Dissociations of cognitive inhibition, response inhibition, and emotional interference: Voxelwise ALE meta-analyses of fMRI studies

Cathodal HD-tDCS above the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex increases environmentally sustainable decision-making

Environmental sustainability is characterized by a conflict between short-term self-interest and longer-term collective interests. Self-control capacity has been proposed to be a crucial determinant of people's ability to overcome this conflict. Yet, causal evidence is lacking, and previous research is dominated by the use of self-report measures. Here, we modulated self-control capacity by applying inhibitory high-definition transcranial current stimulation (HD-tDCS) above the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) while participants engaged in an environmentally consequential decision-making task. The task includes conflicting and low conflicting trade-offs between short-term personal interests and long-term environmental benefits. Contrary to our preregistered expectation, inhibitory HD-tDCS above the left dlPFC, presumably by reducing self-control capacity, led to more, and not less, pro-environmental behavior in conflicting decisions. We speculate that in our exceptionally environmentally friendly sample, deviating from an environmentally sustainable default required self-control capacity, and that inhibiting the left dlPFC might have reduced participants' ability to do so.

The neural mechanism of communication between graduate students and advisers in different adviser-advisee relationships

Communication is crucial in constructing the relationship between students and advisers, ultimately bridging interpersonal interactions. Only a few studies however explore the communication between postgraduate students and advisers. To fill the gaps in the empirical researches, this study uses functional near-infrared spectroscopy (FNIRS) techniques to explore the neurophysiology differences in brain activation of postgraduates with different adviser-advise relationships during simulated communication with their advisers. Results showed significant differences in the activation of the prefrontal cortex between high-quality and the low-quality students during simulating and when communicating with advisers, specifically in the Broca's areas, the frontal pole, and the orbitofrontal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices. This further elucidated the complex cognitive process of communication between graduate students and advisers.

Self-control problems in Intermittent Explosive Disorder: Presentation of an explanatory approach

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) is an impulsive aggression disorder with self-control problems. However, the mechanisms underpinning the self-control problems in IED have not been clearly investigated. Therefore, this study examined the nature of self-control problems and their types, including cognitive inhibition, behavioral inhibition, and emotional interference in IED.

METHODS

Participants included three groups: IED (n = 54), psychiatric control (n = 59), and healthy control (n = 62). They were first screened with SCL-90-R, and then they were clinically interviewed. They all did computerized neurocognitive tasks, including Color-Word Stroop Task, Emotional Stroop Task, Go-NoGo Task, and Stop-Signal Task.

RESULTS

MANOVA analyses showed that the IED group had poorer performance in cognitive inhibition, response inhibition, and increased emotional interference than the two psychiatric and healthy control groups. They performed much worse than the other two groups, particularly in action cancellation (Stop-Signal Task), and showed increasingly emotional interference.

LIMITATIONS

The brain reaction of individuals while doing the tasks was not examined, and some variables were not measured. Also, it is unclear how the emotional eruption interferes with cognitive content and behavioral inhibition.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings indicate that self-control problems in IED can be due to deficient cognitive, emotional, and behavioral inhibitions, each appearing sequentially during a step-by-step process and facilitating the onset of IED signs and symptoms. Such a distinguished understanding of the role of neurocognitive mechanisms can lead to the development of accurate explanatory approaches and increase the effectiveness of treatment.

Neural correlates of inhibitory control in the context of infant cry and paternal postpartum mental health

BACKGROUND

Inhibitory control, a form of self-regulation, may support sensitive parenting, but has been understudied in new fathers despite their pronounced risk for stress and mental health challenges.

METHODS

This study probed the neural correlates of inhibitory control and its associations to first-time fathers' postpartum mental health, focusing on depressive symptoms, state anxiety, and perceived stress. Six months after their child's birth, 38 fathers self-reported on their mood, anxiety, and stress, and performed a Go/No-Go fMRI task while listening to three sets of sounds (infant cry, pink noise, and silence).

RESULTS

Fathers' behavioral inhibition accuracy was consistent across the sound conditions, but their patterns of neural activation varied. Compared to the pink noise condition, fathers showed heightened engagement in prefrontal regulatory regions when self-regulating during the infant cry and silent conditions. When examining correct trials only, results in visual motor area and primary somatosensory cortex emerged only for infant cry and not for pink noise and silence. Moreover, fathers reporting higher levels of postpartum depression, state anxiety, and perceived stress showed greater activation in prefrontal regions when inhibiting during infant cry or silence.

CONCLUSION

This study is the first to underscore the complex interplay between the neural mechanisms related to inhibitory control and postpartum mental health and stress across varied auditory context, laying the groundwork for future research.

The yes-no reversal phenomenon in patients with primary progressive apraxia of speech

Patients who have a yes-no reversal respond "yes" when they mean no and vice versa. The unintentional response can be made both verbally and with gestures (e.g., head shake or nod, thumbs up or down). Preliminary reports associate this phenomenon with 4-repeat tauopathies including primary progressive apraxia of speech (PPAOS), nonfluent/agrammatic primary progressive aphasia, and corticobasal syndrome; however, the significance and timing of this symptom relative to others are not well understood. Whereas some accounts associate yes-no reversals with other binary reversals (e.g., up/down, hot/cold) and attribute the reversals to disturbances of selection within the language system, others implicate more general inhibitory control processes. Here, we compared clinical and neuroimaging findings across 30 patients with PPAOS (apraxia of speech in the absence of aphasia), 15 of whom had a yes-no reversal complaint and 15 who did not. The two groups did not differ on any of the language or motor speech measures; however, patients who had the yes-no reversal received lower scores on the Frontal Assessment Battery and motor assessments. They also had greater hypometabolism in the left supplementary motor area and bilateral caudate nuclei on [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose PET, but only the right caudate nucleus cluster survived correction for multiple comparisons. We interpret these results to suggest that the yes-no reversal phenomenon is associated with cognitive abilities that are supported by the frontostriatal network; more specifically, impaired response inhibition.

Hayling and stroop tests tap dissociable deficits and network-level neural correlates

Although many executive function screens have been developed, it is not yet clear whether these assessments are equally effective in detecting post-stroke deficits of initiation and inhibition. This study presents a comparative analysis of the Stroop and Hayling tests aiming to evaluate whether these tests measure the same underlying cognitive functions and to identify the neural correlates of the deficits detected by both tasks. Sixty six stroke survivors and 70 healthy ageing controls completed the Hayling and Stroop tests. Stroke patients were found to exhibit qualitative performance differences across analogous Stroop and Hayling Test metrics intended to tap initiation and inhibition. The Stroop test was found to have high specificity to abnormal performance, but low sensitivity relative to the Hayling Test. Minimal overlap was present between the network-level correlates of analogous Stroop and Hayling Test metrics. Hayling Task strategy use metrics were significantly associated with distinct patterns of disconnection in stroke survivors, providing novel insight into the neural correlates of fine-grained behavioural patterns. Overall, these findings strongly suggest that the functions tapped by the Stroop and Hayling Test are both behaviourally and anatomically dissociable. The Hayling Test was found to offer improved sensitivity and detail relative to the Stroop test. This novel demonstration of the Hayling Test within the stroke population suggests that this task represents an effective measure for quantifying post-stroke initiation and inhibition deficits.

Working and short-term memory in children with ADHD: an examination of prefrontal cortical functioning using functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS)

Working memory impairments are an oft-reported deficit among children with ADHD, and complementary neuroimaging studies implicate reductions in prefrontal cortex (PFC) structure and function as a neurobiological explanation. Most imaging studies, however, rely on costly, movement-intolerant, and/or invasive methods to examine cortical differences. This is the first study to use a newer neuroimaging tool that overcomes these limitations, functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), to investigate hypothesized prefrontal differences. Children (aged 8-12) with ADHD (N = 22) and typically developing (N = 18) children completed phonological working memory (PHWM) and short-term memory (PHSTM) tasks. Children with ADHD evinced poorer performance on both tasks, with greater differences observed in PHWM (Hedges' g = 0.67) relative to PHSTM (g = 0.39). fNIRS revealed reduced hemodynamic response among children with ADHD in the dorsolateral PFC while completing the PHWM task, but not within the anterior or posterior PFC. No between-group fNIRS differences were observed during the PHSTM task. Findings suggest that children with ADHD exhibit an inadequate hemodynamic response in a region of the brain that underlies PHWM abilities. The study also highlights the use of fNIRS as a cost-effective, noninvasive neuroimaging technique to localize/quantify neural activation patterns associated with executive functions.

