1
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Vigotsky AD, Iannetti GD, Apkarian AV. Mental state decoders: game-changers or wishful thinking? Trends Cogn Sci 2024:S1364-6613(24)00162-1. [PMID: 38991876 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2024.06.004] [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: 01/17/2024] [Revised: 06/12/2024] [Accepted: 06/13/2024] [Indexed: 07/13/2024]
Abstract
Decoding mental and perceptual states using fMRI has become increasingly popular over the past two decades, with numerous highly-cited studies published in high-profile journals. Nevertheless, what have we learned from these decoders? In this opinion, we argue that fMRI-based decoders are not neurophysiologically informative and are not, and likely cannot be, applicable to real-world decision-making. The former point stems from the fact that decoding models cannot disentangle neural mechanisms from their epiphenomena. The latter point stems from both logical and ethical constraints. Constructing decoders requires precious time and resources that should instead be directed toward scientific endeavors more likely to yield meaningful scientific progress.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Gian Domenico Iannetti
- Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), Rome, Italy; University College London (UCL), London, UK
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2
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Meyer-Baese L, Morrissette AE, Wang Y, Le Chatelier B, Borden PY, Keilholz SD, Stanley GB, Jaeger D. Cortical Networks Relating to Arousal Are Differentially Coupled to Neural Activity and Hemodynamics. J Neurosci 2024; 44:e0298232024. [PMID: 38769007 PMCID: PMC11209646 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0298-23.2024] [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: 02/17/2023] [Revised: 05/06/2024] [Accepted: 05/09/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Even in the absence of specific sensory input or a behavioral task, the brain produces structured patterns of activity. This organized activity is modulated by changes in arousal. Here, we use wide-field voltage imaging to establish how arousal relates to cortical network voltage and hemodynamic activity in spontaneously behaving head-fixed male and female mice expressing the voltage-sensitive fluorescent FRET sensor Butterfly 1.2. We find that global voltage and hemodynamic signals are both positively correlated with changes in arousal with a maximum correlation of 0.5 and 0.25, respectively, at a time lag of 0 s. We next show that arousal influences distinct cortical regions for both voltage and hemodynamic signals. These include a broad positive correlation across most sensory-motor cortices extending posteriorly to the primary visual cortex observed in both signals. In contrast, activity in the prefrontal cortex is positively correlated to changes in arousal for the voltage signal while it is a slight net negative correlation observed in the hemodynamic signal. Additionally, we show that coherence between voltage and hemodynamic signals relative to arousal is strongest for slow frequencies below 0.15 Hz and is near zero for frequencies >1 Hz. We finally show that coupling patterns are dependent on the behavioral state of the animal with correlations being driven by periods of increased orofacial movement. Our results indicate that while hemodynamic signals show strong relations to behavior and arousal, these relations are distinct from those observed by voltage activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Meyer-Baese
- Department of Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory and Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia 30322
| | | | - Yunmiao Wang
- Department of Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322
| | | | - Peter Y Borden
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory and Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia 30322
| | - Shella D Keilholz
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory and Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia 30322
| | - Garrett B Stanley
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory and Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia 30322
| | - Dieter Jaeger
- Department of Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322
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3
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Hoffman SJ, Dotson NM, Lima V, Gray CM. The Primate Cortical LFP Exhibits Multiple Spectral and Temporal Gradients and Widespread Task-Dependence During Visual Short-Term Memory. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.01.29.577843. [PMID: 38352585 PMCID: PMC10862751 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.29.577843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/22/2024]
Abstract
Although cognitive functions are hypothesized to be mediated by synchronous neuronal interactions in multiple frequency bands among widely distributed cortical areas, we still lack a basic understanding of the distribution and task dependence of oscillatory activity across the cortical map. Here, we ask how the spectral and temporal properties of the local field potential (LFP) vary across the primate cerebral cortex, and how they are modulated during visual short-term memory. We measured the LFP from 55 cortical areas in two macaque monkeys while they performed a visual delayed match to sample task. Analysis of peak frequencies in the LFP power spectra reveals multiple discrete frequency bands between 3-80 Hz that differ between the two monkeys. The LFP power in each band, as well as the Sample Entropy, a measure of signal complexity, display distinct spatial gradients across the cortex, some of which correlate with reported spine counts in layer 3 pyramidal neurons. Cortical areas can be robustly decoded using a small number of spectral and temporal parameters, and significant task dependent increases and decreases in spectral power occur in all cortical areas. These findings reveal pronounced, widespread and spatially organized gradients in the spectral and temporal activity of cortical areas. Task-dependent changes in cortical activity are globally distributed, even for a simple cognitive task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven J Hoffman
- Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA
- Current address: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Nicholas M Dotson
- Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA
- Current address: Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Vinicius Lima
- Aix Marseille Université, INSERM, Systems Neuroscience Institute, Marseille, France
| | - Charles M Gray
- Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA
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4
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Wang F, Chen X, Bo B, Zhang T, Liu K, Jiang J, Wang Y, Xie H, Liang Z, Guan JS. State-dependent memory retrieval: insights from neural dynamics and behavioral perspectives. Learn Mem 2023; 30:325-337. [PMID: 38114331 PMCID: PMC10750866 DOI: 10.1101/lm.053893.123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
Memory retrieval is strikingly susceptible to external states (environment) and internal states (mood states and alcohol), yet we know little about the underlying mechanisms. We examined how internally generated states influence successful memory retrieval using the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of laboratory mice during memory retrieval. Mice exhibited a strong tendency to perform memory retrieval correctly only in the reinstated mammillary body-inhibited state, in which mice were trained to discriminate auditory stimuli in go/no-go tasks. fMRI revealed that distinct auditory cues engaged differential brain regions, which were primed by internal state. Specifically, a cue associated with a reward activated the lateral amygdala, while a cue signaling no reward predominantly activated the postsubiculum. Modifying these internal states significantly altered the neural activity balance between these regions. Optogenetic inhibition of those regions in the precue period blocked the retrieval of type-specific memories. Our findings suggest that memory retrieval is under the control of two interrelated neural circuits underlying the neural basis of state-dependent memory retrieval.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fei Wang
- School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China
- Cerebrovascular Disease Center, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200025, China
| | - Xu Chen
- School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China
| | - Binshi Bo
- Institute of Neuroscience, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Sciences and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
| | - Tianfu Zhang
- School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China
| | - Kaiyuan Liu
- School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China
- Life of Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Jun Jiang
- School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China
| | - Yonggang Wang
- Headache Center, Department of Neurology, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100070, China
- Headache Center, China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Beijing 100070, China
| | - Hong Xie
- Institute of Photonic Chips, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
| | - Zhifeng Liang
- Institute of Neuroscience, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Sciences and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
| | - Ji-Song Guan
- School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
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5
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Schmidt T, Vannesjo SJ, Sommer S, Nagy Z. fMRI with whole-brain coverage, 75-ms temporal resolution and high SNR by combining HiHi reshuffling and multiband imaging. Magn Reson Imaging 2023; 103:48-53. [PMID: 37385353 DOI: 10.1016/j.mri.2023.06.015] [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: 03/21/2023] [Revised: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/01/2023]
Abstract
Increasing the temporal resolution of the blood‑oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response is usually accompanied by a decrease in repetition time and therefore also a reduction of the magnetic resonance (MR) signal due to incomplete T1 relaxation and thus a loss of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). A previous data reordering method can achieve higher temporal sampling rate without the loss of SNR but at the cost of increased scan time. In this proof-of-principle work, we show that combining HiHi reshuffling with multiband acceleration allows us to measure the in vivo BOLD response with a 75-ms sampling rate that is decoupled from the acquisition repetition time (here 1.5 s and hence higher SNR) while covering the entire forebrain with 60 2-mm slices in a ~ 35-min scan. We provide single-voxel time-courses of the BOLD responses in the primary visual and primary motor cortices in three fMRI experiments on a 7 T scanner - 1 male (scanned twice on different days for test-retest reproducibility) and 1 female participant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim Schmidt
- Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - S Johanna Vannesjo
- Department of Physics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Stefan Sommer
- Siemens Healthineers International AG, Zurich, Switzerland; Swiss Center for Musculoskeletal Imaging (SCMI), Balgrist Campus, Zurich, Switzerland; Advanced Clinical Imaging Technology (ACIT), Siemens Healthineers International AG, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Zoltán Nagy
- Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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6
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Rangaprakash D, David O, Barry RL, Deshpande G. Comparison of hemodynamic response functions obtained from resting-state functional MRI and invasive electrophysiological recordings in rats. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.02.27.530359. [PMID: 37961471 PMCID: PMC10634675 DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.27.530359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
Resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) is a popular technology that has enriched our understanding of brain and spinal cord functioning, including how different regions communicate (connectivity). But fMRI is an indirect measure of neural activity capturing blood hemodynamics. The hemodynamic response function (HRF) interfaces between the unmeasured neural activity and measured fMRI time series. The HRF is variable across brain regions and individuals, and is modulated by non-neural factors. Ignoring this HRF variability causes errors in FC estimates. Hence, it is crucial to reliably estimate the HRF from rs-fMRI data. Robust techniques have emerged to estimate the HRF from fMRI time series. Although such techniques have been validated non-invasively using simulated and empirical fMRI data, thorough invasive validation using simultaneous electrophysiological recordings, the gold standard, has been elusive. This report addresses this gap in the literature by comparing HRFs derived from invasive intracranial electroencephalogram recordings with HRFs estimated from simultaneously acquired fMRI data in six epileptic rats. We found that the HRF shape parameters (HRF amplitude, latency and width) were not significantly different (p>0.05) between ground truth and estimated HRFs. In the single pathological region, the HRF width was marginally significantly different (p=0.03). Our study provides preliminary invasive validation for the efficacy of the HRF estimation technique in reliably estimating the HRF non-invasively from rs-fMRI data directly. This has a notable impact on rs-fMRI connectivity studies, and we recommend that HRF deconvolution be performed to minimize HRF variability and improve connectivity estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Rangaprakash
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Olivier David
- Université Grenoble Alpes, Inserm, U1216, Grenoble Institute of Neuroscience, F-38000, Grenoble, France
- Aix-Marseille Université, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes (INS) UMR1106, Marseille 13005, France
| | - Robert L Barry
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
- Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology Division of Health Sciences & Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Gopikrishna Deshpande
- AU MRI Research Center, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
- Center for Neuroscience, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
- Alabama Advanced Imaging Consortium, Birmingham, AL, USA
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7
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Masi M. An evidence-based critical review of the mind-brain identity theory. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1150605. [PMID: 37965649 PMCID: PMC10641890 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1150605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
