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Kumar P, Raj VMS, Warnecke D, Gnanamony M, Donohue SE. Urinary biomarkers in neonates born to mothers with preeclampsia: A case-control study. Early Hum Dev 2025; 200:106169. [PMID: 39631129 DOI: 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2024.106169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2024] [Revised: 10/10/2024] [Accepted: 12/01/2024] [Indexed: 12/07/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Effects of preeclampsia (PE) on fetal renal development are unknown. We hypothesized that the circulating factors causing endothelial dysfunction and impaired renal function in mothers with PE adversely affect fetal kidneys. OBJECTIVE To compare urinary biomarkers in infants born to mothers with and without PE. METHODS Sixty-eight mothers and their newborns with gestational age ≥ 32 weeks were enrolled. We collected bag urine samples from infants during the first 48 h of life. Urine samples were centrifuged at 1500 rpm for 10 min. Supernatant after excluding the bottom 1 mL of urine was stored at -70 °C until assayed. Urinary creatinine, protein, cystatin C, nephrin, kidney injury molecule - 1, and klotho were measured. RESULTS Sixteen mothers in the PE group had severe features of PE. The PE group infants had lower body length compared to the control group (46.4 ± 3.4 vs 48.6 ± 3.4 cm; p = 0.007). Urine protein and creatinine were significantly higher in the PE group infants [protein 37.1 (14.4, 53.5) vs 20.3 (7.5, 30.0) mg/dl, p = 0.04; creatinine 63.4 (25.2, 96.6) vs 24.8 (19.8, 44.2) mg/dl, p = 0.008]. There were no statistically significant differences in the urinary concentrations of the remaining four biomarkers. The urinary protein, creatinine and nephrin concentrations had significant negative correlation with gestational age (p values 0.07, 0.0003 and 0.0008 respectively). CONCLUSIONS The findings of higher urinary protein and the observed trends in the levels of urinary nephrin and klotho are suggestive of glomerular immaturity and/or impaired function in infants born to mothers with PE.
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Boyineni J, Wood JM, Ravindra A, Boley E, Donohue SE, Soares MB, Malchenko S. Prospective Approach to Deciphering the Impact of Intercellular Mitochondrial Transfer from Human Neural Stem Cells and Brain Tumor-Initiating Cells to Neighboring Astrocytes. Cells 2024; 13:204. [PMID: 38334595 PMCID: PMC10854889 DOI: 10.3390/cells13030204] [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: 12/05/2023] [Revised: 01/18/2024] [Accepted: 01/20/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024] Open
Abstract
The communication between neural stem cells (NSCs) and surrounding astrocytes is essential for the homeostasis of the NSC niche. Intercellular mitochondrial transfer, a unique communication system that utilizes the formation of tunneling nanotubes for targeted mitochondrial transfer between donor and recipient cells, has recently been identified in a wide range of cell types. Intercellular mitochondrial transfer has also been observed between different types of cancer stem cells (CSCs) and their neighboring cells, including brain CSCs and astrocytes. CSC mitochondrial transfer significantly enhances overall tumor progression by reprogramming neighboring cells. Despite the urgent need to investigate this newly identified phenomenon, mitochondrial transfer in the central nervous system remains largely uncharacterized. In this study, we found evidence of intercellular mitochondrial transfer from human NSCs and from brain CSCs, also known as brain tumor-initiating cells (BTICs), to astrocytes in co-culture experiments. Both NSC and BTIC mitochondria triggered similar transcriptome changes upon transplantation into the recipient astrocytes. In contrast to NSCs, the transplanted mitochondria from BTICs had a significant proliferative effect on the recipient astrocytes. This study forms the basis for mechanistically deciphering the impact of intercellular mitochondrial transfer on recipient astrocytes, which will potentially provide us with new insights into the mechanisms of mitochondrial retrograde signaling.
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Masi AT, Fessler SL, Brezka ML, Wang Y, Donohue SE. Systematic review and meta-analysis of individual serum lipids and analysis of lipid ratios in ankylosing spondylitis and healthy control cohorts: significantly lower mean HDL-cholesterol level in ankylosing spondylitis cohorts. Clin Exp Rheumatol 2023; 41:1862-1874. [PMID: 36826790 DOI: 10.55563/clinexprheumatol/gtcard] [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: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is suspected to have increased risk of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to critically study serum lipids and lipoprotein ratios in AS compared to healthy control (HC) subjects and determine any significant difference. METHODS English-language articles were systematically searched in PubMed, Ovid Medline, Embase (Medline records removed), and Scopus databases from 1970 to 2021. Random-effects model was used to pool results expressed as standardised mean difference (SMD) in the lipid outcomes. Lipid ratios of total ÷ HDL-C and the log10 (TG/HDL-C), i.e. atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), were analysed by histograms of differences in weighted means and weighted SDs between AS and HC exposure cohorts. RESULTS The meta-analysis included a total of 68 articles, 47 from database search and 21 from reference reviews. Pooled Hedges' g effect size revealed no difference in mean total cholesterol, mean triglycerides, and mean LDL-C between AS and HC subjects. However, mean HDL-C was significantly (p<0.001) lower in AS than HC subjects, with pooled Hedges' g (SE) for HDL-C of -0.484 (0.092), with 95% mean CIs [-0.664, -0.305]. In comparing differencesin AS minus HC weighted means of total HDL-C ratios, 8 values in HC were below the lowest ratio in AS. CONCLUSIONS Highly significantly lower HDL-C levels occurred in AS versus HC subjects. The lower HDL-C levels in AS than HC populations deserve further study and may be attributable to uninvestigated demographic, exercise capacity, or clinical manifestations.
