Neural correlates of virtual reality-based attention training: An fMRI study

Theoretical background: Virtual Reality technology is increasingly used in attention rehabilitation for functional training purposes. However, the neural mechanisms by which Virtual Reality can affect attentional functioning are still unclear. The current study's objective is to examine the effects of stereoscopic vs. monoscopic presentation on neural processing during a visual attention task. Method: Thirty-two healthy participants performed a visual attention task in an immersive virtual environment that was displayed via MR-compatible video goggles in an MRI scanner. The paradigm altered between trials that required active engagement with the task and mere observation trials. Furthermore, the form of binocular presentation switched between monoscopic and stereoscopic presentation. Results: Analyses yielded evidence for increased activation in stereoscopic compared to monoscopic trials in the tertiary visual cortex area V3A as well as elevated activation in the dorsal attention network when engaging in the attention task. An additional ROI analysis of area V3A revealed significantly lower attentional engagement costs in stereoscopic conditions. Discussion: Results support previous findings suggesting that V3A is involved in binocular depth perception. Furthermore, heightened activation in V3A following stereoscopic presentation seemed to facilitate attentional engagement with the task. Considering that V3A is the origin of the dorso-dorsal, ventro-dorsal, and ventral visual processing pathways, we regard it as a gating area that decides which kind of visual perception is processed

On the homogeneity and heterogeneity of cortical thickness profiles in Homo sapiens sapiens

Abstract Cortical thickness has been investigated since the beginning of the 20th century, but we do not know how similar the cortical thickness profiles among humans are. In this study, the local similarity of cortical thickness profiles was investigated using sliding window methods. Here, we show that approximately 5% of the cortical thickness profiles are similarly expressed among humans while 45% of the cortical thickness profiles show a high level of heterogeneity. Therefore, heterogeneity is the rule, not the exception. Cortical thickness profiles of somatosensory homunculi and the anterior insula are consistent among humans, while the cortical thickness profiles of the motor homunculus are more variable. Cortical thickness profiles of homunculi that code for muscle position and skin stimulation are highly similar among humans despite large differences in sex, education, and age. This finding suggests that the structure of these cortices remains well preserved over a lifetime. Our observations possibly relativize opinions on cortical plasticity

За кадры. 1987. № 19 (2666)

Студенты ТПИ"Спасибо вам..."В фонд мира / Г. ХрущеваВесна и "Золотая рыбка" / О. КонстантиноваПервые шаги / А. П. БеляеваИнженеры из Сибири / О. ДмитриевВаля, Валентина / А. ЮдинаЗнаешь ли ты сопромат? / К. Н. ЦукублинаНастроены на перемены / А. МиковОдин в поле не воинБыл бы повод / А. СтаровойтовПортрет активистаВременные бригады / З. КошкоМера ответственности / Н. КуцанСвыше нам дана?.. / В. Макаров"Театр. Время. Жизнь"Здравствуйте, Игорь СаввовичНе только о музыке / С. ЧернышевНе осчастливил

Anthropomorphic or non-anthropomorphic? Effects of biological sex in observation of actions in a digital human model and a gantry robot model

Robots are ever more relevant for everyday life, such as healthcare or rehabilitation, as well as for modern industrial environment. One important issue in this context is the way we perceive robots and their actions. From our previous study, evidence exists that sex can affect the way people perceive certain robot's actions. In our fMRI study, we analyzed brain activations of female and male participants, while they observed anthropomorphic and robotic movements performed by a human or a robot model. While lying in the scanner, participants rated the perceived level of anthropomorphic and robotic likeness of movements in the two models. The observation of the human model and the anthropomorphic movements similarly activated the biological motion coding areas in posterior temporal and parietal areas. The observation of the robot model activated predominantly areas of the ventral stream, whereas the observation of robotic movements activated predominantly the primary and higher order motor areas. To note, this later activation originated mainly from female participants, whereas male participants activated, in both robot model and robotic movements contrasts, areas in the posterior parietal cortex. Accordingly, the general contrast of sex suggests that men tend to use the ventro-dorsal stream most plausibly to rely on available previous knowledge to analyze the movements, whereas female participants use the dorso-dorsal and the ventral streams to analyze online the differences between the movement types and between the different models. The study is a first step toward the understanding of sex differences in the processing of anthropomorphic and robotic movements