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

Eulàlia Pérez, presidenta de la FECYT

Eulàlia Pérez és, possiblement, una de les dones més actives de la ciència a Espanya. És vicepresidenta i cofundadora de AMIT (Associació de Dones Investigadores i Tecnòlogues), i ha realitzat i dirigit nombroses investigacions sobre ciència i valors, i sobre ciència, tecnologia i gènere. Al novembre, va intervenir al I Congrés Internacional "Biaix de gènere i desigualtats en l'avaluació de la qualitat acadèmica", que va organitzar l'Observatori per la Igualtat de la UAB, del 12 al 14 de novembre. En aquesta entrevista, repassem amb ella les bases de la desigualtat de gènere en l'àmbit de la ciència i la tecnologia i l'estat de la investigació a Espanya.Licenciada y doctora en Filosofía por la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, es catedrática de Lógica y de Filosofía de la Ciencia de la Universidad del País Vasco y profesora de Ciencia, Tecnología y Género en el Instituto de Filosofía del CSIC. También ha sido profesora de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, la Universidad de Barcelona, la Universidad de Cambridge (Reino Unido) y la Universidad de Berkeley (EEUU). Desde 2006 es directora de la Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología (FECYT) del Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia. Eulalia Pérez intervino en el I Congreso Internacional "Sesgo de género y desigualdades en la evaluación de la calidad académica", que organizó del 12 al 14 de noviembre el Observatorio para la Igualdad de la UAB.A graduate in Philosophy and doctor of Philosophy from the Universitat Autònoma de Madrid, Eulalia Pèrez is professor of Logic and Philosophy of Science at the University of the Basque Country and lecturer in Science, Technology and Gender at the Institute of Philosophy of CSIC. She has also lectured at the Complutense University in Madrid, the University of Barcelona, the University of Cambridge (UK) and the University of Berkeley (USA). Since 2006 she has held the post of director of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) part of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science. Eulàlia Pérez spoke at the First International Congress on "Gender bias and inequalities in the assessment of academic quality", which was organised by the UAB Observatory for Equality from 12 to 14 November 2007. In this interview, we review with her the basis of gender inequality in the field of science and technology

Progressive compromise of nouns and action verbs in posterior cortical atrophy

Processing of nouns and action verbs can be differentially compromised following lesions to posterior and anterior/motor brain regions, respectively. However, little is known about how these deficits progress in the course of neurodegeneration. To address this issue, we assessed productive lexical skills in a patient with posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) at two different stages of his pathology. On both occasions, he underwent a structural brain imaging protocol and completed semantic fluency tasks requiring retrieval of animals (nouns) and actions (verbs). Imaging results were compared with those of controls via voxel-based morphometry (VBM), whereas fluency performance was compared to age-matched norms through Crawford's t-tests. In the first assessment, the patient exhibited atrophy of more posterior regions supporting multimodal semantics (medial temporal and lingual gyri), together with a selective deficit in noun fluency. Then, by the second assessment, the patient's atrophy had progressed mainly toward fronto-motor regions (rolandic operculum, inferior and superior frontal gyri) and subcortical motor hubs (cerebellum, thalamus), and his fluency impairments had extended to action verbs. These results offer unprecedented evidence of the specificity of the pathways related to noun and action-verb impairments in the course of neurodegeneration, highlighting the latter's critical dependence on damage to regions supporting motor functions, as opposed to multimodal semantic processes.Fil: Steeb, Brenda. 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 Cordero, Indira Ruth. 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: Huizing, Marjolein Catharina. 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: Collazo, Lucas. 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: Borovinsky, Geraldine. 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: Ferrari, Jesica. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva; ArgentinaFil: Martínez Cuitiño Carricaburo, María Macarena. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro; 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: Ibáñez Barassi, Agustín Mariano. Australian Research Council; Australia. 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; ChileFil: Sedeño, Lucas. 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. 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 Nacional de Cuyo; Argentin

Contextual impairments in Schizophrenia and the FN400

Our brains are good at extracting and proccessing social contextual cues. Ongoing information is rapidly linked to memory traces of previous experiences, allowing us to generate predictions which help us interpret daily situations. These predictions are a core aspect of human cognition as long as they make social behaviors more effcient. Current evidence, however, suggests that schizophrenia patients are less able to benefit from context and, consequently, social impairments are commonly observed in this complex disorder.Fil: Amoruso, Lucía. Instituto de Neurologia Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Cardona Londoño, Juan Felipe. Instituto de Neurologia Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; ArgentinaFil: Melloni, Margherita. Instituto de Neurologia Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sedeño, Lucas. Instituto de Neurologia Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Ibañez, Agustin Mariano. Instituto de Neurologia Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Universidad Diego Portales; Chil

