, N-(3-[18F]fluoropropyl)-2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-iodophenyl) nortropane (18F-FP-CIT) positron emission tomography (PET), 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET, and neuropsychological testing. General linear models and mediation analyses were used to investigate the association between striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) availability or basal forebrain (BF) volume, brain metabolism, and domain-specific cognitive scores.ResultsA significant relationship between caudate dopamine depletion and posterior BF atrophy was found in PD patients. Caudate and putaminal dopamine depletion were associated with altered brain metabolism in regions where PD patients showed decreased metabolism compared with healthy controls, whereas atrophy in the posterior BF was associated with hypometabolism in the lateral prefrontal, orbitofrontal, inferior parietal, and lateral temporal cortices as well as in the precuneus, with a significant interaction between caudate DAT availability and posterior BF volume. Caudate dopamine depletion was associated with visuospatial, memory, and executive dysfunction, whereas posterior BF atrophy was additionally associated with attention. Mediation analyses revealed that visuospatial dysfunction was associated with caudate dopamine depletion or posterior BF atrophy via altered brain metabolism, while executive dysfunction was linked to both directly and through metabolism changes.ConclusionsCaudate dopaminergic and posterior BF cholinergic deficits are interrelated and affect cognition in a domain-specific manner, either directly or through the mediation of altered brain metabolism.

ABSTRACT Purpose While functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has been used to examine working memory (WM) and prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation in clinical populations such as traumatic brain injury, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer’s disease, its application in persons with aphasia (PWA) remains limited. This study aims to investigate differences in PFC activation patterns among PWA and healthy controls (HC) across varying levels of working memory (WM) load utilizing fNIRS. Methods A 16-channel fNIRS system was used to measure PFC hemodynamic activation associated with WM processing. This study employed a cross-sectional group comparison design, enabling direct evaluation of differences between PWA and HC across varying WM loads. The participant sample included 10 PWA and 10 age-matched neurotypical healthy controls. All participants completed an n-back task with two WM load conditions: low load (1-back) and high load (2-back). Performance accuracy and response time were analyzed within and between groups. Oxygenation changes in the PFC were measured across 16 PFC channels grouped into four separate quadrants lateral left, central left, central right, and lateral right regions. Results Behavioral analyses revealed significant decreases in performance accuracy (p = .005) and increased response times (p < .025) under higher WM load (2-back) in both groups. However, between-group differences in performance were not statistically significant (p > .05). Hemodynamically, both groups showed increased PFC oxygenation during the high load task. Notably, PWA exhibited greater right lateral PFC activation compared to HC, who showed predominant left lateral PFC activation. Quadrant-level analyses revealed significant differences in oxygenation patterns across PFC regions, particularly during the high load condition for PWA (p ≤ .025). Conclusions The findings suggest that increased cognitive demands elicit distinct PFC activation patterns in PWA compared to HC, likely reflecting compensatory recruitment of right hemisphere resources following left hemisphere injury. Future studies should investigate how PFC activation patterns relate to lesion characteristics and aphasia severity. Thus, fNIRS proves to be a valuable tool for characterizing WM-related brain activity in clinical populations. Similarly, fNIRS has the potential to identify compensatory activation patterns that directly inform rehabilitation, enabling targeted WM training and the use of non-invasive brain stimulation to enhance neural plasticity and maximize translational impact.

Abstract BACKGROUND Patients with lower-grade gliomas often face cognitive impairments, particularly in regions reliant on distributed networks and intact white matter tracts. These issues may arise from disruptions in the fronto-parietal central executive network (CEN). This study investigated the functional connectivity (FC) of the CEN in relation to executive functions of inhibition (DKEFS Stroop interference) and working memory (WAIS Working Memory Index), as well as processing speed (Oral Symbol Digit). METHODS 12 patients with lower-grade glioma (LrGG) (7 astrocytomas, 4 oligodendrogliomas, and 1 NOS) and 6 healthy controls were recruited. Resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI) was processed and analyzed using the CONN toolbox, with a focus on the CEN, utilizing seeds in the posterior parietal cortex and the lateral prefrontal cortex. Multivariable linear regression models were used to compare the relationship across groups (p &amp;lt;.05 with FDR correction). RESULTS LrGG patients scored lower than controls in executive function (-.113 vs 0.0), working memory (-.27 vs.578), and processing speed (-1.02 vs -.04). Inhibition was associated with significantly stronger FC between all regions of the CEN and the superior frontal gyrus (SFG), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), precuneus, cuneus, lateral occipital cortex, and cerebellum in controls than LrGG patients (p&amp;lt;.05). Working memory was associated with significantly stronger FC between the parietal regions of the CEN and the cerebellum in controls than LrGG patients (p&amp;lt;.05). In contrast, processing speed was associated with significantly weaker FC between the right prefrontal region of the CEN and the left parahippocampal gyrus and bilateral cerebellum in controls than LrGG patients (p&amp;lt;.05). CONCLUSION Altered coordination between the CEN and the precuneus (a hub of the default mode network), the ACC (a hub of the salience network), and the cerebellum highlights the impacts that LrGG and related treatment can have on FC and cognitive performance.