In the philosophy of mind, neuroscience, and psychology, the causal relationship between phenomenal consciousness, mentation, and brain states has always been a matter of debate. On the one hand, material monism posits consciousness and mind as pure brain epiphenomena. One of its most stringent lines of reasoning relies on a 'loss-of-function lesion premise,' according to which, since brain lesions and neurochemical modifications lead to cognitive impairment and/or altered states of consciousness, there is no reason to doubt the mind-brain identity. On the other hand, dualism or idealism (in one form or another) regard consciousness and mind as something other than the sole product of cerebral activity pointing at the ineffable, undefinable, and seemingly unphysical nature of our subjective qualitative experiences and its related mental dimension. Here, several neuroscientific findings are reviewed that question the idea that posits phenomenal experience as an emergent property of brain activity, and argue that the premise of material monism is based on a logical correlation-causation fallacy. While these (mostly ignored) findings, if considered separately from each other, could, in principle, be recast into a physicalist paradigm, once viewed from an integral perspective, they substantiate equally well an ontology that posits mind and consciousness as a primal phenomenon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Masi
- Independent Researcher, Knetzgau, Germany
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8
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Schilling KG, Li M, Rheault F, Gao Y, Cai L, Zhao Y, Xu L, Ding Z, Anderson AW, Landman BA, Gore JC. Whole-brain, gray, and white matter time-locked functional signal changes with simple tasks and model-free analysis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2219666120. [PMID: 37824529 PMCID: PMC10589709 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2219666120] [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: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 08/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent studies have revealed the production of time-locked blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) functional MRI (fMRI) signals throughout the entire brain in response to tasks, challenging the existence of sparse and localized brain functions and highlighting the pervasiveness of potential false negative fMRI findings. "Whole-brain" actually refers to gray matter, the only tissue traditionally studied with fMRI. However, several reports have demonstrated reliable detection of BOLD signals in white matter, which have previously been largely ignored. Using simple tasks and analyses, we demonstrate BOLD signal changes across the whole brain, in both white and gray matters, in similar manner to previous reports of whole brain studies. We investigated whether white matter displays time-locked BOLD signals across multiple structural pathways in response to a stimulus in a similar manner to the cortex. We find that both white and gray matter show time-locked activations across the whole brain, with a majority of both tissue types showing statistically significant signal changes for all task stimuli investigated. We observed a wide range of signal responses to tasks, with different regions showing different BOLD signal changes to the same task. Moreover, we find that each region may display different BOLD responses to different stimuli. Overall, we present compelling evidence that, just like all gray matter, essentially all white matter in the brain shows time-locked BOLD signal changes in response to multiple stimuli, challenging the idea of sparse functional localization and the prevailing wisdom of treating white matter BOLD signals as artifacts to be removed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kurt G. Schilling
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN37232
- Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN37232
| | - Muwei Li
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN37232
- Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN37232
| | - Francois Rheault
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN37235
| | - Yurui Gao
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN37232
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN37235
| | - Leon Cai
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN37235
| | - Yu Zhao
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN37232
| | - Lyuan Xu
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN37232
| | - Zhaohua Ding
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN37232
| | - Adam W. Anderson
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN37232
- Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN37232
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN37235
| | - Bennett A. Landman
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN37232
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN37235
| | - John C. Gore
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN37232
- Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN37232
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN37235
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9
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Theriault JE, Shaffer C, Dienel GA, Sander CY, Hooker JM, Dickerson BC, Barrett LF, Quigley KS. A functional account of stimulation-based aerobic glycolysis and its role in interpreting BOLD signal intensity increases in neuroimaging experiments. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 153:105373. [PMID: 37634556 PMCID: PMC10591873 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105373] [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: 04/24/2023] [Revised: 07/28/2023] [Accepted: 08/23/2023] [Indexed: 08/29/2023]
Abstract
In aerobic glycolysis, oxygen is abundant, and yet cells metabolize glucose without using it, decreasing their ATP per glucose yield by 15-fold. During task-based stimulation, aerobic glycolysis occurs in localized brain regions, presenting a puzzle: why produce ATP inefficiently when, all else being equal, evolution should favor the efficient use of metabolic resources? The answer is that all else is not equal. We propose that a tradeoff exists between efficient ATP production and the efficiency with which ATP is spent to transmit information. Aerobic glycolysis, despite yielding little ATP per glucose, may support neuronal signaling in thin (< 0.5 µm), information-efficient axons. We call this the efficiency tradeoff hypothesis. This tradeoff has potential implications for interpretations of task-related BOLD "activation" observed in fMRI. We hypothesize that BOLD "activation" may index local increases in aerobic glycolysis, which support signaling in thin axons carrying "bottom-up" information, or "prediction error"-i.e., the BIAPEM (BOLD increases approximate prediction error metabolism) hypothesis. Finally, we explore implications of our hypotheses for human brain evolution, social behavior, and mental disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan E Theriault
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA; Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
| | - Clare Shaffer
- Northeastern University, Department of Psychology, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Gerald A Dienel
- Department of Neurology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA; Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | - Christin Y Sander
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA; Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Jacob M Hooker
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA; Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Bradford C Dickerson
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA; Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Lisa Feldman Barrett
- Northeastern University, Department of Psychology, Boston, MA, USA; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Karen S Quigley
- Northeastern University, Department of Psychology, Boston, MA, USA; VA Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, USA
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Libedinsky I, Helwegen K, Simón LG, Gruber M, Repple J, Kircher T, Dannlowski U, van den Heuvel MP. Quantifying brain connectivity signatures by means of polyconnectomic scoring. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.09.26.559327. [PMID: 37808808 PMCID: PMC10557693 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.26.559327] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/10/2023]
Abstract
A broad range of neuropsychiatric disorders are associated with alterations in macroscale brain circuitry and connectivity. Identifying consistent brain patterns underlying these disorders by means of structural and functional MRI has proven challenging, partly due to the vast number of tests required to examine the entire brain, which can lead to an increase in missed findings. In this study, we propose polyconnectomic score (PCS) as a metric designed to quantify the presence of disease-related brain connectivity signatures in connectomes. PCS summarizes evidence of brain patterns related to a phenotype across the entire landscape of brain connectivity into a subject-level score. We evaluated PCS across four brain disorders (autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and Alzheimer's disease) and 14 studies encompassing ~35,000 individuals. Our findings consistently show that patients exhibit significantly higher PCS compared to controls, with effect sizes that go beyond other single MRI metrics ([min, max]: Cohen's d = [0.30, 0.87], AUC = [0.58, 0.73]). We further demonstrate that PCS serves as a valuable tool for stratifying individuals, for example within the psychosis continuum, distinguishing patients with schizophrenia from their first-degree relatives (d = 0.42, p = 4 × 10-3, FDR-corrected), and first-degree relatives from healthy controls (d = 0.34, p = 0.034, FDR-corrected). We also show that PCS is useful to uncover associations between brain connectivity patterns related to neuropsychiatric disorders and mental health, psychosocial factors, and body measurements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilan Libedinsky
- Department of Complex Trait Genetics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Koen Helwegen
- Department of Complex Trait Genetics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Laura Guerrero Simón
- Department of Complex Trait Genetics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Marius Gruber
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Germany
| | - Jonathan Repple
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Germany
| | - Tilo Kircher
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Marburg, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany
| | - Udo Dannlowski
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Martijn P van den Heuvel
- Department of Complex Trait Genetics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, Amsterdam UMC location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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11
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Chen G, Taylor PA, Reynolds RC, Leibenluft E, Pine DS, Brotman MA, Pagliaccio D, Haller SP. BOLD Response is more than just magnitude: Improving detection sensitivity through capturing hemodynamic profiles. Neuroimage 2023; 277:120224. [PMID: 37327955 PMCID: PMC10527035 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2023] [Revised: 05/21/2023] [Accepted: 06/11/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Typical fMRI analyses often assume a canonical hemodynamic response function (HRF) that primarily focuses on the peak height of the overshoot, neglecting other morphological aspects. Consequently, reported analyses often reduce the overall response curve to a single scalar value. In this study, we take a data-driven approach to HRF estimation at the whole-brain voxel level, without assuming a response profile at the individual level. We then employ a roughness penalty at the population level to estimate the response curve, aiming to enhance predictive accuracy, inferential efficiency, and cross-study reproducibility. By examining a fast event-related FMRI dataset, we demonstrate the shortcomings and information loss associated with adopting the canonical approach. Furthermore, we address the following key questions: 1) To what extent does the HRF shape vary across different regions, conditions, and participant groups? 2) Does the data-driven approach improve detection sensitivity compared to the canonical approach? 3) Can analyzing the HRF shape help validate the presence of an effect in conjunction with statistical evidence? 4) Does analyzing the HRF shape offer evidence for whole-brain response during a simple task?
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Affiliation(s)
- Gang Chen
- Scientific and Statistical Computing Core, National Institute of Mental Health, USA.
| | - Paul A Taylor
- Scientific and Statistical Computing Core, National Institute of Mental Health, USA
| | - Richard C Reynolds
- Scientific and Statistical Computing Core, National Institute of Mental Health, USA
| | - Ellen Leibenluft
- Neuroscience and Novel Therapeutics Unit, Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, USA
| | - Daniel S Pine
- Neuroscience and Novel Therapeutics Unit, Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, USA
| | - Melissa A Brotman
- Neuroscience and Novel Therapeutics Unit, Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, USA
| | | | - Simone P Haller
- Neuroscience and Novel Therapeutics Unit, Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, USA
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12
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Uludağ K. Physiological modeling of the BOLD signal and implications for effective connectivity: A primer. Neuroimage 2023; 277:120249. [PMID: 37356779 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120249] [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: 02/15/2023] [Revised: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 06/23/2023] [Indexed: 06/27/2023] Open
Abstract
In this primer, I provide an overview of the physiological processes that contribute to the observed BOLD signal (i.e., the generative biophysical model), including their time course properties within the framework of the physiologically-informed dynamic causal modeling (P-DCM). The BOLD signal is primarily determined by the change in paramagnetic deoxygenated hemoglobin, which results from combination of changes in oxygen metabolism, and cerebral blood flow and volume. Specifically, the physiological origin of the so-called BOLD signal "transients" will be discussed, including the initial overshoot, steady-state activation and the post-stimulus undershoot. I argue that incorrect physiological assumptions in the generative model of the BOLD signal can lead to incorrect inferences pertaining to both local neuronal activity and effective connectivity between brain regions. In addition, I introduce the recent laminar BOLD signal model, which extends P-DCM to cortical depths-resolved BOLD signals, allowing for laminar neuronal activity to be determined using high-resolution fMRI data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kâmil Uludağ
- Krembil Brain Institute, University Health Network Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Center for Neuroscience Imaging Research, Institute for Basic Science & Department of Biomedical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Republic of Korea.
