Article
Rehabilitation
Prince Thakkar, Suhany Baby Thampi, Stephy Keziah, Saraswathi Ramanathan
Summary: Acquired focal visuoperceptual deficits, particularly visual agnosia, can be challenging to diagnose and rehabilitate, especially when accompanied by visual field defects and impaired insight. This report highlights the importance of recognizing and addressing visuoperceptual deficits after traumatic brain injury.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL MEDICINE & REHABILITATION
(2021)
Article
Rehabilitation
Prince Thakkar, Suhany Baby Thampi, Stephy Keziah, Saraswathi Ramanathan
Summary: The report on acquired focal visuoperceptual deficits highlights the often overlooked issue, especially when initially unnoticed. Visual agnosia with pre-dominant ventral pathway involvement, affecting object and face recognition, is rare and adds to the complexity of rehabilitation strategies.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL MEDICINE & REHABILITATION
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Alexa Haeger, Christophe Pouzat, Volker Luecken, Karim N'Diaye, Christian Elger, Ingo Kennerknecht, Nikolai Axmacher, Vera Dinkelacker
Summary: This study aimed to investigate modifications of FFA activation during face encoding and maintenance in individuals with Developmental Prosopagnosia (DP) using Representational Similarity Analysis (RSA). The results showed that DP participants failed to generate robust and sustained neural representations in the FFA during face processing, leading to poorer task performance and longer reaction times. Such alterations in neural coding in the FFA may contribute to impaired working memory and long-term memory.
FRONTIERS IN BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mingming Zhang, Yanan Zhou, Xinye Xu, Ziwei Ren, Yihan Zhang, Shenglan Liu, Wenbo Luo
Summary: In this study, a multi-view emotional expressions dataset (MEED) based on 2D pose estimation was created, including six emotions and neutral body movements. This dataset has broad applications in research fields such as affective computing, human-computer interaction, social neuroscience, and psychiatry.
Article
Neurosciences
Beatrice de Gelder, Elizabeth Huis In 't Veldt, Minye Zhan, Jan Van den Stock
Summary: This study investigates a new case of acquired prosopagnosia and finds that the structurally intact FFA retains face selective response despite lesions in the face perception network. At the behavioral level, impaired configural processing for facial identity was observed, but not for other stimulus categories and facial expression recognition. These findings are important for understanding the behavioral and brain basis of face perception.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Grace E. Rice, Sheila J. Kerry, Ro J. Robotham, Alex P. Leff, Matthew A. Lambon Ralph, Randi Starrfelt
Summary: The organisational principles of the visual ventral stream are still debated, with recent studies suggesting greater commonality between word and face recognition despite historical reliance on single case-studies. Most patients show associations between words, objects, and faces even following unilateral lesions, with selective word impairments being the exception rather than the rule among patients.
Article
Neurosciences
Rui Dai, Zirui Huang, Xuchu Weng, Sheng He
Summary: This study investigated the effects of visual experience at different time points on the cross-modal face specialization of the fusiform face area (FFA). The results showed that early blind participants exhibited consistent and robust face-selective activation in the FFA, while the cross-modal face activation in other groups was much less consistent.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Seungdae Baek, Min Song, Jaeson Jang, Gwangsu Kim, Se-Bum Paik
Summary: Researchers propose that face selectivity can arise in the absence of training using a deep neural network model, enabling untrained networks to perform face detection tasks. They also observed that innate selectivity towards non-face objects can emerge in untrained networks.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Mirta Stantic, Zoe Pounder, Sarah Bate, Tirta Susilo, Caroline Catmur, Geoffrey Bird
Summary: This study investigates face memory impairments in individuals with developmental prosopagnosia (DP) using a new face matching test and independent measurement indices, and finds that individuals with DP exhibit impairments in face perception, face memory, and face matching.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Angelique Volfart, Bruno Rossion, Xiaoqian Yan, Luna Angelini, Louis Maillard, Sophie Colnat-Coulbois, Jacques Jonas
Summary: This study provides the first evidence of transient impairment of face identity recognition during focal electrical stimulation of the right fusiform face area. The findings support the causal role of the right fusiform face area in face identity recognition.