Fear of falling (FoF) is a prevalent and consequential concern among older adults, often associated with impaired mobility, cognitive decline, and reduced quality of life. Traditionally conceptualized as a psychological response to prior falls, FoF is increasingly recognized as a neurobehavioral phenomenon reflecting dysregulated cognitive-motor integration. In particular, the prefrontal cortex (PFC)-responsible for executive control, attentional regulation, and anticipatory motor planning-has emerged as a key neural substrate underlying FoF. This study investigated the association between PFC activation and balance confidence, a continuous correlate of FoF, in 308 community-dwelling older adults aged ≥ 60years. Prefrontal oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO) was measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during a verbal fluency task, a standardized cognitive paradigm eliciting PFC engagement without motor interference. Balance confidence was assessed using the validated Korean version of the Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale. Subgroup analyses stratified by fall history, age, sex, and educational attainment were conducted to explore heterogeneity by known vulnerability factors. Higher regional HbO levels were significantly associated with higher ABC scores, reflecting greater balance confidence and lower FoF. This association was most pronounced in the right lateral and lower PFC regions (e.g., Right Lateral: β = 1.41, p = 0.0062; Lower Right: β = 1.41, p = 0.0007), and remained robust after adjusting for demographic and clinical covariates. Subgroup analyses revealed stronger associations among individuals with a history of falling, aged ≥ 75years, women, and those with lower education. For example, in participants with prior falls, Right Hemisphere HbO was strongly correlated with ABC scores (β = 2.06, p = 0.020), suggesting greater cortical recruitment in response to heightened threat perception. We found that greater PFC activation was associated with higher balance confidence in older adults, particularly in those at elevated risk of falling. This relationship may reflect adaptive cortical engagement supporting postural assurance in vulnerable populations.

Abstract BACKGROUND Radiotherapy (RT) is integral for treating pediatric brain tumors but can cause neurotoxicity. This prospective study characterized neurocognition in pediatric patients undergoing PBRT using cognitive resting state networks (RSNs). METHODS Patients aged 6-25y with brain tumors planned for cranial PBRT and age-, sex-, and handedness-matched healthy controls (HCs) underwent resting state functional connectivity (FC) MRI and neurocognitive assessments (NIH Toolbox, PROMIS QoL Questionnaire) at 3-5 months post-PBRT. FC and interconnectivity of each RSN (default mode [DMN], dorsal attention [DAN], executive central [ECN], salience [SN]), and between network interactions were compared between patients vs. HC. One-sample t-tests assessed average RSN-specific FC. Group-level analysis compared patients vs. HC for all RSNs using paired t-tests (q=0.05). RESULTS 14 patients (ages 6-9y [n=5, 3M], 10-13y [n=2, 0M], 14-17y [n=3, 3M], 18-25y [n=4, 3M]) with matched HCs were analyzed. Most had medulloblastoma (n=3), craniopharyngioma (n=2), ependymoma (n=2), or germinoma (n=2). Median RT dose was 54Gy (range 18-60). Most had college (or higher) educated parents (n=21). FC was reduced in SN and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and dorsomedial frontal cortex of DMN (p&amp;lt;0.01). The normal anti-correlation relationship between DMN and SN was disrupted in patients. RSNs had reduced local efficiency (p&amp;lt;0.05). DMN (in PCC), ECN (in left lateral prefrontal cortex), and SN (in anterior cingulate cortex, left and right anterior insula) showed reduced clustering coefficients, average path length, and degree (p&amp;lt;0.05). Patients performed worse in attention/executive function, working and episodic memory, and processing speed (p&amp;lt;0.05), and general neurocognitive functioning (p=0.02). For quality of life (QoL), patients had worse self-reported anxiety and social participation (p=0.03). CONCLUSIONS On this prospective study, pediatric patients had significant disruption in several RSNs after PBRT, notably disrupting the interplay between SN and DMN known to be critical in neurocognitive control. Patients also had impaired neurocognition and QoL, warranting further investigation for mitigation.

