Article
Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology
Aleksandra A. W. Dopierala, David Lopez Perez, Evelyne Mercure, Agnieszka Pluta, Anna Malinowska-Korczak, Samuel Evans, Tomasz Wolak, Przemyslaw Tomalski
Summary: From birth, we learn speech by both hearing and seeing people talk. The cortical representations of visual speech in adults are processed in the temporal visual speech area (TVSA), but how these representations develop is unknown. In this study, we used functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy to measure infants' cortical responses to silent visual syllables and mouth movements. Our results suggest that cortical specialization for visual speech may begin to emerge during infancy. The TVSA showed activity to both visual syllables and mouth movements at around 5 months of age, but exhibited more activity for mouth movements than visual syllables at around 10 months of age. Multivariate pattern analysis successfully classified distinct cortical responses to visual speech and mouth movements at 10 months, but not at 5 months. These findings indicate that cortical representations of visual speech change between 5 and 10 months of age, with the TVSA initially being broadly tuned and becoming more selective with age.
BRAIN AND LANGUAGE
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Aleksandra A. W. Dopierala, David Lopez Perez, Evelyne Mercure, Agnieszka Pluta, Anna Malinowska-Korczak, Samuel Evans, Tomasz Wolak, Przemyslaw Tomalski
Summary: The study investigates the development of cortical responses to the integration of audiovisual speech in infants. It finds that both 5-month-olds and 10-month-olds show cortical responses consistent with both super- and sub-additive responses in the fronto-temporal cortex during integration. Additionally, it suggests a potential cortical re-organization of audiovisual speech perception at 10 months.
Article
Neurosciences
Vera Mateus, Ana Osorio, Helga O. Miguel, Sara Cruz, Adriana Sampaio
Summary: This study investigated the relationship between maternal sensitivity and infants' cortical activation patterns to touch, with findings indicating that infants of less sensitive mothers showed different neural responses when processing tactile stimuli.
SOCIAL COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Guangfang Liu, Endi Huo, Haihong Liu, Gaoding Jia, Yingxu Zhi, Qi Dong, Haijing Niu
Summary: Cerebral asymmetry is an important feature of functional organization in the human brain and has been found to emerge in early infancy. The study revealed leftward asymmetries in local and global network efficiency in infants aged 3-6 months and 6-9 months, demonstrating the developmental progression of functional network asymmetries. The findings suggest that functional asymmetric organization in early infancy lays a critical foundation for later brain functions.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Jake R. Tennant, Meaghan S. Adams, Katlyn E. Brown, W. Richard Staines
Summary: This study found impairments in the ability to up-regulate relevant somatosensory information at early processing stages in individuals with a history of concussions. These effects appear to be chronic and persist several years after the most recent concussion. The findings support the vulnerability of the prefrontal cortex to concussive forces.
CLINICAL NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Yingying Hou, Dingning Zhang, Xiaorong Gan, Yi Hu
Summary: Group decision-making shows a shift towards extreme compared to individual decision-making. Previous studies have identified two directions of group polarization, risky shift and cautious shift, but the underlying mechanisms driving these shifts are still unknown. This study used risk advantage and disadvantage situations to induce group polarization of risky shift and cautious shift, and examined inter-brain synchronization among participant triads during group decision-making. The results showed that group polarizations were accompanied by enhanced inter-brain synchronization in the bilateral prefrontal areas and left temporoparietal junction. Emotional and cognitive adjustments were observed in group decision-making compared to individuals, with different brain activities associated with different shifts.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Ishara Paranawithana, Darren Mao, Colette M. McKay, Yan T. Wong
Summary: This study analyzed the changes in functional connectivity of language areas in normal hearing infants at different ages using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. The results showed that the connectivity with primary language regions significantly strengthens with age in the first year of life. This research is important for understanding the effects of altered connectivity on language delays in infants with hearing impairments.
JOURNAL OF NEURAL ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yusuke Nakashima, So Kanazawa, Masami K. Yamaguchi
Summary: According to the study, infants under 7 months of age are immune to visual backward masking and have immature recurrent processing. Therefore, they are able to perceive objects even without recurrent processing.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Hanxuan Zhao, Can Zhang, Ruiwen Tao, Haiju Duan, Sihua Xu
Summary: This study investigated the group decision-making inclination under uncertainty with partners in different interpersonal relationships using the turn-based Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). The results revealed that dyads in the friend group exhibited an aversion to uncertainty. By utilizing the fNIRS-based hyperscanning approach, the researchers also uncovered inter-brain synchronization patterns at the prefrontal cortex (PFC). These findings demonstrated the behavioral responses and inter-brain synchronization patterns underlying group decision-making under uncertainty with partners in different interpersonal relationships.
