Modern Neuroscience Research Articles

The Influence of Neurosciences on Understanding the Bodily Conditioning of Cognitive Processes: a Socio-Anthropological Aspect

The study presents a conceptual analysis of the main approaches to the study of the human brain and consciousness from the standpoint of modern domestic and foreign neuroscience. Relevant interpretations of such problematic issues and concepts as “the boundary of the human body”, “embodied knowledge”, “general artificial intelligence”, “self”, etc. From the standpoint of a body-oriented approach, the problem of co-evolution of the body, consciousness, technology and social environment is considered. The idea of the body as an artifact is updated in the context of technological change in human nature, which entails the elimination of the living human body. On the example of the Homeric epic, it is shown that attempts to overcome vulnerability demonstrate one of the fundamental human needs. The realization of the need to expand and push the boundaries of the body in the anthropotechnological environment is presented in the form of a cyborg. It is suggested that, in terms of content, the idea of the “embodied mind”, as well as the project of creating a Hybrid reality and pan-communication, stem from the immanent human need for bodily involvement in the surrounding world. The features of the creation of Artificial Intelligence and Artificial General Intelligence at the present stage are revealed. The expediency of studying the results of neuroscientific comprehension of the organization of mental processes, first of all, in the field of visualization of brain processes and the mapping method, is noted. The main modern projects for the study of the brain, as well as the most effective methods for obtaining data on brain structures, are considered. The actual results of the research are described in such areas of neuroscience as: the study of mirror neurons and their systems; “reading the brain”, the study of neural correlates of consciousness. The results of studies of representatives of domestic neuroscience are presented. The human “I” is considered as a unique structure of the Ego-system of the brain (“self”). In conclusion, a conclusion is made about the significant influence of modern neuroscience on understanding the features of the functioning of the human brain, consciousness and cognitive processes; the effectiveness of applying the body-oriented approach to comprehending the integrity of “body-consciousness-technologies-social environment” is revealed.

Primary and secondary process mentation: Two modes of acting and thinking from Freud to modern neurosciences

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to return to Freud’s original descriptions of the primary and secondary processes in the light of modern neurosciences. In his Project for a Scientific Psychology, Freud draws the axes of the architecture of a mental apparatus: on a horizontal plane, the primary process transfers the excitation by impinging stimuli over a sequence of analogous states towards their discharge; thus, the primary process is essentially characterized by its associative tendency. On a vertical plane, the secondary process opposes the primary bottom-up pressure by a top-down inhibition with its origins in the purposive idea: the secondary process is essentially characterized by its inhibitory interventions. Freud later proposed that the primary and secondary process are seeking for perceptual, respectively thought identity. These different elements are coherent with the dynamics of the ventral and dorsal brain pathways respectively. Moreover, the dorsal pathway has an inhibitory influence upon the ventral pathway, much like the secondary has upon the primary. This influence is exerted thanks to what Freud called the “indications of reality.” We propose to equate these indications with the efference copies in modern neurosciences since they proceed from the same physiology and have the same function, besides originating from the same Helmholtzian source. Finally, even if both primary and secondary processes serve the death drive through the pleasure and the reality principle respectively, only the secondary process, requiring the bearing of an accumulation of excitations, also serves the life drive.

Taboo Violation and Charming Initiation, as Expressed by Some Romanian Legends and Incantations Addressed to the Fairies

Within the context of charmings, as it has been recorded among Romanians, the article aims to disclose the meaning of the theme of fairies’ taboo violation as a precondition necesary to gain sacred knowledge. In this regard, various certain incantations addressed to the fairies are examined, along with legends and third person accounts that underline the role played by these supernatural entities as numinous agents for initiation to the `secret` register of knowledge through a special form of communication, which in modern neuroscience terminology might be referred to as an ‚altered state of consciouness’, but which, in the emic terms of magic medicine is described as a disease, namely beeing taken by the fairies. In concordance with the idea of mutual exchanges between humans and the numinous, the one who accept the fairies’ authority and pay the price of being tormented by them, gain the gift of therapeutic and divinatory abilities.