Altered cortical alpha modulations and connectivity in complex regional pain syndrome.

Mini-Review: Cathodal tDCS over the right prefrontal cortex and inhibitory control: Pinpointing an electrode montage to disrupt a domain-general system.

Arterial stiffness, measured using pulse-wave velocity (PWV), is linked to an increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia, yet the underlying structural brain mechanisms remain unclear. This study examined whether PWV is linked to cortical thickness of the prefrontal cortex (PFC), a region essential for cognitive functioning. 124 older adults aged > 50years with new-onset cognitive concerns without history of stroke or dementia underwent carotid-femoral PWV, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, and neuropsychological assessment. Cortical thickness of the medial, lateral and total prefrontal cortex was estimated using FastSurfer v2.4.0. Higher PWV was significantly correlated with reduced thickness of the total PFC (r = -.290, pFDR = .014), particularly of the left hemisphere (r = -.338, pFDR = .008). Significant associations were also found for the left medial PFC (r = -.238, pFDR = .014) and all lateral regions (left: r = -.338, pFDR = .002; right: r = -.287, pFDR = .009; total: r = -.394, pFDR < .001). Associations with the total, lateral, and left medial PFC remained significant after adjusting for age, sex, and traditional cardiovascular factors. Both increased PWV and decreased lateral PFC thickness were associated with poorer executive function, though no mediating role of thePFC was observed. This study is the first to demonstrate that PWV is associated with reduced cortical thickness of the PFC in older adults, independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors. The findings highlight arterial stiffening as a potential modifiable risk factor of neurodegenerative and structural brain changes in ageing populations.

Neocortical circuits consist of multiple neuronal cell types, each likely playing distinct roles in flexible behavior. However, studies of decision-making have often overlooked these cell types, limiting our understanding of their specific contributions to local circuit functions. To address this, we simultaneously recorded neuronal activity from the frontal eye field (FEF), lateral PFC, and lateral intraparietal area (LIP) in a macaque monkey performing a visuomotor decision-making task. We used extracellular spike waveforms to reliably identify two functional classes of neurons: broad-spiking (BS) putative pyramidal cells and narrow-spiking (NS) putative interneurons. These cell types exhibited distinct response dynamics and choice-related information encoding across cortical regions. NS neurons in LIP and PFC showed higher choice-related activity and contributed to early encoding of decisions, whereas in FEF, NS neurons demonstrated dynamic encoding patterns, with BS neurons exhibiting significantly more stable encoding. Our findings reveal that choice information is represented differently across cell types and cortical regions, with NS neurons favoring early population coding in PFC and LIP and BS neurons exhibiting more static encoding in FEF. This heterogeneous coding strategy suggests that decision-related dynamics in the frontoparietal network are shaped by interactions between these distinct neuronal populations. The results provide new insights into cortical circuit dynamics and cell-type-specific contributions to decision-making.

Sharing personal life stories fosters close relationships and enhances mental wellbeing. When recalling negative experiences, individuals often engage in counterfactual reconstruction-imagining how events could have unfolded differently (eg "If only…"). This study used fNIRS hyperscanning to examine how different storytelling modes influence interpersonal neural synchronization (INS). Dyads (n = 114) took turns speaking and listening while recounting negative experiences either factually (Real-Memory retelling, RM) or counterfactually (Counterfactual Reconstruction, CF). Participants were assigned to a no-feedback (monologue) or feedback (interactive dialogue) condition. In the no-feedback group, RM elicited stronger INS than CF between the speaker's right dlPFC (dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex) and the listener's left dlPFC/FPC (frontopolar cortex)-regions involved in executive control-whereas CF elicited stronger INS than RM from the speaker's left temporal parietal junction (TPJ) (mentalizing) to the listener's left dlPFC. In the feedback group, CF elicited weaker INS than RM from the speaker's left TPJ to the listener's left dlPFC. Additionally, INS during CF was positively correlated with the emotional empathy scores of the more empathic partner in each dyad. These results suggest that INS patterns reflect distinct cognitive and social demands of factual vs. counterfactual storytelling and are modulated by empathy. We propose that such neural alignment underpins a shared workspace supporting interpersonal communication.