Review
Behavioral Sciences
Marta Ghio, Cristina Cara, Marco Tettamanti
Summary: Despite evidence suggesting foetal ability to process and respond to sounds and speech stimuli, understanding the prenatal brain maturation of language responsiveness remains limited. Recent advances in foetal neuroimaging have provided a detailed understanding of the anatomical and functional development of auditory and language-related networks. This research highlights the importance of studying the prenatal readiness for speech processing in predicting postnatal language acquisition abilities and disabilities.
NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Li Chen, Yuzhu Qu, Jingya Cao, Tianyu Liu, Yulai Gong, Zilei Tian, Jing Xiong, Zhenfang Lin, Xin Yang, Tao Yin, Fang Zeng
Summary: This study examined the inter-brain mechanism of patient-acupuncturist dyad during acupuncture stimulation. The results showed that increased inter-brain neural synchronization in the prefrontal cortex was observed during verum acupuncture, and positively correlated with the needling sensations of patients.
HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Esra Al, Fivos Iliopoulos, Vadim V. Nikulin, Arno Villringer
Summary: Our perception of the external world is influenced by internal bodily signals, including the timing of stimulation along the cardiac cycle and fluctuations of heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP) amplitudes. These internal signals affect somatosensory perception and neural processing. Additionally, increased conscious perception seems to be associated with HEP fluctuations in certain brain regions, while engagement in somatosensory tasks leads to decreased HEP amplitudes.
Article
Neurosciences
Christopher Copeland, Mukul Mukherjee, Yingying Wang, Kaitlin Fraser, Jorge M. Zuniga
Summary: This study found differences in neural responses between children using prostheses and prosthetic simulators, with simulators potentially eliciting increased reliance on proprioceptive and tactile feedback.
Article
Neurosciences
Rihui Li, Naama Mayseless, Stephanie Balters, Allan L. Reiss
Summary: The study proposed a data-driven approach based on sliding windows and k-mean clustering to capture the dynamic modulation of IBS patterns during interactive cooperation tasks. The results indicated that interpersonal communication during naturalistic cooperation generally presented with a series of dynamic IBS states.
Article
Neurosciences
Xiaojun Cheng, Yujiao Zhu, Yinying Hu, Xiaolin Zhou, Yafeng Pan, Yi Hu
Summary: This study investigates the influence of social status on trust and the neural mechanisms behind it. The results demonstrate that individuals are more willing to cooperate with high-status partners and gradually increase their investment ratio during trust interaction. The low-high status group shows increased brain synchronization between the investor and trustee, as well as decreased brain activation in the investor, which can predict investment performance in the early stages.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Sara Cruz, Karin Lifter, Catarina Barros, Rita Vieira, Adriana Sampaio
Summary: This article presents a literature review on the neural and psychophysiological correlates of social communication development in infancy. It describes studies that examine infants' brain activity and developments in sensory processing, motor, cognitive, language, and emotional abilities, and their relation to the underlying neuropsychophysiological processes. The article also presents studies that consider age-related characteristics during the infancy period. Evidence suggests that specific neural and physiological signatures accompany social communication development during the first 18 months of life.
APPLIED NEUROPSYCHOLOGY-CHILD
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Vera Mateus, Ana Osorio, Helga O. Miguel, Sara Cruz, Adriana Sampaio
Summary: This study investigated the relationship between maternal sensitivity and infants' cortical activation patterns to touch, with findings indicating that infants of less sensitive mothers showed different neural responses when processing tactile stimuli.
SOCIAL COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Educational
Pedro T. Palhares, Diogo Branco, Oscar F. Goncalves
Summary: Mind wandering plays a complex role in the creative process, potentially benefiting creative cognition but also posing negative effects. Studies have shown that mind wandering during musical improvisation may increase musical creativity. However, overall improvisational quality is not affected by mind wandering.
PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSIC
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Natalia Almeida-Antunes, Luis Anton-Toro, Alberto Crego, Rui Rodrigues, Adriana Sampaio, Eduardo Lopez-Caneda
Summary: Alcohol attentional bias is considered a significant marker of alcohol misuse. Recent research has suggested that brain functional connectivity may be an important indicator of brain networks' integrity in young binge drinkers. This study used electroencephalographic activity to explore the functional connectivity underlying alcohol attention bias in young binge drinkers. The results showed specific patterns of connectivity in the brain when processing alcohol-related images, which were associated with alcohol craving levels. These findings provide important clinical implications for the treatment of alcohol misuse.
