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Yu H, Lin C, Sun S, Cao R, Kar K, Wang S. Multimodal investigations of emotional face processing and social trait judgment of faces. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2024; 1531:29-48. [PMID: 37965931 PMCID: PMC10858652 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.15084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2023]
Abstract
Faces are among the most important visual stimuli that humans perceive in everyday life. While extensive literature has examined emotional processing and social evaluations of faces, most studies have examined either topic using unimodal approaches. In this review, we promote the use of multimodal cognitive neuroscience approaches to study these processes, using two lines of research as examples: ambiguity in facial expressions of emotion and social trait judgment of faces. In the first set of studies, we identified an event-related potential that signals emotion ambiguity using electroencephalography and we found convergent neural responses to emotion ambiguity using functional neuroimaging and single-neuron recordings. In the second set of studies, we discuss how different neuroimaging and personality-dimensional approaches together provide new insights into social trait judgments of faces. In both sets of studies, we provide an in-depth comparison between neurotypicals and people with autism spectrum disorder. We offer a computational account for the behavioral and neural markers of the different facial processing between the two groups. Finally, we suggest new practices for studying the emotional processing and social evaluations of faces. All data discussed in the case studies of this review are publicly available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongbo Yu
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA
| | - Chujun Lin
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, USA
| | - Sai Sun
- Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
- Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Runnan Cao
- Department of Radiology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Kohitij Kar
- Department of Biology, Centre for Vision Research, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Shuo Wang
- Department of Radiology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
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2
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Andelman-Gur MM, Fried I. Consciousness: a neurosurgical perspective. Acta Neurochir (Wien) 2023; 165:2729-2735. [PMID: 37594639 DOI: 10.1007/s00701-023-05738-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2022] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/19/2023]
Abstract
Neurosurgeons are in a unique position to shed light on the neural basis for consciousness, not only by their clinical care of patients with compromised states of consciousness, but also by employing neurostimulation and neuronal recordings through intracranial electrodes in awake surgical patients, as well as during stages of sleep and anethesia. In this review, we discuss several aspects of consciousness, i.e., perception, memory, and willed actions, studied by electrical stimulation and single neuron recordings in the human brain. We demonstrate how specific neuronal activity underlie the emergence of concepts, memories, and intentions in human consciousness. We discuss the representation of specific conscious content by temporal lobe neurons and present the discovery of "concept cells" and the encoding and retrieval of memories by neurons in the medial temporal lobe. We review prefrontal and parietal neuronal activation that precedes conscious intentions to act. Taken together with other studies in the field, these findings suggest that specific conscious experience may arise from stochastic fluctuations of neuronal activity, reaching a dynamic threshold. Advances in brain recording and stimulation technology coupled with the rapid rise in artificial intelligence are likely to increase the amount and analysis capabilities of data obtained from the human brain, thereby improving the decoding of conscious and preconscious states and open new horizons for modulation of human cognitive functions such as memory and volition.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Itzhak Fried
- Department of Neurosurgery, David Geffen School of Medicine and Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, 300 Stein Plaza, Ste. 562, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
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3
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Quian Quiroga R. An integrative view of human hippocampal function: Differences with other species and capacity considerations. Hippocampus 2023; 33:616-634. [PMID: 36965048 DOI: 10.1002/hipo.23527] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2022] [Revised: 02/11/2023] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 03/27/2023]
Abstract
We describe an integrative model that encodes associations between related concepts in the human hippocampal formation, constituting the skeleton of episodic memories. The model, based on partially overlapping assemblies of "concept cells," contrast markedly with the well-established notion of pattern separation, which relies on conjunctive, context dependent single neuron responses, instead of the invariant, context independent responses found in the human hippocampus. We argue that the model of partially overlapping assemblies is better suited to cope with memory capacity limitations, that the finding of different types of neurons and functions in this area is due to a flexible and temporary use of the extraordinary machinery of the hippocampus to deal with the task at hand, and that only information that is relevant and frequently revisited will consolidate into long-term hippocampal representations, using partially overlapping assemblies. Finally, we propose that concept cells are uniquely human and that they may constitute the neuronal underpinnings of cognitive abilities that are much further developed in humans compared to other species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo Quian Quiroga
- Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain
- Centre for Systems Neuroscience, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
- Department of neurosurgery, clinical neuroscience center, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
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4
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Abstract
Memory recollections and voluntary actions are often perceived as spontaneously generated irrespective of external stimuli. Although products of our neurons, they are only rarely accessible in humans at the neuronal level. Here I review insights gleaned from unique neurosurgical opportunities to record and stimulate single-neuron activity in people who can declare their thoughts, memories and wishes. I discuss evidence that the subjective experience of human recollection and that of voluntary action arise from the activity of two internal neuronal generators, the former from medial temporal lobe reactivation and the latter from frontoparietal preactivation. I characterize properties of these generators and their interaction, enabling flexible recruitment of memory-based choices for action as well as recruitment of action-based plans for the representation of conceptual knowledge in memories. Both internal generators operate on surprisingly explicit but different neuronal codes, which appear to arise with distinct single-neuron activity, often observed before participants' reports of conscious awareness. I discuss prediction of behaviour based on these codes, and the potential for their modulation. The prospects of editing human memories and volitions by enhancement, inception or deletion of specific, selected content raise therapeutic possibilities and ethical concerns.
