Music reduces pain and increases resting state fMRI BOLD signal amplitude in the left angular gyrus in fibromyalgia patients

Music reduces pain in fibromyalgia (FM), a chronic pain disease, but the functional neural correlates of music-induced analgesia (MIA) are still largely unknown. We recruited FM patients (n = 22) who listened to their preferred relaxing music and an auditory control (pink noise) for 5 min without external noise from fMRI image acquisition. Resting state fMRI was then acquired before and after the music and control conditions. A significant increase in the amplitude of low frequency fluctuations of the BOLD signal was evident in the left angular gyrus (lAnG) after listening to music, which in turn, correlated to the analgesia reports. The post-hoc seed-based functional connectivity analysis of the lAnG showed found higher connectivity after listening to music with right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rdIPFC), the left caudate (ICau), and decreased connectivity with right anterior cingulate cortex (rACC), right supplementary motor area (rSMA), precuneus and right precentral gyrus (rPreG). Pain intensity (PI) analgesia was correlated (r = 0.61) to the connectivity of the lAnG with the rPreG. Our results show that MIA in FM is related to top-down regulation of the pain modulatory network by the default mode network (DMN).Peer reviewe

Brainhack: a collaborative workshop for the open neuroscience community

International audienceBrainhack events offer a novel workshop format with participant-generated content that caters to the rapidly growing open neuroscience community. Including components from hackathons and unconferences, as well as parallel educational sessions, Brainhack fosters novel collaborations around the interests of its attendees. Here we provide an overview of its structure, past events, and example projects. Additionally, we outline current innovations such as regional events and post-conference publications. Through introducing Brainhack to the wider neuroscience community, we hope to provide a unique conference format that promotes the features of collaborative, open science

Frequency drift in MR spectroscopy at 3T

Purpose: Heating of gradient coils and passive shim components is a common cause of instability in the B-0 field, especially when gradient intensive sequences are used. The aim of the study was to set a benchmark for typical drift encountered during MR spectroscopy (MRS) to assess the need for real-time field-frequency locking on MRI scanners by comparing field drift data from a large number of sites.Method: A standardized protocol was developed for 80 participating sites using 99 3T MR scanners from 3 major vendors. Phantom water signals were acquired before and after an EPI sequence. The protocol consisted of: minimal preparatory imaging; a short pre-fMRI PRESS; a ten-minute fMRI acquisition; and a long post-fMRI PRESS acquisition. Both pre- and post-fMRI PRESS were non-water suppressed. Real-time frequency stabilization/adjustment was switched off when appropriate. Sixty scanners repeated the protocol for a second dataset. In addition, a three-hour post-fMRI MRS acquisition was performed at one site to observe change of gradient temperature and drift rate. Spectral analysis was performed using MATLAB. Frequency drift in pre-fMRI PRESS data were compared with the first 5:20 minutes and the full 30:00 minutes of data after fMRI. Median (interquartile range) drifts were measured and showed in violin plot. Paired t-tests were performed to compare frequency drift pre- and post-fMRI. A simulated in vivo spectrum was generated using FID-A to visualize the effect of the observed frequency drifts. The simulated spectrum was convolved with the frequency trace for the most extreme cases. Impacts of frequency drifts on NAA and GABA were also simulated as a function of linear drift. Data from the repeated protocol were compared with the corresponding first dataset using Pearson's and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC).Results: Of the data collected from 99 scanners, 4 were excluded due to various reasons. Thus, data from 95 scanners were ultimately analyzed. For the first 5:20 min (64 transients), median (interquartile range) drift was 0.44 (1.29) Hz before fMRI and 0.83 (1.29) Hz after. This increased to 3.15 (4.02) Hz for the full 30 min (360 transients) run. Average drift rates were 0.29 Hz/min before fMRI and 0.43 Hz/min after. Paired t-tests indicated that drift increased after fMRI, as expected (p &lt; 0.05). Simulated spectra convolved with the frequency drift showed that the intensity of the NAA singlet was reduced by up to 26%, 44 % and 18% for GE, Philips and Siemens scanners after fMRI, respectively. ICCs indicated good agreement between datasets acquired on separate days. The single site long acquisition showed drift rate was reduced to 0.03 Hz/min approximately three hours after fMRI.Discussion: This study analyzed frequency drift data from 95 3T MRI scanners. Median levels of drift were relatively low (5-min average under 1 Hz), but the most extreme cases suffered from higher levels of drift. The extent of drift varied across scanners which both linear and nonlinear drifts were observed.</p

Executive Mechanisms for Thinking about Negative Situations in Both Cooperative and Non-Cooperative Contexts

