Structural changes after videogame practice related to a brain network associated with intelligence

Here gray and white matter changes after four weeks of videogame practice were analyzed using optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM), cortical surface and cortical thickness indices, and white matter integrity computed from several projection, commissural, and association tracts relevant to cognition. Beginning with a sample of one hundred young females, twenty right handed participants were recruited for the study and assigned to a practice or a control group carefully matched by their general cognitive ability scores. After the first scan, the practice group played ‘Professor Layton and The Pandora's Box’ 4 h per week during four weeks. A second scan was obtained at the end of practice and intelligence was measured again. Image analyses revealed gray and white matter changes in the practice group. Gray matter changes theoretically relevant for intelligence were observed for the practice group mainly in frontal clusters (Brodmann areas 9 and 10) and also in smaller parietal and temporal regions. White matter findings were focused in the hippocampal cingulum and the inferior longitudinal fasciculus. These gray and white matter changes presumably induced by practice did not interact with intelligence tests' scores

How can neuroscience contribute to moral philosophy, psychology and education based on Aristotelian virtue ethics?

The present essay discusses the relationship between moral philosophy, psychology and education based on virtue ethics, contemporary neuroscience, and how neuroscientific methods can contribute to studies of moral virtue and character. First, the present essay considers whether the mechanism of moral motivation and developmental model of virtue and character are well supported by neuroscientific evidence. Particularly, it examines whether the evidence provided by neuroscientific studies can support the core argument of virtue ethics, that is, motivational externalism. Second, it discusses how experimental methods of neuroscience can be applied to studies in human morality. Particularly, the present essay examines how functional and structural neuroimaging methods can contribute to the development of the fields by reviewing the findings of recent social and developmental neuroimaging experiments. Meanwhile, the present essay also considers some limitations embedded in such discussions regarding the relationship between the fields and suggests directions for future studies to address these limitations

Changes in resting-state functionally connected parieto-frontal networks after videogame practice

Neuroimaging studies provide evidence for organized intrinsic activity under task-free conditions. This activity serves functionally relevant brain systems supporting cognition. Here, we analyze changes in resting-state functional connectivity after videogame practice applying a test–retest design. Twenty young females were selected from a group of 100 participants tested on four standardized cognitive ability tests. The practice and control groups were carefully matched on their ability scores. The practice group played during two sessions per week across 4 weeks (16 h total) under strict supervision in the laboratory, showing systematic performance improvements in the game. A group independent component analysis (GICA) applying multisession temporal concatenation on test–retest resting-state fMRI, jointly with a dual-regression approach, was computed. Supporting the main hypothesis, the key finding reveals an increased correlated activity during rest in certain predefined resting state networks (albeit using uncorrected statistics) attributable to practice with the cognitively demanding tasks of the videogame. Observed changes were mainly concentrated on parietofrontal networks involved in heterogeneous cognitive functions

Adaptive myelination from fish to man

AbstractMyelinated axons with nodes of Ranvier are an evolutionary elaboration common to essentially all jawed vertebrates. Myelin made by Schwann cells in our peripheral nervous system and oligodendrocytes in our central nervous system has been long known to facilitate rapid energy efficient nerve impulse propagation. However, it is now also clear, particularly in the central nervous system, that myelin is not a simple static insulator but that it is dynamically regulated throughout development and life. New myelin sheaths can be made by newly differentiating oligodendrocytes, and mature myelin sheaths can be stimulated to grow again in the adult. Furthermore, numerous studies in models from fish to man indicate that neuronal activity can affect distinct stages of oligodendrocyte development and the process of myelination itself. This begs questions as to how these effects of activity are mediated at a cellular and molecular level and whether activity-driven adaptive myelination is a feature common to all myelinated axons, or indeed all oligodendrocytes, or is specific to cells or circuits with particular functions. Here we review the recent literature on this topic, elaborate on the key outstanding questions in the field, and look forward to future studies that incorporate investigations in systems from fish to man that will provide further insight into this fundamental aspect of nervous system plasticity.This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Myelin Evolution

White matter neuroplastic changes in long-term trained players of the game of "Baduk" (GO): A voxel-based diffusion-tensor imaging study

