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Electroencephalography (EEG) is a widespread neurophysiological measure used to study cognition, emotion and their interaction. There is a strong history and a growing body of EEG research investigating positive affect (PA). In the current article, we focus on EEG components which are increasingly informing the science of PA. We review EEG frequency evidence from alpha-band (recorded over lateral prefrontal leads) and beta-band (over the motor and pre-motor cortex) as measures of approach motivation in PA. We also review evidence of the event-related potential called the Reward Positivity, and the frequency components underlying it in the context of reward processing and learning. These EEG measures have been highly informative of PA, however, they are but a few of the potential EEG measures informing the study of PA.

This research measures and compares the cortical activity at baseline and during light stimulation (LS) in patients with strabismus and amblyopia (SA) and healthy controls (HCs), to understand the differences in its functionality and propose LS as a potential brain stimulator. This observational, longitudinal, prospective study enrolled 17 SA patients and 17 HCs from Querétaro, México. Electroencephalography (EEG) and digital brain mapping (DBM) were used to identify changes in frequency, voltage, and brain coherence. A total of 68 DBM was analyzed for this purpose. Our results indicate that at baseline, patients with strabismus and amblyopia present: i) lower frequency of alpha-wave activity ($p=0.029$ ) with an abnormal distribution within hemispheres, ii) theta-wave with a predominance in the frontal lobes, which relates these visual conditions to neurodevelopmental disorders, iii) higher values of low voltage ($p

In recent years, mental practice (MP) using laterally inverted video of a subject's non-paralyzed upper limb to improve the vividness of presented motor imagery (MI) has been shown to be effective for improving the function of a paralyzed upper limb. However, no studies have yet assessed the activity of cortical regions engaged during MI task performance using inverse video presentations and neurophysiological indicators. This study sought to investigate changes in MI vividness and hemodynamic changes in the cerebral cortex during MI performance under the following three conditions in near-infrared spectroscopy: MI-only without inverse video presentation (MI-only), MI with action observation (AO) of an inverse video presentation of another person's hand (AO + MI (other hand)), and MI with AO of an inverse video presentation of a participant's own hand (AO + MI (own hand)). Participants included 66 healthy right-handed adults (41 men and 25 women; mean age: 26.3 ± 4.3 years). There were 23 patients in the MI-only group (mean age: 26.4 ± 4.1 years), 20 in the AO + MI (other hand) group (mean age: 25.9 ± 5.0 years), and 23 in the AO + MI (own hand) group (mean age: 26.9 ± 4.1 years). The MI task involved transferring 1 cm × 1 cm blocks from one plate to another, once per second, using chopsticks held in the non-dominant hand. Based on a visual analog scale (VAS), MI vividness was significantly higher in the AO + MI (own hand) group than in the MI-only group and the AO + MI (other hand) group. A main effect of condition was revealed in terms of MI vividness, as well as regions of interest (ROIs) in certain brain areas associated with motor processing. The data suggest that inverse video presentation of a person's own hand enhances the MI vividness and increases the activity of motor-related cortical areas during MI. This study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences (approval No. 18121303) on January 18, 2019.

In the elderly, walking while simultaneously engaging in other activities becomes more difficult. This study aimed to examine the changes in cortical activity during walking with aging. We try to reveal the effects of an additional task and increased walking speed on cortical activation in the young-old and the old-old elderly. Twenty-seven young-old (70.2 ± 3.0 years) and 23 old-old (78.0 ± 2.3 years) participated in this study. Each subject completed four walking tasks on the treadmill, a 2 × 2 design; two single-task (ST) walking conditions with self-selected walking speed (SSWS) and fast walking speed (FWS), and two dual-task (DT) walking conditions with SSWS and FWS. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy was applied for measurement of cerebral oxyhemoglobin (oxyHb) concentration during walking. Cortical activities were increased during DT conditions compared with ST conditions but decreased during the FWS compared with the SSWS on the primary leg motor cortex, supplementary motor area, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in both the young-old and the old-old. These oxyHb concentration changes were significantly less prominent in the old-old than in the young-old. This study demonstrated that changes in cortical activity during dual-task walking are lower in the old-old than in the young-old, reflecting the reduced adaptive plasticity with severe aging.

Contains fulltext : 240537.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Increased oxygenated hemoglobin concentration of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) has been observed during linear walking, particularly when there is a high attention demand on the task, like in dual-task (DT) paradigms. Despite the knowledge that cognitive and motor demands depend on the complexity of the motor task, most studies have only focused on usual walking, while little is known for more challenging tasks, such as curved paths. To explore the relationship between cortical activation and gait biomechanics, 20 healthy young adults were asked to perform linear and curvilinear walking trajectories in single-task and DT conditions. PFC activation was assessed using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, while gait quality with four inertial measurement units. The Figure-of-8-Walk-Test was adopted as the curvilinear trajectory, with the "Serial 7s" test as concurrent cognitive task. Results show that walking along curvilinear trajectories in DT led to increased PFC activation and decreased motor performance. Under DT walking, the neural correlates of executive function and gait control tend to be modified in response to the cognitive resources imposed by the motor task. Being more representative of real-life situations, this approach to curved walking has the potential to reveal crucial information and to improve people's balance, safety, and life's quality. 10 p.