Electroconvulsive Therapy Regulates Brain Connectome Dynamics in Patients With Major Depressive Disorder

BACKGROUND

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective treatment for patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), but its underlying neural mechanisms remain largely unknown. The aim of this study was to identify changes in brain connectome dynamics after ECT in MDD and to explore their associations with treatment outcome.

METHODS

We collected longitudinal resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 80 patients with MDD (50 with suicidal ideation [MDD-SI] and 30 without [MDD-NSI]) before and after ECT and 37 age- and sex-matched healthy control participants. A multilayer network model was used to assess modular switching over time in functional connectomes. Support vector regression was used to assess whether pre-ECT network dynamics could predict treatment response in terms of symptom severity.

RESULTS

At baseline, patients with MDD had lower global modularity and higher modular variability in functional connectomes than control participants. Network modularity increased and network variability decreased after ECT in patients with MDD, predominantly in the default mode and somatomotor networks. Moreover, ECT was associated with decreased modular variability in the left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex of MDD-SI but not MDD-NSI patients, and pre-ECT modular variability significantly predicted symptom improvement in the MDD-SI group but not in the MDD-NSI group.

CONCLUSIONS

We highlight ECT-induced changes in MDD brain network dynamics and their predictive value for treatment outcome, particularly in patients with SI. This study advances our understanding of the neural mechanisms of ECT from a dynamic brain network perspective and suggests potential prognostic biomarkers for predicting ECT efficacy in patients with MDD.

Behavioural and ERP evidence of a contrary effect between active and passive suppression of facial expressions

There has been disagreement regarding the relationship among the three components (subjective experience, external performance, and physiological response) of emotional responses. To investigate this issue further, this study compared the effects of active and passive suppression of facial expressions on subjective experiences and event-related potentials (ERPs) through two experiments. The two methods of expression suppression produced opposite patterns of ERPs for negative emotional stimuli: compared with the free-viewing condition, active suppression of expression decreased, while passive suppression increased the amplitude of the late positive potential (LPP) when viewing negative emotional stimuli. Further, while active suppression had no effect on participants' emotional experience, passive suppression enhanced their emotional experience. Among the three components of emotional responses, facial expressions are more closely related to the physiological response of the brain than to subjective experience, and whether the suppression was initiated by participants determines the decrease or increase in physiological response of the brain (i.e. LPP). The findings revealed the important role of individual subjective initiative in modulating the relationship among the components of emotional response, which provides new insights into effectively emotional regulation.

Resting-state fMRI functional connectome of C9orf72 mutation status

OBJECTIVE

The resting-state functional connectome has not been extensively investigated in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) spectrum disease, in particular in relationship with patients' genetic status.

METHODS

Here we studied the network-to-network connectivity of 19 ALS patients carrying the C9orf72 hexanucleotide repeat expansion (C9orf72+), 19 ALS patients not affected by C9orf72 mutation (C9orf72-), and 19 ALS-mimic patients (ALSm) well-matched for demographic and clinical variables.

RESULTS

When compared with ALSm, we observed greater connectivity of the default mode and frontoparietal networks with the visual network for C9orf72+ patients (P = 0.001). Moreover, the whole-connectome showed greater node degree (P < 0.001), while sensorimotor cortices resulted isolated in C9orf72+.

INTERPRETATION

Our results suggest a crucial involvement of extra-motor functions in ALS spectrum disease. In particular, alterations of the visual cortex may have a pathogenic role in C9orf72-related ALS. The prominent feature of these patients would be increased visual system connectivity with the networks responsible of the functional balance between internal and external attention.

The mechanism of inhibition control in mathematical reasoning: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The ability to comprehend and engage in mathematical reasoning is a fundamental cognitive skill, central to problem-solving and critical thinking. However, the intricate cognitive processes underlying mathematical reasoning, particularly in relation to inhibitory control, have garnered increasing attention in recent research. While previous studies have explored this connection, there remains a need for a more comprehensive understanding of the interplay between inhibitory control and mathematical reasoning. This study explored the contribution of response inhibition and semantic inhibition to scientific reasoning by comparing the brain activation of the speeded-reasoning task of mathematical subdomain concepts with that of the Go/Nogo and Stroop tasks.

METHOD

Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) was recorded in 28 subjects performing Go/Nogo tasks, Stroop tasks and speeded-reasoning tasks. The study was divided into two parts. In one part, subjects performed the Go/Nogo task and the Stroop task, and in the other part, subjects performed speeded-reasoning tasks.

RESULTS

The results showed that the subjects had slower responses and lower accuracy when judging incongruent statements. The concentration of oxy-Hb in the brain region related to inhibition was increased. In addition, the oxy-Hb in reasoning incongruent nonmathematical statements was correlated to the Go/Nogo task, whereas the oxy-Hb in reasoning incongruent mathematical statements was correlated to the Stroop task.

CONCLUSION

This result supports the hypothesis that inhibitory control plays a role in the scientific reasoning of mathematical subdomain concepts, and both response inhibition and semantic inhibition are involved in suppressing the interference of mathematical misconceptions.Supplementary Video Abstract, Supplemental digital content 1, http://links.lww.com/WNR/A732.

Targeting the prefrontal-supplementary motor network in obsessive-compulsive disorder with intensified electrical stimulation in two dosages: a randomized, controlled trial

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is associated with a high disease burden, and treatment options are limited. We used intensified electrical stimulation in two dosages to target a main circuitry associated with the pathophysiology of OCD, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (l-DLPFC), and pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) and assessed clinical outcomes, neuropsychological performance, and brain physiology. In a double-blind, randomized controlled trial, thirty-nine patients with OCD were randomly assigned to three groups of sham, 2-mA, or 1-mA transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) targeting the l-DLPFC (F3) and pre-SMA (FC2) with anodal and cathodal stimulation respectively. The treatment included 10 sessions of 20-minute stimulation delivered twice per day with 20-min between-session intervals. Outcome measures were reduction in OCD symptoms, anxiety, and depressive states, performance on a neuropsychological test battery (response inhibition, working memory, attention), oscillatory brain activities, and functional connectivity. All outcome measures except EEG were examined at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 1-month follow-up times. The 2-mA protocol significantly reduced OCD symptoms, anxiety, and depression states and improved quality of life after the intervention up to 1-month follow-up compared to the sham group, while the 1-mA protocol reduced OCD symptoms only in the follow-up and depressive state immediately after and 1-month following the intervention. Both protocols partially improved response inhibition, and the 2-mA protocol reduced attention bias to OCD-related stimuli and improved reaction time in working memory performance. Both protocols increased alpha oscillatory power, and the 2-mA protocol decreased delta power as well. Both protocols increased connectivity in higher frequency bands at frontal-central areas compared to the sham. Modulation of the prefrontal-supplementary motor network with intensified tDCS ameliorates OCD clinical symptoms and results in beneficial cognitive effects. The 2-mA intensified stimulation resulted in larger symptom reduction and improved more converging outcome variables related to therapeutic efficacy. These results support applying the intensified prefrontal-SMA tDCS in larger trials.

Neural circuit disruptions of eye gaze processing in autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Impairment in social cognition, particularly eye gaze processing, is a shared feature common to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia. However, it is unclear if a convergent neural mechanism also underlies gaze dysfunction in these conditions. The present study examined whether this shared eye gaze phenotype is reflected in a profile of convergent neurobiological dysfunction in ASD and schizophrenia.

METHODS

Activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analyses were conducted on peak voxel coordinates across the whole brain to identify spatial convergence. Functional coactivation with regions emerging as significant was assessed using meta-analytic connectivity modeling. Functional decoding was also conducted.

