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Neurofunctional and Neurochemical Signatures of Emotional and Cognitive Processes and Competencies

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A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Behavioral Neuroscience".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 March 2021) | Viewed by 29609

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Prof. Dr. Simone Grimm

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Guest Editor

Medical School Berlin, Ruedesheimer Str. 50, 14197 Berlin, Germany
Interests: Affective Neuroscience; Stress; Depression; Neuroimaging; Neuromodulation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

For the past decades, neuroimaging methods have provided us with the chance to investigate the neural underpinnings of cognitive, emotional, and even social processes. Based on this research, this Special Issue is dedicated to presenting a collection of high-quality theoretical/research articles providing new insights into neurofunctional and neurochemical signatures of these processes in healthy and clinical populations. We therefore welcome novel research findings from cognitive, affective, social, clinical, and computational neuroscience, not only investigating these signatures but also modulating them pharmacologically or via brain stimulation techniques. With regard to the format of papers, we will consider research articles, opinion/perspective articles, and review articles (systematic review, meta-analysis).

Prof. Dr. Simone Grimm
Guest Editor

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Keywords

Emotional/cognitive/social processes
Neuroimaging
Brain connectivity
Brain stimulation
Electrophysiology
Neurotransmitters
Psychiatry

Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 1200 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Commercial Brain Training: Efficacy, Transfer Effects, and the Influence of Personality Traits: A Study Conducted on Healthy Young Adults

by Florian Scholl, Sören Enge and Matti Gärtner

Brain Sci. 2021, 11(8), 1083; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11081083 - 18 Aug 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2706

Abstract

In the present study, we investigated the effects of a four-week working memory (WM) and attention training program using commercial brain training (Synaptikon GmbH, Berlin). Sixty young healthy adults were assigned to the experimental and active control training programs. The training was conducted in a naturalistic home-based setting, while the pre- and post-examinations were conducted in a controlled laboratory setting. Transfer effects to an untrained WM task and to an untrained episodic memory task were examined. Furthermore, possible influences of personality, i.e., the five-factor model (FFM) traits and need for cognition (NFC), on training outcomes were examined. Additionally, the direct relationship between improvement in single trained tasks and improvement in the transfer tasks was investigated. Our results showed that both training groups significantly increased performance in the WM task, but only the WM training group increased their performance in the episodic memory transfer task. One of the training tasks, a visuospatial WM task, was particularly associated with improvement in the episodic memory task. Neuroticism and conscientiousness showed differential effects on the improvement in training and transfer tasks. It needs to be further examined whether these effects represent training effects or, for example, retest/practice or motivation effects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurofunctional and Neurochemical Signatures of Emotional and Cognitive Processes and Competencies)

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15 pages, 1016 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Differential Alterations in Resting State Functional Connectivity Associated with Depressive Symptoms and Early Life Adversity

by Eleonora Fadel, Heinz Boeker, Matti Gaertner, Andre Richter, Birgit Kleim, Erich Seifritz, Simone Grimm and Laura M. Wade-Bohleber

Brain Sci. 2021, 11(5), 591; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11050591 - 2 May 2021

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 4829

Abstract

Depression and early life adversity (ELA) are associated with aberrant resting state functional connectivity (FC) of the default mode (DMN), salience (SN), and central executive networks (CEN). However, the specific and differential associations of depression and ELA with FC of these networks remain unclear. Applying a dimensional approach, here we analyzed associations of FC between major nodes of the DMN, SN, and CEN with severity of depressive symptoms and ELA defined as childhood abuse and neglect in a sample of 83 healthy and depressed subjects. Depressive symptoms were linked to increased FC within the SN and decreased FC of the SN with the DMN and CEN. Childhood abuse was associated with increased FC within the SN, whereas childhood neglect was associated with decreased FC within the SN and increased FC between the SN and the DMN. Our study thus provides evidence for differential associations of depressive symptoms and ELA with resting state FC and contributes to a clarification of previously contradictory findings. Specific FC abnormalities may underlie specific cognitive and emotional impairments. Future research should link specific clinical symptoms resulting from ELA to FC patterns thereby characterizing depression subtypes with specific neurobiological signatures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurofunctional and Neurochemical Signatures of Emotional and Cognitive Processes and Competencies)

