Event-related potential N270 correlates of brand extension

The aim of this study is to investigate the neural mechanism of extending a brand in a speci¢c product category to other product categories. Facing two sequential stimuli in pairs consisting of beverage brand names (stimulus 1) and product names (stimulus 2) in other categories, 16 participants were asked to indicate the suitability of extending the brand in stimulus1to the product category in stimulus 2. These stimulus pairs were divided into four conditions depending on the product category in stimulus 2: beverage, snack, clothing, and household appliance. A negative component, N270, was recorded for each condition on the participants' scalps, whereas the maximum amplitude was observed at the frontal area. Greater N270 amplitude was observed when participants were presented with stronger con£ict between the brand product category (stimulus 1) and the extension category (stimulus 2). It suggests that N270 can be evoked not only by a con£ict of physical attributes (di¡erent shapes of words of brand and product names) but also by that of lexical content. From the marketing perspective, N270 can be potentially used as a reference measure in brand-extension attempts

Bufalin Induces Mitochondria-Dependent Apoptosis in Pancreatic and Oral Cancer Cells by Downregulating hTERT Expression via Activation of the JNK/p38 Pathway

Bufalin, a digoxin-like active component of the traditional Chinese medicine Chan Su, exhibits potent antitumor activities in many human cancers. Bufalin induces mitochondria-dependent apoptosis in cancer cells, but the detailed molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. hTERT, the catalytic subunit of telomerase, protects against mitochondrial damage by binding to mitochondrial DNA and reducing mitochondrial ROS production. In the present study, we investigated the effects of bufalin on the cell viability, ROS production, DNA damage, and apoptosis of CAPAN-2 human pancreatic and CAL-27 human oral cancer cells. Bufalin reduced CAPAN-2 and CAL-27 cell viability with IC50 values of 159.2 nM and 122.6 nM, respectively. The reduced cell viability was accompanied by increased ROS production, DNA damage, and apoptosis and decreased expression of hTERT. hTERT silencing in CAPAN-2 and CAL-27 cells by siRNA resulted in increased caspase-9/-3 cleavage and DNA damage and decreased cell viability. Collectively, these data suggest that bufalin downregulates hTERT to induce mitochondria-dependent apoptosis in CAPAN-2 and CAL-27 cells. Moreover, bufalin increased the phosphorylation of JNK and p38-MAPK in CAPAN-2 and CAL-27 cells, and blocking the JNK/p38-MAPK pathway using the JNK inhibitor SP600125 or the p38-MAPK inhibitor SB203580 reversed bufalin-induced hTERT downregulation. Thus, the JNK/p38 pathway is involved in bufalin-induced hTERT downregulation and subsequent induction of apoptosis by the mitochondrial pathway

Dread of uncertain pain: An event-related potential study

<div><p>Humans experience more stress about uncertain situations than certain situations. However, the neural mechanism underlying the uncertainty of a negative stimulus has not been determined. In the present study, event-related potential was recorded to examine neural responses during the dread of unpredictable pain. We used a cueing paradigm in which predictable cues were always followed by electric shocks, unpredictable cues by electric shocks at a 50/50 ratio and safe cues by no electric shock. Visual analogue scales following electric shocks were presented to quantify subjective anxiety levels. The behavioral results showed that unpredictable cues evoked high-level anxiety compared with predictable cues in both painful and unpainful stimulation conditions. More importantly, the ERPs results revealed that unpredictable cues elicited a larger P200 at parietal sites than predictable cues. In addition, unpredictable cues evoked larger P200 compared with safe cues at frontal electrodes and compared with predictable cues at parietal electrodes. In addition, larger P3b and LPP were observed during perception of safe cues compared with predictable cues at frontal and central electrodes. The similar P3b effect was also revealed in the left sites. The present study underlined that the uncertain dread of pain was associated with threat appraisal process in pain system. These findings on early event-related potentials were significant for a neural marker and development of therapeutic interventions.</p></div

Magnetoencephalography-derived oscillatory microstate patterns across lifespan: the Cambridge centre for ageing and neuroscience cohort.