RESULTS

Fifty-six experiments (n = 30 with schizophrenia and n = 26 with ASD) from 36 articles met inclusion criteria, which comprised 354 participants with ASD, 275 with schizophrenia and 613 healthy controls (1242 participants in total). In ASD, aberrant activation was found in the left amygdala relative to unaffected controls during gaze processing. In schizophrenia, aberrant activation was found in the right inferior frontal gyrus and supplementary motor area. Across ASD and schizophrenia, aberrant activation was found in the right inferior frontal gyrus and right fusiform gyrus during gaze processing. Functional decoding mapped the left amygdala to domains related to emotion processing and cognition, the right inferior frontal gyrus to cognition and perception, and the right fusiform gyrus to visual perception, spatial cognition, and emotion perception. These regions also showed meta-analytic connectivity to frontoparietal and frontotemporal circuitry.

CONCLUSION

Alterations in frontoparietal and frontotemporal circuitry emerged as neural markers of gaze impairments in ASD and schizophrenia. These findings have implications for advancing transdiagnostic biomarkers to inform targeted treatments for ASD and schizophrenia.

Neural underpinnings of response inhibition in substance use disorders: weak meta-analytic evidence for a widely used construct

RATIONALE

Substance use disorders (SUDs) rank among the most severely debilitating psychiatric conditions. Among others, decreased response inhibition capacities could make it more difficult for patients to abstain from drug use and maintain abstinence. However, meta-analyses on the neural basis of response inhibition in SUDs yielded conflicting results.

OBJECTIVE

In this study, we revisited the neuroimaging research field and summarized the existing fMRI literature on overt response inhibition (Go/NoGo and stop-signal paradigms) across different SUDs.

METHODS

We performed a systematic literature review and an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis to investigate the actual convergence of functional deviations observed in SUD samples. Results were further supplied by consecutive robustness measures and a post-hoc random-effects meta-analysis of behavioural data.

RESULTS

We identified k = 21 eligible studies for our analysis. The ALE analysis indicated a significant cluster of convergence with its statistical peak in the right anterior insula. Consecutive analyses, however, indicated this result was not robust and susceptible towards publication bias. Additionally, a post-hoc random effects meta-analysis of the behavioural parameters of Go/NoGo and stop-signal paradigms reported by the included studies revealed no significant differences in task performance comparing SUD samples and controls.

CONCLUSION

We discuss that the role of task-based response inhibition may require some refinement as an overarching marker for SUD pathology. Finally, we give a few prospects for future research that should be further explored in this context.

The neural mechanisms underlying the processing of consonant, vowel and tone during Chinese typing: an fNIRS study

Many studies have explored the role of consonant, vowel, and tone in Chinese word identification or sentence comprehension. However, few studies have explored their roles and neural basis during Chinese word production, especially when involving neural basis. The present fNIRS study investigated the neural mechanisms of consonant, vowel, and tone processing during Chinese typing. Participants were asked to name the Chinese characters displayed on a computer screen by typing on a keyboard while hearing a simultaneously presented auditory stimulus. The auditory stimulus was either consistent with the characters' pronunciation (consistent condition) or mismatched in the consonant, vowel, or tone of the character pronunciation. The fNIRS results showed that compared with the consistent condition (as baseline), the consonant mismatch condition evoked lower levels of oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO) activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus Broca's triangle and left superior temporal gyrus. Vowel mismatch condition evoked a higher level of HbO activation in the top of the left inferior frontal gyrus and left middle frontal gyrus. The regions and patterns of brain activation evoked by tone mismatch were the same as those of vowel mismatch. The study indicated that consonant, vowel and tone all play a role in Chinese character production. The sensitive brain areas were all in the left hemisphere. However, the neural mechanism of consonant processing differed from vowel processing in both brain regions and patterns, while tone and vowel processing shared the same regions.

Attention Circuits Mediate the Connection between Emotional Experience and Expression within the Emotional Circuit

Objective

: Most affective neuroscience studies use pictures from the International Affective Picture System or standard facial expressions to elicit emotional experiences. The attention system, including the prefrontal cortex, can mediate emotional regulation in response to stimulation with emotional faces. We hypothesized that emotional experience is associated with brain activity within the neocortex. In addition, modification within the neocortex may be associated with brain activity within the attention system.

Methods

: Thirty-one healthy adult participants were recruited to be assessed for emotional expression using clinical scales of happiness, sadness, anxiety, and anger as and for emotional experience using brain activity in response to pictures of facial emotional expressions. The attention system was assessed using brain activity in response to the go-no-go task.

Results

: We found that emotional experience was associated with brain activity within the frontotemporal cortices, while emotional expression was associated with brain activity within the temporal and insular cortices. In addition, the association of brain activity between emotional experiences and expressions of sadness and anxiety was affected by brain activity within the anterior cingulate gyrus in response to the go-no-go task.

Conclusion

: Emotional expression may be associated with brain activity within the temporal cortex, whereas emotional experience may be associated with brain activity within the frontotemporal cortices. In addition, the attention system may interfere with the connection between emotional expression and experience.

The right inferior frontal gyrus as pivotal node and effective regulator of the basal ganglia-thalamocortical response inhibition circuit

Background

The involvement of specific basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuits in response inhibition has been extensively mapped in animal models. However, the pivotal nodes and directed causal regulation within this inhibitory circuit in humans remains controversial.

Objective

The main aim of the present study was to determine the causal information flow and critical nodes in the basal ganglia-thalamocortical inhibitory circuits and also to examine whether these are modulated by biological factors (i.e. sex) and behavioral performance.

Methods

Here, we capitalize on the recent progress in robust and biologically plausible directed causal modeling (DCM-PEB) and a large response inhibition dataset (n = 250) acquired with concomitant functional magnetic resonance imaging to determine key nodes, their causal regulation and modulation via biological variables (sex) and inhibitory performance in the inhibitory circuit encompassing the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG), caudate nucleus (rCau), globus pallidum (rGP), and thalamus (rThal).

Results

The entire neural circuit exhibited high intrinsic connectivity and response inhibition critically increased causal projections from the rIFG to both rCau and rThal. Direct comparison further demonstrated that response inhibition induced an increasing rIFG inflow and increased the causal regulation of this region over the rCau and rThal. In addition, sex and performance influenced the functional architecture of the regulatory circuits such that women displayed increased rThal self-inhibition and decreased rThal to GP modulation, while better inhibitory performance was associated with stronger rThal to rIFG communication. Furthermore, control analyses did not reveal a similar key communication in a left lateralized model.

Conclusions

Together, these findings indicate a pivotal role of the rIFG as input and causal regulator of subcortical response inhibition nodes.

Altered brain degree centrality and functional connectivity in adults with executive dysfunction after trauma exposure

Losing an only child is undoubtedly a huge blow that can adversely affect the prefrontal lobe, a highly sensitive brain region. Neuropsychological evidence emphasizes that executive function (EF) is closely related to the optimal functioning of the frontal cortex. However, the characteristics and potential mechanisms underlying changes in executive function following the huge shock of losing an only child remain insufficiently studied and understood. In this study, we performed degree centrality (DC) and functional connectivity (FC) analyses to explore the organization of the executive function deficits (EFD) network among adults who have lost their only child. In addition, we performed correlation analyses to establish an association between abnormal DC and FC values and post-traumatic stress symptoms. Finally, we used support vector machine analyses to assess the accuracy of abnormal DC and FC values in distinguishing adults with EFD who have lost their only child from those without EFD. Our findings revealed increased DC in the left superior frontal gyrus and right angular gyrus (ANG), whereas decreased DC in the left superior occipital gyrus among adults with EFD. Further FC analysis revealed that the altered FC primarily involved the prefrontal and temporal lobes and cerebellum. Notably, the altered FC between the right ANG and left inferior temporal gyrus exhibited a negative correlation with irritability symptoms (R = -0.047, p = 0.003) in the EFD group. A combined model incorporating altered DC and FC values enabled the classification of 96.69% of adults with EFD, with a sensitivity of 0.8837 and specificity of 0.9558. These findings provide valuable insights into the neural mechanisms underlying distinct EF statuses following trauma exposure, distinguishing adults with and without EFD.

