Very early processing of emotional words revealed in temporoparietal junctions of both hemispheres by EEG and TMS

We investigate the contribution of both hemispheres in a lateralised lexical decision paradigm with emotional and neutral words in healthy volunteers. In a first experiment, high-density EEG analysis using source imaging methods revealed early specific participation of the temporoparietal junctions (TPJ) in both hemispheres for the detection of words. Then, in an event-related transcranial magnetic stimulation experiment with the same task, the disruption of left or right TPJ compared with a control stimulation over the vertex showed a slowing that is more pronounced when words are emotional and presented in the left visual field (LVF). This indicates that interference with both left and right TPJ results in impaired processing of words that were presented to the LVF. In addition, these results point to a specific cooperative contribution of the right hemisphere in the processing of words with emotional content compared with neutral words at very early stages. Results from the two experiments can be integrated in a brain-based spatiotemporal model of the early detection of written words

Very early processing of emotional words revealed in temporoparietal junctions of both hemispheres by EEG and TMS

We investigate the contribution of both hemispheres in a lateralised lexical decision paradigm with emotional and neutral words in healthy volunteers. In a first experiment, high-density EEG analysis using source imaging methods revealed early specific participation of the temporoparietal junctions (TPJ) in both hemispheres for the detection of words. Then, in an event-related transcranial magnetic stimulation experiment with the same task, the disruption of left or right TPJ compared with a control stimulation over the vertex showed a slowing that is more pronounced when words are emotional and presented in the left visual field (LVF). This indicates that interference with both left and right TPJ results in impaired processing of words that were presented to the LVF. In addition, these results point to a specific cooperative contribution of the right hemisphere in the processing of words with emotional content compared with neutral words at very early stages. Results from the two experiments can be integrated in a brain-based spatiotemporal model of the early detection of written words

Parieto-Frontal Circuits During Observation of Hidden and Visible Motor Acts in Children. A High-density EEG Source Imaging Study

Several studies showed that in the human brain specific premotor and parietal areas are activated during the execution and observation of motor acts. The activation of this premotor-parietal network displaying the so-called Mirror Mechanism (MM) was proposed to underpin basic forms of action understanding. However, the functional properties of the MM in children are still largely unknown. In order to address this issue, we recorded high-density EEG from 12 children (6 female, 6 male; average age 10.5, SD ±2.15). Data were collected when children observed video clips showing hands grasping objects in two different experimental conditions: (1) Full Vision, in which the motor act was fully visible; (2) Hidden, in which the interaction between the hand and the object was not visible. Event-related potentials (ERPs) and topographic map analyses were used to investigate the temporal pattern of the ERPs and their brain source of localization, employing a children template of the Montreal Neurological Institute. Results showed that two different parieto-premotor circuits are activated by the observation of object-related hand reaching-to-grasping motor acts in children. The first circuit comprises the ventral premotor and the inferior parietal cortices. The second one comprises the dorsal premotor and superior parietal cortices. The activation of both circuits is differently lateralized and modulated in time, and influenced by the amount of visual information available about the hand grasping-related portion of the observed motor acts

Oscillatory neural signatures of visual perception across developmental stages in individuals with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome

Background: Numerous behavioral studies have highlighted the contribution of visual perceptual deficits to the nonverbal cognitive profile of individuals with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. However, the neurobiological processes underlying these widespread behavioral alterations are yet to be fully understood. Thus, in this paper, we investigated the role of neural oscillations toward visuoperceptual deficits to elucidate the neurobiology of sensory impairments in deletion carriers. Methods: We acquired 125 high-density electroencephalography recordings during a visual grating task in a group of 62 deletion carriers and 63 control subjects. Stimulus-elicited oscillatory responses were analyzed with 1) time-frequency analysis using wavelets decomposition at sensor and source level, 2) intertrial phase coherence, and 3) Granger causality connectivity in source space. Additional analyses examined the development of neural oscillations across age bins. Results: Deletion carriers had decreased theta-band (4–8 Hz) and gamma-band (58–68 Hz) spectral power compared with control subjects in response to the visual stimuli, with an absence of age-related increase of theta- and gamma-band responses. Moreover, adult deletion carriers had decreased gamma- and theta-band responses but increased alpha/beta desynchronization (10–25 Hz) that correlated with behavioral performance. Granger causality estimates reflected an increased frontal-occipital connectivity in the beta range (22–40 Hz). Conclusions: Deletion carriers exhibited decreased theta- and gamma-band responses to visual stimuli, while alpha/beta desynchronization was preserved. Overall, the lack of age-related changes in deletion carriers implicates developmental impairments in circuit mechanisms underlying neural oscillations. The dissociation between the maturation of theta/gamma- and alpha/beta-band responses may indicate a selective impairment in supragranular cortical layers, leading to compensatory top-down connectivity

Changes in preterm birth and stillbirth during COVID-19 lockdowns in 26 countries.

