Left Superior Temporal Cortex Research Articles

Childhood Book Availability Helps to Preserve Cognitive Function in Older Adults With Low Education: Results From the NEIGE Study.

It is well known that low educational attainment is associated with cognitive function decline in older age. Childhood book availability may help to preserve cognitive function in older adults with low education. The study objective was to examine the association between childhood book availability and cognitive function among older adults with low educational attainment, and to investigate the mediating effect of the volume of reading-related brain regions (e.g., superior temporal cortex). A cross-sectional study of community-dwelling older Japanese adults aged 65-84 years was conducted (n = 474). Cognitive function was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Childhood book availability was assessed using a retrospective questionnaire. Brain region volume was measured using magnetic resonance imaging. Multivariate regression modeling and structural equation modeling were used for analysis. Both high educational attainment and childhood book availability were independently associated with high MMSE score. Stratification of educational level showed that childhood book availability was positively associated with MMSE score among participants with low educational attainment (coefficient = 1.48, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.31 to 2.66), but not among those with moderate or high educational attainment (coefficient = -0.01, 95% CI: -1.44 to 1.42 and -1.21, 95% CI: -3.85 to 1.42, respectively). Among participants with low educational attainment, left superior temporal cortex volume mediated the association between childhood book availability and MMSE score. The availability of books in childhood helps to preserve cognitive function in older adults with low education via left superior temporal cortex volume. Further research is needed to replicate these findings.

Letter-speech sound integration in typical reading development during the first years of formal education.

This study investigated the neural basis of letter and speech sound (LS) integration in 53 typical readers (35 girls, all White) during the first 2 years of reading education (ages 7-9). Changes in both sensory (multisensory vs unisensory) and linguistic (congruent vs incongruent) aspects of LS integration were examined. The left superior temporal cortex and bilateral inferior frontal cortex showed increasing activation for multisensory over unisensory LS over time, driven by reduced activation to speech sounds. No changes were noted in the congruency effect. However, at age nine, heightened activation to incongruent over congruent LS pairs were observed, correlating with individual differences in reading development. This suggests that the incongruency effect evolves at varying rates depending on reading skills.

The role of the left ventral occipitotemporal cortex in speech processing-The influence of visual deprivation.

The role of the left ventral occipitotemporal cortex (vOT) in reading is well-established in both sighted and blind readers. Its role in speech processing remains only partially understood. Here, we test the involvement of the left vOT in phonological processing of spoken language in the blind (N = 50, age: 6.76-60.32) and in the sighted (N = 54, age: 6.79-59.83) by means of whole-brain and region-of-interest (including individually identified) fMRI analyses. We confirm that the left vOT is sensitive to phonological processing (shows greater involvement in rhyming compared to control spoken language task) in both blind and sighted participants. However, in the sighted, the activation was observed only during the rhyming task and in the speech-specific region of the left vOT, pointing to task and modality specificity. In contrast, in the blind group, the left vOT was active during speech processing irrespective of task and in both speech and reading-specific vOT regions. Only in the blind, the left vOT presented a higher degree of sensitivity to phonological processing than other language nodes in the left inferior frontal and superior temporal cortex. Our results suggest a changed development of the left vOT sensitivity to spoken language, resulting from visual deprivation.

Does texture analysis classify semantic dementia from Alzheimer’s disease better than volumetric analysis?

AbstractBackgroundTexture analysis may capture subtle changes in the gray matter more sensitively than volumetric analysis. We aimed to investigate the patterns of neurodegeneration in semantic dementia (SD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by comparing the temporal gray matter texture and volume between cognitively normal controls and older adults with SD and AD.MethodWe enrolled all participants from three national university hospitals in Korea. We obtained T1‐weighted magnetic resonance images and compared the gray matter texture and volume of regions of interest (ROIs) between the groups using analysis of variance with Bonferroni posthoc comparisons. We also developed models for classifying SD, AD and control groups using logistic regression analyses, and validated the models using receiver operator characteristics analysis.ResultCompared to the AD group, the SD group showed lower volumes in five ROIs (bilateral temporal poles, and the left inferior, middle, and superior temporal cortices) and higher texture in these five ROIs and two additional ROIs (right inferior temporal and left entorhinal cortices). The performances of both texture‐ and volume‐based models were good and comparable in classifying SD from NC (mean area under the curve [AUC] = 0.914 for texture; mean AUC = 0.894 for volume). However, only the texture‐based model achieved a good level of performance in classifying SD and AD (mean AUC = 0.775 for texture; mean AUC = 0.658 for volume).ConclusionTexture may be a useful neuroimaging marker for early detection of SD in older adults and its differentiation from AD.