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13
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Bailes SM, Gomez DEP, Setzer B, Lewis LD. Resting-state fMRI signals contain spectral signatures of local hemodynamic response timing. eLife 2023; 12:e86453. [PMID: 37565644 PMCID: PMC10506795 DOI: 10.7554/elife.86453] [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: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has proven to be a powerful tool for noninvasively measuring human brain activity; yet, thus far, fMRI has been relatively limited in its temporal resolution. A key challenge is understanding the relationship between neural activity and the blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) signal obtained from fMRI, generally modeled by the hemodynamic response function (HRF). The timing of the HRF varies across the brain and individuals, confounding our ability to make inferences about the timing of the underlying neural processes. Here, we show that resting-state fMRI signals contain information about HRF temporal dynamics that can be leveraged to understand and characterize variations in HRF timing across both cortical and subcortical regions. We found that the frequency spectrum of resting-state fMRI signals significantly differs between voxels with fast versus slow HRFs in human visual cortex. These spectral differences extended to subcortex as well, revealing significantly faster hemodynamic timing in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus. Ultimately, our results demonstrate that the temporal properties of the HRF impact the spectral content of resting-state fMRI signals and enable voxel-wise characterization of relative hemodynamic response timing. Furthermore, our results show that caution should be used in studies of resting-state fMRI spectral properties, because differences in fMRI frequency content can arise from purely vascular origins. This finding provides new insight into the temporal properties of fMRI signals across voxels, which is crucial for accurate fMRI analyses, and enhances the ability of fast fMRI to identify and track fast neural dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sydney M Bailes
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston UniversityBostonUnited States
| | - Daniel EP Gomez
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston UniversityBostonUnited States
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General HospitalCharlestownUnited States
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonUnited States
| | - Beverly Setzer
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston UniversityBostonUnited States
- Graduate Program for Neuroscience, Boston UniversityBostonUnited States
| | - Laura D Lewis
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston UniversityBostonUnited States
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General HospitalCharlestownUnited States
- Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeUnited States
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeUnited States
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14
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Xu N, Smith DM, Jeno G, Seeburger DT, Schumacher EH, Keilholz SD. The interaction between random and systematic visual stimulation and infraslow quasiperiodic spatiotemporal patterns of whole brain activity. IMAGING NEUROSCIENCE (CAMBRIDGE, MASS.) 2023; 1:1-19. [PMID: 37701786 PMCID: PMC10494556 DOI: 10.1162/imag_a_00002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2023] [Accepted: 05/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/14/2023]
Abstract
One prominent feature of the infraslow BOLD signal during rest or task is quasi-periodic spatiotemporal pattern (QPP) of signal changes that involves an alternation of activity in key functional networks and propagation of activity across brain areas, and that is known to tie to the infraslow neural activity involved in attention and arousal fluctuations. This ongoing whole-brain pattern of activity might potentially modify the response to incoming stimuli or be modified itself by the induced neural activity. To investigate this, we presented checkerboard sequences flashing at 6Hz to subjects. This is a salient visual stimulus that is known to produce a strong response in visual processing regions. Two different visual stimulation sequences were employed, a systematic stimulation sequence in which the visual stimulus appeared every 20.3 secs and a random stimulation sequence in which the visual stimulus occurred randomly every 14~62.3 secs. Three central observations emerged. First, the two different stimulation conditions affect the QPP waveform in different aspects, i.e., systematic stimulation has greater effects on its phase and random stimulation has greater effects on its magnitude. Second, the QPP was more frequent in the systematic condition with significantly shorter intervals between consecutive QPPs compared to the random condition. Third, the BOLD signal response to the visual stimulus across both conditions was swamped by the QPP at the stimulus onset. These results provide novel insights into the relationship between intrinsic patterns and stimulated brain activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nan Xu
- Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Derek M. Smith
- School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
- Department of Neurology, Division of Cognitive Neurology/Neuropsychology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - George Jeno
- School of Computer Science, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Dolly T. Seeburger
- School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Eric H. Schumacher
- School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Shella D. Keilholz
- Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
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15
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Rangaprakash D, Barry RL, Deshpande G. The confound of hemodynamic response function variability in human resting-state functional MRI studies. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:934138. [PMID: 37521709 PMCID: PMC10375034 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.934138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2022] [Accepted: 04/07/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is an indirect measure of neural activity with the hemodynamic response function (HRF) coupling it with unmeasured neural activity. The HRF, modulated by several non-neural factors, is variable across brain regions, individuals and populations. Yet, a majority of human resting-state fMRI connectivity studies continue to assume a non-variable HRF. In this article, with supportive prior evidence, we argue that HRF variability cannot be ignored as it substantially confounds within-subject connectivity estimates and between-subjects connectivity group differences. We also discuss its clinical relevance with connectivity impairments confounded by HRF aberrations in several disorders. We present limited data on HRF differences between women and men, which resulted in a 15.4% median error in functional connectivity estimates in a group-level comparison. We also discuss the implications of HRF variability for fMRI studies in the spinal cord. There is a need for more dialogue within the community on the HRF confound, and we hope that our article is a catalyst in the process.
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Affiliation(s)
- D. Rangaprakash
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Robert L. Barry
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
- Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Gopikrishna Deshpande
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, AU MRI Research Center, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, United States
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, United States
- Center for Neuroscience, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, United States
- Alabama Advanced Imaging Consortium, Birmingham, AL, United States
- Key Laboratory for Learning and Cognition, School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India
- Centre for Brain Research, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
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16
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Taylor PA, Reynolds RC, Calhoun V, Gonzalez-Castillo J, Handwerker DA, Bandettini PA, Mejia AF, Chen G. Highlight results, don't hide them: Enhance interpretation, reduce biases and improve reproducibility. Neuroimage 2023; 274:120138. [PMID: 37116766 PMCID: PMC10233921 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Revised: 04/05/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 04/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Most neuroimaging studies display results that represent only a tiny fraction of the collected data. While it is conventional to present "only the significant results" to the reader, here we suggest that this practice has several negative consequences for both reproducibility and understanding. This practice hides away most of the results of the dataset and leads to problems of selection bias and irreproducibility, both of which have been recognized as major issues in neuroimaging studies recently. Opaque, all-or-nothing thresholding, even if well-intentioned, places undue influence on arbitrary filter values, hinders clear communication of scientific results, wastes data, is antithetical to good scientific practice, and leads to conceptual inconsistencies. It is also inconsistent with the properties of the acquired data and the underlying biology being studied. Instead of presenting only a few statistically significant locations and hiding away the remaining results, studies should "highlight" the former while also showing as much as possible of the rest. This is distinct from but complementary to utilizing data sharing repositories: the initial presentation of results has an enormous impact on the interpretation of a study. We present practical examples and extensions of this approach for voxelwise, regionwise and cross-study analyses using publicly available data that was analyzed previously by 70 teams (NARPS; Botvinik-Nezer, et al., 2020), showing that it is possible to balance the goals of displaying a full set of results with providing the reader reasonably concise and "digestible" findings. In particular, the highlighting approach sheds useful light on the kind of variability present among the NARPS teams' results, which is primarily a varied strength of agreement rather than disagreement. Using a meta-analysis built on the informative "highlighting" approach shows this relative agreement, while one using the standard "hiding" approach does not. We describe how this simple but powerful change in practice-focusing on highlighting results, rather than hiding all but the strongest ones-can help address many large concerns within the field, or at least to provide more complete information about them. We include a list of practical suggestions for results reporting to improve reproducibility, cross-study comparisons and meta-analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul A Taylor
- Scientific and Statistical Computing Core, NIMH, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
| | | | - Vince Calhoun
- Tri-institutional Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS), Georgia State, Georgia Tech, and Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | | | | | - Peter A Bandettini
- Section on Functional Imaging Methods, NIMH, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA; Functional MRI Core Facility, NIMH, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | - Gang Chen
- Scientific and Statistical Computing Core, NIMH, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
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17
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Hammond B, Gogniat M, Buch J, Miller LS. Strategic filtering of high-energy visible light expands neural correlates of functional vision particularly in older participants. Heliyon 2023; 9:e17271. [PMID: 37539228 PMCID: PMC10394902 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e17271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2022] [Revised: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 06/13/2023] [Indexed: 08/05/2023] Open
Abstract
In this study we assessed the neural correlates of functional vision while varying patterns of light filtration. Four filter conditions used relatively flat filtering across the visible spectrum while one filter was a step filter that selectively absorbed violet light (wavelengths below about 415 nm). Neural effects were quantified by measuring the BOLD response ((T2*-based fMRI) while subjects performed a challenging visual task (judging gap direction in Landolt Cs that randomly varied in size). In general (based on p < 0.01 directional criterion not corrected for aggregated error), as filtering increased (less interference by bright light), brain activity associated with the task also increased. This effect, even using the most conservative statistics, was most evident when using the violet filter (especially for the older subjects) despite only reducing the very highest energy portion of the visible spectrum. This finding suggests that filtering can increase neural activity associated with functional vision; such effects might be achievable through filtering just the highest visible energy (violet).