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13 pages, 1298 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparison of Four fMRI Paradigms Probing Emotion Processing

by Corinna Hartling, Sophie Metz, Corinna Pehrs, Milan Scheidegger, Rebecca Gruzman, Christian Keicher, Andreas Wunder, Anne Weigand and Simone Grimm

Brain Sci. 2021, 11(5), 525; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11050525 - 21 Apr 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3961

Abstract

Previous fMRI research has applied a variety of tasks to examine brain activity underlying emotion processing. While task characteristics are known to have a substantial influence on the elicited activations, direct comparisons of tasks that could guide study planning are scarce. We aimed to provide a comparison of four common emotion processing tasks based on the same analysis pipeline to suggest tasks best suited for the study of certain target brain regions. We studied an n-back task using emotional words (EMOBACK) as well as passive viewing tasks of emotional faces (FACES) and emotional scenes (OASIS and IAPS). We compared the activation patterns elicited by these tasks in four regions of interest (the amygdala, anterior insula, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC)) in three samples of healthy adults (N = 45). The EMOBACK task elicited activation in the right dlPFC and bilateral anterior insula and deactivation in the pgACC while the FACES task recruited the bilateral amygdala. The IAPS and OASIS tasks showed similar activation patterns recruiting the bilateral amygdala and anterior insula. We conclude that these tasks can be used to study different regions involved in emotion processing and that the information provided is valuable for future research and the development of fMRI biomarkers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurofunctional and Neurochemical Signatures of Emotional and Cognitive Processes and Competencies)

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14 pages, 878 KiB

Open AccessArticle

How Much of Me Do I See in Other Minds? Modulating Egocentricity in Emotion Judgments by tDCS

by Anne Weigand, Irene Trilla, Lioba Enk, Garret O’Connell, Kristin Prehn, Timothy R. Brick and Isabel Dziobek

Brain Sci. 2021, 11(4), 512; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11040512 - 16 Apr 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2286

Abstract

When inferring the mental states of others, individuals’ judgments are influenced by their own state of mind, an effect often referred to as egocentricity. Self–other differentiation is key for an accurate interpretation of other’s mental states, especially when these differ from one’s own states. It has been suggested that the right supramarginal gyrus (rSMG) is causally involved in overcoming egocentricity in the affective domain. In a double-blind randomized study, 47 healthy adults received anodal (1 mA, 20 min) or sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the rSMG prior to performing a newly developed paradigm, the self–other facial emotion judgment (SOFE) task. In this task, participants made judgments of facial emotional expressions while having been previously confronted with congruent or incongruent emotion-inducing situations. To differentiate between emotional and cognitive egocentricity, participants additionally completed an established visual perspective-taking task. Our results confirmed the occurrence of emotional egocentric biases during the SOFE task. No conclusive evidence of a general role of the rSMG in emotional egocentricity was found. However, active as compared to sham tDCS induced descriptively lower egocentric biases when judging incongruent fearful faces, and stronger biases when judging incongruent happy faces, suggesting emotion-specific tDCS effects on egocentric biases. Further, we found significant tDCS effects on cognitive egocentricity. Results of the present study expanded our understanding of emotional egocentricity and point towards emotion-specific patterns of the underlying functionality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurofunctional and Neurochemical Signatures of Emotional and Cognitive Processes and Competencies)

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13 pages, 1257 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Open-Label Placebos on State Anxiety and Glucocorticoid Stress Responses

by Michael Schaefer, Julian Hellmann-Regen and Sören Enge

Brain Sci. 2021, 11(4), 508; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11040508 - 16 Apr 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2847

