Cognitive Neuroscience Research Research Articles

From Objects to Unified Minds

The involvement of top-down processes in perception and cognition is widely acknowledged by now. In fields of research from predictions to inhibition, and from attentional guidance to affect, a great deal has already been charted. Integrating this newer understanding with accumulated findings from the past has made it clear that human experience is determined by a combination of both bottom-up and top-down processes. It has been proposed that the ongoing balance between their relative contribution affects a person’s entire state of mind, an overarching framework that encompasses the breadth of mental activity. According to this proposal, state of mind, in which multiple facets of mind are clumped together functionally and dynamically, orients us to the optimal state for the given circumstances. These ideas are examined here by connecting a broad array of domains in which the balance between top-down and bottom-up processes is apparent. These domains range from object recognition to contextual associations, from pattern of thought to tolerance for uncertainty, and from the default-mode network to mood. From this synthesis emerge numerous hypotheses, implications, and directions for future research in cognitive psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience.

THE EXPLORATORY DIMENSION OF FMRI EXPERIMENTS

Driven by an appreciation of the field’s early stage of development, I apply the concept of exploratory experimentation, originally put forward in the late 90s philosophy of biology, to current research in cognitive neuroscience. I concentrate on functional magnetic resonance imaging and how this wide-spread technique is used, from experimental design to data analysis. I claim that, although subject to certain significant modifications with respect to the concept’s original rendering, the exploratory character of neuroimaging experiments can be appreciated considering their goals, centered on the stabilization of experimental systems for phenomenological description, and the relevance of their methodological facet. Although I do not claim that there is a specific kind of experiment that one can single out as definitely exploratory, exploration can be seen as a general trait imbuing fMRI-based experimentation.

Reframing social categorization as latent structure learning for understanding political behaviour.

Affiliating with political parties, voting and building coalitions all contribute to the functioning of our political systems. One core component of this is social categorization-being able to recognize others as fellow in-group members or members of the out-group. Without this capacity, we would be unable to coordinate with in-group members or avoid out-group members. Past research in social psychology and cognitive neuroscience examining social categorization has suggested that one way to identify in-group members may be to directly compute the similarity between oneself and the target (dyadic similarity). This model, however, does not account for the fact that the group membership brought to bear is context-dependent. This review argues that a more comprehensive understanding of how we build representations of social categories (and the subsequent impact on our behaviours) must first expand our conceptualization of social categorization beyond simple dyadic similarity. Furthermore, a generalizable account of social categorization must also provide domain-general, quantitative predictions for us to test hypotheses about social categorization. Here, we introduce an alternative model-one in which we infer latent groups of people through latent structure learning. We examine experimental evidence for this account and discuss potential implications for understanding the political mind. This article is part of the theme issue 'The political brain: neurocognitive and computational mechanisms'.

Helicobacter suis and Helicobacter pylori infection in a colony of research macaques: characterization and clinical correlates.

Introduction. Helicobacter suis (Helicobacter heilmannii type 1) commonly infects nonhuman primates but its clinical importance is in question.Aim. To characterize H. suis infection in a colony of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) used in cognitive neuroscience research.Hypothesis/Gap Statement. Inquiries into the nature of Helicobacter suis in nonhuman primates are required to further define the organism's virulence and the experimental animal's gastric microbiome.Methodology. Animals with and without clinical signs of vomiting and abdominal pain (n=5 and n=16, respectively) were evaluated by histology, culture, PCR amplification and sequencing, fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and serology. Three of the five animals with clinical signs, an index case and two others, were evaluated before and after antimicrobial therapy.Results. The index animal had endoscopically visible ulcers and multifocal, moderate, chronic lymphoplasmacytic gastritis with intraglandular and luminal spiral bacteria. Antimicrobial therapy in the index animal achieved histologic improvement, elimination of endoscopically visible ulcers, and evident eradication but clinical signs persisted. In the other treated animals, gastritis scores were not consistently altered, gastric bacteria persisted, but vomiting and abdominal discomfort abated.Nineteen of 21 animals were PCR positive for H. suis and five animals were also PCR positive for H. pylori. Organisms were detected by FISH in 17 of 21 animals: 16S rRNA sequences of two of these were shown to be H. suis. Mild to moderate lymphoplasmacytic gastritis was seen in antrum, body and cardia, with antral gastritis more likely to be moderate than that of the body.Conclusion. No clear association between the bacterial numbers of Helicobacter spp. and the degree of inflammation was observed. H. suis is prevalent in this colony of Macaca mulatta but its clinical importance remains unclear. This study corroborates many of the findings in earlier studies of H. suis infection in macaques but also identifies at least one animal in which gastritis and endoscopically visible gastric ulcers were strongly associated with H. suis infection. In this study, serology was an inadequate biomarker for endoscopic evaluation in diagnosis of H. suis infection.

