The Effect of the Visual Context in the Recognition of Symbolic Gestures

Background: To investigate, by means of fMRI, the influence of the visual environment in the process of symbolic gesture recognition. Emblems are semiotic gestures that use movements or hand postures to symbolically encode and communicate meaning, independently of language. They often require contextual information to be correctly understood. Until now, observation of symbolic gestures was studied against a blank background where the meaning and intentionality of the gesture was not fulfilled. Methodology/Principal Findings: Normal subjects were scanned while observing short videos of an individual performing symbolic gesture with or without the corresponding visual context and the context scenes without gestures. The comparison between gestures regardless of the context demonstrated increased activity in the inferior frontal gyrus, the superior parietal cortex and the temporoparietal junction in the right hemisphere and the precuneus and posterior cingulate bilaterally, while the comparison between context and gestures alone did not recruit any of these regions. Conclusions/Significance: These areas seem to be crucial for the inference of intentions in symbolic gestures observed in their natural context and represent an interrelated network formed by components of the putative human neuron mirro

Conjunction analysis.

<p>Regions where G-CONTEXT was greater than GESTURE and CONTEXT.</p

Autonomic nervous system activation during social cognition tasks in patients with schizophrenia and their unaffected relatives

Objective: To determine if patients with schizophrenia and their unaffected first degree relatives have abnormal autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses to social cognition tasks. Background: Social cognition impairments are significant in schizophrenia. ANS activity has been shown to be abnormal in schizophrenia patients, and some of these abnormalities seem to be shared by unaffected relatives of afflicted persons. Method: Heart rate variability (HRV) was measured at rest, and while performing social cognition tasks in patients with schizophrenia, their nonpsychotic firstdegree relatives, and matched healthy persons (n=19 in each group). Results: Social cognition tasks induced a shortening of the RR interval in unaffected relatives, but not in patients. Social cognition tasks generated decreases in high-frequency (HF, indicative of cardiac vagal activity) and in low frequency (LF, reflecting predominantly sympathetic activity) HRV in patients, while in relatives the decrease occurred in The HF component only. LF-HRV was higher in patients during a theory of mind task compared with a control task. These changes were not observed in healthy persons. Conclusions: Social cognitive tasks induce a pattern of peripheral autonomic activity different from that seen in generic arousal responses, and such pattern is abnormal in schizophrenia patients. Autonomic abnormalities in unaffected first degree relatives seem restricted to the parasympathetic division of the ANS.Fil: Jáuregui, Ignacio Oscar. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Costanzo, Elsa Y.. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: de Achaval, Delfina. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Villarreal, Mirta Fabiana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Chu, Elvina. University College London; Estados UnidosFil: Mora, Martina C.. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Vigo, Daniel Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina "Santa María de Los Buenos Aires"; ArgentinaFil: Castro, Mariana Nair. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Leiguarda, Ramón C.. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Bär, Karl-Jürgen. Universitat Jena; AlemaniaFil: Guinjoan, Salvador Martín. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología; Argentin

Emotion processing and theory of mind in schizophrenia patients and their unaffected first-degree relatives

Previous studies have suggested that social cognition is affected in individuals with schizophrenia. The purpose of this study was to explore to what extent social cognition deficits are shared by unaffected first-degree relatives, and the nature of the relationship between performance in different paradigms of social cognition. 20 Schizophrenia patients (7 females, 31 ± 10 years), 20 healthy age- and gender-matched individuals, 20 unaffected first-degree relatives of the schizophrenia patients (11 females, 50 ± 20 years), and 20 healthy individuals matched for age and gender were recruited. Patients showed deficits in the detection of social Faux Pas (0.80 ± 0.17 vs. controls: 0.94 ± 0.09, p = 0.025) and the correct identification of Theory of Mind stories (0.71 ± 0.13 vs. controls: 0.82 ± 0.12, p = 0.038). Relatives performed poorly in the Faces Test (0.83 ± 0.14 vs. controls: 0.9 ± 0.08, p = 0.048), the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (0.59 ± 0.17 vs. controls: 0.71 ± 0.14, p = 0.046) and the detection of social Faux Pas (0.8 ± 0.2 vs. controls: 0.93 ± 0.09, p = 0.024). Abnormalities were independent of age, years of education, and general cognitive performance in patients and their relatives. Performance in an Emotion Processing task (Faces Test) was correlated with performance in theory of mind tests in healthy individuals and relatives of patients with schizophrenia only. These results suggest that schizophrenia patients and their unaffected first-degree relatives display similar but nonidentical patterns of social cognition processing.Fil: de Achaval, Delfina. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Costanzo, Elsa Y.. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Villarreal, Mirta Fabiana. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Jáuregui, Ignacio Oscar. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Chiodi, Araceli. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Castro, Mariana Nair. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Fahrer, Rodolfo D.. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Leiguarda, Ramón C.. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Chu, Elvina. University College London; Estados UnidosFil: Guinjoan, Salvador Martín. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología; Argentin

