Self and Other: An fMRI Study of Referential Processing and Retrieval

The self-reference effect has often been used as an indicator of how the brain processes information about ones self. Using fMRI, we studied the neural correlates of the self-reference effect during both encoding and retrieval by means of a unique paradigm of stimuli presentation. Changes in BOLD signal during self-referential processing were compared with those observed during mother-referential processing, and conjunction analysis of these two conditions resulted in joint activations of the superior fontal, inferior frontal and posterior cingulate gyri. Areas of the anterior cingulate gyrus and the visual word form area were observed for self-referential processing and not for mother-referential processing. During retrieval, hippocampal deactivation was observed for all memory tasks vs. the non-memory control task. Furthermore, the hippocampi deactivated less during the recall of self-referenced vs. mother-referenced items. Given that there was no significant difference between mean response times and recall accuracy between these conditions, the differences in deactivation are discussed as a way in which the recall of self-referenced material may be neurofunctionally special. Subjects in this study also performed a social attribution task in which they inferred mental states about geometric shapes. BOLD signal changes during this condition indicated activation of dorsomedial prefrontal cortices (DMPFC), bilateral ventral pathways including the fusiform face area, the amygdalae (right \u3e left), bilateral superior temporal sulci (STS, right \u3e left), anterior fusiform, and bilateral posterior cingulate gyri. In order to explore the areas of overlap between this more abstract social processing and the activations observed in the referential-processing task, an overlay map of these two tasks was created. Overlap was observed in the MPFC, the STS and posterior cingulate cortices. These findings are discussed in the context of a relationship between theory of mind and theory of self, and possible implications for the study of neuropsychiatric disorders are explored

Age and sex affect intersubject correlation of EEG throught development

Recent efforts have aimed to characterize clinical pediatric populations by using neurophysiological tests in addition to behavioral assays. Here we report on a data collection effort in which electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded in both juveniles and adults (N=114 participants, ages 6-44 years of age) during various stimulation protocols. The present analysis focuses on how neural responses during passive viewing of naturalistic videos vary with age and sex, and in particular, how similar they are within developmental groups. Similarity of neural responses was measured as the inter-subject correlation of the EEG. Stimulus-evoked neural responses are more similar among children and decrease in similarity with age. Among children, males respond more similarly to each other than females. This was uniformly true for a variety of videos. The decrease in group similarity with age may result from an overall decline in the magnitude of evoked responses, but this cannot explain the sex differences found in the young. We therefore propose that as children mature, neural function may become more variable

ADHD desynchronizes brain activity during watching a distracted multi-talker conversation

Individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have difficulties navigating dynamic everyday situations that contain multiple sensory inputs that need to either be attended to or ignored. As conventional experimental tasks lack this type of everyday complexity, we administered a film-based multi-talker condition with auditory distractors in the background. ADHD-related aberrant brain responses to this naturalistic stimulus were identified using intersubject correlations (ISCs) in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data collected from 51 adults with ADHD and 29 healthy controls. A novel permutation-based approach introducing studentized statistics and subject-wise voxel-level null-distributions revealed that several areas in cerebral attention networks and sensory cortices were desynchronized in participants with ADHD (n = 20) relative to healthy controls (n = 20). Specifically, desynchronization of the posterior parietal cortex occurred when irrelevant speech or music was presented in the background, but not when irrelevant white noise was presented, or when there were no distractors. We also show regionally distinct ISC signatures for inattention and impulsivity. Finally, post-scan recall of the film contents was associated with stronger ISCs in the default-mode network for the ADHD and in the dorsal attention network for healthy controls. The present study shows that ISCs can further our understanding of how a complex environment influences brain states in ADHD.Peer reviewe

The Variability of Neural Responses to Naturalistic Videos Change with Age and Sex

Neural development is generally marked by an increase in the efficiency and diversity of neural processes. In a large sample (n=114) of human children and adults with ages ranging from 5 to 44 yr, we investigated the neural responses to naturalistic video stimuli. Videos from both real-life classroom settings and Hollywood feature films were used to probe different aspects of attention and engagement. For all stimuli, older ages were marked by more variable neural responses. Variability was assessed by the intersubject correlation of evoked electroencephalographic responses. Young males also had less-variable responses than young females. These results were replicated in an independent cohort (n = 303). When interpreted in the context of neural maturation, we conclude that neural function becomes more variable with maturity, at least during the passive viewing of real-world stimuli.Fil: Petroni, Agustín. City University of New York; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Cohen, Samantha S.. City University of New York; Estados UnidosFil: Ai, Lei. City University of New York; Estados UnidosFil: Langer, Nicolas. City University of New York; Estados UnidosFil: Henin, Simon. City University of New York; Estados UnidosFil: Vanderwal, Tamara. City University of New York; Estados UnidosFil: Milham, Michael P.. City University of New York; Estados UnidosFil: Parra, Lucas C.. City University of New York; Estados Unido

