Neurological Basis Research Articles

Applications of Gandhian concepts in psychology and allied disciplines

The paper highlights the significance of Gandhian concepts in research in psychology and its related fields. To illustrate the application of Gandhian ideology, a test of non-violence is described here with its psychometric properties. Further, two unexplored research issues having a bearing on clinical psychology and psychiatry have been delineated. Firstly, a call for addressing the mental health problems of non-violent protesters numbering over one billion spread all over the world has been made. And secondly, there is a need for understanding the neurological basis of non-violent form of behavior, for example, the role of oxytocin, to increase the legitimacy of non-violence as adaptive behavior.

An fMRI study of nonverbally gifted reading disabled adults: has deficit compensation effected gifted potential?

Neuroscience has advanced our understanding of the neurological basis of reading disability (RD). Yet, no functional imaging work has been reported on the twice-exceptional dyslexic: individuals exhibiting both non-verbal-giftedness and RD. We compared groups of reading-disabled (RD), non-verbally-gifted (G), non-verbally-gifted-RD (GRD), and control (C) adults on validated word-rhyming and spatial visualization fMRI tasks, and standardized psychometric tests, to ascertain if the neurological functioning of GRD subjects was similar to that of typical RD or G subjects, or perhaps some unique RD subtype. Results demonstrate that GRD adults resemble non-gifted RD adults in performance on paper-and-pencil reading, math and spatial tests, and in patterns of functional activation during rhyming and spatial processing. Data are consistent with what may be a shared etiology of RD and giftedness in GRD individuals that yields a lifespan interaction with reading compensation effects, modifying how their adult brain processes text and spatial stimuli.

Audiovisual integration: an introduction to behavioral and neuro-cognitive methods

Audiovisual integration: an introduction to behavioral and neuro-cognitive methods

Media and Book Reviews: Neurobiology Of The Parental Brain, First Edition, e-BOOK

At first glance, Neurobiology of the Parental Brain , edited by Robert S. Bridges, seems to be a textbook from which many students of neurology—ranging from medical students on up to clinical neurologists—could benefit. A quick look on the back cover reveals a range of topics that the book covers, including postpartum depression, maternal anxiety, and imaging the parental brain. After that first glance at the back cover, a closer look at the text reveals that in practice, this book may have a much narrower audience than originally anticipated. Of the book's 34 chapters, 23 focus virtually exclusively on animal research. Another chapter includes a mathematical model for the roles of oxytocin and dopamine on mating-induced secretion of the hormone prolactin. For the neurologist interested in delving deeper into the broad topic of the neurobiology of being a parent, these chapters may offer many insights: the text includes information on parenting in the prairie vole, the family unit of marmoset monkeys, the effects of hormones on rat mothers and babies, and the differential equations used to model the effects of dopamine and oxytocin on prolactin rhythm. However, for those looking to simply gain some basic knowledge on the neurologic basis of being a (human) mother or father, these 2 dozen chapters will likely be judged as too specialized to offer high-yield information, and will likely be skimmed or skipped entirely.

Self-esteem and higher-order factors of personality: A reply to Simsek

Simsek (2012) argued that earlier research by Erdle and colleagues on the relationship between self-esteem and higher-order factors of personality used “poor statistical methodology”, that “their results may be untenable”, and that the results of his “high-level data analysis” are “the first to show the importance of self-esteem in the differentiation between stability and plasticity”. In this rejoinder, it is argued that the statistical methodology used by Erdle and colleagues demonstrated the effect of controlling self-esteem on the relationship between stability and plasticity earlier and more accurately than that used by Simsek (2012). Moreover, it is argued that self-esteem might not be a biasing factor, but instead might be a theoretically expected substantive correlate of the Big Five and of higher-order factors of personality. Finally, it is argued that a hierarchical structure of personality, with a general factor of personality (GFP) at the apex, might have a neurological basis in the activity of the prefrontal cortices.