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Affiliation(s)
- Billy Hammond
- Vision Sciences Laboratory, Behavioral and Brain Sciences Program, Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Marissa Gogniat
- Vanderbilt Memory & Alzheimer's Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - John Buch
- Research & Development, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc., Jacksonville, FL, USA
| | - L. Stephen Miller
- Neuropsychology and Memory Assessment Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, USA
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18
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Xu N, Smith DM, Jeno G, Seeburger DT, Schumacher EH, Keilholz SD. The interaction between random and systematic visual stimulation and infraslow quasiperiodic spatiotemporal patterns of whole brain activity. Neuroimage 2023:120165. [PMID: 37172663 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2023] [Revised: 04/25/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023] Open
Abstract
One prominent feature of the infraslow BOLD signal during rest or task is quasi-periodic spatiotemporal pattern (QPP) of signal changes that involves an alternation of activity in key functional networks and propagation of activity across brain areas, and that is known to tie to the infraslow neural activity involved in attention and arousal fluctuations. This ongoing whole-brain pattern of activity might potentially modify the response to incoming stimuli or be modified itself by the induced neural activity. To investigate this, we presented checkerboard sequences flashing at 6Hz to subjects. This is a salient visual stimulus that is known to produce a strong response in visual processing regions. Two different visual stimulation sequences were employed, a systematic stimulation sequence in which the visual stimulus appeared every 20.3 secs and a random stimulation sequence in which the visual stimulus occurred randomly every 14∼62.3 secs. Three central observations emerged. First, the two different stimulation conditions affect the QPP waveform in different aspects, i.e., systematic stimulation has greater effects on its phase and random stimulation has greater effects on its magnitude. Second, the QPP was more frequent in the systematic condition with significantly shorter intervals between consecutive QPPs compared to the random condition. Third, the BOLD signal response to the visual stimulus across both conditions was swamped by the QPP at the stimulus onset. These results provide novel insights into the relationship between intrinsic patterns and stimulated brain activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nan Xu
- Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Derek M Smith
- School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States; Department of Neurology, Division of Cognitive Neurology/Neuropsychology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
| | - George Jeno
- School of Computer Science, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Dolly T Seeburger
- School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Eric H Schumacher
- School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Shella D Keilholz
- Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
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19
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Dowdle LT, Vizioli L, Moeller S, Akçakaya M, Olman C, Ghose G, Yacoub E, Uğurbil K. Evaluating increases in sensitivity from NORDIC for diverse fMRI acquisition strategies. Neuroimage 2023; 270:119949. [PMID: 36804422 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.119949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2022] [Revised: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 02/15/2023] [Indexed: 02/19/2023] Open
Abstract
As the neuroimaging field moves towards detecting smaller effects at higher spatial resolutions, and faster sampling rates, there is increased attention given to the deleterious contribution of unstructured, thermal noise. Here, we critically evaluate the performance of a recently developed reconstruction method, termed NORDIC, for suppressing thermal noise using datasets acquired with various field strengths, voxel sizes, sampling rates, and task designs. Following minimal preprocessing, statistical activation (t-values) of NORDIC processed data was compared to the results obtained with alternative denoising methods. Additionally, we examined the consistency of the estimates of task responses at the single-voxel, single run level, using a finite impulse response (FIR) model. To examine the potential impact on effective image resolution, the overall smoothness of the data processed with different methods was estimated. Finally, to determine if NORDIC alters or removes temporal information important for modeling responses, we employed an exhaustive leave-p-out cross validation approach, using FIR task responses to predict held out timeseries, quantified using R2. After NORDIC, the t-values are increased, an improvement comparable to what could be achieved by 1.5 voxels smoothing, and task events are clearly visible and have less cross-run error. These advantages are achieved with smoothness estimates increasing by less than 4%, while 1.5 voxel smoothing is associated with increases of over 140%. Cross-validated R2s based on the FIR models show that NORDIC is not measurably distorting the temporal structure of the data under this approach and is the best predictor of non-denoised time courses. The results demonstrate that analyzing 1 run of data after NORDIC produces results equivalent to using 2 to 3 original runs and that NORDIC performs equally well across a diverse array of functional imaging protocols. Significance Statement: For functional neuroimaging, the increasing availability of higher field strengths and ever higher spatiotemporal resolutions has led to concomitant increase in concerns about the deleterious effects of thermal noise. Historically this noise source was suppressed using methods that reduce spatial precision such as image blurring or averaging over a large number of trials or sessions, which necessitates large data collection efforts. Here, we critically evaluate the performance of a recently developed reconstruction method, termed NORDIC, which suppresses thermal noise. Across datasets varying in field strength, voxel sizes, sampling rates, and task designs, NORDIC produces substantial gains in data quality. Both conventional t-statistics derived from general linear models and coefficients of determination for predicting unseen data are improved. These gains match or even exceed those associated with 1 voxel Full Width Half Max image smoothing, however, even such small amounts of smoothing are associated with a 52% reduction in estimates of spatial precision, whereas the measurable difference in spatial precision is less than 4% following NORDIC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Logan T Dowdle
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR), University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 2021 6th Street SE, MN 55455, United States; Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States.
| | - Luca Vizioli
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR), University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 2021 6th Street SE, MN 55455, United States
| | - Steen Moeller
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR), University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 2021 6th Street SE, MN 55455, United States
| | - Mehmet Akçakaya
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR), University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 2021 6th Street SE, MN 55455, United States; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Cheryl Olman
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR), University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 2021 6th Street SE, MN 55455, United States; Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Geoffrey Ghose
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR), University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 2021 6th Street SE, MN 55455, United States; Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States; Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Essa Yacoub
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR), University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 2021 6th Street SE, MN 55455, United States
| | - Kâmil Uğurbil
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR), University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 2021 6th Street SE, MN 55455, United States
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20
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Westlin C, Theriault JE, Katsumi Y, Nieto-Castanon A, Kucyi A, Ruf SF, Brown SM, Pavel M, Erdogmus D, Brooks DH, Quigley KS, Whitfield-Gabrieli S, Barrett LF. Improving the study of brain-behavior relationships by revisiting basic assumptions. Trends Cogn Sci 2023; 27:246-257. [PMID: 36739181 PMCID: PMC10012342 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2022.12.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2022] [Revised: 12/23/2022] [Accepted: 12/29/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Neuroimaging research has been at the forefront of concerns regarding the failure of experimental findings to replicate. In the study of brain-behavior relationships, past failures to find replicable and robust effects have been attributed to methodological shortcomings. Methodological rigor is important, but there are other overlooked possibilities: most published studies share three foundational assumptions, often implicitly, that may be faulty. In this paper, we consider the empirical evidence from human brain imaging and the study of non-human animals that calls each foundational assumption into question. We then consider the opportunities for a robust science of brain-behavior relationships that await if scientists ground their research efforts in revised assumptions supported by current empirical evidence.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jordan E Theriault
- Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Yuta Katsumi
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Alfonso Nieto-Castanon
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Aaron Kucyi
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Sebastian F Ruf
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sarah M Brown
- Department of Computer Science and Statistics, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, USA
| | - Misha Pavel
- Khoury College of Computer Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA; Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Deniz Erdogmus
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Dana H Brooks
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Karen S Quigley
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Lisa Feldman Barrett
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA; A.A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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21
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Zhang S, Goodale SE, Gold BP, Morgan VL, Englot DJ, Chang C. Vigilance associates with the low-dimensional structure of fMRI data. Neuroimage 2023; 267:119818. [PMID: 36535323 PMCID: PMC10074161 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119818] [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: 08/21/2022] [Revised: 11/24/2022] [Accepted: 12/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The human brain exhibits rich dynamics that reflect ongoing functional states. Patterns in fMRI data, detected in a data-driven manner, have uncovered recurring configurations that relate to individual and group differences in behavioral, cognitive, and clinical traits. However, resolving the neural and physiological processes that underlie such measurements is challenging, particularly without external measurements of brain state. A growing body of work points to underlying changes in vigilance as one driver of time-windowed fMRI connectivity states, calculated on the order of tens of seconds. Here we examine the degree to which the low-dimensional spatial structure of instantaneous fMRI activity is associated with vigilance levels, by testing whether vigilance-state detection can be carried out in an unsupervised manner based on individual BOLD time frames. To investigate this question, we first reduce the spatial dimensionality of fMRI data, and apply Gaussian Mixture Modeling to cluster the resulting low-dimensional data without any a priori vigilance information. Our analysis includes long-duration task and resting-state scans that are conducive to shifts in vigilance. We observe a close alignment between low-dimensional fMRI states (data-driven clusters) and measurements of vigilance derived from concurrent electroencephalography (EEG) and behavior. Whole-brain coactivation analysis revealed cortical anti-correlation patterns that resided primarily during higher behavioral- and EEG-defined levels of vigilance, while cortical activity was more often spatially uniform in states corresponding to lower vigilance. Overall, these findings indicate that vigilance states may be detected in the low-dimensional structure of fMRI data, even within individual time frames.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shengchao Zhang
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Vanderbilt University, 400 24th Avenue S., Nashville, TN 37212, USA.
| | - Sarah E Goodale
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA; Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Benjamin P Gold
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Vanderbilt University, 400 24th Avenue S., Nashville, TN 37212, USA; Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Victoria L Morgan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA; Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA; Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Dario J Englot
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Vanderbilt University, 400 24th Avenue S., Nashville, TN 37212, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA; Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA; Department of Neurological Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Catie Chang
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Vanderbilt University, 400 24th Avenue S., Nashville, TN 37212, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA; Department of Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA; Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
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22
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Schilling KG, Li M, Rheault F, Gao Y, Cai L, Zhao Y, Xu L, Ding Z, Anderson AW, Landman BA, Gore JC. Whole-brain, gray and white matter time-locked functional signal changes with simple tasks and model-free analysis. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.02.14.528557. [PMID: 36824784 PMCID: PMC9948951 DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.14.528557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/17/2023]
Abstract
Recent studies have revealed the production of time-locked blood oxygenation-level dependent (BOLD) functional MRI (fMRI) signals throughout the entire brain in response to a task, challenging the idea of sparse and localized brain functions, and highlighting the pervasiveness of potential false negative fMRI findings. In these studies, 'whole-brain' refers to gray matter regions only, which is the only tissue traditionally studied with fMRI. However, recent reports have also demonstrated reliable detection and analyses of BOLD signals in white matter which have been largely ignored in previous reports. Here, using model-free analysis and simple tasks, we investigate BOLD signal changes in both white and gray matters. We aimed to evaluate whether white matter also displays time-locked BOLD signals across all structural pathways in response to a stimulus. We find that both white and gray matter show time-locked activations across the whole-brain, with a majority of both tissue types showing statistically significant signal changes for all task stimuli investigated. We observed a wide range of signal responses to tasks, with different regions showing very different BOLD signal changes to the same task. Moreover, we find that each region may display different BOLD responses to different stimuli. Overall, we present compelling evidence that the whole brain, including both white and gray matter, show time-locked activation to multiple stimuli, not only challenging the idea of sparse functional localization, but also the prevailing wisdom of treating white matter BOLD signals as artefacts to be removed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kurt G Schilling
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Muwei Li
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Francois Rheault
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Yurui Gao
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Leon Cai
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Yu Zhao
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Lyuan Xu
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Zhaohua Ding
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Adam W Anderson
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Bennett A Landman
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - John C Gore
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
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23
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Cabral J, Fernandes FF, Shemesh N. Intrinsic macroscale oscillatory modes driving long range functional connectivity in female rat brains detected by ultrafast fMRI. Nat Commun 2023; 14:375. [PMID: 36746938 PMCID: PMC9902553 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36025-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2021] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Spontaneous fluctuations in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signals correlate across distant brain areas, shaping functionally relevant intrinsic networks. However, the generative mechanism of fMRI signal correlations, and in particular the link with locally-detected ultra-slow oscillations, are not fully understood. To investigate this link, we record ultrafast ultrahigh field fMRI signals (9.4 Tesla, temporal resolution = 38 milliseconds) from female rats across three anesthesia conditions. Power at frequencies extending up to 0.3 Hz is detected consistently across rat brains and is modulated by anesthesia level. Principal component analysis reveals a repertoire of modes, in which transient oscillations organize with fixed phase relationships across distinct cortical and subcortical structures. Oscillatory modes are found to vary between conditions, resonating at faster frequencies under medetomidine sedation and reducing both in number, frequency, and duration with the addition of isoflurane. Peaking in power within clear anatomical boundaries, these oscillatory modes point to an emergent systemic property. This work provides additional insight into the origin of oscillations detected in fMRI and the organizing principles underpinning spontaneous long-range functional connectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joana Cabral
- Preclinical MRI Lab, Champalimaud Research, Champalimaud Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal. .,Life and Health Sciences Research Institute, School of Medicine, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal. .,ICVS/3B's - Portuguese Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, Portugal.
| | - Francisca F Fernandes
- Preclinical MRI Lab, Champalimaud Research, Champalimaud Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Noam Shemesh
- Preclinical MRI Lab, Champalimaud Research, Champalimaud Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal.
