Article
Neurosciences
Liwei Sun, Sebastian M. Frank, Russell A. Epstein, Peter U. Tse
Summary: Research using fMRI and MVPA found that the right parahippocampal place area and hippocampus encode the spatial significance of landmark objects in indoor spaces, with the neural representation of these objects systematically transforming according to their locations.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Andrea G. Russo, Michael Luhrs, Francesco Di Salle, Fabrizio Esposito, Rainer Goebel
Summary: Real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging neurofeedback (rt-fMRI-NF) is a novel approach that allows participants to navigate among different mental states. The study showed that participants successfully controlled the neural representation, which was found to be noise-dependent. Compared to traditional NF designs, this method provides content-specific feedback to participants.
JOURNAL OF NEURAL ENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Yaoda Xu, Maryam Vaziri-Pashkam
Summary: This study provides the first comprehensive documentation and comparison of tolerance measures in the human brain and CNNs, and finds that the human brain exhibits better object response preservation, consistency, and cross-decoding success compared to CNNs.
Article
Neurosciences
Ye-Lim Lim, Davis J. Lang, Rachel A. Diana
Summary: Episodic memories are coded neurally via the hippocampus and surrounding medial temporal lobe cortex. Similarity in voxel patterns in the hippocampus can predict later memory retrieval, but the cognitive goals during encoding might also affect the neural representations. This study found that variable cognitive tasks during encoding improved memory retrieval and altered the relationship between pattern similarity and memory success in the hippocampus.
Article
Robotics
Fangwen Yu, Yujie Wu, Songchen Ma, Mingkun Xu, Hongyi Li, Huanyu Qu, Chenhang Song, Taoyi Wang, Rong Zhao, Luping Shi
Summary: The research report introduces a brain-inspired general place recognition system called NeuroGPR, which enables robots to recognize places in natural environments by mimicking the neural mechanism of multimodal sensing, encoding, and computing. The system utilizes a multimodal hybrid neural network to encode and integrate cues from different sensors, and a multiscale liquid state machine to process and fuse the information. Experimental results show that NeuroGPR performs well in various environmental conditions.
Article
Neurosciences
Miriam E. Weaverdyck, Mark A. Thornton, Diana Tamir
Summary: The study found that people use stable models of mental states across different individuals and contexts to understand the mental states of others.
Article
Neurosciences
David J. Acunzo, Daniel M. Low, Scott L. Fairhall
Summary: This study used fMRI to record the neural activity of participants while reading sentences and found that certain brain regions more strongly represent the topic-level meaning of sentences compared to word-level meaning. These results highlight the importance of semantic system regions in the representation of topic-level meaning.
Article
Neurosciences
Zhiyao Gao, Li Zheng, Andre Gouws, Katya Krieger-Redwood, Xiuyi Wang, Dominika Varga, Jonathan Smallwood, Elizabeth Jefferies
Summary: How concepts are coded in the brain and how this coding changes according to context were investigated in this study. Using neuroimaging and computational linguistics, the researchers found that different brain regions showed distinct patterns of activity when processing related concepts. Furthermore, the similarity of activation patterns was also related to the strength of associations.
Article
Neurosciences
Miriam E. Schwyck, Meng Du, Pratishta Natarajan, John Andrew Chwe, Carolyn Parkinson
Summary: Research shows that people encode information about others' social network centrality, regardless of whether they are familiar or unfamiliar. This encoding is associated with regions involved in visual attention and mentalizing. This suggests that we automatically consider others' network importance when interacting with them.
SOCIAL COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Karen Meersmans, Gerrit Storms, Simon De Deyne, Rose Bruffaerts, Patrick Dupont, Rik Vandenberghe
Summary: This study used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the effects of attention on the semantic representations of word meaning. The results showed that orienting attention to different dimensions of word meaning influences the neural activity patterns, particularly in peripheral brain regions.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Irem Undeger, Renee M. Visser, Nina Becker, Lieke de Boer, Armita Golkar, Andreas Olsson
Summary: Previous research has shown that attributions of intentions to other's actions influence our experience of these actions and their consequences. In an interactive threat learning paradigm, participants perceived intentional partners as causing more threat and reported increased anger and vengeance. Neural pattern formation was found to represent the threat value of actions rather than intentionality in blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD)-MRI patterns.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Kenji Kobayashi, Joseph W. Kable, Ming Hsu, Adrianna C. Jenkins
Summary: This study found that the human lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) represents the content of stereotypes about members of different social groups and plays an important role in social decision-making.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Biology
Corey Fernandez, Jiefeng Jiang, Shao-Fang Wang, Hannah Lee Choi, Anthony D. Wagner, Chris Baker
Summary: As we learn, dynamic memory processes help us build structured knowledge that allows us to navigate and achieve goals. Recent research suggests that both differentiation and integration mechanisms contribute to the formation of structured knowledge, and their variability affects navigation efficiency.