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Horwitz LI, Thaweethai T, Brosnahan SB, Cicek MS, Fitzgerald ML, Goldman JD, Hess R, Hodder SL, Jacoby VL, Jordan MR, Krishnan JA, Laiyemo AO, Metz TD, Nichols L, Patzer RE, Sekar A, Singer NG, Stiles LE, Taylor BS, Ahmed S, Algren HA, Anglin K, Aponte-Soto L, Ashktorab H, Bassett IV, Bedi B, Bhadelia N, Bime C, Bind MAC, Black LJ, Blomkalns AL, Brim H, Castro M, Chan J, Charney AW, Chen BK, Chen LQ, Chen P, Chestek D, Chibnik LB, Chow DC, Chu HY, Clifton RG, Collins S, Costantine MM, Cribbs SK, Deeks SG, Dickinson JD, Donohue SE, Durstenfeld MS, Emery IF, Erlandson KM, Facelli JC, Farah-Abraham R, Finn AV, Fischer MS, Flaherman VJ, Fleurimont J, Fonseca V, Gallagher EJ, Gander JC, Gennaro ML, Gibson KS, Go M, Goodman SN, Granger JP, Greenway FL, Hafner JW, Han JE, Harkins MS, Hauser KSP, Heath JR, Hernandez CR, Ho O, Hoffman MK, Hoover SE, Horowitz CR, Hsu H, Hsue PY, Hughes BL, Jagannathan P, James JA, John J, Jolley S, Judd SE, Juskowich JJ, Kanjilal DG, Karlson EW, Katz SD, Kelly JD, Kelly SW, Kim AY, Kirwan JP, Knox KS, Kumar A, Lamendola-Essel MF, Lanca M, Lee-lannotti JK, Lefebvre RC, Levy BD, Lin JY, Logarbo BP, Logue JK, Longo MT, Luciano CA, Lutrick K, Malakooti SK, Mallett G, Maranga G, Marathe JG, Marconi VC, Marshall GD, Martin CF, Martin JN, May HT, McComsey GA, McDonald D, Mendez-Figueroa H, Miele L, Mittleman MA, Mohandas S, Mouchati C, Mullington JM, Nadkarni GN, Nahin ER, Neuman RB, Newman LT, Nguyen A, Nikolich JZ, Ofotokun I, Ogbogu PU, Palatnik A, Palomares KTS, Parimon T, Parry S, Parthasarathy S, Patterson TF, Pearman A, Peluso MJ, Pemu P, Pettker CM, Plunkett BA, Pogreba-Brown K, Poppas A, Porterfield JZ, Quigley JG, Quinn DK, Raissy H, Rebello CJ, Reddy UM, Reece R, Reeder HT, Rischard FP, Rosas JM, Rosen CJ, Rouphael NG, Rouse DJ, Ruff AM, Saint Jean C, Sandoval GJ, Santana JL, Schlater SM, Sciurba FC, Selvaggi C, Seshadri S, Sesso HD, Shah DP, Shemesh E, Sherif ZA, Shinnick DJ, Simhan HN, Singh U, Sowles A, Subbian V, Sun J, Suthar MS, Teunis LJ, Thorp JM, Ticotsky A, Tita ATN, Tragus R, Tuttle KR, Urdaneta AE, Utz PJ, VanWagoner TM, Vasey A, Vernon SD, Vidal C, Walker T, Ward HD, Warren DE, Weeks RM, Weiner SJ, Weyer JC, Wheeler JL, Whiteheart SW, Wiley Z, Williams NJ, Wisnivesky JP, Wood JC, Yee LM, Young NM, Zisis SN, Foulkes AS. Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) adult study protocol: Rationale, objectives, and design. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0286297. [PMID: 37352211 PMCID: PMC10289397 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0286297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2023] [Accepted: 05/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/25/2023] Open
Abstract
IMPORTANCE SARS-CoV-2 infection can result in ongoing, relapsing, or new symptoms or other health effects after the acute phase of infection; termed post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), or long COVID. The characteristics, prevalence, trajectory and mechanisms of PASC are ill-defined. The objectives of the Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Multi-site Observational Study of PASC in Adults (RECOVER-Adult) are to: (1) characterize PASC prevalence; (2) characterize the symptoms, organ dysfunction, natural history, and distinct phenotypes of PASC; (3) identify demographic, social and clinical risk factors for PASC onset and recovery; and (4) define the biological mechanisms underlying PASC pathogenesis. METHODS RECOVER-Adult is a combined prospective/retrospective cohort currently planned to enroll 14,880 adults aged ≥18 years. Eligible participants either must meet WHO criteria for suspected, probable, or confirmed infection; or must have evidence of no prior infection. Recruitment occurs at 86 sites in 33 U.S. states, Washington, DC and Puerto Rico, via facility- and community-based outreach. Participants complete quarterly questionnaires about symptoms, social determinants, vaccination status, and interim SARS-CoV-2 infections. In addition, participants contribute biospecimens and undergo physical and laboratory examinations at approximately 0, 90 and 180 days from infection or negative test date, and yearly thereafter. Some participants undergo additional testing based on specific criteria or random sampling. Patient representatives provide input on all study processes. The primary study outcome is onset of PASC, measured by signs and symptoms. A paradigm for identifying PASC cases will be defined and updated using supervised and unsupervised learning approaches with cross-validation. Logistic regression and proportional hazards regression will be conducted to investigate associations between risk factors, onset, and resolution of PASC symptoms. DISCUSSION RECOVER-Adult is the first national, prospective, longitudinal cohort of PASC among US adults. Results of this study are intended to inform public health, spur clinical trials, and expand treatment options. REGISTRATION NCT05172024.