The Language of Colour: Neurology and the Ineffable

It is often claimed, following Joseph Levine, that there is an ‘explanatory gap’ between ordinary physical facts and the way we perceive things, so that it is impossible to explain, among other things, why colours actually look the way they do. C.L. Hardin, by contrast, argues that there are sufficient asymmetries between colours to traverse this gap. This paper argues that the terms we use to characterize colours, such as ‘warm’ and ‘cool’, are not well understood, and that we need to understand the neurological basis for such associations if we are even to understand what is fully meant by saying, for example, that red is a warm colour. This paper also speculates on how Hardin’s strategy can be generalized.

Neurological Basis of AMP-Dependent Thermoregulation and its Relevance to Central and Peripheral Hyperthermia

Therapeutic hypothermia is of relevance to treatment of increased body temperature and brain injury, but drugs inducing selective, rapid, and safe cooling in humans are not available. Here, we show that injections of adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP), an endogenous nucleotide, promptly triggers hypothermia in mice by directly activating adenosine A1 receptors (A1R) within the preoptic area (POA) of the hypothalamus. Inhibition of constitutive degradation of brain extracellular AMP by targeting ecto 5'-nucleotidase, also suffices to prompt hypothermia in rodents. Accordingly, sensitivity of mice and rats to the hypothermic effect of AMP is inversely related to their hypothalamic 5'-nucleotidase activity. Single-cell electrophysiological recording indicates that AMP reduces spontaneous firing activity of temperature-insensitive neurons of the mouse POA, thereby retuning the hypothalamic thermoregulatory set point towards lower temperatures. Adenosine 5'-monophosphate also suppresses prostaglandin E2-induced fever in mice, having no effects on peripheral hyperthermia triggered by dioxymetamphetamine (ecstasy) overdose. Together, data disclose the role of AMP, 5'-nucleotidase, and A1R in hypothalamic thermoregulation, as well and their therapeutic relevance to treatment of febrile illness.

Professional Competences of Music Therapists Working in Post-stroke Rehabilitation

The aim of this qualitative study is to gain more insight into the skills and knowledge that music therapists feel they need in order to work successfully with people who have had an acute stroke. For this purpose, 6 music therapists were interviewed about their own particular specialist education. Another interview topic for them was to recount their subjective experiences of post-stroke rehabilitation work in hospitals and health care units, during the course of two projects: the Music Listening Project (=MUKU), which specifically used music listening during acute stroke rehabilitation; and the Active Music Therapy Project (=MT-STROKE), which used more active music therapy techniques. The interviews pointed to three key categories regarding the factors that are seen to affect clinical thinking: the first hinges on knowledge concerning the neurological basis of strokes; the second on patient interaction itself; and the third on the physiological and emotional aspects of music therapy. The results provide a better understanding of the tacit knowledge possessed by music therapists who work within Stroke Rehabilitation.

Dangerous passion: Othello syndrome and dementia

Jealousy is a complex emotion that most people have experienced at some time in life; pathological jealousy refers primarily to an irrational state. Othello syndrome is a psychotic disorder characterized by delusion of infidelity or jealousy; it often occurs in the context of medical, psychiatric or neurological disorders. At least 30% of cases in the literature show a neurological basis for their delusion of infidelity, although its biological basis is not fully understood. The purpose of this paper is to examine the phenomenon of pathological jealousy in people with dementia. We searched the electronic databases for original research and review articles on Othello syndrome in demented patients using the search terms 'Othello syndrome, morbid jealousy, pathological jealousy, delusional disorders, dementia'. Convictions about the partner's infidelities may form the content of psychopathological phenomena, such as delusions. Delusional jealousy is a frequent problem in dementia. Coexistent delusions and hallucinations are frequent. The violence in demented patients suffering from this syndrome is well documented and forensic aspects are highlighted. There are no systematic researches about the clinical characteristics of Othello syndrome in persons suffering from dementia, but only case reports and it is not possible to differentiate or compare differences of delusional jealousy across the various type of dementia or distinguish the syndrome in demented patients from the syndrome in other psychiatric disorders. Frontal lobe dysfunction may be called into question in delineating the cause of the delusional jealousy seen in Othello syndrome.

