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R K Roy A, Noohi F, Morris NA, Ljubenkov P, Heuer H, Fong J, Hall M, Lario Lago A, Rankin KP, Miller BL, Boxer AL, Rosen HJ, Seeley WW, Perry DC, Yokoyama JS, Lee SE, Sturm VE. Basal parasympathetic deficits in C9orf72 hexanucleotide repeat expansion carriers relate to smaller frontoinsula and thalamus volume and lower empathy. Neuroimage Clin 2024; 43:103649. [PMID: 39098187 PMCID: PMC11342757 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2024.103649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2024] [Revised: 07/16/2024] [Accepted: 07/29/2024] [Indexed: 08/06/2024]
Abstract
Diminished basal parasympathetic nervous system activity is a feature of frontotemporal dementia that relates to left frontoinsula dysfunction and empathy impairment. Individuals with a pathogenic expansion of the hexanucleotide repeat in chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 (C9orf72), the most common genetic cause of frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, provide a unique opportunity to examine whether parasympathetic activity is disrupted in genetic forms of frontotemporal dementia and to investigate when parasympathetic deficits manifest in the pathophysiological cascade. We measured baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia, a parasympathetic measure of heart rate variability, over two minutes in a sample of 102 participants that included 19 asymptomatic expansion carriers (C9+ asymp), 14 expansion carriers with mild cognitive impairment (C9+ MCI), 16 symptomatic expansion carriers with frontotemporal dementia (C9+ FTD), and 53 expansion-negative healthy controls (C9- HC) who also underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging. In follow-up analyses, we compared baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia in the C9+ FTD group with an independent age-, sex-, and clinical severity-matched group of 26 people with sporadic behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia. The Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration-modified Clinical Dementia Rating-Sum of Boxes score was used to quantify behavioral symptom severity, and informant ratings on the Interpersonal Reactivity Index provided measures of participants' current emotional (empathic concern) and cognitive (perspective-taking) empathy. Results indicated that the C9+ FTD group had lower baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia than the C9+ MCI, C9+ asymp, and C9- HC groups, a deficit that was comparable to that of sporadic behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia. Linear regression analyses indicated that lower baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia was associated with worse behavioral symptom severity and lower empathic concern and perspective-taking across the C9orf72 expansion carrier clinical spectrum. Whole-brain voxel-based morphometry analyses in participants with C9orf72 pathogenic expansions found that lower baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia correlated with smaller gray matter volume in the left frontoinsula and bilateral thalamus, key structures that support parasympathetic function, and in the bilateral parietal lobes, occipital lobes, and cerebellum, regions that are also vulnerable in individuals with C9orf72 expansions. This study provides novel evidence that basal parasympathetic functioning is diminished in FTD due to C9orf72 expansions and suggests that baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia may be a potential non-invasive biomarker that is sensitive to behavioral symptoms in the early stages of disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashlin R K Roy
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Fate Noohi
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Nathaniel A Morris
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Peter Ljubenkov
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Hilary Heuer
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Jamie Fong
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Matthew Hall
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | | | - Katherine P Rankin
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Bruce L Miller
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Adam L Boxer
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Howard J Rosen
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - William W Seeley
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - David C Perry
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Jennifer S Yokoyama
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Suzee E Lee
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Virginia E Sturm
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
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Wang X, Liu T, Jin X, Zhou C. Aerobic exercise promotes emotion regulation: a narrative review. Exp Brain Res 2024:10.1007/s00221-024-06791-1. [PMID: 38400992 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-024-06791-1] [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: 07/06/2023] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 02/26/2024]
Abstract
Aerobic exercise improves the three stages of emotion regulation: perception, valuation and action. It reduces the perception of negative emotions, encourages individuals to reinterpret emotional situations in a positive or non-emotional manner, and enhances control over emotion expression behaviours. These effects are generated via increased prefrontal cortex activation, the strengthening of functional connections between the amygdala and several other brain regions, and the enhancement of the plasticity of key emotion regulation pathways and nodes, such as the uncinate fasciculus. The effect of aerobic exercise on emotion regulation is influenced by the exercise intensity and duration, and by individuals' exercise experience. Future research may explore the key neural basis of aerobic exercise's promotion of emotion regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuru Wang
- Department of Sport Psychology, School of Sport Science, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, 200438, People's Republic of China
| | - Tianze Liu
- Department of Orthopedics, Changhai Hospital, Naval Medical University (Second Military Medical University), Shanghai, 200433, People's Republic of China
| | - Xinhong Jin
- Department of Sport Psychology, School of Sport Science, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, 200438, People's Republic of China
| | - Chenglin Zhou
- Department of Sport Psychology, School of Sport Science, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, 200438, People's Republic of China.