Article
Neurosciences
Kosar Khaksari, Elizabeth G. Smith, Helga O. Miguel, Selin Zeytinoglu, Nathan Fox, Amir H. Gandjbakhche
Summary: Brain lateralization occurs during action execution, but is not affected when observing another person's action. Hand preference and dexterity are related to brain lateralization patterns.
FRONTIERS IN HUMAN NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Review
Behavioral Sciences
Augusto J. Mendes, Kevin Pacheco-Barrios, Alberto Lema, Oscar F. Goncalves, Felipe Fregni, Jorge Leite, Sandra Carvalho
Summary: This meta-analysis examined the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on P3 amplitude and latency. The results showed that anodal stimulation over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and right inferior frontal gyrus increased parietal P3 amplitude during oddball and n-back tasks, suggesting the potential usefulness of parietal P3 ERP as a marker for tDCS-induced effects.
NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Biological
Lucie Lenglart, Alice Cartaud, Francois Quesque, Adriana Sampaio, Yann Coello
Summary: Previous studies have shown that objects in the peripersonal space (PPS) receive enhanced attention compared with objects in extrapersonal space (EPS). The present study found that self-owned objects are processed faster than other-owned objects, especially in the PPS, with biases in reachability judgements and an extension of the PPS representation for individuals with high scores on the fantasy scale of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Additionally, there is a progressive shift from an egocentric to an allocentric frame-of-reference when moving from the PPS to EPS, regardless of object ownership.
QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Anabela Silva-Fernandes, Sara Cruz, Celia Sofia Moreira, Diana R. Pereira, Sonia S. Sousa, Adriana Sampaio, Joana Carvalho
Summary: This study found a significant relationship between physical activity levels and cognitive functioning in older adults. Physical active older adults performed better in processing speed, executive functions, and language abilities. Processing speed mediated the relationship between physical activity and executive functioning and long-term memory.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Experimental
Diana R. Pereira, Ana C. Teixeira-Santos, Adriana Sampaio, Ana P. Pinheiro
Summary: This meta-analysis examined the effects of valence and arousal on source memory accuracy and identified variables that moderate these effects. The findings showed that emotional stimuli impaired source memory accuracy, while stimuli with high and medium arousal improved source memory. Methodological factors were found to modulate the emotion effects on source memory.
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Patricia Oliveira-Silva, Liliana Maia, Joana Coutinho, Ana Filipa Moreno, Lucia Penalba, Brandon Frank, Jose Miguel Soares, Adriana Sampaio, Oscar F. Goncalves
Summary: Empathy, the ability to understand and share another person's feelings, is crucial for social interactions. Recent studies suggest that the Default Mode Network (DMN) plays an important role in empathy-related behaviors. This study examines the relationship between empathic responses and DMN activity, finding that high levels of empathy are associated with sustained DMN activation.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Dongha Lee, Raquel Guiomar, Oscar F. Goncalves, Jorge Almeida, Ana Ganho-Avila
Summary: This study investigated the effects of cathodal tDCS stimulation to the right dlPFC on neural activity and connectivity patterns during delayed fear extinction. The results showed that tDCS increased classification accuracy of threat and safe cues and enhanced functional connectivity between the insula and dlPFC.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Diogo Branco, Oscar F. Goncalves, Sergi Bermudez I Badia
Summary: Standardized Emotion Elicitation Database (SEEDs) are used to study emotions in controlled laboratory settings by replicating real-life emotions. The International Affective Pictures System (IAPS) is a popular SEED that contains 1182 colored images as stimuli. This review examines 69 studies that validate the IAPS through self-report and physiological data, and discusses cross-age, cross-cultural, and sex differences. Overall, the IAPS is a robust instrument for emotion elicitation worldwide.
Review
Psychology, Clinical
Courtney L. Irwin, Patricia S. Coelho, Bruno Kluwe-Schiavon, Anabela Silva-Fernandes, Oscar F. Goncalves, Jorge Leite, Sandra Carvalho
Summary: This article reviews the effect of non-pharmacological treatments on molecular biomarker levels in patients with major depressive disorder. Although there is little consensus on the association between molecular biomarkers and symptomology or treatment response, brain metabolites accessed through molecular biomarker-focused neuroimaging techniques may provide promising information on positive response to non-pharmacological treatments.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
