Lying about the Valence of Affective Pictures: An fMRI Study

The neural correlates of lying about affective information were studied using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methodology. Specifically, 13 healthy right-handed Chinese men were instructed to lie about the valence, positive or negative, of pictures selected from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) while their brain activity was scanned by a 3T Philip Achieva scanner. The key finding is that the neural activity associated with deception is valence-related. Comparing to telling the truth, deception about the valence of the affectively positive pictures was associated with activity in the inferior frontal, cingulate, inferior parietal, precuneus, and middle temporal regions. Lying about the valence of the affectively negative pictures, on the other hand, was associated with activity in the orbital and medial frontal regions. While a clear valence-related effect on deception was observed, common neural regions were also recruited for the process of deception about the valence of the affective pictures. These regions included the lateral prefrontal and inferior parietal regions. Activity in these regions has been widely reported in fMRI studies on deception using affectively-neutral stimuli. The findings of this study reveal the effect of valence on the neural activity associated with deception. Furthermore, the data also help to illustrate the complexity of the neural mechanisms underlying deception

COMPLIANCE RATES AND SYMPTOM EXACERBATION FOR THE MOBILE NEUROCOGNITIVE HEALTH (MNCH) PROJECT IN ADOLESCENTS AND ADULTS WITH CONCUSSION

R.J. Elbin1, Kori Durfee1, Melissa N. Womble2, Christina M. Dollar2, Daniel B. Elbich3 and Jonathan G. Hakun3 1University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 2Inova Sports Medicine Concussion Program 3Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA The Mobile Neurocognitive Health project (MNCH) is an ambulatory assessment study that measures how concussion symptoms and impairments evolve and change throughout the daily lives of patients. Patients with concussion respond on their smartphones to four daily assessment notifications over a 7-day period to complete cognitive assessments, as well as report symptoms and information on environmental exposures. Study compliance and the potential exacerbation of concussion symptoms from participation is unknown. PURPOSE: 1) To document compliance for the MNCH protocol in participants with concussion, and 2) to investigate the prevalence of acute symptom exacerbation upon completion of the MNCH assessments METHODS: 123 participants (M=19.91, SD=8.60 yrs, 67% female) with a concussion downloaded the smart phone application at their first clinical visit (M=4.31, SD=1.56 days) and received 4 assessment notifications daily at 6:00am, 10:00am, 2:30pm, and 8:00pm for the 7 days after their clinic visit. Participants completed a brief cognitive assessment (~3mins), and surveys assessing symptom reactivity to environmental exposure. Participants indicated any symptom exacerbation (“Completing the assessments made my symptoms worse”) via a 100-pt visual analog slider (0-“Not at All” to 100-“Extremely”) after completing each daily assessment. At the conclusion of study participation, a study acceptability survey was administered to all participants. Descriptive statistics were used to document compliance, post-survey symptom exacerbation scores, and study acceptability ratings. RESULTS: The overall median compliance rate for the protocol was 71%. Median compliance was slightly lower for the 6:00am notification (57%) compared to the 71% observed for other three notifications. The average symptom exacerbation score was 32.49 (SD=23.95). Ninety-five percent (94/99) of participants reported that the app was easy to use and 80% (79/99) reported that the protocol did not interfere with daily life. Eighty-four percent (83/99) would recommend study participation to a friend. CONCLUSIONS: A one-week implementation of a daily ambulatory assessment of cognition, symptom reactivity, and environmental exposure does not exacerbation concussion symptoms and is appropriate for this patient population

Lie Detection: FMRI

Objective detection of deception was extensively studied, starting from polygraph to more modern techniques, the functional MR (fMRI), and they are based on neural (sympathetic) activation that is evoked in stressful conditions, such as lying. The role of fMRI in neurophysiology has been extensively developed and studied, and its principles lie in the correlation between the brain demand of energy during determined task and its supply. Although being extensively studied, its role for judiciary purpose presents many shortcomings

Examining event-related potential (ERP) correlates of decision bias in recognition memory judgments

Memory judgments can be based on accurate memory information or on decision bias (the tendency to report that an event is part of episodic memory when one is in fact unsure). Event related potentials (ERP) correlates are important research tools for elucidating the dynamics underlying memory judgments but so far have been established only for investigations of accurate old/new discrimination. To identify the ERP correlates of bias, and observe how these interact with ERP correlates of memory, we conducted three experiments that manipulated decision bias within participants via instructions during recognition memory tests while their ERPs were recorded. In Experiment 1, the bias manipulation was performed between blocks of trials (automatized bias) and compared to trial-by-trial shifts of bias in accord with an external cue (flexibly controlled bias). In Experiment 2, the bias manipulation was performed at two different levels of accurate old/new discrimination as the memory strength of old (studied) items was varied. In Experiment 3, the bias manipulation was added to another, bottom-up driven manipulation of bias induced via familiarity. In the first two Experiments, and in the low familiarity condition of Experiment 3, we found evidence of an early frontocentral ERP component at 320 ms poststimulus (the FN320) that was sensitive to the manipulation of bias via instruction, with more negative amplitudes indexing more liberal bias. By contrast, later during the trial (500–700 ms poststimulus), bias effects interacted with old/new effects across all three experiments. Results suggest that the decision criterion is typically activated early during recognition memory trials, and is integrated with retrieved memory signals and task-specific processing demands later during the trial. More generally, the findings demonstrate how ERPs can help to specify the dynamics of recognition memory processes under top-down and bottom-up controlled retrieval conditions