The effect of repetition priming on implicit recognition memory as measured by Fast Periodic Visual Stimulation and EEG

IntroductionThe development of rapid and reliable neural measures of memory is an important goal of cognitive neuroscience research and clinical practice. Fast Periodic Visual Stimulation (FPVS) is a recently developed electroencephalography (EEG) method that involves presenting a mix of novel and previously-learnt stimuli at a fast rate. Recent work has shown that implicit recognition memory can be measured using FPVS, however the role of repetition priming remains unclear. Here, we attempted to separate out the effects of recognition memory and repetition priming by manipulating the degree of repetition of the stimuli to be remembered. MethodTwenty-two participants with a mean age of 20.8 (±4.3) yrs. completed an FPVS-oddball paradigm with a varying number of repetitions of the oddball stimuli, ranging from very high repetition to no repetition. In addition to the EEG task, participants completed a behavioural recognition task and visual memory subtests from the Wechsler Memory Scale – 4th edition (WMS-IV). ResultsAn oddball memory response was observed in all four experimental conditions (very high repetition to no repetition) compared to the control condition (no oddball stimuli). The oddball memory response was largest in the very high repetition condition and smaller, but still significant, in conditions with less/no oddball repetition. Behavioural recognition performance was at ceiling, suggesting that all images were encoded successfully. There was no correlation with either behavioural memory performance or WMS-IV scores, suggesting the FPVS-oddball paradigm captures different memory processes than behavioural measures. ConclusionRepetition priming significantly modulates the FPVS recognition memory response, however recognition is still detectable even in the total absence of repetition priming. The FPVS-oddball paradigm could potentially be developed into an objective and easy-to-administer memory assessment tool.

Cognitive neuroscience research of language development: the future path and layout

<p indent=0mm>Language is unique to the human brain. Unraveling language brain development is one of the major missions of developmental cognitive neuroscience. In recent decades, significant research progress has been made in language development, reading and brain development, age effect of second language learning, genetic factors of language development. China has also made remarkable progress, especially in Chinese reading acquisition and the cognitive-neural mechanism of reading disorders. Future research may not only examine language brain development with innovative techniques but also shift paradigms to understand how the language brain develops as a self-organized system and how it is related to cognitive, emotional, and social development. By integrating genes, environment, brain, and behavior, the large-scale imaging genetic cohort study may help to transform research on language brain development. In order to advance research on language brain development in China, more efforts shall be invested in developing and adapting standardized neuropsychological instruments with reliability and validity. There is an urgent need to support sustainable capacity building and conduct research on first-class language brain development with the cutting-edge brain imaging techniques. Large-scale prospective cohort studies may well prompt original discoveries led by real needs of improving language development, disorder identification and treatment. With data of high quality being accumulated and shared properly, more innovations will be expected to better understand the brain and language development. Translational research should be given priority to provide solid support for better instructional, clinical practices, and policymaking. To meet the great challenges in scientific research and the translation, individual research interest based exploration and well-designed team collaborative research shall be combined and balanced.