Background: Ménière's disease (MD) is a chronic peripheral vestibular disorder with recurrent episodes of vertigo accompanied by fluctuating hearing loss, tinnitus and aural fullness in the affected ear. There are several unanswered fundamental questions regarding MD, one of these being cortical activity during a MD attack. However, it is not possible to plan an investigation in an episodic disease as MD.Objective: To visualize cortical activity during an attack of MD.Method:18F-FDG PET scans were used to visualize cortical activity in a 62 years old male suffering from definite MD. Two 18F-FDG PET scans were performed. One to show activity during the attack and one to show normal baseline brain activity 7 days after the attack.Results: A number of low-magnitude fluctuations in the 18F-FDG FDG uptake were found in 18F-FDG PET examination following the MD attack compared to the patient's own baseline 18F-FDG FDG scan. Across both hemispheres no significant changes were seen. However, reduced activity was observed in most of the orbitofrontal, frontal cortices as well as Heschl's gyrus and insula.Conclusion: This is the first neuroimaging showing alteration of brain activity during an attack in a patient with MD. No strong focal alterations was seen. It is noteworthy that the decreased activity observed was in the insula and Heschl's gyrus that seems to be core areas for processing information from the labyrinth. It is also of interest that decreased activity rather than hyperactivity was observed.

Made available in DSpace on 2022-04-28T19:41:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-07-05 Background: Postural control and cognition are affected by aging. We investigated whether cognitive distraction influenced neural activity differently in young and older adults during a game-like mediolateral weight-shifting task with a personalized task load. Methods: Seventeen healthy young and 17 older adults performed a balance game, involving hitting virtual wasps, serial subtractions and a combination of both (dual-task). A motion analysis system estimated each subject's center of mass position. Cortical activity in five regions was assessed by measuring oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO2) with a functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy system. Results: When adding cognitive load to the game, weight-shifting speed decreased irrespective of age, but older adults reduced the wasp-hits more than young adults. Accompanying these changes, older adults decreased HbO2 in the left pre-frontal cortex (PFC) and frontal eye fields (FEF) compared to single-tasking, a finding not seen in young adults. Additionally, lower HbO2 levels were found during dual-tasking compared to the summed activation of the two single tasks in all regions except for the right PFC. These relative reductions were specific for the older age group in the left premotor cortex (PMC), the right supplementary motor area (SMA), and the left FEF. Conclusion: Older adults showed more compromised neural activity than young adults when adding a distraction to a challenging balance game. We interpret these changes as competitive downgrading of neural activity underpinning the age-related deterioration of game performance during dual-tasking. Future work needs to ascertain if older adults can train their neural flexibility to withstand balance challenges during daily life activities. Neuromotor Rehabilitation Research Group Department of Rehabilitation Sciences KU Leuven Posture and Gait Studies Laboratory (LEPLO) Institute of Biosciences São Paulo State University (UNESP) Motor Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group Department of Movement Sciences KU Leuven Leuven Brain Institute Clinical Ageing Research Unit Institute of Neuroscience Newcastle University Institute of Ageing Posture and Gait Studies Laboratory (LEPLO) Institute of Biosciences São Paulo State University (UNESP)

Unilateral muscle contractions are often accompanied by the activation of the ipsilateral hemisphere, producing associated activity (AA) in the contralateral homologous muscles. However, the functional role of AA is not fully understood. We determined the effects of voluntary suppression of AA in the first dorsal interosseous (FDI), on force steadiness during a constant force isometric contraction of the contralateral FDI. Participants (n = 17, 25.5 years) performed two trials of isometric FDI contractions as steadily as possible. In Trial 1, they did not receive feedback or explicit instructions for suppressing the AA in the contralateral homologous FDI. In Trial 2, participants received feedback and were asked to voluntarily suppress the AA in the contralateral nontarget FDI. During both trials, corticospinal excitability and motor cortical inhibition were measured. The results show that participants effectively suppressed the AA in the nontarget contralateral FDI (-71%), which correlated with reductions in corticospinal excitability (-57%), and the suppression was also accompanied by increases in inhibition (27%) in the ipsilateral motor cortex. The suppression of AA impaired force steadiness, but the decrease in force steadiness did not correlate with the magnitude of suppression. The results show that voluntary suppression of AA decreases force steadiness in the active hand. However, due to the lack of association between suppression and decreased steadiness, we interpret these data to mean that specific elements of the ipsilateral brain activation producing AA in younger adults are neither contributing nor detrimental to unilateral motor control during a steady isometric contraction.

It is known that aging is frequently accompanied by a decline in cognition. Furthermore, aging is associated with lower serum IGF-I levels that may contribute to this deterioration. We studied the effect of IGF-I in neurons of the horizontal diagonal band of Broca (HDB) of young (≤6 months old) and old (≥20-month-old) mice to determine if changes in the response of these neurons to IGF-I occur along with aging. Local injection of IGF-I in the HDB nucleus increased their neuronal activity and induced fast oscillatory activity in the electrocorticogram (ECoG). Furthermore, IGF-I facilitated tactile responses in the primary somatosensory cortex elicited by air-puffs delivered in the whiskers. These excitatory effects decreased in old mice. Immunohistochemistry showed that cholinergic HDB neurons express IGF-I receptors and that IGF-I injection increased the expression of c-fos in young, but not in old animals. IGF-I increased the activity of optogenetically-identified cholinergic neurons in young animals, suggesting that most of the IGF-I-induced excitatory effects were mediated by activation of these neurons. Effects of aging were partially ameliorated by chronic IGF-I treatment in old mice. The present findings suggest that reduced IGF-I activity in old animals participates in age-associated changes in cortical activity., This work has been supported by Grants from Ciberned and the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (SAF2016-76462, AEI/FEDER, and PID2019-107809RB-I00). JZ-V acknowledges the financial support of the National Council of Science, Technology and Technological Innovation (CONCYTEC, Perú) through the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FONDECYT, Perú).