Progressive Cerebrovascular Reactivity Reduction Occurs in Parkinson's Disease: A Longitudinal Study.

The change of microvascular function over the course of Parkinson's disease (PD) remains unclear. We aimed to ascertain regional cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) changes in the patients with PD at baseline (V0) and during a 2-year follow-up period (V1). We further investigated whether alterations in CVR were linked to cognitive decline and brain functional connectivity (FC). We recruited 90 PD patients and 51 matched healthy controls (HCs). PD patients underwent clinical evaluations, neuropsychological assessments, and magnetic resonance (MR) scanning at V0 and V1, whereas HCs completed neuropsychological assessments and MR at baseline. The analysis included evaluating CVR and FC maps derived from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and investigating CVR measurement reproducibility. Compared with HCs, CVR reduction in left inferior occipital gyrus and right superior temporal cortex at V0 persisted at V1, with larger clusters. Longitudinal reduction in CVR of the left posterior cingulate cortex correlated with decline in Trail Making Test B performance within PD patients. Reproducibility validation further confirmed these findings. In addition, the results also showed that there was a tendency for FC to be weakened from posterior to anterior with the progression of the disease. Microvascular dysfunction might be involved in disease progression, subsequently weaken brain FC, and partly contribute to executive function deficits in early PD. © 2023 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Similarities and differences in the neural correlates of letter and speech sound integration in blind and sighted readers

Learning letter and speech sound (LS) associations is a major step in reading acquisition common for all alphabetic scripts, including Braille used by blind readers. The left superior temporal cortex (STC) plays an important role in audiovisual LS integration in sighted people, but it is still unknown what neural mechanisms are responsible for audiotactile LS integration in blind individuals. Here, we investigated the similarities and differences between LS integration in blind Braille (N = 42, age range: 9–60 y.o.) and sighted print (N = 47, age range: 9–60 y.o.) readers who acquired reading using different sensory modalities. In both groups, the STC responded to both isolated letters and isolated speech sounds, showed enhanced activation when they were presented together, and distinguished between congruent and incongruent letter and speech sound pairs. However, the direction of the congruency effect was different between the groups. Sighted subjects showed higher activity for incongruent LS pairs in the bilateral STC, similarly to previously studied typical readers of transparent orthographies. In the blind, congruent pairs resulted in an increased response in the right STC. These differences may be related to more sequential processing of Braille as compared to print reading. At the same time, behavioral efficiency in LS discrimination decisions and the congruency effect were found to be related to age and reading skill only in sighted participants, suggesting potential differences in the developmental trajectories of LS integration between blind and sighted readers.

Altered Relationship between Functional Connectivity and Fiber-Bundle Structure in High-Functioning Male Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by abnormalities in structure and function of the brain. However, how ASD affects the relationship between fiber-bundle microstructures and functional connectivity (FC) remains unclear. Here, we analyzed structural and functional images of 26 high-functioning adult males with ASD, alongside 26 age-, gender-, and full-scale IQ-matched typically developing controls (TDCs) from the BNI dataset in the ABIDE database. We utilized fixel-based analysis to extract microstructural information from fiber tracts, which was then used to predict FC using a multilinear model. Our results revealed that the structure-function relationships in both ASD and TDC cohorts were strongly aligned in the primary cortex but decoupled in the high-order cortex, and the ASD patients exhibited reduced structure-function relationships throughout the cortex compared to the TDCs. Furthermore, we observed that the disrupted relationships in ASD were primarily driven by alterations in FC rather than fiber-bundle microstructures. The structure-function relationships in the left superior parietal cortex, right precentral and inferior temporal cortices, and bilateral insula could predict individual differences in clinical symptoms of ASD patients. These findings underscore the significance of altered relationships between fiber-bundle microstructures and FC in the etiology of ASD.