Neuroscience and the Model Penal Code's Mens Rea Categories

This Essay addresses recent research and commentary regarding the potential contributions of cognitive neuroscience to law. For the first time, cognitive neuroscience methods have been brought to bear on the Model Penal Code’s (MPC’s) culpable–mental state categories through a neuroimaging study seeking to identify the neural correlates of knowledge and recklessness. Subsequently, this study has been presented as a paradigm for utilizing cognitive neuroscience to answer important legal questions. However, the original experiment appears to suffer serious experimental-design and conceptual limitations, belying subsequent advocacy for the legal utility of cognitive neuroscience. This Essay methodically details these limitations and argues that the original study does not seem to have actually elicited knowledge or recklessness in subjects or, even if it did, did not elicit them in discrete enough fashion to permit identification of the mental states’ neural correlates. The Essay also contends, more broadly, that cognitive neuroscience appears inapt for investigating the propriety of the MPC’s mens rea delineations since these are articulated in purely psychological-behavioral terms: mental states are the only requisites. Only psychological-behavioral manifestations provide base evidence of mental states’ existences. And psychological-behavioral research, not cognitive neuroscience, is the most direct way to investigate the practical, moral, and legal appropriateness of the MPC’s mental states by illuminating how individuals experience them, identify them in others, or employ them to dispense blame and punishment. Ultimately, recent cognitive neuroscience research does not appear to reveal anything of legal significance regarding the MPC. And, more broadly and contrary to recent assertions, cognitive neuroscience has substantial limitations when it comes to producing legally relevant information. Going forward, psychological-behavioral research should be given primacy in cognitive science investigations of MPC concepts. Cognitive neuroscience studies, on the other hand, should be treated with exceptional skepticism.

Hallucinations on demand: the utility of experimentally induced phenomena in hallucination research.

Despite the desire to delve deeper into hallucinations of all types, methodological obstacles have frustrated development of more rigorous quantitative experimental techniques, thereby hampering research progress. Here, we discuss these obstacles and, with reference to visual phenomena, argue that experimentally induced phenomena (e.g. hallucinations induced by flickering light and classical conditioning) can bring hallucinations within reach of more objective behavioural and neural measurement. Expanding the scope of hallucination research raises questions about which phenomena qualify as hallucinations, and how to identify phenomena suitable for use as laboratory models of hallucination. Due to the ambiguity inherent in current hallucination definitions, we suggest that the utility of phenomena for use as laboratory hallucination models should be represented on a continuous spectrum, where suitability varies with the degree to which external sensory information constrains conscious experience. We suggest that existing strategies that group pathological hallucinations into meaningful subtypes based on hallucination characteristics (including phenomenology, disorder and neural activity) can guide extrapolation from hallucination models to other hallucinatory phenomena. Using a spectrum of phenomena to guide scientific hallucination research should help unite the historically separate fields of psychophysics, cognitive neuroscience and clinical research to better understand and treat hallucinations, and inform models of consciousness. This article is part of the theme issue 'Offline perception: voluntary and spontaneous perceptual experiences without matching external stimulation'.

Epistemic Irrationality in the Bayesian Brain

AbstractA large body of research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience draws on Bayesian statistics to model information processing within the brain. Many theorists have noted that this research...

Human Cognitive Neuroscience as It Is Taught.

Cognitive neuroscience increasingly relies on complex data analysis methods. Researchers in this field come from highly diverse scientific backgrounds, such as psychology, engineering, and medicine. This poses challenges with respect to acquisition of appropriate scientific computing and data analysis skills, as well as communication among researchers with different knowledge and skills sets. Are researchers in cognitive neuroscience adequately equipped to address these challenges? Here, we present evidence from an online survey of methods skills. Respondents (n = 307) mainly comprised students and post-doctoral researchers working in the cognitive neurosciences. Multiple choice questions addressed a variety of basic and fundamental aspects of neuroimaging data analysis, such as signal analysis, linear algebra, and statistics. We analyzed performance with respect to the following factors: undergraduate degree (grouped into Psychology, Methods, and Biology), current researcher status (undergraduate student, PhD student, and post-doctoral researcher), gender, and self-rated expertise levels. Overall accuracy was 72%. Not surprisingly, the Methods group performed best (87%), followed by Biology (73%) and Psychology (66%). Accuracy increased from undergraduate (59%) to PhD (74%) level, but not from PhD to post-doctoral (74%) level. The difference in performance for the Methods vs. non-methods (Psychology/Biology) groups was especially striking for questions related to signal analysis and linear algebra, two areas particularly relevant to neuroimaging research. Self-rated methods expertise was not strongly predictive of performance. The majority of respondents (93%) indicated they would like to receive at least some additional training on the topics covered in this survey. In conclusion, methods skills among junior researchers in cognitive neuroscience can be improved, researchers are aware of this, and there is strong demand for more skills-oriented training opportunities. We hope that this survey will provide an empirical basis for the development of bespoke skills-oriented training programs in cognitive neuroscience institutions. We will provide practical suggestions on how to achieve this.