Singleton effect decreases under time pressure: An fNIRS study

Time pressure affects multiple cognitive processes but how it affects attention capture remains unclear. Two experiments were carried out in the present study to assess whether time pressure prevents attention from capturing by salient distractors and explore the underlying neural mechanisms using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. The results of behavioral tests showed that the singleton effect decreased (Experiment 2) or even disappeared (Experiment 1) when the subject was under time pressure. Neuroimaging data showed that under time pressure, a salient distractor elicited greater activation in the left middle frontal gyrus/inferior frontal gyrus and bilateral superior parietal lobule, brain areas that are thought to be involved in cognitive inhibition and control of spatial attentional shifts. These findings suggest that the reduction or disappearance of the singleton effect under time pressure results from enhanced inhibition of and/or accelerated disengagement from salient distractors.

Regional cerebral blood flow at rest in schizophrenia and major depressive disorder: A functional neuroimaging meta-analysis

Severe mental disorders (SMDs) such as schizophrenia (SCZ), major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD) are associated with altered brain function. Neuroimaging studies have illustrated spontaneous activity alterations across SMDs, but no meta-analysis has directly compared resting-state regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) with one another. We conducted a meta-analysis of PET, SPECT and ASL neuroimaging studies to identify specific alterations of rCBF at rest in SMDs. Included are 20 studies in MDD, and 18 studies in SCZ. Due to the insufficient number of studies in BD, this disorder was left out of the analyses. Compared to controls, the SCZ group displayed reduced rCBF in the triangular part of the left inferior frontal gyrus and in the medial orbital part of the bilateral superior frontal gyrus. After correction, only a small cluster in the right inferior frontal gyrus exhibited reduced rCBF in MDD, compared to controls. Differences were found in these brain regions between SCZ and MDD. SCZ displayed reduced rCBF at rest in regions associated with default-mode, reward processing and language processing. MDD was associated with reduced rCBF in a cluster involved in response inhibition. Our meta-analysis highlights differences in the resting-state rCBF alterations between SCZ and MDD.

fMRI reveals overlapping and non-overlapping neural bases of domain-general and emotional conflict control

The present study uses functional magnetic resonance image (fMRI) to examine the overlapping and specific neural correlates of contextualized emotional conflict control and domain-general conflict control. During a performance on emotional and domain-general conflict tasks, conjunction analyses showed that neural areas distributed in the frontoparietal network were engaged in both processes, supporting the notion that similar neural mechanisms are implemented in these two types of control. Importantly, disjunction analyses revealed a broader neural recruitment of emotional conflict control compared to domain-general conflict control as shown by the possible lateralization of the lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC), such that emotional conflict control significantly involved the left lPFC while domain-general conflict control seemly involved the right lPFC. Results of generalized psychophysiological interaction (gPPI) analyses further demonstrated that emotional conflict control, compared to domain-general conflict control, elicited broader synergistic activities in individuals' brain networks. Together, these findings offer novel and compelling neural evidence that furthers our understanding of the complex relationship between domain-general and emotional conflict control.

Neural substrates for dissociation of cognition inhibition in autogenous- and reactive-type obsessive-compulsive disorder

BACKGROUND

The taxonomy of autogenous- and reactive-type obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) (AO vs. RO) is one of the most valid subtyping approaches to the heterogeneity of OCD. The present study aimed to seek evidence of neural substrates supporting the dissociation of cognition inhibition in AO and RO which was revealed by our previous behavioral and electrophysiological work.

METHODS

A total of 165 patients with OCD (86 AO versus 79 RO), and 79 healthy controls (HC) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans. Within-network connectivity, node strength, and edge-wise functional connectivity (FC) in cognition and response inhibition networks were calculated. Results from 3 cognition and 2 response inhibition network atlases were compared to confirm the robustness of the findings.

RESULTS

Both AO and RO showed lower within-network connectivity in response inhibition networks, while lower within cognition inhibition network connectivity was only detected in AO. Besides shared weaker node strength in the anterior insula (AI), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and supplementary motor area (SMA), AO had a broader range of nodes within cognition inhibition networks exhibiting weaker strength, including nodes in right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), left parietal and occipital regions. Decreased FC of left AI-CC, left IFG-ACC, and frontal-parietal regions in cognition inhibition networks were found in AO.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings indicate that unlike deficits in connectivity within response inhibition networks which may reflect a common pathology in AO and RO, deficits in connectivity within cognition inhibition networks were more pronounced in AO. These findings strengthen our insight into the heterogeneity in OCD.

Is there sufficient evidence for the association between executive dysfunction and academic performance in adolescents with major depressive disorder?: a systematic review

Adult depression, undoubtedly associated with executive dysfunction, leads to poor work performance. As depression in adolescents may have a negative impact on school performance, we aimed to analyse the possible relationship between selected executive deficits and academic performance. Executive dysfunctions may have more severe consequences on school performance at high school, as this stage of education requires engagement in long-term goals, whether writing an essay or preparing for an exam. Whilst inhibitory control is necessary at all educational stages, it seems that planning and decision-making play a greater role in high school than in primary school. We reviewed studies on executive functions conducted in adolescents diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) to establish the possible relationship between executive processes and school performance in depressed adolescents. The search identified 5 studies addressing planning and decision-making in adolescents with MDD, but none of those studies reported educational achievement. We identified a considerable gap in the research on the functional impact of depression in adolescents. Identifying the link between specific executive deficits and school performance could guide tailored therapeutic interventions.

Spatiotemporal evidence uncovers differential neural activity patterns in cognitive and affective conflict control

Studies have shown that there are overlapping neural bases for cognitive and affective conflict control, but whether the neural activity patterns caused by the two types of conflict are similar remains to be explored. The present study utilizes electroencephalogram (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to temporally and spatially analyze the differences between cognitive and affective conflict control. We employ a semantic conflict task which includes blocks of cognitive and affective judgements primed by conflicting and non-conflicting contexts. The results showed a typical neural conflict effect in the cognitive judgment blocks as reflected by greater amplitudes of P2, N400, and the late positive potential (LPP), as well as greater activation of the left pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) and the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) in the conflict condition relative to the non-conflict condition. These patterns did not emerge in the affective judgments, but instead, showed reversed effects of the LPP and in the left SMA. Taken together, these findings suggest that cognitive and affective conflict control result in different neural activity patterns.

Age-related reduction in trait anxiety: Behavioral and neural evidence of automaticity in negative facial emotion processing

Trait anxiety diminishes with age, which may result from age-related decline in registering salient emotional stimuli and/or enhancement in emotion regulation. We tested the hypotheses in 88 adults 21 to 85 years of age and studied with fMRI of the Hariri task. Age-related decline in stimulus registration would manifest in delayed reaction time (RT) and diminished saliency circuit activity in response to emotional vs. neutral stimuli. Enhanced control of negative emotions would manifest in diminished limbic/emotional circuit and higher prefrontal cortical (PFC) responses to negative emotion. The results showed that anxiety was negatively correlated with age. Age was associated with faster RT and diminished activation of the medial PFC, in the area of the dorsal and rostral anterior cingulate cortex (dACC/rACC) - a hub of the saliency circuit - during matching of negative but not positive vs. neutral emotional faces. A slope test confirmed the differences in the regressions. Further, age was not associated with activation of the PFC in whole-brain regression or in region-of-interest analysis of the dorsolateral PFC, an area identified from meta-analyses of the emotion regulation literature. Together, the findings fail to support either hypothesis; rather, the findings suggest age-related automaticity in processing negative emotions as a potential mechanism of diminished anxiety. Automaticity results in faster RT and diminished anterior cingulate activity in response to negative but not positive emotional stimuli. In support, analyses of psychophysiological interaction demonstrated higher dACC/rACC connectivity with the default mode network, which has been implicated in automaticity in information processing. As age increased, individuals demonstrated faster RT with higher connectivity during matching of negative vs. neutral images. Automaticity in negative emotion processing needs to be investigated as a mechanism of age-related reduction in anxiety.

