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Jensen M, Hyder R, Westner BU, Højlund A, Shtyrov Y. Speech comprehension across time, space, frequency, and age: MEG-MVPA classification of intertrial phase coherence. Neuropsychologia 2023; 188:108602. [PMID: 37270028 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Revised: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Language is a key part of human cognition, essential for our well-being at all stages of our lives. Whereas many neurocognitive abilities decline with age, for language the picture is much less clear, and how exactly speech comprehension changes with ageing is still unknown. To investigate this, we employed magnetoencephalography (MEG) and recorded neuromagnetic brain responses to auditory linguistic stimuli in healthy participants of younger and older age using a passive task-free paradigm and a range of different linguistic stimulus contrasts, which enabled us to assess neural processing of spoken language at multiple levels (lexical, semantic, morphosyntactic). Using machine learning-based classification algorithms to scrutinise intertrial phase coherence of MEG responses in cortical source space, we found that patterns of oscillatory neural activity diverged between younger and older participants across several frequency bands (alpha, beta, gamma) for all tested linguistic information types. The results suggest multiple age-related changes in the brain's neurolinguistic circuits, which may be due to both healthy ageing in general and compensatory processes in particular.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mads Jensen
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Research Unit for Robophilosophy and Integrative Social Robotics, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Interacting Minds Centre, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
| | - Rasha Hyder
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Britta U Westner
- Radboud University, Donders Centre for Cognition, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Andreas Højlund
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Yury Shtyrov
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
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Hyder R, Højlund A, Jensen M, Johnsen EL, Østergaard K, Shtyrov Y. STN-DBS affects language processing differentially in Parkinson's disease: Multiple-case MEG study. Acta Neurol Scand 2021; 144:132-141. [PMID: 33961289 DOI: 10.1111/ane.13423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2020] [Revised: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 03/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES In this study, we investigated the effects of bilateral and unilateral deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS) in PD patients on neural responses associated with two aspects of spoken language processing: semantics of action-related verbs and morphosyntactic processing. MATERIALS AND METHODS Using a passive unattended paradigm to present spoken linguistic stimuli, we recorded magnetoencephalographic (MEG) responses in three PD patients in four DBS conditions: left unilateral STN-DBS, right unilateral STN-DBS, bilateral STN-DBS, and no STN-DBS. To ensure that any observed effects of DBS on the neuromagnetic responses could be attributed to the linguistic context per se and were not merely induced by the electrical stimulation, we assessed the effects of STN-DBS on linguistic contrasts within each stimulation condition. Hence, we contrasted the processing of action vs. abstract verbs as well as the processing of correct vs. incorrect morphosyntactic inflections within each DBS condition. RESULTS The results revealed that, compared to the DBS-off state, both bilateral and right unilateral stimulation of the STN yielded significant dissociations in the processing of action and abstract verbs, with greater neuromagnetic responses for action verbs compared to abstract verbs. For morphosyntax processing, only left unilateral stimulation yielded significant dissociations (relative to the DBS-off state), with greater neuromagnetic responses to the incorrect inflections compared to the correct inflections. CONCLUSION The results reflect differential effects of unilateral and bilateral STN-DBS on neuromagnetic responses associated with the processing of spoken language. They suggest that different specific aspects of linguistic information processing in PD are affected differently by STN-DBS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rasha Hyder
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN) Department of Clinical Medicine Aarhus University Aarhus Denmark
- Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology Medical Faculty Heinrich‐Heine University Düsseldorf Germany
| | - Andreas Højlund
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN) Department of Clinical Medicine Aarhus University Aarhus Denmark
| | - Mads Jensen
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN) Department of Clinical Medicine Aarhus University Aarhus Denmark
- Research Unit for Robophilosophy and Integrative Social Robotics Interacting Minds Centre Aarhus University Aarhus Denmark
| | - Erik L. Johnsen
- Department of Neurology Aarhus University Hospital Aarhus Denmark
| | - Karen Østergaard
- Department of Neurology Aarhus University Hospital Aarhus Denmark
- Sano Private Hospital Denmark
| | - Yury Shtyrov
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN) Department of Clinical Medicine Aarhus University Aarhus Denmark
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience HSE University Moscow Russian Federation