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5
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Rosenberg RN. The universal brain code a genetic mechanism for memory. J Neurol Sci 2021; 429:118073. [PMID: 34517228 DOI: 10.1016/j.jns.2021.118073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2021] [Revised: 09/04/2021] [Accepted: 09/06/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
We do not have an understanding of the fundamental mechanism of how information is stored and retrieved by the brain. A Universal Brain Code utilized for these functions is proposed here. The basic tenent of the Code is that a memory engram is propagated and guided through the connectome by specific proteins/peptides embedded within the pre-synaptic neuronal membrane corresponding to information provided by afferent electrical currents to the pre-synaptic neuron. It is intended to provide a working approach to this central brain activity and begin the process of investigation based on these ideas which are new and unexplored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roger N Rosenberg
- Department of Neurology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd, Dallas, TX 75390-9036, United States of America.
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6
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Kubska ZR, Kamiński J. How Human Single-Neuron Recordings Can Help Us Understand Cognition: Insights from Memory Studies. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11040443. [PMID: 33808391 PMCID: PMC8067009 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11040443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2021] [Revised: 03/26/2021] [Accepted: 03/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding human cognition is a key goal of contemporary neuroscience. Due to the complexity of the human brain, animal studies and noninvasive techniques, however valuable, are incapable of providing us with a full understanding of human cognition. In the light of existing cognitive theories, we describe findings obtained thanks to human single-neuron recordings, including the discovery of concept cells and novelty-dependent cells, or activity patterns behind working memory, such as persistent activity. We propose future directions for studies using human single-neuron recordings and we discuss possible opportunities of investigating pathological brain.
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7
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Quian Quiroga R. No Pattern Separation in the Human Hippocampus. Trends Cogn Sci 2020; 24:994-1007. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2020.09.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2020] [Revised: 09/28/2020] [Accepted: 09/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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8
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The Architecture of Human Memory: Insights from Human Single-Neuron Recordings. J Neurosci 2020; 41:883-890. [PMID: 33257323 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1648-20.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Revised: 09/24/2020] [Accepted: 09/27/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Deciphering the mechanisms of human memory is a central goal of neuroscience, both from the point of view of the fundamental biology of memory and for its translational relevance. Here, we review some contributions that recordings from neurons in humans implanted with electrodes for clinical purposes have made toward this goal. Recordings from the medial temporal lobe, including the hippocampus, reveal the existence of two classes of cells: those encoding highly selective and invariant representations of abstract concepts, and memory-selective cells whose activity is related to familiarity and episodic retrieval. Insights derived from observing these cells in behaving humans include that semantic representations are activated before episodic representations, that memory content and memory strength are segregated, and that the activity of both types of cells is related to subjective awareness as expected from a substrate for declarative memory. Visually selective cells can remain persistently active for several seconds, thereby revealing a cellular substrate for working memory in humans. An overarching insight is that the neural code of human memory is interpretable at the single-neuron level. Jointly, intracranial recording studies are starting to reveal aspects of the building blocks of human memory at the single-cell level. This work establishes a bridge to cellular-level work in animals on the one hand, and the extensive literature on noninvasive imaging in humans on the other hand. More broadly, this work is a step toward a detailed mechanistic understanding of human memory that is needed to develop therapies for human memory disorders.