Context: Only 55% of the athletes return to competitive sports after an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. Athletes younger than 25 years who return to sports have a second injury rate of 23%. There may be a mismatch between rehabilitation contents and the demands an athlete faces after returning to sports. Current return-to-sports (RTS) tests utilize closed and predictable motor skills; however, demands on the field are different. Neurocognitive functions are essential to manage dynamic sport situations and may fluctuate after peripheral injuries. Most RTS and rehabilitation paradigms appear to lack this aspect, which might be linked to increased risk of second injury. Objective: This systematic and scoping review aims to map existing evidence about neurocognitive and neurophysiological functions in athletes, which could be linked to ACL injury in an integrated fashion and bring an extensive perspective to assessment and rehabilitation approaches. Data Sources: PubMed and Cochrane databases were searched to identify relevant studies published between 2005 and 2020 using the keywords ACL, brain, cortical, neuroplasticity, cognitive, cognition, neurocognition, and athletes. Study Selection: Studies investigating either neurocognitive or neurophysiological functions in athletes and linking these to ACL injury regardless of their design and technique were included. Study Design: Systematic review. Level of Evidence: Level 3. Data Extraction: The demographic, temporal, neurological, and behavioral data revealing possible injury-related aspects were extracted and summarized. Results: A total of 16 studies were included in this review. Deficits in different neurocognitive domains and changes in neurophysiological functions could be a predisposing risk factor for, or a consequence caused by, ACL injuries. Conclusion: Clinicians should view ACL injuries not only as a musculoskeletal but also as a neural lesion with neurocognitive and neurophysiological aspects. Rehabilitation and RTS paradigms should consider these changes for assessment and interventions after injury.

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T10:56:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-05-01 Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Background: People with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS) present higher cortical activity during walking. However, the cortical activity during gait while avoiding an obstacle is still not clear. Objective: To investigate cortical activity and gait spatial-temporal parameters in PwMS during two different gait tasks (i.e., unobstructed and obstacle avoidance). Method: Fifteen PwMS and 15 healthy controls (CG) were recruited. Participants performed ten trials in each gait condition, wearing a 64-electrode cap electroencephalogram (EEG) at 1024 Hz. Kinematic data were obtained through 10 Vicon® cameras at 200 Hz. EEG was analyzed through four cortical areas (frontal, motor, parietal, and occipital cortex areas) and five frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma) obtained through the power spectral density. In addition, spatial-temporal gait parameters (e.g., step length and velocity) were measured. Two-way ANOVA (group x gait condition) and MANOVA (group x gait condition) were used to compare gait and EEG parameters, respectively. One-way ANOVA was used to compare groups in the crossing phase of the obstacle avoidance condition. Results: PwMS presented lower step length and velocity, and higher cortical activity in frontal (beta and gamma) and parietal (gamma) cortical areas in both gait conditions compared to CG. Moreover, PwMS presented increased cortical activation (frontal and parietal) and decreased step length and velocity in obstacle avoidance compared with unobstructed gait. In addition, PwMS required more cortical resources (frontal and parietal) than CG to accomplish both gait conditions. During the obstacle avoidance task, it was further observed that PwMS positioned their feet closer to the obstacle, before and after the task, compared to CG. Conclusion: PwMS demand higher cortical resources to accomplish gait tasks, mainly when it is necessary to negotiate an obstacle in the pathway. This higher cortical activity may be a compensatory mechanism to deal with damage in subcortical structures caused by multiple sclerosis. São Paulo State University (UNESP) – Campus Bauru School of Science Human Movement Research Laboratory (MOVI-LAB) Department of Physical Education Graduate Program in Movement Science Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education Northern Illinois University São Paulo State University (UNESP) – Campus Bauru School of Science Human Movement Research Laboratory (MOVI-LAB) Department of Physical Education Graduate Program in Movement Science

Isolated ginsenoside metabolites such as Compound K (CK) are of increasing interest to consumer and clinical populations as safe and non-pharmacological means to enhance psychomotor performance constitutively and in response to physical or cognitive stress. Nevertheless, the influence of CK on behavioral performance and EEG measures of cortical activity in humans is undetermined. In this double-blinded, placebo-controlled, counterbalanced within-group study, dose-dependent responses to CK (placebo, 160 and 960 mg) were assessed after 2 weeks of supplementation in nineteen healthy men and women (age: 39.9 ± 7.9 year, height 170.2 ± 8.6 cm, weight 79.7 ± 11.9 kg). Performance on upper- and lower-body choice reaction tests (CRTs) was tested before and after intense lower-body anaerobic exercise. Treatment- and stress-related changes in brain activity were measured with high-density EEG based on event-related potentials, oscillations, and source activity. Upper- (−12.3 ± 3.5 ms, p = 0.002) and lower-body (−12.3 ± 4.9 ms, p = 0.021) response times improved after exercise, with no difference between treatments (upper: p = 0.354; lower: p = 0.926). Analysis of cortical activity in sensor and source space revealed global increases in cortical arousal after exercise. CK increased activity in cortical regions responsible for sustained attention and mitigated exercise-induced increases in arousal. Responses to exercise varied depending on task, but CK appeared to reduce sensory interference from lower-body exercise during an upper-body CRT and improve the general maintenance of task-relevant sensory processes.