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Ilse A, Donohue SE, Schoenfeld MA, Hopf JM, Heinze HJ, Harris JA. Unseen food images capture the attention of hungry viewers: Evidence from event-related potentials. Appetite 2020; 155:104828. [PMID: 32814119 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2020.104828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2020] [Revised: 06/24/2020] [Accepted: 08/09/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Motivationally relevant visual targets appear to capture visuospatial attention. This capture is evident behaviorally as faster and more accurate responses, and neurally as an enhanced-amplitude of the N2pc - an index of spatial attention allocation, which is observed even when observers are unaware of the target. In the case of reinforcers such as food or substances of dependence, it is likely that the motivational state of craving accompanying deprivation potentiates this capture. The automaticity of such attentional capture by reward-associated stimuli, as well as its possible interaction with craving, is as yet not completely understood, though it is likely a major explanatory factor in motivated behaviors. For the present experiment, participants completed two EEG recording sessions: one just after eating lunch (sated/non-craving), and the other following a minimum 12-h period of fasting (hungry/craving). For both sessions, participants identified food- and clothing-related targets embedded in an object-substitution masking paradigm, which yielded trials of full target visibility, as well as trials for which targets were present but undetected. Although masking equally disrupted visual awareness of both classes of targets as measured behaviorally, a three-way hunger by visibility by target interaction was observed in the neural data, with unseen food targets eliciting an enhanced N2pc. Interestingly, this subliminal attentional capture by food-related items was observed only during the "hungry" session. No such capture was evident under conditions of full visibility. These findings indicate that attentional capture by food-related images, and reflected in enhancements of the N2pc, is spurred by hunger, and that this effect can be viewed as automatic, or independent of explicit awareness of food-relevant target content.
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Donohue SE, Schoenfeld MA, Hopf JM. Parallel fast and slow recurrent cortical processing mediates target and distractor selection in visual search. Commun Biol 2020; 3:689. [PMID: 33214640 PMCID: PMC7677324 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-020-01423-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2020] [Accepted: 09/30/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual search has been commonly used to study the neural correlates of attentional allocation in space. Recent electrophysiological research has disentangled distractor processing from target processing, showing that these mechanisms appear to operate in parallel and show electric fields of opposite polarity. Nevertheless, the localization and exact nature of this activity is unknown. Here, using MEG in humans, we provide a spatiotemporal characterization of target and distractor processing in visual cortex. We demonstrate that source activity underlying target- and distractor-processing propagates in parallel as fast and slow sweep from higher to lower hierarchical levels in visual cortex. Importantly, the fast propagating target-related source activity bypasses intermediate levels to go directly to V1, and this V1 activity correlates with behavioral performance. These findings suggest that reentrant processing is important for both selection and attenuation of stimuli, and such processing operates in parallel feedback loops. Sarah E. Donohue et al. characterize the spatiotemporal propagation of target and distractor processing in the human visual cortex. They show that these signals propagate in parallel as fast and slow sweeps from higher to lower hierarchical levels, and that the fast target processing signal can bypass intermediate levels correlating with behavioral performance.
