Two-person neuroscience and naturalistic social communication: The role of language and linguistic variables in brain-coupling research

Social cognitive neuroscience (SCN) seeks to understand the brain mechanisms through which we comprehend others? emotions and intentions in order to react accordingly. For decades, SCN has explored relevant domains by exposing individual participants to predesigned stimuli and asking them to judge their social (e.g., emotional) content. Subjects are thus reduced to detached observers of situations that they play no active role in. However, the core of our social experience is construed through real-time interactions requiring the active negotiation of information with other people. To gain more relevant insights into the workings of the social brain, the incipient field of two-person neuroscience (2PN) advocates the study of brain-to-brain coupling through multi-participant experiments. In this paper, we argue that the study of online language-based communication constitutes a cornerstone of 2PN. First, we review preliminary evidence illustrating how verbal interaction may shed light on the social brain. Second, we advance methodological recommendations to design experiments within language-based 2PN. Finally, we formulate outstanding questions for future research.Fil: García, Adolfo Martín. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Lenguas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; Argentina. Universidad Diego Portales; ChileFil: Ibanez Barassi, Agustin Mariano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; Argentina. Universidad Diego Portales; Chile. Universidad Autónoma del Caribe; Colombia. Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders; Australi

Una aproximación conexionista a la lingüística cognitivo-funcional: Clíticos pronominales y desinencias verbales del español en términos de redes relacionales

Los sistemas de clíticos pronominales y desinencias verbales del español han sido ampliamente abordados en la lingüística funcionalista y cognitivista. Sin embargo, rara vez se los ha modelizado conjuntamente desde una perspectiva reticular. A su vez, el único antecedente en la literatura presenta diversas limitaciones. En este artículo se recurre a la teoría de redes relacionales para esbozar un modelo superador de los principales aspectos semánticos, morfológicos y morfotácticos de ambos sistemas. Específicamente, se distingue entre varios tipos de relaciones cognitivas que operan en diferentes niveles, a saber: (i) las relaciones entre las categorías semánticas pertinentes y sus rasgos asociados son disyuntivas, de modo que involucran nodos ‘o’ descendentes; (ii) mientras que los significados explícitos (independientes del contexto) implican nodos ‘o’ descendentes individuales, los mensajes implícitos (dependientes del contexto) involucran relaciones disyuntivas complejas en las que un nodo ‘o’ ascendente se conecta con un nodo ‘o’ descendente; (iii) las relaciones que representan patrones morfotácticos constituyen conjunciones secuenciales, de modo que suponen nodos ‘y’ ordenados; y (iv) las relaciones establecidas entre una constelación de rasgos semánticos y la representación morfológica que la realiza en un contexto de uso determinado son conjunciones simultáneas, o sea que involucran nodos ‘y’ no ordenados. El modelo supone la primera caracterización basada en redes relacionales de las conexiones cognitivas que sustentan a los sistemas de clíticos pronominales y desinencias verbales del español.The Spanish pronominal clitic and verb-ending systems have been widely treated in the functional and cognitive linguistics literature. However, they have rarely been jointly modeled from a network-based perspective. Moreover, the only previous attempt to characterize the systems’ architecture in network terms presents a number of limitations. This paper presents a preliminary relational-network-based model of the main semantic, morphological, and morphotactic aspects of both systems. An explicit distinction is introduced among several types of cognitive relationships operating at different levels of the systems, as follows: (i) the relationships between the relevant semantic categories and their associated features are disjunctive, thus involving downward ‘or’ nodes; (ii) whereas explicit, context-independent meanings involve simple downward ‘or’ nodes, implicit, context-dependent messages call for complex disjunctive relationships in which an upward ‘or’ node is then connected to downward ‘or’ node; (iii) the relationships representing morphotactic patterns are sequential conjunctions, thus involving ordered ‘and’ nodes; and (iv) the relationships established between a constellation of semantic features and the morphological representation realizing it in a specific context of use are simultaneous conjunctions, thus involving unordered ‘and’ nodes. The model constitutes the first relational-network account of the cognitive relationships holding together the Spanish pronominal clitic and verbending systems.Fil: García, Adolfo Martín. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicología Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Educación Elemental y Especial; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Commentary: Cerebellar atrophy and its contribution to cognition in frontotemporal dementias

