Allocating Structure To Function: The Strong Links Between Neuroplasticity And Natural Selection,
2014
Department of Psychology, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA, USA & Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
Allocating Structure To Function: The Strong Links Between Neuroplasticity And Natural Selection, Michael Anderson, Barbara L. Finlay
Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications
A central question in brain evolution is how species-typical behaviors, and the neural function-structure mappings supporting them, can be acquired and inherited. Advocates of brain modularity, in its different incarnations across scientific subfields, argue that natural selection must target domain-dedicated, separately modifiable neural subsystems, resulting in genetically-specified functional modules. In such modular systems, specification of neuron number and functional connectivity are necessarily linked. Mounting evidence, however, from allometric, developmental, comparative, systems-physiological, neuroimaging and neurological studies suggests that brain elements are used and reused in multiple functional systems. This variable allocation can be seen in short-term neuromodulation, in neuroplasticity over the …
Differential Eye Movements In Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Vs. Normal Controls,
2014
University of Richmond
Differential Eye Movements In Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Vs. Normal Controls, Joanna R. Wares, David X. Cifu, Kathy W. Hoke, Paul A. Wetzel, George Gitchel, William Carne
Department of Math & Statistics Faculty Publications
Objective measures to diagnose and to monitor improvement of symptoms following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) are lacking. Computerized eye tracking has been advocated as a rapid, user friendly and field ready technique to meet this need. Eye tracking data collected via a head mounted, video-based binocular eye tracker was used to examine saccades, fixations and smooth pursuit movement in 60 military Service Members with post concussive syndrome (PCS) and 26 asymptomatic control subjects in an effort to determine if eye movement differences could be found and quantified. The diagnosis of mTBI was confirmed by the study physiatrist’s history, physical …
The Impact Of Multisensory Integration Deficits On Speech Perception In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders.,
2014
Western University
The Impact Of Multisensory Integration Deficits On Speech Perception In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders., Ryan A Stevenson, Magali Segers, Susanne Ferber, Morgan D Barense, Mark T Wallace
Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications
Speech perception is an inherently multisensory process. When having a face-to-face conversation, a listener not only hears what a speaker is saying, but also sees the articulatory gestures that accompany those sounds. Speech signals in visual and auditory modalities provide complementary information to the listener (Kavanagh and Mattingly, 1974), and when both are perceived in unison, behavioral gains in in speech perception are observed (Sumby and Pollack, 1954). Notably, this benefit is accentuated when speech is perceived in a noisy environment (Sumby and Pollack, 1954). To achieve a behavioral gain from multisensory processing of speech, however, the auditory and visual …
Diffusion Tensor Imaging And White Matter Abnormalities In Patients With Disorders Of Consciousness.,
2014
Western University
Diffusion Tensor Imaging And White Matter Abnormalities In Patients With Disorders Of Consciousness., Carlo Cavaliere, Marco Aiello, Carol Di Perri, Davinia Fernandez-Espejo, Adrian M Owen, Andrea Soddu
Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications
Progress in neuroimaging has yielded new powerful tools which, potentially, can be applied to clinical populations, improve the diagnosis of neurological disorders and predict outcome. At present, the diagnosis of consciousness disorders is limited to subjective assessment and objective measurements of behavior, with an emerging role for neuroimaging techniques. In this review we focus on white matter alterations measured using Diffusion Tensor Imaging on patients with consciousness disorders, examining the most common diffusion imaging acquisition protocols and considering the main issues related to diffusion imaging analyses. We conclude by considering some of the remaining challenges to overcome, the existing knowledge …
Bilateral Saccadic Deficits Following Large And Reversible Inactivation Of Unilateral Frontal Eye Field.,
2014
The Brain and Mind Institute, London, Ontario, Canada & Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
Bilateral Saccadic Deficits Following Large And Reversible Inactivation Of Unilateral Frontal Eye Field., Tyler R Peel, Kevin Johnston, Stephen G Lomber, Brian D Corneil
Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications
Inactivation permits direct assessment of the functional contribution of a given brain area to behavior. Previous inactivation studies of the frontal eye field (FEF) have either used large permanent ablations or reversible pharmacological techniques that only inactivate a small volume of tissue. Here we evaluated the impact of large, yet reversible, FEF inactivation on visually guided, delayed, and memory-guided saccades, using cryoloops implanted in the arcuate sulcus. While FEF inactivation produced the expected triad of contralateral saccadic deficits (increased reaction time, decreased accuracy and peak velocity) and performance errors (neglect or misdirected saccades), we also found consistent increases in reaction …
