Explicit and Implicit Emotion Processing in the Cerebellum: A Meta‑analysis and Systematic Review

The cerebellum’s role in affective processing is increasingly recognized in the literature, but remains poorly understood, despite abundant clinical evidence for affective disruptions following cerebellar damage. To improve the characterization of emotion processing and investigate how attention allocation impacts this processing, we conducted a meta-analysis on task activation foci using GingerALE software. Eighty human neuroimaging studies of emotion including 2761 participants identified through Web of Science and ProQuest databases were analyzed collectively and then divided into two categories based on the focus of attention during the task: explicit or implicit emotion processing. The results examining the explicit emotion tasks identified clusters within the posterior cerebellar hemispheres (bilateral lobule VI/Crus I/II), the vermis, and left lobule V/VI that were likely to be activated across studies, while implicit tasks activated clusters including bilateral lobules VI/Crus I/II, right Crus II/lobule VIII, anterior lobule VI, and lobules I-IV/V. A direct comparison between these categories revealed five overlapping clusters in right lobules VI/Crus I/Crus II and left lobules V/VI/Crus I of the cerebellum common to both the explicit and implicit task contrasts. There were also three clusters activated significantly more for explicit emotion tasks compared to implicit tasks (right lobule VI, left lobule VI/vermis), and one cluster activated more for implicit than explicit tasks (left lobule VI). These findings support previous studies indicating affective processing activates both the lateral hemispheric lobules and the vermis of the cerebellum. The common and distinct activation of posterior cerebellar regions by tasks with explicit and implicit attention demonstrates the supportive role of this structure in recognizing, appraising, and reacting to emotional stimuli

Sensory contribution to vocal emotion deficit in patients with cerebellar stroke

In recent years, there has been increasing evidence of cerebellar involvement in emotion processing. Difficulties in the recognition of emotion from voices (i.e., emotional prosody) have been observed following cerebellar stroke. However, the interplay between sensory and higher-order cognitive dysfunction in these deficits, as well as possible hemispheric specialization for emotional prosody processing, has yet to be elucidated. We investigated the emotional prosody recognition performances of patients with right versus left cerebellar lesions, as well as of matched controls, entering the acoustic features of the stimuli in our statistical model. We also explored the cerebellar lesion-behavior relationship, using voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping. Results revealed impairment of vocal emotion recognition in both patient subgroups, particularly for neutral or negative prosody, with a higher number of misattributions in patients with right-hemispheric stroke. Voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping showed that some emotional misattributions correlated with lesions in the right Lobules VIIb and VIII and right Crus I and II. Furthermore, a significant proportion of the variance in this misattribution was explained by acoustic features such as pitch, loudness, and spectral aspects. These results point to bilateral posterior cerebellar involvement in both the sensory and cognitive processing of emotions

Electroencephalographic Abnormalities in a Patient Suffering from Long-Term Neuropsychological Complications following SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Introduction: Emotional apathy has recently been identified as a common symptom of long COVID. While recent meta-analyses have demonstrated generalized EEG slowing with the emergence of delta rhythms in patients hospitalized for severe SARS-CoV-2 infection, no EEG study or dopamine transporter scintigraphy (DaTSCAN) has been performed in patients with long COVID presenting with apathy. The objective of this case report was to explore the pathophysiology of neuropsychological symptoms in long COVID. Case Presentation: A 47-year-old patient who developed a long COVID with prominent apathy following an initially clinically mild SARS-CoV-2 infection underwent neuropsychological assessment, cerebral MRI, DaTSCAN, and resting-state high-density EEG 7 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection. The EEG data were compared to those of 21 healthy participants. The patient presented with apathy, cognitive difficulties with dysexecutive syndrome, moderate attentional and verbal episodic memory disturbances, and resolution of premorbid mild gaming disorder, mild mood disturbances, and sleep disturbances. His MRI and DaTSCAN were unremarkable. EEG revealed a complex pattern of oscillatory abnormalities compared to the control group, with a strong increase in whole-scalp delta and beta band activity, as well as a decrease in alpha band activity. Overall, these effects were more prominent in the frontal-central-temporal region. Conclusion: These results suggest widespread changes in EEG oscillatory patterns in a patient with long COVID characterized by neuropsychological complications with prominent apathy. Despite the inherent limitations of a case report, these results suggest dysfunction in the cortical networks involved in motivation and emotion

L’influence des recommandations politiques sur la recherche d’informations et le vote cantonal dans le cadre de la géothermie profonde en Suisse

Actuellement, de nombreuses initiatives dites « pro-environnementales » sont soumises au vote en Suisse. Mais celles-ci sont majoritairement rejetées, malgré le soutien de certains partis politiques et la présentation d’arguments « scientifiques » L’objectif de ces deux études en trois phases était d’étudier, à travers cinq hypothèses, le rôle des recommandations politiques et des arguments dans une hypothétique votation cantonale à propos de la géothermie profonde. Nos résultats ont permis d’observer un effet négatif des arguments et des recommandations politiques sur la votation cantonale à propos de la géothermie profonde. Ces résultats suggèrent que l’augmentation des informations et la plus grande complexité de celles-ci auraient un effet négatif sur les prises de décisions dans un contexte de politique environnementale