ADHD and the avoidance of mental effort: the role of response inhibition and avoidance motivation

OBJECTIVE

The tendency of people with ADHD to avoid tasks that require mental effort impacts their academic achievement. Findings in the literature suggest that children with ADHD find cognitive tasks more effortful and uncomfortable than their typically developing peers. However, neuropsychological processes contributing to this remain unclear. The present study investigated whether the relationship between prepotent motor response inhibition and avoiding mental effort is mediated by the ability to resist avoidance motivation and whether this proposed mediation mechanism is contingent on ADHD diagnosis.

METHOD

40 children with ADHD and 40 gender and age-matched typically developing peers participated in the study. They completed the Cognitive Effort Avoidance Measure, the Go/No-go Task, and the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory-Personality Questionnaire-Children. Mediation and moderated mediation analyses were employed to test the hypotheses.

RESULTS

Children with ADHD scored lower in response inhibition and resisting avoidance motivation. Poorer scores in these variables were associated with a higher avoidance rate. Moreover, the ability to resist avoidance motivation completely mediated the relationship between response inhibition and avoidance rate only among children with ADHD.

CONCLUSION

Findings imply that poorer response inhibition led to an increase in avoidance motivation among children with ADHD, which becomes challenging to regulate effectively due to an impairment in the ability to resist avoidance motivation. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

Frontal two-electrode transcranial direct current stimulation protocols may not affect performance on a combined flanker Go/No-Go task

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been tested to modulate cognitive control or response inhibition using various electrode montages. However, electrode montages and current polarities have not been systematically compared when examining tDCS effects on cognitive control and response inhibition. In this randomized, sham-controlled study, 38 healthy volunteers were randomly grouped into receiving one session of sham, anodal, and cathodal each in an electrode montage that targeted either the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) or the fronto-medial (FM) region. Participants performed a combined flanker Go/No-Go task during stimulation. No effect of tDCS was found in the DLPFC and FM groups neither using anodal nor cathodal stimulation. No major adverse effects of tDCS were identified using either montage or stimulation type and the two groups did not differ in terms of the reported sensations. The present study suggests that single-session tDCS delivered in two two-electrode montages might not affect cognitive control or response inhibition, despite using widely popular stimulation parameters. This is in line with the heterogeneous findings in the field and calls for further systematic research to exclude less reliable methods from those with more pronounced effects, identify the determinants of responsiveness, and develop optimal ways to utilize this technique.

No effects of 1 Hz offline TMS on performance in the stop-signal game

Stopping an already initiated action is crucial for human everyday behavior and empirical evidence points toward the prefrontal cortex playing a key role in response inhibition. Two regions that have been consistently implicated in response inhibition are the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the more superior region of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). The present study investigated the effect of offline 1 Hz transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the right IFG and DLPFC on performance in a gamified stop-signal task (SSG). We hypothesized that perturbing each area would decrease performance in the SSG, albeit with a quantitative difference in the performance decrease after stimulation. After offline TMS, functional short-term reorganization is possible, and the domain-general area (i.e., the right DLPFC) might be able to compensate for the perturbation of the domain-specific area (i.e., the right IFG). Results showed that 1 Hz offline TMS over the right DLPFC and the right IFG at 110% intensity of the resting motor threshold had no effect on performance in the SSG. In fact, evidence in favor of the null hypothesis was found. One intriguing interpretation of this result is that within-network compensation was triggered, canceling out the potential TMS effects as has been suggested in recent theorizing on TMS effects, although the presented results do not unambiguously identify such compensatory mechanisms. Future studies may result in further support for this hypothesis, which is especially important when studying reactive response in complex environments.

Mapping access to meaning in adolescents with autism: Atypical lateralization and spatiotemporal patterns as a function of language ability

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) vary in their language abilities, associated with atypical patterns of brain activity. However, few studies have examined the spatiotemporal profiles of lexico-semantic processing in ASD, particularly as a function of language heterogeneity. Thirty-nine high-functioning adolescents with ASD and 21 typically developing (TD) peers took part in a lexical decision task that combined semantic access with demands on cognitive control. Spatiotemporal characteristics of the processing stages were examined with a multimodal anatomically-constrained magnetoencephalography (aMEG) approach, which integrates MEG with structural MRI. Additional EEG data were acquired from a limited montage simultaneously with MEG. TD adolescents showed the canonical left-dominant activity in frontotemporal regions during both early (N250m) and late (N400m) stages of lexical access and semantic integration. In contrast, the ASD participants showed bilateral engagement of the frontotemporal language network, indicative of compensatory recruitment of the right hemisphere. The left temporal N400m was prominent in both groups, confirming preserved attempts to access meaning. In contrast, the left prefrontal N400m was reduced in ASD participants, consistent with impaired semantic/contextual integration and inhibitory control. To further investigate the impact of language proficiency, the ASD sample was stratified into high- and low-performing (H-ASD and L-ASD) subgroups based on their task accuracy. The H-ASD subgroup performed on par with the TD group and showed greater activity in the right prefrontal and bilateral temporal cortices relative to the L-ASD subgroup, suggesting compensatory engagement. The L-ASD subgroup additionally showed reduced and delayed left prefrontal N400m, consistent with more profound semantic and executive impairments in this subgroup. These distinct spatiotemporal activity profiles reveal the neural underpinnings of the ASD-specific access to meaning and provide insight into the phenotypic heterogeneity of language in ASD, which may be a result of different neurodevelopmental trajectories and adoption of compensatory strategies.

Offline 20 Hz transcranial alternating current stimulation over the right inferior frontal gyrus increases theta activity during a motor response inhibition task

OBJECTIVES

Previous studies have shown that the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) and the pre-supplementary motor area (preSMA) play an important role in motor inhibitory control. The aim of the study was to use theta frequency transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) to modulate brain activity in the rIFG and preSMA and to test the effects of stimulation using a motor response inhibition task.

METHODS

In four sessions, 20 healthy participants received tACS at 6 Hz over preSMA or rIFG, or 20 Hz over rIFG (to test frequency specificity), or sham stimulation before task processing. After each type of stimulation, the participants performed the Go/NoGo task with simultaneous electroencephalogram (EEG) recording.

RESULTS

By stimulating rIFG and preSMA with 6 Hz tACS, we were not able to modulate either behavioral performance nor the EEG correlate. Interestingly, 20 Hz tACS over the rIFG significantly increased theta activity, however without behavioral effects. This increased theta activity did not coincide with the stimulation area and was localized in the fronto-central and centro-parietal areas.

CONCLUSIONS

The inclusion of a control frequency is crucial to test for frequency specificity. Our findings are in accordance with previous studies showing that after effects of tACS are not restricted to the stimulation frequency but can also occur in other frequency bands.

Resilience to substance use disorder following childhood maltreatment: association with peripheral biomarkers of endocannabinoid function and neural indices of emotion regulation

Childhood maltreatment (CM) is a risk factor for substance use disorders (SUD) in adulthood. Understanding the mechanisms by which people are susceptible or resilient to developing SUD after exposure to CM is important for improving intervention. This case-control study investigated the impact of prospectively assessed CM on biomarkers of endocannabinoid function and emotion regulation in relation to the susceptibility or resilience to developing SUD. Four groups were defined across the dimensions of CM and lifetime SUD (N = 101 in total). After screening, participants completed two experimental sessions on separate days, aimed at assessing the behavioral, physiological, and neural mechanisms involved in emotion regulation. In the first session, participants engaged in tasks assessing biochemical (i.e., cortisol, endocannabinoids), behavioral, and psychophysiological indices of stress and affective reactivity. During the second session, the behavioral and brain mechanisms associated with emotion regulation and negative affect were investigated using magnetic resonance imaging. CM-exposed adults who did not develop SUD, operationally defined as resilient to developing SUD, had higher peripheral levels of the endocannabinoid anandamide at baseline and during stress exposure, compared to controls. Similarly, this group had increased activity in salience and emotion regulation regions in task-based measures of emotion regulation compared to controls, and CM-exposed adults with lifetime SUD. At rest, the resilient group also showed significantly greater negative connectivity between ventromedial prefrontal cortex and anterior insula compared to controls and CM-exposed adults with lifetime SUD. Collectively, these peripheral and central findings point to mechanisms of potential resilience to developing SUD after documented CM exposure.