Short-Duration Stimulation Of The Supplementary Eye Fields Perturbs Anti-Saccade Performance While Potentiating Contralateral Head Orienting.,
2014
Graduate program in Neuroscience, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
Short-Duration Stimulation Of The Supplementary Eye Fields Perturbs Anti-Saccade Performance While Potentiating Contralateral Head Orienting., Brendan B Chapman, Brian D Corneil
Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications
Many forms of brain stimulation utilize the notion of state dependency, whereby greater influences are observed when a given area is more engaged at the time of stimulation. Here, by delivering intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) to the supplementary eye fields (SEF) of monkeys performing interleaved pro- and anti-saccades, we show a surprising diversity of state-dependent effects of ICMS-SEF. Short-duration ICMS-SEF passed around cue presentation selectively disrupted anti-saccades by increasing reaction times and error rates bilaterally, and also recruited neck muscles, favoring contralateral head turning to a greater degree on anti-saccade trials. These results are consistent with the functional relevance of the …
An Invitation To The Study Of Brain Networks, With Some Statistical Analysis Of Thresholding Techniques,
2014
The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
An Invitation To The Study Of Brain Networks, With Some Statistical Analysis Of Thresholding Techniques, Mark Daley
Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications
We provide a brief introduction to the nascent application of network theory to mesoscale networks in the human brain. Following an overview of the typical data-gathering, processing, and analysis methods employed in this field, we describe the process for inferring a graph from neural time series. A crucial step in the construction of a graph from time series is the thresholding of graph edges to ensure that the graphs represent physiological relationships rather than artifactual noise. We discuss the most popular currently employed methodologies and then introduce one of our own, based on the theory of random matrices. Finally, we …
Observing Object Lifting Errors Modulates Cortico-Spinal Excitability And Improves Object Lifting Performance.,
2014
Department of Psychology, School of Life Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK; The Brain and Mind Institute, The University of Western Ontario, Canada
Observing Object Lifting Errors Modulates Cortico-Spinal Excitability And Improves Object Lifting Performance., Gavin Buckingham, Jeremy D Wong, Minnie Tang, Paul L Gribble, Melvyn A Goodale
Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications
Observing the actions of others has been shown to modulate cortico-spinal excitability and affect behaviour. However, the sensorimotor consequences of observing errors are not well understood. Here, participants watched actors lift identically weighted large and small cubes which typically elicit expectation-based fingertip force errors. One group of participants observed the standard overestimation and underestimation-style errors that characterise early lifts with these cubes (Error video--EV). Another group watched the same actors performing the well-adapted error-free lifts that characterise later, well-practiced lifts with these cubes (No error video--NEV). We then examined actual object lifting performance in the subjects who watched the EV …
Sign Language Ability In Young Deaf Signers Predicts Comprehension Of Written Sentences In English.,
2014
Department of Psychology and Brain and Mind Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
Sign Language Ability In Young Deaf Signers Predicts Comprehension Of Written Sentences In English., Kathy N Andrew, Jennifer Hoshooley, Marc F Joanisse
Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications
We investigated the robust correlation between American Sign Language (ASL) and English reading ability in 51 young deaf signers ages 7;3 to 19;0. Signers were divided into 'skilled' and 'less-skilled' signer groups based on their performance on three measures of ASL. We next assessed reading comprehension of four English sentence structures (actives, passives, pronouns, reflexive pronouns) using a sentence-to-picture-matching task. Of interest was the extent to which ASL proficiency provided a foundation for lexical and syntactic processes of English. Skilled signers outperformed less-skilled signers overall. Error analyses further indicated greater single-word recognition difficulties in less-skilled signers marked by a higher …
Links Between White Matter Microstructure And Cortisol Reactivity To Stress In Early Childhood: Evidence For Moderation By Parenting.,
2014
Molecular Genetics Unit, Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada
Links Between White Matter Microstructure And Cortisol Reactivity To Stress In Early Childhood: Evidence For Moderation By Parenting., Haroon I Sheikh, Marc F Joanisse, Sarah M Mackrell, Katie R Kryski, Heather J Smith, Shiva M Singh, Elizabeth P Hayden
Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications
Activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (measured via cortisol reactivity) may be a biological marker of risk for depression and anxiety, possibly even early in development. However, the structural neural correlates of early cortisol reactivity are not well known, although these would potentially inform broader models of mechanisms of risk, especially if the early environment further shapes these relationships. Therefore, we examined links between white matter architecture and young girls' cortisol reactivity and whether early caregiving moderated these links. We recruited 45 6-year-old girls based on whether they had previously shown high or low cortisol reactivity to a stress task at …
Sensitivity Of Human Auditory Cortex To Rapid Frequency Modulation Revealed By Multivariate Representational Similarity Analysis.,
2014
Department of Psychology, Brain and Mind Institute, The University of Western Ontario London, ON, Canada
Sensitivity Of Human Auditory Cortex To Rapid Frequency Modulation Revealed By Multivariate Representational Similarity Analysis., Marc F Joanisse, Diedre D Desouza
Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) was used to investigate the extent, magnitude, and pattern of brain activity in response to rapid frequency-modulated sounds. We examined this by manipulating the direction (rise vs. fall) and the rate (fast vs. slow) of the apparent pitch of iterated rippled noise (IRN) bursts. Acoustic parameters were selected to capture features used in phoneme contrasts, however the stimuli themselves were not perceived as speech per se. Participants were scanned as they passively listened to sounds in an event-related paradigm. Univariate analyses revealed a greater level and extent of activation in bilateral auditory cortex in response …
Dopaminergic Medication Impairs Feedback-Based Stimulus-Response Learning But Not Response Selection In Parkinson's Disease.,
2014
The Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada & Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
Dopaminergic Medication Impairs Feedback-Based Stimulus-Response Learning But Not Response Selection In Parkinson's Disease., Andrew Vo, Nole M Hiebert, Ken N Seergobin, Stephanie Solcz, Allison Partridge, Penny A Macdonald
Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications
Cognitive dysfunction is a feature of Parkinson's Disease (PD). Some cognitive functions are impaired by dopaminergic medications prescribed to address the movement symptoms that typify PD. Learning appears to be the cognitive function most frequently worsened by dopaminergic therapy. However, this result could reflect either impairments in learning (i.e., acquisition of associations among stimuli, responses, and outcomes) or deficits in performance based on learning (e.g., selecting responses). We sought to clarify the specific effects of dopaminergic medication on (a) stimulus-response association learning from outcome feedback and (b) response selection based on learning, in PD. We tested 28 PD patients on …
Rule-Based Category Learning In Children: The Role Of Age And Executive Functioning.,
2014
Cognition and Perception Program, Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
Rule-Based Category Learning In Children: The Role Of Age And Executive Functioning., Rahel Rabi, John Paul Minda
Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications
Rule-based category learning was examined in 4-11 year-olds and adults. Participants were asked to learn a set of novel perceptual categories in a classification learning task. Categorization performance improved with age, with younger children showing the strongest rule-based deficit relative to older children and adults. Model-based analyses provided insight regarding the type of strategy being used to solve the categorization task, demonstrating that the use of the task appropriate strategy increased with age. When children and adults who identified the correct categorization rule were compared, the performance deficit was no longer evident. Executive functions were also measured. While both working …
Accumulation Of Subcortical Iron As A Modifier Of Volumetric And Cognitive Decline In Healthy Aging: Two Longitudinal Studies,
2014
Wayne State University
Accumulation Of Subcortical Iron As A Modifier Of Volumetric And Cognitive Decline In Healthy Aging: Two Longitudinal Studies, Ana Marie Daugherty
Wayne State University Dissertations
Accumulation of non-heme iron in the brain has been theorized as a cellular mechanism underlying global neural and cognitive decline in normal aging and neurodegenerative disease. Relatively few studies of brain iron in normal aging exist and extant studies are almost exclusively cross-sectional. Here, I estimated iron content via T2* and measured volumes in several brain regions in two independent samples of healthy adults. The first sample (N = 89) was measured twice with a two-year delay; and the second sample (N = 32) was assessed four times over a span of 7 years. Latent models estimated change in iron …
Evaluation Of Presynaptic Dopamine Dynamics After: Toluene Inhalation Or Trkb Receptor Activation,
2014
Wayne State University
Evaluation Of Presynaptic Dopamine Dynamics After: Toluene Inhalation Or Trkb Receptor Activation, Aaron Kwaku Apawu
Wayne State University Dissertations
Dopamine (DA) neurons in the striatum mediate several functions of the brain and have been linked to a host of neurological disorders including Parkinson's disease and addiction, both of which occur as a result of dysfunction in the DA system. In the present study, our first objective was to understand how the striatal DA system adapts to acute and repeated administration of inhalant toluene. The use of toluene as inhalant, like other drugs of abuse, is known to perturb DA neurotransmission in the brain reward pathway. However, the exact mechanism underling toluene's influence on striatal DA neurotransmission is unknown. The …