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24
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A complex systems perspective on psychedelic brain action. Trends Cogn Sci 2023; 27:433-445. [PMID: 36740518 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2022] [Revised: 01/10/2023] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Recent findings suggesting the potential transdiagnostic efficacy of psychedelic-assisted therapy have fostered the need to deepen our understanding of psychedelic brain action. Functional neuroimaging investigations have found that psychedelics reduce the functional segregation of large-scale brain networks. However, beyond this general trend, findings have been largely inconsistent. We argue here that a perspective based on complexity science that foregrounds the distributed, interactional, and dynamic nature of brain function may render these inconsistencies intelligible. We propose that psychedelics induce a mode of brain function that is more dynamically flexible, diverse, integrated, and tuned for information sharing, consistent with greater criticality. This 'meta' perspective has the potential to unify past findings and guide intuitions toward compelling mechanistic models.
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25
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Bailes SM, Gomez DEP, Setzer B, Lewis LD. Resting-state fMRI signals contain spectral signatures of local hemodynamic response timing. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.01.25.525528. [PMID: 36747821 PMCID: PMC9900794 DOI: 10.1101/2023.01.25.525528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has proven to be a powerful tool for noninvasively measuring human brain activity; yet, thus far, fMRI has been relatively limited in its temporal resolution. A key challenge is understanding the relationship between neural activity and the blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) signal obtained from fMRI, generally modeled by the hemodynamic response function (HRF). The timing of the HRF varies across the brain and individuals, confounding our ability to make inferences about the timing of the underlying neural processes. Here we show that resting-state fMRI signals contain information about HRF temporal dynamics that can be leveraged to understand and characterize variations in HRF timing across both cortical and subcortical regions. We found that the frequency spectrum of resting-state fMRI signals significantly differs between voxels with fast versus slow HRFs in human visual cortex. These spectral differences extended to subcortex as well, revealing significantly faster hemodynamic timing in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus. Ultimately, our results demonstrate that the temporal properties of the HRF impact the spectral content of resting-state fMRI signals and enable voxel-wise characterization of relative hemodynamic response timing. Furthermore, our results show that caution should be used in studies of resting-state fMRI spectral properties, as differences can arise from purely vascular origins. This finding provides new insight into the temporal properties of fMRI signals across voxels, which is crucial for accurate fMRI analyses, and enhances the ability of fast fMRI to identify and track fast neural dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Daniel E. P. Gomez
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, 02129, USA
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Beverly Setzer
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
- Graduate Program for Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
| | - Laura D. Lewis
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, 02129, USA
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26
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Bijoch Ł, Klos J, Pawłowska M, Wiśniewska J, Legutko D, Szachowicz U, Kaczmarek L, Beroun A. Whole-brain tracking of cocaine and sugar rewards processing. Transl Psychiatry 2023; 13:20. [PMID: 36683039 PMCID: PMC9868126 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-023-02318-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2022] [Revised: 01/07/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Natural rewards, such as food, and sex are appetitive stimuli available for animals in their natural environment. Similarly, addictive rewards such as drugs of abuse possess strong, positive valence, but their action relies on their pharmacological properties. Nevertheless, it is believed that both of these kinds of rewards activate similar brain circuitry. The present study aimed to discover which parts of the brain process the experience of natural and addictive rewards. To holistically address this question, we used a single-cell whole-brain imaging approach to find patterns of activation for acute and prolonged sucrose and cocaine exposure. We analyzed almost 400 brain structures and created a brain-wide map of specific, c-Fos-positive neurons engaged by these rewards. Acute but not prolonged sucrose exposure triggered a massive c-Fos expression throughout the brain. Cocaine exposure on the other hand potentiated c-Fos expression with prolonged use, engaging more structures than sucrose treatment. The functional connectivity analysis unraveled an increase in brain modularity after the initial exposure to both types of rewards. This modularity was increased after repeated cocaine, but not sucrose, intake. To check whether discrepancies between the processing of both types of rewards can be found on a cellular level, we further studied the nucleus accumbens, one of the most strongly activated brain structures by both sucrose and cocaine experience. We found a high overlap between natural and addictive rewards on the level of c-Fos expression. Electrophysiological measurements of cellular correlates of synaptic plasticity revealed that natural and addictive rewards alike induce the accumulation of silent synapses. These results strengthen the hypothesis that in the nucleus accumbens drugs of abuse cause maladaptive neuronal plasticity in the circuitry that typically processes natural rewards.
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Affiliation(s)
- Łukasz Bijoch
- grid.419305.a0000 0001 1943 2944Laboratory of Neuronal Plasticity, Nencki-EMBL Center of Excellence for Neural Plasticity and Brain Disorders: BRAINCITY, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Joanna Klos
- grid.419305.a0000 0001 1943 2944Laboratory of Neuronal Plasticity, Nencki-EMBL Center of Excellence for Neural Plasticity and Brain Disorders: BRAINCITY, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Monika Pawłowska
- grid.419305.a0000 0001 1943 2944Laboratory of Neurobiology, Nencki-EMBL Center of Excellence for Neural Plasticity and Brain Disorders: BRAINCITY, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland ,grid.12847.380000 0004 1937 1290Institute of Experimental Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Justyna Wiśniewska
- grid.419305.a0000 0001 1943 2944Laboratory of Neuronal Plasticity, Nencki-EMBL Center of Excellence for Neural Plasticity and Brain Disorders: BRAINCITY, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Diana Legutko
- grid.419305.a0000 0001 1943 2944Laboratory of Neurobiology, Nencki-EMBL Center of Excellence for Neural Plasticity and Brain Disorders: BRAINCITY, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Urszula Szachowicz
- grid.419305.a0000 0001 1943 2944Laboratory of Neuronal Plasticity, Nencki-EMBL Center of Excellence for Neural Plasticity and Brain Disorders: BRAINCITY, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Leszek Kaczmarek
- grid.419305.a0000 0001 1943 2944Laboratory of Neurobiology, Nencki-EMBL Center of Excellence for Neural Plasticity and Brain Disorders: BRAINCITY, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Anna Beroun
- Laboratory of Neuronal Plasticity, Nencki-EMBL Center of Excellence for Neural Plasticity and Brain Disorders: BRAINCITY, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
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27
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Towards functional spin-echo BOLD line-scanning in humans at 7T. MAGMA (NEW YORK, N.Y.) 2023; 36:317-327. [PMID: 36625959 PMCID: PMC10140128 DOI: 10.1007/s10334-022-01059-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2022] [Revised: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/23/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Neurons cluster into sub-millimeter spatial structures and neural activity occurs at millisecond resolutions; hence, ultimately, high spatial and high temporal resolutions are required for functional MRI. In this work, we implemented a spin-echo line-scanning (SELINE) sequence to use in high spatial and temporal resolution fMRI. MATERIALS AND METHODS A line is formed by simply rotating the spin-echo refocusing gradient to a plane perpendicular to the excited slice and by removing the phase-encoding gradient. This technique promises a combination of high spatial and temporal resolution (250 μm, 500 ms) and microvascular specificity of functional responses. We compared SELINE data to a corresponding gradient-echo version (GELINE). RESULTS We demonstrate that SELINE showed much-improved line selection (i.e. a sharper line profile) compared to GELINE, albeit at the cost of a significant drop in functional sensitivity. DISCUSSION This low functional sensitivity needs to be addressed before SELINE can be applied for neuroscientific purposes.
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28
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Coleman SC, Seedat ZA, Whittaker AC, Lenartowicz A, Mullinger KJ. Beyond the Beta Rebound: Post-Task Responses in Oscillatory Activity follow Cessation of Working Memory Processes. Neuroimage 2023; 265:119801. [PMID: 36496181 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119801] [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: 09/23/2022] [Revised: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 12/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Post-task responses (PTRs) are transitionary responses occurring for several seconds between the end of a stimulus/task and a period of rest. The most well-studied of these are beta band (13 - 30 Hz) PTRs in motor networks following movement, often called post-movement beta rebounds, which have been shown to differ in patients with schizophrenia and autism. Previous studies have proposed that beta PTRs reflect inhibition of task-positive networks to enable a return to resting brain activity, scaling with cognitive demand and reflecting cortical self-regulation. It is unknown whether PTRs are a phenomenon of the motor system, or whether they are a more general self-modulatory property of cortex that occur following cessation of higher cognitive processes as well as movement. To test this, we recorded magnetoencephalography (MEG) responses in 20 healthy participants to a working-memory task, known to recruit cortical networks associated with higher cognition. Our results revealed PTRs in the theta, alpha and beta bands across many regions of the brain, including the dorsal attention network (DAN) and lateral visual regions. These PTRs increased significantly (p < 0.05) in magnitude with working-memory load, an effect which is independent of oscillatory modulations occurring over the task period as well as those following individual stimuli. Furthermore, we showed that PTRs are functionally related to reaction times in left lateral visual (p < 0.05) and left parietal (p < 0.1) regions, while the oscillatory responses measured during the task period are not. Importantly, motor PTRs following button presses did not modulate with task condition, suggesting that PTRs in different networks are driven by different aspects of cognition. Our findings show that PTRs are not limited to motor networks but are widespread in regions which are recruited during the task. We provide evidence that PTRs have unique properties, scaling with cognitive load and correlating significantly with behaviour. Based on the evidence, we suggest that PTRs inhibit task-positive network activity to enable a transition to rest, however, further investigation is required to uncover their role in neuroscience and pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian C Coleman
- Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Zelekha A Seedat
- Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK; Young Epilepsy, St Pier's Lane, Dormansland, Lingfield, RH7 6PW, UK
| | - Anna C Whittaker
- Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
| | - Agatha Lenartowicz
- Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles
| | - Karen J Mullinger
- Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK; Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, UK.