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Donohue SE, Harris JA, Loewe K, Hopf J, Heinze H, Woldorff MG, Schoenfeld MA. Electroencephalography reveals a selective disruption of cognitive control processes in craving cigarette smokers. Eur J Neurosci 2020; 51:1087-1105. [DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14622] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2019] [Revised: 10/20/2019] [Accepted: 11/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Garcia-Lazaro HG, Bartsch MV, Boehler CN, Krebs RM, Donohue SE, Harris JA, Schoenfeld MA, Hopf JM. Dissociating Reward- and Attention-driven Biasing of Global Feature-based Selection in Human Visual Cortex. J Cogn Neurosci 2018; 31:469-481. [PMID: 30457917 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Objects that promise rewards are prioritized for visual selection. The way this prioritization shapes sensory processing in visual cortex, however, is debated. It has been suggested that rewards motivate stronger attentional focusing, resulting in a modulation of sensory selection in early visual cortex. An open question is whether those reward-driven modulations would be independent of similar modulations indexing the selection of attended features that are not associated with reward. Here, we use magnetoencephalography in human observers to investigate whether the modulations indexing global color-based selection in visual cortex are separable for target- and (monetary) reward-defining colors. To assess the underlying global color-based activity modulation, we compare the event-related magnetic field response elicited by a color probe in the unattended hemifield drawn either in the target color, the reward color, both colors, or a neutral task-irrelevant color. To test whether target and reward relevance trigger separable modulations, we manipulate attention demands on target selection while keeping reward-defining experimental parameters constant. Replicating previous observations, we find that reward and target relevance produce almost indistinguishable gain modulations in ventral extratriate cortex contralateral to the unattended color probe. Importantly, increasing attention demands on target discrimination increases the response to the target-defining color, whereas the response to the rewarded color remains largely unchanged. These observations indicate that, although task relevance and reward influence the very same feature-selective area in extrastriate visual cortex, the associated modulations are largely independent.
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Bartsch MV, Donohue SE, Strumpf H, Schoenfeld MA, Hopf JM. Enhanced spatial focusing increases feature-based selection in unattended locations. Sci Rep 2018; 8:16132. [PMID: 30382137 PMCID: PMC6208401 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-34424-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2018] [Accepted: 10/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Attention is a multifaceted phenomenon, which operates on features (e.g., colour or motion) and over space. A fundamental question is whether the attentional selection of features is confined to the spatially-attended location or operates independently across the entire visual field (global feature-based attention, GFBA). Studies providing evidence for GFBA often employ feature probes presented at spatially unattended locations, which elicit enhanced brain responses when they match a currently-attended target feature. However, the validity of this interpretation relies on consistent spatial focusing onto the target. If the probe were to temporarily attract spatial attention, the reported effects could reflect transient spatial selection processes, rather than GFBA. Here, using magnetoencephalographic recordings (MEG) in humans, we manipulate the strength and consistency of spatial focusing to the target by increasing the target discrimination difficulty (Experiment 1), and by demarcating the upcoming target’s location with a placeholder (Experiment 2), to see if GFBA effects are preserved. We observe that motivating stronger spatial focusing to the target did not diminish the effects of GFBA. Instead, aiding spatial pre-focusing with a placeholder enhanced the feature response at unattended locations. Our findings confirm that feature selection effects measured with spatially-unattended probes reflect a true location-independent neural bias.
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Harris JA, Donohue SE, Ilse A, Ariel Schoenfeld M, Heinze HJ, Woldorff MG. EEG measures of brain activity reveal that smoking-related images capture the attention of smokers outside of awareness. Neuropsychologia 2018; 111:324-333. [PMID: 29427572 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2017] [Revised: 01/04/2018] [Accepted: 02/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The capture of attention by substance-related stimuli in dependent users is a major factor in the maintenance and/or cessation of substance use. The present study examined the automaticity of this process in smokers, as well as the effects of craving. Event-related potential (ERP) measures of spatial-attention allocation (N2pc) and extended target processing (SPCN) were isolated during an object-substitution masking (OSM) task that disrupted the perceptual visibility of smoking-related and office-related targets. Each participant completed two experimental sessions: one in which they were deprived of nicotine for a period of several hours prior to the session (craving), and one before which they were allowed to smoke (non-craving). Results were consistent with an account of automatic attentional capture by smoking-related images outside of awareness, with masked trials yielding a selective enhancement of the attention-sensitive N2pc in response to these images, but in the absence of a corresponding behavioral enhancement on those trials. Finally, the manipulation of craving appeared to increase the overall task demand, yielding an enhancement of the SPCN component across target type and masking conditions. Together, these results suggest that smoking-related visual stimuli in the environment can capture the attention of smokers outside of awareness, in what seems to be an automatic process.