Context-specific effects of threatening faces on alerting, orienting, and executive control: A fNIRS study

Real-world threatening faces possess both useful and irrelevant attributes with respect to the current goal. How these attributes interact and affect attention, which comprises at least three processes hypothesized to engage the frontal lobes (alerting, orienting, and executive control), remains poorly understood. Here, the neurocognitive effects of threatening facial expressions on the three processes of attention were examined through the emotional Attention Network Test (ANT) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Forty-seven (20M, 27F) young adults performed a blocked version of the arrow flanker task with neutral and angry facial cues applied in three cue conditions (no, center, and spatial). Hemodynamic changes occurring in participants' frontal cortices during task performance were recorded by multichannel fNIRS. Behavioral results indicated that alerting, orienting, and executive control processes existed in both the neutral and angry conditions. However, depending on the context, angry facial cues affected these processes differently compared with neutral facial cues. Specifically, the angry face disrupted the classical decrease in reaction time from the no-cue to center-cue condition specifically during the congruent condition. Additionally, fNIRS results revealed significant frontal cortical activation during the incongruent vs. congruent task; neither cue nor emotion significantly affected frontal activation. Thus, the findings suggest that the angry face affects all three attentional processes while exerting context-specific effects on attention. They also imply that during the ANT, the frontal cortex is most involved in executive control. The present study offers essential insights into how various attributes of threatening faces interact and alter attention.

Overlapping and unique brain responses to cognitive and response inhibition

Although cognitive inhibition and response inhibition fall under the umbrella term of inhibition, the question remains whether the two aspects of inhibition engage shared or distinct brain regions. The current study is one of the first to examine the neural underpinnings of cognitive inhibition (e.g. the Stroop incongruency effect) and response inhibition (e.g. "no-go" response) within a single task. Adult participants (n = 77) completed an adapted version of the Simon Task in a 3T MRI scanner. The results demonstrated that cognitive and response inhibition recruited a group of overlapping brain regions (inferior frontal cortex, inferior temporal lobe, precentral cortex, parietal cortex). However, a direct comparison of cognitive and response inhibition revealed that the two aspects of inhibition also engaged distinct, task-specific brain regions (voxel-wise FWE corrected p < 0.05). Cognitive inhibition was associated with increases in multiple brain regions within the prefrontal cortex. On the other hand, response inhibition was associated with increases in distinct regions of the prefrontal cortex, right superior parietal cortex, and inferior temporal lobe. Our findings advance the understanding of the brain basis of inhibition by suggesting that cognitive inhibition and response inhibition engage overlapping but distinct brain regions.

The effect of acute exercise on cognitive and motor inhibition - Does fitness moderate this effect?

BACKGROUND

Given the extensive evidence on improvements in cognitive inhibition immediately following exercise, and the literature indicating that cognitive and motor inhibitory functions are mediated by overlapping brain networks, the aim of this study was to assess, for the first time, the effect of moderate intensity acute aerobic exercise on multi-limb motor inhibition, as compared to cognitive inhibition.

METHOD

Participants were 36 healthy adults aged 40-60 years old (mean age 46.8 ± 5.7), who were randomly assigned to experimental or control groups. One-to-two weeks following baseline assessment, participants were asked to perform a three-limb (3-Limb) inhibition task and a vocal version of the Stroop before and after either acute moderate-intense aerobic exercise (experimental group) or rest (control).

RESULTS

Similar rates of improvement were observed among both groups from baseline to the pre-test. Conversely, a meaningful, yet non-significant trend was seen among the experimental group in their pretest to posttest improvement in both cognitive and motor tasks. In addition, exploratory analysis revealed significant group differences in favor of the experimental group among highly fit participants on the 3-Limb task. A significant correlation was indicated between the inhibition conditions, i.e., choice in the motor inhibition and color/word (incongruent) in the cognitive inhibition, especially in the improvement observed following the exercise.

DISCUSSION

Moderate-intensity acute aerobic exercise is a potential stimulator of both multi-limb motor inhibition and cognitive inhibition. It appears that high-fit participants benefit from exercise more than low-fit people. Additionally, performance on behavioral tasks that represent motor and cognitive inhibition is related. This observation suggests that fitness levels and acute exercise contribute to the coupling between cognitive and motor inhibition. Neuroimaging methods would allow examining brain-behavior associations of exercise-induced changes in the brain.

Investigating Intra-Individual Networks of Response Inhibition and Interference Resolution using 7T MRI

Response inhibition and interference resolution are often considered subcomponents of an overarching inhibition system that utilizes the so-called cortico-basal-ganglia loop. Up until now, most previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) literature has compared the two using between-subject designs, pooling data in the form of a meta-analysis or comparing different groups. Here, we investigate the overlap of activation patterns underlying response inhibition and interference resolution on a within-subject level, using ultra-high field MRI. In this model-based study, we furthered the functional analysis with cognitive modelling techniques to provide a more in-depth understanding of behaviour. We applied the stop-signal task and multi-source interference task to measure response inhibition and interference resolution, respectively. Our results lead us to conclude that these constructs are rooted in anatomically distinct brain areas and provide little evidence for spatial overlap. Across the two tasks, common BOLD responses were observed in the inferior frontal gyrus and anterior insula. Interference resolution relied more heavily on subcortical components, specifically nodes of the commonly referred to indirect and hyperdirect pathways, as well as the anterior cingulate cortex, and pre-supplementary motor area. Our data indicated that orbitofrontal cortex activation is specific to response inhibition. Our model-based approach provided evidence for the dissimilarity in behavioural dynamics between the two tasks. The current work exemplifies the importance of reducing inter-individual variance when comparing network patterns and the value of UHF-MRI for high resolution functional mapping.

Does chronic use of amphetamine-type stimulants impair interference control? - A meta-analysis

In substance use and addiction, inhibitory control is key to ignoring triggers, withstanding craving and maintaining abstinence. In amphetamine-type stimulant (ATS) users, most research focused on behavioral inhibition, but largely neglected the equally important subdomain of cognitive interference control. Given its crucial role in managing consumption, we investigated the relationship between interference control and chronic ATS use in adults. A database search (Pubmed & Web of Science) and relevant reviews were used to identify eligible studies. Effect sizes were estimated with random effects models. Subgroup, meta-regression, and sensitivity analyses explored heterogeneity in effect sizes. We identified 61 studies (53 datasets) assessing interference control in 1873 ATS users and 1905 controls. Findings revealed robust small effect sizes for ATS-related deficits in interference control, which were mainly seen in methamphetamine, as compared to MDMA users. The differential effects are likely due to tolerance-induced dopaminergic deficiencies (presumably most pronounced in methamphetamine users). Similarities between different ATS could be due to noradrenergic deficiencies; but elucidating their functional role in ATS users requires further/more research.

Distinct neurocognitive mechanisms underlying learning and representations of symbols of life and death

Life and death are 2 fundamental concepts regarding existence of organisms. People often signify these concepts using symbols to facilitate communications, but how the brain learns and represents these symbols remains unclear. In the present study, we quantified behavioral and brain responses during learning associations between words ("life" or "death") with shapes as concrete referents. Behavioral responses to word-shape pairs showed an affirmative response bias to life-shape pairs but a denial response bias to death-shape pairs. Multimodal brain imaging results revealed that the right frontal and dorsal cingulate cortices monitored these response biases, respectively. Moreover, relative to unlearned shapes, life-related shapes induced increased alpha (9-14 Hz) oscillations in the right parietal cortex and precuneus, whereas death-related shapes enhanced beta (15-30 Hz) oscillations in the left parietal cortex, superior temporal sulcus, and precuneus. Our findings unraveled distinct neurocognitive mechanisms underlying learning and representations of concrete referents of life and death concepts.

Cortical hemodynamic response during cognitive Stroop test in acute stroke patients assessed by fNIRS

BACKGROUND

Following acute ischemic stroke (AIS) many patients experience cognitive impairment which interferes neurorehabilitation. Understanding and monitoring pathophysiologic processes behind cognitive symptoms requires accessible methods during testing and training. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) can assess activational hemodynamic responses in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and feasibly be used as a biomarker to support stroke rehabilitation.