Chen et al. (2018) provide unprecedented evidence of syndrome-specific changes in cerebellar gray matter integrity (mainly in lobules VI, Crus I and Crus II) across three frontotemporal dementia (FTD) subtypes, alongside specific associations with attentional, visuospatial, mnesic, and language-motor deficits. Moreover, results survived covariation with each group's distinctive atrophy pattern. These outcomes illuminate the critical role of the cerebellum in non-motor processes, while highlighting the relevance of distributed network approaches to cognitive (dys)function.Although the cerebellum has been implicated in higher-order domains (Roca et al., 2013; García et al., 2017; Sokolov et al., 2017), including executive functions, language, interoception, and social cognition, these results may prove surprising to many clinical neuroscientists. Indeed, the cerebellum remains notably underexplored within neurocognitive assessments of dementia, where it is still largely conceived as a specifically motoric region and is thus often excluded from imaging analyses seeking to map brain-behavior associations. Similarly, except for research on ataxia, systematic assessments of regional, and network-level alterations involving the cerebellum are wanting in the field. This counterproductive neglect, we believe, stems from a dissociation between dementia studies and current neurocognitive theories (Ibáñez and García, 2018).Fertile ground could be gained by anchoring neurodegeneration research on the embodied cognition approach, which has revealed multidimensional links between action-related circuits and higher-order functions. The cerebellum, as a core hub in these cortical-subcortical networks, would play an important, enactive role in several cognitive processes. While lesion and agenesia studies suggest that this role may not be causal, cerebellar circuits have been directly implicated in embodied domains (Koziol et al., 2012; Birba et al., 2017; García et al., 2017; Cervetto et al., 2018). Beyond the field's traditional focus on canonical atrophy patterns and selected cognitive skills, emerging evidence suggests that diffuse neurocognitive dysfunctions are partially overlapped across dementias. The profuse interconnectedness, functional richness, and transdiagnostic vulnerability of the cerebellum render it a key target to examine embodied cognitive deficits in FTD and other conditions.Accordingly, embodied theories of the cerebellum could become critical tools to foster relevant translational developments. First, they underscore the need to systematically report cerebellar involvement in diverse neurocognitive deficits. Also, they provide a profitable platform to track intercognitive phenomena?enactive synergies among varied psychobiological (dys)functions?from a network-based perspective (Koziol et al., 2012; Ibanez et al., 2014, 2018; García and Ibáñez, 2016; Birba et al., 2017; García et al., 2017; Cervetto et al., 2018; Ibáñez and García, 2018). Moreover, they promote a reinterpretation of symptoms from an action-grounded neurocognitive rationale (Krakauer et al., 2017). These milestones could have direct clinical implications, as the lack of proper theoretical frameworks can lead to neglecting, downplaying, or delaying the report of cerebellar disturbances across pathologies. We call for novel studies integrating embodied, intercognitive, network-based conceptualizations of the cerebellum to foster translational breakthroughs in dementia research.Fil: Ibáñez Barassi, Agustín Mariano. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; Chile. Universidad Autónoma del Caribe; Colombia. Australian Research Council; Australia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva y Traslacional. Fundación Ineco Rosario Sede del Incyt | Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva y Traslacional. Fundación Ineco Rosario Sede del Incyt | Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva y Traslacional. Fundación Ineco Rosario Sede del Incyt; ArgentinaFil: García, Adolfo Martín. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva y Traslacional. Fundación Ineco Rosario Sede del Incyt | Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva y Traslacional. Fundación Ineco Rosario Sede del Incyt | Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva y Traslacional. Fundación Ineco Rosario Sede del Incyt; Argentin

Human and animal models for translational research on neurodegeneration: Challenges and opportunities from South America

