International Journal of Psychophysiology最新文献

Objective

Some studies have hypothesized that atypical neural synchronization at the delta frequency band in the auditory cortex is associated with phonological and language skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but it is still poorly understood. This study investigated this neural activity and addressed the relationships between auditory response and behavioral measures of children with ASD.

Methods

We used magnetoencephalography and individual brain models to investigate 2 Hz Auditory Steady-State Response (ASSR) in 20 primary-school-aged children with ASD and 20 age-matched typically developing (TD) controls.

Results

First, we found a between-group difference in the localization of the auditory response, so as the topology of 2 Hz ASSR was more superior and posterior in TD children when comparing to children with ASD. Second, the power of 2 Hz ASSR was reduced in the ASD group. Finally, we observed a significant association between the amplitude of neural response and language skills in children with ASD.

Conclusions

The study provided the evidence of reduced neural response in children with ASD and its relation to language skills.

Significance

These findings may inform future interventions targeting auditory and language impairments in ASD population.

The current study examined how individual differences in error-related brain activity might moderate the association between high trait neuroticism and internalizing symptoms. Data were collected from a sample of high-achieving young adults (N = 188) as part of a larger study on risk versus resiliency for psychopathology. Participants completed two behavioral tasks to elicit the error-related negativity (ERN): an arrow Flanker task and a Go/No-Go task. Analyses were constrained to two internalizing symptom dimensions of checking behavior and irritability. Contrary to expectations, ERN amplitude was not related to symptom severity at the bivariate level. However, ERN amplitude moderated the association between trait neuroticism and symptoms of ill temper, such that the neuroticism-irritability association was strongest among individuals with a blunted ERN. In addition, this finding was relatively consistent across tasks and across two complementary methods of scoring the ERN, suggesting an effect of ERN variance that is shared between tasks and that is relatively robust regarding processing differences. In all, the current study represents the first attempt to investigate how the ERN interacts with trait neuroticism to predict transdiagnostic symptom dimensions in adulthood.

The process of stabilization and storage of memories, known as consolidation, can be modulated by different interventions. Research has shown that self-regulation of brain activity through Neurofeedback (NFB) during the consolidation phase significantly impacts memory stabilization. While some studies have successfully modulated the consolidation phase using traditional EEG-based Neurofeedback (NFB) that focuses on general parameters, such as training a specific frequency band at particular electrodes, they often overlook the unique and complex neurodynamics that underlie each memory content in different individuals, potentially limiting the selective modulation of memories.

The main objective of this study is to investigate the effects of a Subject-Dependent NFB (SD-NFB), based on individual models created from the brain activity of each participant, on long-term declarative memories. Participants underwent an experimental protocol involving three sessions. In the first session, they learned images of faces and houses while their brain activity was recorded. This EEG data was used to create individualized models to identify brain patterns related to learning these images. Participants were then divided into three groups, with one group receiving SD-NFB to enhance brain activity linked to faces, another to houses, and a CONTROL sham group that did not receive SD-NFB.

Memory performance was evaluated 24 h and seven days later using an ‘old-new’ recognition task, where participants distinguished between ‘old’ and ‘new’ images. The results showed that memory contents (faces or houses) whose brain patterns were trained via SD-NFB scored lower in recognition compared to untrained contents, as evidenced 24 h and seven days post-training.

In summary, this study demonstrates that SD-NFB can selectively impact the consolidation of specific declarative memories. This technique could hold significant implications for clinical applications, potentially aiding in the modulation of declarative memory strength in neuropsychiatric disorders where memories are pathologically exacerbated.

