Atypical modulations of N170 component during emotional processing and their links to social behaviors in ex-combatants

ABSTRACT: Emotional processing (EP) is crucial for the elaboration and implementation of adaptive social strategies. EP is also necessary for the expression of social cognition and behavior (SCB) patterns. It is well-known that war contexts induce socio-emotional atypical functioning, in particular for those who participate in combats. Thus, ex-combatants represent an ideal non-clinical population to explore EP modulation and to evaluate its relation with SCB. The aim of this study was to explore EP and its relation with SCB dimensions such as empathy, theory of mind and social skills in a sample of 50 subjects, of which 30 were ex-combatants from illegally armed groups in Colombia, and 20 controls without combat experience. We adapted an Emotional Recognition Task for faces and words and synchronized it with electroencephalographic recording. Ex-combatants presented with higher assertion skills and showed more pronounced brain responses to faces than Controls. They did not show the bias toward anger observed in control participants whereby the latter group was more likely to misclassify neutral faces as angry. However, ex-combatants showed an atypical word valence processing. That is, words with different emotions yielded no differences in N170 modulations. SCB variables were successfully predicted by neurocognitive variables. Our results suggest that in ex-combatants the links between EP and SCB functions are reorganized. This may reflect neurocognitive modulations associated to chronic exposure to war experiences

Decoding motor expertise from fine-tuned oscillatory network organization

First published: 11 March 2022Can motor expertise be robustly predicted by the organization of frequency-specific oscillatory brain networks? To answer this question, we recorded high-density electroencephalography (EEG) in expert Tango dancers and naïves while viewing and judging the correctness of Tango-specific movements and during resting. We calculated task-related and resting-state connectivity at different frequency-bands capturing task performance (delta [δ], 1.5–4 Hz), error monitoring (theta [θ], 4–8 Hz), and sensorimotor experience (mu [μ], 8–13 Hz), and derived topographical features using graph analysis. These features, together with canonical expertise measures (i.e., performance in action discrimination, time spent dancing Tango), were fed into a data-driven computational learning analysis to test whether behavioral and brain signatures robustly classified individuals depending on their expertise level. Unsurprisingly, behavioral measures showed optimal classification (100%) between dancers and naïves. When considering brain models, the task-based classification performed well (~73%), with maximal discrimination afforded by theta-band connectivity, a hallmark signature of error processing. Interestingly, mu connectivity during rest outperformed (100%) the task-based approach, matching the optimal classification of behavioral measures and thus emerging as a potential trait-like marker of sensorimotor network tuning by intense training. Overall, our findings underscore the power of fine-tuned oscillatory network signatures for capturing expertise-related differences and their potential value in the neuroprognosis of learning outcomes.Basque Government; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; (CONICET) Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science; Spanish State Research Agency, Grant/Award Number: SEV-2015-0490; Programa Interdisciplinario de Investigaci on Experimental en Comunicaci on y Cognici on (PIIECC), Facultad de Humanidades, USACH; ANID; FONDECYT Regular, Grant/Award Numbers: 1210195, 1210176; Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI

Multiclass characterization of frontotemporal dementia variants via multimodal brain network computational inference

AbstractCharacterizing a particular neurodegenerative condition against others possible diseases remains a challenge along clinical, biomarker, and neuroscientific levels. This is the particular case of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) variants, where their specific characterization requires high levels of expertise and multidisciplinary teams to subtly distinguish among similar physiopathological processes. Here, we used a computational approach of multimodal brain networks to address simultaneous multiclass classification of 298 subjects (one group against all others), including five FTD variants: behavioral variant FTD, corticobasal syndrome, nonfluent variant primary progressive aphasia, progressive supranuclear palsy, and semantic variant primary progressive aphasia, with healthy controls. Fourteen machine learning classifiers were trained with functional and structural connectivity metrics calculated through different methods. Due to the large number of variables, dimensionality was reduced, employing statistical comparisons and progressive elimination to assess feature stability under nested cross-validation. The machine learning performance was measured through the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves, reaching 0.81 on average, with a standard deviation of 0.09. Furthermore, the contributions of demographic and cognitive data were also assessed via multifeatured classifiers. An accurate simultaneous multiclass classification of each FTD variant against other variants and controls was obtained based on the selection of an optimum set of features. The classifiers incorporating the brain’s network and cognitive assessment increased performance metrics. Multimodal classifiers evidenced specific variants’ compromise, across modalities and methods through feature importance analysis. If replicated and validated, this approach may help to support clinical decision tools aimed to detect specific affectations in the context of overlapping diseases

Technological appropriation in a scenario of forced digitality: The experience of the National University of Catamarca

