Frontiers in Human Neuroscience最新文献

Introduction: This study investigates the effects of visual distractors in virtual reality (VR) environments on sustained attention, focusing on how visual distraction modulates neural mechanisms of attentional allocation and regulation.

Methods: Behavioral and electroencephalographic (EEG) data were collected from 66 participants performing a Go/No-go continuous performance test (CPT) in a virtual classroom under conditions with (Y-D) and without (N-D) visual distractors. We analyzed behavioral performance (commission/omission errors, multipress, reaction time), event-related potential (P300) characteristics (latency, amplitude), and nonlinear dynamics (sample entropy, fuzzy entropy) of the EEG signals.

Results: Behavioral results revealed that visual distractors significantly increased commission errors, omission errors, and multipress (all p < 0.001), with no significant difference in reaction time. EEG analysis demonstrated that distractors significantly prolonged P300 latency, particularly at CPz, Pz, and Oz electrodes, and increased P300 amplitude at Fz, FCz, and Oz. Furthermore, both sample entropy and fuzzy entropy values were significantly higher under distraction conditions in the frontal, central, and parietal regions.

Discussion: These findings indicate that visual distractors disrupt cognitive processes related to visual information integration, attentional control, and decision-making, leading to decreased behavioral performance and increased neural complexity. This study deepens the understanding of the neural mechanisms of attention processing under ecological conditions and provides a scientific basis for optimizing educational environments and developing attention assessment tools based on neuroengineering.

Background: Maintaining postural stability during perturbations requires coordinated sensorimotor and interjoint coordination. This study investigated the effects of different feedback modalities (knowledge of results [KR] and continuous visual feedback) on postural adaptation during floor surface perturbations while standing.

Methods: Nineteen healthy young adults (mean age: 23.1 ± 1.2 years; 12 males) performed an arm-holding task while standing on a backward-translating force platform under five phases: baseline test, KR adaptation training, post-KR adaptation (P-KRA) test, visual adaptation training, and post-visual adaptation (P-VA) test. Endpoint position variability, center of pressure (COP), center of mass (COM), margin of stability (MOS), and interjoint coordination were compared among Baseline, P-KRA, and P-VA using a mixed-model repeated-measures analysis of variance.

Results: Compared to Baseline, endpoint position variability was significantly reduced in the P-VA at both perturbation offset (8.97 ± 1.04 mm vs. 15.35 ± 1.52 mm, p = 0.006) and 1.5 s after offset (14.39 ± 1.02 mm vs. 19.73 ± 1.71 mm, p = 0.027). The MOS at 1.5 s after offset was lower in P-VA (39.33 ± 4.28 mm) than in Baseline (58.04 ± 4.53 mm, p = 0.011), and the minimum MOS was significantly smaller in P-VA (32.20 ± 4.38 mm vs. 50.59 ± 4.26 mm, p = 0.011). Anticipatory COP displacement at onset in P-VA was significantly increased (14.11 ± 1.46 mm vs. 6.20 ± 0.89 mm, p < 0.001) and reduced peak forward COP displacement (89.42 ± 2.00 mm vs. 110.18 ± 3.35 mm, p < 0.001). The time to stability was shorter in P-VA (1,266.42 ± 68.29 ms) than in Baseline (1,525.78 ± 66.11 ms, p = 0.017). The cross-correlation coefficient between the elbow and ankle joints was significantly higher in P-VA than in Baseline (0.98 ± 0.01 vs. 0.89 ± 0.04, p = 0.014).

Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that continuous visual feedback adaptation may enhance arm-posture coordination during external perturbations in healthy young adults.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and near-death experiences (NDEs) represent profound disruptions in brain function, often associated with dramatic changes in consciousness, self-perception, and behavior. While these events are typically studied for their pathological consequences, a growing body of evidence suggests they may also trigger unexpected cognitive and creative enhancements in a subset of individuals. We explore the intersection between TBI, NDEs, and the emergence of heightened artistic expression, integrating findings from neuroanatomy, neuropathology, genetics, and phenomenology. We examine how alterations in key brain networks - such as the default mode network, frontoparietal circuits, and limbic regions - may underpin shifts in self-awareness, emotion processing, and symbolic thinking, which are frequently reported after NDEs or severe brain trauma. Additionally, we discuss the potential role of neuroplasticity, diaschisis, and compensatory reorganization in facilitating novel patterns of cognition and creative output following injury. Genetic factors potentially influencing susceptibility to such transformations are considered, alongside evolutionary perspectives on why these rare post-injury enhancements may occur. By synthesizing clinical cases, neuroscientific studies, and first-person accounts, we argue that certain brain injuries and altered states of consciousness can function as catalysts for reconfiguration of cognitive and emotional systems, leading to emergent artistic abilities or intensified creative insight. These phenomena challenge traditional dichotomies between damage and function, pathology and creativity, and invite new frameworks for understanding the plastic potential of the human brain. This overview-hypothesis driven article aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of how the mind and brain interact under extreme conditions and how these interactions may unlock hidden reservoirs of human potential. The paper highlights the need for systematic research into post-traumatic and NDE-related cognitive changes, not only to improve clinical outcomes but also to broaden our knowledge of human consciousness and creativity.