Identification Of A Treatment-Resistant, Ketamine-Sensitive Genetic Line In The Chick Anxiety-Depression Model,
2014
University of Mississippi
Identification Of A Treatment-Resistant, Ketamine-Sensitive Genetic Line In The Chick Anxiety-Depression Model, Stephen Walter White
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Approximately 60% of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) patients do not respond to FDA-approved antidepressants. Introducing effective pharmacotherapies for this treatment-resistant population is hindered by the lack of pre-clinical screening assays that accurately model the clinical features of TRD. The purpose of this research was to screen representatives of different classes FDA-approved antidepressants and one novel antidepressant in two genetic lines of domestic fowl chicks that have previously been identified as stress-vulnerable and stress-resilient in the chick anxiety depression model. Separate groups of socially raised Black Australorp (stress-vulnerable) and Production Red (stress-resilient) chicks were administered the tricyclic antidepressant imipramine (0-20 mg/kg), …
Alterations In The Mouse Striatum Following Acute And Repeated Ethanol Exposure,
2014
Wayne State University
Alterations In The Mouse Striatum Following Acute And Repeated Ethanol Exposure, Brooke D. Newman
Wayne State University Dissertations
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is an important neuromodulator that has implicated in regard to several neurological disorders, including alcohol addiction. BDNF is also an important modulator of dopamine (DA), a neurotransmitter that is heavily implicated in addiction with one of the DA rich brain regions being referred to as the reward center of the brain. One of the focuses in alcohol dependence research includes determining risk factors that make an individual more susceptible to becoming dependent. BDNF has been of interest as a risk factor due to its involvement in ethanol consumption and addiction evidenced in a vast number of …
Longitudinal Change In Regional Cortices And Fluid Intelligence,
2014
Wayne State University
Longitudinal Change In Regional Cortices And Fluid Intelligence, Peng Yuan
Wayne State University Dissertations
Fluid intelligence (Gf) and crystalized intelligence (Gc) are two factors of the general intelligence. They have distinct age-related trajectories of change. Jung and Haier proposed Parieto-Frontal Integration Theory (P-FIT, 2007) to account for the inter-person variance in reasoning intelligence. Some brain regions such as prefrontal, parietal, temporal and anterior cingulate cortices were included in the P-FIT model and were hypothesized to be involved in fluid reasoning task. Therefore, in the current study, we examined latent growth curves (LGC) of longitudinal change in Gf, Gc, prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, anterior cingulate, temporal cortex and primary visual cortex. Forty-six healthy middle-aged and …
Adolescent Crash Rates And School Start Times In Two Central Virginia Counties, 2009-2011: A Follow-Up Study To A Southeastern Virginia Study, 2007-2008,
2014
Old Dominion University
Adolescent Crash Rates And School Start Times In Two Central Virginia Counties, 2009-2011: A Follow-Up Study To A Southeastern Virginia Study, 2007-2008, Robert Daniel Vorona, Mariana Szklo-Coxe, Rajan Lamichhane, J. Catesby Ware, Ann Mcnallen, David Leszczyszyn
Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications
Background and Objective: Early high school start times (EHSST) may lead to sleep loss in adolescents ("teens"), thus resulting in higher crash rates. (Vorona et al., 2011). In this study, we examined two other adjacent Virginia counties for the two years subsequent to the above-mentioned study. We again hypothesized that teens from jurisdictions with EHSST (versus later) experience higher crash rates.
Methods: Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles supplied de-identified aggregate data on weekday crashes and time-of- day for 16-18 year old (teen) and adult drivers for school years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 in Henrico and Chesterfield Counties (HC and CC, respectively). …
The Effect Of Gaba A Antagonism On Locomotor Activity And Dopamine Release In The Mouse Caudate Putamen Following Acute Toluene Inhalation: An In-Vivo Microdialysis Study,
2014
Wayne State University
The Effect Of Gaba A Antagonism On Locomotor Activity And Dopamine Release In The Mouse Caudate Putamen Following Acute Toluene Inhalation: An In-Vivo Microdialysis Study, Sean Callan
Wayne State University Theses
Toluene is ubiquitous solvent commonly inhaled recreationally. Despite its frequency of misuse, there is little understanding of how toluene acts within the brain. To examine this, this master's thesis examined the impact of acutely inhaled toluene on dopamine (DA) release in the mouse CPu in vivo using microdialysis techniques. Toluene inhalation produced dose-dependent increases in DA levels as well as changes in locomotor activity. These effects were potentiated by pre-treatment with the GABAA antagonist bicuculline via reverse microdialysis delivery. These results suggest that the DA dynamics of toluene abuse are related to toluene's previously explored effects on the GABA system. …