Posterior superior temporal cortex connectivity is related to social communication in toddlers

The second year of life is a time when social communication skills typically develop, but this growth may be slower in toddlers with language delay. In the current study, we examined how brain functional connectivity is related to social communication abilities in a sample of 12-24 month-old toddlers including those with typical development (TD) and those with language delays (LD). We used an a-priori, seed-based approach to identify regions forming a functional network with the left posterior superior temporal cortex (LpSTC), a region associated with language and social communication in older children and adults. Social communication and language abilities were assessed using the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales (CSBS) and Mullen Scales of Early Learning. We found a significant association between concurrent CSBS scores and functional connectivity between the LpSTC and the right posterior superior temporal cortex (RpSTC), with greater connectivity between these regions associated with better social communication abilities. However, functional connectivity was not related to rate of change or language outcomes at 36 months of age. These data suggest an early marker of low communication abilities may be decreased connectivity between the left and right pSTC. Future longitudinal studies should test whether this neurobiological feature is predictive of later social or communication impairments.

Individualized fMRI connectivity defines signatures of antidepressant and placebo responses in major depression.

Though sertraline is commonly prescribed in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), its superiority over placebo is only marginal. This is in part due to the neurobiological heterogeneity of the individuals. Characterizing individual-unique functional architecture of the brain may help better dissect the heterogeneity, thereby defining treatment-predictive signatures to guide personalized medication. In this study, we investigate whether individualized brain functional connectivity (FC) can define more predictable signatures of antidepressant and placebo treatment in MDD. The data used in the present work were collected by the Establishing Moderators and Biosignatures of Antidepressant Response in Clinical Care (EMBARC) study. Patients (N = 296) were randomly assigned to antidepressant sertraline or placebo double-blind treatment for 8 weeks. The whole-brain FC networks were constructed from pre-treatment resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Then, FC was individualized by removing the common components extracted from the raw baseline FC to train regression-based connectivity predictive models. With individualized FC features, the established prediction models successfully identified signatures that explained 22% variance for the sertraline group and 31% variance for the placebo group in predicting HAMD17 change. Compared with the raw FC-based models, the individualized FC-defined signatures significantly improved the prediction performance, as confirmed by cross-validation. For sertraline treatment, predictive FC metrics were predominantly located in the left middle temporal cortex and right insula. For placebo, predictive FC metrics were primarily located in the bilateral cingulate cortex and left superior temporal cortex. Our findings demonstrated that through the removal of common FC components, individualization of FC metrics enhanced the prediction performance compared to raw FC. Associated with previous MDD clinical studies, our identified predictive biomarkers provided new insights into the neuropathology of antidepressant and placebo treatment.

Neurological soft signs and structural network changes: a longitudinal analysis in first-episode schizophrenia

BackgroundNeurological soft signs (NSS) are often reported in patients with schizophrenia and may vary with psychopathological symptoms during the course of disease. Many cross-sectional neuroimaging studies have shown that NSS are associated with disturbed network connectivity in schizophrenia. However, it remains unclear how these associations change over time during the course of disorder.MethodsIn present study, 20 patients with first-episode schizophrenia and 20 controls underwent baseline structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan and at one-year follow-up. Structural network characteristics of patients and controls were analyzed using graph theoretical approach based on MRI data. NSS were assessed using the Heidelberg scale.ResultsAt baseline, patients demonstrated significant changes of the local network properties mainly involving regions of the cortical-subcortical-cerebellar circuits compared to healthy controls. For further analysis, the whole patient group was dichotomized into a NSS-persisting and NSS-decreasing subgroup. After one-year follow-up, the NSS-persisting subgroup showed decreased betweenness in right inferior opercular frontal cortex, left superior medial frontal cortex, left superior temporal cortex, right putamen and cerebellum vermis and increased betweenness in right lingual cortex. However, the NSS-decreasing subgroup exhibited only localized changes in right middle temporal cortex, right insula and right fusiform with decreased betweenness, and in left lingual cortex with increased betweenness.ConclusionsThese findings provide evidence for brain network reorganization subsequent to clinical disease manifestation in patients with first-episode schizophrenia, and support the hypothesis that persisting NSS refer to progressive brain network abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia. Therefore, NSS could help to establish a better prognosis in first-episode schizophrenia patients.

Textural and Volumetric Changes of the Temporal Lobes in Semantic Variant Primary Progressive Aphasia and Alzheimer's Disease.