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9
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Chari A, Thornton RC, Tisdall MM, Scott RC. Microelectrode recordings in human epilepsy: a case for clinical translation. Brain Commun 2020; 2:fcaa082. [PMID: 32954332 PMCID: PMC7472902 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcaa082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2020] [Revised: 04/21/2020] [Accepted: 04/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
With their 'all-or-none' action potential responses, single neurons (or units) are accepted as the basic computational unit of the brain. There is extensive animal literature to support the mechanistic importance of studying neuronal firing as a way to understand neuronal microcircuits and brain function. Although most studies have emphasized physiology, there is increasing recognition that studying single units provides novel insight into system-level mechanisms of disease. Microelectrode recordings are becoming more common in humans, paralleling the increasing use of intracranial electroencephalography recordings in the context of presurgical evaluation in focal epilepsy. In addition to single-unit data, microelectrode recordings also record local field potentials and high-frequency oscillations, some of which may be different to that recorded by clinical macroelectrodes. However, microelectrodes are being used almost exclusively in research contexts and there are currently no indications for incorporating microelectrode recordings into routine clinical care. In this review, we summarize the lessons learnt from 65 years of microelectrode recordings in human epilepsy patients. We cover the electrode constructs that can be utilized, principles of how to record and process microelectrode data and insights into ictal dynamics, interictal dynamics and cognition. We end with a critique on the possibilities of incorporating single-unit recordings into clinical care, with a focus on potential clinical indications, each with their specific evidence base and challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aswin Chari
- Developmental Neurosciences, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London WC1N 1EH, UK
- Department of Neurosurgery, Great Ormond Street Hospital, London WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - Rachel C Thornton
- Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Great Ormond Street Hospital, London WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - Martin M Tisdall
- Developmental Neurosciences, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London WC1N 1EH, UK
- Department of Neurosurgery, Great Ormond Street Hospital, London WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - Rodney C Scott
- Developmental Neurosciences, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London WC1N 1EH, UK
- Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
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10
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Quian Quiroga R. Closing the gap between mind and brain with the dynamic connectome. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:9677-9678. [PMID: 32317384 PMCID: PMC7211917 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2005329117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo Quian Quiroga
- Centre for Systems Neuroscience, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7HA, United Kingdom;
- Artificial Intelligence Research Centre, Peng Cheng Laboratory, 518055 Shenzhen, China
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11
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Plugging in to Human Memory: Advantages, Challenges, and Insights from Human Single-Neuron Recordings. Cell 2019; 179:1015-1032. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.10.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2019] [Revised: 09/26/2019] [Accepted: 10/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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12
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Barwich AS. The Value of Failure in Science: The Story of Grandmother Cells in Neuroscience. Front Neurosci 2019; 13:1121. [PMID: 31708726 PMCID: PMC6822296 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.01121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2019] [Accepted: 10/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The annals of science are filled with successes. Only in footnotes do we hear about the failures, the cul-de-sacs, and the forgotten ideas. Failure is how research advances. Yet it hardly features in theoretical perspectives on science. That is a mistake. Failures, whether clear-cut or ambiguous, are heuristically fruitful in their own right. Thinking about failure questions our measures of success, including the conceptual foundations of current practice, that can only be transient in an experimental context. This article advances the heuristics of failure analysis, meaning the explicit treatment of certain ideas or models as failures. The value of failures qua being a failure is illustrated with the example of grandmother cells; the contested idea of a hypothetical neuron that encodes a highly specific but complex stimulus, such as the image of one's grandmother. Repeatedly evoked in popular science and maintained in textbooks, there is sufficient reason to critically review the theoretical and empirical background of this idea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ann-Sophie Barwich
- Department of History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine, Cognitive Science Program, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, United States
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13
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Teufel C, Westlake MF, Fletcher PC, von dem Hagen E. A hierarchical model of social perception: Psychophysical evidence suggests late rather than early integration of visual information from facial expression and body posture. Cognition 2019; 185:131-143. [PMID: 30684782 PMCID: PMC6420341 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2018.12.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2018] [Revised: 12/13/2018] [Accepted: 12/17/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Facial expressions are one of the most important sources of information about another’s emotional states. More recently, other cues such as body posture have been shown to influence how facial expressions are perceived. It has been argued that this biasing effect is underpinned by an early integration of visual information from facial expression and body posture. Here, we replicate this biasing effect, but, using a psychophysical procedure, show that adaptation to facial expressions is unaffected by body context. The integration of face and body information therefore occurs downstream of the sites of adaptation, known to be localised in high-level visual areas of the temporal lobe. Contrary to previous research, our findings thus provide direct evidence for late integration of information from facial expression and body posture. They are consistent with a hierarchical model of social perception, in which social signals from different sources are initially processed independently and in parallel by specialised visual mechanisms. Integration of these different inputs in later stages of the visual system then supports the emergence of the integrated whole-person percept that is consciously experienced.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christoph Teufel
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, UK.
