Categoría: Papers con abstracts

In cognitive neuroscience, the reissue of the notion of emergence and downward causation has been used as an interlevel model of mind-brain interactions from different perspectives. Within this perspective, intentionality has been interpreted as global to local determination (downward causation) on the neurophysiological level. Consciousness would act as the large-scale, global activity of the system that governs or constrains local interactions of neurons. This argument seems to solve several difficulties with regard to descriptions of consciousness on a neurophysiological and mental level. Nevertheless, the inconsistencies of this argument are shown, and a contextual and pragmatic explanation of the downward causation of consciousness is given.

Acute loss of consciousness. Autores Bekinschtein T, Gleichgerrcht E, Manes F. Año 2015 Journal Bekinschtein T, Gleichgerrcht E, Manes F. Volumen 127:195-204. Abstract Otra información  

Disentangling interoception: insights from focal strokes affecting the perception of external and internal milieus. Autores Couto B, Adolfi F, Sedeño L, Salles A, Canales-Johnson A, Alvarez-Abut P, Garcia-Cordero I, Pietto M, Bekinschtein T, Sigman M, Manes F, Ibanez A. Año 2015 Journal  Couto B, Adolfi F, Sedeño L, Salles A, Canales-Johnson A, Alvarez-Abut P, Garcia-Cordero I, … Leer más

Impairments in negative emotion recognition and empathy for pain in Huntington’s disease families. Autores Báez S, Herrera E, Gershanik O, García A, Bocanegra Y, Kargieman L, Manes F, Ibanez A. Año 2015 Journal  Báez S, Herrera E, Gershanik O, García A, Bocanegra Y, Kargieman L, Manes F, Ibanez A. Volumen Abstract   Otra información    

The roles of interoceptive sensitivity and metacognitive interoception in panic. Autores Yoris A, Esteves S, Couto B, Melloni M, Kichic R, Cetkovich M, Favaloro R, Moser J, Manes F, Ibanez A, Sedeño L. Año 2015 Journal  Yoris A, Esteves S, Couto B, Melloni M, Kichic R, Cetkovich M, Favaloro R, Moser J, Manes F, Ibanez A, Sedeño … Leer más

Social cognition impairments are pervasive in the frontotemporal dementias (FTD). These deficits would be triggered by (a) basic emotion and face recognition processes as well as by (b) higher level social cognition (e.g., theory of mind, ToM). Both emotional processing and social cognition impairments have been previously reported in the behavioral variant of FTD (bvFTD) and also in other versions of FTDs, including primary progressive aphasia. However, no neuroanatomic comparison between different FTD variants has been performed. We report selective behavioral impairments of face recognition, emotion recognition, and ToM in patients with bvFTD and progressive non-fluent aphasia (PNFA) when compared to controls. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) shows a classical impairment of mainly orbitofrontal (OFC), anterior cingulate (ACC), insula and lateral temporal cortices in patients. Comparative analysis of regional gray matter related to social cognition deficits (VBM) reveals a differential pattern of fronto-insulo-temporal atrophy in bvFTD and an insulo-temporal involvement in PNFA group. Results suggest that in spite of similar social cognition impairments reported in bvFTD and PNFA, the former represents an inherent ToM affectation whereas in the PNFA these deficits could be related to more basic processes of face and emotion recognition. These results are interpreted in the frame of the fronto-insulo-temporal social context network model (SCNM).

Objectives: To assess brain functional connectivity and variability in adults with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or euthymic bipolar disorder (BD) relative to a control (CT) group.

Methods: Electroencephalography (EEG) was measured in 35 participants (BD = 11; ADHD = 9; CT = 15) during an eyes-closed 10-min rest period, and connectivity and graph theory metrics were computed. A coefficient of variation (CV) computed also the connectivity’s temporal variability of EEG. Multivariate associations between functional connectivity and clinical and neuropsychological profiles were evaluated.

Results: An enhancement of functional connectivity was observed in the ADHD (fronto-occipital connections) and BD (diffuse connections) groups. However, compared with CTs, intrinsic variability (CV) was enhanced in the ADHD group and reduced in the BD group. Graph theory metrics confirmed the existence of several abnormal network features in both affected groups. Significant associations of connectivity with symptoms were also observed. In the ADHD group, temporal variability of functional connections was associated with executive function and memory deficits. Depression, hyperactivity and impulsivity levels in the ADHD group were associated with abnormal intrinsic connectivity. In the BD group, levels of anxiety and depression were related to abnormal frontotemporal connectivity.