Abstract

Stress belongs to the most frequent negative feelings people are confronted with in daily life. Strategies against acute stress include, e.g., relaxation techniques or medications, but it is also known that placebos can successfully reduce negative emotional stress. While it is widely held that placebos require deception to provoke a response, recent studies demonstrate intriguing evidence that placebos may work even without concealment (e.g., against anxiety or pain). Most of these studies are based on self-report questionnaires and do not include physiological measures. Here we report results of a study examining whether placebos without deception reduce acute stress. A total of 53 healthy individuals received either placebos without deception or no pills before participating in a laboratory stress test (Maastricht Acute Stress Test, MAST). We recorded self-report stress measures and cortisol responses before and after the MAST. Results showed no significant differences between the placebo and the control group, but when comparing participants with high relative to low beliefs in the power of placebos we found significant lower anxiety and cortisol responses for the placebo believers. These results show that non-deceptive placebos may successfully reduce acute anxiety and stress, but only in participants who had a strong belief in placebos. We discuss the results by suggesting that open-label placebos might be a possible treatment to reduce stress at least for some individuals. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurofunctional and Neurochemical Signatures of Emotional and Cognitive Processes and Competencies)

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14 pages, 4436 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effects of Functionally Guided, Connectivity-Based rTMS on Amygdala Activation

by Lysianne Beynel, Ethan Campbell, Maria Naclerio, Jeffrey T. Galla, Angikar Ghosal, Andrew M. Michael, Nathan A. Kimbrel, Simon W. Davis and Lawrence G. Appelbaum

Brain Sci. 2021, 11(4), 494; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11040494 - 13 Apr 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2833

Abstract

While repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is widely used to treat psychiatric disorders, innovations are needed to improve its efficacy. An important limitation is that while psychiatric disorders are associated with fronto-limbic dysregulation, rTMS does not have sufficient depth penetration to modulate affected subcortical structures. Recent advances in task-related functional connectivity provide a means to better link superficial and deeper cortical sources with the possibility of increasing fronto-limbic modulation to induce stronger therapeutic effects. The objective of this pilot study was to test whether task-related, connectivity-based rTMS could modulate amygdala activation through its connectivity with the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). fMRI was collected to identify a node in the mPFC showing the strongest connectivity with the amygdala, as defined by psychophysiological interaction analysis. To promote Hebbian-like plasticity, and potentially stronger modulation, 5 Hz rTMS was applied while participants viewed frightening video-clips that engaged the fronto-limbic network. Significant increases in both the mPFC and amygdala were found for active rTMS compared to sham, offering promising preliminary evidence that functional connectivity-based targeting may provide a useful approach to treat network dysregulation. Further research is needed to better understand connectivity influences on rTMS effects to leverage this information to improve therapeutic applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurofunctional and Neurochemical Signatures of Emotional and Cognitive Processes and Competencies)

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15 pages, 683 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Music Modulates Cognitive Flexibility? An Investigation of the Benefits of Musical Training on Markers of Cognitive Flexibility

by Miriam Gade and Kathrin Schlemmer

Brain Sci. 2021, 11(4), 451; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11040451 - 2 Apr 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2567

Abstract

Cognitive flexibility enables the rapid change in goals humans want to attain in everyday life as well as in professional contexts, e.g., as musicians. In the laboratory, cognitive flexibility is usually assessed using the task-switching paradigm. In this paradigm participants are given at least two classification tasks and are asked to switch between them based on valid cues or memorized task sequences. The mechanisms enabling cognitive flexibility are investigated through two empirical markers, namely switch costs and n-2 repetition costs. In this study, we assessed both effects in a pre-instructed task-sequence paradigm. Our aim was to assess the transfer of musical training to non-musical stimuli and tasks. To this end, we collected the data of 49 participants that differed in musical training assessed using the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index. We found switch costs that were not significantly influenced by the degree of musical training. N-2 repetition costs were small for all levels of musical training and not significant. Musical training did not influence performance to a remarkable degree and did not affect markers of mechanisms underlying cognitive flexibility, adding to the discrepancies of findings on the impact of musical training in non-music-specific tasks. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurofunctional and Neurochemical Signatures of Emotional and Cognitive Processes and Competencies)

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12 pages, 701 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Light-Dependent Effects of Prefrontal rTMS on Emotional Working Memory

by Anne Weigand, Lisa Edelkraut, Markus Conrad, Simone Grimm and Malek Bajbouj

Brain Sci. 2021, 11(4), 446; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11040446 - 31 Mar 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2107