Preterm birth (PTB) is the leading cause of infant mortality worldwide. Changes in PTB rates, ranging from -90% to +30%, were reported in many countries following early COVID-19 pandemic response measures ('lockdowns'). It is unclear whether this variation reflects real differences in lockdown impacts, or perhaps differences in stillbirth rates and/or study designs. Here we present interrupted time series and meta-analyses using harmonized data from 52 million births in 26 countries, 18 of which had representative population-based data, with overall PTB rates ranging from 6% to 12% and stillbirth ranging from 2.5 to 10.5 per 1,000 births. We show small reductions in PTB in the first (odds ratio 0.96, 95% confidence interval 0.95-0.98, P value <0.0001), second (0.96, 0.92-0.99, 0.03) and third (0.97, 0.94-1.00, 0.09) months of lockdown, but not in the fourth month of lockdown (0.99, 0.96-1.01, 0.34), although there were some between-country differences after the first month. For high-income countries in this study, we did not observe an association between lockdown and stillbirths in the second (1.00, 0.88-1.14, 0.98), third (0.99, 0.88-1.12, 0.89) and fourth (1.01, 0.87-1.18, 0.86) months of lockdown, although we have imprecise estimates due to stillbirths being a relatively rare event. We did, however, find evidence of increased risk of stillbirth in the first month of lockdown in high-income countries (1.14, 1.02-1.29, 0.02) and, in Brazil, we found evidence for an association between lockdown and stillbirth in the second (1.09, 1.03-1.15, 0.002), third (1.10, 1.03-1.17, 0.003) and fourth (1.12, 1.05-1.19, <0.001) months of lockdown. With an estimated 14.8 million PTB annually worldwide, the modest reductions observed during early pandemic lockdowns translate into large numbers of PTB averted globally and warrant further research into causal pathways

Changes in preterm birth and stillbirth during COVID-19 lockdowns in 26 countries.

Preterm birth (PTB) is the leading cause of infant mortality worldwide. Changes in PTB rates, ranging from -90% to +30%, were reported in many countries following early COVID-19 pandemic response measures ('lockdowns'). It is unclear whether this variation reflects real differences in lockdown impacts, or perhaps differences in stillbirth rates and/or study designs. Here we present interrupted time series and meta-analyses using harmonized data from 52 million births in 26 countries, 18 of which had representative population-based data, with overall PTB rates ranging from 6% to 12% and stillbirth ranging from 2.5 to 10.5 per 1,000 births. We show small reductions in PTB in the first (odds ratio 0.96, 95% confidence interval 0.95-0.98, P value <0.0001), second (0.96, 0.92-0.99, 0.03) and third (0.97, 0.94-1.00, 0.09) months of lockdown, but not in the fourth month of lockdown (0.99, 0.96-1.01, 0.34), although there were some between-country differences after the first month. For high-income countries in this study, we did not observe an association between lockdown and stillbirths in the second (1.00, 0.88-1.14, 0.98), third (0.99, 0.88-1.12, 0.89) and fourth (1.01, 0.87-1.18, 0.86) months of lockdown, although we have imprecise estimates due to stillbirths being a relatively rare event. We did, however, find evidence of increased risk of stillbirth in the first month of lockdown in high-income countries (1.14, 1.02-1.29, 0.02) and, in Brazil, we found evidence for an association between lockdown and stillbirth in the second (1.09, 1.03-1.15, 0.002), third (1.10, 1.03-1.17, 0.003) and fourth (1.12, 1.05-1.19, <0.001) months of lockdown. With an estimated 14.8 million PTB annually worldwide, the modest reductions observed during early pandemic lockdowns translate into large numbers of PTB averted globally and warrant further research into causal pathways

Very early processing of emotional words revealed in temporoparietal junctions of both hemispheres by EEG and TMS.

We investigate the contribution of both hemispheres in a lateralised lexical decision paradigm with emotional and neutral words in healthy volunteers. In a first experiment, high-density EEG analysis using source imaging methods revealed early specific participation of the temporoparietal junctions (TPJ) in both hemispheres for the detection of words. Then, in an event-related transcranial magnetic stimulation experiment with the same task, the disruption of left or right TPJ compared with a control stimulation over the vertex showed a slowing that is more pronounced when words are emotional and presented in the left visual field (LVF). This indicates that interference with both left and right TPJ results in impaired processing of words that were presented to the LVF. In addition, these results point to a specific cooperative contribution of the right hemisphere in the processing of words with emotional content compared with neutral words at very early stages. Results from the two experiments can be integrated in a brain-based spatiotemporal model of the early detection of written words