| | - Meryl F Westlake
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, UK
| | - Paul C Fletcher
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, UK
| | - Elisabeth von dem Hagen
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, UK
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14
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Knieling S, Niediek J, Kutter E, Bostroem J, Elger CE, Mormann F. An online adaptive screening procedure for selective neuronal responses. J Neurosci Methods 2017; 291:36-42. [PMID: 28826654 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2017.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2017] [Revised: 08/01/2017] [Accepted: 08/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND A common problem in neurophysiology is to identify stimuli that elicit neuronal responses in a given brain region. Particularly in situations where electrode positions are fixed, this can be a time-consuming task that requires presentation of a large number of stimuli. Such a screening for response-eliciting stimuli is employed, e.g., as a standard procedure to identify 'concept cells' in the human medial temporal lobe. NEW METHOD Our new method evaluates neuronal responses to stimuli online during a screening session, which allows us to successively exclude stimuli that do not evoke a response. Using this method, we can screen a larger number of stimuli which in turn increases the chances of finding responsive neurons and renders time-consuming offline analysis unnecessary. RESULTS Our method enabled us to present 30% more stimuli in the same period of time with additional presentations of the most promising candidate stimuli. Our online method ran smoothly on a standard computer and network. COMPARISON WITH AN EXISTING METHOD To analyze how our online screening procedure performs in comparison to an established offline method, we used the Wave_Clus software package. We did not observe any major drawbacks in our method, but a much higher efficiency and analysis speed. CONCLUSIONS By transitioning from a traditional offline screening procedure to our new online method, we substantially increased the number of visual stimuli presented in a given time period. This allows to identify more response-eliciting stimuli, which forms the basis to better address a great number of questions in cognitive neuroscience.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Knieling
- Dept. of Epileptology, University of Bonn, Germany
| | - J Niediek
- Dept. of Epileptology, University of Bonn, Germany
| | - E Kutter
- Dept. of Epileptology, University of Bonn, Germany
| | - J Bostroem
- Dept. of Neurosurgery, University of Bonn, Germany
| | - C E Elger
- Dept. of Epileptology, University of Bonn, Germany
| | - F Mormann
- Dept. of Epileptology, University of Bonn, Germany.
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15
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Baroni F, van Kempen J, Kawasaki H, Kovach CK, Oya H, Howard MA, Adolphs R, Tsuchiya N. Intracranial markers of conscious face perception in humans. Neuroimage 2017; 162:322-343. [PMID: 28882629 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.08.074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2017] [Revised: 08/15/2017] [Accepted: 08/24/2017] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Investigations of the neural basis of consciousness have greatly benefited from protocols that involve the presentation of stimuli at perceptual threshold, enabling the assessment of the patterns of brain activity that correlate with conscious perception, independently of any changes in sensory input. However, the comparison between perceived and unperceived trials would be expected to reveal not only the core neural substrate of a particular conscious perception, but also aspects of brain activity that facilitate, hinder or tend to follow conscious perception. We take a step towards the resolution of these confounds by combining an analysis of neural responses observed during the presentation of faces partially masked by Continuous Flash Suppression, and those responses observed during the unmasked presentation of faces and other images in the same subjects. We employed multidimensional classifiers to decode physical properties of stimuli or perceptual states from spectrotemporal representations of electrocorticographic signals (1071 channels in 5 subjects). Neural activity in certain face responsive areas located in both the fusiform gyrus and in the lateral-temporal/inferior-parietal cortex discriminated seen vs. unseen faces in the masked paradigm and upright faces vs. other categories in the unmasked paradigm. However, only the former discriminated upright vs. inverted faces in the unmasked paradigm. Our results suggest a prominent role for the fusiform gyrus in the configural perception of faces, and possibly other objects that are holistically processed. More generally, we advocate comparative analysis of neural recordings obtained during different, but related, experimental protocols as a promising direction towards elucidating the functional specificities of the patterns of neural activation that accompany our conscious experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabiano Baroni
- School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Biomedical and Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Australia; NeuroEngineering Laboratory, Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Australia.