Action semantics at the bottom of the brain: Insights from dysplastic cerebellar gangliocytoma

Recent embodied cognition research shows that access to action verbs in shallow-processing tasks becomes selectively compromised upon atrophy of the cerebellum, a critical motor region. Here we assessed whether cerebellar damage also disturbs explicit semantic processing of action pictures and its integration with ongoing motor responses. We evaluated a cognitively preserved 33-year-old man with severe dysplastic cerebellar gangliocytoma (Lhermitte-Duclos disease), encompassing most of the right cerebellum and the posterior part of the left cerebellum. The patient and eight healthy controls completed two semantic association tasks (involving pictures of objects and actions, respectively) that required motor responses. Accuracy results via Crawford's modified t-tests revealed that the patient was selectively impaired in action association. Moreover, reaction-time analysis through Crawford's Revised Standardized Difference Test showed that, while processing of action concepts involved slower manual responses in controls, no such effect was observed in the patient, suggesting that motor-semantic integration dynamics may be compromised following cerebellar damage. Notably, a Bayesian Test for a Deficit allowing for Covariates revealed that these patterns remained after covarying for executive performance, indicating that they were not secondary to extra-linguistic impairments. Taken together, our results extend incipient findings on the embodied functions of the cerebellum, offering unprecedented evidence of its crucial role in processing non-verbal action meanings and integrating them with concomitant movements. These findings illuminate the relatively unexplored semantic functions of this region while calling for extensions of motor cognition models.Fil: Cervetto Manciameli, Sabrina Fabiana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; Argentina. Universidad de la República; UruguayFil: Abrevaya, Sofia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; ArgentinaFil: Martorell Caro, Miguel Angel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; ArgentinaFil: Kozono, Giselle. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; ArgentinaFil: Muñoz, Edinson. Universidad de Santiago de Chile; ChileFil: Ferrari, Jesica. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva; ArgentinaFil: Sedeño, Lucas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; ArgentinaFil: Ibáñez Barassi, Agustín Mariano. Australian Research Council; Australia. 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; ChileFil: 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. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo; Argentin

The embodied penman: Effector-specific motor-language integration during handwriting

Several studies have yielded fine-grained insights on the embodied dynamics of language by revealing how processing of manual action verbs (MaVs) affects the programming or execution of concurrent hand movements. However, virtually all extant studies have relied on highly contrived dual tasks in which independent motoric and linguistic processes are arbitrarily related. To circumvent potential attentional confounds, we conducted the first assessment of motor-language integration during handwriting, an early acquired skill that necessarily integrates both types of processes. Using a digital pen, participants copied carefully matched MaVs, non-manual action verbs, and non-action verbs as we collected measures of motor programming (the time needed to start the writing routine after verb presentation) and motor execution (the time needed to write the whole verb). Whereas motor programming latencies were similar across conditions, the unfolding of motor routines was faster for MaVs than for the other two categories, irrespective of the subjects’ daily writing time. Moreover, this effect remained consistent regardless of whether word meanings were accessed implicitly or explicitly. In line with the Hand-Action-Network Dynamic Language Embodiment (HANDLE) model, such findings suggest that everyday manual movements can be primed by effector-congruent verbs, even in a highly automatized task that seamlessly combines linguistic and motoric processes. In addition, this effect differs from that observed for MaVs in a previous (keyboard-based) typing experiment, suggesting that language-induced sensorimotor resonance during writing depends on the motoric particularities of each production modality. More generally, our paradigm opens new avenues for fine-grained explorations of embodied language processes

Interoception and insular cortex:multimodal convergence and the emergence of body awareness