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Loewe K, Donohue SE, Schoenfeld MA, Kruse R, Borgelt C. Memory-Efficient Analysis of Dense Functional Connectomes. Front Neuroinform 2016; 10:50. [PMID: 27965565 PMCID: PMC5126118 DOI: 10.3389/fninf.2016.00050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2016] [Accepted: 10/31/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The functioning of the human brain relies on the interplay and integration of numerous individual units within a complex network. To identify network configurations characteristic of specific cognitive tasks or mental illnesses, functional connectomes can be constructed based on the assessment of synchronous fMRI activity at separate brain sites, and then analyzed using graph-theoretical concepts. In most previous studies, relatively coarse parcellations of the brain were used to define regions as graphical nodes. Such parcellated connectomes are highly dependent on parcellation quality because regional and functional boundaries need to be relatively consistent for the results to be interpretable. In contrast, dense connectomes are not subject to this limitation, since the parcellation inherent to the data is used to define graphical nodes, also allowing for a more detailed spatial mapping of connectivity patterns. However, dense connectomes are associated with considerable computational demands in terms of both time and memory requirements. The memory required to explicitly store dense connectomes in main memory can render their analysis infeasible, especially when considering high-resolution data or analyses across multiple subjects or conditions. Here, we present an object-based matrix representation that achieves a very low memory footprint by computing matrix elements on demand instead of explicitly storing them. In doing so, memory required for a dense connectome is reduced to the amount needed to store the underlying time series data. Based on theoretical considerations and benchmarks, different matrix object implementations and additional programs (based on available Matlab functions and Matlab-based third-party software) are compared with regard to their computational efficiency. The matrix implementation based on on-demand computations has very low memory requirements, thus enabling analyses that would be otherwise infeasible to conduct due to insufficient memory. An open source software package containing the created programs is available for download.
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Donohue SE, Harris JA, Heinze HJ, Woldorff MG, Schoenfeld MA. An electrophysiological marker of the desire to quit in smokers. Eur J Neurosci 2016; 44:2735-2741. [DOI: 10.1111/ejn.13386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2016] [Revised: 08/25/2016] [Accepted: 08/25/2016] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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Harris JA, Donohue SE, Schoenfeld MA, Hopf JM, Heinze HJ, Woldorff MG. Reward-associated features capture attention in the absence of awareness: Evidence from object-substitution masking. Neuroimage 2016; 137:116-123. [PMID: 27153978 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2016] [Revised: 04/01/2016] [Accepted: 05/01/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Reward-associated visual features have been shown to capture visual attention, evidenced in faster and more accurate behavioral performance, as well as in neural responses reflecting lateralized shifts of visual attention to those features. Specifically, the contralateral N2pc event-related-potential (ERP) component that reflects attentional shifting exhibits increased amplitude in response to task-relevant targets containing a reward-associated feature. In the present study, we examined the automaticity of such reward-association effects using object-substitution masking (OSM) in conjunction with MEG measures of visual attentional shifts. In OSM, a visual-search array is presented, with the target item to be detected indicated by a surrounding mask (here, four surrounding squares). Delaying the offset of the target-surrounding four-dot mask relative to the offset of the rest of the target/distracter array disrupts the viewer's awareness of the target (masked condition), whereas simultaneous offsets do not (unmasked condition). Here we manipulated whether the color of the OSM target was or was not of a previously reward-associated color. By tracking reward-associated enhancements of behavior and the N2pc in response to masked targets containing a previously rewarded or unrewarded feature, the automaticity of attentional capture by reward could be probed. We found an enhanced N2pc response to targets containing a previously reward-associated color feature. Moreover, this enhancement of the N2pc by reward did not differ between masking conditions, nor did it differ as a function of the apparent visibility of the target within the masked condition. Overall, these results underscore the automaticity of attentional capture by reward-associated features, and demonstrate the ability of feature-based reward associations to shape attentional capture and allocation outside of perceptual awareness.
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Donohue SE, Appelbaum LG, McKay CC, Woldorff MG. The neural dynamics of stimulus and response conflict processing as a function of response complexity and task demands. Neuropsychologia 2016; 84:14-28. [PMID: 26827917 PMCID: PMC4808442 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.01.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2015] [Revised: 01/26/2016] [Accepted: 01/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Both stimulus and response conflict can disrupt behavior by slowing response times and decreasing accuracy. Although several neural activations have been associated with conflict processing, it is unclear how specific any of these are to the type of stimulus conflict or the amount of response conflict. Here, we recorded electrical brain activity, while manipulating the type of stimulus conflict in the task (spatial [Flanker] versus semantic [Stroop]) and the amount of response conflict (two versus four response choices). Behaviorally, responses were slower to incongruent versus congruent stimuli across all task and response types, along with overall slowing for higher response-mapping complexity. The earliest incongruency-related neural effect was a short-duration frontally-distributed negativity at ~200 ms that was only present in the Flanker spatial-conflict task. At longer latencies, the classic fronto-central incongruency-related negativity 'N(inc)' was observed for all conditions, but was larger and ~100 ms longer in duration with more response options. Further, the onset of the motor-related lateralized readiness potential (LRP) was earlier for the two vs. four response sets, indicating that smaller response sets enabled faster motor-response preparation. The late positive complex (LPC) was present in all conditions except the two-response Stroop task, suggesting this late conflict-related activity is not specifically related to task type or response-mapping complexity. Importantly, across tasks and conditions, the LRP onset at or before the conflict-related N(inc), indicating that motor preparation is a rapid, automatic process that interacts with the conflict-detection processes after it has begun. Together, these data highlight how different conflict-related processes operate in parallel and depend on both the cognitive demands of the task and the number of response options.
