Neurosciences Commons^™

Investigating The Visual Number Form Area: A Replication Study, Rebecca Merkley, Benjamin Conrad, Gavin Price, Daniel Ansari

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

© 2019 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society The influential triple-code model of number representation proposed that there are three distinct brain regions for three different numerical representations: verbal words, visual digits and abstract magnitudes. It was hypothesized that the region for visual digits, known as the number form area, would be in ventral occipitotemporal cortex (vOTC), near other visual category-specific regions, such as the visual word form area. However, neuroimaging investigations searching for a region that responds in a category-specific manner to the visual presentation of number symbols have yielded inconsistent results. Price & Ansari (Price, Ansari 2011 …

A Touchscreen Motivation Assessment Evaluated In Huntington's Disease Patients And R6/1 Model Mice, Christopher J. Heath, Claire O'Callaghan, Sarah L. Mason, Benjamin U. Phillips, Lisa M. Saksida, Trevor W. Robbins, Roger A. Barker, Timothy J. Bussey, Barbara J. Sahakian

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Copyright © 2019 Heath, O'Callaghan, Mason, Phillips, Saksida, Robbins, Barker, Bussey and Sahakian. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Apathy is pervasive across many neuropsychiatric disorders but is poorly characterized mechanistically, so targeted therapeutic interventions remain elusive. A key …

Translational Tests Involving Non-Reward: Methodological Considerations, Benjamin U. Phillips, Laura Lopez-Cruz, Lisa M. Saksida, Timothy J. Bussey

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

© 2018, The Author(s). This review is concerned with methods for assessing the processing of unrewarded responses in experimental animals and the mechanisms underlying performance of these tasks. A number of clinical populations, including Parkinson’s disease, depression, compulsive disorders, and schizophrenia demonstrate either abnormal processing or learning from non-rewarded responses in laboratory-based reinforcement learning tasks. These effects are hypothesized to result from disturbances in modulatory neurotransmitter systems, including dopamine and serotonin. Parallel work in experimental animals has revealed consistent behavioral patterns associated with non-reward and, consistent with the human literature, modulatory roles for specific neurotransmitters. Classical tests involving an important …

White Matter Injury Predicts Disrupted Functional Connectivity And Microstructure In Very Preterm Born Neonates, Emma G. Duerden, Sheliza Halani, Karin Ng, Ting Guo, Justin Foong, Torin J.A. Glass, Vann Chau, Helen M. Branson, John G. Sled, Hilary E. Whyte, Edmond N. Kelly, Steven P. Miller

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

© 2018 The Authors Objective: To determine whether the spatial extent and location of early-identified punctate white matter injury (WMI) is associated with regionally-specific disruptions in thalamocortical-connectivity in very-preterm born neonates. Methods: 37 very-preterm born neonates (median gestational age: 28.1 weeks; interquartile range [IQR]: 27–30) underwent early MRI (median age 32.9 weeks; IQR: 32–35), and WMI was identified in 13 (35%) neonates. Structural T1-weighted, resting-state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (rs-fMRI, n = 34) and Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI, n = 31) sequences were acquired using 3 T-MRI. A probabilistic map of WMI was developed for the 13 neonates demonstrating brain …

Girls' Internalizing Symptoms And White Matter Tracts In Cortico-Limbic Circuitry, Ola Mohamed Ali, Matthew R.J. Vandermeer, Haroon I. Sheikh, Marc F. Joanisse, Elizabeth P. Hayden

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

© 2019 The Authors Dysfunction in cortico-limbic circuitry is implicated in internalizing disorders (i.e., depressive and anxious disorders), but less is known about whether structural variations precede frank disorder and thus potentially mark risk. We therefore examined associations between white matter (WM) tract microstructure in cortico-limbic circuitry at age 7 and concurrent and longitudinal patterns of internalizing symptoms in 42 typically developing girls using Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI). Girls' internalizing symptoms were concurrently associated with reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) in segments of the cingulum bundle (CB) and the uncinate fasciculus (UF), bilaterally. Moreover, latent profile analysis showed that girls with …

The Benefit To Speech Intelligibility Of Hearing A Familiar Voice, Ysabel Domingo, Emma Holmes, Ingrid S. Johnsrude