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29
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Saggar M, Bruno J, Gaillard C, Claudino L, Ernst M. Neural resources shift under Methylphenidate: A computational approach to examine anxiety-cognition interplay. Neuroimage 2022; 264:119686. [PMID: 36273770 PMCID: PMC9772074 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2022] [Revised: 10/11/2022] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The reciprocal interplay between anxiety and cognition is well documented. Anxiety negatively impacts cognition, while cognitive engagement can down-regulate anxiety. The brain mechanisms and dynamics underlying such interplay are not fully understood. To study this question, we experimentally and orthogonally manipulated anxiety (using a threat of shock paradigm) and cognition (using methylphenidate; MPH). The effects of these manipulations on the brain and behavior were evaluated in 50 healthy participants (25 MPH, 25 placebo), using an n-back working memory fMRI task (with low and high load conditions). Behaviorally, improved response accuracy was observed as a main effect of the drug across all conditions. We employed two approaches to understand the neural mechanisms underlying MPH-based cognitive enhancement in safe and threat conditions. First, we performed a hypothesis-driven computational analysis using a mathematical framework to examine how MPH putatively affects cognitive enhancement in the face of induced anxiety across two levels of cognitive load. Second, we performed an exploratory data analysis using Topological Data Analysis (TDA)-based Mapper to examine changes in spatiotemporal brain activity across the entire cortex. Both approaches provided converging evidence that MPH facilitated greater differential engagement of neural resources (brain activity) across low and high working memory load conditions. Furthermore, load-based differential management of neural resources reflects enhanced efficiency that is most powerful during higher load and induced anxiety conditions. Overall, our results provide novel insights regarding brain mechanisms that facilitate cognitive enhancement under MPH and, in future research, may be used to help mitigate anxiety-related cognitive underperformance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manish Saggar
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA,Corresponding author: Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, 401 Quarry Road, St 1356, Stanford, California 94305, USA. (M. Saggar)
| | - Jennifer Bruno
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Claudie Gaillard
- Section on Neurobiology of Fear and Anxiety, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Leonardo Claudino
- Section on Neurobiology of Fear and Anxiety, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Monique Ernst
- Section on Neurobiology of Fear and Anxiety, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA,Corresponding author: 15K North Drive, Bethesda MD, 20892, USA, (M. Ernst)
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30
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Kronemer SI, Aksen M, Ding JZ, Ryu JH, Xin Q, Ding Z, Prince JS, Kwon H, Khalaf A, Forman S, Jin DS, Wang K, Chen K, Hu C, Agarwal A, Saberski E, Wafa SMA, Morgan OP, Wu J, Christison-Lagay KL, Hasulak N, Morrell M, Urban A, Todd Constable R, Pitts M, Mark Richardson R, Crowley MJ, Blumenfeld H. Human visual consciousness involves large scale cortical and subcortical networks independent of task report and eye movement activity. Nat Commun 2022; 13:7342. [PMID: 36446792 PMCID: PMC9707162 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35117-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The full neural circuits of conscious perception remain unknown. Using a visual perception task, we directly recorded a subcortical thalamic awareness potential (TAP). We also developed a unique paradigm to classify perceived versus not perceived stimuli using eye measurements to remove confounding signals related to reporting on conscious experiences. Using fMRI, we discovered three major brain networks driving conscious visual perception independent of report: first, increases in signal detection regions in visual, fusiform cortex, and frontal eye fields; and in arousal/salience networks involving midbrain, thalamus, nucleus accumbens, anterior cingulate, and anterior insula; second, increases in frontoparietal attention and executive control networks and in the cerebellum; finally, decreases in the default mode network. These results were largely maintained after excluding eye movement-based fMRI changes. Our findings provide evidence that the neurophysiology of consciousness is complex even without overt report, involving multiple cortical and subcortical networks overlapping in space and time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sharif I Kronemer
- Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Mark Aksen
- Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Julia Z Ding
- Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Jun Hwan Ryu
- Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Qilong Xin
- Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Zhaoxiong Ding
- Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Jacob S Prince
- Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Hunki Kwon
- Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Aya Khalaf
- Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Biomedical Engineering and Systems, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
| | - Sarit Forman
- Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - David S Jin
- Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Kevin Wang
- Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Kaylie Chen
- Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Claire Hu
- Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Akshar Agarwal
- Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Erik Saberski
- Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Syed Mohammad Adil Wafa
- Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Owen P Morgan
- Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Jia Wu
- Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | | | | | | | | | - R Todd Constable
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Department of Neurosurgery, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | | | - R Mark Richardson
- Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Hal Blumenfeld
- Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
- Department of Neurosurgery, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
- Department of Neuroscience, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
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31
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Visualization of the Dynamic Brain Activation Pattern during a Decision-Making Task. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12111468. [DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12111468] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2022] [Revised: 10/17/2022] [Accepted: 10/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Decision making is a complex process involving various parts of the brain which are active during different times. It is challenging to measure externally the exact instant when any given region becomes active during the decision-making process. Here, we propose the development and validation of an algorithm to extract and visualize the dynamic functional brain activation information from the observed fMRI data. We propose the use of a regularized deconvolution model to simultaneously map various activation regions within the brain and track how different activation regions changes with time, thus providing both spatial and temporal brain activation information. The proposed technique was validated using simulated data and then applied to a simple decision-making task for identification of various brain regions involved in different stages of decision making. Using the results of the dynamic activation for the decision-making task, we were able to identify key brain regions involved in some of the phases of decision making. The visualization aspect of the algorithm allows us to actually see the flow of activation (and deactivation) in the form of a motion picture. The dynamic estimate may aid in understanding the causality of activation between various brain regions in a better way in future fMRI brain studies.
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32
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Wajnerman Paz A. The global neuronal workspace as a broadcasting network. Netw Neurosci 2022; 6:1186-1204. [PMID: 38800460 PMCID: PMC11117084 DOI: 10.1162/netn_a_00261] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2021] [Accepted: 06/13/2022] [Indexed: 05/29/2024] Open
Abstract
A new strategy for moving forward in the characterization of the global neuronal workspace (GNW) is proposed. According to Dehaene, Changeux, and colleagues (Dehaene, 2014, pp. 304, 312; Dehaene & Changeux, 2004, 2005), broadcasting is the main function of the GNW. However, the dynamic network properties described by recent graph theoretic GNW models are consistent with many large-scale communication processes that are different from broadcasting. We propose to apply a different graph theoretic approach, originally developed for optimizing information dissemination in communication networks, which can be used to identify the pattern of frequency and phase-specific directed functional connections that the GNW would exhibit only if it were a broadcasting network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abel Wajnerman Paz
- Department of Philosophy, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Santiago, Chile
- Neuroethics Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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33
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Katsumi Y, Theriault JE, Quigley KS, Barrett LF. Allostasis as a core feature of hierarchical gradients in the human brain. Netw Neurosci 2022; 6:1010-1031. [PMID: 38800458 PMCID: PMC11117115 DOI: 10.1162/netn_a_00240] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2021] [Accepted: 02/11/2022] [Indexed: 05/29/2024] Open
Abstract
This paper integrates emerging evidence from two broad streams of scientific literature into one common framework: (a) hierarchical gradients of functional connectivity that reflect the brain's large-scale structural architecture (e.g., a lamination gradient in the cerebral cortex); and (b) approaches to predictive processing and one of its specific instantiations called allostasis (i.e., the predictive regulation of energetic resources in the service of coordinating the body's internal systems). This synthesis begins to sketch a coherent, neurobiologically inspired framework suggesting that predictive energy regulation is at the core of human brain function, and by extension, psychological and behavioral phenomena, providing a shared vocabulary for theory building and knowledge accumulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuta Katsumi
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Karen S. Quigley
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Lisa Feldman Barrett
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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34
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Zhao Y, Gao Y, Zu Z, Li M, Schilling KG, Anderson AW, Ding Z, Gore JC. Detection of functional activity in brain white matter using fiber architecture informed synchrony mapping. Neuroimage 2022; 258:119399. [PMID: 35724855 PMCID: PMC9388229 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2022] [Revised: 06/13/2022] [Accepted: 06/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
A general linear model is widely used for analyzing fMRI data, in which the blood oxygenation-level dependent (BOLD) signals in gray matter (GM) evoked in response to neural stimulation are modeled by convolving the time course of the expected neural activity with a canonical hemodynamic response function (HRF) obtained a priori. The maps of brain activity produced reflect the magnitude of local BOLD responses. However, detecting BOLD signals in white matter (WM) is more challenging as the BOLD signals are weaker and the HRF is different, and may vary more across the brain. Here we propose a model-free approach to detect changes in BOLD signals in WM by measuring task-evoked increases of BOLD signal synchrony in WM fibers. The proposed approach relies on a simple assumption that, in response to a functional task, BOLD signals in relevant fibers are modulated by stimulus-evoked neural activity and thereby show greater synchrony than when measured in a resting state, even if their magnitudes do not change substantially. This approach is implemented in two technical stages. First, for each voxel a fiber-architecture-informed spatial window is created with orientation distribution functions constructed from diffusion imaging data. This provides the basis for defining neighborhoods in WM that share similar local fiber architectures. Second, a modified principal component analysis (PCA) is used to estimate the synchrony of BOLD signals in each spatial window. The proposed approach is validated using a 3T fMRI dataset from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) at a group level. The results demonstrate that neural activity can be reliably detected as increases in fMRI signal synchrony within WM fibers that are engaged in a task with high sensitivities and reproducibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Zhao
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, United States; Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, United States.
| | - Yurui Gao
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, United States,Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, United States
| | - Zhongliang Zu
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, United States,Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, United States
| | - Muwei Li
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, United States,Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, United States
| | - Kurt G. Schilling
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, United States,Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, United States
| | - Adam W. Anderson
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, United States,Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, United States,Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, United States
| | - Zhaohua Ding
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, United States; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, United States; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Vanderbilt University, United States.
| | - John C. Gore
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, United States,Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, United States,Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, United States,Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University, United States,Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, United States
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35
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Improving power in functional magnetic resonance imaging by moving beyond cluster-level inference. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2203020119. [PMID: 35925887 PMCID: PMC9371642 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2203020119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Inference in neuroimaging typically occurs at the level of focal brain areas or circuits. Yet, increasingly, well-powered studies paint a much richer picture of broad-scale effects distributed throughout the brain, suggesting that many focal reports may only reflect the tip of the iceberg of underlying effects. How focal versus broad-scale perspectives influence the inferences we make has not yet been comprehensively evaluated using real data. Here, we compare sensitivity and specificity across procedures representing multiple levels of inference using an empirical benchmarking procedure that resamples task-based connectomes from the Human Connectome Project dataset (∼1,000 subjects, 7 tasks, 3 resampling group sizes, 7 inferential procedures). Only broad-scale (network and whole brain) procedures obtained the traditional 80% statistical power level to detect an average effect, reflecting >20% more statistical power than focal (edge and cluster) procedures. Power also increased substantially for false discovery rate- compared with familywise error rate-controlling procedures. The downsides are fairly limited; the loss in specificity for broad-scale and FDR procedures was relatively modest compared to the gains in power. Furthermore, the broad-scale methods we introduce are simple, fast, and easy to use, providing a straightforward starting point for researchers. This also points to the promise of more sophisticated broad-scale methods for not only functional connectivity but also related fields, including task-based activation. Altogether, this work demonstrates that shifting the scale of inference and choosing FDR control are both immediately attainable and can help remedy the issues with statistical power plaguing typical studies in the field.
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36
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Reappraisal-related downregulation of amygdala BOLD activation occurs only during the late trial window. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE, & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2022; 22:777-787. [PMID: 34993926 PMCID: PMC9256861 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-021-00980-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
AbstractDuring cognitive reappraisal, an individual reinterprets the meaning of an emotional stimulus to regulate the intensity of their emotional response. Prefrontal cortex activity has been found to support reappraisal and is putatively thought to downregulate the amygdala response to these stimuli. The timing of these regulation-related responses during the course of a trial, however, remains poorly understood. In the current fMRI study, participants were instructed to view or reappraise negative images and then rate how negative they felt following each image. The hemodynamic response function was estimated in 11 regions of interest for the entire time course of the trial including image viewing and rating. Notably, within the amygdala there was no evidence of downregulation in the early (picture viewing) window of the trial, only in the late (rating) window, which also correlated with a behavioral measure of reappraisal success. With respect to the prefrontal regions, some (e.g., inferior frontal gyrus) showed reappraisal-related activation in the early window, whereas others (e.g., middle frontal gyrus) showed increased activation primarily in the late window. These results highlight the temporal dynamics of different brain regions during emotion regulation and suggest that the amygdala response to negative images need not be immediately dampened to achieve successful cognitive reappraisal.
