The dynamic imprint of word learning on the dorsal language pathway

According to Hickok and Poeppel (2007), the acquisition of new vocabulary rests on the dorsal language pathway connecting auditory and motor areas. The present study tested this hypothesis longitudinally by measuring BOLD signal changes during a verbal repetition task and modulation of resting state functional connectivity (rs-FC) in the dorsal stream. Thirty-five healthy participants, divided into trained and control groups, completed fMRI sessions on days 1, 10, and 24. Between days 1 and 10, the trained group learned 84 new pseudowords associated with 84 native words. Task-related fMRI results showed a reduced activity in the IFG and STG while processing the learned vocabulary after training, returning to initial values two weeks later. Moreover, rs-fMRI analysis showed stronger rs-FC between the IFG and STG in the trained group than in the control group after learning, especially on day 24. These neural changes were more evident in participants with a larger vocabulary. Discussion focuses on the prominent role of the dorsal stream in vocabulary acquisition. Even when their meaning was known, newly learned words were again processed through the dorsal stream two weeks after learning, with the increase in rs-FC between auditory and motor areas being a relevant long-term imprint of vocabulary learning

The Parallel Map Theory: Ontogeny of Flexible Spatial Strategies in Young Children

The parallel map theory explains that the hippocampus encodes space with two mapping systems: The bearing map created from ―directional cues and stimulus gradients‖; The sketch map constructed from ―positional cues‖. The integrated map combines the two mapping systems. Such parallel functioning may explain paradoxes of spatial learning in intellectual disabilities. This people may be able to memorize their surroundings in a highly detailed way, thus ordering their sensory perceptions into a representation that includes the precise localization of static objects, they are not able to ―map‖ their own spatial relationship to those objects. The detection of moving objects by these same subjects contributes to a primary bearing map. The primary map is thus generated by relying on this kind of static map, but also by detecting moving objects. This process can be described as a spatial mode of processing separate objects within the structure of an absolute reference system

What event-related potentials (ERPs) bring to social neuroscience?

Social cognitive neuroscience is a recent interdisciplinary field that studies the neural basis of the social mind. Event-related potentials (ERPs) provide precise information about the time dynamics of the brain. In this study, we assess the role of ERPs in cognitive neuroscience, particularly in the emerging area of social neuroscience. First, we briefly introduce the technique of ERPs. Subsequently, we describe several ERP components (P1, N1, N170, vertex positive potential, early posterior negativity, N2, P2, P3, N400, N400-like, late positive complex, late positive potential, P600, error-related negativity, feedback error-related negativity, contingent negative variation, readiness potential, lateralized readiness potential, motor potential, re-afferent potential) that assess perceptual, cognitive, and motor processing. Then, we introduce ERP studies in social neuroscience on contextual effects on speech, emotional processing, empathy, and decision making. We provide an outline of ERPs' relevance and applications in the field of social cognitive neuroscience. We also introduce important methodological issues that extend classical ERP research, such as intracranial recordings (iERP) and source location in dense arrays and simultaneous functional magnetic resonance imaging recordings. Further, this review discusses possible caveats of the ERP question assessment on neuroanatomical areas, biophysical origin, and methodological problems, and their relevance to explanatory pluralism and multilevel, contextual, and situated approaches to social neuroscience.Fil: Ibañez, Agustin Mariano. Universidad Diego Portales; Chile. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Melloni, Margherita. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Huepe, David. Universidad Diego Portales; ChileFil: Helgiu, Elena. Harvard University; Estados UnidosFil: Rivera Rei, Alvaro. Universidad Diego Portales; ChileFil: Canales Johnson, Andrés. Universidad Diego Portales; ChileFil: Baker, Phil. Universidad Favaloro; ArgentinaFil: Moya, Alvaro. Universidad Favaloro; Argentin

Visuospatial coding as ubiquitous scaffolding for human cognition

For more than 100 years we have known that the visual field is mapped onto the surface of visual cortex, imposing an inherently spatial reference frame on visual information processing. Recent studies highlight visuospatial coding not only throughout visual cortex, but also brain areas not typically considered visual. Such widespread access to visuospatial coding raises important questions about its role in wider cognitive functioning. Here, we synthesise these recent developments and propose that visuospatial coding scaffolds human cognition by providing a reference frame through which neural computations interface with environmental statistics and task demands via perception–action loops