Réforme électorale : lettre aux citoyens suisses /

Ce travail a obtenu le second prix au concours ouvert par l'Association suisse pour la représentation proportionnelle.Op kaft: Fiat justitia!Sint-Luca

Moderating effects of uric acid and sex on cognition and psychiatric symptoms in asymmetric Parkinson’s disease

Abstract Background Non-motor symptoms are an important early feature of Parkinson’s disease (PD), encompassing a variety of cognitive and psychiatric symptoms that seem to manifest differently depending on motor symptom asymmetry. Different factors, such as uric acid (UA) and sex, seem to influence cognitive and psychiatric expression in PD, however their interplay remains to be better understood. Methods Participants taking part in the Parkinson’s Progression Marker Initiative were studied based on the side of motor symptom asymmetry and sex. Three-way interaction modeling was used to examine the moderating effects of sex and UA on cognitive functions and psychiatric symptoms. Results Significant three-way interactions were highlighted at 1-year follow-up between motor symptom asymmetry, UA and sex for immediate and long-term memory in female patients exhibiting predominantly left-sided motor symptoms, and for processing speed and sleepiness in female patients exhibiting predominantly right-sided motor symptoms. No significant interactions were observed for male patients. Moreover, female patients exhibiting predominantly right-sided motor symptoms demonstrated lower serum UA concentrations and had overall better outcomes, while male patients with predominantly right-sided motor symptoms demonstrated particularly poor outcomes. Conclusions These findings suggest that in the earliest stages of the disease, UA and sex moderate cognitive functions and psychiatric symptoms differently depending on motor asymmetry, holding important clinical implications for symptom management in patients

Crossed functional specialization between the basal ganglia and cerebellum during vocal emotion decoding: Insights from stroke and Parkinson’s disease

International audienceThere is growing evidence that both the basal ganglia and the cerebellum play functional roles in emotion processing, either directly or indirectly, through their connections with cortical and subcortical structures. However, the lateralization of this complex processing in emotion recognition remains unclear. To address this issue, we investigated emotional prosody recognition in individuals with Parkinson’s disease (model of basal ganglia dysfunction) or cerebellar stroke patients, as well as in matched healthy controls (n = 24 in each group). We analysed performances according to the lateralization of the predominant brain degeneration/lesion. Results showed that a right (basal ganglia and cerebellar) hemispheric dysfunction was likely to induce greater deficits than a left one. Moreover, deficits following left hemispheric dysfunction were only observed in cerebellar stroke patients, and these deficits resembled those observed after degeneration of the right basal ganglia. Additional analyses taking disease duration / time since stroke into consideration revealed a worsening of performances in patients with predominantly right-sided lesions over time. These results point to the differential, but complementary, involvement of the cerebellum and basal ganglia in emotional prosody decoding, with a probable hemispheric specialization according to the level of cognitive integration

Motor Symptom Asymmetry Predicts Cognitive and Neuropsychiatric Profile Following Deep Brain Stimulation of the Subthalamic Nucleus in Parkinson’s Disease: a 5-Year Longitudinal Study

International audienceINTRODUCTION: Risk factors (e.g., motor symptom asymmetry) for short- and long-term cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms following deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in patients with Parkinson’s disease have yet to be fully identified. The objectives of the present study were to determine whether motor symptom asymmetry in Parkinson’s disease is one such risk factor and to identify predictors of subnormal cognitive decline. METHODS: A total of 26 patients receiving STN-DBS (13 with left-sided motor symptoms and 13 with right-sided ones) underwent follow-up neuropsychological, depression and apathy assessments over a 5-year period. Nonparametric intergroup comparisons were performed on raw scores, as well as Cox regression analyses on standardized Mattis Dementia Rating Scale scores. RESULTS: Compared with patients who had predominantly left-sided symptoms, right-sided patients scored higher on both apathy (at 3 months and 36 months) and depressive symptoms (at 6 months and 12 months) and scored lower on global cognitive efficiency (at 36 months and 60 months). Survival analyses revealed that only right-sided patients had subnormal standardized dementia scores, which were negatively associated with the number of perseverations in the Wisconsin Card Scoring Test. CONCLUSION: Right-sided motor symptoms are a risk factor for more severe short- and long-term cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms following STN-DBS, confirming literature findings on left hemispheric vulnerability

Motor symptom asymmetry predicts non-motor outcome and quality of life following STN DBS in Parkinson’s disease

International audienceRisk factors for long-term non-motor symptoms and quality of life following subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN DBS) have not yet been fully identified. In the present study, we investigated the impact of motor symptom asymmetry in Parkinson’s disease. Data were extracted for 52 patients with Parkinson’s disease (half with predominantly left-sided motor symptoms and half with predominantly right-sided ones) who underwent bilateral STN and a matched healthy control group. Performances for cognitive tests, apathy and depression symptoms, as well as quality-of-life questionnaires at 12 months post-DBS were compared with a pre-DBS baseline. Results indicated a deterioration in cognitive performance post-DBS in patients with predominantly left-sided motor symptoms. Performances of patients with predominantly right-sided motor symptoms were maintained, except for a verbal executive task. These differential effects had an impact on patients’ quality of life. The results highlight the existence of two distinct cognitive profiles of Parkinson’s disease, depending on motor symptom asymmetry. This asymmetry is a potential risk factor for non-motor adverse effects following STN DBS