Topography of Movement-Related Delta and Theta Brain Oscillations

The aim of this study was to analyse the high density EEG during movement execution guided by visual attention to reveal the detailed topographic distributions of delta and theta oscillations. Twenty right-handed young subjects performed a finger tapping task, paced by a continuously transited repeating visual stimuli. Baseline corrected power of scalp current density transformed EEG was statistically assessed with cluster-based permutation testing. Delta and theta activities revealed differences in their spatial properties at the time of finger tapping execution. Theta synchronization showed a contralateral double activation in the parietal and fronto-central regions, while delta activity appeared in the central contralateral channels. Differences in the spatiotemporal topography between delta and theta activity in the course of movement execution were identified on high density EEG

The effects of a complex yoga-based intervention on healthy psychological functioning

BackgroundYoga based interventions were found to have a positive impact on various indicators of psychological functioning, such as perceived stress, satisfaction with life, positive and negative affectivity. Additionally, such interventions improved bodily or interoceptive awareness and spirituality.MethodsThe present study assessed the effects of a 3-month long complex yoga-based intervention compared to a passive control group in a Hungarian community sample. The final sample consisted of 44 intervention (Mage = 47.5, SD = = 8.76) and 29 control participants (Mage = 47.4, SD = 9.47). The aforementioned constructs were measured 1 week before and after the intervention.ResultsThe intervention reduced participants’ perceived stress (p = <0.001, ηp2 = 0.153) and negative affectivity (p = 0.019, ηp2 = 0.113), improved spirituality (p = 0.048, ηp2 = 0.054) and various aspects of interoceptive awareness such as noticing (p = <0.001, ηp2 = 0.169) attention regulation (p = <0.001, ηp2 = 0.211), self-regulation (p = 0.002, ηp2 = 0.190) body listening (p = 0.010, ηp2 = 0.097), trusting (p = 0.026, ηp2 = 0.070), but did not impact positive affectivity and satisfaction with life.ConclusionA 3-months long complex yoga-based intervention has a positive impact on many aspects of healthy psychological functioning

Sleep spindles and intelligence:evidence for a sexual dimorphism

Contains fulltext : 136083.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Sleep spindles are thalamocortical oscillations in nonrapid eye movement sleep, which play an important role in sleep-related neuroplasticity and offline information processing. Sleep spindle features are stable within and vary between individuals, with, for example, females having a higher number of spindles and higher spindle density than males. Sleep spindles have been associated with learning potential and intelligence; however, the details of this relationship have not been fully clarified yet. In a sample of 160 adult human subjects with a broad IQ range, we investigated the relationship between sleep spindle parameters and intelligence. In females, we found a positive age-corrected association between intelligence and fast sleep spindle amplitude in central and frontal derivations and a positive association between intelligence and slow sleep spindle duration in all except one derivation. In males, a negative association between intelligence and fast spindle density in posterior regions was found. Effects were continuous over the entire IQ range. Our results demonstrate that, although there is an association between sleep spindle parameters and intellectual performance, these effects are more modest than previously reported and mainly present in females. This supports the view that intelligence does not rely on a single neural framework, and stronger neural connectivity manifesting in increased thalamocortical oscillations in sleep is one particular mechanism typical for females but not males.11 p

Cardioceptive accuracy is associated with arousal but not with valence and perceived exertion under physical load

Under resting conditions, cardioceptive accuracy-the acuity of the perception of heartbeats-is associated with the self-reported intensity of affective states but not with reported valence. Physical exertion elicits positive affect below the anaerobic threshold and negative affect above the threshold while arousal gradually increases. The current research aimed to study the associations between cardioceptive accuracy and characteristics of the affective response (arousal and valence) during physical activity. About 67 undergraduate students completed the Schandry task and rated their perceived exertion (Borg-scale) and affective experience (arousal and valence) under three physical loads (running on a treadmill below, around, and above the anaerobic threshold). Cardioceptive accuracy was associated with the arousal component of the affective states during physical activity but not with valence and perceived exertion