Currently, one of the most challenging issues in modern neuroscience is learning-induced neural plasticity Many researchers have identified activation-dependent structural brain plasticity in gray and white matter The game of Baduk is known to require many cognitive processes, and long-term training in such processes would be expected to cause structural changes in related brain areas We conducted voxel-based analyses of diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) data and found that, compared to inexperienced controls, long-term trained Baduk players developed larger regions of white matter with increased fractional anisotropy (FA) values in the frontal, cingulum, and striato-thalamic areas that are related to attentional control, working memory, executive regulation, and problem-solving In addition, inferior temporal regions with increased FA indicate that Baduk experts tend to develop a task-specific template for the game, as compared to controls. In contrast, decreased FA found in dorsolateral premotor and parietal areas indicate that Baduk experts were less likely than were controls to use structures related to load-dependent memory capacity Right-side dominance in Baduk experts suggests that the tasks involved are mainly spatial processes Altogether, long-term Baduk training appears to cause structural brain changes associated with many of the cognitive aspects necessary for game play, and investigation of the mechanism underpinning such changes might be helpful for improving higher-order cognitive capacities, such as learning, abstract reasoning, and self-control, which can facilitate education and cognitive therapies (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. 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SES and executive function : exploring the role of home cognitive stimulation in the ECLS-K:2011

Past findings have established that students from low SES families tend to have poorer academic outcomes in general. What is more concerning is that SES-related differences on academic outcomes between low SES children and high SES children tend to be stable throughout adulthood. Thus, current study attempted to explore the underlying mechanism between socioeconomic status (SES) and executive functioning skills (EF), which contribute to their learning. This study also aimed to examine the mediating role of home cognitive stimulation between socioeconomic status (SES) and executive functioning skills (EF) and its three components: working memory (WM), cognitive flexibility (CF), and inhibitory control (IC) among 5th grade students in the nationally representative dataset, ECLS-K:2011. Results revealed that academic-focused activities partially mediated the relationships between SES and working memory and cognitive flexibility while arts-focused activities fully mediated the relationship between SES and cognitive flexibility. Additionally, findings also indicated that there were differences in biological sex in the mediated pathways between SES and inhibitory control and between SES and cognitive flexibility through academic-focused activities. In sum, findings from the present study highlight the importance of targeting malleable factors to lessen the impact of low SES on children's cognitive development.Includes bibliographical references

MODULATING FACTORS IN THE EARLY STAGES OF COGNITIVE DECLINE: THE ROLE OF COGNITIVE RESERVE

The concept of cognitive reserve (CR) is being increasingly used to explain the observation that there is often a poor correspondence between the presence of pathology at autopsy and the level of cognitive decline in life. Since dementia affects an increasing proportion of the population, imposing a large economic burden on our society, in the absence of disease-modifying treatments it is crucial to detect lifestyle factors that may play a protective role in older individuals, delaying the onset of cognitive impairment. Subjective cognitive impairment (SCI), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are part of the same spectrum of disease progression. Since memory complaints represent a very common symptom reported by the older community population, early diagnosis of cognitive decline is not always easy, which makes it extremely important to find strategies that help detect individuals who deserve specific exams in a specialist setting. Therefore, we compared a group of individuals with SCI and a sample of patients with MCI, searching for predicting factors of initial cognitive decline. Moreover, we investigated the contribution of CR on cognitive performance in a population of subjects claiming memory difficulties and in a subgroup of patients with MCI undergoing a physical and cognitive training program. Our findings indicated that many variables, including neuroimaging, everyday functional abilities, current activities, CR and behavioral factors are differently expressed in the two populations, with medial temporal lobe atrophy, ADCS scale score and MMSE as the most predictive factors of cognitive impairment. CR resulted a powerful modulating factor of cognitive decline, which is able to support attentive and executive performances in older individuals. The physical and cognitive training program showed a significant positive outcome in patients with MCI, with the main improvements involving memory tests, even though no changes were observed in everyday functional level, nor in the use of mnemonic strategies. Reduced awareness of difficulties was a noteworthy negative predictor of responsiveness to the cognitive stimulation program. Improvement in the memory domain was detected also in subjects with low CR, meaning that neural plasticity makes the enhancement of cognitive performances possible also in late-life, therefore suggesting that cognitive stimulating activities can be useful as non-pharmacological treatments at the early stages of cognitive decline