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Bortolotti A, Conti A, Romagnoli A, Sacco PL. Imagination vs. routines: festive time, weekly time, and the predictive brain. Front Hum Neurosci 2024; 18:1357354. [PMID: 38736532 PMCID: PMC11082368 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1357354] [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: 12/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/05/2024] [Indexed: 05/14/2024] Open
Abstract
This paper examines the relationship between societal structures shaped by traditions, norms, laws, and customs, and creative expressions in arts and media through the lens of the predictive coding framework in cognitive science. The article proposes that both dimensions of culture can be viewed as adaptations designed to enhance and train the brain's predictive abilities in the social domain. Traditions, norms, laws, and customs foster shared predictions and expectations among individuals, thereby reducing uncertainty in social environments. On the other hand, arts and media expose us to simulated experiences that explore alternative social realities, allowing the predictive machinery of the brain to hone its skills through exposure to a wider array of potentially relevant social circumstances and scenarios. We first review key principles of predictive coding and active inference, and then explore the rationale of cultural traditions and artistic culture in this perspective. Finally, we draw parallels between institutionalized normative habits that stabilize social worlds and creative and imaginative acts that temporarily subvert established conventions to inject variability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Bortolotti
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging, and Clinical Sciences, University “G. D'Annunzio” of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Alice Conti
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging, and Clinical Sciences, University “G. D'Annunzio” of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | | | - Pier Luigi Sacco
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging, and Clinical Sciences, University “G. D'Annunzio” of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
- metaLAB (at) Harvard, Cambridge, MA, United States
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Malhotra B, Jones LC, Spooner H, Levy C, Kaimal G, Williamson JB. A conceptual framework for a neurophysiological basis of art therapy for PTSD. Front Hum Neurosci 2024; 18:1351757. [PMID: 38711802 PMCID: PMC11073815 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1351757] [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: 12/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 05/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a heterogeneous condition that affects many civilians and military service members. Lack of engagement, high dropout rate, and variable response to psychotherapy necessitates more compelling and accessible treatment options that are based on sound neuroscientific evidence-informed decision-making. Art therapy incorporates elements proven to be effective in psychotherapy, such as exposure, making it a potentially valuable treatment option. This conceptual paper aims to inform the neurophysiological rationale for the use of art therapy as a therapeutic approach for individuals with PTSD. A narrative synthesis was conducted using literature review of empirical research on the neurophysiological effects of art therapy, with supporting literature on neuroaesthetics and psychotherapies to identify art therapy factors most pertinent for PTSD. Findings were synthesized through a proposed framework based on the triple network model considering the network-based dysfunctions due to PTSD. Art therapy's active components, such as concretization and metaphor, active art engagement, emotion processing and regulation, perspective taking and reframing, and therapeutic alliance, may improve symptoms of PTSD and prompt adaptive brain functioning. Given the scarcity of rigorous studies on art therapy's effectiveness and mechanisms of alleviating PTSD symptoms, the suggested framework offers a neurophysiological rationale and a future research agenda to investigate the impact of art therapy as a therapeutic approach for individuals with PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bani Malhotra
- Department of Creative Arts Therapies, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Laura C. Jones
- Brain Rehabilitation Research Center, North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Gainesville, FL, United States
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Heather Spooner
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. in support of Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network, Bethesda, MD, United States
- Center of Arts in Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Charles Levy
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. in support of Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Girija Kaimal
- Department of Creative Arts Therapies, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - John B. Williamson
- Brain Rehabilitation Research Center, North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Gainesville, FL, United States
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
- Center for OCD, Anxiety and Related Disorders, Department of Psychiatry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
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van Leeuwen JEP, McDougall A, Mylonas D, Suárez-González A, Crutch SJ, Warren JD. Pupil responses to colorfulness are selectively reduced in healthy older adults. Sci Rep 2023; 13:22139. [PMID: 38092848 PMCID: PMC10719259 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-48513-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The alignment between visual pathway signaling and pupil dynamics offers a promising non-invasive method to further illuminate the mechanisms of human color perception. However, only limited research has been done in this area and the effects of healthy aging on pupil responses to the different color components have not been studied yet. Here we aim to address this by modelling the effects of color lightness and chroma (colorfulness) on pupil responses in young and older adults, in a closely controlled passive viewing experiment with 26 broad-spectrum digital color fields. We show that pupil responses to color lightness and chroma are independent from each other in both young and older adults. Pupil responses to color lightness levels are unaffected by healthy aging, when correcting for smaller baseline pupil sizes in older adults. Older adults exhibit weaker pupil responses to chroma increases, predominantly along the Green-Magenta axis, while relatively sparing the Blue-Yellow axis. Our findings complement behavioral studies in providing physiological evidence that colors fade with age, with implications for color-based applications and interventions both in healthy aging and later-life neurodegenerative disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janneke E P van Leeuwen
- Dementia Research Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, 8-11 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AR, UK.