Article
Neurosciences
Roni Arbel, Benedetta Heimler, Amir Amedi
Summary: Previous evidence suggests that visual experience is crucial for the development and adjustment of the neural system for face recognition. However, this study found that even in individuals with congenital blindness, specific cortical regions in the brain still show a preference for faces and exhibit parameter modulation for face orientation and novelty. This finding strengthens the existence of sensory-independent and computation-specific processing, which can be retained in lifelong sensory deprivation independently of previous perceptual experience.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Biological
Nicola Loi, Francesca Ginatempo, Miriam Carta, Francesco Melis, Andrea Manca, Franca Deriu
Summary: The processing of face expressions is crucial for social interactions. This study investigated the influence of face emotional expressions on the excitability of the hand primary motor cortex (M1) and found that passive viewing of negative face expressions can reduce interhemispheric inhibition.
Review
Neurosciences
Silvia Gobbo, Raffaella Calati, Maria Caterina Silveri, Elisa Pini, Roberta Daini
Summary: This study aims to provide useful information for clinicians and researchers to conduct new studies on object agnosia and prosopagnosia rehabilitation. The authors performed a systematic and comprehensive review of the effect of neuropsychological rehabilitation on visual object and prosopagnosia.
RESTORATIVE NEUROLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Megumi Kobayashi, So Kanazawa, Masami Yamaguchi
Summary: Scenic information has been under-researched in the field of developmental research, despite its important role in face processing. This study used the preferential-looking method to investigate whether infants, like adults, utilize scenic information in face processing. The results showed that infants aged 6-7 months preferred upright faces in intact scenes, but not in scrambled scenes. Meanwhile, infants aged 4-5 months showed significant preference for upright faces in both scenes. These findings suggest that infants aged 6 months or more utilize scenic information for face processing.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Lidia Ghosh, Dipayan Dewan, Abir Chowdhury, Amit Konar
Summary: This paper quantifies the face perceptual ability of human subjects using a deep neural network model and EEG data, proposing a new classification method that could serve as a technological means for early diagnosis of prosopagnosia.
BIOMEDICAL SIGNAL PROCESSING AND CONTROL
(2021)
Article
Psychiatry
Ashleigh Bellard, Cosimo Urgesi, Valentina Cazzato
Summary: This study examined differences in self-body recognition between young and middle-aged women, finding that younger women were better at recognizing their own body parts compared to middle-aged women, with a stronger advantage for those middle-aged women who had more body image concerns. Additionally, both age groups had difficulty recognizing their body parts when the images were modified to look thinner compared to rounder or in their actual size. These findings suggest that as women age, their implicit self-recognition abilities may decline in association with more negative body image dispositions.
ARCHIVES OF WOMENS MENTAL HEALTH
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Michael A. Ferguson, Frederic L. W. V. J. Schaper, Alexander Cohen, Shan Siddiqi, Sarah M. Merrill, Jared A. Nielsen, Jordan Grafman, Cosimo Urgesi, Franco Fabbro, Michael D. Fox
Summary: The study found that spirituality and religiosity are associated with a brain circuit centered on the periaqueductal gray, a brainstem region previously implicated in fear conditioning, pain modulation, and altruistic behavior.
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Sarah Boukarras, Duru Gun Ozkan, Vanessa Era, Quentin Moreau, Gaetano Tieri, Matteo Candidi
Summary: This study demonstrates the causal role of midfrontal theta oscillations in enhancing behavioral performance and motor strategies in synchronous interpersonal motor interactions.
JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Valentina Moro, Valentina Pacella, Michele Scandola, Sahba Besharati, Elena Rossato, Paul M. Jenkinson, Akaterini Fotopoulou
Summary: Neuropsychological disturbances in the sense of limb ownership are associated with both cortical lesions and disconnections of specific functional networks. The sense of body ownership involves the convergence of bottom-up, multisensory integration, and top-down monitoring of sensory salience based on contextual demands.
Article
Neurosciences
Quentin Moreau, Gaetano Tieri, Vanessa Era, Salvatore Maria Aglioti, Matteo Candidi
Summary: This study used electroencephalography recordings and virtual reality to investigate how the action monitoring system tracks self and other behavior during interpersonal motor interactions. The results showed that the monitoring system is more attuned to others' actions and identified distinct neural responses to unexpected goals and trajectory corrections.
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Elisabetta Ferrari, Niccolo Butti, Chiara Gagliardi, Romina Romaniello, Renato Borgatti, Cosimo Urgesi
Summary: This study explores the association between social and non-social cognition, and finds that visuospatial skills are related to the verbal components of emotion recognition and Theory of Mind, while imitation is related to the non-verbal components.