Attention is comprised of three independent and interacting attention networks: phasic alertness, orienting, and executive control. Previous studies have explored event-related potentials associated with these attention networks and executive vigilance, there is a lack of research on the relationship between executive vigilance and the three attention networks. However, there is a lack of research on the relationship between executive vigilance and the three attention networks. The present study aims to investigate this relationship. Based on the theory of cognitive resource control, two experimental blocks were designed with the vigilance task as the control variable. A total of 39 participants completed both ANTI and ANTI-V trials (two variants of the traditional attention network test ANT) in the same period. Through analysis of behavior measures (RT) and electrophysiological results related to phasic alertness (N1, P2, and contingent negative variation), orienting (P1, N1, and P3), and executive control (N2 and slow positive potential), we found that the reaction time of the ANTI block was lower than that of the ANTI-V block under all conditions, This suggests that adding a vigilance task may lead to reduced allocation of attention resources across all three attention networks. Furthermore, the orienting ability was weaker in the ANTI-V experimental block compared to that in the ANTI block due to effects on P1 and P3 regulation by the vigilance task. The N2 amplitude of the ANTI-V block was consistently reduced under similar conditions, indicating a weakening of executive control ability. The electrophysiological results revealed that executive vigilance inhibited the component of early attention perception related to the orienting network and was also related to the ability to detect conflict in the executive control network.

The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) is implicated in top-down regulation of emotion, but the detailed network mechanisms require further elucidation. To investigate network-level functions of the dlPFC in emotion regulation, this study measured changes in task-based activation, resting-state and task-based functional connectivity (FC) patterns following suppression of dlPFC excitability by 1-Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). In a sham-controlled within-subject design, 1-Hz active or sham rTMS was applied to the right dlPFC of 19 healthy volunteers during two separate counterbalanced sessions. Following active and sham rTMS, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was conducted in the resting state (rs-fMRI) and during approach–avoidance task responses to pictures with positive and negative emotional content (task-based fMRI). Activation and generalized psychophysiological interaction analyses were performed on task-based fMRI, and seed-based FC analysis was applied to rs-fMRI data. Task-based fMRI revealed greater and more lateralized activation in the right hemisphere during negative picture responses compared to positive picture responses. After active rTMS, greater activation was observed in the left middle prefrontal cortex compared to sham rTMS. Further, rTMS reduced response times and error rates in approach to positive pictures compared to negative pictures. Significant FC changes due to rTMS were observed predominantly in the frontoparietal network (FPN) and visual network (VN) during the task, and in the default mode network (DMN) and VN at rest. Suppression of right dlPFC activity by 1-Hz rTMS alters large-scale neural networks and modulates emotion, supporting potential applications for the treatment of mood disorders.

Sensory memory traces are assessed via oddball paradigms in which deviant (infrequent) stimuli are interspersed into a string of standard (frequent) stimuli. Once a memory trace for the standard is established, the deviant spurs a change detection response measured via the resulting event related potential (ERP). Response magnitude is sensitive to the differences in stimuli properties or categories and influenced by individual experience. The goal of the present study was to use ERPs to test the relation between individual digits in the somatosensory cortex and the extent to which digit representations are influenced by individual differences in experience such as independent mobility and playing video games. The present study of 60 undergraduates utilized a passive tactile oddball paradigm, stimulating the thumb, middle, and little fingers. The oddball paradigm was fully matched with each digit serving as the standard and deviant. A temporal principal component analysis (tPCA) identified factors that matched three a priori ERP components: N80, somatosensory mismatch negativity (sMMN), and P300. Analyses confirmed the anticipated differences between standards and deviants and provided some support for prior ERP work suggesting the thumb is in a different functional category than the other digits. Independent control of individual digits (such as the little finger) was positively related to only one aspect of the ERP (P3a) while video game experience was not associated with ERP differences. Cumulatively, these results provide a more nuanced examination of tactile oddball paradigms and how ERP methods can shed light on the relations between different digits.