[Purpose] To examine the influence of different exercise intensities on cortical activity. [Participants and Methods] Twenty-six healthy adults aged 20-30 years performed exercise at three intensities on a bicycle ergometer as follows: (a) 15-minute exercise at 40% peak oxygen uptake, (b) same as (a) but at 60% peak oxygen uptake, and (c) 15 minutes of rest. The cognitive function of the participants was measured before and after exercise by the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) under these three conditions. The cerebral blood flow in the left prefrontal and temporal cortices was measured using near-infrared spectroscopy during the PASAT. [Results] The PASAT score was significantly higher after exercise under condition (b) than before exercise (41.4 ± 9.1 vs. 47.7 ± 8.3). The cerebral blood flow in the prefrontal cortex under condition (b) was significantly increased compared to that under condition (c), as determined by the Tukey method (0.019 ± 0.030 vs. -0.008 ± 0.044). Significant differences were not observed in the cerebral blood flow in the temporal cortex under these three conditions. [Conclusion] Cortical activation of the frontal lobe increased after high-intensity aerobic exercise with no change in the cortical activity of the temporal lobe.

The evaluation of building facades is one of the most important elements in built environments for helping architects and professionals to develop future designs. The form or shape of windows in building facades has direct impacts on perceivers’ affective state and emotions. To understand the impacts of geometric windows on the subject’s feedback and cortical activity, psychophysics experiments and electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings were measured from the participants. Our behavioral results show a distinguished categorization of the window shapes as pleasant and unpleasant stimuli. The rectangular, square, circular and semi-circular arch were determined as the pleasant window shapes, while the triangular and triangular arch window shapes were distinguished as unpleasant. Furthermore, event-related potential (ERP) components (N1, P2 and P3) were investigated to determine the influence of window shapes on the local brain activity. To measure reliable cortical responses, a Butterworth notch filter (50 Hz), band pass filter (0.1–60 Hz) and ADJUST filter were employed to remove the artifacts. The electrophysiological results show increased activity for the unpleasant in comparison to the pleasant windows (p < 0.05, Rank-Sum test) in both frontal (for P2 component) and posterio-occipital (ERP amplitudes; the N1 through to the P3 peak) channels. The ERP amplitudes of the right hemisphere were significantly larger than in the left hemisphere, not only in response to the unpleasant (p < 0.001) but also to the pleasant window stimuli (p < 0.001, Signed-Rank test). However, the unpleasant stimuli evoked significantly larger ERP amplitude than the pleasant stimuli. Moreover, the significant ERPP2 amplitude was more distinguished for unpleasant (p = 0.01, Signed-Rank test) than pleasant windows (p = 0.01, Rank-Sum test) between frontal and central cortical lobes. Overall, our behavioral and electrophysiological studies demonstrate a distinguished categorization of pleasant and unpleasant window shapes and more significant ERP modulations in the right than left hemisphere for unpleasant windows compared to pleasant ones.

Made available in DSpace on 2019-10-06T15:25:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2019-01-01 Biotechnology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research Performance of several tasks simultaneously (dual-tasks) is common in everyday walking. Studies indicate that dual-task walking performance declines with age together with cognitive function, but neural mechanisms underpinning deficits remain unclear. Recent developments in mobile imaging techniques, such as functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), allow real-time monitoring of cortical activity during walking. This study aimed to: 1) examine activity in motor and cognitive cortical regions when walking with a dual-task in young and older adults; and 2) determine the effect of cognition on dual-task cortical activity changes. Seventeen young (20.3 ± 1.2 years) and eighteen older adults (72.6 ± 8.0 years) performed dual-task conditions, lasting 5 min, with alternating 30-second experimental blocks. The primary outcome was cortical activity, assessed by measuring changes in oxygenated haemoglobin (HbO2) concentrations. Cortical regions of interest (ROI) included motor regions (premotor cortex (PMC), supplementary motor area (SMA), primary motor cortex (M1)), and cognitive regions (prefrontal cortex (PFC)). Cognitive domains were assessed using standard tests and accelerometers were used to extract gait features. Cortical activity increased with a dual-task in PMC, SMA and M1 but not in PFC regions across groups, with response most evident with initial task exposure. Older adults did not increase SMA activity with a dual-task to the same level as young adults. Dual-task cortical response was consistently associated with greater executive function across groups. In conclusion, both young and older adults responded in a similar manner to dual-task conditions. Dual-task walking activated multiple motor regions in both groups, but no significant change occurred for cognitive region activation. Cortical activation with a dual-task related to executive function. Department of Neurology Oregon Health and Science University Institute of Neuroscience Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Instituto de Biociências Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Campus Rio Claro Institute of Ageing Clinical Ageing Research Unit Campus for Ageing and Vitality Newcastle University Instituto de Biociências Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Campus Rio Claro

Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) disease frequently experience fatigue as their most debilitating symptom. Fatigue in MS partially refers to a cognitive component, cognitive fatigue (CF), characterized by a faster and stronger than usual development of the subjective feeling of exhaustion that follows sustained cognitive demands. The feeling of CF might result from supplementary task-related brain activity following MS-related demyelination and neurodegeneration. Besides, CF in MS disease might also stem from disrupted sleep. The present study investigated the association between the triggering of CF, task-related brain activity and sleep features. In a counterbalance mixed design, 10 patients with MS and 11 healthy controls were exposed twice for 16 min to a CF-inducing dual working memory updating task (TloadDback) under low or high cognitive demands conditions, counterbalanced. Considering known inter-individual differences and potential cognitive deficits in MS, the maximal cognitive load of the task was individually adapted to each participant's own upper limits. During the experimental sessions, cortical brain activity was measured using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) during the CF-induction task, and in a resting state immediately before and after. Ambulatory polysomnography recordings were obtained on the nights preceding experimental sessions. When cognitive load was individually adapted to their processing capabilities, patients with MS exhibited similar than healthy controls levels of subjectively perceived CF, evolution of performance during the task, and brain activity patterns. Linear mixed models indicate a negative association between oxygenation level changes in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the triggering of subjective CF in patients with MS only. Longer total sleep time was also associated with higher CF in MS patients. These results suggest that controlling for cognitive load between individuals with and without MS results in a similar task-related development of subjective CF. Besides comparable performance and cortical brain activity between groups, mixed model analyses suggest a possible association between CF, DLPFC activity and sleep duration in MS disease., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

