Training of Working Memory Impacts Neural Processing of Vocal Pitch Regulation

Working memory training can improve the performance of tasks that were not trained. Whether auditory-motor integration for voice control can benefit from working memory training, however, remains unclear. The present event-related potential (ERP) study examined the impact of working memory training on the auditory-motor processing of vocal pitch. Trained participants underwent adaptive working memory training using a digit span backwards paradigm, while control participants did not receive any training. Before and after training, both trained and control participants were exposed to frequency-altered auditory feedback while producing vocalizations. After training, trained participants exhibited significantly decreased N1 amplitudes and increased P2 amplitudes in response to pitch errors in voice auditory feedback. In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between the degree of improvement in working memory capacity and the post-pre difference in P2 amplitudes. Training-related changes in the vocal compensation, however, were not observed. There was no systematic change in either vocal or cortical responses for control participants. These findings provide evidence that working memory training impacts the cortical processing of feedback errors in vocal pitch regulation. This enhanced cortical processing may be the result of increased neural efficiency in the detection of pitch errors between the intended and actual feedback

Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Alters Auditory-motor Integration For Voice Control

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most common drug-refractory focal epilepsy in adults. Previous research has shown that patients with TLE exhibit decreased performance in listening to speech sounds and deficits in the cortical processing of auditory information. Whether TLE compromises auditory-motor integration for voice control, however, remains largely unknown. To address this question, event-related potentials (ERPs) and vocal responses to vocal pitch errors (1/2 or 2 semitones upward) heard in auditory feedback were compared across 28 patients with TLE and 28 healthy controls. Patients with TLE produced significantly larger vocal responses but smaller P2 responses than healthy controls. Moreover, patients with TLE exhibited a positive correlation between vocal response magnitude and baseline voice variability and a negative correlation between P2 amplitude and disease duration. Graphical network analyses revealed a disrupted neuronal network for patients with TLE with a significant increase of clustering coefficients and path lengths as compared to healthy controls. These findings provide strong evidence that TLE is associated with an atypical integration of the auditory and motor systems for vocal pitch regulation, and that the functional networks that support the auditory-motor processing of pitch feedback errors differ between patients with TLE and healthy controls

A genome-wide BAC-end sequence survey provides first insights into sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) genome composition

The BLASTX searching results of 4428 BESs with protein databases of V. vinifera. (XLS 400 kb

Training of Working Memory Impacts Neural Processing of Vocal Pitch Regulation

Working memory training can improve the performance of tasks that were not trained. Whether auditory-motor integration for voice control can benefit from working memory training, however, remains unclear. The present event-related potential (ERP) study examined the impact of working memory training on the auditory-motor processing of vocal pitch. Trained participants underwent adaptive working memory training using a digit span backwards paradigm, while control participants did not receive any training. Before and after training, both trained and control participants were exposed to frequency-altered auditory feedback while producing vocalizations. After training, trained participants exhibited significantly decreased N1 amplitudes and increased P2 amplitudes in response to pitch errors in voice auditory feedback. In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between the degree of improvement in working memory capacity and the post-pre difference in P2 amplitudes. Training-related changes in the vocal compensation, however, were not observed. There was no systematic change in either vocal or cortical responses for control participants. These findings provide evidence that working memory training impacts the cortical processing of feedback errors in vocal pitch regulation. This enhanced cortical processing may be the result of increased neural efficiency in the detection of pitch errors between the intended and actual feedback

Low alpha-defensin gene copy number increases the risk for IgA nephropathy and renal dysfunction

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is the most common primary glomerulonephritis worldwide. Although a major source of genetic variation, copy number variations (CNVs) and their involvement in disease development have not been well studied. Here, we performed association analysis of the DEFA1A3 CNV locus in two independent IgAN cohorts of Southern Chinese Han (total1189 cases and 1187 controls). We discovered three independent copy number associations within the locus: DEFA1A3 (P=3.99×10-9, OR=0.88), DEFA3 (P=6.55×10-5, OR=0.82) and a noncoding deletion variant (211bp) (P=3.50×10-16, OR=0.75) (OR per copy, fixed-effects meta-analysis). While showing strong association with increased risk for IgAN (P=9.56×10-20), low total copy numbers of the three variants also showed significant association with renal dysfunction in patients with IgAN (P=0.03, HR=3.69, after controlling for the effects of known prognostic factors) as well as high serum IgA1 (P=0.02) and a high proportion of galactose-deficient IgA1 (P=0.03). For replication, we confirmed the associations of DEFA1A3 (P=4.42×10-4, OR=0.82) and DEFA3 copy numbers (P=4.30×10-3, OR=0.74) with IgAN in a Caucasian cohort (531 cases and 198 controls) and found the 211bp variant to be much rarer in Caucasians. Interestingly, we also observed an association of the 211bp copy number with membranous nephropathy (P=1.11×10-7, OR=0.74 in 493 Chinese cases and 500 matched controls), but not with diabetic kidney disease (in 806 Chinese cases and 786 matched controls). By explaining 4.96% of disease risk and influencing the renal dysfunction in IgAN, the DEFA1A3 CNV locus is a potential candidate for therapeutic target and prognostic marker development