Conclusions: In the ADHD group, we found that intrinsic variability was associated with deficits in cognitive performance and that connectivity abnormalities were related to ADHD symptomatology. The BD group exhibited less intrinsic variability and more diffuse long-range brain connections, and those abnormalities were related to interindividual differences in depression and anxiety. These preliminary results are relevant for neurocognitive models of abnormal brain connectivity in both disorders.

Recent advances in neuroscience have provided new insights into the understanding of heart-brain interaction and communication. Cardiac information to the brain relies on two pathways, terminating in the insular (IC) and anterior cingulate (ACC) cortices, along with the somatosensory cortex (S1-S2). Interoception relying on these neuroanatomical pathways has been shown to modulate social cognition. We report the case study of C.S., a patient with an «external heart » (an extracorporeal left-univentricular cardiac assist device, LVAD). The patient was assessed with neural/behavioral measures of cardiac interoception complemented by neuropsychological and social cognition measures. The patient’s performance on the interoception task (heartbeat detection) seemed to be guided by signals from the artificial LVAD, which provides a somatosensory beat, rather than by his endogenous heart. Cortical activity (heart-evoked potential, HEP) decreased in comparison to normal volunteers, particularly during interoceptive states. The patient accurately performed several cognitive tasks, expect for empathy, theory of mind and decision-making. This evidence suggests an imbalance in the patient’s cardiac interoceptive pathways that enhances sensation driven by the artificial pump over that from the cardiac vagal-ICC-ACC pathway. A patient with two hearts, one endogenous and one artificial, presents a unique opportunity to explore models of interoception and heart-brain interaction

The ability to reappraise the emotional impact of events is related to long-term mental health. Self-focused reappraisal (REAPPself), i.e., reducing the personal relevance of the negative events, has been previously associated with neural activity in regions near right medial prefrontal cortex, but rarely investigated among brain-damaged individuals. Thus, we aimed to examine the REAPPself ability of brain-damaged patients and healthy controls considering structural atrophies and gray matter intensities, respectively. Twenty patients with well-defined cortex lesions due to an acquired circumscribed tumor or cyst and 23 healthy controls performed a REAPPself task, in which they had to either observe negative stimuli or decrease emotional responding by REAPPself. Next, they rated the impact of negative arousal and valence. REAPPself ability scores were calculated by subtracting the negative picture ratings after applying REAPPself from the ratings of the observing condition. The scores of the patients were included in a voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM) analysis to identify deficit related areas (ROI). Then, a ROI group-wise comparison was performed. Additionally, a whole-brain voxel-based-morphometry (VBM) analysis was run, in which healthy participant’s REAPPself ability scores were correlated with gray matter intensities. Results showed that (1) regions in the right superior frontal gyrus (SFG), comprising the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (BA9) and the right dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (BA32), were associated with patient’s impaired down-regulation of arousal, (2) a lesion in the depicted ROI occasioned significant REAPPself impairments, (3) REAPPself ability of controls was linked with increased gray matter intensities in the ROI regions. Our findings show for the first time that the neural integrity and the structural volume of right SFG regions (BA9/32) might be indispensable for REAPPself. Implications for neurofeedback research are discussed.

The present study examined neural responses associated with moral sensitivity in adolescents with a background of early social deprivation. Using high-density electroencephalography (hdEEG), brain activity was measured during an intentional inference task, which assesses rapid moral decision-making regarding intentional or unintentional harm to people and objects. We compared the responses to this task in a socially deprived group (DG) with that of a control group (CG). The event-related potentials (ERPs) results showed atypical early and late frontal cortical markers associated with attribution of intentionality during moral decision-making in DG (especially regarding intentional harm to people). The source space of the hdEEG showed reduced activity for DG compared with CG in the right prefrontal cortex, bilaterally in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), and right insula. Moreover, the reduced response in vmPFC for DG was predicted by higher rates of externalizing problems. These findings demonstrate the importance of the social environment in early moral development, supporting a prefrontal maturation model of social deprivation.