Introduction: Observing the actions of others activates the action observation network (AON). Although previous studies have reported that motor experience and visual familiarity with an observed action can modulate the AON activity, the response of the AON to the observation of unusual walking patterns remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the brain activity induced by observing walking in a split-belt condition, where the left and right treadmill belt speeds differ.

Methods: We examined the brain activity during the observation of video clips showing normal walking under a tied condition (the same left and right treadmill speeds) as well as walking during the initial and late periods of a split-belt condition using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 19 healthy adults. The step lengths of the actor walking in the video clips were asymmetric during the initial period of the split-belt condition and nearly symmetric during the tied condition and late period of the split-belt condition.

Results and discussion: Observing the walking video clips activated broad regions of the occipito-temporo-parietal and frontal cortices, irrespective of the clip conditions. The contrasts between the conditions revealed that observing walking in the initial and late periods of the split-belt condition induced stronger activation in a subset of the AON than in the tied condition. These results suggest that observing unusual walking patterns under asymmetric speed condition induces a stronger AON activity than normal walking.

Introduction: Patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness (pDoC) present significant challenges to the assessment of consciousness. This study investigated the clinical utility of motor imagery-based brain-computer interface (MI-BCI) for discriminating consciousness levels in patients with pDoC.

Methods: Thirty-one pDoC patients [12 with unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS) and 19 in a minimally conscious state (MCS)] underwent EEG recordings during resting state and MI-BCI training. The analysis focused on relative power spectral density across five frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, beta, gamma) in motor imagery-related regions (frontal and parietal cortices), along with BCI performance metrics (classification accuracy and attention indices).

Results: We found that MCS patients exhibited multiband neural oscillation modulation during MI-BCI tasks, including slow-wave enhancement [(delta in frontal lobes (p = 0.003); theta in frontal (p = 0.026) and parietal lobes (p < 0.001)) and fast-wave suppression (alpha in frontal (p < 0.001) and parietal lobes (p = 0.049); beta in frontal (p = 0.014) and parietal lobes (p = 0.001); gamma in parietal lobes (p = 0.023)]. In contrast, UWS patients only showed localized parietal gamma enhancement (p = 0.042). Notably, the MCS group achieved significantly higher classification accuracy (55% vs. 38%, p = 0.02), and attention indices correlated moderately with CRS-R scores across all patients (Spearman's ρ = 0.43, p = 0.02).

Conclusion: The findings suggest that MI-BCI classification accuracy and attention indices may serve as auxiliary discriminators between UWS and MCS patients, with MCS patients demonstrating superior responsiveness to MI-BCI training.

Osmotic demyelination syndrome (ODS), which embraces central pontine myelinolysis and extrapontine myelinolysis, is a well-known but uncommon disorder of the central nervous system. The disease primarily occurs after rapid correction of severe hyponatremia. However, excessive drinking is one of the rare etiologies of ODS. Cases of alcohol-related ODS without documented hyponatremia are rarely reported, and optimal therapeutic approaches remain unclear. We report a patient in his 30's with a history of heavy drinking who presented with unsteady gait and limb tremor as the main clinical manifestations. The patient consistently denied any history of fluid or electrolyte imbalances and reported a normal-range blood sodium level. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed triangular T2-weighted and FLAIR pontine hyperintensity with a surrounding DWI rim. Finally, the patient recovered completely following corticosteroid treatment. This case shows the possibility that Alcohol-related ODS can occur without electrolyte disturbances and may respond favorably to combined corticosteroid and vitamin B therapy, warranting further investigation in clinical studies. We conducted a literature review of ODS in alcoholic patients and summarized its possible etiology, epidemiology, clinical characteristics and treatment options to raise awareness of such disorders.

Introduction: Persons with aphasia (PWA) experience changes to feedback and feedforward speech motor control, though the impact on these subsystems has not yet been explored using different perturbation schedules. Here, we examine the magnitude of auditory-motor adaptive and corrective responses together in PWA using gradually and suddenly applied perturbation schedules.