An experiment was conducted to investigate the feasibility of using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to image cortical activity in the language areas of cochlear implant (CI) users and to explore the association between the activity and their speech understanding ability. Using fNIRS, 15 experienced CI users and 14 normal-hearing participants were imaged while presented with either visual speech or auditory speech. Brain activation was measured from the prefrontal, temporal, and parietal lobe in both hemispheres, including the language-associated regions. In response to visual speech, the activation levels of CI users in an a priori region of interest (ROI)-the left superior temporal gyrus or sulcus-were negatively correlated with auditory speech understanding. This result suggests that increased cross-modal activity in the auditory cortex is predictive of poor auditory speech understanding. In another two ROIs, in which CI users showed significantly different mean activation levels in response to auditory speech compared with normal-hearing listeners, activation levels were significantly negatively correlated with CI users' auditory speech understanding. These ROIs were located in the right anterior temporal lobe (including a portion of prefrontal lobe) and the left middle superior temporal lobe. In conclusion, fNIRS successfully revealed activation patterns in CI users associated with their auditory speech understanding.

We examined the effects of the emotional facial expressions of a virtual character (VC) on human frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) asymmetry (putatively indexing approach/withdrawal motivation), facial electromyographic (EMG) activity (emotional expressions), and social decision making (cooperation/defection). In a within-subjects design, the participants played the Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma game with VCs with different dynamic facial expressions (predefined or dependent on the participant's electrodermal and facial EMG activity). In general, VC facial expressions elicited congruent facial muscle activity. However, both frontal EEG asymmetry and facial EMG activity elicited by an angry VC facial expression varied as a function of preceding interactional events (human collaboration/defection). Pre-decision inner emotional-motivational processes and emotional facial expressions were dissociated, suggesting that human goals influence pre-decision frontal asymmetry, whereas display rules may affect (pre-decision) emotional expressions in human-VC interaction. An angry VC facial expression, high pre-decision corrugator EMG activity, and relatively greater left frontal activation predicted the participant's decision to defect. Both post-decision frontal asymmetry and facial EMG activity were related to reciprocal cooperation. The results suggest that the justifiability of VC emotional expressions and the perceived fairness of VC actions influence human emotional responses.

Objective: Deep NREM sleep and its hallmark EEG phenomenon slow wave activity (SWA) are under homeostatic control in adults. SWA is also locally regulated as it increases in the brain areas that have been used intensively. Moreover, in children, SWA is a marker of cortical maturation. In the present study the local properties of NREM sleep depth were evaluated using the quantitative mean frequency method. We aimed to study if age is related to NREM sleep depth in young infants. In addition, we studied if young infants have local differences in their NREM sleep. Methods: Ambulatory over-night polysomnographies were recorded in 59 healthy and full-term infants at the age of one month. The infants were divided into two age groups (= 44 weeks) to allow maturational evaluations. Results: The quantitative sleep depth analysis showed differences between the age groups. In addition, there were local sleep depth differences within the age groups. Conclusions: The sleep depth change with age is most likely related to cortical maturation, whereas the local sleep depth gradients might also reflect the use-dependent properties of SWA. (C) 2017 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the short-term effects of the vision trainer rehabilitation technique on retinal and post-retinal function in young amblyopic patients outside the critical visual developmental period. Twenty-one patients (mean age 12.2 ± 2.7 years, ranging from 9.1 to 18 years) affected by unilateral anisometropic amblyopia were studied, providing 21 amblyopic eyes (AE) and 21 sound eyes (SE). Thirty eyes from 15 age-similar normal subjects served as controls. All subjects underwent extensive ophthalmologic characterization to exclude any disease not related to amblyopia. All AE were subjected to rehabilitation sessions performed by the Retimax vision trainer (VT) program. The protocol consisted of 2 sessions per week, each lasting 10 min, for 10 consecutive weeks. Before and after the rehabilitation, electrophysiological [pattern electroretinogram (PERG) and visual evoked potential (VEP)] and psychophysical [best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and microperimetry] data were collected from AE and SE. When comparing baseline data with those collected at the end of the study, PERG P50-N95 amplitude and BCVA values from AE had improved significantly by the end of the study (p

Exercise-induced-muscle-damage (EIMD) is a well-described phenomenon which leads to decreased force output and altered neuromuscular function. How these symptoms of EIMD affect brain function, in particular cortical activity has not been described. Therefore the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the symptoms of EIMD and cortical beta (β) activity during a submaximal biceps brachii movement. Half of the subjects participated in an EIMD protocol. Control and EIMD groups were monitored for 132h thereafter. Muscle pain scores in the EIMD group peaked after 36h with the lowest muscle torque reported at 12h. Beta-1 and -2 activity was increased in the frontal and parietal area in the experimental group at 12h. This suggests an impact of EIMD induced neuromuscular changes on the cortical proprioceptive and motor perceptive networks. Beta-2 activity decreased in the control group over time suggesting a loss in focused attention and greater familiarization with the protocol as the study progressed. These data suggest that a change in β-1 and -2 activity is associated with integrating movement perception and proprioception post-EIMD.