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

© 2019 American Psychological Association. Previous experience with a voice can help listeners understand speech when a competing talker is present. Using the coordinate-response measure task (Bolia, Nelson, Ericson, & Simpson, 2000), Johnsrude et al. (2013) demonstrated that speech is more intelligible when either the target or competing (masking) talker is a long-term spouse than when both talkers are unfamiliar (termed familiar-target and familiar-masker benefits, respectively). To better understand how familiarity improves intelligibility, we measured the familiar-target and familiar-masker benefits in older and younger spouses using a more challenging matrix task, and compared the benefits listeners gain from spouses' and …

Biomarkers Of Parkinson's Disease: Striatal Sub-Regional Structural Morphometry And Diffusion Mri, Ali R. Khan, Nole M. Hiebert, Andrew Vo, Brian T. Wang, Adrian M. Owen, Ken N. Seergobin, Penny A. Macdonald

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

© 2018 The Authors Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder that has no reliable biomarkers. The aim of this study was to explore the potential of semi-automated sub-regional analysis of the striatum with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to distinguish PD patients from controls (i.e., as a diagnostic biomarker) and to compare PD patients at different stages of disease. With 3 Tesla MRI, diffusion- and T1-weighted scans were obtained on two occasions in 24 PD patients and 18 age-matched, healthy controls. PD patients completed one session on and the other session off dopaminergic medication. The striatum was parcellated into …

Linked Mri Signatures Of The Brain's Acute And Persistent Response To Concussion In Female Varsity Rugby Players, Kathryn Y. Manning, Alberto Llera, Gregory A. Dekaban, Robert Bartha, Christy Barreira, Arthur Brown, Lisa Fischer, Tatiana Jevremovic, Kevin Blackney, Timothy J. Doherty, Douglas D. Fraser, Jeff Holmes, Christian F. Beckmann, Ravi S. Menon

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Acute brain changes are expected after concussion, yet there is growing evidence of persistent abnormalities well beyond clinical recovery and clearance to return to play. Multiparametric MRI is a powerful approach to non-invasively study structure-function relationships in the brain, however it remains challenging to interpret the complex and heterogeneous cascade of brain changes that manifest after concussion. Emerging conjunctive, data-driven analysis approaches like linked independent component analysis can integrate structural and functional imaging data to produce linked components that describe the shared inter-subject variance across images. These linked components not only offer the potential of a more comprehensive understanding of …

Brain Activation Time-Locked To Sleep Spindles Associated With Human Cognitive Abilities, Zhuo Fang, Laura B. Ray, Adrian M. Owen, Stuart M. Fogel

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Simultaneous electroencephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging (EEG-fMRI) studies have revealed brain activations time-locked to spindles. Yet, the functional significance of these spindle-related brain activations is not understood. EEG studies have shown that inter-individual differences in the electrophysiological characteristics of spindles (e.g., density, amplitude, duration) are highly correlated with "Reasoning" abilities (i.e., "fluid intelligence"; problem solving skills, the ability to employ logic, identify complex patterns), but not short-term memory (STM) or verbal abilities. Spindle-dependent reactivation of brain areas recruited during new learning suggests night-to-night variations reflect offline memory processing. However, the functional significance of stable, trait-like inter-individual differences in brain …

Alive Inside, Andrew Peterson, Adrian M. Owen, Jason Karlawish

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

This article provides an ethical analysis of the U.S. practice guideline update on disorders of consciousness. Our analysis focuses on the guideline’s recommendations regarding the use of investigational neuroimaging methods to assess brain-injured patients. Complex and multifaceted ethical issues have emerged because these methods alter the clinical understanding of consciousness. We address issues of false hope, patient suffering, and cost. We argue that, in spite of these concerns, there is significant benefit to using neuroimaging to assess brain-injured patients in most cases.

The Neural Basis Of External Responsiveness In Prolonged Disorders Of Consciousness, Clara A. Stafford, Adrian M. Owen, Davinia Fernández-Espejo

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Objective: To investigate the structural integrity of fibre tracts underlying overt motor behaviour in PDOC. Methods: This cross-sectional study examined 15 PDOC patients and 22 healthy participants. Eight PDOC patients met the criteria for the vegetative state, 5 met the criteria for the minimally conscious state and 2 met the criteria for emerging from the minimally conscious state. We used fibre tractography to reconstruct the white matter fibres known to be involved in voluntary motor execution (i.e., those connecting thalamus with M1, M1 with cerebellum, and cerebellum with thalamus) and used fractional anisotropy (FA) as a measure of their integrity. …

Developing And Validating Tools To Assess Higher Level Cognition In Children And Adolescents, Brainscan, Western University, Bobby Stojanoski, Marc Joanisse, Ryan Stevenson, Cambridge Brain Sciences Inc.

