BOLD fMRI effects of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation in patients with chronic tinnitus.

ObjectiveVagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a neuromodulation method used for treatment of epilepsy and depression. Transcutaneous VNS (tVNS) has been gaining popularity as a noninvasive alternative to VNS. Previous tVNS neuroimaging studies revealed brain (de)activation patterns that involved multiple areas implicated in tinnitus generation and perception. In this study, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to explore the effects of tVNS on brain activity in patients with tinnitus.MethodsThirty-six patients with chronic tinnitus received tVNS to the inner tragus, cymba conchae, and earlobe (sham stimulation).ResultsThe locus coeruleus and nucleus of the solitary tract in the brainstem were activated in response to stimulation of both locations compared with the sham stimulation. The cochlear nuclei were also activated, which was not observed in healthy subjects with normal hearing. Multiple auditory and limbic structures, as well as other brain areas associated with generation and perception of tinnitus, were deactivated by tVNS, particularly the parahippocampal gyrus, which was recently speculated to cause tinnitus in hearing-impaired patients.ConclusionstVNS via the inner tragus or cymba conchae suppressed neural activity in the auditory, limbic, and other tinnitus-related non-auditory areas through auditory and vagal ascending pathways in tinnitus patients. The results from this study are discussed in the context of several existing models of tinnitus. They indicate that the mechanism of action of tVNS might be involved in multiple brain areas responsible for the generation of tinnitus, tinnitus-related emotional annoyance, and their mutual reinforcement

The Quality Monitoring of City Passenger Transportations on Regular Routes Using Data of Objective Control

The article presents the development justification of the quality monitoring methodology of city passenger transportations by motor transport on regular routes based on the criteria development for the evaluation of the passenger transportations quality with the use of the objective control means

Professional psycholinguistic training of speech therapists in higher education

The article discusses the psycholinguistic training of speech therapists in present-day higher education. We argue the importance of psycholinguistic training of undergraduate and graduate students majoring in speech therapy and describe the educational design and implementation of psycholinguistic training at the Faculty of Pedagogical and Special Needs Education of Saratov National Research State University

Spatiotemporal Segregation of Neural Response to Auditory Stimulation: An fMRI Study Using Independent Component Analysis and Frequency-Domain Analysis.

Although auditory processing has been widely studied with conventional parametric methods, there have been a limited number of independent component analysis (ICA) applications in this area. The purpose of this study was to examine spatiotemporal behavior of brain networks in response to passive auditory stimulation using ICA. Continuous broadband noise was presented binaurally to 19 subjects with normal hearing. ICA was performed to segregate spatial networks, which were subsequently classified according to their temporal relation to the stimulus using power spectrum analysis. Classification of separated networks resulted in 3 stimulus-activated, 9 stimulus-deactivated, 2 stimulus-neutral (stimulus-dependent but not correlated with the stimulation timing), and 2 stimulus-unrelated (fluctuations that did not follow the stimulus cycles) components. As a result of such classification, spatiotemporal subdivisions were observed in a number of cortical structures, namely auditory, cingulate, and sensorimotor cortices, where parts of the same cortical network responded to the stimulus with different temporal patterns. The majority of the classified networks seemed to comprise subparts of the known resting-state networks (RSNs); however, they displayed different temporal behavior in response to the auditory stimulus, indicating stimulus-dependent temporal segregation of RSNs. Only one of nine deactivated networks coincided with the "classic" default-mode network, suggesting the existence of a stimulus-dependent default-mode network, different from that commonly accepted

