714 Results Found

Postural control depends on attentional resources besides automatic processes. The dual-task paradigm is a possible approach to analyzing the interference and performance between motor and/or cognitive tasks. Various studies showed that, when individ...

We aimed to detect brain abnormalities during cognitive and motor tasks in older individuals with pre-frailty, as this could prevent dementia. Sixty elderly participants (mean age: 76.3 years; 27 healthy and 33 with pre-frailty) were included, and th...

Recently reported research indicate that forest environments have physiological and psychological relaxing effects compared to urban environments. However, some researchers claim that the stress of the subjects from being watched by others during mea...

Background and Objectives: In this study, the role of oxyhemoglobin (HbO) in subregions of the prefrontal cortex during a static balance task under eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions was investigated in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) using f...

We investigated the relationship between the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and executive function during a drawing task. Thirty-three participants using pen tablets provided the data for this task. PFC activity was recorded using functional near-infrared s...

In the global attempt to combat rising obesity rates, the introduction of health warning messages on food products is discussed as one possible approach. However, the perception of graphical health warning messages in the food context and the possibl...

TREK-2-like channels in the pyramidal neurons of rat prefrontal cortex are characterized by a wide range of spontaneous activity—from very low to very high—independent of the membrane potential and the stimuli that are known to activate TREK-2 channe...

Background: The primary purpose of this study was to preliminarily examine the effects of autonomic nervous system activity on the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Recent studies have examined approaches to modulating autonomic activity using invasive...

The prefrontal cortex participates in a variety of higher cognitive functions. The concept of working memory is now widely used to understand prefrontal functions. Neurophysiological studies have revealed that stimulus-selective delay-period activity...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the physiological effects of visual stimulation by a unique Japanese low wooden table on the prefrontal cortex and autonomic nervous activities. A within-participants experiment with 26 male university studen...

This study aimed to clarify the physiological effects of touching wood with the palm, in comparison with touching other materials on brain activity and autonomic nervous activity. Eighteen female university students (mean age, 21.7  ±  1.6 years) par...

We clarified the physiological effects of tactile stimulation of the soles of the feet with the wood of the Hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) based on measurements of prefrontal cortex and autonomic nervous activities. Nineteen female university-...

The objective of this study was to compare physiological and psychological relaxation by assessing heart rate variability (HRV), prefrontal cortex activity, and subjective indexes while subjects performed a task with and without foliage plants. In a...

This study was aimed to clarify the physiological effects of visual stimulation using forest imagery on activity of the brain and autonomic nervous system. Seventeen female university students (mean age, 21.1 ± 1.0 years) participated in the study. A...

Exposure to natural sounds is known to induce feelings of relaxation; however, only few studies have provided scientific evidence on its physiological effects. This study examined prefrontal cortex and autonomic nervous activities in response to fore...

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in the resting state has shown altered brain connectivity networks in obese individuals. However, the impact of a Mediterranean diet on cerebral connectivity in obese patients when losing weight has not be...

We created an indoor forest bathing environment in a sunlight-type environmentally controlled chamber and both physiological and psychological measurements were conducted for the evaluation of mental fatigue reduction. At first, a working memory load...

This study examined the physiological effects of touching wood with various coating with the palm of the hand on brain activity and autonomic nervous activity. Participants were 18 female university students (mean age, 21.7 ± 1.6 years). As an indica...

Altered activity in decision-making neural circuitry may underlie the maladaptive food choices found in obesity. Here, we aimed to identify the brain regions purportedly underpinning risk-taking behavior in individuals with obesity. Twenty-three adul...

Quinpirole (QNP) sensitization is a well-established model of stereotypical checking relevant to obsessive-compulsive disorder. Previously, we found that QNP-treated rats display deficits in hippocampus-dependent tasks. The present study explores the...

Contact with the natural environment has positive effects on physical and mental health and well-being. This study aimed to investigate the effects of tactile stimulation on the psychophysiological responses of adults, using natural gardening element...

The prefrontal cortex (PCx) is involved in many higher-order cognitive processes, including decision making, reasoning, personality expression, and social cognition. These functions are associated with high energy demand and the production of harmful...

This study was aimed at clarifying the effect of different levels of state anxiety caused by mental arithmetic tasks on the anxiety- and/or task performance-related activation of the frontopolar prefrontal cortex (PFC). Twenty-six healthy male subjec...

The etiology of hyperglycemic-induced depressive behaviors is unclear. We hypothesized that long-term hyperglycemia may induce long-lasting disturbances in glutamatergic signaling and neural damages, causing depressive behaviors. To prove our hypothe...