Project Summaries

Collaborating with CBS, we will create a unique platform for understanding, detecting and predicting delays in cognition during the formative period from childhood to adolescence. The aim of this project is to develop and validate a battery of tests specifically for children and adolescents between the ages of 7 and 15 to measure various aspects of higher-level cognitive abilities. These include short-term and episodic memory, planning, reasoning, verbal abilities and executive functioning (those processes necessary to control behaviour, such as controlling attention and inhibition, working memory, reasoning and problem solving).

Multi-Area Organization Of Saccade-Evoked Traveling Waves, Brainscan, Western University, Julio Martinez-Trujillo, Lyle Muller, Adam Williamson

Project Summaries

In this project, we will employ new, large-scale electrophysiological recording techniques to sample widely across the visual system. It will allow us to test our hypothesis that neural traveling waves coordinated across multiple areas contribute to perceptual stability during eye movements. Using our newly developed signal processing technique to track traveling waves moment-by-moment in noisy multichannel data, we will detect and quantify them across multiple visual areas.

Detecting Fine-Grained Population Codes In Human Prefrontal Cortex, Brainscan, Western University, Marieke Mur, Julio Martinez-Trujillo, Ravi Menon, Joe Gati

Project Summaries

In this project, we will develop techniques for improving our measurement resolution so that we can gain access to prefrontal population codes. We will combine high-field fMRI with pattern analysis techniques to unlock population coding in the prefrontal cortex. This is essential for understanding how the brain supports higher-order cognition, and ultimately, for treating dysfunctions of cognitive flexibility in the clinic.

Can Self-Efficacy Training Improve Memory And Functional Activation In Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment? A Proof-Of-Concept Intervention Study, Brainscan, Western University, Lindsay Nagamatsu, Derek Mitchell, Paul Minda, Amer Burhan, Becky Horst

Project Summaries

The goal of this study is to examine the changes in brain activity after a memory self-efficacy training program to better understand the mechanisms of memory self-efficacy. We will conduct a proof-of-concept six-week memory self-efficacy intervention in older adults with MCI, in order to demonstrate that self-efficacy impacts brain function. This will allow us to determine whether self-efficacy interventions may be a potential strategy for combating AD in the future.

Developing A Mechanistic Understanding Of Crossmodal Reorganization Following Sensory Loss, Brainscan, Western University, Blake E. Butler, Brian Allman, Ravi Menon

Project Summaries

Our long-term goal is to understand how plasticity reshapes circuits in the brain in response to atypical early experiences. This will allow us to better understand how the Deaf brain processes the world around us, and will make clear the challenges that must be overcome to optimize the function of cochlear implants and prostheses designed to restore sensory functions more broadly.

The Risk Of New-Onset Epilepsy And Refractory Epilepsy In Older Adult Stroke Survivors, Jorge G. Burneo, Tresah C. Antaya, Britney N. Allen, Andrea Belisle, Salimah Z. Shariff, Gustavo Saposnik

Neuroepidemiology Research Unit Project Summaries

Research Summary: Key Findings

• Stroke is a common cause of epilepsy in older adults, but little is known about stroke-related epilepsy or its outcomes in this population.
• 1.1% of older adult stroke survivors developed epilepsy in this study, of whom 12.9% developed refractory epilepsy, indicating that this population is particularly responsive to treatment.
• Over 85% of deaths in this population are not due to stroke or epilepsy.

White Matter Hyperintensities In Vascular Contributions To Cognitive Impairment And Dementia (Vcid): Knowledge Gaps And Opportunities, Jessica Alber, Suvarna Alladi, Hee-Joon Bae, David A. Barton, Laurel A. Beckett, Joanne M. Bell, Sara E. Berman, Geert Jan Biessels, Sandra E. Black, Isabelle Bos, Gene L. Bowman, Emanuele Brai, Adam M. Brickman, Brandy L. Callahan, Roderick A. Corriveau, Silvia Fossati, Rebecca F. Gottesman, Deborah R. Gustafson, Vladimir Hachinski, Kathleen M. Hayden, Alex M. Helman, Timothy M. Hughes, Jeremy D. Isaacs, Angela L. Jefferson, Sterling C. Johnson, Alifiya Kapasi, Silke Kern, Jay C. Kwon, Juraj Kukolja, Athene Lee, Brittani R. Price, Donna M. Wilcock