Heart rate variability response to mental arithmetic stress in patients with schizophrenia Autonomic response to stress in schizophrenia

Abstract Background: The vulnerability-stress hypothesis is an established model of schizophrenia symptom formation. We sought to characterise the pattern of the cardiac autonomic response to mental arithmetic stress in patients with stable schizophrenia. Methods: We performed heart rate variability (HRV) analysis on recordings obtained before, during, and after a standard test of autonomic function involving mental stress in 25 patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia (S) and 25 healthy individuals (C). Results: Patients with schizophrenia had a normal response to the mental arithmetic stress test. Relative contributions of lowfrequency (LF) HRV and high-frequency (HF) HRV influences on heart rate in patients were similar to controls both at rest (LF 64 ± 19% (S) vs. 56 ± 16% (C); HF 36 ± 19% (S) vs. 44 ± 16% (C), t = 1.52, p = 0.136) and during mental stress, with increased LF (S: 76 ± 12%, C: 74 ± 11%) and decreased HF (S: 24 ± 12%, C: 26 ± 11%) in the latter study condition. Whilst healthy persons recovered the resting pattern of HRV immediately after stress termination (LF 60 ± 15%, HF 40 ± 15%, F = 18.5, p b 0.001), in patients HRV remained unchanged throughout the observed recovery period, with larger LF (71 ± 17%) and lower HF (29 ± 17%) compared with baseline (F = 7.3, p = 0.013). Conclusions: Patients with schizophrenia exhibit a normal response to the mental arithmetic stress test as a standard test of autonomic function but in contrast with healthy individuals, they maintain stress-related changes of cardiac autonomic function beyond stimulus cessation

Latin American Experience with Alzheimer's Disease Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers

A promising advance to complement clinical diagnosis at an early stage of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has been the measurement of biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).1 A decrease in CSF amyloid beta 42 (Ab42) is a marker of AD pathology caused by the accumulation of amyloid-b in brain parenchyma,2 whereas increased total tau (t-tau) and hyperphosphorylated tau (p-tau) reflect neuronal degeneration and tangle pathology.3 AD is characterized by episodic memory loss, cognitive impairment, behavioral disorders, and finally, dementia.4 Individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have memory defi- cits but, in contrast to those with AD, are functionally intact and at higher risk of converting to AD than those without MCI.4 It is difficult to predict clinically which individuals with MCI possess AD brain pathology and will therefore progress to clinical ADFil: Surace, Ezequiel Ignacio. Fundación para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia. Instituto de Investigaciones Neurológicas "Raúl Carrea"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Cohen, Gabriela. Fundación para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia. Instituto de Investigaciones Neurológicas "Raúl Carrea"; ArgentinaFil: Martinetto, Horacio Enrique. Fundación para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia. Instituto de Investigaciones Neurológicas "Raúl Carrea"; ArgentinaFil: Chrem Mendez, Patricio Alexis. Fundación para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia. Instituto de Investigaciones Neurológicas "Raúl Carrea"; ArgentinaFil: Martin, Eugenia. Fundación para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia. Instituto de Investigaciones Neurológicas "Raúl Carrea"; ArgentinaFil: Smith, Elisa. Fundación para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia. Instituto de Investigaciones Neurológicas "Raúl Carrea"; ArgentinaFil: Russo, Griselda. Fundación para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia. Instituto de Investigaciones Neurológicas "Raúl Carrea"; ArgentinaFil: Amengual, Alejandra. Fundación para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia. Instituto de Investigaciones Neurológicas "Raúl Carrea"; ArgentinaFil: Allegri, Ricardo Francisco. Fundación para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia. Instituto de Investigaciones Neurológicas "Raúl Carrea"; ArgentinaFil: Leiguarda, Ramón C.. Fundación para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia. Instituto de Investigaciones Neurológicas "Raúl Carrea"; ArgentinaFil: Sevlever, Gustavo. Fundación para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia. Instituto de Investigaciones Neurológicas "Raúl Carrea"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Campos, Jorge. Fundación para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia. Instituto de Investigaciones Neurológicas "Raúl Carrea"; Argentin

Example of a creation during the Creative Task.

<p>Example of a creation during the Creative Task.</p

Regression analyses.

<p>Brain activity resulting from the independent regression analysis of the individuals’ Create > Repeat t contrast vs. flexibility (top panel), fluidity (middle panel) and Cscores (bottom panel). Results are shown at p < 0.001 uncorrected and k= 5.</p