A New Issue in the Study of the Spatial Metaphor of Time: The Left-and-Right Representation of Time

Traditionally,studies of the spatial metaphor of time were focused on the psychological reality of the sagittal (front/back) and vertical (up/down) representation of time by using the priming paradigm; in recent years,however,researchers have used the sequence method,the judgment method,the comparison method and the cueing paradigm to examine and confirm the use of the transverse (left/right) axis to represent time in the mind. Since the conventional theory failed to explain the left-and-right representation of time,researchers have tended to adopt the embodiment theory,which argues that the reading and writing habit is the reason for such representation. A deeper understanding of the relationship between the spatial axes and temporal representation relies on a unified research paradigm,an integrated theoretical framework and a new line of research into the neurological basis of the spatial metaphor of time.

Classification of types of stuttering symptoms based on brain activity.

Among the non-fluencies seen in speech, some are more typical (MT) of stuttering speakers, whereas others are less typical (LT) and are common to both stuttering and fluent speakers. No neuroimaging work has evaluated the neural basis for grouping these symptom types. Another long-debated issue is which type (LT, MT) whole-word repetitions (WWR) should be placed in. In this study, a sentence completion task was performed by twenty stuttering patients who were scanned using an event-related design. This task elicited stuttering in these patients. Each stuttered trial from each patient was sorted into the MT or LT types with WWR put aside. Pattern classification was employed to train a patient-specific single trial model to automatically classify each trial as MT or LT using the corresponding fMRI data. This model was then validated by using test data that were independent of the training data. In a subsequent analysis, the classification model, just established, was used to determine which type the WWR should be placed in. The results showed that the LT and the MT could be separated with high accuracy based on their brain activity. The brain regions that made most contribution to the separation of the types were: the left inferior frontal cortex and bilateral precuneus, both of which showed higher activity in the MT than in the LT; and the left putamen and right cerebellum which showed the opposite activity pattern. The results also showed that the brain activity for WWR was more similar to that of the LT and fluent speech than to that of the MT. These findings provide a neurological basis for separating the MT and the LT types, and support the widely-used MT/LT symptom grouping scheme. In addition, WWR play a similar role as the LT, and thus should be placed in the LT type.

The epileptic singers of belle époque Paris

In late 19th century Paris, people with epilepsy were treated alongside those with hysteria in the now famous Salpêtrière Hospital, where both conditions were deemed to have a neurological basis....

Failures of metacognition and lack of insight in neuropsychiatric disorders

Lack of insight or unawareness of illness are the hallmarks of many psychiatric disorders, especially schizophrenia (SCZ) and other psychoses and could be conceived of as a failure in metacognition. Research in this area in the mental health field h as burgeoned with the development and widespread use of standard assessment instruments and the mapping out of the clinical and neuropsychological correlates of insight and its loss. There has been a growing appreciation of the multi-faceted nature of the concept and of the different 'objects' of insight, such as the general awareness that one is ill, to more specific metacognitive awareness of individual symptoms, impairments and performance. This in turn has led to the notion that insight may show modularity and may fractionate across different domains and disorders, supported by work that directly compares metacognition of memory deficits and illness awareness in patients with SCZ, Alzheimer's disease and brain injury. The focus of this paper will be on the varieties of metacognitive failure in psychiatry, particularly the psychoses. We explore cognitive models based on self-reflectiveness and their possible social and neurological bases, including data from structural and functional MRI. The medial frontal cortex appears to play an important role in self-appraisal in health and disease.

