Two is better than one : the effects of strategic cooperation on intra- and inter-brain connectivity by fNIRS

Inter-brain synchronization during joint actions is a core question in social neuroscience, and the differential contribution of intra- and inter-brain functional connectivity has yet to be clarified along with the role of psychological variables such as perceived self-efficacy. The cognitive performance and the neural activation underlying the execution of joint actions were recorded by functional Near-Infrared imaging during a synchronicity game. An 8-channel array of optodes was positioned over the frontal and prefrontal regions. During the task, the dyads received reinforcing feedback that was experimentally manipulated to induce adoption of common strategies. Intra- and inter-brain connectivity indices were computed along with an inter-brain/intra-brain connectivity index (ConIndex). Finally, correlation analyses were run to assess the relationship between behavioral and physiological levels. The results showed that the external feedback could modulate participant responses in both behavioral and neural components. After the reinforcing manipulation, there were faster response times and increased inter-brain connectivity, and ConIndex emerged primarily over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Additionally, the presence of significant correlations between response times and inter-brain connectivity revealed that only the \u201ctwo-players connection\u201d may guarantee an efficient performance. The present study provides a significant contribution to the identification of intra- and inter-brain functional connectivity when social reinforcement is provided

Emotional process through autobiographical memory

Self Defining Memories are higly significant autobiographical memories that contribute to the construct of identity. SDM are vivid, emotional and carry the values of the individuals. However, to the best of our knowledge, no study has evaluated psychophysiological changes that may be related to emotional processes in SDM. The aim of this study is to examine the emotional process involved during the evocation of SDM using neurovegetative indicators. We recorded both a marker of emotional activation of the sympathetic system (electrodermal activity) and an indicator of the parasympathetic system (Hight frequency of the Heart-rate variability) to charaterize the emotional processes. Results showed that, relatively to the control task, SDM retrieval resulted in an activation of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system

Tell about yourself to improve your autobiographical memory: A study of Korsakoff's syndrome

Korsakoff's syndrome (KS) has been associated with a difficulty to retrieve specific autobiographical memories. We investigated whether this difficulty can be alleviated after the retrieval of statements describing self-images. KS patients and control participants were recruited and asked to retrieve autobiographical memories after providing statements to the question ?Who am I?? and after a control condition consisting of verbal fluency. Analysis showed higher autobiographical specificity in the ?Who am I?? than in verbal fluency condition in both patients with KS and control participants. At a theoretical level, our findings demonstrate how retrieval of information related to conceptual self may influence autobiographical memory in KS. At a clinical level, our procedures are important as they demonstrate how a simple task (i.e., ?Who am I?? statements) may serve as a tool to cue specific autobiographical memories in patients with KS

Régulations endogène et exogène des émotions : des processus complémentaires et indissociables.

International audienceThis article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: http://www.elsevier.com/authorsrightsLes recherches actuelles concernant la régulation des émotions sontle plus souvent basées sur des modèles théoriques centrés sur lesprocessus cognitifs et comportementaux endogènes et prennentrarement en compte les processus de régulation exogène émispar l’entourage social. L’objectif de cet article est de montrer queces deux types de processus (endogènes et exogènes) sont pourtantcomplémentaires et indissociables. Nous avanc¸ ons d’aborddes arguments indiquant que la régulation endogène des émotionsrelève non seulement de processus intra-individuels, de processus interpersonnels trop rarement pris en compte.Nous présentons ensuite des travaux permettant d’affirmer queles états émotionnels du sujet font l’objet de différents processusde régulation exogène émis par les partenaires des interactionssociales. Il apparaît ainsi que les processus endogènes et exogènesmais égalementinteragissent et se complètent mutuellement pour favoriser à la foisl’adaptation aux situations émotionnelles et l’intégration au réseausocial