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) are frequently seen on brain magnetic resonance imaging scans of older people. Usually interpreted clinically as a surrogate for cerebral small vessel disease, WMHs are associated with increased likelihood of cognitive impairment and dementia (including Alzheimer's disease [AD]). WMHs are also seen in cognitively healthy people. In this collaboration of academic, clinical, and pharmaceutical industry perspectives, we identify outstanding questions about WMHs and their relation to cognition, dementia, and AD. What molecular and cellular changes underlie WMHs? What are the neuropathological correlates of WMHs? To what extent are demyelination and inflammation present? Is it helpful to …

Irreversible Chorea As The Initial Presentation Of Polycythemia Rubra Vera In An Elderly Woman, Shakya Bhattacharjee

Neurosciences

No abstract provided.

A Synthetic Agonist To Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide Receptor-2 Induces Regulatory T Cell Neuroprotective Activities In Models Of Parkinson's Disease, R. Lee Mosley, Yaman Lu, Katherine E. Olson, Jatin Machhi, Wenhui Yan, Krista L. Namminga, Jenell R. Smith, Scott J. Shandler, Howard Gendelman

Journal Articles: Pharmacology & Experimental Neuroscience

A paradigm shift has emerged in Parkinson's disease (PD) highlighting the prominent role of CD4⁺ Tregs in pathogenesis and treatment. Bench to bedside research, conducted by others and our own laboratories, advanced a neuroprotective role for Tregs making pharmacologic transformation of immediate need. Herein, a vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor-2 (VIPR2) peptide agonist, LBT-3627, was developed as a neuroprotectant for PD-associated dopaminergic neurodegeneration. Employing both 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) and α-synuclein (α-Syn) overexpression models in rats, the sequential administration of LBT-3627 increased Treg activity without altering cell numbers both in naïve animals and during progressive nigrostriatal degeneration. LBT-3627 administration was linked to …

A Systems Thinking Approach For Eliciting Mental Models From Visual Boundary Objects In Hydropolitical Contexts: A Case Study From The Pilcomayo River Basin, Riveraine S. Walters, Erin S. Kenzie, Alexander E. Metzger, William Jesse Baltutis, Kakali B. Chakrabarti, Shana Lee Hirsch, Bethany Laursen

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

Transboundary collaborations related to international freshwater are critical for ensuring equitable, efficient, and sustainable shared access to our planet’s most fundamental resources. Visual artifacts, such as knowledge maps, functioning as boundary objects, are used in hydropolitical contexts to convey understandings and facilitate discussion across scales about challenges and opportunities from multiple perspectives. Such focal points for discussion are valuable in creating shared, socially negotiated priorities and integrating diverse and often disparate cultural perspectives that naturally exist in the context of international transboundary water resources. Visual boundary objects can also represent the collective mental models of the actor countries and transboundary …

A Quantitative Assessment Of Empathy After An Art Prime With Counseling Students, Annette Lisa Coletta

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Empathy skills are necessary to form therapeutic relationships. Previous research showed that participating in the arts engaged similar neuropathways as those needed to produce empathy. The theoretical framework for this study was art therapy relational neuroscience. The purpose of this pretest, posttest quantitative research study, using the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire, was to examine if a single art session could effectively prime for empathy. Using nonprobability, convenience sampling method, 74 graduate counseling students completed online surveys. Four findings are of note: (a) a t-test showed a significant difference between mean values of pre-post test scores, (b) an independent groups t-test indicated …

Current Source Density Approaches Improve Spatial Resolution In Event Related Potential Analysis In People With Parkinson's Disease, Conor Fearon, John Butler, Saskia M. Waechter, Isabelle Killane, Richard B. Reilly, Timothy Lynch

Articles

No abstract provided.

Comparative Effectiveness Of Dimethyl Fumarate Versus Fingolimod And Teriflunomide Among Ms Patients Switching From First-Generation Platform Therapies In The Us., Daniel Ontaneda, Jacqueline Nicholas, Matthew Carraro, Jia Zhou, Qiang Hou, Jaanai Babb, Katherine Riester, Jason P Mendoza, Terrie Livingston, Mehul Jhaveri

Neuroscience Articles

BACKGROUND: Previous real-world comparative research of MS disease modifying therapies (DMTs) in the overall population has suggested dimethyl fumarate (DMF) to be comparable to fingolimod (FTY) and more efficacious than teriflunomide (TERI) in reducing relapses. However, there is limited comparative evidence in patients switching from platform DMTs in the US. The objective of the study was to compare the annualized relapse rate (ARR) and risk of relapse in MS patients who have switched from a platform therapy to DMF, FTY, or TERI.