Structural networking of the developing brain: from maturation to neurosurgical implications

Modern neuroscience agrees that neurological processing emerges from the multimodal interaction among multiple cortical and subcortical neuronal hubs, connected at short and long distance by white matter, to form a largely integrated and dynamic network, called the brain “connectome.” The final architecture of these circuits results from a complex, continuous, and highly protracted development process of several axonal pathways that constitute the anatomical substrate of neuronal interactions. Awareness of the network organization of the central nervous system is crucial not only to understand the basis of children’s neurological development, but also it may be of special interest to improve the quality of neurosurgical treatments of many pediatric diseases. Although there are a flourishing number of neuroimaging studies of the connectome, a comprehensive vision linking this research to neurosurgical practice is still lacking in the current pediatric literature. The goal of this review is to contribute to bridging this gap. In the first part, we summarize the main current knowledge concerning brain network maturation and its involvement in different aspects of normal neurocognitive development as well as in the pathophysiology of specific diseases. The final section is devoted to identifying possible implications of this knowledge in the neurosurgical field, especially in epilepsy and tumor surgery, and to discuss promising perspectives for future investigations.

Hemispheric lateralization of language processing: insights from network-based symptom mapping and patient subgroups.

The hemispheric laterality of language processing has become a hot topic in modern neuroscience. Although most previous studies have reported left-lateralized language processing, other studies found it to be bilateral. A previous neurocomputational model has proposed a unified framework to explain that the above discrepancy might be from healthy and patient individuals. This model posits an initial symmetry but imbalanced capacity in language processing for healthy individuals, with this imbalance contributing to language recovery disparities following different hemispheric injuries. The present study investigated this model by analyzing the lateralization patterns of language subnetworks across multiple attributes with a group of 99 patients (compared to nonlanguage processing) and examining the lateralization patterns of language subnetworks in subgroups with damage to different hemispheres. Subnetworks were identified using a whole-brain network-based lesion-symptom mapping method, and the lateralization index was quantitatively measured. We found that all the subnetworks in language processing were left-lateralized, while subnetworks in nonlanguage processing had different lateralization patterns. Moreover, diverse hemisphere-injury subgroups exhibited distinct language recovery effects. These findings provide robust support for the proposed neurocomputational model of language processing.

Cortical synaptic basis of consciousness.

Consciousness is one of final questions for humans to tackle in neuroscience. Due to a lack of understanding of basic brain networks and mechanisms of functions, our knowledge of consciousness mainly stays at a theoretical level. Recent studies using brain imaging in humans and modern neuroscience techniques in animal studies reveal the basic brain network for consciousness. The projection from the thalamus to different cortical regions forms a network of activities to maintain consciousness in humans and animals. These feedback and feedforward circuits maintain consciousness even in certain brain injury conditions. Pterions and ion channels that contribute to these circuit neural activities are targets for drugs and manipulations that affect consciousness such as anesthetic agents. Synaptic plasticity that trains synapses during learning and information recall modified the circuits and contributes to a high level of consciousness in a certain population.

Predictive coding I: Introduction

AbstractPredictive coding – sometimes also known as ‘predictive processing’, ‘free energy minimisation’, or ‘prediction error minimisation’ – claims to offer a complete, unified theory of cognition that stretches all the way from cellular biology to phenomenology. However, the exact content of the view, and how it might achieve its ambitions, is not clear. This series of articles examines predictive coding and attempts to identify its key commitments and justification. The present article begins by focusing on possible confounds with predictive coding: claims that are often identified with predictive coding, but which are not predictive coding. These include the idea that the brain employs an efficient scheme for encoding its incoming sensory signals; that perceptual experience is shaped by prior beliefs; that cognition involves minimisation of prediction error; that the brain is a probabilistic inference engine; and that the brain learns and employs a generative model of the world. These ideas have garnered widespread support in modern cognitive neuroscience, but it is important not to conflate them with predictive coding.

NeuroActivityToolkit-Toolbox for Quantitative Analysis of Miniature Fluorescent Microscopy Data.