Recent research have suggested that interoception, defined as the sensing of homeostatic and visceral state, is a prerequisite for the emerging of conscious body feelings (Craig, 2009). Parasympathetic and spinothalamic pathways coding such information from the body have their final station in insular cortex neurons. At the same time, several other cognitive functions related to awareness, have been associated with insular activation such as intentionality, decision making, sensory-motor consciousness, time perception, recognition of self´s image, or trust on someone else (Craig, 2009; Ibanez et al., 2010). Lesion studies and functional neuroimaging research is in line with this evidence, suggesting that anterior insular cortex would be engaged in integrate multimodal cognitive, emotional and social information in order to modulate motivational behavior leading to the survival of the individual. In this review, we analyze last research works on interoception and integrative insular processing through lesion studies and functional connectivity in functional magnetic resonance imaging (FC-fMRI).Fil: Couto, Juan Blas Marcos. Universidad Favaloro; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sedeño, Lucas. Universidad Favaloro; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Ibañez, Agustin Mariano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro; Argentina. Universidad Diego Portales; Chil

Interoception and insular cortex:multimodal convergence and the emergence of body awareness

Recent research have suggested that interoception, defined as the sensing of homeostatic and visceral state, is a prerequisite for the emerging of conscious body feelings (Craig, 2009). Parasympathetic and spinothalamic pathways coding such information from the body have their final station in insular cortex neurons. At the same time, several other cognitive functions related to awareness, have been associated with insular activation such as intentionality, decision making, sensory-motor consciousness, time perception, recognition of self´s image, or trust on someone else (Craig, 2009; Ibanez et al., 2010). Lesion studies and functional neuroimaging research is in line with this evidence, suggesting that anterior insular cortex would be engaged in integrate multimodal cognitive, emotional and social information in order to modulate motivational behavior leading to the survival of the individual. In this review, we analyze last research works on interoception and integrative insular processing through lesion studies and functional connectivity in functional magnetic resonance imaging (FC-fMRI).Fil: Couto, Juan Blas Marcos. Universidad Favaloro; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sedeño, Lucas. Universidad Favaloro; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Ibañez, Agustin Mariano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro; Argentina. Universidad Diego Portales; Chil

Time-order-errors and duration ranges in the episodic Temporal generalization task

Fil: Mikulan, Ezequiel P. Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina. National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, ArgentinaFil: Bruzzone, Manuel. Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaFil: Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaFil: Sigman, Mariano. Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Escuela de Negocios, Laboratorio de Neurociencia, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaFil: Bekinschtein, Tristan A. Consciousness and Cognition Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UKFil: García, Adolfo.Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina. National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina. Faculty of Education, National University of Cuyo (UNCuyo), Mendoza, ArgentinaFil: Sedeño, Lucas. Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina. National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, ArgentinaFil: Ibáñez, Agustín. Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina. National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina. Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia. Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, Santiago de Chile, Chile. Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Sydney, Australi

Heart–brain interactions during social and cognitive stress in hypertensive disease: A multidimensional approach

Hypertensive disease (HTD), a prominent risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, is characterized by elevated stress-proneness. Since stress levels are underpinned by both cardiac and neural factors, multidimensional insights are required to robustly understand their disruption in HTD. Yet, despite their crucial relevance, heart rate variability (HRV) and multimodal neurocognitive markers of stress in HTD remain controversial and unexplored respectively. To bridge this gap, we studied cardiodynamic as well as electrophysiological and neuroanatomical measures of stress in HTD patients and healthy controls. Both groups performed the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), a validated stress-inducing task comprising a baseline and a mental stress period. During both stages, we assessed a sensitive HRV parameter (the low frequency/high frequency [LF/HF ratio]) and an online neurophysiological measure (the heartbeat-evoked potential [HEP]). Also, we obtained neuroanatomical data via voxel-based morphometry (VBM) for correlation with online markers. Relative to controls, HTD patients exhibited increased LF/HF ratio and greater HEP modulations during baseline, reduced changes between baseline and stress periods, and lack of significant stress-related HRV modulations associated with the grey matter volume of putative frontrostriatal regions. Briefly, HTD patients presented signs of stress-related autonomic imbalance, reflected in a potential basal stress overload and a lack of responsiveness to acute psychosocial stress, accompanied by neurophysiological and neuroanatomical alterations. These multimodal insights underscore the relevance of neurocognitive data for developing innovations in the characterization, prognosis and treatment of HTD and other conditions with autonomic imbalance. More generally, these findings may offer new insights into heart–brain interactions.Fil: Legaz, Agustina. 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: Yoris, Adrián. 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: Sedeño, Lucas. 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: Abrevaya, Sofia. 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: Martorell Caro, Miguel Angel. 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: Alifano Ferrero, Florencia. 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. 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: Ibañez, Agustin Mariano. 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 Autónoma del Caribe; Colombia. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; Chil