JOURNAL OF AUTISM AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Giulia D'Argenio, Alessandra Finisguerra, Cosimo Urgesi
Summary: Body inversion effects (BIEs) reflect the configural processing of body stimuli. The activity of body-selective areas in dorsal and ventral streams is modulated by BIE, with low spatial frequencies (LSF) or high spatial frequencies (HSF) tuning. The specific contribution of different frequency bands to the configural processing of body stimuli along gender and posture dimensions remains unclear.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Lucia Amoruso, Alessandra Finisguerra, Cosimo Urgesi
Summary: Successful action comprehension requires the integration of motor information and semantic cues about objects in context. Previous evidence suggests that motor features are encoded dorsally in the fronto-parietal action observation network, while semantic features are processed ventrally in temporal structures. This study proposes an additional route to action understanding, where coarse low spatial frequency information about objects in context is projected to the dorsal action observation network via the prefrontal cortex, providing a prediction signal of the most likely intention. Experimental testing using continuous theta burst stimulation showed that stimulation over the prefrontal cortex led to spatial-frequency modulations depending on lateralization, supporting the existence of multiple routes to action comprehension in humans.
Article
Biology
Lennie Dupont, Valerio Santangelo, Ruben T. Azevedo, Maria Serena Panasiti, Salvatore Maria Aglioti
Summary: Using fMRI data from participants playing a card game involving deceptive or truthful decisions, researchers found that dishonest decisions were associated with increased activity in a cortico-subcortical circuit including the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), anterior insula (AI), left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, supplementary motor area, and right caudate. Deceptive immoral decisions under reputation risk enhanced activity and functional connectivity between the bilateral ACC and left AI, suggesting the need for heightened emotional processing and cognitive control. Manipulative individuals showed differential involvement of the ACC depending on whether the decision involved self-gain lies or other-gain truths, pointing to the role of cognitive control in going against one's own moral code.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Maddalena Beccherle, Valeria Gobbetto, Sara Bertagnoli, Cristina Bulgarelli, Elena Rossato, Valentina Moro
Article
Neurosciences
Alisha Vabba, Maria Serena Panasiti, Marina Scattolin, Marco Spitaleri, Giuseppina Porciello, Salvatore Maria Aglioti
Summary: Research on thermal awareness is limited, although thermal body signals provide crucial information about the state of an organism and changes in body temperature may indicate affective states. This study developed a task to measure awareness of changes in peripheral body temperature and compared it to a classical heartbeat counting task. The results showed that different interceptive channels contribute separately to awareness of bodily states, and thermal interoceptive accuracy was associated with self-reported awareness of body temperature changes and the ability to regulate distress by focusing on body sensations.
JOURNAL OF NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Giorgia Malerba, Silvia Bellazzecca, Cosimo Urgesi, Niccolo Butti, Maria Grazia D'Angelo, Eleonora Diella, Emilia Biffi
Summary: This study evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of a rehabilitative intervention using virtual reality technology to improve the social prediction skills of patients with cerebellar disorders. The preliminary results showed the usability and tolerability of the VR application, suggesting its potential effectiveness in enhancing patients' social abilities. Further studies with a larger sample size are needed to assess the effectiveness of the intervention.
Article
Neurosciences
Niccolo Butti, Viola Oldrati, Elisabetta Ferrari, Romina Romaniello, Chiara Gagliardi, Renato Borgatti, Cosimo Urgesi
Summary: This research investigates the neuropsychological profile of Joubert syndrome (JS) compared to other congenital cerebellar malformations (CM). The findings reveal that JS patients have worse performance in visual-spatial memory compared to CM patients, although this difference is mitigated when considering IQ. These results highlight the distinct cognitive characteristics of JS and suggest a critical role of the cerebellum in recalling task-relevant memories.
Article
Neurosciences
Valentina Bianco, Alessandra Finisguerra, Cosimo Urgesi
Summary: This study found that action intention can be inferred from the kinematic features of movement and the contextual scenario in which the action occurs. Implicit learning of statistical regularities between events and contextual cues strongly influences action prediction. Additionally, the study revealed a association between individual autistic traits and the ability to leverage explicit learning mechanisms for perceptual information.
BRAIN AND COGNITION
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Valentina Cazzato, Carmelo M. Vicario, Cosimo Urgesi
Summary: The preference for body weight is influenced by hunger, as hungry individuals tend to prefer heavier body weights. However, this preference can be modified by individual differences in adiposity. These findings extend to both human and non-human stimuli, suggesting a general effect of hunger on aesthetic preference.