The visualization of neuronal activity in vivo is an urgent task in modern neuroscience. It allows neurobiologists to obtain a large amount of information about neuronal network architecture and connections between neurons. The miniscope technique might help to determine changes that occurred in the network due to external stimuli and various conditions: processes of learning, stress, epileptic seizures and neurodegenerative diseases. Furthermore, using the miniscope method, functional changes in the early stages of such disorders could be detected. The miniscope has become a modern approach for recording hundreds to thousands of neurons simultaneously in a certain brain area of a freely behaving animal. Nevertheless, the analysis and interpretation of the large recorded data is still a nontrivial task. There are a few well-working algorithms for miniscope data preprocessing and calcium trace extraction. However, software for further high-level quantitative analysis of neuronal calcium signals is not publicly available. NeuroActivityToolkit is a toolbox that provides diverse statistical metrics calculation, reflecting the neuronal network properties such as the number of neuronal activations per minute, amount of simultaneously co-active neurons, etc. In addition, the module for analyzing neuronal pairwise correlations is implemented. Moreover, one can visualize and characterize neuronal network states and detect changes in 2D coordinates using PCA analysis. This toolbox, which is deposited in a public software repository, is accompanied by a detailed tutorial and is highly valuable for the statistical interpretation of miniscope data in a wide range of experimental tasks.

GLIOCYTES OF THE BRAIN: CYTOLOGICAL AND FUNCTIONAL PECULIARITIES (LECTURE)

The lecture is devoted to modern data on the types and functions of glial cells (gliocytes), which belong to the auxiliary cells of nervous tissue. A detailed description of the following types of gliocytes is given: astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, microglia and ependymal cells. Previously, it was believed that the cause of the emergence and development of diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system is the dysfunction of synapses and neurons. However, the analysis of the scientific literature of recent years allows us to state that a special role in the development of pathological processes of the central nervous system is assigned to the glial system of the brain. The change of this scientific paradigm took place gradually and at this time there is no doubt or active opposition among specialists – neuroscientists of the whole world. It is known that gliocytes are needed not only to support the normal activity of neurons, they provide nutrition and protection of nerve cells against the impact of harmful pathogenic factors. The lecture offers a modern view of the function and role of different types of gliocytes in the nervous system under normal and pathological conditions of the brain. The described research data prove the importance of glial cells in coordinating the functions of neurons and open up opportunities for further research in the field of developing therapeutic (targeted) approaches. Understanding the role of gliocytes in neuropathological processes can help in the development of new treatments for various diseases of the central nervous system. This is important, given the large number of neuroprotective, or rather neuroprotective pharmacological agents and at the same time the absence of specialized pro-astrocytic, pro-oligoglial, pro-ependymar and specific medicinal substances to inhibit the function of microgliocytes. This significantly impedes the practical aspects of the treatment of various neurotraumatic, cerebrovascular and, especially, age-related neurodegenerative diseases of the brain. It should be emphasized the significant contribution of Ukrainian neurocytomorphologists to the development of the foundations of solving this problem, among which are: O.H. Chernyakhivsʹkyy, M.I. Zazybin, A.K. Kolomiytsev, Yu.B. Chaykovsʹkyy, et al. Thus, the research of glial cells and their functions is one of the directions of modern neurobiology and neuroscience, which has great potential for further development of neurology and improvement of treatment of patients with brain diseases.

Hypothalamic MCH Neurons: From Feeding to Cognitive Control.

Modern neuroscience is progressively elucidating that the classic view positing distinct brain regions responsible for survival, emotion, and cognitive functions is outdated. The hypothalamus demonstrates the interdependence of these roles, as it is traditionally known for fundamental survival functions like energy and electrolyte balance, but is now recognized to also play a crucial role in emotional and cognitive processes. This review focuses on lateral hypothalamic melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) neurons, producing the neuropeptide MCH-a relatively understudied neuronal population with integrative functions related to homeostatic regulation and motivated behaviors, with widespread inputs and outputs throughout the entire central nervous system. Here, we review early findings and recent literature outlining their role in the regulation of energy balance, sleep, learning, and memory processes.