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Hyder R, Jensen M, Højlund A, Kimppa L, Bailey CJ, Schaldemose JL, Kinnerup MB, Østergaard K, Shtyrov Y. Functional connectivity of spoken language processing in early-stage Parkinson's disease: An MEG study. NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL 2021; 32:102718. [PMID: 34455187 PMCID: PMC8403765 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102718] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2020] [Revised: 04/01/2021] [Accepted: 06/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder, well-known for its motor symptoms; however, it also adversely affects cognitive functions, including language, a highly important human ability. PD pathology is associated, even in the early stage of the disease, with alterations in the functional connectivity within cortico-subcortical circuitry of the basal ganglia as well as within cortical networks. Here, we investigated functional cortical connectivity related to spoken language processing in early-stage PD patients. We employed a patient-friendly passive attention-free paradigm to probe neurophysiological correlates of language processing in PD patients without confounds related to active attention and overt motor responses. MEG data were recorded from a group of newly diagnosed PD patients and age-matched healthy controls who were passively presented with spoken word stimuli (action and abstract verbs, as well as grammatically correct and incorrect inflectional forms) while focussing on watching a silent movie. For each of the examined linguistic aspects, a logistic regression classifier was used to classify participants as either PD patients or healthy controls based on functional connectivity within the temporo-fronto-parietal cortical language networks. Classification was successful for action verbs (accuracy = 0.781, p-value = 0.003) and, with lower accuracy, for abstract verbs (accuracy = 0.688, p-value = 0.041) and incorrectly inflected forms (accuracy = 0.648, p-value = 0.021), but not for correctly inflected forms (accuracy = 0.523, p-value = 0.384). Our findings point to quantifiable differences in functional connectivity within the cortical systems underpinning language processing in newly diagnosed PD patients compared to healthy controls, which arise early, in the absence of clinical evidence of deficits in cognitive or general language functions. The techniques presented here may aid future work on establishing neurolinguistic markers to objectively and noninvasively identify functional changes in the brain's language networks even before clinical symptoms emerge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rasha Hyder
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
| | - Mads Jensen
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Research Unit for Robophilosophy and Integrative Social Robotics, Aarhus University, Denmark
| | - Andreas Højlund
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Lilli Kimppa
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland
| | - Christopher J Bailey
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Jeppe L Schaldemose
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET Centre, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Martin B Kinnerup
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET Centre, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Karen Østergaard
- Sano Private Hospital, Denmark; Department of Neurology, Aarhus University Hospital (AUH), Denmark
| | - Yury Shtyrov
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Moscow, Russian Federation.
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Møller MLH, Højlund A, Jensen M, Gansonre C, Shtyrov Y. Applied potential of task-free event-related paradigms for assessing neurocognitive functions in disorders of consciousness. Brain Commun 2020; 2:fcaa087. [PMID: 33134912 PMCID: PMC7585695 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcaa087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2019] [Revised: 04/21/2020] [Accepted: 04/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Diagnosing patients with disorders of consciousness is immensely difficult and often results in misdiagnoses, which can have fatal consequences. Despite the severity of this well-known issue, a reliable assessment tool has not yet been developed and implemented in the clinic. The main aim of this focused review is to evaluate the various event-related potential paradigms, recorded using EEG, which may be used to improve the assessment of patients with disorders of consciousness; we also provide a brief comparison of these paradigms with other measures. Notably, most event-related potential studies on the topic have focused on testing a small set of components, or even just a single component. However, to be of practical use, we argue that an assessment should probe a range of cognitive and linguistic functions at once. We suggest a novel approach that combines a set of well-tested auditory event-related potential components: N100, mismatch negativity, P3a, N400, early left anterior negativity and lexical response enhancement. Combining these components in a single, task-free design will provide a multidimensional assessment of cognitive and linguistic processes, which may help physicians make a more precise diagnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie Louise Holm Møller
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Andreas Højlund
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Mads Jensen
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Christelle Gansonre
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Yury Shtyrov
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
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