Representational cortex in musicians : plastic alterations in response to musical practice

The lifelong ability to adapt to environmental needs is based on the capacity of the central nervous system for plastic alterations. In a series of neurophysiological experiments, we studied the impact of music and musical training in musicians on the specific functional organization in auditory and somatosensory representational cortex. In one such study, subjects listened to music from which one specific spectral frequency was removed. This led to rapid and reversible adaptation of neuronal responses in auditory cortex. Further experimental evidence demonstrated that long years of practice and training by professional musicians to enable them to reach their capacity is associated with enlarged cortical representations in the somatosensory and auditory domains. This tuning of neuronal representations was specifically observed for musical tones and was absent when pure sinusoidal tones were used as stimuli. In the somatosensory cortex, plastic changes proved to be specific for the fingers frequently used and stimulated. These changes were not detected in the fingers of the hand that were not involved in playing the particular instrument. Neuroplastic alterations also may be driven into a domain where they may become maladaptive. The clinical syndrome of focal hand dystonia that may occur in musicians who engage in forceful practice may be one such consequence. We will discuss the possibilities of reversing maladaptive responses leading to the successful treatment of focal hand dystonia, which relies on basic research about cortical reorganization. This example elucidates how neuroscientific progress can guide the development of practice guidelines and therapeutic measures for the benefit of professional musicians

Differential activity of subgenual cingulate and brainstem in panic disorder and PTSD

Most functional neuroimaging studies of panic disorder (PD) have focused on the resting state, and have explored PD in relation to healthy controls rather than in relation to other anxiety disorders. Here, PD patients, Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients, and healthy control subjects were studied with functional magnetic resonance imaging utilizing an instructed fear conditioning paradigm incorporating both Threat and Safe conditions. Relative to PTSD and control subjects, PD patients demonstrated significantly less activation to the Threat condition and increased activity to the Safe condition in the subgenual cingulate, ventral striatum and extended amygdala, as well as in midbrain periaquaeductal grey, suggesting abnormal reactivity in this key region for fear expression. PTSD subjects failed to show the temporal pattern of activity decrease found in control subjects

The Association between Depressive Mood and Cognitive Performance in an Elderly General Population - The MEMO Study

The aim of this study was to analyse the influence of the severity of depressive symptoms on different domains of cognitive function in the elderly. In a population-based cross-sectional study, 385 participants aged 65-83 years were interviewed with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and performed a standardized neuropsychological test assessing attention, memory, cognitive speed and motor function. Multivariate linear regression analyses revealed a significant effect of depressive symptoms on a single test (Stroop test 1) and two summary scores (memory and motor function). After full adjustment for education and Mini Mental State Examination, the memory score was partly attenuated. Stratified analysis showed that an increase in CES-D scores led to a larger decline of cognitive test results in participants with mild to moderate depressive symptoms, compared to those with a high degree of depressive symptoms. Our results suggest that depressive mood in older adults is primarily associated with decreased processing speed and motor functioning, but not executive control functions. According to our results depressive mood is not necessarily associated with memory deficits in older adults. Changes in depressive symptoms in milder forms of depressive mood are associated with a larger decline in cognitive function than in severer forms of depressive mood.Bernhard T. Baune, Thomas Suslow, Almut Engelien, Volker Arolt, Klaus Berge