METHODS: MS patients (18-65 years old) initiating an oral DMT from June 2013 to March 2015 were identified …

Prefrontal-Accumbens Opioid Plasticity: Implications For Relapse And Dependence, Matthew C. Hearing

Biomedical Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

In addiction, an individual’s ability to inhibit drug seeking and drug taking is thought to reflect a pathological strengthening of drug-seeking behaviors or impairments in the capacity to control maladaptive behavior. These processes are not mutually exclusive and reflect drug-induced modifications within prefrontal cortical and nucleus accumbens circuits, however unlike psychostimulants such as cocaine, far less is known about the temporal, anatomical, and cellular dynamics of these changes. We discuss what is known regarding opioid-induced adaptations in intrinsic membrane physiology and pre-/postsynaptic neurotransmission in principle pyramidal and medium spiny neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens from electrophysiological …

Reward And Punishment: The Neural Correlates Of Reinforcement Feedback During Motor Learning, Christopher Mark Hill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

‘By the carrot or the stick’ reward or punishment has been contemplated by instructors to motivate their pupils to learn a new motor skill. The reinforcements of reward and punishment have demonstrated dissociable effects on motor learning with punishment enhancing the learning rate and reward increasing retention of the motor task. However it is still unclear how the brain processes reward and punishment during motor learning. This study sought to investigate the role of reinforcement feedback in cortical neural activity associated with motor learning. A novel visuomotor rotation task was employed with reward punishment or null feedback as the participants …

How To Balance Intuitive And Analytical Functions Of Brain: A Neutrosophic Way Of Scientific Discovery Process, Florentin Smarandache, Victor Christianto, Robert Neil Boyd

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

Initially this article stems from our discussion on math and mysticism, inspired by an article by Ralph Abraham. But it becomes a discussion on the role of intuition and inspiration in scientific discovery process. Hopefully this article will help anyone who aspires to be good scientists or engineers.

Neuroprotective Strategies Following Experimental Traumatic Brain Injury: Lipid Peroxidation-Derived Aldehyde Scavenging And Inhibition Of Mitochondrial Permeability Transition, Jacqueline Renee Kulbe

Theses and Dissertations--Neuroscience

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) represents a significant health crisis. To date there are no FDA-approved pharmacotherapies available to prevent the neurologic deficits caused by TBI. Following TBI, dysfunctional mitochondria generate reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, initiating lipid peroxidation (LP) and the formation of LP-derived neurotoxic aldehydes, which bind mitochondrial proteins, exacerbating dysfunction and opening of the mitochondrial permeability pore (mPTP), resulting in extrusion of mitochondrial sequestered calcium into the cytosol, and initiating a downstream cascade of calpain activation, spectrin degradation, neurodegeneration and neurologic impairment.

As central mediators of the TBI secondary injury cascade, mitochondria and LP-derived neurotoxic aldehydes make promising …

Autologous Peripheral Nerve Grafts To The Brain For The Treatment Of Parkinson's Disease, Andrew Welleford

Theses and Dissertations--Neuroscience

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a disorder of the nervous system that causes problems with movement (motor symptoms) as well as other problems such as mood disorders, cognitive changes, sleep disorders, constipation, pain, and other non-motor symptoms. The severity of PD symptoms worsens over time as the disease progresses, and while there are treatments for the motor and some non-motor symptoms there is no known cure for PD. Thus there is a high demand for therapies to slow the progressive neurodegeneration observed in PD. Two clinical trials at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine (NCT02369003, NCT01833364) are currently underway that …

Pathological Tau As A Cause, And Consequence, Of Cellular Dysfunction, Shelby Meier

Theses and Dissertations--Physiology

Tauopathies are a group of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by the abnormal deposition of the protein tau, a microtubule stabilizing protein. Under normal physiological conditions tau is a highly soluble protein that is not prone to aggregation. In disease states alterations to tau lead to enhanced fibril formation and aggregation, eventually forming neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). The exact cause for NFT deposition is unknown, but increased post-translational modifications and mutations to the tau gene can increase tangle formation.

Tauopathic brains are stuck in a detrimental cycle, with cellular dysfunction contributing to the development of tau pathology and the development of tau pathology …