Como es sabido, la virtualidad forzada caracterizó a la educación universitaria durante la mayor parte de la pandemia, de modo semejante a lo acontecido en otros niveles de enseñanza. Teniendo en cuenta ello en este trabajo nos proponemos reflexionar sobre las singularidades que presentó el proceso de apropiación tecnológica, en el ámbito educativo durante la pandemia, por parte de los docéntes de la Universidad Nacional de Catamarca [UNCa]. Mediante un abordaje que comprende, por una parte, el recorrido por los principales aspectos implicados en la caracterización conceptual del trayecto de apropiación y, por otra, la interpretación de la información emergente de una actividad de campo desplegada en el escenario universitario catamarqueño, efectuamos una serie de aportes específico en el tema con el propósito de contribuir al perfeccionamiento del desarrollo teórico referente a la apropiación tecnológica desde una perspectiva local, en un histórico contexto de crisis.As is well known, “forced digitality” characterized university education during most of the pandemic, in a similar way to what happened at other levels of education. Taking this into account, in this work we propose to reflect on the singularities that the process of technological appropriation presented, in the educational field during the pandemic, by university teachers in Argentina. Through an approach that includes, on the one hand, the journey through the main aspects involved in the conceptual characterization of the appropriation journey and, on the other, the interpretation of the emerging information of a field activity deployed in the Catamarca university scenario, we carried out a series of specific contributions on the subject in order to collaborate with the improvement ofthe theoretical developmentregarding technological appropriation from a local perspective, in a historical context of crisis.Fil: Torres, Miguel Agustín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Melendez, Cecilia Evangelina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet Noa Sur. Instituto Regional de Estudios Socio-culturales. - Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Instituto Regional de Estudios Socio-culturales.; ArgentinaFil: Ibañez, Cecilia Elizabeth. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet Noa Sur. Instituto Regional de Estudios Socio-culturales. - Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Instituto Regional de Estudios Socio-culturales.; Argentin

Genetic approach reveals a polygynous-polyandrous mating system and no social organization in a small and isolated population of the screaming hairy armadillo, Chaetophractus vellerosus

The development of agro-ecosystems in the pastures of the Pampean Region has substantially modified their structure and functioning. Many wild mammal populations in the Argentinean Pampas face habitat loss and/or fragmentation due to human activities, resulting in harmful genetic effects. The screaming hairy armadillo (Chaetophractus vellerosus) is a species considered an indicator of the state of preservation of the environments it inhabits. However, very little information is available about its mating system in the wild. In this sense, an isolated population of the screaming hairy armadillo in the northeast of Buenos Aires Province, which is separated from the main distribution area of the species by about 500 km, requires special attention. Genetic studies that analyzed social behavior and mating systems in Xenarthra are scarce but necessary to establish conservation actions for the isolated screaming hairy armadillo population under study. Thus, we analyzed the existence of a possible social organization in the species, together with its mating system, using a set of previously characterized microsatellites. Our results showed a complex scenario for the dispersal and mating system in this C. vellerosus population. Males disperse and females have a philopatric tendency with some degree of dispersal. This strategy, in combination with a polygynous-polyandrous mating system, could enhance genetic variability in this small and isolated population. In addition, no evidence of social organization was found.Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectore

Excavaciones en el conjunto megalítico de la Peña Oviedo (Camaleño, Cantabria)

La excavación del conjunto megalítico de la Peña Oviedo, pretende ser el inicio de un estudio más amplio que aborde de manera global el fenómeno megalítico en las cue.ncas altas de los ríos Deva y Nansa. El total desconocimiento que se tenía hasta esta década, no ya del fenómeno megalítico, sino incluso de su existencia en estos valles montañosos del Occidente de Cantabria hace necesario un estudio que ponga de manifiesto sus características y las relaciones con las áreas vecinas.The excavation of the megalithic complex of the Peña Oviedo, pretends to be the beginning of a larger study that approaches the megalithic phenomenon in the global River basins of the Deva and Nansa rivers. The total lack of knowledge of the megalithic phenomenon, but not even of its existence in these mountain valleys of western Cantabria, requires a study that reveals its characteristics and relations with neighboring areas

Attachment Patterns Trigger Differential Neural Signature of Emotional Processing in Adolescents

Background: Research suggests that individuals with different attachment patterns process social information differently, especially in terms of facial emotion recognition. However, few studies have explored social information processes in adolescents. This study examined the behavioral and ERP correlates of emotional processing in adolescents with different attachment orientations (insecure attachment group and secure attachment group; IAG and SAG, respectively). This study also explored the association of these correlates to individual neuropsychological profiles. Methodology/Principal Findings We used a modified version of the dual valence task (DVT), in which participants classify stimuli (faces and words) according to emotional valence (positive or negative). Results showed that the IAG performed significantly worse than SAG on tests of executive function (EF attention, processing speed, visuospatial abilities and cognitive flexibility). In the behavioral DVT, the IAG presented lower performance and accuracy. The IAG also exhibited slower RTs for stimuli with negative valence. Compared to the SAG, the IAG showed a negative bias for faces; a larger P1 and attenuated N170 component over the right hemisphere was observed. A negative bias was also observed in the IAG for word stimuli, which was demonstrated by comparing the N170 amplitude of the IAG with the valence of the SAG. Finally, the amplitude of the N170 elicited by the facial stimuli correlated with EF in both groups (and negative valence with EF in the IAG). Conclusions/Significance: Our results suggest that individuals with different attachment patterns process key emotional information and corresponding EF differently. This is evidenced by an early modulation of ERP components’ amplitudes, which are correlated with behavioral and neuropsychological effects. In brief, attachments patterns appear to impact multiple domains, such as emotional processing and EFs