Texture analysis may capture subtle changes in the gray matter more sensitively than volumetric analysis. We aimed to investigate the patterns of neurodegeneration in semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) by comparing the temporal gray matter texture and volume between cognitively normal controls and older adults with svPPA and AD. We enrolled all participants from three university hospitals in Korea. We obtained T1-weighted magnetic resonance images and compared the gray matter texture and volume of regions of interest (ROIs) between the groups using analysis of variance with Bonferroni posthoc comparisons. We also developed models for classifying svPPA, AD and control groups using logistic regression analyses, and validated the models using receiver operator characteristics analysis. Compared to the AD group, the svPPA group showed lower volumes in five ROIs (bilateral temporal poles, and the left inferior, middle, and superior temporal cortices) and higher texture in these five ROIs and two additional ROIs (right inferior temporal and left entorhinal cortices). The performances of both texture- and volume-based models were good and comparable in classifying svPPA from normal cognition (mean area under the curve [AUC] = 0.914 for texture; mean AUC = 0.894 for volume). However, only the texture-based model achieved a good level of performance in classifying svPPA and AD (mean AUC = 0.775 for texture; mean AUC = 0.658 for volume). Texture may be a useful neuroimaging marker for early detection of svPPA in older adults and its differentiation from AD.

Increased both cortical activation and functional connectivity after transcranial direct current stimulation in patients with post-stroke: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy study.

Previous studies have shown that cognitive impairment is common after stroke. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a promising tool for rehabilitating cognitive impairment. This study aimed to investigate the effects of tDCS on the rehabilitation of cognitive impairment in patients with stroke. Twenty-two mild-moderate post-stroke patients with cognitive impairments were treated with 14 tDCS sessions. A total of 14 healthy individuals were included in the control group. Cognitive function was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Cortical activation was assessed using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during the verbal fluency task (VFT). The cognitive function of patients with stroke, as assessed by the MMSE and MoCA scores, was lower than that of healthy individuals but improved after tDCS. The cortical activation of patients with stroke was lower than that of healthy individuals in the left superior temporal cortex (lSTC), right superior temporal cortex (rSTC), right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC), right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (rVLPFC), and left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (lVLPFC) cortical regions. Cortical activation increased in the lSTC cortex after tDCS. The functional connectivity (FC) between the cerebral hemispheres of patients with stroke was lower than that of healthy individuals but increased after tDCS. The cognitive and brain functions of patients with mild-to-moderate stroke were damaged but recovered to a degree after tDCS. Increased cortical activation and increased FC between the bilateral cerebral hemispheres measured by fNIRS are promising biomarkers to assess the effectiveness of tDCS in stroke.

영어 통사적 이동의 신경상관물:기능적 자기공명영상 연구

This paper investigated the neural processes of sentence comprehension, focusing on a particular syntactic operation of syntactic movement and utilizing a functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI). English constructions (i.e., wh-questions known to undergo syntactic movement) were presented to English native speakers in a visual comprehension task and compared with carefully matched control sentences. We found that wh-questions as compared to yes/no questions induced activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus(or Broca’s area), precentral gyrus, and posterior superior temporal cortex, consistent with a previous study utilizing a Hebrew auditory comprehension task. This finding suggests that the processing of syntactic movement includes a consistent set of brain regions, irrespective of task or language.

Neuroanatomical Correlates of Semantic Features of Narrative Speech in Semantic and Logopenic Variants of Primary Progressive Aphasia.

The semantic variant of a primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) is characterized by progressive disruption of semantic knowledge. This study aimed to compare the semantic features of words produced during a narrative speech in svPPA and the logopenic variant of PPA (lvPPA) and to explore their neuroanatomical correlates. Six patients with svPPA and sixteen with lvPPA underwent narrative speech tasks. For all the content words, a semantic depth index (SDI) was determined based on the taxonomic structure of a large lexical database. Study participants underwent an MRI examination. Cortical thickness measures were extracted according to the Desikan atlas. Correlations were computed between SDI and the thickness of cortical regions. Mean SDI was lower for svPPA than for lvPPA. Correlation analyses showed a positive association between the SDI and the cortical thickness of the bilateral temporal pole, parahippocampal and entorhinal cortices, and left middle and superior temporal cortices. Disruption of semantic knowledge observed in svPPA leads to the production of generic terms in narrative speech, and the SDI may be useful for quantifying the level of semantic impairment. The measure was associated with the cortical thickness of brain regions associated with semantic memory.