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Ghomroudi PA, Scaltritti M, Grecucci A. Decoding reappraisal and suppression from neural circuits: A combined supervised and unsupervised machine learning approach. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2023; 23:1095-1112. [PMID: 36977965 PMCID: PMC10400700 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-023-01076-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/06/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023]
Abstract
Emotion regulation is a core construct of mental health and deficits in emotion regulation abilities lead to psychological disorders. Reappraisal and suppression are two widely studied emotion regulation strategies but, possibly due to methodological limitations in previous studies, a consistent picture of the neural correlates related to the individual differences in their habitual use remains elusive. To address these issues, the present study applied a combination of unsupervised and supervised machine learning algorithms to the structural MRI scans of 128 individuals. First, unsupervised machine learning was used to separate the brain into naturally grouping grey matter circuits. Then, supervised machine learning was applied to predict individual differences in the use of different strategies of emotion regulation. Two predictive models, including structural brain features and psychological ones, were tested. Results showed that a temporo-parahippocampal-orbitofrontal network successfully predicted the individual differences in the use of reappraisal. Differently, insular and fronto-temporo-cerebellar networks successfully predicted suppression. In both predictive models, anxiety, the opposite strategy, and specific emotional intelligence factors played a role in predicting the use of reappraisal and suppression. This work provides new insights regarding the decoding of individual differences from structural features and other psychologically relevant variables while extending previous observations on the neural bases of emotion regulation strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Parisa Ahmadi Ghomroudi
- Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Lab, Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences - DiPSCo, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy.
| | - Michele Scaltritti
- Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Lab, Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences - DiPSCo, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Alessandro Grecucci
- Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Lab, Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences - DiPSCo, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
- Center for Medical Sciences - CISMed, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
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Tang Y, Cao M, Li Y, Lin Y, Wu X, Chen M. Altered structural covariance of locus coeruleus in individuals with significant memory concern and patients with mild cognitive impairment. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:8523-8533. [PMID: 37130822 PMCID: PMC10321106 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2022] [Revised: 03/31/2023] [Accepted: 04/02/2023] [Indexed: 05/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The locus coeruleus (LC) is the site where tau accumulation is preferentially observed pathologically in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, but the changes in gray matter co-alteration patterns between the LC and the whole brain in the predementia phase of AD remain unclear. In this study, we estimated and compared the gray matter volume of the LC and its structural covariance (SC) with the whole brain among 161 normal healthy controls (HCs), 99 individuals with significant memory concern (SMC) and 131 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We found that SC decreased in MCI groups, which mainly involved the salience network and default mode network. These results imply that seeding from LC, the gray matter network disruption and disconnection appears early in the MCI group. The altered SC network seeding from the LC can serve as an imaging biomarker for discriminating the patients in the potential predementia phase of AD from the normal subjects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingmei Tang
- Department of Radiology, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, No.107 Yanjiang Road West, Guangzhou 510120, Guangdong, China
| | - Minghui Cao
- Department of Radiology, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, No.107 Yanjiang Road West, Guangzhou 510120, Guangdong, China
| | - Yunhua Li
- Department of Radiology, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, No.107 Yanjiang Road West, Guangzhou 510120, Guangdong, China
| | - Yuting Lin
- School of Psychology, Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, No.55 Zhongshan Avenue West, Guangzhou 510631, Guangdong, China
| | - Xiaoyan Wu
- School of Psychology, Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, No.55 Zhongshan Avenue West, Guangzhou 510631, Guangdong, China
| | - Meiwei Chen
- Department of Radiology, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, No.107 Yanjiang Road West, Guangzhou 510120, Guangdong, China
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Cabeen RP, Toga AW, Allman JM. Mapping frontoinsular cortex from diffusion microstructure. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:2715-2733. [PMID: 35753692 PMCID: PMC10016069 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2022] [Revised: 05/20/2022] [Accepted: 05/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
We developed a novel method for mapping the location, surface area, thickness, and volume of frontoinsular cortex (FI) using structural and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging. FI lies in the ventral part of anterior insular cortex and is characterized by its distinctive population von Economo neurons (VENs). Functional neuroimaging studies have revealed its involvement in affective processing, and histopathology has implicated VEN loss in behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia and chronic alcoholism; however, structural neuroimaging of FI has been relatively limited. We delineated FI by jointly modeling cortical surface geometry and its coincident diffusion microstructure parameters. We found that neurite orientation dispersion in cortical gray matter can be used to map FI in specific individuals, and the derived measures reflect a range of behavioral factors in young adults from the Human Connectome Project (N=1052). FI volume was larger in the left hemisphere than the right (31%), and the percentage volume of FI was larger in women than men (15.3%). FI volume was associated with measures of decision-making (delay discounting, substance abuse), emotion (negative intrusive thinking and perception of hostility), and social behavior (theory of mind and working memory for faces). The common denominator is that larger FI size is related to greater self-control and social awareness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan P Cabeen
- Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, USC Stevens Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, United States
| | - Arthur W Toga
- Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, USC Stevens Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, United States
| | - John M Allman
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, United States
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Shdo SM, Roy ARK, Datta S, Sible IJ, Lukic S, Perry DC, Rankin KP, Kramer JH, Rosen HJ, Miller BL, Seeley WW, Holley SR, Gorno-Tempini ML, Sturm VE. Enhanced positive emotional reactivity in frontotemporal dementia reflects left-lateralized atrophy in the temporal and frontal lobes. Cortex 2022; 154:405-420. [PMID: 35930892 PMCID: PMC9867572 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.02.018] [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: 06/28/2021] [Revised: 01/03/2022] [Accepted: 02/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
In frontotemporal dementia (FTD), left-lateralized atrophy patterns have been associated with elevations in certain positive emotions. Here, we investigated whether positive emotional reactivity was enhanced in semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA), an FTD syndrome that targets the left anterior temporal lobe. Sixty-one participants (16 people with svPPA, 24 people with behavioral variant FTD, and 21 healthy controls) viewed six 90-sec trials that were comprised of a series of photographs; each trial was designed to elicit a specific positive emotion, negative emotion, or no emotion. Participants rated their positive emotional experience after each trial, and their smiling behavior was coded with the Facial Action Coding System. Results indicated that positive emotional experience and smiling were elevated in svPPA in response to numerous affective and non-affective stimuli. Voxel-based morphometry analyses revealed that greater positive emotional experience and greater smiling in the patients were both associated with smaller gray matter volume in the left superior temporal gyrus (pFWE < .05), among other left-lateralized frontotemporal regions. Whereas enhanced positive emotional experience related to atrophy in middle superior temporal gyrus and structures that promote cognitive control and emotion regulation, heightened smiling related to atrophy in posterior superior temporal gyrus and structures that support motor control. Our results suggest positive emotional reactivity is elevated in svPPA and offer new evidence that atrophy in left-lateralized emotion-relevant systems relates to enhanced positive emotions in FTD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzanne M Shdo
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; University of California, Berkeley, Department of Psychology, Berkeley, CA, USA.
| | - Ashlin R K Roy
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - Samir Datta
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - Isabel J Sible
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - Sladjana Lukic
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - David C Perry
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - Katherine P Rankin
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - Joel H Kramer
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - Howard J Rosen
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - Bruce L Miller
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - William W Seeley
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - Sarah R Holley
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco State University, Department of Psychology, San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - Maria L Gorno-Tempini
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - Virginia E Sturm
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
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Molnar-Szakacs I, Uddin LQ. Anterior insula as a gatekeeper of executive control. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 139:104736. [PMID: 35700753 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 34.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2022] [Revised: 06/04/2022] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Executive control is a complex high-level cognitive function that relies on distributed brain circuitry. We propose that the anterior insular cortex plays an under-appreciated role in executive processes, acting as a gatekeeper to other brain regions and networks by virtue of primacy of action and effective connectivity. The flexible functional profile of the anterior insular subdivision renders it a key hub within the broader midcingulo-insular 'salience network', allowing it to orchestrate and drive activity of other major functional brain networks including the medial frontoparietal 'default mode network' and lateral frontoparietal 'central executive network'. The microanatomy and large-scale connectivity of the insular cortex positions it to play a critical role in triaging and integrating internal and external multisensory stimuli in the service of initiating higher-order control functions. Multiple lines of evidence scaffold the novel hypothesis that, as a key hub for integration and a lever of network switching, the anterior insula serves as a critical gatekeeper to executive control.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lucina Q Uddin