Mentalizing is a fundamental aspect of social cognition that includes understanding the mental states of others. This process involves the participation of a well-defined set of brain regions. However, it is still unknown how different contextual situations, such as previous cooperative or non-cooperative interactions, can modulate the brain activity related to the inference of others’ mental states. Hence, this study investigated whether a previous social interaction can modulate the neural mechanisms involved in a way to response to inferred mental states of cooperators and non-cooperators in positive vs. negative emotional situations. Participants first engaged in a Dictator game with cooperator and non-cooperator confederates. Then, in an fMRI setup, participants had to infer the mental states of the cooperator and non-cooperator confederates under positive and negative situations. Results showed that in addition to the mentalizing network, inferring mental states recruited occipital and cerebellar areas in the cooperative context. A differential pattern of activity that depended on the emotional valence of the situation was also detected, i.e., negative situations recruited prefrontal cortex (PFC) in both contexts, while temporal regions were recruited only for the non-cooperative context. Overall, these results suggest that our previous experiences with others modulate the brain activity related to the inferences we make about their mental states in specific emotional situations

Executive Mechanisms for Thinking about Negative Situations in Both Cooperative and Non-Cooperative Contexts

Mentalizing is a fundamental aspect of social cognition that includes understanding the mental states of others. This process involves the participation of a well-defined set of brain regions. However, it is still unknown how different contextual situations, such as previous cooperative or non-cooperative interactions, can modulate the brain activity related to the inference of others’ mental states. Hence, this study investigated whether a previous social interaction can modulate the neural mechanisms involved in a way to response to inferred mental states of cooperators and non-cooperators in positive vs. negative emotional situations. Participants first engaged in a Dictator game with cooperator and non-cooperator confederates. Then, in an fMRI setup, participants had to infer the mental states of the cooperator and non-cooperator confederates under positive and negative situations. Results showed that in addition to the mentalizing network, inferring mental states recruited occipital and cerebellar areas in the cooperative context. A differential pattern of activity that depended on the emotional valence of the situation was also detected, i.e., negative situations recruited prefrontal cortex (PFC) in both contexts, while temporal regions were recruited only for the non-cooperative context. Overall, these results suggest that our previous experiences with others modulate the brain activity related to the inferences we make about their mental states in specific emotional situations

The Franciscan Prayer Elicits Empathic and Cooperative Intentions in Atheists: A Neurocognitive and Phenomenological Enquiry

Religiosity influences the alleviation of troubles through cooperative and empathic attitudes, but these involve a sense of community offered in non-religious support groups and healthcare institutions too, where individual’s spiritual well-being is based on responsibility and solidarity. This is the case of the Alcoholic Anonymous program adopted by several care initiatives, which use the Franciscan Prayer as a fundamental text representing a western epistemic meaning-making system to provide guidance for cooperation and empathy. We aimed to identify the effect of the Franciscan Prayer on the neurocognitive function and emotional-social experiences in 20 persons declared as atheist (M age = 22.85 ± 2.60 years). Spiritual profiles, acceptance of religion, and dispositional empathy were psychometrically evaluated. Functional images were acquired in a 3 T scanner to identify BOLD signals while reading The Franciscan Prayer, The Lord’s Prayer representing a culturally known religious text with no Franciscan elements, and a birthday serenade representing a culturally known non-religious text. Phenomenological interviews were performed to categorize emotional experiences and social situations associated with reading each text. Results show that spiritual well-being and empathic dispositions are not allied with religious beliefs. The reading of The Franciscan Prayer was correlated with activation in primary motor and premotor cortices, parietal primary and integrative areas, and occipital primary and associative cortices. These motor and sensorial functions might be essential for the empathic attitudes expressed in the Franciscan tradition allowing cooperative actions. This is congruent with the participant’s experiences of wellness, reciprocity, responsibility, and helping evoked by this prayer. The Lord’s Prayer was correlated with activation in prefrontal regions, as well as, in anterior and posterior portions of the cingulate cortex. These activations may imply mnemonic and moral processes that may be needed for conflict valuations based on childhood and cultural memories evoked by the participants. As testimonies indicate, disgust, confusion, or criticisms were associated with the religious property of the text. We conclude that thoughts, emotions, and actions evoked by The Franciscan Prayer are not inclined by its religious quality but by its empathic and cooperative properties, which may allow for self-reflection and social actions needed for support groups

Functional connectivity of music-induced analgesia in fibromyalgia

Listening to self-chosen, pleasant and relaxing music reduces pain in fibromyalgia (FM), a chronic centralized pain condition. However, the neural correlates of this effect are fairly unknown. In our study, we wished to investigate the neural correlates of music-induced analgesia (MIA) in FM patients. To do this, we studied 20 FM patients and 20 matched healthy controls (HC) acquiring rs-fMRI with a 3T MRI scanner, and pain data before and after two 5-min auditory conditions: music and noise. We performed resting state functional connectivity (rs-FC) seed-based correlation analyses (SCA) using pain and analgesia-related ROIs to determine the effects before and after the music intervention in FM and HC, and its correlation with pain reports. We found significant differences in baseline rs-FC between FM and HC. Both groups showed changes in rs-FC after the music condition. FM patients reported MIA that was significantly correlated with rs-FC decrease between the angular gyrus, posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus, and rs-FC increase between amygdala and middle frontal gyrus. These areas are related to autobiographical and limbic processes, and auditory attention, suggesting MIA may arise as a consequence of top-down modulation, probably originated by distraction, relaxation, positive emotion, or a combination of these mechanisms