An fMRI intervention study of creative mathematical reasoning: behavioral and brain effects across different levels of cognitive ability

Altered brain function and structure pre- and post- COVID-19 infection: a longitudinal study

BACKGROUND

Evidence indicates that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can infect the brain, resulting in central nervous system symptoms. However, there is a lack of a longitudinal imaging study investigating the impact of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection on brain function. Consequently, this study aimed to fill this knowledge gap using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

METHODS

Twenty-one participants underwent two resting-state fMRI scans before and after infection. The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo) were assessed to identify the brain function changes. Additionally, voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was utilized to assess changes in brain structure. Subsequently, brain regions that showed significant differences were identified as regions of interest (ROI) in functional connectivity analysis (FC).

RESULTS

After infection, ALFF was increased in the bilateral paracentral lobe and postcentral gyrus while decreased in the bilateral precuneus. Moreover, ReHo was decreased in the cerebellar vermis, accompanied by a decrease in FC with the bilateral postcentral gyrus. Furthermore, gray matter volume (GMV) reduction was observed in the left thalamus. The results of the correlation analysis revealed a negative correlation between ALFF values in the bilateral precuneus and scores on the self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) in pre- and post-infection datasets.

CONCLUSION

Neuroimaging alterations may occur before the manifestation of clinical symptoms, indicating that the functioning of the motor and sensory systems, as well as their connection, might be affected following infection. This alteration can potentially increase the potential of maladaptive responses to environmental stimuli. Furthermore, patients may be susceptible to future emotional disorders.

Identifying the Neural Bases of Math Competence Based on Structural and Functional Properties of the Human Brain

Human populations show large individual differences in math performance and math learning abilities. Early math skill acquisition is critical for providing the foundation for higher quantitative skill acquisition and succeeding in modern society. However, the neural bases underlying individual differences in math competence remain unclear. Modern neuroimaging techniques allow us to not only identify distinct local cortical regions but also investigate large-scale neural networks underlying math competence both structurally and functionally. To gain insights into the neural bases of math competence, this review provides an overview of the structural and functional neural markers for math competence in both typical and atypical populations of children and adults. Although including discussion of arithmetic skills in children, this review primarily focuses on the neural markers associated with complex math skills. Basic number comprehension and number comparison skills are outside the scope of this review. By synthesizing current research findings, we conclude that neural markers related to math competence are not confined to one particular region; rather, they are characterized by a distributed and interconnected network of regions across the brain, primarily focused on frontal and parietal cortices. Given that human brain is a complex network organized to minimize the cost of information processing, an efficient brain is capable of integrating information from different regions and coordinating the activity of various brain regions in a manner that maximizes the overall efficiency of the network to achieve the goal. We end by proposing that frontoparietal network efficiency is critical for math competence, which enables the recruitment of task-relevant neural resources and the engagement of distributed neural circuits in a goal-oriented manner. Thus, it will be important for future studies to not only examine brain activation patterns of discrete regions but also examine distributed network patterns across the brain, both structurally and functionally.