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Donohue SE, Hopf JM, Bartsch MV, Schoenfeld MA, Heinze HJ, Woldorff MG. The Rapid Capture of Attention by Rewarded Objects. J Cogn Neurosci 2016; 28:529-41. [PMID: 26741800 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_00917] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
When a stimulus is associated with a reward, it becomes prioritized, and the allocation of attention to that stimulus increases. For low-level features, such as color, this reward-based allocation of attention can manifest early in time and as a faster and stronger shift of attention to targets with that color, as reflected by the N2pc (a parieto-occipital electrophysiological component peaking at ∼250 msec). It is unknown, however, if reward associations can similarly modulate attentional shifts to complex objects or object categories, or if reward-related modulation of attentional allocation to such stimuli would occur later in time or through a different mechanism. Here, we used magnetoencephalographic recordings in 24 participants to investigate how object categories with a reward association would modulate the shift of attention. On each trial, two colored squares were presented, one in a target color and the other in a distractor color, each with an embedded object. Participants searched for the target-colored square and performed a corner discrimination task. The embedded objects were from either a rewarded or non-rewarded category, and if a rewarded-category object were present within the target-colored square, participants could earn extra money for correct performance. We observed that when the target color contained an object from a rewarded versus a non-rewarded category, the neural shift of attention to the target was faster and of greater magnitude, although the rewarded objects were not relevant for correct task performance. These results suggest that reward associations of complex objects can rapidly modulate attentional allocation to a target.
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Donohue SE, Green JJ, Woldorff MG. The effects of attention on the temporal integration of multisensory stimuli. Front Integr Neurosci 2015; 9:32. [PMID: 25954167 PMCID: PMC4407588 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2015.00032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2014] [Accepted: 04/07/2015] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
In unisensory contexts, spatially-focused attention tends to enhance perceptual processing. How attention influences the processing of multisensory stimuli, however, has been of much debate. In some cases, attention has been shown to be important for processes related to the integration of audio-visual stimuli, but in other cases such processes have been reported to occur independently of attention. To address these conflicting results, we performed three experiments to examine how attention interacts with a key facet of multisensory processing: the temporal window of integration (TWI). The first two experiments used a novel cued-spatial-attention version of the bounce/stream illusion, wherein two moving visual stimuli with intersecting paths tend to be perceived as bouncing off rather than streaming through each other when a brief sound occurs near in time. When the task was to report whether the visual stimuli appeared to bounce or stream, attention served to narrow this measure of the TWI and bias perception toward “streaming”. When the participants’ task was to explicitly judge the simultaneity of the sound with the intersection of the moving visual stimuli, however, the results were quite different. Specifically, attention served to mainly widen the TWI, increasing the likelihood of simultaneity perception, while also substantially increasing the simultaneity judgment accuracy when the stimuli were actually physically simultaneous. Finally, in Experiment 3, where the task was to judge the simultaneity of a simple, temporally discrete, flashed visual stimulus and the same brief tone pip, attention had no effect on the measured TWI. These results highlight the flexibility of attention in enhancing multisensory perception and show that the effects of attention on multisensory processing are highly dependent on the task demands and observer goals.
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Pinhas M, Donohue SE, Woldorff MG, Brannon EM. Electrophysiological evidence for the involvement of the approximate number system in preschoolers' processing of spoken number words. J Cogn Neurosci 2014; 26:1891-904. [PMID: 24702455 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_00631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Little is known about the neural underpinnings of number word comprehension in young children. Here we investigated the neural processing of these words during the crucial developmental window in which children learn their meanings and asked whether such processing relies on the Approximate Number System. ERPs were recorded as 3- to 5-year-old children heard the words one, two, three, or six while looking at pictures of 1, 2, 3, or 6 objects. The auditory number word was incongruent with the number of visual objects on half the trials and congruent on the other half. Children's number word comprehension predicted their ERP incongruency effects. Specifically, children with the least number word knowledge did not show any ERP incongruency effects, whereas those with intermediate and high number word knowledge showed an enhanced, negative polarity incongruency response (N(inc)) over centroparietal sites from 200 to 500 msec after the number word onset. This negativity was followed by an enhanced, positive polarity incongruency effect (P(inc)) that emerged bilaterally over parietal sites at about 700 msec. Moreover, children with the most number word knowledge showed ratio dependence in the P(inc) (larger for greater compared with smaller numerical mismatches), a hallmark of the Approximate Number System. Importantly, a similar modulation of the P(inc) from 700 to 800 msec was found in children with intermediate number word knowledge. These results provide the first neural correlates of spoken number word comprehension in preschoolers and are consistent with the view that children map number words onto approximate number representations before they fully master the verbal count list.
