Augmenting Visual Search Performance With Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)

Military personnel endure rigorous and demanding man-hours designated to monitoring and locating targets in tasks such as cyber defense and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operators. These tasks are monotonous and repetitive, which can result in vigilance decrement. The objective of the study was to implement a form of noninvasive brain stimulation known as transcranial DC stimulation (tDCS) over the left frontal eye field (LFEF) region of the scalp to improve cognitive performance. The participants received anodal and cathodal stimulation of 2 mA for 30 min as well as placebo stimulation on 3 separate days while performing the task. The findings suggest that anodal and cathodal stimulation significantly improves detection accuracy. Also, a correlation was detected between percent of eye closure (PERCLOS) and blinking frequency in relation to stimulation condition. Our data suggest that tDCS over the LFEF would be a beneficial countermeasure to mitigate the vigilance decrement and improve visual search performance.     

5G远程超声诊断：提升医疗质量、安全和可及性

回顾了5G远程超声诊断的技术特点和应用趋势,剖析受检者、医护人员及社会的获益与风险,认为5G 远程超声诊断模式作为远程医疗全新应用,可以成为我国医联体资源共享的重要载体,有望改善医疗资源在基层和偏远地区时空分布不均,满足公共卫生疾病筛查、院前急救和隔离病房超声检查需求,提高医疗质量、安全和可及性。此外,针对衍生出的受检者-本地端-远程端三方权责关系治理挑战,以及未来直接面向消费者的健康管理新模式,提出运用医师多点执业制度、设备备案管理等措施予以规范的建议。     

左侧眶额皮层在自动情绪调节下注意选择中的作用：来自经颅直流电刺激的证据

前人研究表明自动情绪调节能够自上而下地影响情绪及情绪性注意过程。近来有研究提示自动情绪调节与眶额皮层(orbitofrontal cortex, OFC)有关。也有研究表明左侧OFC的激活影响负性注意偏向。本研究采用经颅直流电刺激技术,考察阈下启动情绪控制目标条件下,抑制左侧眶额皮层兴奋性是否影响负性注意偏向。结果发现,使用阴极刺激抑制左侧OFC活动可以加快被试对与恐惧刺激位置一致的探测点的反应。该结果提示左侧眶额皮层是自动情绪调节下情绪性注意选择相关的重要脑区。     

Training to use voice onset time as a cue to talker identification induces a left-ear/right-hemisphere processing advantage

We examined the effect of perceptual training on a well-established hemispheric asymmetry in speech processing. Eighteen listeners were trained to use a within-category difference in voice onset time (VOT) to cue talker identity. Successful learners (n=8) showed faster response times for stimuli presented only to the left ear than for those presented only to the right. The development of a left-ear/right-hemisphere advantage for processing a prototypically phonetic cue supports a model of speech perception in which lateralization is driven by functional demands (talker identification vs. phonetic categorization) rather than by acoustic stimulus properties alone.     

Effect of Wii-Based Balance Training on Corticomotor Excitability Post Stroke

The objective was to examine the effectiveness of a 3-week balance training program using the Nintendo Wii Fit gaming system (Nintendo Wii Sports, Nintendo, Redmond, WA) on lower limb corticomotor excitability and other clinical measures in chronic stroke survivors. Ten individuals diagnosed with ischemic stroke with residual hemiparesis received balance training using the Wii Fit for 60 min/day, three times/week, for three weeks. At the end of training, an increase in interhemispheric symmetry of corticomotor excitability of the tibialis anterior muscle representations was noted (n = 9). Participants also showed improvements in reaction time, time to perform the Dual Timed-Up-and-Go test, and balance confidence. The training-induced balance in corticomotor excitability suggests that this Wii-based balance training paradigm has the potential to influence neural plasticity and thereby functional recovery.     

Transfer of Motor Learning Engages Specific Neural Substrates During Motor Memory Consolidation Dependent on the Practice Structure

The authors investigated how brain activity during motor-memory consolidation contributes to transfer of learning to novel versions of a motor skill following distinct practice structures. They used 1 Hz repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) immediately after constant or variable practice of an arm movement skill to interfere with primary motor cortex (M1) or dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). The effect of interference was assessed through skill performance on two transfer targets: one within and one outside the range of practiced movement parameters for the variable practice group. For the control (no rTMS) group, variable practice benefited delayed transfer performance more than constant practice. The rTMS effect on delayed transfer performance differed for the two transfer targets. For the within-range target, rTMS interference had no significant affect on the delayed transfer after either practice structure. However, for the outside-range target, rTMS interference to DLPFC but not M1 attenuated delayed transfer benefit following variable practice. Additionally, for the outside-range target, rTMS interference to M1 but not DLPFC attenuated delayed transfer following constant practice. This suggests that variable practice may promote reliance on DLPFC for memory consolidation associated with outside-range transfer of learning, whereas constant practice may promote reliance on M1 for consolidation and long-term transfer.     