Acknowledgements: We appreciate the discussions with Luke Tait and Jiaxiang Zhang about the data analysis of + microstates toolbox. We thank Dr.Yingxian Lu from Westlake University for her helpful advice to this article.Funder: National Institute for Health and Care Research; DOI: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000272Funder: Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre; DOI: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100022572Funder: Shenzhen MirrorEgo Technology Co. LtdThe aging brain represents the primary risk factor for many neurodegenerative disorders. Whole-brain oscillations may contribute novel early biomarkers of aging. Here, we investigated the dynamic oscillatory neural activities across lifespan (from 18 to 88 years) using resting Magnetoencephalography (MEG) in a large cohort of 624 individuals. Our aim was to examine the patterns of oscillation microstates during the aging process. By using a machine-learning algorithm, we identify four typical clusters of microstate patterns across different age groups and different frequency bands: left-to-right topographic MS1, right-to-left topographic MS2, anterior-posterior MS3 and fronto-central MS4. We observed a decreased alpha duration and an increased alpha occurrence for sensory-related microstate patterns (MS1 & MS2). Accordingly, theta and beta changes from MS1 & MS2 may be related to motor decline that increased with age. Furthermore, voluntary 'top-down' saliency/attention networks may be reflected by the increased MS3 & MS4 alpha occurrence and complementary beta activities. The findings of this study advance our knowledge of how the aging brain shows dysfunctions in neural state transitions. By leveraging the identified microstate patterns, this study provides new insights into predicting healthy aging and the potential neuropsychiatric cognitive decline

Mean subjective anxiety level ratings for cues (UC-with shock, UC-without shock, PC, SC).

<p>The x-axis indicates independent variables: UC-with shock, UC-without shock, PC versus SC. The y-axis indicates the mean anxiety level ratings by all subjects (mean±S.E.). Error bars depict the standard errors.</p

Amplitudes of LPP at nine electrodes.

<p>Amplitudes of LPP at nine electrodes.</p

Grand-averaged ERP waveforms at nine electrodes evoked by cue pictures.

<p>The black line indicates ERP waveforms evoked by UC, the long-dashed line illustrates ERP waveforms elicited by SC, the short-dashed line shows ERP waveforms in the PC condition. The x-axis indicates the time scale, which is marked in intervals of 200 ms. The time scale started 200 ms pre-stimulus onset. The y-axis indicates the amplitudes, which are marked in intervals of 2μv.</p

Infrared Radiation of Graphene Electrothermal Film Triggered Alpha and Theta Brainwaves

The alpha and theta frequency brainwave activity in Electroencephalogram (EEG) signal has been correlated with attention, inhibitory processes, memory, perceptual abilities, and sleep. The enhanced alpha and theta brainwave activity may bring positive behavioral modifications such as promoting creativity and a quick sleep. Herein, we discover that infrared radiation from multilayer graphene electrothermal film can obviously promote the appearance of alpha and theta brainwave in human mind. In particular, the occurrence frequency of the alpha and theta waves in EEG can be effectively enhanced up to 2.3 and 3.0 times, respectively. And the duration time of the alpha and theta waves in EEG can also be effectively extended. The mechanism may be attributed to the efficient infrared radiation caused by graphene mainly focused on the range from 7 to 14 micron, coinciding with the radiation wavelength of natural human body, which can be effectively absorbed by the human skin and speed up the blood microcirculation and metabolism. The comparative effect of different working temperature and heating materials such as water, Cu and even monolayer graphene are systematically investigated, indicating the infrared radiation from the multilayer graphene electrothermal film at 50 degrees has the largest enhancement effect of alpha and theta brainwaves. The multilayer graphene film electrical heater represents a convenient and surprising way for triggering the alpha and theta brainwaves, which has many potential applications in the area of enlarged health cerements

Infrared Radiation of Graphene Electrothermal Film Triggered Alpha and Theta Brainwaves

The alpha and theta frequency brainwave activity in electroencephalogram (EEG) signal is proven to correlate with attention, inhibitory processes, memory, perceptual abilities, and sleep. The decreasing of brainwaves is demonstrated to be the reason of aging and even Alzheimer's disease, so triggering alpha and theta brainwave activity may bring positive behavioral modifications such as promoting health care and a quick sleep. Herein, it is discovered that infrared radiation from multilayer graphene electrothermal film can obviously promote the appearance of alpha and theta brainwaves in the human brain. In particular, the occurrence frequency and duration time of the alpha and theta waves in EEG can be effectively enhanced up to 2.3/2.9 and 3.0/4.1 times, respectively. The comparative effect of different working temperatures and heating materials is systematically investigated, indicating efficient infrared radiation from the multilayer graphene electrothermal film, which coincides with the human‐body thermal‐radiation wavelength range from 7 to 14 μm, may be the main mechanism for this enhancement. The multilayer graphene film electrical heater represents a convenient and surprising way for triggering alpha and theta brainwaves, which has many potential applications in the area of enlarged healthcare requirements