fMRI Brain-Computer Interface: A Tool for Neuroscientific Research and Treatment

Brain-computer interfaces based on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI-BCI) allow volitional control of anatomically specific regions of the brain. Technological advancement in higher field MRI scanners, fast data acquisition sequences, preprocessing algorithms, and robust statistical analysis are anticipated to make fMRI-BCI more widely available and applicable. This noninvasive technique could potentially complement the traditional neuroscientific experimental methods by varying the activity of the neural substrates of a region of interest as an independent variable to study its effects on behavior. If the neurobiological basis of a disorder (e.g., chronic pain, motor diseases, psychopathy, social phobia, depression) is known in terms of abnormal activity in certain regions of the brain, fMRI-BCI can be targeted to modify activity in those regions with high specificity for treatment. In this paper, we review recent results of the application of fMRI-BCI to neuroscientific research and psychophysiological treatment

Migration background and juvenile mental health: a descriptive retrospective analysis of diagnostic rates of psychiatric disorders in young people

Introduction: This article presents diagnostic rates for specific mental disorders in a German pediatric inpatient population over a period of 20 years with respect to migration background and socioeconomic status (SES).Methods: Diagnostic data were obtained over a period of 20 years from 8,904 patients who visited a child and adolescent psychiatry mental health service in Germany. Data from 5,985 diagnosed patients (ICD-9 and ICD-10 criteria) were included with respect to gender, migration background, and SES.Results: Migration- and gender-specific effects were found for both periods of assessment. The group of boys with a migration background showed significantly higher rates of reactions to severe stress, adjustment disorders, and posttraumatic stress disorder compared to their male, non-migrant counterparts. Conversely, boys without a migration background showed a significantly higher percentage rate of hyperkinetic disorders than male migrants. Similar results were found for female migrants in the latter assessment period (ICD-10). In addition, female migrants showed lower rates of emotional disorders whose onset occurs in childhood compared to their non-migrant counterparts.Conclusions: Data from this investigation provide preliminary evidence that the prevalence of various psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents is influenced by migration background and SES

Inspecting aviation composites at the stage of airplane manufacturing by applying 'classical' active thermal NDT, ultrasonic thermography and laser vibrometry

The results of applying three nondestructive testing techniques to the inspection of parts of a new Russian TVS-2DTS airplane made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic are presented. A basic technique implemented in workshop conditions implements optical stimulation of inspected parts. The usefulness of ultrasonic infrared thermography combined with laser vibrometry in the evaluation of parts with complicated geometry is illustrated. Samples with artificial and real defects have been tested in workshop conditions

Volitional control of the anterior insula in criminal psychopaths using real-time fMRI neurofeedback: a pilot study

This pilot study aimed to explore whether criminal psychopaths can learn volitional regulation of the left anterior insula with real-time fMRI neurofeedback. Our previous studies with healthy volunteers showed that learned control of the blood oxygenation-level dependent (BOLD) signal was specific to the target region, and not a result of general arousal and global unspecific brain activation, and also that successful regulation modulates emotional responses, specifically to aversive picture stimuli but not neutral stimuli. In this pilot study, four criminal psychopaths were trained to regulate the anterior insula by employing negative emotional imageries taken from previous episodes in their lives, in conjunction with contingent feedback. Only one out of the four participants learned to increase the percent differential BOLD in the up-regulation condition across training runs. Subjects with higher Psychopathic Checklist-Revised (PCL:SV) scores were less able to increase the BOLD signal in the anterior insula than their lower PCL:SV counterparts. We investigated functional connectivity changes in the emotional network due to learned regulation of the successful participant, by employing multivariate Granger Causality Modeling (GCM). Learning to up-regulate the left anterior insula not only increased the number of connections (causal density) in the emotional network in the single successful participant but also increased the difference between the number of outgoing and incoming connections (causal flow) of the left insula. This pilot study shows modest potential for training psychopathic individuals to learn to control brain activity in the anterior insula