Cortical Deafness: A Case of Selective Auditory Agnosia, Amusia and Word Deafness (P07.177)

Objective: To understand the neurological basis in the cortical appraisal of auditory stimuli. Background This paper presents a sixty-four year old ex-soldier with word deafness, auditory agnosia for environmental sounds and selective amusia. Studies demonstrate perceptual channels for amplitude-modulated frequencies in the auditory cortex. Design/Methods: The imaging demonstrated a left-sided middle cerebral artery infarct affecting predominantly the temporal lobes on top of a three year old right-sided temporal infarct. A functional MRI tractography was performed. The acoustic immittance testing and auditory evoked brainstem responses were normal in both ears. Acoustic reflex decay was not attempted, because acoustic reflexes were elevated. Consistent with occupation, audiometry found bilateral moderate-severe sensorineural hearing loss for high frequencies. Twenty environmental and music sound tracks were presented followed with a brief questionnaire after each track. Five subjects (M(age)=64) with normal hearing were also asked to complete the same task. Results: The patient was impaired for the environmental sounds (t=9.654, p= Conclusions: Collectively, the deficit pattern represents a selective agnosia and low frequency deafness. The sensorineural hearing loss describes the incomplete comprehension of high frequency environmental sounds. Frequency appraisals of auditory stimuli occur peripherally and centrally with hierarchical organization of auditory stimuli, cortically. Verbal and non-verbal stimuli are initially processed by the cortex, filtering a complex pattern of frequencies. Characterizing deafness as being verbal or non-verbal is inadequate. Thus, areas in the cortex must attribute quantitative, and not only the qualitative properties of auditory stimuli. Disclosure: Dr. Hasan has nothing to disclose. Dr. Mohammed has nothing to disclose. Dr. Hodgson has nothing to disclose. Dr. Silva has nothing to disclose.

The Addictive Brain: All Roads Lead to Dopamine

This article will touch on theories, scientific research and conjecture about the evolutionary genetics of the brain function and the impact of genetic variants called polymorphisms on drug-seeking behavior. It will cover the neurological basis of pleasure-seeking and addiction, which affects multitudes in a global atmosphere where people are seeking “pleasure states.”

Neuroscience perspectives on culture and intersubjectivity and their implications for technology enhanced learning: a literature review

The present literature review departs from the discovery of mirror neurons to consider some Neuroscience studies which appear particularly relevant for research and practice in Technology Enhanced Learning TEL. Two tables in the article summarise the key findings of some neuroscience studies and their implications for TEL. The writing highlights two main broad research areas that a closer collaboration between neuroscience and TEL may fruitfully address: first, the relevance and the reciprocal influence between mirror neurons and the sensorimotor experiences that TEL leverages and second, the neurological bases that may explain variations in the use TEL, by people belonging to different cultures. With reference to the second area of investigation, this paper offers an operational definition of culture, as the set of priming processes and tools. This definition is derived from research practices recently adopted in Cultural Neuroscience and it seems to offer an interesting perspective to conduct further neuroscience studies on TEL.

Application of Token Economy in the Management of Chronic Schizophrenia: A Case Report

A case of chronic schizophrenia with “inability to walk” in the absence of a neurological basis is presented. Patient responded to antipsychotic medications in terms of improvement in the symptoms of schizophrenia but “inability to walk” persisted necessitating the introduction of graded tokens / incentives to the treatment regimen. The patient regained the use of his leg and sustained improvements in mental state at discharge. Voluntary ambulation was sustained for three months after discharge before patient was lost to follow-up. Token economy may be very useful in rehabilitation of chronic psychotic illness as this case illustrates. This treatment approach may be essential in a developing country like Nigeria where socio-economic deprivations may modify the presentation of chronic schizophrenia symptoms. Key Words : chronic schizophrenia, inability to walk, token economy.

Automated diagnoses of attention deficit hyperactive disorder using magnetic resonance imaging.