Effectiveness of theta and gamma electroacupuncture for post-stroke patients on working memory and electrophysiology: study protocol for a double-center, randomized, patient- and assessor-blinded, sham-controlled, parallel, clinical trial

BackgroundPractitioners of complementary and alternative medicine have suggested that electroacupuncture (EA) could improve post-stroke cognitive impairment, based on the clinical evidence. This study protocol is aimed at showing the effectiveness of theta and gamma EA for post-stroke patients on working memory (WM) and electrophysiology.MethodsAfter assessing their eligibility, 66 patients with stroke will be enrolled from two Chinese medicine hospitals and randomly divided into theta frequency EA group, gamma frequency EA group, and sham-EA group according to the ratio of 1:1:1. All patients will receive 20 sessions of EA procedures for 4 weeks. Patients in three groups will receive EA at two same acupoints in the head: Baihui (GV20) and Shenting (GV24). The frequency of the three groups of EA is set as follows: 6 Hz (theta-EA group), 40 Hz (gamma-EA group), and no current through the electrodes (sham EA). Patients and assessors will be blinded throughout the entire study. The primary outcome is the performance accuracy of 1-back task which is a frequently used measure of WM in cognitive neuroscience research contexts. Secondary outcome measures will include the response time of 1-back task, the Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test, Trail Making Test, Loewenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment Scale, modified Barthel Index, and electroencephalogram (EEG) signals during 1-back tasks. A blinding index will be assessed. Data will be statistically analyzed by one-way ANOVA, at 5% of significance level.DiscussionWe expect this double-center, randomized, patient- and assessor-blinded, sham-controlled, parallel, clinical trial to explore the effectiveness of theta and gamma EA therapy, compared with sham EA, for post-stroke WM.Trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR2000031995. Registered on 17 April 2020.

Cognitive neuroscience applied to law. A neurolaw introduction

Legal reasoning, from the decision of United Chambers of Supreme Court, through the legal assistance activity carried out by a lawyer, to the purchase of an object on Amazon by a common citizen (which integrates a contractual constraint), contains in itself assessments of opportunity and moral evaluation, problem solving, decision making and, in general, a cognitive activation very wide ranging. Thanks to the multidisciplinary vocation of neuroscience, in particular focused at the cognitive field in legal practice, the aim of the research in cognitive neuroscience applied to law is to help to bridge the lack of in-depth analysis in the decision-making processes that the main players of the law, such as judges and lawyers, are informed. And all this, taking into account the ethical issues that occur above all in the comparative analysis of neuroscience-law interaction.

Zooming In and Out on One's Life: Autobiographical Representations at Multiple Time Scales.

The ability to decouple from the present environment and explore other times is a central feature of the human mind. Research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience has shown that the personal past and future is represented at multiple timescales and levels of resolution, from broad lifetime periods that span years to short-time slices of experience that span seconds. Here, I review this evidence and propose a theoretical framework for understanding mental time travel as the capacity to flexibly navigate hierarchical layers of autobiographical representations. On this view, past and future thoughts rely on two main systems-event simulation and autobiographical knowledge-that allow us to represent experiential contents that are decoupled from sensory input and to place these on a personal timeline scaffolded from conceptual knowledge of the content and structure of our life. The neural basis of this cognitive architecture is discussed, emphasizing the possible role of the medial pFC in integrating layers of autobiographical representations in the service of mental time travel.

Analysis of time-frequency characteristics and coherence of local field potentials during working memory task of rats after high-frequency repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation(rTMS) is a painless and non-invasive method for stimulation and modulation in the field of cognitive neuroscience research and clinical neurological regulation. In this paper, adult Wistar rats were divided into the rTMS group and control group randomly. Rats in the rTMS group were stimulated with 5 Hz rTMS for 14 days, while the rats in the control group did not accept any stimulation. Then, the behavior and local field potentials (LFPs) were recorded synchronously when the rats perform a working memory (WM) task with T-maze. Finally, the time-frequency distribution and coherence characteristics of the LFPs signal in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) during working memory task were analyzed. The results showed that the rats in the rTMS group needed less training days to reach the task correction criterion than the control group (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the rTMS group has higher energy (P < 0.01) in θ band (4~12 Hz) and γ band (30~80 Hz). The coherence between the channel pairs decreases as the spatial distance of the channel pairs increases, and the rTMS group exhibits a higher coherence than the control group (P < 0.01). It is concluded that 5 Hz rTMS can improve the excitability of rat prefrontal cortical neurons to a certain extent, and has a positive effect on the working memory ability of normal rats. The results of this paper may provide important theoretical support for further research on the mechanism of action of rTMS on WM.