A Three-Aspect Model for Consciousness

A model for consciousness is proposed based on Nisargadatta Maharaj ‘s interpretation of Jnana Yoga/Advaita Vedanta. Concepts from modern physics, neuroscience, and information science are integrated into that framework. A novel understanding of information in the context of a system with consciousness is proposed. Information generated in the neurophysiology of a brain’s unique “wiring structure” is hypothesized to become dissociated from the neurophysiology and transformed into a universal format within a nonphysical domain in which consciousness is assumed to occur. Sharing features with Bohm’s Implicate Order, the nonphysical domain has nonlocal properties which support instant correlation of information throughout. The energy of a carrier is not needed to transport information in the nonphysical domain. This allows for low-energy neurological systems to transfer information associated with thought across large distances, as observed in telepathic psi phenomena. An experiment to test for the existence of a nonphysical dimension that supports instant telepathic information transfer is discussed. It is argued that three is the minimum number of aspects necessary to model a practical framework for consciousness.

Imagery: A Review

Modern neuroscience has shown that relaxing images cause the brain to release high levels of serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin, which reduce anxiety, block cortisol, and increase neuroplasticity. Modern medicine positions human beings as passive, helpless, in need of external aid and in need of repair. However, man should be seen as a being with physical and spiritual power that can repair himself far beyond this passive role. The common point of all the studies examined in this study is that imagery, which is an internal skill, can be used as a low-cost and effective mental therapy tool. Some studies have described imagery as a more effective method than pharmacological interventions. It is seen that the application of imagery is widely used in many diseases such as psychotic disorders, cancer, asthma, migraine, hypertension, immune system diseases, mental disorders such as anxiety and depression. It is seen that the imagery technique, which is thought to work as a defense mechanism and drive satisfaction according to psychoanalytic perspective, is widely used in fields such as mindfulness-focused therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and dialectic therapy. This review, first of all, mentions the use of imagery and imagery in history, and then describes current research on imagery applications on different diseases. In addition, it was written to emphasize the lack of research on the mechanisms by which this personal and internal power, which is thought to affect the efficiency of the treatment, regardless of which physical or psychological help is sought, and to encourage new research.

Transcultural Adaptation and Psychometric Validation of the Spanish Version of the Pain Attitudes and Beliefs Scale for Physiotherapists.

Low back pain (LBP) is one of the main musculoskeletal pain conditions, and it affects 23-28% of the global population. Strong evidence supports the absence of a direct relationship between the intensity of pain and tissue damage, with psychosocial factors also playing a crucial role. In this context, the Pain Attitudes and Beliefs Scale for Physiotherapists (PABS-PT) is a useful tool for evaluating physiotherapists' treatment orientations and beliefs regarding the management of low back pain (LBP). It helps identify practitioners who may benefit from additional education in modern pain neuroscience. However, there is not a Spanish validation of this scale for physiotherapists. Thus, the aims of this study were to translate and culturally adapt the Pain Attitudes and Beliefs Scale for Physiotherapists (PABS-PT) into Spanish and to evaluate its psychometric properties. This validation study used three convenience samples of physiotherapists (PTs) (n = 22 for the pilot study, n = 529 for the validity study and n = 53 for assessing the instrument's responsiveness). The process of translating and adapting the PABS-PT into Spanish followed international guidelines and produced a satisfactory pre-final version of the questionnaire. Factor analysis confirmed the two-factor structure of the original version, with the biomedical (BM) factor explaining 39.4% of the variance and the biopsychosocial (BPS) factor explaining 13.8% of the variance. Cronbach's alpha values were excellent for the BM factor (0.86) and good for the BPS factor (0.77), indicating good internal consistency. Test-retest reliability was excellent for both factors, with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) of 0.84 for BM and 0.82 for BPS. The standard error of measurement (SEM) was acceptable for both factors (3.9 points for BM and 2.4 points for BPS). Concurrent validity was moderate and in the expected direction and had significant correlations with the Health Care Providers' Pain and Impairment Relationship Scale (HC-PAIRS) and Revised Neurophysiology Pain Questionnaire (R-NPQ). Sensitivity to change was demonstrated by significant improvements in both factors after an educational intervention, with medium-to-large effect sizes. The PABS-PT also showed good discriminative ability, as it was able to distinguish between physiotherapists with and without pain education. Cut-off values for the BM and BPS factors were determined. In conclusion, the translated and adapted Spanish version of the PABS-PT demonstrated good psychometric properties and can be reliably used to assess the attitudes and beliefs of Spanish-speaking physiotherapists regarding LBP. The questionnaire is recommended for use in clinical and educational research in the Spanish language context.