| | - Jochem van Kempen
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom; School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Biomedical and Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Australia
| | - Hiroto Kawasaki
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | | | - Hiroyuki Oya
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Matthew A Howard
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Ralph Adolphs
- Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Naotsugu Tsuchiya
- School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Biomedical and Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Australia; Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Monash University, Australia; Decoding and Controlling Brain Information, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
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16
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Navajas J, Nitka AW, Quian Quiroga R. Dissociation between the neural correlates of conscious face perception and visual attention. Psychophysiology 2017; 54:1138-1150. [DOI: 10.1111/psyp.12873] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2016] [Revised: 02/12/2017] [Accepted: 03/10/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Joaquin Navajas
- Centre for Systems Neuroscience, University of Leicester; Leicester United Kingdom
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London; London United Kingdom
| | - Aleksander W. Nitka
- Centre for Systems Neuroscience, University of Leicester; Leicester United Kingdom
- School of Psychology; University of Leicester; Leicester United Kingdom
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17
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The human amygdala parametrically encodes the intensity of specific facial emotions and their categorical ambiguity. Nat Commun 2017; 8:14821. [PMID: 28429707 PMCID: PMC5413952 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14821] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2016] [Accepted: 02/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The human amygdala is a key structure for processing emotional facial expressions, but it remains unclear what aspects of emotion are processed. We investigated this question with three different approaches: behavioural analysis of 3 amygdala lesion patients, neuroimaging of 19 healthy adults, and single-neuron recordings in 9 neurosurgical patients. The lesion patients showed a shift in behavioural sensitivity to fear, and amygdala BOLD responses were modulated by both fear and emotion ambiguity (the uncertainty that a facial expression is categorized as fearful or happy). We found two populations of neurons, one whose response correlated with increasing degree of fear, or happiness, and a second whose response primarily decreased as a linear function of emotion ambiguity. Together, our results indicate that the human amygdala processes both the degree of emotion in facial expressions and the categorical ambiguity of the emotion shown and that these two aspects of amygdala processing can be most clearly distinguished at the level of single neurons. The amygdala processes emotional facial expressions, but its exact contributions are unclear. Wang. et al. use behavioural analysis of amygdala lesion patients, fMRI, and single-neuron recordings to show that both emotional intensity and ambiguity signals are processed in the human amygdala.
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18
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Caffaratti H, Navajas J, Rey HG, Quian Quiroga R. Where is the ball? Behavioral and neural responses elicited by a magic trick. Psychophysiology 2016; 53:1441-8. [DOI: 10.1111/psyp.12691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2015] [Accepted: 05/15/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hugo Caffaratti
- Centre for Systems Neuroscience; University of Leicester; Leicester UK
| | - Joaquin Navajas
- Centre for Systems Neuroscience; University of Leicester; Leicester UK
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience; University College London; London UK
| | - Hernan G. Rey
- Centre for Systems Neuroscience; University of Leicester; Leicester UK
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19
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Steemers B, Vicente-Grabovetsky A, Barry C, Smulders P, Schröder TN, Burgess N, Doeller CF. Hippocampal Attractor Dynamics Predict Memory-Based Decision Making. Curr Biol 2016; 26:1750-1757. [PMID: 27345167 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.04.063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2015] [Revised: 04/18/2016] [Accepted: 04/29/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Memories are thought to be retrieved by attractor dynamics if a given input is sufficiently similar to a stored attractor state [1-5]. The hippocampus, a region crucial for spatial navigation [6-12] and episodic memory [13-18], has been associated with attractor-based computations [5, 9], receiving support from the way rodent place cells "remap" nonlinearly between spatial representations [19-22]. In humans, nonlinear response patterns have been reported in perceptual categorization tasks [23-25]; however, it remains elusive whether human memory retrieval is driven by attractor dynamics and what neural mechanisms might underpin them. To test this, we used a virtual reality [7, 11, 26-28] task where participants learned object-location associations within two distinct virtual reality environments. Participants were subsequently exposed to four novel intermediate environments, generated by linearly morphing the background landscapes of the familiar environments, while tracking fMRI activity. We show that linear changes in environmental context cause linear changes in activity patterns in sensory cortex but cause dynamic, nonlinear changes in both hippocampal activity pattern and remembered locations. Furthermore, the sigmoidal response in the hippocampus scaled with the strength of the sigmoidal pattern in spatial memory. These results indicate that mnemonic decisions in an ambiguous novel context relate to putative attractor dynamics in the hippocampus, which support the dynamic remapping of memories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ben Steemers