Sit-to-stand movement in children: A longitudinal study based on kinematics data

Although the ability to stand from a seated posture is relevant for clinical practice, there are few studies investigating the process of acquisition and refinement of the motor components involved in sit-to-stand movement (STS) in children. Therefore, this longitudinal study aims to describe kinematic characteristics of the STS movement in children from 12 to 18 months, and also to investigate the relationship between changes in STS movement and childrens’ daily-life mobility. Ten healthy children were evaluated at 12,13,14,15 and 18 months of age. A motion analysis system was used to measure total duration of STS movement and angular movements of each joint, and frequencies of successful and unsupported STS were obtained. The Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory was used to assess childrens’ daily-life mobility. Results showed that children tend to increase the frequency of successful trials over the months by reducing the total duration and decreasing peak ankle dorsiflexion and trunk flexion during STS. Children also started to stand up from chair with decreased trunk flexion angle among ages. At the end of the STS, we observed decreases in trunk flexion and knee flexion over age. Furthermore, kinematic characteristics that reflect improvements in STS movement are related to better performance of functional skills and decreased level of assistance provided by the caregiver in daily-life mobility of younger children. However, the strength of these associations decreases from 14 months of age onwards.     

Task-load manipulation in the Symbol Digit Modalities Test: An alternative measure of information processing speed

ObjectiveTo evaluate the utility of an oral fMRI-adapted version of the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) to assess information processing speed (IPS) using three different interstimulus intervals (ISI).MethodsNineteen right-handed healthy controls performed the adapted version of the SDMT, consisting of a block design that had a total of 6 control/activation block pairs with 3 different ISIs (1.5, 2 and 2.5 s) presented in two different runs: in ascending and descending orders. The brain activation patterns during different ISIs were assessed by effective functional connectivity analysis based on independent component analysis.ResultsAs expected, all conditions yielded activations in the fronto-parietal networks (FPNs) related to attention processes. Shorter ISIs (1.5 and 2 s) not only yielded greater patterns of connectivity within fronto-parietal and occipital regions such as the FPN and fronto-occipital network (FON), but also recruited more functional networks overall. Task performance at the shortest ISI was negatively correlated with connectivity at the FPN and activity of the pre-supplementary motor area extending to the cingulate gyrus.ConclusionIncreasing IPS demands due to shorter ISIs resulted in an increased level and number of functional networks required, increased connectivity within the FPN and FON, and enhancement of the prefrontal cortex. IPS does not arise from activity of a single b area but from affective information transfer among distant cortical regions of the frontal and parietal cortices. This adapted version of the SDMT may be useful for studying alterations of IPS in clinical and nonclinical populations.     

Ventral encoding of functional affordances: A neural pathway for identifying errors in action

Functional tool usage is a critical aspect of our daily lives. Not only must we know which tools to use for a specific action goal, we must also know how to manipulate those tools in meaningful way to achieve the goal of the action. The purpose of this study was to identify the regions of the brain critical to supporting the process of understanding errors in tool manipulation. Using fMRI, neural activations were recorded while subjects were presented with images demonstrating typical action scenes (screwdriver used on a screw), but with the tool being manipulated either correctly (screwdriver held by handle) or incorrectly (screwdriver held by bit rather than handle). Activations in fMRI for identifying correct over incorrect tool manipulation were seen along the canonical parietofrontal action network, while activations for identifying incorrect over correct tool manipulation were primarily seen at superior temporal areas and insula. We expand our hypotheses about ventral brain networks identifying contextual error to further suggest mechanisms for understanding functional tool actions, which collectively we regard as functional affordances. This proposes a fundamental role for ventral brain areas in functional action understanding.     

Fostering innovation in functionally diverse teams: The two faces of transformational leadership

Empirical research on the effects of functional diversity on team innovation has yielded largely inconsistent results, showing positive, negative, as well as nonsignificant effects. For capitalizing on the positive potential inherent in functionally diverse teams, opening the black box between cross-functionality and team innovation by analysing mediating and moderating processes thus seems to be highly relevant. In this article, task and relationship conflicts are introduced as mediators of functional diversity and team innovation. Within this framework, transformational leadership is discussed as a moderator. It will become apparent that the role of transformational leadership in fostering the innovativeness of cross-functional teams is rather ambiguous. The discussed mediators and the moderator transformational leadership are integrated into a comprehensive framework and propositions for future research are derived.