People with fibromyalgia could experience physical and cognitive impairments. Furthermore, when performing two tasks at the same time, people with fibromyalgia showed a higher dual-task cost compared to a single task than healthy people. This may res...

In daily living, people are challenged to focus on their goal while eliminating interferences. Specifically, this study investigated the pre-frontal cortex (PFC) activity while attention control was tested using the self-made color-word interference...

Network oscillations are essential for all cognitive functions. Oscillatory deficits are well established in psychiatric diseases and are recapitulated in animal models. They are significantly and specifically affected by pharmacological intervention...

Depression and its increasing prevalence challenge patients, the healthcare system, and the economy. We recently created a mouse model based on the three-hit concept of depression. As genetic predisposition (first hit), we applied pituitary adenylate...

Walking requires attentional resources, and the studies using neuroimage techniques have grown to understand the interaction between cortical activity and motor performance. Previous studies reported a decline in gait performance and changes in the p...

The term “working memory” (WM) describes the ability to maintain and manipulate information in the memory for the guidance of goal-directed behavior [...]

It has been well established that very-high-altitude (>4000 m) environments can affect human cognitive function and brain activity. However, the effects of long-term exposure to moderate altitudes (2000–3000 m) on cognitive function and brai...

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of simple jaw opening and closing task of chewing movements on the activities of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) from the viewpoint of stress reduction. We measured cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the P...

The effect of stress on task performance is complex, too much or too little stress negatively affects performance and there exists an optimal level of stress to drive optimal performance. Task difficulty and external affective factors are distinct st...

Background: Recent studies have demonstrated that brain activities using NIRS (near-infrared spectroscopy) at baseline during cognitive tasks (e.g., N-back task) can predict the cognitive benefits of a cognitive training. In this study, we investigat...

Genetic risk for schizophrenia has a negative impact on memory and other cognitive abilities in unaffected individuals, and it was recently shown that this effect is specific to males. Using functional MRI, we investigated the effect of a polygenic r...

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a complex eating disorder characterized by reduced caloric intake to achieve body-weight loss. Furthermore, over-exercise is commonly reported. In recent years, animal models of AN have provided evidence for neuroplasticity c...

Computer-mediated-communication (CMC) research suggests that unembodied media can surpass in-person communication due to their utility to bypass the nonverbal components of verbal communication such as physical presence and facial expressions. Howeve...

People with fibromyalgia (FM) exhibit alterations in brain electrical activity and autonomic modulation compared to healthy individuals. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) effects on brain elect...

Physical exercise improves memory and cognition in physiological aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but the mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we test the hypothesis that Aβ oligomer accumulation, neuroinflammation, and glial cell...

Background: The differences in brain activity between patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and healthy adults have been confirmed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and electroencephalography...

The association between cognitive flexibility and related neural functioning has been inconsistent. This is particularly true in young children, where previous studies have found heterogenous results linking behavior and neural function, raising the...

The present study examined the evolution of the behavioral performance, subjectively perceived difficulty, and hemodynamic activity of the prefrontal cortex as a function of cognitive load during two different cognitive tasks tapping executive functi...

This study investigates how the sound of a hair dryer influences users’ perceptions of its quality, using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation. Eighteen participants were involved in a with...

The sense of smell is one of the most important organs in humans, and olfactory imaging can detect signals in the anterior orbital frontal lobe. This study assessed olfactory stimuli using support vector machines (SVMs) with signals from functional n...

Schizophrenia is a complex mental condition, with key symptoms marked for diagnosis including delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking, reduced emotional expression, and social dysfunction. In the context of major developmental hypotheses of...

The use of virtual reality (VR) content in neurological disorders with cognitive impairment is increasing. We have developed a device that incorporates virtual drum beating content, designed for digit memorization training. This study aimed to invest...

Background: There is little understanding on how brief relaxation practice and viewing greenery images would affect brain responses during cognitive tasks. In the present study, we examined the variation in brain activation of the prefrontal cortex d...

Epigenetics is one of the mechanisms by which environmental factors can alter brain function and may contribute to central nervous system disorders. Alterations of DNA methylation and miRNA expression can induce long-lasting changes in neurobiologica...

The presence of Mild Cognitive Impairments (MCI) is associated with worse gait performance. However, the effect of MCI on cortical control of gait, as assessed during active walking, is unknown. We hypothesized that MCI would be associated with atten...

The purpose of this study was to examine prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation, neuromuscular function, and perceptual measures in response to a fatiguing task, following thermal alterations of an exercising arm. Nineteen healthy adults completed three...