- The Thinking Eye, ACAVA Limehouse Arts Foundation, London, UK.
| | - Amy McDougall
- Department of Medical Statistics, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Dimitris Mylonas
- Faculty of Philosophy, Northeastern University London, London, UK
| | - Aida Suárez-González
- Dementia Research Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, 8-11 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AR, UK
| | - Sebastian J Crutch
- Dementia Research Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, 8-11 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AR, UK
| | - Jason D Warren
- Dementia Research Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, 8-11 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AR, UK.
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Chokesuwattanaskul A, Jiang H, Bond RL, Jimenez DA, Russell LL, Sivasathiaseelan H, Johnson JCS, Benhamou E, Agustus JL, van Leeuwen JEP, Chokesuwattanaskul P, Hardy CJD, Marshall CR, Rohrer JD, Warren JD. The architecture of abnormal reward behaviour in dementia: multimodal hedonic phenotypes and brain substrate. Brain Commun 2023; 5:fcad027. [PMID: 36942157 PMCID: PMC10023829 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcad027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2022] [Revised: 10/11/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Abnormal reward processing is a hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases, most strikingly in frontotemporal dementia. However, the phenotypic repertoire and neuroanatomical substrates of abnormal reward behaviour in these diseases remain incompletely characterized and poorly understood. Here we addressed these issues in a large, intensively phenotyped patient cohort representing all major syndromes of sporadic frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's disease. We studied 27 patients with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia, 58 with primary progressive aphasia (22 semantic variant, 24 non-fluent/agrammatic variant and 12 logopenic) and 34 with typical amnestic Alzheimer's disease, in relation to 42 healthy older individuals. Changes in behavioural responsiveness were assessed for canonical primary rewards (appetite, sweet tooth, sexual activity) and non-primary rewards (music, religion, art, colours), using a semi-structured survey completed by patients' primary caregivers. Changes in more general socio-emotional behaviours were also recorded. We applied multiple correspondence analysis and k-means clustering to map relationships between hedonic domains and extract core factors defining aberrant hedonic phenotypes. Neuroanatomical associations were assessed using voxel-based morphometry of brain MRI images across the combined patient cohort. Altered (increased and/or decreased) reward responsiveness was exhibited by most patients in the behavioural and semantic variants of frontotemporal dementia and around two-thirds of patients in other dementia groups, significantly (P < 0.05) more frequently than in healthy controls. While food-directed changes were most prevalent across the patient cohort, behavioural changes directed toward non-primary rewards occurred significantly more frequently (P < 0.05) in the behavioural and semantic variants of frontotemporal dementia than in other patient groups. Hedonic behavioural changes across the patient cohort were underpinned by two principal factors: a 'gating' factor determining the emergence of altered reward behaviour and a 'modulatory' factor determining how that behaviour is directed. These factors were expressed jointly in a set of four core, trans-diagnostic and multimodal hedonic phenotypes: 'reward-seeking', 'reward-restricted', 'eating-predominant' and 'control-like'-variably represented across the cohort and associated with more pervasive socio-emotional behavioural abnormalities. The principal gating factor was associated (P < 0.05 after correction for multiple voxel-wise comparisons over the whole brain) with a common profile of grey matter atrophy in anterior cingulate, bilateral temporal poles, right middle frontal and fusiform gyri: the cortical circuitry that mediates behavioural salience and semantic and affective appraisal of sensory stimuli. Our findings define a multi-domain phenotypic architecture for aberrant reward behaviours in major dementias, with novel implications for the neurobiological understanding and clinical management of these diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthipa Chokesuwattanaskul
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
- Division of Neurology, Department of Internal Medicine, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok, Thailand
- Cognitive Clinical and Computational Neuroscience Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Harmony Jiang
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Rebecca L Bond
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Daniel A Jimenez
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
- Department of Neurological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Lucy L Russell
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Harri Sivasathiaseelan
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Jeremy C S Johnson
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Elia Benhamou
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Jennifer L Agustus
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Janneke E P van Leeuwen
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | | | - Chris J D Hardy
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Charles R Marshall
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
- Preventive Neurology Unit, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Jonathan D Rohrer
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Jason D Warren
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
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