The transition to adolescence is characterized by rapid development of puberty, reward processing, and internalizing psychopathology (i.e., depression and anxiety). More advanced pubertal status and altered reward processing are both known to be associated with elevated internalizing symptoms. However, it was unclear to what extent pubertal status and reward processing interacted with each other in predicting internalizing psychopathology. We examined how the puberty-psychopathology association was moderated by the reward processing indexed by ERPs, including the reward positivity (RewP) and the late positive potential (LPP). A-hundred-and-fifteen nine-to-12-year-old typically developing youths (66 girls; Mean age/SD =10.98/1.18 years) reported their pubertal status and symptoms of depression and social anxiety and completed an EEG Doors task that assessed monetary reward feedback processing. A principal component analysis of the ERP data identified a RewP, an anterior LPP, and a posterior LPP, elicited by the win and loss feedback of the task. The puberty-social anxiety relationship was moderated by the RewP, an identified neural marker of reward sensitivity. Specifically, more advanced puberty was associated with heightened social anxiety symptoms in the presence of a larger, but not smaller, RewP. We did not observe any moderating effect of the LPPs. Our study provided novel evidence that a hypersensitivity toward the reward stimuli (indexed by an enlarged RewP) further exacerbated the risks associated with more advanced pubertal status for social anxiety.

Cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES) is a form of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) that has demonstrated potential to modulate neural activity in a manner that may be conducive to improved cognitive performance. While other forms of NIBS, such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), have received attention in the field as potential acute cognitive enhancers, CES remains relatively unexplored. The current study aimed to assess the efficacy of CES in improving acute cognitive performance under normal experimental conditions, as well as during sessions of induced situational anxiety (threat of shock or ToS). To study this question, participants completed a cognitive battery assessing processing speed and distinct aspects of executive functioning (working memory, inhibition, and task switching) in two separate sessions in which they received active and sham CES. Participants were randomly assigned to between subject groups of either situational anxiety (ToS) or control condition (no ToS). We predicted that active CES would improve performance on assessments of executive functioning (working memory, inhibition, and task switching) relative to sham CES under ToS. We did not find any significant effects of ToS, CES, or an interaction between ToS and CES for any measures of executive functioning or processing speed. These findings suggest that a single dose of CES does not enhance executive functioning or processing speed under normal conditions or during ToS.

Lower cardiovascular reactivity is a proposed marker of motivational dysregulation and is related to a range of adverse behavioural and health outcomes. Social participation is a form of motivated behaviour and represents the frequency in which an individual engages in social activities. Low social participation has recently been linked to lower cardiovascular responses to acute psychological stress. With recent work emphasizing the importance of assessing adaptation of the cardiovascular response to recurrent stress, the aim of the current study is to build on previous work by examining the relationship between social participation and cardiovascular stress response adaptation. This study utilised data from the Pittsburgh Cold Study 3 (PCS 3). Two hundred and thirteen participants (M = 30.13; SD = 10.85) completed a social participation measure and had their systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and heart rate (HR) monitored across two separate standardized stress testing sessions. The testing sessions consisted of a 20-minute baseline and a 15-minute stress task. Results indicated that higher levels of social participation were associated with greater blood pressure habituation to recurrent stress, extending previous work identifying that social participation was associated with higher cardiovascular responses to stress. The present study identifies that those reporting greater levels of social participation may show enhanced stress tolerance when exposed to recurrent stress.

The human brain shows distinct lateralized activation patterns for a range of cognitive processes. One such function, which is thought to be lateralized to the right hemisphere (RH), is human face processing. Its importance for social communication and interaction has led to a plethora of studies investigating face processing in health and disease. Temporally highly resolved methods, like event-related potentials (ERPs), allow for a detailed characterization of different processing stages and their specific lateralization patterns. This systematic review aimed at disentangling some of the contradictory findings regarding the RH specialization in face processing focusing on ERP research in healthy participants. Two databases were searched for studies that investigated left and right electrodes while participants viewed (mostly neutral) facial stimuli. The included studies used a variety of different tasks, which ranged from passive viewing to memorizing faces. The final data selection highlights, that strongest lateralization to the RH was found for the N170, especially for right-handed young male participants. Left-handed, female, and older participants showed less consistent lateralization patterns. Other ERP components like the P1, P2, N2, P3, and the N400 were overall less clearly lateralized. The current review highlights that many of the assumed lateralization patterns are less clear than previously thought and that the variety of stimuli, tasks, and EEG setups used, might contribute to the ambiguous findings.