Three heads are better than one: cooperative learning brains wire together when a consensus is reached.

Theories of human learning converge on the view that individuals working together learn better than do those working independently. Little is known, however, about the neural mechanisms of learning through cooperation. We addressed this research gap by leveraging functional near-infrared spectroscopy to record the brain activity of triad members in a group simultaneously. Triads were instructed to analyze an ancient Chinese poem either cooperatively or independently. Four main findings emerged. First, we observed significant within-group neural synchronization (GNS) in the left superior temporal cortex, supramarginal gyrus, and postcentral gyrus during cooperative learning compared with independent learning. Second, the enhancement of GNS in triads was amplified when a consensus was reached (vs. elaboration or argument) during cooperative learning. Third, GNS was predictive of learning outcome at an early stage (156-170s after learning was initiated). Fourth, social factors such as social closeness (e.g. how much learners liked one other) were reflected in GNS and co-varied with learning engagement. These results provide neuroscientific support for Piaget's theory of cognitive development and favor the notion that successful learning through cooperation involves dynamic consensus-building, which is captured in neural patterns shared across learners in a group.

Neurofunctional basis underlying audiovisual integration of print and speech sound in Chinese children.

Effortless print-sound integration is essential to reading development, and the superior temporal cortex (STC) is the most critical brain region. However, to date, the conclusion is almost restricted to alphabetic orthographies. To examine the neural basis in non-alphabetic languages and its relationship with reading abilities, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging study in typically developing Chinese children. Two neuroimaging-based indicators of audiovisual processing-additive enhancement (higher activation in the congruent than the average activation of unimodal conditions) and neural integration (different activations between the congruent versus incongruent conditions)-were used to investigate character-sounds (opaque) and pinyin-sounds (transparent) processing. We found additive enhancement in bilateral STCs processing both character and pinyin stimulations. Moreover, the neural integrations in the left STC for the two scripts were strongly correlated. In terms of differentiation, first, areas beyond the STCs also showed additive enhancement in processing pinyin-sounds. Second, while the bilateral STCs, left inferior/middle frontal and parietal regions manifested a striking neural integration (incongruent > congruent) for character-sounds, no significant clusters were revealed for pinyin-sounds. Finally, the neural integration in the left middle frontal gyrus for characters was specifically associated with silent reading comprehension proficiency, indicating automatic semantic processing during implicit character-sound integration. In contrast, the neural integration in the left STC for pinyin was specifically associated with oral reading fluency that relies on grapho-phonological mapping. To summarize, this study revealed both script-universal and script-specific neurofunctional substrates of print-sound integration as well as their processing- and region-dependent associations with reading abilities in typical Chinese children.

Atypical Relationships Between Neurofunctional Features of Print-Sound Integration and Reading Abilities in Chinese Children With Dyslexia.

Conquering print-sound mappings (e.g., grapheme-phoneme correspondence rules) is vital for developing fluent reading skills. In neuroimaging research, this ability can be indexed by activation differences between audiovisual congruent against incongruent conditions in brain areas such as the left superior temporal cortex. In line with it, individuals with dyslexia have difficulty in tasks requiring print-sound processing, accompanied by a reduced neural integration. However, existing evidence is almost restricted to alphabetic languages. Whether and how multisensory processing of print and sound is impaired in Chinese dyslexia remains underexplored. In this study, we applied a passive audiovisual integration paradigm with functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the possible dysfunctions in processing character-sound (opaque; semantics can be automatically accessed) and pinyin-sound associations (transparent; no particular meaning can be confirmed) in Chinese dyslexic children. Unexpectedly, the dyslexic group did not show reduced neural integration compared with typically developing readers in either character or pinyin experiment. However, the results revealed atypical correlations between neural integration and different reading abilities in dyslexia. Specifically, while the neural integration in the left inferior frontal cortex in processing character-sound pairs correlated with silent reading comprehension in both children with and without dyslexia, it was associated with morphological awareness (semantic-related) in controls but with rapid naming (phonological-related) in dyslexics. This result indicates Chinese dyslexic children may not use the same grapho-semantic processing strategy as their typical peers do. As for pinyin-sound processing, while a stronger neural integration in the direction of “congruent > incongruent” in the left occipito-temporal cortex and bilateral superior temporal cortices was associated with better oral reading fluency in the control group, an opposite pattern was found in dyslexia. This finding may reflect dyslexia's dysfunctional recruitment of the regions in grapho-phonological processing, which further impedes character learning.