Purpose To study the usefulness of EEG in the diagnosis of lissencephaly, a rare cortical developmental disorder associated with abnormal cellular proliferation. Currently, the clinical emphasis is placed on the radiological and genetic aspects for the diagnosis of lissencephaly. Methods This is a retrospective review of consecutive EEG recordings and imaging data from 14 children, with the diagnosis of lissencephaly, who were admitted from January 1998 to January 2010. All EEG recordings were performed with the 10–20 system of electrode placement, in both awake and sleep states. All EEG recordings were reviewed using anterior-posterior bipolar and transverse montages and then they were interpreted blindly, with respect to the imaging and genetic investigations for each patient. Results All children showed one of the three characteristic EEG patterns reported in the literature of lissencephaly. The EEG pattern I, showed an anterior posterior gradient that corresponded to the severity of the imaging study abnormality. All patients were on two or more AEDs and reported to continue having active epilepsy. Conclusion In a child with clinical characteristics of lissencephaly, one of these three reported EEG patterns can prove useful in making the diagnosis very probable, preceding imaging and genetic testing.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to observe spontaneous cortical activity and cortical activity modulated by tinnitus-matched sound in tinnitus patients and healthy subjects with no otoneurologic symptoms. METHOD: Data were prospectively collected from 50 tinnitus patients and 25 healthy subjects. Cortical activity was recorded in all subjects with eyes closed and open and during photostimulation, hyperventilation and acoustic stimulation using 19-channel quantitative electroencephalography. The sound applied in the tinnitus patients was individually matched with the ability to mask or equal the tinnitus. The maximal and mean amplitude of the delta, theta, alpha and beta waves and the type and amount of the pathologic EEG patterns were noted during each recording. Differences in cortical localization and the influence of sound stimuli on spontaneous cortical activity were evaluated between the groups. RESULTS: The tinnitus group exhibited decreased delta activity and increased alpha and beta activity. Hyperventilation increased the intensity of the differences. The tinnitus patients had more sharp-slow waves and increased slow wave amplitude. Sound stimuli modified the EEG recordings; the delta and beta wave amplitudes were increased, whereas the alpha-1 wave amplitude was decreased. Acoustic stimulation only slightly affected the temporal region. CONCLUSION: Cortical activity in the tinnitus patients clearly differed from that in healthy subjects, i.e., tinnitus is not a “phantom” sign. The changes in cortical activity included decreased delta wave amplitudes, increased alpha-1, beta-1 and beta-h wave amplitudes and pathologic patterns. Cortical activity modifications occurred predominantly in the temporal region. Acoustic stimulation affected spontaneous cortical activity only in tinnitus patients, and although the applied sound was individually matched, the pathologic changes were only slightly improved.

In our clinic invasive transtympanal promontory positive DC stimulations were first used, with a success rate of 42%. However, non-invasive hydrotransmissive negative DC stimulations are now favoured, with improvement being obtained in 37.8% directly after the treatment, and 51.3% in a follow up one month after treatment. The further improvement after one month may be due to neuroplastic changes at central level as a result of altered peripheral input. The aim of the study was to determine how a single electrical stimulation of the ear influences cortical activity, and whether changes observed in tinnitus after electrical stimulation are associated with any changes in cortical activity recorded in EEG. The study included 12 tinnitus patients (F–6, M-6) divided into two groups. Group I comprised six patients with unilateral tinnitus - unilateral, ipsilateral ES was performed. Group II comprised six patients with bilateral tinnitus - bilateral ES was performed. Electrical stimulation was performed using a custom-made apparatus.The active, silver probe – was immersed inside the external ear canal filled with saline. The passive electrode was placed on the forehead. The stimulating frequency was 250Hz, the intensity ranged from 0.14 to 1.08 mA. The voltage was kept constant at 3V. The duration of stimulation was four minutes. The EEG recording (Deymed QEST 32) was performed before and after electrical stimulation. We assessed the intensity of tinnitus on the visual analogue scale (1-10). Results. In both groups an improvement in VAS was observed – in group I - in five ears (83.3%), in group II - in seven ears (58.3%). In Group I, a significant increase in the upper and lower limits of the alpha frequency range was observed in the left central temporal and left frontal regions following electrical stimulation. These changes, however, were not correlated with improvement in tinnitus. No significant changes were observed in the beta and theta bands and in group II. Preliminary results of our research reveal a change in cortical activity after electrical stimulations of the ear. However, it remains unclear if it is primary or secondary to peripheral auditory excitation. No similar studies had been found

Background Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over right posterior parietal cortex was shown to induce interference on visuospatial perception in healthy subjects. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is another noninvasive brain stimulation technique that works modulating cortical activity. It is applied through easy to use, noncostly, and portable devices. Objective/Hypothesis The aim of the current study was to investigate if the novel approach of “dual” stimulation over parietal cortices compared with the unilateral (right) cathodal one is able to induce greater and/or longer-lasting neglect-like effects in normal subjects performing a computerized visuospatial task. Methods Eleven healthy subjects underwent a computerized visuospatial task requiring judgments about the symmetry of prebisected lines in baseline condition, during and after tDCS. Right cathodal and left anodal tDCS were simultaneously applied over homologue posterior parietal cortices in the “dual” approach, whereas right cathodal tDCS was used in the traditional unihemisphere stimulation. Results A significant rightward bias in symmetry judgments as compared with baseline and sham conditions was observed in both the stimulation approaches. With “dual” tDCS compared with cathodal stimulation the effect was stronger and appeared earlier, but no longer-lasting after effects were found. Conclusions We speculate that the resulting modulation of interhemispheric inhibition mediated the additional rightward bias in task performance for “dual” hemisphere compared with unihemisphere tDCS. If “dual” tDCS may better reproduce mechanisms underlying real lesions, it could provide a more suitable model for rehabilitation of negligent patients.