Successful automated diagnoses of attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) using imaging and functional biomarkers would have fundamental consequences on the public health impact of the disease. In this work, we show results on the predictability of ADHD using imaging biomarkers and discuss the scientific and diagnostic impacts of the research. We created a prediction model using the landmark ADHD 200 data set focusing on resting state functional connectivity (rs-fc) and structural brain imaging. We predicted ADHD status and subtype, obtained by behavioral examination, using imaging data, intelligence quotients and other covariates. The novel contributions of this manuscript include a thorough exploration of prediction and image feature extraction methodology on this form of data, including the use of singular value decompositions (SVDs), CUR decompositions, random forest, gradient boosting, bagging, voxel-based morphometry, and support vector machines as well as important insights into the value, and potentially lack thereof, of imaging biomarkers of disease. The key results include the CUR-based decomposition of the rs-fc-fMRI along with gradient boosting and the prediction algorithm based on a motor network parcellation and random forest algorithm. We conjecture that the CUR decomposition is largely diagnosing common population directions of head motion. Of note, a byproduct of this research is a potential automated method for detecting subtle in-scanner motion. The final prediction algorithm, a weighted combination of several algorithms, had an external test set specificity of 94% with sensitivity of 21%. The most promising imaging biomarker was a correlation graph from a motor network parcellation. In summary, we have undertaken a large-scale statistical exploratory prediction exercise on the unique ADHD 200 data set. The exercise produced several potential leads for future scientific exploration of the neurological basis of ADHD.

Neurogenetic Impairments of Brain Reward Circuitry Links to Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS): Potential Nutrigenomic Induced Dopaminergic Activation

Work from our laboratory in both in-patient and outpatient facilities utilizing the Comprehensive Analysis of Reported Drugs (CARD)(™) found a significant lack of compliance to prescribed treatment medications and a lack of abstinence from drugs of abuse during active recovery. This unpublished, ongoing research provides an impetus to develop accurate genetic diagnosis and holistic approaches that will safely activate brain reward circuitry in the mesolimbic dopamine system. This editorial focuses on the neurogenetics of brain reward systems with particular reference to genes related to dopaminergic function. The terminology "Reward Deficiency Syndrome" (RDS), used to describe behaviors found to have an association with gene-based hypodopaminergic function, is a useful concept to help expand our understanding of Substance Use Disorder (SUD), process addictions, and other obsessive, compulsive and impulsive behaviors. This editorial covers the neurological basis of pleasure and the role of natural and unnatural reward in motivating and reinforcing behaviors. Additionally, it briefly describes the concept of natural dopamine D2 receptor agonist therapy coupled with genetic testing of a panel of reward genes, the Genetic Addiction Risk Score (GARS). It serves as a spring-board for this combination of novel approaches to the prevention and treatment of RDS that was developed from fundamental genomic research. We encourage further required studies.

Comparative intralimb coordination in avian bipedal locomotion

Analyses of how intralimb coordination during locomotion varies within and across different taxa are necessary for understanding the morphological and neurological basis for locomotion in general. Previous findings suggest that intralimb proportions are the major source of kinematic variation that governs intralimb coordination across taxa. Also, independence of kinematics from habitat preference and phylogenetic position has been suggested for mammals. This leads to the hypothesis that among equally sized bird species exhibiting equal limb proportions, similar kinematics can be observed. To test this hypothesis, the bipedal locomotion of two distantly related ground-dwelling bird species (Eudromia elegans and Coturnix coturnix) and of a less terrestrial species (Corvus monedula) was investigated by means of a biplanar high-speed X-ray videographic analysis. Birds exhibited similar intralimb proportions and were filmed over a broad range of speed while moving on a treadmill. Joint and limb element angles, as well as pelvic rotations, were quantified. Regarding fore-aft motions of the limb joints and elements, a congruent pattern of intralimb coordination was observed among all experimental species. The sample of species suggests that this is largely independent of their habitat preference and systematic position and seems to be related to demands for coping with an irregular terrain with a minimum of necessary control. Hence, the initial hypothesis was confirmed. However, this congruence is not found when looking at medio-lateral limb motions and pelvic rotations, showing distinct differences between ground-dwellers (e.g. largely restricted to a parasagittal plane) and C. monedula (e.g. increased mobility of the hip joint).