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37
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Miletić S, Keuken MC, Mulder M, Trampel R, de Hollander G, Forstmann BU. 7T functional MRI finds no evidence for distinct functional subregions in the subthalamic nucleus during a speeded decision-making task. Cortex 2022; 155:162-188. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.06.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2021] [Revised: 03/18/2022] [Accepted: 06/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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38
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Evidence for non-selective response inhibition in uncertain contexts revealed by combined meta-analysis and Bayesian analysis of fMRI data. Sci Rep 2022; 12:10137. [PMID: 35710930 PMCID: PMC9203582 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-14221-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2021] [Accepted: 06/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Response inhibition is typically considered a brain mechanism selectively triggered by particular “inhibitory” stimuli or events. Based on recent research, an alternative non-selective mechanism was proposed by several authors. Presumably, the inhibitory brain activity may be triggered not only by the presentation of “inhibitory” stimuli but also by any imperative stimuli, including Go stimuli, when the context is uncertain. Earlier support for this notion was mainly based on the absence of a significant difference between neural activity evoked by equiprobable Go and NoGo stimuli. Equiprobable Go/NoGo design with a simple response time task limits potential confounds between response inhibition and accompanying cognitive processes while not preventing prepotent automaticity. However, previous neuroimaging studies used classical null hypothesis significance testing, making it impossible to accept the null hypothesis. Therefore, the current research aimed to provide evidence for the practical equivalence of neuronal activity in the Go and NoGo trials using Bayesian analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. Thirty-four healthy participants performed a cued Go/NoGo task with an equiprobable presentation of Go and NoGo stimuli. To independently localize brain areas associated with response inhibition in similar experimental conditions, we performed a meta-analysis of fMRI studies using equal-probability Go/NoGo tasks. As a result, we observed overlap between response inhibition areas and areas that demonstrate the practical equivalence of neuronal activity located in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, premotor cortex, and left inferior frontal gyrus. Thus, obtained results favour the existence of non-selective response inhibition, which can act in settings of contextual uncertainty induced by the equal probability of Go and NoGo stimuli.
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39
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Byrge L, Kliemann D, He Y, Cheng H, Tyszka JM, Adolphs R, Kennedy DP. Video-evoked fMRI BOLD responses are highly consistent across different data acquisition sites. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 43:2972-2991. [PMID: 35289976 PMCID: PMC9120552 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25830] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2021] [Revised: 01/12/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Naturalistic imaging paradigms, in which participants view complex videos in the scanner, are increasingly used in human cognitive neuroscience. Videos evoke temporally synchronized brain responses that are similar across subjects as well as within subjects, but the reproducibility of these brain responses across different data acquisition sites has not yet been quantified. Here, we characterize the consistency of brain responses across independent samples of participants viewing the same videos in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanners at different sites (Indiana University and Caltech). We compared brain responses collected at these different sites for two carefully matched datasets with identical scanner models, acquisition, and preprocessing details, along with a third unmatched dataset in which these details varied. Our overall conclusion is that for matched and unmatched datasets alike, video-evoked brain responses have high consistency across these different sites, both when compared across groups and across pairs of individuals. As one might expect, differences between sites were larger for unmatched datasets than matched datasets. Residual differences between datasets could in part reflect participant-level variability rather than scanner- or data- related effects. Altogether our results indicate promise for the development and, critically, generalization of video fMRI studies of individual differences in healthy and clinical populations alike.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Byrge
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of North FloridaJacksonvilleFloridaUSA
- Biomedical Sciences ProgramUniversity of North FloridaJacksonvilleFloridaUSA
| | - Dorit Kliemann
- Department of Psychological and Brain SciencesThe University of IowaIowa CityIowaUSA
- Iowa Neuroscience InstituteUniversity of IowaIowaIAUSA
- Department of PsychiatryUniversity of IowaIowa CityIAUSA
| | - Ye He
- School of Artificial IntelligenceBeijing University of Posts and TelecommunicationsBeijingChina
| | - Hu Cheng
- Department of Psychological and Brain SciencesIndiana UniversityBloomingtonIndianaUSA
- Program in NeuroscienceBloomingtonIndianaUSA
| | - Julian Michael Tyszka
- Division of the Humanities and Social SciencesCalifornia Institute of TechnologyPasadenaCaliforniaUSA
- Caltech Brain Imaging CenterCalifornia Institute of TechnologyPasadenaCaliforniaUSA
| | - Ralph Adolphs
- Division of the Humanities and Social SciencesCalifornia Institute of TechnologyPasadenaCaliforniaUSA
- Division of Biology and Biological EngineeringCalifornia Institute of TechnologyPasadenaCaliforniaUSA
- Chen Neuroscience InstituteCalifornia Institute of TechnologyPasadenaCaliforniaUSA
| | - Daniel P. Kennedy
- Department of Psychological and Brain SciencesIndiana UniversityBloomingtonIndianaUSA
- Program in NeuroscienceBloomingtonIndianaUSA
- Cognitive Science ProgramIndiana UniversityBloomingtonIndianaUSA
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40
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Allen EJ, St-Yves G, Wu Y, Breedlove JL, Prince JS, Dowdle LT, Nau M, Caron B, Pestilli F, Charest I, Hutchinson JB, Naselaris T, Kay K. A massive 7T fMRI dataset to bridge cognitive neuroscience and artificial intelligence. Nat Neurosci 2022; 25:116-126. [PMID: 34916659 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-021-00962-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 40.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Extensive sampling of neural activity during rich cognitive phenomena is critical for robust understanding of brain function. Here we present the Natural Scenes Dataset (NSD), in which high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging responses to tens of thousands of richly annotated natural scenes were measured while participants performed a continuous recognition task. To optimize data quality, we developed and applied novel estimation and denoising techniques. Simple visual inspections of the NSD data reveal clear representational transformations along the ventral visual pathway. Further exemplifying the inferential power of the dataset, we used NSD to build and train deep neural network models that predict brain activity more accurately than state-of-the-art models from computer vision. NSD also includes substantial resting-state and diffusion data, enabling network neuroscience perspectives to constrain and enhance models of perception and memory. Given its unprecedented scale, quality and breadth, NSD opens new avenues of inquiry in cognitive neuroscience and artificial intelligence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily J Allen
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR), Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Ghislain St-Yves
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Yihan Wu
- Graduate Program in Cognitive Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Jesse L Breedlove
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Jacob S Prince
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Logan T Dowdle
- Department of Neuroscience, Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR), University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Department of Neurosurgery, Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR), University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Matthias Nau
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Bethesda MD, USA
| | - Brad Caron
- Program in Neuroscience, Indiana University, Bloomington IN, USA
- Program in Vision Science, Indiana University, Bloomington IN, USA
| | - Franco Pestilli
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
- Center for Perceptual Systems, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
- Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Ian Charest
- Center for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
- cerebrUM, Département de Psychologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal QC, Canada
| | | | - Thomas Naselaris
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Kendrick Kay
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR), Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
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41
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Lesser RP, Webber W, Miglioretti DL. Pan-cortical coordination underlying mental effort. Clin Neurophysiol 2022; 136:130-137. [DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2021.12.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2021] [Revised: 11/11/2021] [Accepted: 12/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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42
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Masharipov R, Knyazeva I, Nikolaev Y, Korotkov A, Didur M, Cherednichenko D, Kireev M. Providing Evidence for the Null Hypothesis in Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Using Group-Level Bayesian Inference. Front Neuroinform 2021; 15:738342. [PMID: 34924989 PMCID: PMC8674455 DOI: 10.3389/fninf.2021.738342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2021] [Accepted: 11/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Classical null hypothesis significance testing is limited to the rejection of the point-null hypothesis; it does not allow the interpretation of non-significant results. This leads to a bias against the null hypothesis. Herein, we discuss statistical approaches to ‘null effect’ assessment focusing on the Bayesian parameter inference (BPI). Although Bayesian methods have been theoretically elaborated and implemented in common neuroimaging software packages, they are not widely used for ‘null effect’ assessment. BPI considers the posterior probability of finding the effect within or outside the region of practical equivalence to the null value. It can be used to find both ‘activated/deactivated’ and ‘not activated’ voxels or to indicate that the obtained data are not sufficient using a single decision rule. It also allows to evaluate the data as the sample size increases and decide to stop the experiment if the obtained data are sufficient to make a confident inference. To demonstrate the advantages of using BPI for fMRI data group analysis, we compare it with classical null hypothesis significance testing on empirical data. We also use simulated data to show how BPI performs under different effect sizes, noise levels, noise distributions and sample sizes. Finally, we consider the problem of defining the region of practical equivalence for BPI and discuss possible applications of BPI in fMRI studies. To facilitate ‘null effect’ assessment for fMRI practitioners, we provide Statistical Parametric Mapping 12 based toolbox for Bayesian inference.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruslan Masharipov
- N. P. Bechtereva Institute of the Human Brain, Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Irina Knyazeva
- N. P. Bechtereva Institute of the Human Brain, Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Yaroslav Nikolaev
- N. P. Bechtereva Institute of the Human Brain, Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Alexander Korotkov
- N. P. Bechtereva Institute of the Human Brain, Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Michael Didur
- N. P. Bechtereva Institute of the Human Brain, Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Denis Cherednichenko
- N. P. Bechtereva Institute of the Human Brain, Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Maxim Kireev
- N. P. Bechtereva Institute of the Human Brain, Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russia
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43
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Chen G, Pine DS, Brotman MA, Smith AR, Cox RW, Taylor PA, Haller SP. Hyperbolic trade-off: The importance of balancing trial and subject sample sizes in neuroimaging. Neuroimage 2021; 247:118786. [PMID: 34906711 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118786] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2021] [Revised: 11/08/2021] [Accepted: 12/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Here we investigate the crucial role of trials in task-based neuroimaging from the perspectives of statistical efficiency and condition-level generalizability. Big data initiatives have gained popularity for leveraging a large sample of subjects to study a wide range of effect magnitudes in the brain. On the other hand, most task-based FMRI designs feature a relatively small number of subjects, so that resulting parameter estimates may be associated with compromised precision. Nevertheless, little attention has been given to another important dimension of experimental design, which can equally boost a study's statistical efficiency: the trial sample size. The common practice of condition-level modeling implicitly assumes no cross-trial variability. Here, we systematically explore the different factors that impact effect uncertainty, drawing on evidence from hierarchical modeling, simulations and an FMRI dataset of 42 subjects who completed a large number of trials of cognitive control task. We find that, due to an approximately symmetic hyperbola-relationship between trial and subject sample sizes in the presence of relatively large cross-trial variability, 1) trial sample size has nearly the same impact as subject sample size on statistical efficiency; 2) increasing both the number of trials and subjects improves statistical efficiency more effectively than focusing on subjects alone; 3) trial sample size can be leveraged alongside subject sample size to improve the cost-effectiveness of an experimental design; 4) for small trial sample sizes, trial-level modeling, rather than condition-level modeling through summary statistics, may be necessary to accurately assess the standard error of an effect estimate. We close by making practical suggestions for improving experimental designs across neuroimaging and behavioral studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gang Chen
- Scientific and Statistical Computing Core, National Institute of Mental Health, USA.