OBJECTIVE

Exploring the feasibility of fNIRS as a biomarker during the Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT) assessing executive function in AIS patients.

METHODS

Observational study of 21 patients with mild to moderate AIS and 22 healthy age- and sex-matched controls (HC) examined with fNIRS of PFC during the SCWT. Hemodynamic responses were analyzed with general linear modeling.

RESULTS

The SCWT was performed worse by AIS patients than HC. Neither patients nor HC showed PFC activation, but an inverse activational pattern primarily in superolateral and superomedial PFC significantly lower in AIS. Hemodynamic responses were incoherent to test difficulty and performance. No other group differences or lateralization were found.

CONCLUSIONS

AIS patients had impaired executive function assessed by the SCWT, while both groups showed an inverse hemodynamic response significantly larger in HC. Investigations assessing the physiology behind inverse hemodynamic responses are warranted before deeming clinical implementation reasonable.

Dysconnectivity between the anterior insula and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex during an emotion go/nogo paradigm is associated with aggressive behaviors in male schizophrenia patients

This study aimed to investigate the association between past-reported violent/aggressive behaviors and brain functional connectivity in male patients suffering from schizophrenia using a task modeling the interaction between negative emotion processing and response inhibition. Forty-four male patients with schizophrenia and twenty-two healthy male controls performed an emotional go/no-go task using angry and neutral faces during a functional magnetic resonance imaging session. Generalized psycho-physiological interaction was conducted to explore task-based functional connectivity and a negative binomial regression was used to evaluate the relationship between neural alterations and violent/aggressive behaviors. Regions involved in response inhibition and emotion regulation, such as the anterior insula, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), were used as seed regions. During emotion-related response inhibition, patients with schizophrenia displayed altered connectivity between the anterior insula and amygdala, the DLPFC and lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), as well as the anterior insula and the dACC when compared to healthy individuals. The latter was negatively associated with aggressive behaviors in participants with schizophrenia (Wald χ² = 9.51; p < 0.05, p-FDR corrected). Our results highlight alterations in functional connectivity in brain regions involved in cognitive control and emotion processing which are associated with aggressive behaviors in schizophrenia.

Multidimensional inhibitory signatures of sentential negation in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia

BACKGROUND

Processing of linguistic negation has been associated to inhibitory brain mechanisms. However, no study has tapped this link via multimodal measures in patients with core inhibitory alterations, a critical approach to reveal direct neural correlates and potential disease markers.

METHODS

Here we examined oscillatory, neuroanatomical, and functional connectivity signatures of a recently reported Go/No-go negation task in healthy controls and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) patients, typified by primary and generalized inhibitory disruptions. To test for specificity, we also recruited persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD), a disease involving frequent but nonprimary inhibitory deficits.

RESULTS

In controls, negative sentences in the No-go condition distinctly involved frontocentral delta (2-3 Hz) suppression, a canonical inhibitory marker. In bvFTD patients, this modulation was selectively abolished and significantly correlated with the volume and functional connectivity of regions supporting inhibition (e.g. precentral gyrus, caudate nucleus, and cerebellum). Such canonical delta suppression was preserved in the AD group and associated with widespread anatomo-functional patterns across non-inhibitory regions.

DISCUSSION

These findings suggest that negation hinges on the integrity and interaction of spatiotemporal inhibitory mechanisms. Moreover, our results reveal potential neurocognitive markers of bvFTD, opening a new agenda at the crossing of cognitive neuroscience and behavioral neurology.

Charting the neural circuits disruption in inhibitory control and its subcomponents across psychiatric disorders: A neuroimaging meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Inhibitory control, comprising cognitive inhibition and response inhibition, showed consistent deficits among several major psychiatric disorders. We aim to identify the trans-diagnostic convergence of neuroimaging abnormalities underlying inhibitory control across psychiatric disorders.

METHODS

Inhibitory control tasks neuroimaging, including functional magnetic resonance imaging, single-photon emission computed tomography, and positron emission tomography articles published in PubMed and Web of Science before April 2020 comparing healthy controls with patients with several psychiatric disorders were searched.

RESULTS

146 experiments on 2653 patients with different disorders and 2764 control participants were included. Coordinates of case-control differences coded by diagnosis and inhibitory control components were analyzed using activation likelihood estimation. A robust trans-diagnostic pattern of aberrant brain activation in the bilateral cingulate gyri extending to medial frontal gyri, right insula, bilateral lentiform nuclei, right inferior frontal gyrus, right precuneus extending to inferior parietal lobule, and right supplementary motor area were detected. Frontostriatal pathways are the commonly disrupted neural circuits in the inhibitory control across psychiatric disorders. Furthermore, Patients showed aberrant activation in the dorsal frontal inhibitory system in cognitive inhibition, while in the frontostriatal system in response inhibition across disorders.

CONCLUSION

Consistent with the Research Domain Criteria initiative, current findings show that psychiatric disorders may be productively formulated as a phenotype of trans-diagnostic neurocircuit disruption. Our results provide new insights for future research into mental disorders with inhibition-related dysfunctions.

Inhibition, Shifting and Updating: Inter and intra-domain commonalities and differences from an executive functions activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis

Executive functions are higher-order mental processes that support goal-directed behavior. Among these processes, Inhibition, Updating, and Shifting have been considered core executive domains. In this meta-analysis, we comprehensively investigate the neural networks of these executive domains and we synthesize for the first time the neural convergences and divergences among the most frequently used executive paradigms within those domains. A systematic search yielded 1055 published neuroimaging studies (including 26,191 participants in total). Our study revealed that a fronto-parietal network was shared by the three main domains. Furthermore, we executed conjunction analyses among the paradigms of the same domain to extract the core distinctive components of the main executive domains. This approach showed that Inhibition and Shifting are characterized by a strongly lateralized neural activation in the right and left hemisphere, respectively. In addition, both networks overlapped with the Updating network but not with each other. Remarkably, our study detected heterogeneity among the paradigms from the same domain. More specifically, analysis of Inhibition tasks revealed differing activations for Response Inhibition compared to Interference Control paradigms, suggesting that Inhibition encompasses relatively heterogeneous sub-functions. Shifting analyses revealed a bilateral overlap of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task with the Updating network, but this pattern was absent for Rule Switching and Dual Task paradigms. Moreover, our Updating meta-analyses revealed the neural signatures associated with the specific modules of the Working Memory model from Baddeley and Hitch. To our knowledge, this is the most comprehensive meta-analysis of executive functions to date. Its paradigm-driven analyses provide a unique contribution to a better understanding of the neural convergences and divergences among executive processes that are relevant for clinical applications, such as cognitive enhancement and neurorehabilitation interventions.

Effects of exercise interventions on executive function in old adults with mild cognitive impairment: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

AIMS

To assess the effect of exercise interventions on subdomains of executive function (EF) in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

METHODS

Nine electronic databases were comprehensively searched from their inception to February 2021. Randomized controlled trials examining the effect of exercise training on EF in MCI were included.

RESULTS

Twenty-four eligible articles involving 2278 participants were identified. The results showed that exercise interventions had positive benefits on working memory, switching and inhibition in MCI. Subgroup analysis based on exercise prescriptions revealed that both aerobatic exercise and mind-body exercise had similar positive effect size on working memory. However, only mind-body exercise had significant effect on switching. Exercise training with moderate frequency (3-4 times/week) had larger effect size than low frequency (1-2 times/week) and only moderate frequency had positive benefits on switching. Both short (4-12 weeks), medium (13-24 weeks) and long (more than 24 weeks) exercise duration significantly ameliorate working memory and switching, however with short duration having slight larger effect sizes than medium and long.

CONCLUSION

Exercise significantly improves three subdomains of EF in MCI, especially mind-body exercise. Exercise training sticking to at least 4 weeks with 3-4 times a week tends to have larger effect size.