Editorial: Biographical Memoirs, Volume 69

Editorial: Biographical Memoirs, Volume 69

Shaky scaffolding: Age differences in cerebellar activation revealed through activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis.

Cognitive neuroscience research has provided foundational insights into aging, but has focused primarily on the cerebral cortex. However, the cerebellum is subject to the effects of aging. Given the importance of this structure in the performance of motor and cognitive tasks, cerebellar differences stand to provide critical insights into age differences in behavior. However, our understanding of cerebellar functional activation in aging is limited. Thus, we completed a meta‐analysis of neuroimaging studies across task domains. Unlike in the cortex where an increase in bilateral activation is seen during cognitive task performance with advanced age, there is less overlap in cerebellar activation across tasks in older adults (OAs) relative to young. Conversely, we see an increase in activation overlap in OAs during motor tasks. We propose that this is due to inputs for comparator processing in the context of control theory (cortical and spinal) that may be differentially impacted in aging. These findings advance our understanding of the aging mind and brain.

加齢の認知神経科学研究の最前線

加齢の認知神経科学研究の最前線

A Call for Greater Attention to Culture in the Study of Brain and Development

Despite growing research on neurobiological development, little attention has been paid to cultural and ethnic variation in neurodevelopmental processes. We present an overview of the current state of developmental cognitive neuroscience with respect to its attention to cultural issues. Analyses based on 80 publications represented in five recent meta-analyses related to adolescent developmental neuroscience show that 99% of the publications used samples in Western countries. Only 22% of studies provided a detailed description of participants’ racial/ethnic background, and only 18% provided for socioeconomic status. Results reveal a trend in developmental cognitive neuroscience research: The body of research is derived not only mostly from Western samples but also from participants whose race/ethnicity is unknown. To achieve a holistic perspective on brain development in different cultural contexts, we propose and highlight an emerging interdisciplinary approach—developmental cultural neuroscience—the intersection of developmental psychology, cultural psychology, and cognitive neuroscience. Developmental cultural neuroscience aims to elucidate cultural similarities and differences in neural processing across the life span. We call attention to the importance of incorporating culture into the empirical investigation of neurodevelopment.

An Integrative Approach to Relational Psychoanalysis

ABSTRACT Recent research in cognitive neuroscience, as well as in therapeutic approaches such as Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, offer ways of empowering psychoanalytic therapy within the framework of contemporary psychoanalysis’s basic principles. A clinical vignette illustrating an effective application of psychotherapy integration is presented. In order to benefit from importing these outside insights and methods, some analysts will need to overcome singlemindedness and relax elitist notions of the superiority of their staunch approach. As the hegemony of psychoanalysis continues to decline, an integrative strategy of this sort can vitalize psychoanalysis and ensure its legacy while also helping nonanalytic therapists realize the ways their approaches intersect with and can benefit from ours.

Towards a neurocognitive approach to dance movement therapy for mental health: A systematic review.

Dance movement therapy (DMT) has become an increasingly recognized and used treatment, though primarily used to target psychological and physical well-being in individuals with physical, medical or neurological illnesses. To contribute to the relative lack of literature within the field of DMT for clinical mental health disorders, using a narrative synthesis, we review the scope of recent, controlled studies of DMT in samples with different psychiatric disorders including depression, schizophrenia, autism and somatoform disorder. A systematic search of electronic databases (PubMed, Science Direct, World of Science and Clinicaltrials.gov) was conducted to identify studies examining the effects of DMT in psychiatric populations. Fifteen studies were eligible for inclusion. After reviewing the principal results of the studies, we highlight strengths and weaknesses of this treatment approach and examine the potential efficacy of using bodily movements as a tool to reduce symptoms. We conclude by placing DMT within the context of contemporary cognitive neuroscience research, drawing out implications of such an orientation for future research and discussing potential mechanisms by which DMT might reduce psychiatric symptoms. DMT has clear potential as a treatment for a range of conditions and symptoms, and thus, further research on its utility is warranted.