Methods: Nine PWA and 12 neurotypical adults of similar age to the PWA (NT) completed gradual and sudden altered auditory feedback (AAF) paradigms to measure adaptive and corrective responses to formant perturbation (formants of/ε/shifted toward formants of/æ/). As a measure of the feedforward system, we calculated adaptive responses using the formant changes in the first 100 ms of production. As a measure of the feedback system, we calculated corrective responses based on the differences between the later portion of the production (200-300 ms) and the early portion of the vowel (0-100 ms). Our analyses revealed significant interactions between group and perturbation schedule.

Results: Adaptive and corrective responses of PWA were more similar to those of the NT group in the sudden perturbation schedule. Single-case comparisons of each PWA to the NT group identified different impairment patterns in adaptive and corrective responses during gradual and sudden AAF paradigms within PWA.

Discussion: These findings suggest that measuring adaptive and corrective responses using an adaptation paradigm in PWA is both viable and informative, as the PWA exhibited different impairments in adaptive and corrective responses across the two perturbation schedules. Outcome differences in response to sudden versus gradual perturbations for the PWA may be explained by difficulties with the detection of auditory errors during speech. Perhaps a sudden perturbation schedule improves the adaptive and corrective abilities of PWA by increasing their agency over their speech errors. More studies are needed to further elucidate the critical mechanisms of auditory-motor adaptive and corrective responses in PWA.

Introduction: Prism adaptation is a well-established paradigm for studying sensorimotor plasticity, known to produce not only motor after-effects but also changes in spatial cognition. Whether visuomotor rotation-a similar form of sensorimotor adaptation-elicits comparable cognitive transfer remains unclear.

Methods: Participants performed visuomotor rotation tasks involving either leftward or rightward 15° rotations. The perturbation was introduced either abruptly (within one trial) or gradually (over 34 trials). To assess potential cognitive transfer, participants completed a perceptual line bisection task before and after adaptation.

Results: No condition (leftward/rightward or abrupt/gradual) induced measurable cognitive after-effects in line bisection performance, indicating an absence of transfer from sensorimotor to spatial-cognitive domains. However, a novel finding emerged: visuomotor rotation enhanced participants' representational acuity, reflected in improved sensitivity when judging the midpoint of a line. This effect was most pronounced following gradual perturbations and persisted beyond the adaptation phase.

Discussion: These findings demonstrate a clear dissociation between the cognitive and perceptual consequences of visuomotor adaptation. Visuomotor rotation thus provides a reliable means to study sensorimotor plasticity without altering spatial representation-a methodological advantage for investigating populations with atypical spatial biases. The enhancement of representational acuity further suggests that sensorimotor learning can refine spatial discrimination independently of cognitive recalibration.

Background and objective: Most individuals with schizophrenia reside in the community, where they frequently encounter difficulties related to emotional problems and social functioning- critical areas of concern in the rehabilitation process. This study aims to investigate the effects of a comprehensive group music therapy intervention on the emotional state and social functioning of individuals with schizophrenia undergoing community rehabilitation.

Methods: A total of 28 individuals with schizophrenia in community rehabilitation were randomly assigned to either the music intervention group (n = 14) or the control group (n = 14). The music intervention group participated in an 8-week comprehensive group music therapy intervention, while the control group continued with routine family life. The music therapy program was culturally adapted to the local community context, incorporating familiar regional music and dialect. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) served as the primary outcome to assess affective changes, and the Social Disability Screening Schedule (SDSS) served as the secondary outcome to evaluate social functioning. Both measures were administered pre- and post-intervention. In addition, some participants in the intervention group completed semi-structured interviews to explore changes in social functioning and affect.

Results: Following the intervention, the music therapy group showed significant improvements in positive affect, social activities and self-care, as measured by the PANAS and SDSS, respectively. In contrast, no significant pre-post changes were observed in the control group. Semi-structured interviews further supported these findings, with participants in the intervention group reporting enhanced emotional state and improved social functioning.

Conclusion: Comprehensive group music therapy appears to be an effective intervention for improving emotional states and social functioning in individuals with schizophrenia engaged in community rehabilitation. This culturally adapted intervention model demonstrates its potential for broader application.

Emotions play a crucial role in shaping cognitive performance, yet their influence on programing remains understudied. This pilot study investigates the relationship between emotional states and coding task quality. Ten participants completed a programing task while their brain activity was recorded using electroencephalography (EEG), with frontal alpha asymmetry (FAI) applied as a neural marker of emotional valence. Emotional self-reports were collected using the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE), and coding quality was evaluated through a structured rubric. Preliminary findings indicate a potential association between FAI and coding performance, whereas self-reported affect showed weaker or inconsistent patterns. Given the small sample size (n = 10), these results should be interpreted as exploratory. Nevertheless, the study demonstrates the feasibility of integrating EEG-based emotional measures into software engineering research and lays the groundwork for larger-scale investigations into how emotions influence coding task quality.