Facing the alarming growth of dementia and neurodegenerative conditions has become a critical priority across the globe (Alzheimer´s Disease International, 2009;Lancet, 2015;Shah et al., 2016;Parra et al., 2018). Neurodegenerative diseases are the most frequent cause of dementia, representing a burden for public health systems (especially in middle and middle-high income countries). Although most research on this subject is concentrated in first-world centers, growing efforts in South American countries (SACs) are affording important breakthroughs. This emerging agenda poses not only new challenges for the region, but also new opportunities for the field at large. SACs have witnessed a promising development of relevant research in humans and animals, giving rise to new regional challenges. As highlighted in a recent experts? consensus paper Latin-American countries (LAC), and SACs in particular (Parra et al., 2018), face a critical situation. Higher demographic rates and the predicted prevalence of dementia have reached and even exceeded those of developing countries. In SACs, low- and middle-income countries (e.g., Bolivia, Paraguay), the prevalence of dementia will double that of high-income countries, while upper-middle-income countries in the region (e.g., Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela) will experience the greatest impact of dementia. The WHO estimated that the standardized prevalence of dementia in Latin America was 8.5%, but multiple SACs have been underrepresented or underestimated in such a calculation (Parra et al., 2018). Moreover, raw prevalence rates across studies are characterized by high variability within and between countries (e.g., Argentina: 8.3; Brazil: 7.1-2.0; Chile: 4.4-7.0; Colombia: 6.0; Peru: 6.72-9.3; Uruguay: 3.1; Venezuela: 5.7-13,7) (Parra et al., 2018). In addition, most of these studies are undermined by various limitations and methodological problems. Even considering these data, SACs possess the highest global prevalence of dementia after North Africa/Middle East in people above the age of 60 (Parra et al., 2018). Moreover, the harmonization of global strategies against dementia in these contexts is hindered not only by reduced epidemiological data, but also by the lack of standardized clinical practice, insufficient training of physicians, limited resources, and poor governmental support, let alone poverty and more general cultural barriers and stigmas. All of these factors have impacted the type and amount of research conducted in SACs. A regional network, based on multiinstitutional actors from research, governmental, and private sectors is fundamental to overcome these challenges (Parra et al., 2018).Fil: Ibanez Barassi, Agustin Mariano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; Argentina. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicología Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Universidad Autónoma del Caribe; Colombia. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; ChileFil: Sedeño, Lucas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; Argentina. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicología Experimental y Neurociencia; ArgentinaFil: García, Adolfo Martín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; Argentina. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicología Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Educación Elemental y Especial; ArgentinaFil: Deacon, Robert. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; Argentina. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicología Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Cogram, Patricia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; Argentina. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicología Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Universidad de Chile; Chil

Relational Network Theory: Neurological correlates of a connectionist model of language

La Teoría de Redes Relacionales (TRR) es un modelo conexionista del sistema lingüístico del individuo. En Pathways of the Brain, Lamb (1999) demuestra que el modelo es neurológicamente plausible, pero la evidencia neurocientífica que sustenta a la TRR no ha sido actualizada desde la publicación de dicho volumen. Además, en las últimas décadas la teoría no ha gozado de una amplia difusión, especialmente en el contexto hispanoparlante. Para contribuir a revertir ambas situaciones, en el presente artículo se sintetizan los principios básicos de la TRR a la vez que se actualiza la evidencia que confiere plausibilidad neurológica a sus hipótesis principales. Por añadidura, se demuestra que la teoría se ha construido mediante el procedimiento de modelización por estructuras paralelas, discutiéndose sus méritos y limitaciones teórico-metodológicas.Relational Network Theory (RNT) is a connectionist model of the linguistic system of the individual. In Pathways of the Brain, Lamb (1999) demonstrates that the model is neurologically plausible, but the neuroscientific evidence supporting RNT has not been updated since the publication of such volume. Moreover, RNT has not received significant attention in the last few decades, especially in the Spanish-speaking world. In an attempt to partly overcome these situations, the present paper summarizes the basic principles of RNT and offers updated evidence in favor of the theory’s neurological plausibility. Furthermore, the theory is shown to have been constructed via the ‘parallel structures approach’ to neurolinguistic modeling, its merits and limitations being addressed from a theoretical and a methodological stance.Fil: García, Adolfo Martín. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Humanidades; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; Argentin