| | - Daniel S Pine
- Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, USA
| | - Melissa A Brotman
- Neuroscience and Novel Therapeutics Unit, Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, USA
| | - Ashley R Smith
- Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, USA
| | - Robert W Cox
- Scientific and Statistical Computing Core, National Institute of Mental Health, USA
| | - Paul A Taylor
- Scientific and Statistical Computing Core, National Institute of Mental Health, USA
| | - Simone P Haller
- Neuroscience and Novel Therapeutics Unit, Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, USA
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44
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Finn ES. Is it time to put rest to rest? Trends Cogn Sci 2021; 25:1021-1032. [PMID: 34625348 PMCID: PMC8585722 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2021] [Revised: 09/08/2021] [Accepted: 09/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
The so-called resting state, in which participants lie quietly with no particular inputs or outputs, represented a paradigm shift from conventional task-based studies in human neuroimaging. Our foray into rest was fruitful from both a scientific and methodological perspective, but at this point, how much more can we learn from rest on its own? While rest still dominates in many subfields, data from tasks have empirically demonstrated benefits, as well as the potential to provide insights about the mind in addition to the brain. I argue that we can accelerate progress in human neuroscience by de-emphasizing rest in favor of more grounded experiments, including promising integrated designs that respect the prominence of self-generated activity while offering enhanced control and interpretability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily S Finn
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA.
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45
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Turner JA, Turner MD. Re-conceptualizing domains in neuroscience, hopes and utopias aside. Nat Neurosci 2021; 24:1643-1644. [PMID: 34764475 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-021-00946-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jessica A Turner
- Psychology Department, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA. .,Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
| | - Matthew D Turner
- Psychology Department, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
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46
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Li X, Fischer H, Manzouri A, Månsson KNT, Li TQ. A Quantitative Data-Driven Analysis Framework for Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Study of the Impact of Adult Age. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:768418. [PMID: 34744623 PMCID: PMC8565286 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.768418] [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: 08/31/2021] [Accepted: 09/28/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The objective of this study is to introduce a new quantitative data-driven analysis (QDA) framework for the analysis of resting-state fMRI (R-fMRI) and use it to investigate the effect of adult age on resting-state functional connectivity (RFC). Whole-brain R-fMRI measurements were conducted on a 3T clinical MRI scanner in 227 healthy adult volunteers (N = 227, aged 18-76 years old, male/female = 99/128). With the proposed QDA framework we derived two types of voxel-wise RFC metrics: the connectivity strength index and connectivity density index utilizing the convolutions of the cross-correlation histogram with different kernels. Furthermore, we assessed the negative and positive portions of these metrics separately. With the QDA framework we found age-related declines of RFC metrics in the superior and middle frontal gyri, posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), right insula and inferior parietal lobule of the default mode network (DMN), which resembles previously reported results using other types of RFC data processing methods. Importantly, our new findings complement previously undocumented results in the following aspects: (1) the PCC and right insula are anti-correlated and tend to manifest simultaneously declines of both the negative and positive connectivity strength with subjects' age; (2) separate assessment of the negative and positive RFC metrics provides enhanced sensitivity to the aging effect; and (3) the sensorimotor network depicts enhanced negative connectivity strength with the adult age. The proposed QDA framework can produce threshold-free and voxel-wise RFC metrics from R-fMRI data. The detected adult age effect is largely consistent with previously reported studies using different R-fMRI analysis approaches. Moreover, the separate assessment of the negative and positive contributions to the RFC metrics can enhance the RFC sensitivity and clarify some of the mixed results in the literature regarding to the DMN and sensorimotor network involvement in adult aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xia Li
- Institute of Informatics Engineering, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Håkan Fischer
- Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.,Stockholm University Brain Imaging Centre, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Kristoffer N T Månsson
- Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.,Centre of Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Tie-Qiang Li
- Institute of Informatics Engineering, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, China.,Department of Clinical Science, Intervention, and Technology, Karolinska Institute, Solna, Sweden.,Department of Medical Radiation and Nuclear Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Sweden
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47
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Spadone S, Perrucci MG, Di Cosmo G, Costantini M, Della Penna S, Ferri F. Frontal and parietal background connectivity and their dynamic changes account for individual differences in the multisensory representation of peripersonal space. Sci Rep 2021; 11:20533. [PMID: 34654814 PMCID: PMC8520015 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-00048-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2021] [Accepted: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Functional connectivity (FC) of brain networks dynamically fluctuates during both rest and task execution. Individual differences in dynamic FC have been associated with several cognitive and behavioral traits. However, whether dynamic FC also contributes to sensorimotor representations guiding body-environment interactions, such as the representation of peripersonal space (PPS), is currently unknown. PPS is the space immediately surrounding the body and acts as a multisensory interface between the individual and the environment. We used an audio-tactile task with approaching sounds to map the individual PPS extension, and fMRI to estimate the background FC. Specifically, we analyzed FC values for each stimulus type (near and far space) and its across-trial variability. FC was evaluated between task-relevant nodes of two fronto-parietal networks (the Dorsal Attention Network, DAN, and the Fronto-Parietal Network, FPN) and a key PPS region in the premotor cortex (PM). PM was significantly connected to specific task-relevant nodes of the DAN and the FPN during the audio-tactile task, and FC was stronger while processing near space, as compared to far space. At the individual level, less PPS extension was associated with stronger premotor-parietal FC during processing of near space, while the across-trial variability of premotor-parietal and premotor-frontal FC was higher during the processing of far space. Notably, only across-trial FC variability captured the near-far modulation of space processing. Our findings indicate that PM connectivity with task-relevant frontal and parietal regions and its dynamic changes participate in the mechanisms that enable PPS representation, in agreement with the idea that neural variability plays a crucial role in plastic and dynamic sensorimotor representations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Spadone
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences - and ITAB, Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, G. d'Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.
| | - Mauro Gianni Perrucci
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences - and ITAB, Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, G. d'Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Giulio Di Cosmo
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences - and ITAB, Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, G. d'Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Marcello Costantini
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences - and ITAB, Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, G. d'Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Stefania Della Penna
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences - and ITAB, Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, G. d'Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Francesca Ferri
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences - and ITAB, Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, G. d'Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
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48
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Investigating mechanisms of fast BOLD responses: The effects of stimulus intensity and of spatial heterogeneity of hemodynamics. Neuroimage 2021; 245:118658. [PMID: 34656783 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118658] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2021] [Revised: 09/18/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent studies have demonstrated that fast fMRI can track neural activity well above the temporal limit predicted by the canonical hemodynamic response model. While these findings are promising, the biophysical mechanisms underlying these fast fMRI phenomena remain underexplored. In this study, we discuss two aspects of the hemodynamic response, complementary to several existing hypotheses, that can accommodate faster fMRI dynamics beyond those predicted by the canonical model. First, we demonstrate, using both visual and somatosensory paradigms, that the timing and shape of hemodynamic response functions (HRFs) vary across graded levels of stimulus intensity-with lower-intensity stimulation eliciting faster and narrower HRFs. Second, we show that as the spatial resolution of fMRI increases, voxel-wise HRFs begin to deviate from the canonical model, with a considerable portion of voxels exhibiting faster temporal dynamics than predicted by the canonical HRF. Collectively, both stimulus/task intensity and image resolution can affect the sensitivity of fMRI to fast brain activity, which may partly explain recent observations of fast fMRI signals. It is further noteworthy that, while the present investigations focus on fast neural responses, our findings suggest that a revised hemodynamic model may benefit the many fMRI studies using paradigms with wide ranges of contrast levels (e.g., resting or naturalistic conditions) or with modern, high-resolution MR acquisitions.
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49
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Lin Y, Zhou X, Naya Y, Gardner JL, Sun P. Voxel-Wise Linearity Analysis of Increments and Decrements in BOLD Responses in Human Visual Cortex Using a Contrast Adaptation Paradigm. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:541314. [PMID: 34531731 PMCID: PMC8439421 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.541314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2020] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The linearity of BOLD responses is a fundamental presumption in most analysis procedures for BOLD fMRI studies. Previous studies have examined the linearity of BOLD signal increments, but less is known about the linearity of BOLD signal decrements. The present study assessed the linearity of both BOLD signal increments and decrements in the human primary visual cortex using a contrast adaptation paradigm. Results showed that both BOLD signal increments and decrements kept linearity to long stimuli (e.g., 3 s, 6 s), yet, deviated from linearity to transient stimuli (e.g., 1 s). Furthermore, a voxel-wise analysis showed that the deviation patterns were different for BOLD signal increments and decrements: while the BOLD signal increments demonstrated a consistent overestimation pattern, the patterns for BOLD signal decrements varied from overestimation to underestimation. Our results suggested that corrections to deviations from linearity of transient responses should consider the different effects of BOLD signal increments and decrements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun Lin
- Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Xi Zhou
- Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Yuji Naya
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Justin L Gardner
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
| | - Pei Sun
- Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.,Tsinghua Laboratory of Brain and Intelligence, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.,Laboratory for Cognitive Brain Mapping, RIKEN Center for Brain Sciences, Wako, Japan
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50
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Imaging faster neural dynamics with fast fMRI: A need for updated models of the hemodynamic response. Prog Neurobiol 2021; 207:102174. [PMID: 34525404 DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2021.102174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2020] [Revised: 07/30/2021] [Accepted: 09/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Fast fMRI enables the detection of neural dynamics over timescales of hundreds of milliseconds, suggesting it may provide a new avenue for studying subsecond neural processes in the human brain. The magnitudes of these fast fMRI dynamics are far greater than predicted by canonical models of the hemodynamic response. Several studies have established nonlinear properties of the hemodynamic response that have significant implications for fast fMRI. We first review nonlinear properties of the hemodynamic response function that may underlie fast fMRI signals. We then illustrate the breakdown of canonical hemodynamic response models in the context of fast neural dynamics. We will then argue that the canonical hemodynamic response function is not likely to reflect the BOLD response to neuronal activity driven by sparse or naturalistic stimuli or perhaps to spontaneous neuronal fluctuations in the resting state. These properties suggest that fast fMRI is capable of tracking surprisingly fast neuronal dynamics, and we discuss the neuroscientific questions that could be addressed using this approach.
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