Self-defining Memories During Exposure to Music in Alzheimer\u27s Disease

BACKGROUND: Research suggests that exposure to music may enhance autobiographical recall in Alzheimer\u27s Disease (AD) patients. This study investigated whether exposure to music could enhance the production of self-defining memories, that is, memories that contribute to self-discovery, self-understanding, and identity in AD patients. METHODS: Twenty-two mild-stage AD patients and 24 healthy controls were asked to produce autobiographical memories in silence, while listening to researcher-chosen music, and to their own-chosen music. RESULTS: AD patients showed better autobiographical recall when listening to their own-chosen music than to researcher-chosen music or than in silence. More precisely, they produced more self-defining memories during exposure to their own-chosen music than to researcher-chosen music or during silence. Additionally, AD patients produced more self-defining memories than autobiographical episodes or personal-semantics during exposure to their own-chosen music. This pattern contrasted with the poor production of self-defining memories during silence or during exposure to researcher-chosen music. Healthy controls did not seem to enjoy the same autobiographical benefits nor the same self-defining memory enhancement in the self-chosen music condition. CONCLUSIONS: Poor production of self-defining memories, as observed in AD, may somehow be alleviated by exposure to self-chosen music

Intra and inter-brain connectivity during cooperation: a fNIRS-based connectivity analysis

Research suggested that during social interactions typical forms of synchronization in two individuals’ brains can occur in the form of an alignment of neural activity (brain-tobrain coupling). To explore these issues hyperscanning paradigms emerged thus permitting the simultaneous recording of the cortical activity from two or more participants interacting together. Nonetheless, new neurophysiological techniques are required to monitor these processes to allow flexible and ecological settings, such as functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy, which is portable and constraint-free to acquire data during the interactional setting. In the present study intra and inter-brain connectivity was during a social interaction proposed as an attentive joint task including a feedback, experimentally manipulated. Halfway, in fact, a feedback was provided to participants assessing the goodness of behavioral synchronicity scores. The aim was to compare subjective and inter-subjective brain contribution in the joint-action with respect to the social reinforced cooperation and perception of a good joint-action. Partial correlation coefficients were used as a functional connectivity index for computing both intra and inter-brain coherence, by quantifying the relationship between the different signals. For what concerns intra-brain coherence, results showed a significant difference (p < 0.05) between the first and the second half of the task in the connectivity of channel F2-F4, corresponding to Premotor Cortex (PMC), and F2-FC2, corresponding to Frontal Eye Field (FEF). The link between these two areas account for the subjective efforts during the first part of the task to accompany the detection of visual stimuli with synchronized motor responses. A similar result was found for inter-brain coherence, with higher connectivity between two premotor areas (FC4-FC2 and F2-FC2; p < 0.05) before the social feedback, related to motor planning and imaginary. Finally, higher inter-brain coherence emerged after the social manipulation for FC3-F3 and FC4-F4 (p < 0.05), which correspond to left and right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC). With respect to previous brain networks, this area has been proved to be involved in social cognition. Thus, the presence of enhanced emotional and social processes related to empathy and bonding could be hypothesized after the feedback. The present results provided new insights in the identification of brain areas with specific functional roles in intra and inter-brain coherence during interpersonal coordination. Importantly, the social feedback permitted to distinguish brain networks specifically related to motor synchronization and emotional/social tuning

Les modèles étiologiques de la récurrence dépressive

National audienceThe phenomenon of depressive recurrence has been explained through different models at different levels of observation: the models based on environmental dimensions; the assumptions of a premorbid personality; the models based on the modification of social interactions; the cognitive models of reinforcement of the cognitive schemas or modification of the emotional processes; the models of sensitizing to the episode and a neurobiological inscription and a modification of neuronal plasticity. Depressive recurrence is a global mechanism that modifies the whole life conditions of a subject, his behaviours, his representations, his social relationships, but also the organization of the underlying neurobiological system. These different levels support the idea of a specific psychological and medical accompaniment of patients experiencing recurrent episodes.Différents modèles expliquent le phénomène de récurrence dépressive à différents niveaux d’observation : les modèles centrés sur les aspects environnementaux, les hypothèses associées à une personnalité prémorbide, les modèles centrés sur la modification des interactions sociales, les modèles cognitifs de renforcement de schémas cognitifs ou de modification des processus émotionnels, les modèles de sensibilisation à l’épisode et d’inscription neurobiologique et les modèles de modification de la plasticité neuronale. Il s’agit de penser les récurrences dépressives, comme un processus global susceptible de modifier l’ensemble des conditions de vie du sujet, son comportement, ses représentations, sa façon d’appréhender son environnement, mais également l’organisation neurobiologique sous-jacente. Ces différents niveaux confortent l’idée d’un accompagnement psychologique et médical spécifique des patients présentant des récurrences multiples