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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Savard M, Pascoal TA, Servaes S, Dhollander T, Iturria-Medina Y, Kang MS, Vitali P, Therriault J, Mathotaarachchi S, Benedet AL, Gauthier S, Rosa-Neto P. Impact of long- and short-range fiber depletion on the cognitive deficits of fronto-temporal dementia. eLife 2022; 11:73510. [PMID: 35073256 PMCID: PMC8824472 DOI: 10.7554/elife.73510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2021] [Accepted: 01/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent studies suggest a framework where white-matter (WM) atrophy plays an important role in fronto-temporal dementia (FTD) pathophysiology. However, these studies often overlook the fact that WM tracts bridging different brain regions may have different vulnerabilities to the disease and the relative contribution of grey-matter (GM) atrophy to this WM model, resulting in a less comprehensive understanding of the relationship between clinical symptoms and pathology. Using a common factor analysis to extract a semantic and an executive factor, we aimed to test the relative contribution of WM and GM of specific tracts in predicting cognition in the Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration Neuroimaging Initiative (FTLDNI). We found that semantic symptoms were mainly dependent on short-range WM fibre disruption, while damage to long-range WM fibres was preferentially associated to executive dysfunction with the GM contribution to cognition being predominant for local processing. These results support the importance of the disruption of specific WM tracts to the core cognitive symptoms associated with FTD. As large-scale WM tracts, which are particularly vulnerable to vascular disease, were highly associated with executive dysfunction, our findings highlight the importance of controlling for risk factors associated with deep WM disease, such as vascular risk factors, in patients with FTD in order not to potentiate underlying executive dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa Savard
- Translational Neuroimaging Laboratory, McGill University
| | | | - Stijn Servaes
- Translational Neuroimaging Laboratory, McGill University
| | | | | | - Min Su Kang
- Translational Neuroimaging Laboratory, McGill University
| | - Paolo Vitali
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University
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Self-awareness in Dementia: a Taxonomy of Processes, Overview of Findings, and Integrative Framework. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep 2021; 21:69. [PMID: 34817738 PMCID: PMC8613100 DOI: 10.1007/s11910-021-01155-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Purpose of Review Self-awareness, the capacity of becoming the object of one’s own awareness, has been a frontier of knowledge, but only recently scientific approaches to the theme have advanced. Self-awareness has important clinical implications, and a finer understanding of this concept may improve the clinical management of people with dementia. The current article aims to explore self-awareness, from a neurobiological perspective, in dementia. Recent Findings A taxonomy of self-awareness processes is presented, discussing how these can be structured across different levels of cognitive complexity. Findings on self-awareness in dementia are reviewed, indicating the relative preservation of capacities such as body ownership and agency, despite impairments in higher-level cognitive processes, such as autobiographical memory and emotional regulation. Summary An integrative framework, based on predictive coding and compensatory abilities linked to the resilience of self-awareness in dementia, is discussed, highlighting possible avenues for future research into the topic.
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Lockhofen DEL, Hübner N, Hemdan F, Sammer G, Henare D, Schubö A, Mulert C. Differing Time Courses of Reward-Related Attentional Processing: An EEG Source-Space Analysis. Brain Topogr 2021; 34:283-296. [PMID: 33733706 PMCID: PMC8099853 DOI: 10.1007/s10548-021-00827-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Accepted: 02/19/2021] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Since our environment typically contains more information than can be processed at any one time due to the limited capacity of our visual system, we are bound to differentiate between relevant and irrelevant information. This process, termed attentional selection, is usually categorized into bottom-up and top-down processes. However, recent research suggests reward might also be an important factor in guiding attention. Monetary reward can bias attentional selection in favor of task-relevant targets and reduce the efficiency of visual search when a reward-associated, but task-irrelevant distractor is present. This study is the first to investigate reward-related target and distractor processing in an additional singleton task using neurophysiological measures and source space analysis. Based on previous studies, we hypothesized that source space analysis would find enhanced neural activity in regions of the value-based attention network, such as the visual cortex and the anterior cingulate. Additionally, we went further and explored the time courses of the underlying attentional mechanisms. Our neurophysiological results showed that rewarding distractors led to a stronger attentional capture. In line with this, we found that reward-associated distractors (compared with reward-associated targets) enhanced activation in frontal regions, indicating the involvement of top-down control processes. As hypothesized, source space analysis demonstrated that reward-related targets and reward-related distractors elicited activation in regions of the value-based attention network. However, these activations showed time-dependent differences, indicating that the neural mechanisms underlying reward biasing might be different for task-relevant and task-irrelevant stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denise E L Lockhofen
- Centre for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Klinikstraße 36, 35385, Giessen, Hessen, Germany.
| | - Nils Hübner
- Centre for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Klinikstraße 36, 35385, Giessen, Hessen, Germany
| | - Fatma Hemdan
- Centre for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Klinikstraße 36, 35385, Giessen, Hessen, Germany
| | - Gebhard Sammer
- Centre for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Klinikstraße 36, 35385, Giessen, Hessen, Germany
| | - Dion Henare
- Cognitive Neuroscience of Perception and Action, Faculty of Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg, Gutenbergstr. 18, 35032, Marburg, Germany
| | - Anna Schubö
- Cognitive Neuroscience of Perception and Action, Faculty of Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg, Gutenbergstr. 18, 35032, Marburg, Germany
| | - Christoph Mulert
- Centre for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Klinikstraße 36, 35385, Giessen, Hessen, Germany
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