Article
Neurosciences
Wilma A. Bainbridge, Elizabeth H. Hall, Chris Baker
Summary: During memory recall and visual imagery, reinstatement is believed to occur by echoing neural patterns from encoding. This study used ultra-high-field functional magnetic resonance imaging to compare encoding and recall processes, finding decodable information at all levels of granularity during encoding, but primarily at the coarse level with some fine-level information during recall. Results suggest that visual recall displays a different representational structure and localization from encoding.
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Muhammad Yousefnezhad, Jeffrey Sawalha, Alessandro Selvitella, Daoqiang Zhang
Summary: This research introduces a new method, Deep Representational Similarity Learning (DRSL), for analyzing similarities between different cognitive tasks in fMRI datasets. Unlike previous methods, DRSL uses a multi-layer neural network to implement customized nonlinear transformations for each subject and significantly reduces analysis time.
Article
Neurosciences
Sabrina Pitzalis, Chiara Serra, Valentina Sulpizio, Giorgia Committeri, Francesco de Pasquale, Patrizia Fattori, Claudio Galletti, Rosamaria Sepe, Gaspare Galati
HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING
(2020)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Sara Di Marco, Patrizia Fattori, Gaspare Galati, Claudio Galletti, Markus Lappe, Teresa Maltempo, Chiara Serra, Valentina Sulpizio, Sabrina Pitzalis
Summary: The study found that certain cortical regions exhibit a significant preference for curved path motion or forward motion, suggesting a differentiated role in the visual guidance of locomotion.
Article
Neurosciences
Grazia Fernanda Spitoni, Giorgio Pireddu, Valerio Zanellati, Beatrice Dionisi, Gaspare Galati, Luigi Pizzamiglio
Summary: This study used tDCS to investigate the role of rAG in processing tactile distance estimation and suggested its potential involvement in visual distance discrimination on the body. The findings support the significance of rAG in body representation.
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Teresa Maltempo, Sabrina Pitzalis, Martina Bellagamba, Sara Di Marco, Patrizia Fattori, Gaspare Galati, Claudio Galletti, Valentina Sulpizio
Summary: The study revealed asymmetry in the vertical dimension of the visual field (VF) in the area hPEc, with this area showing stronger activation for limb movements directed towards visual targets located in the lower VF compared to the upper VF. This confirms the role of PEc in processing visual information to guide body interaction with the external environment, including locomotion. Additionally, a contralateral dominance for the lower VF preference was observed in the foot selective somatomotor cortex anterior to hPEc, suggesting the role of this cortex in providing topographically organized signals for achieving an appropriate foot posture during locomotion.
BRAIN STRUCTURE & FUNCTION
(2021)
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Maddalena Boccia, Valentina Sulpizio, Federica Bencivenga, Cecilia Guariglia, Gaspare Galati
Summary: The study shows that spatial information is widely coded in the high-level visual cortex during perception and imagery, with visual information being coded in both preferred and non-preferred regions of the HVC, supporting a distributed view of encoding.
BRAIN STRUCTURE & FUNCTION
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Federica Bencivenga, Valentina Sulpizio, Maria Giulia Tullo, Gaspare Galati
Summary: The study used Dynamic Causal Modelling (DCM) and Parametrical Empirical Bayes (PEB) analyses to evaluate the coupling between different brain regions during grasping process. The results showed that during actual grasping, aIPs, PMv, and M1 were serially involved, with PMv exerting a positive influence on PMd and SMA. In contrast, during grasping imagery, the connection strength from aIPs to PMv was weaker, indicating a simpler motor program planned.