Musical expertise is associated with structural and functional changes in the brain that underlie facilitated auditory perception. We investigated whether the phase locking (PL) and amplitude modulations (AM) of neuronal oscillations in response to musical chords are correlated with musical expertise and whether they reflect the prototypicality of chords in Western tonal music. To this aim, we recorded magnetoencephalography (MEG) while musicians and non-musicians were presented with common prototypical major and minor chords, and with uncommon, non-prototypical dissonant and mistuned chords, while watching a silenced movie. We then analyzed the PL and AM of ongoing oscillations in the theta (4-8 Hz) alpha (8-14 Hz), beta- (14-30 Hz) and gamma- (30-80 Hz) bands to these chords. We found that musical expertise was associated with strengthened PL of ongoing oscillations to chords over a wide frequency range during the first 300 ms from stimulus onset, as opposed to increased alpha-band AM to chords over temporal MEG channels. In musicians, the gamma- band PL was strongest to non-prototypical compared to other chords, while in non-musicians PL was strongest to minor chords. In both musicians and non-musicians the long-latency (> 200 ms) gamma-band PL was also sensitive to chord identity, and particularly to the amplitude modulations (beats) of the dissonant chord. These findings suggest that musical expertise modulates oscillation PL to musical chords and that the strength of these modulations is dependent on chord prototypicality.

Total or partial sleep deprivation (SD) causes degrading effects on different cognitive and psychomotor functions that might be related to electrophysiological changes frequently observed. In the present study, we investigated the effects of one night of sleep deprivation on waking EEG. Experimental protocol consisted of recording electroencephalographic data from eleven healthy young subjects before (baseline) and after (time 2) one night of sleep deprivation. A natural log transformation was carried out and showed a significant increase in theta T6 (p=0.041), O2 (p=0.018) and OZ (p=0.028); and delta T6 (p=0.043) relative power; and a decrease in alpha Fp1 (p=0.040), F3 (p=0.013), Fp2 (p=0.033), T4 (p=0.050), T6 (p=0.018), O2 (p=0.011) and Oz (p=0.025) and beta (p=0.022) absolute power. These outcomes show that the EEG power spectra, after sleep deprivation, exhibit site-specific differences in particular frequency bands and corroborate for the premise of local aspects of brain adaptation after sleep deprivation, rather than global. Privação total ou parcial de sono causa efeitos deletérios em diferentes funções cognitivas e psicomotoras, que podem estar relacionados às mudanças eletrofísiológicas frequentemente observadas. No presente estudo, investigou-se os efeitos de uma noite de privação de sono nas respostas eletrencefalográficas de repouso. O protocolo experimental consistiu na coleta e gravação dos dados do qEEG de onze sujeitos jovens e saudáveis antes (momento baseline) e após (momento 2) uma noite de privação de sono. Todos os dados sofreram transformação logarítmica, que evidenciou um aumento significativo nas potências relativas de teta T6 (p=0,041), O2 (p=0,018) e OZ (p=0,028); e delta T6 (p=0,043). As bandas de freqüência mais rápidas alfa Fp1 (p=0,040), F3 (p=0,013), Fp2 (p=0,033), T4 (p=0,050), T6 (p=0,018), O2 (p=0,011), Oz (p=0,025) e beta (p=0,022) apresentaram reduções significativas na potência absoluta. Os resultados demonstram que o espectro de potência exibe diferenças específicas em freqüências de bandas diferentes, e corroboram para a premissa de que o cérebro, após privação ou perda de sono, promove ajustes e adaptações locais, ao invés de globais.

Asymmetry in frontal electrical activity has been suggested to index tendencies in affective responding and thus may be associated with hormonal stress responses. To assess the functional role of frontal asymmetry (FA) in stress, we measured FA at rest and following exposure to acute stress induced with the Maastricht Acute Stress Task (MAST; N = 70) in the standard 8-13 Hz band as well as based on individual alpha frequency (IAF) band. IAF-based resting FA(F4-F3) was associated with the stress induced neuroendocrine response, such that left individual frontal activity predicted smaller total cortisol increases in response to the MAST. Like previous studies, we found resting left-sided FA(F8-F7) to predict trait behavioural activation measured with the BIS/BAS scales. FA remained unaffected by stress-induced cortisol response. These findings suggest that individual FA might reflect a trait-like characteristic that moderates the stress response. Our results underscore the utility of IAF in studying individual differences in stress responding. (C) 2014 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.

Cerebral dysfunction is a common feature of both chronic alcohol abusers and binge drinkers. Here, we aimed to study whether, at equated behavioral performance levels, binge drinkers exhibited increased neural activity while performing simple cognitive tasks.Thirty-two participants (16 binge drinkers and 16 matched controls) were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing an n-back working memory task. In the control zero-back (N0) condition, subjects were required to press a button with the right hand when the number “2″ was displayed. In the two-back (N2) condition, subjects had to press a button when the displayed number was identical to the number shown two trials before.fMRI analyses revealed higher bilateral activity in the pre-supplementary motor area in binge drinkers than matched controls, even though behavioral performances were similar. Moreover, binge drinkers showed specific positive correlations between the number of alcohol doses consumed per occasion and higher activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, as well as between the number of drinking occasions per week and higher activity in cerebellum, thalamus and insula while performing the N2 memory task.Binge alcohol consumption leads to possible compensatory cerebral changes in binge drinkers that facilitate normal behavioral performance. These changes in cerebral responses may be considered as vulnerability factors for developing adult substance use disorders., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