Mindful awareness as a mechanism of change for natural childbirth in pregnant women with high fear of childbirth: a randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP) is effective in increasing natural childbirth in pregnant women with high fear of childbirth (FOC) as compared to enhanced care as usual (ECAU). We aimed to examine through which pathway of action MBCP reaches this effect, based on a model of approaching or avoiding the challenges related to childbirth. METHODS: One hundred eleven pregnant women with high FOC were measured pre- and post-intervention on FOC (emotion pathway), catastrophic beliefs about labour pain (cognition pathway) and mindful awareness (attention pathway). A multiple mediation model was used to examine through which pathway the mechanism of change operated in relation to approach (i.e., natural childbirth) versus avoidance (i.e., self-requested caesarean section). RESULTS: It was found that greater mindful awareness (18% R(2) = 0.18, F[1107] = 22.77, p < 0.0001) was the only significant mechanism of change operating through the attentional pathway leading to natural childbirth. More specifically, nonreactivity to inner experience (a facet of mindful awareness) showed to be the strongest mechanism of change. More extensive meditation practice was positively associated with natural childbirth; however, the number of completed MBCP sessions was not associated with the outcome. CONCLUSIONS: An increase in mindful awareness was the strongest mechanism of change for better adaptation to the challenges of childbirth. Decreases in neither FOC nor catastrophic beliefs about labour pain were identified as mechanisms of change. Additionally, the more one meditated, the more one was inclined towards a natural childbirth. MBCP enhances adaptation to the challenges of childbirth and less use of obstetric interventions in the presence of high FOC. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The Netherlands Trial Register (NTR; 4302). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12884-022-04380-0

Action observation and execution: What is shared?

Performing an action and observing it activate the same internal representations of action. The representations are therefore shared between self and other (shared representations of action, SRA). But what exactly is shared? At what level within the hierarchical structure of the motor system do SRA occur? Understanding the content of SRA is important in order to decide what theoretical work SRA can perform. In this paper, we provide some conceptual clarification by raising three main questions: (i) are SRA semantic or pragmatic representations of action?; (ii) are SRA sensory or motor representations?; (iii) are SRA representations of the action as a global unit or as a set of elementary motor components? After outlining a model of the motor hierarchy, we conclude that the best candidate for SRA is intentions in action, defined as the motor plans of the dynamic sequence of movements. We shed new light on SRA by highlighting the causal efficacy of intentions in action. This in turn explains phenomena such as inhibition of imitation

Aesthetics at its very limits: Art History meets cognition

The aim with this master thesis is to prove that prehistoric art is worth the Westerners attention, not the least the attention of art historians. I am interested in placing prehistoric art/cave art in the spotlight, by reminding readers about the stunning craftsmanship and timeless beauty these paintings convey. I will do this by participating in an on- going scientific discourse, which reflects the wide range of scientists participating in the mystery we are facing: who painted this and why? I am interested in how our species started creating images, and also how our ancestors, who had never seen a painting before, were able to paint beautiful murals. The challenge alone in converting three-dimensional motifs to two- dimensional images is impressive. In terms of brain development, such a skill proves that these early Homo sapiens had a fully developed parietal cortex, the part of the brain perceiving 3D, perspective etc. My approach differs substantially from what is common in art history, quite simply by the fact that there is no common agreement as to whether my material is classified as art or not, at least in a Western sense of the word art, and all theoretical ways to explore art derives from western philosophical Aesthetics. I therefore prefer the word artification, as Ellen Dissanayake codes it. I am particularly interested in art in the perspective of cognitive development because findings within this research area are claiming that aesthetic experiences arise from the same neurophysiological processes that comprise the rest of our cognitive-perceptual-emotional life.Master i KunsthistorieMAHF-KUNKUN35

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

"Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging - Advanced Neuroimaging Applications" is a concise book on applied methods of fMRI used in assessment of cognitive functions in brain and neuropsychological evaluation using motor-sensory activities, language, orthographic disabilities in children. The book will serve the purpose of applied neuropsychological evaluation methods in neuropsychological research projects, as well as relatively experienced psychologists and neuroscientists. Chapters are arranged in the order of basic concepts of fMRI and physiological basis of fMRI after event-related stimulus in first two chapters followed by new concepts of fMRI applied in constraint-induced movement therapy; reliability analysis; refractory SMA epilepsy; consciousness states; rule-guided behavioral analysis; orthographic frequency neighbor analysis for phonological activation; and quantitative multimodal spectroscopic fMRI to evaluate different neuropsychological states

Inner speech as language process and cognitive tool.

Many people report a form of internal language known as inner speech (IS). This review examines recent growth of research interest in the phenomenon, which has broadly supported a theoretical model in which IS is a functional language process that can confer benefits for cognition in a range of domains. A key insight to have emerged in recent years is that IS is an embodied experience characterized by varied subjective qualities, which can be usefully modeled in artificial systems and whose neural signals have the potential to be decoded through advancing brain-computer interface technologies. Challenges for future research include understanding individual differences in IS and mapping form to function across IS subtypes