Inhibitory control in obsessive compulsive disorder: A systematic review and activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging studies

BACKGROUND

Patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) often show deficits in inhibitory control, which may underlie poor control over obsessions and compulsions. Several functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments utilizing a variety of tasks have investigated the neural correlates of inhibitory control in OCD. Evidence from existing meta-analyses suggests aberrant activation of regions in fronto-striatal circuits during inhibitory control. However, new fMRI articles have since been published, and a more rigorous methodology for neuroimaging meta-analyses is now available.

OBJECTIVES

First, to reevaluate the evidence for abnormal brain activation during performance of inhibitory control tasks in OCD while adhering to current best practices for meta-analyses, and second, to extend previous findings by separately assessing different subprocesses of inhibitory control.

METHOD

We systematically searched Web of Knowledge, ScienceDirect, Scopus, PubMed and the functional BrainMap database for fMRI articles that compared activation during performance of inhibitory control tasks in patients with OCD and healthy control (HC) subjects. Thirty-five experiments from 21 articles met our criteria for inclusion. We first performed activation-likelihood-estimation meta-analyses to elucidate brain areas in which case-control activation differences converged across articles and tasks. We then aimed to extend previous work by separately evaluating experiments requiring inhibition of a prepotent response without execution of an alternative response (i.e., response inhibition) and experiments requiring inhibition of a prepotent response and execution of an alternative response (i.e., cognitive inhibition).

RESULTS

The 35 experiments included a total of 394 patients and 410 controls. We did not find evidence of abnormal brain activation in OCD during inhibitory control when pooling data from all experiments. Analysis restricted to cognitive inhibition experiments showed abnormal activation of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC; P = .04, cluster-level familywise error-corrected, cluster volume of 824 mm³). We did not have sufficient data to evaluate response inhibition experiments separately.

CONCLUSION

Findings of abnormal brain activation in OCD from different inhibitory control tasks do not appear to converge on the same brain regions, but the dACC may be implicated in abnormal cognitive inhibition. Our findings highlight a need for experiments that specifically target subprocesses of inhibitory control to achieve a more differentiated understanding of the neural correlates for impaired inhibitory control in OCD.

Differences in brain activations between micro- and macro-expressions based on electroencephalography

Micro-expressions can reflect an individual's subjective emotions and true mental state and are widely used in the fields of mental health, justice, law enforcement, intelligence, and security. However, the current approach based on image and expert assessment-based micro-expression recognition technology has limitations such as limited application scenarios and time consumption. Therefore, to overcome these limitations, this study is the first to explore the brain mechanisms of micro-expressions and their differences from macro-expressions from a neuroscientific perspective. This can be a foundation for micro-expression recognition based on EEG signals. We designed a real-time supervision and emotional expression suppression (SEES) experimental paradigm to synchronously collect facial expressions and electroencephalograms. Electroencephalogram signals were analyzed at the scalp and source levels to determine the temporal and spatial neural patterns of micro- and macro-expressions. We found that micro-expressions were more strongly activated in the premotor cortex, supplementary motor cortex, and middle frontal gyrus in frontal regions under positive emotions than macro-expressions. Under negative emotions, micro-expressions were more weakly activated in the somatosensory cortex and corneal gyrus regions than macro-expressions. The activation of the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) was stronger in micro-expressions under positive than negative emotions. The reason for this difference is that the pathways of facial control are different; the production of micro-expressions under positive emotion is dependent on the control of the face, while micro-expressions under negative emotions are more dependent on the intensity of the emotion.

Cingulate cortex morphology impacts on neurofunctional activity and behavioral performance in interference tasks

Inhibitory control is the capacity to withhold or suppress a thought or action intentionally. The anterior Midcingulate Cortex (aMCC) participates in response inhibition, a proxy measure of inhibitory control. Recent research suggests that response inhibition is modulated by individual variability in the aMCC sulcal morphology. However, no study has investigated if this phenomenon is associated with neurofunctional differences during a task. In this study, 42 participants performed an Attention Network Task and a Numerical Stroop task in an MRI scanner. We investigated differences in brain activity and response inhibition efficiency between individuals with symmetric and asymmetric aMCC sulcal patterns. The results showed that aMCC morphological variability is partly associated with inhibitory control, and revealed greater activation in individuals with symmetric patterns during the Stroop task. Our findings provide novel insights into the functional correlates of the relationship between aMCC morphology and executive abilities.

Distinct neural activation patterns of age in subcomponents of inhibitory control: A fMRI meta-analysis

Inhibitory control (IC) is a fundamental cognitive function showing age-related change across the healthy lifespan. Since different cognitive resources are needed in the two subcomponents of IC (cognitive inhibition and response inhibition), regions of the brain are differentially activated. In this study, we aimed to determine whether there is a distinct age-related activation pattern in these two subcomponents. A total of 278 fMRI articles were included in the current analysis. Multilevel kernel density analysis was used to provide data on brain activation under each subcomponent of IC. Contrast analyses were conducted to capture the distinct activated brain regions for the two subcomponents, whereas meta-regression analyses were performed to identify brain regions with distinct age-related activation patterns in the two subcomponents of IC. The results showed that the right inferior frontal gyrus and the bilateral insula were activated during the two IC subcomponents. Contrast analyses revealed stronger activation in the superior parietal lobule during cognitive inhibition, whereas stronger activation during response inhibition was observed primarily in the right inferior frontal gyrus, bilateral insula, and angular gyrus. Furthermore, regression analyses showed that activation of the left anterior cingulate cortex, left inferior frontal gyrus, bilateral insula, and left superior parietal lobule increased and decreased with age during cognitive inhibition and response inhibition, respectively. The results showed distinct activation patterns of aging for the two subcomponents of IC, which may be related to the differential cognitive resources recruited. These findings may help to enhance knowledge of age-related changes in the activation patterns of IC.

Quantitative Meta-analyses of Cognitive Abilities in Children With Pediatric-onset Multiple Sclerosis

Pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (POMS), is the manifestation of multiple sclerosis in individuals before 18 years of age. About a third of children with POMS show some form of lower cognitive performance. The purpose of this study is to examine using quantitative meta-analyses the effect size of altered performance between children with and without POMS on overall intelligence quotient (IQ), information processing speed, and language functions. We searched the literature for studies that reported scores on cognitive tests administered to children with and without POMS. Studies were systematically reviewed using PRISMA guidelines. We analyzed data from 14 studies that examined 1283 children with and without POMS when cognitive categories consisted of five or more studies. Effect sizes, publication bias and potential confounds were considered. Significant cognitive differences are revealed for all categories with the strongest effect observed for overall IQ. A moderate effect is observed for information processing speed, and small effects for verbal fluency and verbal memory. Cognitive abilities present differently in children with POMS and a better understanding of this manifestation will inform intervention and remediation tools that can improve clinical and educational practice for the benefit of children with POMS.

Memory retrieval brain-behavior disconnection in mild traumatic brain injury: A magnetoencephalography and diffusion tensor imaging study

Mild traumatic brain (mTBI) injury is often associated with long-term cognitive and behavioral complications, including an increased risk of memory impairment. Current research challenges include a lack of cross-modal convergence regarding the underlying neural-behavioral mechanisms of mTBI, which hinders therapeutics and outcome management for this frequently under-treated and vulnerable population. We used multi-modality imaging methods including magnetoencephalography (MEG) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate brain-behavior impairment in mTBI related to working memory. A total of 41 participants were recruited, including 23 patients with a first-time mTBI imaged within 3 months of injury (all male, age = 29.9, SD = 6.9), and 18 control participants (all male, age = 27.3, SD = 5.3). Whole-brain statistics revealed spatially concomitant functional-structural disruptions in brain-behavior interactions in working memory in the mTBI group compared with the control group. These disruptions are located in the hippocampal-prefrontal region and, additionally, in the amygdala (measured by MEG neural activation and DTI measures of fractional anisotropy in relation to working memory performance; p < .05, two-way ANCOVA, nonparametric permutations, corrected). Impaired brain-behavior connections found in the hippocampal-prefrontal and amygdala circuits indicate brain dysregulation of memory, which may leave mTBI patients vulnerable to increased environmental demands exerting memory resources, leading to related cognitive and emotional psychopathologies. The findings yield clinical implications and highlight a need for early rehabilitation after mTBI, including attention- and sensory-based behavioral exercises.