Assessment of Verbal and Nonverbal Memory and Learning in Abstinent Alcoholics

Neuropsychological performance was measured in chronic alcoholics who maintained abstinence for at least six months and with matched controls. Specifically, measures of verbal memory were assessed utilizing the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) and measures of nonverbal memory with the Rey Osterreith Complex Figure Test (ROCF) and a new measure, the Poreh Nonverbal Memory Test (PNMT). In addition, both the RAVLT and the PNMT provide a measure of operationalized learning, as they are multi-trial tasks utilizing five trials to assess recall in each trial. Verbal memory includes the ability to encode, store and retrieve information for words, language and verbal stimuli. Nonverbal memory reflects the ability to encode, store and retrieve information that is visual and spatial in nature. It is devoid of verbal components and includes abstract designs or nonsense figures. Currently, there are questions as to the validity of many nonverbal memory measures because they allow for sub-vocalization of the tasks thereby utilizing verbal mediation (Wisniewski, Wendling, Manning & Steinhoff, 2012). The present study assessed for differences in verbal and nonverbal memory in abstinent alcoholics and predicted that they would perform more poorly on nonverbal measures while verbal memory would remain intact. Additionally, a comparison of learning curves was examined for each group. Finally, the PNMT was validated by correlating with a current neuropsychological assessment of memory and learning, the RAVLT, and a nonverbal neuropsychological assessment, the ROCF. Results indicated that the abstinent alcoholics differed significantly in nonverbal measurements depending upon the complexity of the tasks. Concerning verbal tasks, there was no significant difference in results across the groups. However, the length of alcohol dependence did significantly predict performance on the RAVLT recognition task indicating possible frontal lobe deficits and disordered recall. Correlational analyses indicate that the utilit

Assessment of Verbal and Nonverbal Memory and Learning in Abstinent Alcoholics

Neuropsychological performance was measured in chronic alcoholics who maintained abstinence for at least six months and with matched controls. Specifically, measures of verbal memory were assessed utilizing the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) and measures of nonverbal memory with the Rey Osterreith Complex Figure Test (ROCF) and a new measure, the Poreh Nonverbal Memory Test (PNMT). In addition, both the RAVLT and the PNMT provide a measure of operationalized learning, as they are multi-trial tasks utilizing five trials to assess recall in each trial. Verbal memory includes the ability to encode, store and retrieve information for words, language and verbal stimuli. Nonverbal memory reflects the ability to encode, store and retrieve information that is visual and spatial in nature. It is devoid of verbal components and includes abstract designs or nonsense figures. Currently, there are questions as to the validity of many nonverbal memory measures because they allow for sub-vocalization of the tasks thereby utilizing verbal mediation (Wisniewski, Wendling, Manning & Steinhoff, 2012). The present study assessed for differences in verbal and nonverbal memory in abstinent alcoholics and predicted that they would perform more poorly on nonverbal measures while verbal memory would remain intact. Additionally, a comparison of learning curves was examined for each group. Finally, the PNMT was validated by correlating with a current neuropsychological assessment of memory and learning, the RAVLT, and a nonverbal neuropsychological assessment, the ROCF. Results indicated that the abstinent alcoholics differed significantly in nonverbal measurements depending upon the complexity of the tasks. Concerning verbal tasks, there was no significant difference in results across the groups. However, the length of alcohol dependence did significantly predict performance on the RAVLT recognition task indicating possible frontal lobe deficits and disordered recall. Correlational analyses indicate that the utilit

Comparing fully automated state-of-the-art cerebellum parcellation from magnetic resonance images

[EN] The human cerebellum plays an essential role in motor control, is involved in cognitive function (i.e., attention, working memory, and language), and helps to regulate emotional responses. Quantitative in-vivo assessment of the cerebellum is important in the study of several neurological diseases including cerebellar ataxia, autism, and schizophrenia. Different structural subdivisions of the cerebellum have been shown to correlate with differing pathologies. To further understand these pathologies, it is helpful to automatically parcellate the cerebellum at the highest fidelity possible. In this paper, we coordinated with colleagues around the world to evaluate automated cerebellum parcellation algorithms on two clinical cohorts showing that the cerebellum can be parcellated to a high accuracy by newer methods. We characterize these various methods at four hierarchical levels: coarse (i.e., whole cerebellum and gross structures), lobe, subdivisions of the vermis, and the lobules. Due to the number of labels, the hierarchy of labels, the number of algorithms, and the two cohorts, we have restricted our analyses to the Dice measure of overlap. Under these conditions, machine learning based methods provide a collection of strategies that are efficient and deliver parcellations of a high standard across both cohorts, surpassing previous work in the area. In conjunction with the rank-sum computation, we identified an overall winning method.The data collection and labeling of the cerebellum was supported in part by the NIH/NINDS grant R01 NS056307 (PI: J.L. Prince) and NIH/NIMH grants R01 MH078160 & R01 MH085328 (PI: S.H. Mostofsky). PMT is supported in part by the NIH/NIBIB grant U54 EB020403. CERES2 development was supported by grant UPV2016-0099 from the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (PI: J.V. Manjon); the French National Research Agency through the Investments for the future Program IdEx Bordeaux (ANR-10-IDEX-03-02, HL-MRI Project; PI: P. Coupe) and Cluster of excellence CPU and TRAIL (HR-DTI ANR-10-LABX-57; PI: P. Coupe). Support for the development of LiviaNET was provided by the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), discovery grant program, and by the ETS Research Chair on Artificial Intelligence in Medical Imaging. The authors wish to acknowledge the invaluable contributions offered by Dr. George Fein (Dept. of Medicine and Psychology, University of Hawaii) in preparing this manuscript.Carass, A.; Cuzzocreo, JL.; Han, S.; Hernandez-Castillo, CR.; Rasser, PE.; Ganz, M.; Beliveau, V.... (2018). Comparing fully automated state-of-the-art cerebellum parcellation from magnetic resonance images. NeuroImage. 183:150-172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.08.003S15017218