Increased moral condemnation of accidental harm in institutionalized adolescents

Social deprivation, as faced by children in institutional rearing, involves socio-cognitive deficits that may persist into adolescence. In particular, two relevant domains which prove sensitive to pre-adult neurodevelopment are theory of mind (ToM) and moral judgment (a complex skill which partially depend upon ToM). However, no study has assessed moral evaluation in adolescents with a history of institutional care, let alone its relationship with ToM skills. The present study aims to bridge this gap, focusing on moral evaluation of harmful actions in institutionalized adolescents (IAs). Relative to adolescents raised with their biological families, IAs exhibited less willingness to exculpate protagonists for accidental harms, suggesting an under-reliance on information about a person’s (innocent) intentions. Moreover, such abnormalities in IAs were associated with ToM impairments. Taken together, our findings extend previous findings of delayed ToM under social deprivation, further showing that the development of moral cognition is also vulnerable to the impact of institutionalization. These results could pave the way for novel research on the role of institutional rearing in ToM and moral development during adolescence.Fil: Baez, Sandra. Universidad de los Andes; ColombiaFil: Herrera, Eduar. Universidad Icesi; ColombiaFil: García, Adolfo Martín. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva y Traslacional. Fundación Ineco Rosario Sede del Incyt | Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva y Traslacional. Fundación Ineco Rosario Sede del Incyt | Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva y Traslacional. Fundación Ineco Rosario Sede del Incyt; ArgentinaFil: Huepe, David. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; ChileFil: Santamaría-García, Hernando. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana; Colombia. Hospital Universitario San Ignacio; ColombiaFil: Ibáñez Barassi, Agustín Mariano. Universidad Autónoma del Caribe; Colombia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva y Traslacional. Fundación Ineco Rosario Sede del Incyt | Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva y Traslacional. Fundación Ineco Rosario Sede del Incyt | Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva y Traslacional. Fundación Ineco Rosario Sede del Incyt; Argentina. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; Chile. Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders; Australi

CRISPR-ERA for switching off (onco)genes

[EN]Genome editing nucleases like the popular CRISPR/Cas9 allow generate knock - out cell lines and nulls zygotes by inducing site - specific DSB within a genome. In most cases, when a DNA template is not present, the DSB is repaired by non - homologous end joining (NHEJ) resulting in small nucleotide insertions or deletions that can be used to construct knockout alleles. However, for se veral reasons, these mutations do not produce the desired null result in all cases, generating a similar protein with functional activity. That undesirable effect could limit the therapeutic efficiency of gene therapy strategies focused on abrogating oncog ene expression by CRISPR/Cas9 and should be taken in account. This chapter reviews the irruption of CRISPR technology for gene silencing and its application in gene therapy

Your misery is no longer my pleasure: Reduced schadenfreude in Huntington's disease families

Schadenfreude – pleasure at others' misfortunes – has been systematically related to ventral striatum activity. This brain region is affected early in individuals with manifest and pre-manifest Huntington's disease (HD). However, the experience of schadenfreude has not yet been investigated in HD. In this study, 21 manifest HD patients, 19 first-degree asymptomatic relatives, and 23 healthy controls performed an experimental task designed to trigger schadenfreude, envy (another social emotion acting as an affective control condition), and control situations. Both HD patients and first-degree relatives experienced lower schadenfreude in response to others' misfortunes, with no group differences in ratings of envy and control conditions. These results offer unprecedented evidence of a highly specific impairment in reward processing, extending previous reports in manifest and pre-manifest HD individuals. Moreover, these findings suggest that early striatal impairments may be related to reduced feelings of schadenfreude. In sum, our work contributes to the understanding of emotional impairments in early stages of HD, while shedding light on their neural correlates.Fil: Báez Buitrago, Sandra Jimena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; ArgentinaFil: García, Adolfo Martín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; ArgentinaFil: Orozco, Janni. Universidad Autónoma del Caribe; ColombiaFil: Fittipaldi, María Sol. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; ArgentinaFil: García, Adolfo Martín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; ArgentinaFil: Pino, Mariana. Universidad Autónoma del Caribe; ColombiaFil: Ibáñez Barassi, Agustín Mariano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; Argentina. Universidad Autónoma del Caribe; Colombia. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; Chil

GESUS, an Interactive Computer Application for Teaching and Learning the Space Groups of Symmetry

This paper describes a digital application designed for learning Space Groups of Symmetry (SGS). It teaches how to recognize the operations performed by the symmetry elements, both point (or 2D) operators (proper and improper rotations, including mirroring, inversion, and other rotoin-versions), and space (or 3D) operators (screw axes and glide planes), as well as their combinations with the translations of the lattice. The software applies a 3D space vision to identify the elements of symmetry compatible with the proposed structural models. The symbols of internationally accepted representation are used. The system, class, and space group of the crystal that agree with the proposed model are solved. Two settings are taken into account in the Monoclinic system. The application self-evaluates and assesses the knowledge acquired, allowing each exercise to be re-done until it is correctly completed with the appropriate recommendations. This application constitutes a useful and easy-to-use tool for SGS learning. It is aimed at beginner students of crystallography, with elementary knowledge about elements of symmetry, Bravais lattices, crystal classes, and wallpaper groups

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