ADHD desynchronizes brain activity during watching a distracted multi-talker conversation

Individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have difficulties navigating dynamic everyday situations that contain multiple sensory inputs that need to either be attended to or ignored. As conventional experimental tasks lack this type of everyday complexity, we administered a film-based multi-talker condition with auditory distractors in the background. ADHD-related aberrant brain responses to this naturalistic stimulus were identified using intersubject correlations (ISCs) in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data collected from 51 adults with ADHD and 29 healthy controls. A novel permutation-based approach introducing studentized statistics and subject-wise voxel-level null-distributions revealed that several areas in cerebral attention networks and sensory cortices were desynchronized in participants with ADHD (n = 20) relative to healthy controls (n = 20). Specifically, desynchronization of the posterior parietal cortex occurred when irrelevant speech or music was presented in the background, but not when irrelevant white noise was presented, or when there were no distractors. We also show regionally distinct ISC signatures for inattention and impulsivity. Finally, post-scan recall of the film contents was associated with stronger ISCs in the default-mode network for the ADHD and in the dorsal attention network for healthy controls. The present study shows that ISCs can further our understanding of how a complex environment influences brain states in ADHD.</p

The Variability of Neural Responses to Naturalistic Videos Change with Age and Sex

Neural development is generally marked by an increase in the efficiency and diversity of neural processes. In a large sample ( = 114) of human children and adults with ages ranging from 5 to 44 yr, we investigated the neural responses to naturalistic video stimuli. Videos from both real-life classroom settings and Hollywood feature films were used to probe different aspects of attention and engagement. For all stimuli, older ages were marked by more variable neural responses. Variability was assessed by the intersubject correlation of evoked electroencephalographic responses. Young males also had less-variable responses than young females. These results were replicated in an independent cohort ( = 303). When interpreted in the context of neural maturation, we conclude that neural function becomes more variable with maturity, at least during the passive viewing of real-world stimuli

The Healthy Brain Network Serial Scanning Initiative: a resource for evaluating inter-individual differences and their reliabilities across scan conditions and sessions

Background: Although typically measured during the resting state, a growing literature is illustrating the ability to map intrinsic connectivity with functional MRI during task and naturalistic viewing conditions. These paradigms are drawing excitement due to their greater tolerability in clinical and developing populations and because they enable a wider range of analyses (e.g., inter-subject correlations). To be clinically useful, the test-retest reliability of connectivity measured during these paradigms needs to be established. This resource provides data for evaluating test-retest reliability for full-brain connectivity patterns detected during each of four scan conditions that differ with respect to level of engagement (rest, abstract animations, movie clips, flanker task). Data are provided for 13 participants, each scanned in 12 sessions with 10 minutes for each scan of the four conditions. Diffusion kurtosis imaging data was also obtained at each session. Findings: Technical validation and demonstrative reliability analyses were carried out at the connection-level using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient and at network-level representations of the data using the Image Intraclass Correlation Coefficient. Variation in intrinsic functional connectivity across sessions was generally found to be greater than that attributable to scan condition. Between-condition reliability was generally high, particularly for the frontoparietal and default networks. Between-session reliabilities obtained separately for the different scan conditions were comparable, though notably lower than between-condition reliabilities

Towards clinical applications of movie fMRI

AbstractAs evidenced by the present special issue, movie fMRI is emerging as a powerful tool for exploring brain function and characterizing its variation across individuals. Here, we provide a brief perspective on the potential of movie fMRI for advancing the discovery of brain imaging-based markers of psychiatric illness. We discuss relevant gaps and opportunities in movie fMRI, and propose community-level models that might accelerate the pace of discovery of fMRI-based biomarkers in psychiatry

Movies in the magnet: Naturalistic paradigms in developmental functional neuroimaging

The use of movie-watching as an acquisition state for functional connectivity (FC) MRI has recently enabled multiple groups to obtain rich data sets in younger children with both substantial sample sizes and scan durations. Using naturalistic paradigms such as movies has also provided analytic flexibility for these developmental studies that extends beyond conventional resting state approaches. This review highlights the advantages and challenges of using movies for developmental neuroimaging and explores some of the methodological issues involved in designing pediatric studies with movies. Emerging themes from movie-watching studies are discussed, including an emphasis on intersubject correlations, developmental changes in network interactions under complex naturalistic conditions, and dynamic age-related changes in both sensory and higher-order network FC even in narrow age ranges. Converging evidence suggests an enhanced ability to identify brain-behavior correlations in children when using movie-watching data relative to both resting state and conventional tasks. Future directions and cautionary notes highlight the potential and the limitations of using movies to study FC in pediatric populations. Keywords: Naturalistic viewing, Movies, Resting state, Intersubject correlations, Head motion, Childre