Spatial maps, time courses, and FFT plots of the classified grey matter components.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Stimulus-activated, (<b>B</b>) stimulus-deactivated, (<b>C</b>) stimulus-neutral, and (<b>D</b>) stimulus-unrelated components. Spatial maps are thresholded at <i>q</i> <0.01 FDR corrected and displayed at the most informative coronal slice in neurological convention (the left side of the image corresponds to the left side of the brain). Time courses are averaged across subjects and runs. Grey bars represent stimulus-on periods; the length of bars is fixed for all plots (−0.5 to 0.5 in z-scores). FFT plots are presented on a linear scale; the vertical axis represents the unit amplitude of the spectrum (the axis length is fixed at 0 to 0.15 for all plots). The spectral peak for each component is marked with a black dot. The polar plots depict the difference of the phase at the stimulus presentation frequency from the phase of the stimulus cycles in degrees; the length of the arrow represents the magnitude of the spectrum at the given frequency. CN: cochlear nucleus; CS: cingulate sulcus; CoS: collateral sulcus; EC: entorhinal cortex; FG: fusiform gyrus; HG: Heschl’s gyrus; ICC: inferior colliculus; IPG: inferior parietal gyrus; ITG: inferior temporal gyrus; MGB: medial geniculate body; MTG: middle temporal gyrus; PHG: parahippocampal gyrus; PCC: posterior cingulate cortex; PMA: premotor area; PMC: primary motor cortex; pMCC: posterior midcingulate cortex; PoCG: postcentral gyrus; PrCG: precentral gyrus; SFG: superior frontal gyrus; SMA: supplementary motor area; SMG: supramarginal gyrus; STG: superior temporal gyrus; STS: superior temporal sulcus.</p

Spatial maps, time courses, and FFT plots of stimulus-related non-GM components.

<p>Spatial maps are displayed at the most informative coronal slice in neurological convention (the left side of the image corresponds to the left side of the brain).</p

Temporal and spatial characteristics of the non-grey matter components.

<p><i>f</i>: spectral peak frequency; Maxima: coordinates of maxima voxel in MNI space; BVN: blood vessel network; CSF: cerebrospinal fluid; GM: grey matter.</p

GLM and ICA results.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Stimulus-activated, (<b>B</b>) stimulus-deactivated, (<b>C</b>) stimulus-neutral, and (<b>D</b>) stimulus-unrelated BOLD signal. GLM spatial maps were obtained using one-sample t-test on contrast images calculated from the individual analyses of all subjects. ICA spatial maps were obtained by overlaying all components in the corresponding classification category. Results are presented on the most representative slices as binary maps thresholded at <i>p</i><0.001 uncorrected for multiple comparisons in neurological convention (the left side of the image corresponds to the left side of the brain).</p

Temporal and spatial characteristics of the grey matter components.

<p>SPT<i>:</i> stimulus presentation timing waveform; r_SPT: correlation coefficient with SPT; q_SPT: FDR corrected <i>q</i>-value for correlation with SPT; <i>f</i>: spectral peak frequency; Ampl.: amplitude of the spectrum at the SPT frequency; Phase: phase of the spectrum at the SPT frequency in degrees; Phase diff.: difference from the SPT phase in degrees; Maxima: coordinates of maxima voxel in MNI space.</p><p>CN: cochlear nucleus; CS: cingulate sulcus; CoS: collateral sulcus; EC: entorhinal cortex; FG: fusiform gyrus; HG: Heschl’s gyrus; hi: hippocampus; ICC: inferior colliculus; IPG: inferior parietal gyrus; ITG: inferior temporal gyrus; MGB: medial geniculate body; MTG: middle temporal gyrus; PCC: posterior cingulate cortex; PHG: parahippocampal gyrus; PMA: premotor area; PMC: primary motor cortex; pMCC: posterior midcingulate cortex; PoCG: postcentral gyrus; PrCG: precentral gyrus; SFG: superior frontal gyrus; SMA: supplementary motor area; SMG: supramarginal gyrus; STG: superior temporal gyrus; STS: superior temporal sulcus.</p

Spatiotemporal segregations in various cortical networks.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Auditory networks in the temporal lobes, (B) cingulate networks, (C) sensorimotor networks. Spatial maps are displayed in neurological convention (the left side of the image corresponds to the left side of the brain). CS: cingulate sulcus; HG: Heschl’s gyrus; MTG: middle temporal gyrus; PCC: posterior cingulate cortex; PMA: premotor area; PMC: primary motor cortex; pMCC: posterior midcingulate cortex; PoCG: postcentral gyrus; PrCG: precentral gyrus; SFG: superior frontal gyrus; SMA: supplementary motor area; SMG: supramarginal gyrus; STG: superior temporal gyrus.</p