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Appelbaum LG, Donohue SE, Park CJ, Woldorff MG. Is one enough? The case for non-additive influences of visual features on crossmodal Stroop interference. Front Psychol 2013; 4:799. [PMID: 24198800 PMCID: PMC3813948 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00799] [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: 07/02/2013] [Accepted: 10/10/2013] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
When different perceptual signals arising from the same physical entity are integrated, they form a more reliable sensory estimate. When such repetitive sensory signals are pitted against other competing stimuli, such as in a Stroop Task, this redundancy may lead to stronger processing that biases behavior toward reporting the redundant stimuli. This bias would therefore, be expected to evoke greater incongruency effects than if these stimuli did not contain redundant sensory features. In the present paper we report that this is not the case for a set of three crossmodal, auditory-visual Stroop tasks. In these tasks participants attended to, and reported, either the visual or the auditory stimulus (in separate blocks) while ignoring the other, unattended modality. The visual component of these stimuli could be purely semantic (words), purely perceptual (colors), or the combination of both. Based on previous work showing enhanced crossmodal integration and visual search gains for redundantly coded stimuli, we had expected that relative to the single features, redundant visual features would have induced both greater visual distracter incongruency effects for attended auditory targets, and been less influenced by auditory distracters for attended visual targets. Overall, reaction times were faster for visual targets and were dominated by behavioral facilitation for the cross-modal interactions (relative to interference), but showed surprisingly little influence of visual feature redundancy. Post-hoc analyses revealed modest and trending evidence for possible increases in behavioral interference for redundant visual distracters on auditory targets, however, these effects were substantially smaller than anticipated and were not accompanied by a redundancy effect for behavioral facilitation or for attended visual targets.
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Donohue SE, Appelbaum LG, Park CJ, Roberts KC, Woldorff MG. Cross-modal stimulus conflict: the behavioral effects of stimulus input timing in a visual-auditory Stroop task. PLoS One 2013; 8:e62802. [PMID: 23638149 PMCID: PMC3639269 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0062802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2012] [Accepted: 03/26/2013] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Cross-modal processing depends strongly on the compatibility between different sensory inputs, the relative timing of their arrival to brain processing components, and on how attention is allocated. In this behavioral study, we employed a cross-modal audio-visual Stroop task in which we manipulated the within-trial stimulus-onset-asynchronies (SOAs) of the stimulus-component inputs, the grouping of the SOAs (blocked vs. random), the attended modality (auditory or visual), and the congruency of the Stroop color-word stimuli (congruent, incongruent, neutral) to assess how these factors interact within a multisensory context. One main result was that visual distractors produced larger incongruency effects on auditory targets than vice versa. Moreover, as revealed by both overall shorter response times (RTs) and relative shifts in the psychometric incongruency-effect functions, visual-information processing was faster and produced stronger and longer-lasting incongruency effects than did auditory. When attending to either modality, stimulus incongruency from the other modality interacted with SOA, yielding larger effects when the irrelevant distractor occurred prior to the attended target, but no interaction with SOA grouping. Finally, relative to neutral-stimuli, and across the wide range of the SOAs employed, congruency led to substantially more behavioral facilitation than did incongruency to interference, in contrast to findings that within-modality stimulus-compatibility effects tend to be more evenly split between facilitation and interference. In sum, the present findings reveal several key characteristics of how we process the stimulus compatibility of cross-modal sensory inputs, reflecting stimulus processing patterns that are critical for successfully navigating our complex multisensory world.
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Donohue SE, Todisco AE, Woldorff MG. The rapid distraction of attentional resources toward the source of incongruent stimulus input during multisensory conflict. J Cogn Neurosci 2012; 25:623-35. [PMID: 23249355 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_00336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Neuroimaging work on multisensory conflict suggests that the relevant modality receives enhanced processing in the face of incongruency. However, the degree of stimulus processing in the irrelevant modality and the temporal cascade of the attentional modulations in either the relevant or irrelevant modalities are unknown. Here, we employed an audiovisual conflict paradigm with a sensory probe in the task-irrelevant modality (vision) to gauge the attentional allocation to that modality. ERPs were recorded as participants attended to and discriminated spoken auditory letters while ignoring simultaneous bilateral visual letter stimuli that were either fully congruent, fully incongruent, or partially incongruent (one side incongruent, one congruent) with the auditory stimulation. Half of the audiovisual letter stimuli were followed 500-700 msec later by a bilateral visual probe stimulus. As expected, ERPs to the audiovisual stimuli showed an incongruency ERP effect (fully incongruent versus fully congruent) of an enhanced, centrally distributed, negative-polarity wave starting ∼250 msec. More critically here, the sensory ERP components to the visual probes were larger when they followed fully incongruent versus fully congruent multisensory stimuli, with these enhancements greatest on fully incongruent trials with the slowest RTs. In addition, on the slowest-response partially incongruent trials, the P2 sensory component to the visual probes was larger contralateral to the preceding incongruent visual stimulus. These data suggest that, in response to conflicting multisensory stimulus input, the initial cognitive effect is a capture of attention by the incongruent irrelevant-modality input, pulling neural processing resources toward that modality, resulting in rapid enhancement, rather than rapid suppression, of that input.