The Role of the Cerebellum in Schizophrenia: an Update of Clinical, Cognitive, and Functional Evidences

The role of the cerebellum in schizophrenia has been highlighted by Andreasen's hypothesis of “cognitive dysmetria,” which suggests a general dyscoordination of sensorimotor and mental processes. Studies in schizophrenic patients have brought observations supporting a cerebellar impairment: high prevalence of neurological soft signs, dyscoordination, abnormal posture and propioception, impaired eyeblink conditioning, impaired adaptation of the vestibular-ocular reflex or procedural learning tests, and lastly functional neuroimaging studies correlating poor cognitive performances with abnormal cerebellar activations. Despite those compelling evidences, there has been, to our knowledge, no recent review on the clinical, cognitive, and functional literature supporting the role of the cerebellum in schizophrenia. We conducted a Medline research focusing on cerebellar dysfunctions in schizophrenia. Emphasis was given to recent literature (after 1998). The picture arising from this review is heterogeneous. While in some domains, the role of the cerebellum seems clearly defined (ie, neurological soft signs, posture, or equilibrium), in other domains, the cerebellar contribution to schizophrenia seems limited or indirect (ie, cognition) if present at all (ie, affectivity). Functional models of the cerebellum are proposed as a background for interpreting these results

Exploration of the biological mechanisms in neuropsychiatric disorders using multimodal imaging

The present doctoral thesis focused on the multimodal imaging investigation of brain mechanisms in neuropsychiatric disorders, emphasizing on the research questions of whether and how neurochemistry is associated with brain anatomical structures and brain functions. The aim of the thesis is to provide a biochemical insight underlying the altered brain morphology and functions in the two disorders studied, which might ultimately offer evidence for novel therapeutic implications. There are two brain imaging projects included in this thesis. In project I, the first aim was to explore the mechanism of partial volume recovery during the first two weeks of abstinence from alcohol at a whole-brain level. The hippocampus was then chosen as a seed region, to investigate the abstinence-induced neurochemical changes and whether the hyperglutamatergic state induced by alcohol withdrawal may affect GM volume recovery in the hippocampus. We found cortical thickness alteration corresponds to the partial cortical volumetric recovery. Moreover, alcohol differentially impacts on sulci and gyri of the neocortex. Sulci are more susceptive to excessive alcohol consumption and abstinence-induced recovery. Lower subcortical volume was found in alcohol dependent patients at withdrawal, and no subcortical volume regain was observed during the initial two weeks of abstinence. In support of a ‘hyperglutamatergic state’ induced by withdrawal, our rat model demonstrated elevated Glu/Gln ratios during acute withdrawal (12h and 60h after stopping alcohol intake) and a trend towards an increase in Glu levels at 12h compared to control rats. The main novel finding of this study was that in both species a negative association was found between Glu markers and GM volume in the hippocampus after alcohol withdrawal (but not during withdrawal), suggesting that this tissue damage is a consequence of withdrawal and results from withdrawal-induced hyperglutamatergic neurotoxicity. In project II, the study emphasized the additional value of multimodal imaging analyses to unravel group differences between BPD patients and HCs which could not be detected by BOLD response and ACC GABA levels per se. The superior aim was to explore the interrelationship between GABA, neural correlates of interference inhibition, and impulsivity traits in BPD. We found task-related functional connectivity and the association of fMRI measures with MRS derived GABA levels are significantly different between the two groups. These analyses give support for a disconnection of the fronto-striatal network during interference inhibition in BPD patients that is related to elevated impulsivity ratings, specifically the UPPS sensation seeking score. Our hierarchical analyses also give first evidence for the hypothesis that the fronto-striatal network during inhibitory control serves to mediate the association between ACC GABA levels and impulsivity symptomatology in patients with BPD. In other words, GABAergic transmission in the ACC drives the inhibitory-related fronto-striatal brain network, whereas the disruption of fronto-striatal connectivity is of core relevance to the sensation seeking symptom in BPD patients. Taken together, multimodal imaging fusion analysis of neurobiochemistry - structure/function relationship can offer opportunities to deepen our understanding of neurobiological mechanisms of brain disorders