A Truncated Receptor TrkB Isoform (TrkB.T1) in Mechanisms of Genetically Determined Depressive-like Behavior of Mice.

Depression is a mental disorder that significantly reduces quality of life, and the discovery of new drug targets is an urgent problem for modern neuroscience. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptors have been found to participate in mechanisms of depression and antidepressant drugs' action. In this study, we focused on a less-studied truncated isoform of receptor TrkB: TrkB.T1. Initially, we noticed that the level of TrkB.T1 is low in the hippocampus of Antidepressant-Sensitive Cataleptics (ASC) mice, which are characterized by genetically determined depressive-like behavior in contrast to "normal" C57BL/6J mice. Next, overexpression of TrkB.T1 receptor in hippocampal neurons of ACS mice was induced to clarify the role of this receptor in mechanisms of depressive-like behavior. TrkB.T1 overexpression lowered BDNF protein concentration in the hippocampus. On the behavioral level, TrkB.T1 overexpression severely decreased aggression and enhanced social behavior. Additionally, this excess of receptor TrkB.T1 slightly promoted anxiety and depressive-like behavioral traits without affecting learning and memory. Our results show that this TrkB isoform participates in the control of aggression, anxiety, and depressive-like behavior and in the regulation of BDNF system functioning in ASC mice (genetically predisposed to depressive-like behavior). Considering our findings, we believe that hippocampal receptor TrkB.T1 can be a drug target for the correction of behavioral pathologies.

Acquisition and processing methods of whole-brain layer-fMRI VASO and BOLD: The Kenshu dataset

Cortical depth-dependent functional magnetic resonance image (fMRI), also known as layer-fMRI, has the potential to capture directional neural information flow of brain computations within and across large-scale cortical brain networks. For example, layer-fMRI can differentiate feedforward and feedback cortical input in hierarchically organized brain networks. Recent advancements in 3D-echo-planar imaging (EPI) sampling approaches and MR-contrast generation strategies have allowed proof-of-principle studies showing that layer-fMRI can provide sufficient data quality for capturing laminar changes in functional connectivity. These studies have, however, not shown how reliable the signal is and how repeatable the respective results are. It is especially unclear whether whole-brain layer-fMRI functional connectivity protocols are widely applicable across common neuroscience-driven analysis approaches. Moreover, there are no established preprocessing fMRI methods that are optimized to work for whole-brain layer-fMRI datasets. In this work, we aimed to serve the field of layer-fMRI and build tools for future routine whole-brain layer-fMRI in application-based neuroscience research. We have developed publicly available sequences, acquisition protocols, and processing pipelines for whole-brain layer-fMRI. These protocols are validated across 60 hours of scanning in nine participants. Specifically, we identified and exploited methodological advancements for maximizing tSNR efficiency and test-retest reliability. We are sharing an extensive multi-modal whole-brain layer-fMRI dataset (20 scan hours of movie watching in a single participant) for benchmarking future method developments: The Kenshu dataset. With this dataset, we are also exemplifying the usefulness of whole-brain layer-fMRI in conjunction with commonly applied analysis approaches in modern cognitive neuroscience fMRI studies. This includes connectivity analyses, representational similarity matrix estimations, general linear model analyses, principal component analysis clustering, and so on. We believe that this work paves the road for future routine measurements of directional functional connectivity across the entire brain.