Article
Clinical Neurology
V. Sulpizio, M. Berchicci, F. Di Russo, G. Galati, M. G. Grasso, M. Iosa, G. Lucci, S. Paolucci, M. Ripani, Sabrina Pitzalis
Summary: The use of Passive and Fully Articulated Exoskeleton has been shown to improve mobility, response accuracy and ambulation in MS patients. Rehabilitation intervention with HBP can help normalize prefrontal activity and mitigate cortical hyperactivity associated with MS.
Review
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Francesca Strappini, Gaspare Galati, Anna Pecchinenda
Summary: A systematic review of empirical evidence on the behavioral effects of emotion on pseudoneglect showed mixed results, indicating that emotion may indeed modulate pseudoneglect but the direction of the effect remains unclear.
Article
Neurosciences
Sara Di Marco, Valentina Sulpizio, Martina Bellagamba, Patrizia Fattori, Gaspare Galati, Claudio Galletti, Markus Lappe, Teresa Maltempo, Sabrina Pitzalis
Summary: This study used fMRI to investigate the integration of egomotion-related visual signals with somatomotor inputs from leg movements during heading changes. The results showed that certain regions were sensitive to congruent or incongruent stimuli, suggesting their involvement in multisensory integration processes for guiding or adjusting leg movements.
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Maria Giulia Tullo, Hannes Almgren, Frederik Van de Steen, Valentina Sulpizio, Daniele Marinazzo, Gaspare Galati
Summary: Successful navigation relies on the ability to identify, perceive, and correctly process the spatial structure of a scene. Visual mental imagery plays a crucial role in navigation and is associated with the activity of relevant brain regions. This study investigated the intrinsic causal interactions among scene-selective brain regions and found that the strength of connectivity between these regions correlated with individual differences in mental imagery ability.
BRAIN STRUCTURE & FUNCTION
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Maddalena Boccia, Sonia Barbetti, Federica Valentini, Carmela De Angelis, Antonio Tanzilli, Valentina Fabio, Cecilia Guariglia, Gaspare Galati, Rita Formisano, Maria Paola Ciurli
Summary: Slowness of information processing (SIP) is commonly observed after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Previous research has highlighted the importance of white matter damage in SIP, but there is limited knowledge about the comprehensive and ecological assessment of SIP in TBI. In this study, a combination of ecological assessment and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) was used to examine the fractional anisotropy (FA) maps of individuals. Results showed that TBI patients with SIP had lower FA values in various white matter regions, providing a more comprehensive and ecological perspective on SIP in TBI.
NEUROLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Daniele Armocida, Luca D'Angelo, Luigi Valentino Berra, Alessandro Pesce, Veronica di Palma, Gaspare Galati, Alessandro Frati, Antonio Santoro
Summary: Contrary to popular belief, performing awake surgery for AVMs in eloquent areas does not pose increased intraoperative risks. However, it appears to significantly improve patient outcomes from the 30th postoperative day onwards.
WORLD NEUROSURGERY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Federica Bencivenga, Maria Giulia Tullo, Teresa Maltempo, Alessandro von Gal, Chiara Serra, Sabrina Pitzalis, Gaspare Galati
Summary: Despite extensive research, the functional architecture of the subregions of the dorsal posterior parietal cortex (PPC) involved in sensorimotor processing is still unclear. This study provides a thorough understanding of the large-scale functional organization of the PPC and the fronto-parietal networks involved in visuomotor functions. The findings reveal differential associations between different subregions of the PPC and other brain areas during the execution of different movements, suggesting a finely regulated functioning of the action-specific fronto-parietal networks.
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Alberto Costa, Umberto Bivona, Valentina Sulpizio, Raffaele Nappo, Ludovica Mastrilli, Rita Formisano, Marta Aloisi, Marianna Contrada, Carlo Caltagirone, Gaspare Galati
Summary: This study investigated perspective taking ability in individuals with severe acquired brain injury (sABI). The results showed that individuals with sABI had reduced visual-spatial perspective taking compared to healthy controls. The findings suggest potential implications for rehabilitative interventions in sABI.
ARCHIVES OF CLINICAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Experimental
Hamed Taheri Gorji, Michela Leocadi, Francesco Grassi, Gaspare Galati
Summary: Humans exhibit significant individual differences in navigation skills and spatial memory. The study revealed that the intentional instruction group outperformed the other group, showing better performance in pair-matching tasks and making fewer memory errors. This suggests that intentional instructions may lead to more efficient navigation strategies.
COGNITIVE PROCESSING
(2021)