Psychologie und Gehirn 2007

Die Fachtagung "Psychologie und Gehirn" ist eine traditionelle Tagung aus dem Bereich psychophysiologischer Grundlagenforschung. 2007 fand diese Veranstaltung, die 33. Jahrestagung der „Deutschen Gesellschaft für Psychophysiologie und ihre Anwendungen (DGPA)“, in Dortmund unter der Schirmherrschaft des Instituts für Arbeitsphysiologie (IfADo) statt. Neben der Grundlagenforschung ist auch die Umsetzung in die Anwendung erklärtes Ziel der DGPA und dieser Tradition folgend wurden Beiträge aus vielen Bereichen moderner Neurowissenschaft (Elektrophysiologie, bildgebende Verfahren, Peripherphysiologie, Neuroendokrinologie, Verhaltensgenetik, u.a.) präsentiert und liegen hier in Kurzform vor

Cortical - Basal Ganglia Circuits: Control of Behaviour and Alcohol Misuse

Highly organised and differentiated neural circuits form and unite to link the cortex with the basal ganglia and thalamus to mediate movement, cognition and behaviour. Previous assertions that the basal ganglia primarily acted to filter cortical information to facilitate motor outputs only have since given way to an understanding of the basal ganglia as a relay and gating structure with functionally and structurally segregated inputs, functions and outputs. Thus, cortical – basal ganglia circuits can be segregated into three broadly separable functional domains mediating motor (primary and supplementary motor cortex (SMA) and putamen), cognitive (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and caudate), and limbic (ventromedial prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum (VS)) processes. In addition, cognitive and behavioural programs that pass through the cortical – basal ganglia circuitry can be subject to filtering by the subthalamic nucleus (STN), which receives direct projections from the cortex. This work first demonstrated the functional organisation of segregated intrinsic cortical – basal ganglia circuits in humans, alongside a detailed map of functional subzones within STN, a small and technically inaccessible midbrain structure. The behavioural relevance of the defined cortical – basal ganglia circuits was investigated by examining the cognitive constructs of impulsivity and compulsivity. Waiting impulsivity, a tendency towards rapid premature responses that has been associated with compulsive drug use, was associated with connectivity between limbic regions including subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, VS and STN. However, motor impulsivity, in the form of stopping ability, was associated with motoric regions including pre-SMA and STN. Compulsivity was captured as deficits in: reversal learning, implicating lateral orbitofrontal cortex; attentional shifting, implicating dlPFC; and habit learning, implicating SMA. Neural circuit changes were also examined in individuals with alcohol dependence and binge drinkers. Waiting impulsivity was elevated in both groups and the functional connectivity, microstructural integrity and anatomical connectivity of the neural circuit underlying waiting impulsivity were associated with problematic drinking behaviours in both groups. Together, this work establishes that discrete functional subzones of small subcortical regions can be differentiated in humans and that their behavioural correlates can be similarly mapped. The definition of intrinsic network architecture underlying a particular behaviour and the demonstration its disturbance in psychiatric groups will crucially inform the development of future diagnostic and therapeutic models

The Relation of Impulsivity and Obesity: A Neuroimaging Analysis

The current study examined the relation of impulsivity and obesity in three neuroimaging studies using MRI techniques to test the hypothesis that deficits in brain regions responsible for inhibitory control are associated with obesity. The first study used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to explore volumetric differences in lean, overweight, and obese women (N=83) and found that BMI was negatively correlated with grey matter (GM) in the insula, frontal operculum, and inferior frontal gyrus. BMI was positively correlated with white matter (WM) in the fusiform gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, Rolandic operculum, and dorsal striatum. Genetic alleles for dopamine expression moderated these relations. Additionally, less GM in the superior frontal gyrus predicted future increases in BMI. The second study used VBM to examine differences between lean adolescents at risk versus not at risk for obesity (N=54). There were no regional GM or WM differences based on risk status. There were also no regional differences that predicted weight gain over 1-year follow-up. Additionally, genetic alleles for dopamine expression did not moderate any of these regions. These findings suggest that volumetric differences may emerge after excessive weight gain. Finally, the third study used a psychophysiological interaction analysis to test functional connectivity between prefrontal and limbic regions as a function of BMI in lean, overweight, and obese women (N=37) during a go/no-go task. There was no functional connectivity found in seed regions in relation to BMI. Implications for intervention and future research are discussed