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, 6525 EN Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Laboratory of Neuropsychology, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
| | | | - Caswell Barry
- Research Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, UCL, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Peter Smulders
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, 6525 EN Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Tobias Navarro Schröder
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, 6525 EN Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Neil Burgess
- UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, 17 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AZ, UK; UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1 3BG, UK
| | - Christian F Doeller
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, 6525 EN Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
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20
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Abstract
The quality of life of children with epilepsy is a function of seizures and associated cognitive and behavioral comorbidities. Current treatments are not successful at stopping seizures in approximately 30% of patients despite the introduction of multiple new antiepileptic drugs over the last decade. In addition, modification of seizures has only a modest impact on the comorbidities. Therefore, novel approaches to identify therapeutic targets that improve seizures and comorbidities are urgently required. The potential of network science as applied to genetic, local neural network, and global brain data is reviewed. Several examples of possible new therapeutic approaches defined using novel network tools are highlighted. Further study to translate the findings into clinical practice is now required.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rod C Scott
- Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA; Neurosciences Unit, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK
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21
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Bailey J, Taylor K. Non-human Primates in Neuroscience Research: The Case against its Scientific Necessity. Altern Lab Anim 2016; 44:43-69. [DOI: 10.1177/026119291604400101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Public opposition to non-human primate (NHP) experiments is significant, yet those who defend them cite minimal harm to NHPs and substantial human benefit. Here we review these claims of benefit, specifically in neuroscience, and show that: a) there is a default assumption of their human relevance and benefit, rather than robust evidence; b) their human relevance and essential contribution and necessity are wholly overstated; c) the contribution and capacity of non-animal investigative methods are greatly understated; and d) confounding issues, such as species differences and the effects of stress and anaesthesia, are usually overlooked. This is the case in NHP research generally, but here we specifically focus on the development and interpretation of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), deep brain stimulation (DBS), the understanding of neural oscillations and memory, and investigation of the neural control of movement and of vision/binocular rivalry. The increasing power of human-specific methods, including advances in fMRI and invasive techniques such as electrocorticography and single-unit recordings, is discussed. These methods serve to render NHP approaches redundant. We conclude that the defence of NHP use is groundless, and that neuroscience would be more relevant and successful for humans, if it were conducted with a direct human focus. We have confidence in opposing NHP neuroscience, both on scientific as well as on ethical grounds.
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22
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Quian Quiroga R. Neuronal codes for visual perception and memory. Neuropsychologia 2015; 83:227-241. [PMID: 26707718 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.12.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2015] [Revised: 12/08/2015] [Accepted: 12/17/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
In this review, I describe and contrast the representation of stimuli in visual cortical areas and in the medial temporal lobe (MTL). While cortex is characterized by a distributed and implicit coding that is optimal for recognition and storage of semantic information, the MTL shows a much sparser and explicit coding of specific concepts that is ideal for episodic memory. I will describe the main characteristics of the coding in the MTL by the so-called concept cells and will then propose a model of the formation and recall of episodic memory based on partially overlapping assemblies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo Quian Quiroga
- Centre for Systems Neuroscience, University of Leicester, 9 Salisbury Rd, LE1 7QR Leicester, UK.