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Donohue SE, Darling EF, Mitroff SR. Links between multisensory processing and autism. Exp Brain Res 2012; 222:377-87. [DOI: 10.1007/s00221-012-3223-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2012] [Accepted: 08/07/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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Souza MJ, Donohue SE, Bunge SA. Controlled retrieval and selection of action-relevant knowledge mediated by partially overlapping regions in left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. Neuroimage 2009; 46:299-307. [PMID: 19457379 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.01.046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2008] [Revised: 01/05/2009] [Accepted: 01/22/2009] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Information from long-term memory is used to identify appropriate responses to cues in the environment. Left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) has been implicated in the effortful retrieval of semantic representations, as well as in the goal-directed selection between such representations. It has also been suggested that left posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG) stores the rules which VLPFC accesses to guide behavior. In the present event-related fMRI study, we examined the contributions of left VLPFC and pMTG in the controlled retrieval and selection of action-relevant knowledge associated with road signs. Controlled retrieval demands were manipulated by varying how recently the sign meaning was learned, and selection demands were manipulated by varying the number of competing meanings associated with a sign. Activation in anterior VLPFC was consistent with controlled retrieval, activation in posterior VLPFC was consistent with selection, and activation in mid-VLPFC was sensitive to both manipulations. Left pMTG, while active, was not sensitive to these manipulations. These findings highlight the role of left VLPFC in accessing and maintaining goal-relevant information for the control of action.
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Donohue SE, Wendelken C, Bunge SA. Neural correlates of preparation for action selection as a function of specific task demands. J Cogn Neurosci 2008; 20:694-706. [PMID: 18052782 DOI: 10.1162/jocn.2008.20042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Our behavior is frequently guided by rules, or prescribed guides for action. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) has been implicated in the ability to retrieve and use rules in a conscious, effortful manner. Several functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have examined the role of the PFC in rule representation; however, the precise PFC subregions implicated in this function vary from study to study. This observation raises the question of whether there are distinct classes of rules that are represented differentially in the brain. To address this question, an fMRI study was conducted in which participants performed two tasks, each at two levels of difficulty, during acquisition of event-related fMRI data. The response competition task was based on the Stroop paradigm: Participants were cued to determine either the ink color or color name associated with a word stimulus. In contrast, the paired associates task evaluated participants' memory for either one or four previously memorized pairs of words. On each trial, an instructional cue appeared briefly on the screen, followed by an 8-sec delay and a probe period. The left ventrolateral PFC (VLPFC) and the left supplementary motor area (SMA)/pre-SMA were engaged during the delay period for all conditions, consistent with a general role in rule representation. In contrast, different parts of the dorsolateral PFC, the anterior PFC, and the right VLPFC were preferentially engaged by one or both of the more challenging rules, consistent with the idea that rules are represented by partially distinct brain structures according to their content.
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Wendelken C, Nakhabenko D, Donohue SE, Carter CS, Bunge SA. "Brain is to thought as stomach is to ??": investigating the role of rostrolateral prefrontal cortex in relational reasoning. J Cogn Neurosci 2008; 20:682-93. [PMID: 18052787 DOI: 10.1162/jocn.2008.20055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 129] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Brain imaging studies suggest that the rostrolateral prefrontal cortex (RLPFC), is involved in relational reasoning. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies involving Raven's Progressive Matrices or verbal propositional analogies indicate that the RLPFC is engaged by tasks that require integration across multiple relational structures. Several studies have shown that the RLPFC is more active when people must evaluate an analogy (e.g., Is shoe to foot as glove is to hand?) than when they must simply evaluate two individual semantic relationships, consistent with the hypothesis that this region is important for relational integration. The current fMRI investigation further explores the role of the RLPFC in reasoning and relational integration by comparing RLPFC activation across four different propositional analogy conditions. Each of the four conditions required either relation completion (e.g., Shoe is to foot as glove is to WHAT? --> "hand") or relation comparison (e.g., Is shoe to foot as glove is to hand? --> "yes"). The RLPFC was engaged more strongly by the comparison subtask relative to completion, suggesting that the RLPFC is particularly involved in comparing relational structures.
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Zanolie K, Teng S, Donohue SE, van Duijvenvoorde AC, Band GP, Rombouts SA, Crone EA. Switching between colors and shapes on the basis of positive and negative feedback: An fMRI and EEG study on feedback-based learning. Cortex 2008; 44:537-47. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2007.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2007] [Revised: 08/30/2007] [Accepted: 11/17/2007] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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