Abstract

Growing evidence suggests that colored light exposure can affect several brain functions in addition to conscious visual perception. Blue as compared to green light has especially been shown to enhance alertness and vigilance, as well as cognitive functions. However, the role of light exposure in studies using non-invasive brain stimulation remains unclear. Here, we examined the impact of light on cognitive-emotional effects of prefrontal repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). In a randomized within-subjects design, twenty participants (12 males, 26 ± 4 years) were exposed to blue or green light prior and concomitant to active or sham rTMS (1Hz, 15min, 110% of the resting motor threshold), applied over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). In each condition, an emotional working memory task (EMOBACK) was presented pre- and post-intervention. Stimuli of the EMOBACK task were positive, negative and neutral words. Our results revealed valence-specific stimulation effects in dependence of colored light exposure. More specifically, task accuracy was significantly increased for positive stimuli under blue light and for negative stimuli under green light exposure. Our findings highlight the importance of state-dependency in studies using non-invasive brain stimulation and show blue light exposure to be a potential adjunctive technique to rTMS for enhancing cognitive-emotional modulation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurofunctional and Neurochemical Signatures of Emotional and Cognitive Processes and Competencies)

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15 pages, 1916 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Mathematical Expertise

by Miseon Shim, Han-Jeong Hwang, Ulrike Kuhl and Hyeon-Ae Jeon

Brain Sci. 2021, 11(4), 430; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11040430 - 28 Mar 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2824

Abstract

To what extent are different levels of expertise reflected in the functional connectivity of the brain? We addressed this question by using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in mathematicians versus non-mathematicians. To this end, we investigated how the two groups of participants differ in the correlation of their spontaneous blood oxygen level-dependent fluctuations across the whole brain regions during resting state. Moreover, by using the classification algorithm in machine learning, we investigated whether the resting-state fMRI networks between mathematicians and non-mathematicians were distinguished depending on features of functional connectivity. We showed diverging involvement of the frontal–thalamic–temporal connections for mathematicians and the medial–frontal areas to precuneus and the lateral orbital gyrus to thalamus connections for non-mathematicians. Moreover, mathematicians who had higher scores in mathematical knowledge showed a weaker connection strength between the left and right caudate nucleus, demonstrating the connections’ characteristics related to mathematical expertise. Separate functional networks between the two groups were validated with a maximum classification accuracy of 91.19% using the distinct resting-state fMRI-based functional connectivity features. We suggest the advantageous role of preconfigured resting-state functional connectivity, as well as the neural efficiency for experts’ successful performance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurofunctional and Neurochemical Signatures of Emotional and Cognitive Processes and Competencies)

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9 pages, 1585 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Regional Gray Matter Volume Changes in Parkinson’s Disease with Orthostatic Hypotension

by Jung Bin Kim, Hayom Kim, Chan-Nyung Lee, Kun-Woo Park and Byung-Jo Kim

Brain Sci. 2021, 11(3), 294; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11030294 - 26 Feb 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1700

Abstract

Neurodegenerative change in the central nervous system has been suggested as one of the pathophysiological mechanisms of autonomic nervous system dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease (PD). We analyzed gray matter (GM) volume changes and clinical parameters in patients with PD to investigate any involvement in the brain structures responsible for autonomic control in patients with PD having orthostatic hypotension (OH). Voxel-based morphometry was applied to compare regional GM volumes between PD patients with and without OH. Multivariate logistic regression analysis using a hierarchical model was carried out to identify clinical factors independently contributing to the regional GM volume changes in PD patients with OH. The Sobel test was used to analyze mediation effects between the independent contributing factors to the GM volume changes. PD patients with OH had more severe autonomic dysfunction and reduction in volume in the right inferior temporal cortex than those without OH. The right inferior temporal volume was positively correlated with the Qualitative Scoring MMSE Pentagon Test (QSPT) score, reflecting visuospatial/visuoperceptual function, and negatively correlated with the Composite Autonomic Severity Score (CASS). The CASS and QSPT scores were found to be factors independently contributing to regional volume changes in the right inferior temporal cortex. The QSPT score was identified as a mediator in which regional GM volume predicts the CASS. Our findings suggest that a decrease in the visuospatial/visuoperceptual process may be involved in the presentation of autonomic nervous system dysfunction in PD patients. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurofunctional and Neurochemical Signatures of Emotional and Cognitive Processes and Competencies)

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