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23
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Abstract
Sensory systems continuously mold themselves to the widely varying contexts in which they must operate. Studies of these adaptations have played a long and central role in vision science. In part this is because the specific adaptations remain a powerful tool for dissecting vision, by exposing the mechanisms that are adapting. That is, "if it adapts, it's there." Many insights about vision have come from using adaptation in this way, as a method. A second important trend has been the realization that the processes of adaptation are themselves essential to how vision works, and thus are likely to operate at all levels. That is, "if it's there, it adapts." This has focused interest on the mechanisms of adaptation as the target rather than the probe. Together both approaches have led to an emerging insight of adaptation as a fundamental and ubiquitous coding strategy impacting all aspects of how we see.
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24
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Monocular and binocular mechanisms mediating flicker adaptation. Vision Res 2015; 117:41-8. [PMID: 26505684 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2015.08.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2015] [Revised: 08/11/2015] [Accepted: 08/13/2015] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Flicker adaptation reduces subsequent temporal contrast sensitivity. Recent studies show that this adaptation likely results from neural changes in the magnocellular visual pathway, but whether this adaptation occurs at a monocular or a binocular level, or both, is unclear. Here, two experiments address this question. The first experiment exploits the observation that flicker adaptation is stronger at higher than lower temporal frequencies. Observers' two eyes adapted to 3Hz flicker with an incremental pulse at 1/4 duty cycle, either in-phase or out-of-phase in the two eyes. At the binocular level, the flicker rate was 6Hz in the out-of-phase condition if the two eyes' pulse trains sum. Similar sensitivity reduction was found in both phase conditions, as expected for independent monocular adapting mechanisms. The second experiment tested for interocular transfer of adaptation between eyes. Results showed that (1) flicker adaptation was strongest with adapting and test fields in only the same eye, (2) adaptation can be partially transferred interocularly with adaptation in only the opposite eye, and (3) adaptation was weakened when both eyes were adapted simultaneously at different contrasts, compared to test-eye adaptation alone. Taken together, the findings are consistent with mechanisms of flicker adaptation at both the monocular and binocular level.
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25
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Lenck-Santini PP, Scott RC. Mechanisms Responsible for Cognitive Impairment in Epilepsy. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med 2015; 5:cshperspect.a022772. [PMID: 26337111 DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a022772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Epilepsy is often associated with cognitive and behavioral impairments that can have profound impact on the quality of life of patients. Although the mechanisms of cognitive impairment are not completely understood, we make an attempt to describe, from a systems perspective, how information processing is affected in epilepsy disorders. The aim of this review is to (1) define the nature of cognitive deficits associated with epilepsy, (2) review fundamental systems-level mechanisms underlying information processing, and (3) describe how information processing is dysfunctional in epilepsy and investigate the relative contributions of etiology, seizures, and interictal discharges (IDs). We conclude that these mechanisms are likely to be important and deserve more detailed scrutiny in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Rodney C Scott
- Institute of Child Health, University College of London, London WC1N 3JH, United Kingdom
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26
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Rutishauser U, Mamelak AN, Adolphs R. The primate amygdala in social perception - insights from electrophysiological recordings and stimulation. Trends Neurosci 2015; 38:295-306. [PMID: 25847686 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2015.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2014] [Revised: 03/05/2015] [Accepted: 03/05/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The role of the amygdala in emotion and social perception has been intensively investigated primarily through studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Recently, this topic has been examined using single-unit recordings in both humans and monkeys, with a focus on face processing. The findings provide novel insights, including several surprises: amygdala neurons have very long response latencies, show highly nonlinear responses to whole faces, and can be exquisitely selective for very specific parts of faces such as the eyes. In humans, the responses of amygdala neurons correlate with internal states evoked by faces, rather than with their objective features. Current and future studies extend the investigations to psychiatric illnesses such as autism, in which atypical face processing is a hallmark of social dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ueli Rutishauser
- Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Neurology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA; Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | - Adam N Mamelak
- Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ralph Adolphs
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
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27
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Abstract
In this issue of Neuron, Quian Quiroga et al. (2014) show that neurons in the human medial temporal lobe (MTL) follow subjects' perceptual states rather than the features of the visual input. Patients with MTL damage however have intact perceptual abilities but suffer instead from extreme forgetfulness. Thus, the reported MTL neurons could create new memories of the current perceptual state.
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28
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Yates D. Perception: A decisive response. Nat Rev Neurosci 2014; 15:701. [PMID: 25328109 DOI: 10.1038/nrn3853] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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