Prof K C Dube Poster Award

Background:Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) are one of the core features of schizophrenia. In approximately 25% of patients with schizophrenia, AVH are refractory to psychotropic drug treatment and can chronically persist. Superior temporal cortex is implicated in AVH. Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation (cTBS) can be one of the add on treatment for auditory hallucination in refractory cases. Accelerated cTBS protocols have the advantage of shorter application time and lower stimulation intensity. In addition use of robotized neuronavigation will improve the accuracy of coil placement and thus localization of the stimulation site.Aim:We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of accelerated cTBS over left superior temporal cortex (STC) in improvement of AVH in schizophrenia, using neuronavigation and robotic arm.Methods:40 patients of schizophrenia with AVH, were enrolled for this randomized, sham controlled, double-blind trial. Each participant in the active group received cTBS comprising of 900 pulses (bursts of 3 stimuli at 50 Hz repeated at 5 Hz frequency), twice a day for 5 days per week for 3 consecutive weeks. AVH were assessed with PSYRATS(AHRS), PANSS & CGI. Assessments were carried out at baseline,1st,3rd & 6th weeks.Results:The improvement in AVH in active group at 1st 3rd & 6th week was not statistically significant at 0.05 (p-value) as compared to sham group. Stimulation was well tolerated.Conclusion:Results suggest that accelerated robotized neuronavigated cTBS does not appear to have substantial potential in the treatment of auditory hallucinations and further research should investigate individualised MRI guided neuronavigation with higher sample size.

Resting-State Functional MRI Metrics in Patients With Chronic Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Their Association With Clinical Cognitive Performance.

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) accounts for more than 80% of people experiencing brain injuries. Symptoms of mTBI include short-term and long-term adverse clinical outcomes. In this study, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) was conducted to measure voxel-based indices including fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), and functional connectivity (FC) in patients suffering from chronic mTBI; 64 patients with chronic mTBI at least 3 months post injury and 40 healthy controls underwent rs-fMRI scanning. Partial correlation analysis controlling for age and gender was performed within mTBI cohort to explore the association between rs-fMRI metrics and neuropsychological scores. Compared with controls, chronic mTBI patients showed increased fALFF in the left middle occipital cortex (MOC), right middle temporal cortex (MTC), and right angular gyrus (AG), and increased ReHo in the left MOC and left posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). Enhanced FC was observed from left MOC to right precuneus; from right MTC to right superior temporal cortex (STC), right supramarginal, and left inferior parietal cortex (IPC); and from the seed located at right AG to left precuneus, left superior medial frontal cortex (SMFC), left MTC, left superior temporal cortex (STC), and left MOC. Furthermore, the correlation analysis revealed a significant correlation between neuropsychological scores and fALFF, ReHo, and seed-based FC measured from the regions with significant group differences. Our results demonstrated that alterations of low-frequency oscillations in chronic mTBI could be representative of disruption in emotional circuits, cognitive performance, and recovery in this cohort.

Neural responses to facial attractiveness in the judgments of moral goodness and moral beauty.

The judgments of moral goodness and moral beauty objectively refer to the perception and evaluation of moral traits, which are generally influenced by facial attractiveness. For centuries, people have equated beauty with the possession of positive qualities, but it is not clear whether the association between beauty and positive qualities exerts a similarly implicit influence on people's responses to moral goodness and moral beauty, how it affects those responses, and what is the neural basis for such an effect. The present study is the first to examine the neural responses to facial attractiveness in the judgments of moral goodness and moral beauty. We found that beautiful faces in both moral judgments activated the left ventral occipitotemporal cortices sensitive to the geometric configuration of the faces, demonstrating that both moral goodness and moral beauty required the automatic visual analysis of geometrical configuration of attractive faces. In addition, compared to beautiful faces during moral goodness judgment, beautiful faces during moral beauty judgment induced unique activity in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex and midline cortical structures involved in the emotional-valenced information about attractive faces. The opposite comparison elicited specific activity in the left superior temporal cortex and premotor area, which play a critical role in the recognition of facial identity. Our results demonstrated that the neural responses to facial attractiveness in the process of higher order moral decision-makings exhibit both task-general and task-specific characteristics. Our findings contribute to the understanding of the essence of the relationship between morality and aesthetics.