The Case for Conscious Experience Being in Individual Neurons

The idea that individual nerve cells might have conscious experiences has been around ever since cells were identified in the seventeenth century, but in the era of modern neuroscience the case for individual human neuronal experience has received little attention. A series of arguments will be presented suggesting that all the human conscious experiences that we talk about are events in individual neurons, not global to the brain or organism. We conclude that cellular consciousness is the only plausible way to explain ‘our’ experiences within current physics and biology, however implausible it might at first seem. This implies that our experiences are multiple in space as well as time, consistent with the neuroscience watchword that there is ‘no single place where everything comes together in the brain’. The central argument is that events of experience must involve rich integration of information and individual neurons are the only places in brains where integration of information occurs. Any more global ‘binding’ is neither required nor physically possible. The detailed nature of events of integration of signals in a neuron’s dendrites remains uncertain but recent developments provide some candidates.

Advanced neurobiological tools to interrogate metabolism.

Engineered neurobiological tools for the manipulation of cellular activity, such as chemogenetics and optogenetics, have become a cornerstone of modern neuroscience research. These tools are invaluable for the interrogation of the central control of metabolism as they provide a direct means to establish a causal relationship between brain activity and biological processes at the cellular, tissue and organismal levels. The utility of these methods has grown substantially due to advances in cellular-targeting strategies, alongside improvements in the resolution and potency of such tools. Furthermore, the potential to recapitulate endogenous cellular signalling has been enriched by insights into the molecular signatures and activity dynamics of discrete brain cell types. However, each modulatory tool has a specific set of advantages and limitations; therefore, tool selection and suitability are of paramount importance to optimally interrogate the cellular and circuit-based underpinnings of metabolic outcomes within the organism. Here, we describe the key principles and uses of engineered neurobiological tools. We also highlight inspiring applications and outline critical considerations to be made when using these tools within the field of metabolism research. We contend that the appropriate application of these biotechnological advances will enable the delineation of the central circuitry regulating systemic metabolism with unprecedented potential.

The Case for Conscious Experience Being in Individual Neurons

The idea that individual nerve cells might have conscious experiences has been around ever since cells were identified in the seventeenth century, but in the era of modern neuroscience the case for individual human neuronal experience has received little attention. A series of arguments will be presented suggesting that all the human conscious experiences that we talk about are events in individual neurons, not global to the brain or organism. We conclude that cellular consciousness is the only plausible way to explain ‘our’ experiences within current physics and biology, however implausible it might at first seem. This implies that our experiences are multiple in space as well as time, consistent with the neuroscience watchword that there is ‘no single place where everything comes together in the brain’. The central argument is that events of experience must involve rich integration of information and individual neurons are the only places in brains where integration of information occurs. Any more global ‘binding’ is neither required nor physically possible. The detailed nature of events of integration of signals in a neuron’s dendrites remains uncertain but recent developments provide some candidates.

Maurice Ravel: The evolution of his disease in the light of modern neuroscience

Maurice Ravel: The evolution of his disease in the light of modern neuroscience

A Model for EEG-Based Emotion Recognition: CNN-Bi-LSTM with Attention Mechanism

Emotion analysis is the key technology in human–computer emotional interaction and has gradually become a research hotspot in the field of artificial intelligence. The key problems of emotion analysis based on EEG are feature extraction and classifier design. The existing methods of emotion analysis mainly use machine learning and rely on manually extracted features. As an end-to-end method, deep learning can automatically extract EEG features and classify them. However, most of the deep learning models of emotion recognition based on EEG still need manual screening and data pre-processing, and the accuracy and convenience are not high enough. Therefore, this paper proposes a CNN-Bi-LSTM-Attention model to automatically extract the features and classify emotions based on EEG signals. The original EEG data are used as input, a CNN and a Bi-LSTM network are used for feature extraction and fusion, and then the electrode channel weights are balanced through the attention mechanism layer. Finally, the EEG signals are classified to different kinds of emotions. An emotion classification experiment based on EEG is conducted on the SEED dataset to evaluate the performance of the proposed model. The experimental results show that the method proposed in this paper can effectively classify EEG emotions. The method was assessed on two distinctive classification tasks, one with three and one with four target classes. The average ten-fold cross-validation classification accuracy of this method is 99.55% and 99.79%, respectively, corresponding to three and four classification tasks, which is significantly better than the other methods. It can be concluded that our method is superior to the existing methods in emotion recognition, which can be widely used in many fields, including modern neuroscience, psychology, neural engineering, and computer science as well.