There is limited but increasing evidence that space environment, namely weightless condition, may affect astronauts' cerebral neurotransmitters and cognitive performance. The present experiment hypothesized that learning and brain plasticity are affected by simulated microgravity condition. To this aim, 22 male subjects matching astronauts' characteristics were divided in two groups, Head - Down Bed Rest (HDBR) and Sitting Control. After 3 - h bed rest (or sitting condition) subjects started a picture viewing task during which 30 acoustic startle probes (100 dBA loudness), divided into three consecutive blocks, were delivered through headphones while startle reflex amplitude was measured from the EMG of the orbicularis oculi muscle. Habituation analysis of the startle reflex showed a normal reflex inhibition across blocks in sitting controls and no habituation in HDBR subjects. Results point to a microgravity - induced lack of startle reflex plasticity in subjects matching astronauts, a learning deficit which may affect the success of long - term space missions.

Tremor constitutes the most common movement disorder; in fact 14.5% of population between 50 to 89 years old suffers from it. Moreover, 65% of patients with upper limb tremor report disability when performing their activities of daily living (ADL). Unfortunately, 25% of patients do not respond to drugs or neurosurgery. In this regard, TREMOR project proposes functional compensation of upper limb tremors with a soft wearable robot that applies biomechanical loads through functional electrical stimulation (FES) of muscles. This wearable robot is driven by a Brain Neural Computer Interface (BNCI). This paper presents a multimodal BCI to assess generation, transmission and execution of both volitional and tremorous movements based on electroencephalography (EEG), electromyography (EMG) and inertial sensors (IMUs). These signals are combined to obtain: 1) the intention to perform a voluntary movement from cortical activity (EEG), 2) tremor onset, and an estimation of tremor frequency from muscle activation (EMG), and 3) instantaneous tremor amplitude and frequency from kinematic measurements (IMUs). Integration of this information will provide control signals to drive the FES-based wearable robot.

We study the topological properties of functional connectivity patterns among cortical areas in the frequency domain. The cortical networks were estimated from high-resolution EEG recordings in a group of spinal cord injured patients and in a group of healthy subjects, during the preparation of a limb movement. We first evaluate global and local efficiency, as indicators of the structural connectivity respectively at a global and local scale. Then, we use the Markov Clustering method to analyse the division of the network into community structures. The results indicate large differences between the injured patients and the healthy subjects. In particular, the networks of spinal cord injured patient exhibited a higher density of efficient clusters. In the Alpha (7-12 Hz) frequency band, the two observed largest communities were mainly composed by the cingulate motor areas with the supplementary motor areas, and by the pre-motor areas with the right primary motor area of the foot. This functional separation strengthens the hypothesis of a compensative mechanism due to the partial alteration in the primary motor areas because of the effects of the spinal cord injury., 21 pages, 4 figures

The autonomic and EEG correlates of the response to a cognitive unpleasant stimulation (US) verbally administered to awake hypnotizable and non hypnotizable subjects were studied. They were compared with the values obtained during a resting condition immediately preceding the stimulus and with those produced by a cognitive neutral stimulation (NS), also administered after a basal resting period. Results showed hypnotic trait effects on skin resistance, heart and respiratory rate as well as on EEG theta, alpha, beta and gamma relative power changes. The autonomic and EEG patterns observed indicated different strategies in the task execution for hypnotizable and non hypnotizable subjects and a discrepancy between the autonomic and EEG changes associated to the US in susceptible subjects. Results support dissociation theories of hypnosis and suggest for hypnotizable persons an active mechanism of protection against cardiac hazard.

Magnetoencephalographic (MEG) changes in cortical activity were studied in a chronic Finnish-speaking deep dyslexic patient during single-word and sentence reading. It has been hypothesized that in deep dyslexia, written word recognition and its lexical-semantic analysis are subserved by the intact right hemisphere. However, in our patient, as well as in most nonimpaired readers, lexical-semantic processing as measured by sentence-final semantic-incongruency detection was related to the left superior-temporal cortex activation. Activations around this same cortical area could be identified in single-word reading as well. Another factor relevant to deep dyslexic reading, the morphological complexity of the presented words, was also studied. The effect of morphology was observed only during the preparation for oral output. By performing repeated recordings 1 year apart, we were able to document significant variability in both the spontaneous activity and the evoked responses in the lesioned left hemisphere even though at the behavioural level, the patient's performance was stable. The observed variability emphasizes the importance of estimating consistency of brain activity both within and between measurements in brain-damaged individuals.

Essential tremor (ET) is characterised by postural and action tremors with a frequency of 4–12 Hz. Previous studies suggest that the tremor activity originates in the cerebello-thalamocortical pathways. Alprazolam is a short-acting benzodiazepine that attenuates tremors in ET. The mechanisms that mediate the therapeutic action of alprazolam are unknown; however, in healthy subjects, benzodiazepines increase cortical beta activity. In this study, we investigated the effect of alprazolam both on beta and tremor-related cortical activity and on alterations in tremor presentation in ET patients. Therefore, we characterised the dynamics of tremor and cortical activity in ET patients after alprazolam intake., This work has been partially funded by CSIC, through the program for the incorporation of tenure researches CSIC-201050I040, “Development and clinical validation of a neuroprosthesis for tremor suppression”, and by the EU Commission through the grant EU-FP7-2011-287739, “NeuroTREMOR”. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.