无意识活动与静息态脑能量消耗

静息态脑活动的研究关注个体在清醒、静卧、闭眼时脑的活动情况,大量实验证明静息状态下大脑仍进行着持续不断的信息加工活动,并且消耗大量能量。本文在阐述无意识活动特性以及总结静息态脑能量消耗研究的基础上,提出用无意识活动解释静息态脑能量消耗的观点,强调在研究无意识活动的心理意义的同时,还要研究无意识活动的神经机制及其生理表现。     

Modeling the Ecological Validity of Neurocognitive Assessment in Adults with Acquired Brain Injury

Neuropsychologists are increasingly asked to make judgments regarding treatment options and rehabilitation strategies in addition to evaluating the degree and scope of neuropsychological impairment following acquired brain injuries. The capacity to make informed clinical decisions relies upon research investigating the relationships between neuropsychological and psychosocial status (i.e., ecological validity). Unfortunately, much of this research employs exploratory analyses, an approach that can lead to theoretical ambiguity and ad-hoc interpretations. The current availability and accessibility of analytical tools, like structural equation modeling (SEM), however, permits the testing of specific hypotheses regarding ecological validity and promotes a-priori theory development. In the current study, a theory-driven model of the ecological validity of a neurocognitive assessment was tested against data obtained from individuals with acquired brain injury using SEM. The results provide confirmatory evidence for the ecological validity of neurocognitive constructs and empirical support for a theory-driven analytical approach to ecological validity research.     

Optokinetic stimulation affects temporal estimation in healthy humans

The representation of time and space are closely linked in the cognitive system. Optokinetic stimulation modulates spatial attention in healthy subjects and patients with spatial neglect. In order to evaluate whether optokinetic stimulation could influence time perception, a group of healthy subjects performed "time-comparison" tasks of sub- and supra-second intervals before and after leftward or rightward optokinetic stimulation. Subjective time perception was biased by the direction of optokinetic stimulation. Rightward optokinetic stimulation induced an overestimation of time perception compared with baseline and leftward optokinetic stimulation. These results indicate a directional bias in time perception induced by manipulation of spatial attention and could argue for a mental linear representation of time intervals.     

Valence specific laterality effects in prosody: expectancy account and the effects of morphed prosody and stimulus lead

The majority of studies have demonstrated a right hemisphere (RH) advantage for the perception of emotions. Other studies have found that the involvement of each hemisphere is valence specific, with the RH better at perceiving negative emotions and the LH better at perceiving positive emotions [Reuter-Lorenz, P., & Davidson, R.J. (1981) Differential contributions of the 2 cerebral hemispheres to the perception of happy and sad faces. Neuropsychologia, 19, 609-613]. To account for valence laterality effects in emotion perception we propose an 'expectancy' hypothesis which suggests that valence effects are obtained when the top-down expectancy to perceive an emotion outweighs the strength of bottom-up perceptual information enabling the discrimination of an emotion. A dichotic listening task was used to examine alternative explanations of valence effects in emotion perception. Emotional sentences (spoken in a happy or sad tone of voice), and morphed-happy and morphed-sad sentences (which blended a neutral version of the sentence with the pitch of the emotion sentence) were paired with neutral versions of each sentence and presented dichotically. A control condition was also used, consisting of two identical neutral sentences presented dichotically, with one channel arriving before the other by 7 ms. In support of the RH hypothesis there was a left ear advantage for the perception of sad and happy emotional sentences. However, morphed sentences showed no ear advantage, suggesting that the RH is specialised for the perception of genuine emotions and that a laterality effect may be a useful tool for the detection of fake emotion. Finally, for the control condition we obtained an interaction between the expected emotion and the effect of ear lead. Participants tended to select the ear that received the sentence first, when they expected a 'sad' sentence, but not when they expected a 'happy' sentence. The results are discussed in relation to the different theoretical explanations of valence laterality effects in emotion perception.     

植物状态的残存脑功能和意识研究

综述了有关植物状态患者对外加刺激脑反应的功能成像研究文献,着重讨论了研究发现的非典型激活的临床价值以及植物状态患者是否存在意识的功能脑成像证据。     

Determinants of attentive blank stares. An EFRP study

Attentive blank stares mean a failure to notice changes in a visual scene, despite looking at the area of change (Caplovitz, Fendrich, & Hughes, 2008). In this research project we have shown that people differ in terms of attentive blank stare incidences. Novices tend to fail to notice changes in the target area more often than experts. This effect is greater in persons with low visual working memory capacity (VWMC) than with high VWMC. In addition, in a group of novices with low VWMC, attentive blank stares are more frequent compared to a group with high VWMC. Attentive blank stares did not disappear even after the high VWMC group were given expertise training. With the method of eye-fixation-related potentials (EFRP) we analyzed the amplitude of lambda response, which may reflect the state of the attentional system, during encoding information about a change, prior to a decision whether a change has occurred or not. We demonstrate that the cases of attentive blank stares are accompanied by significantly lower amplitude of the lambda response compared with cases involving change detection. In addition, we discovered greater lambda responses in a group with expertise who noticed the change than in novices. The EFRP record coming from occipital electrodes in the 80–180 ms window function was marked by left-sided asymmetry in the cases of change detection and by right-sided asymmetry in the cases of attentive blank stares.     

内-外倾人格对情绪调节的影响及神经机制

内—外倾人格(即外倾性)是与情绪活动密切相关的人格特质：该特质不但影响人类的适应能力与主观幸福感，还与焦虑、冲动等情绪—行为障碍的产生有密切关联。在以往研究中，外倾性与情绪健康的关系集中体现为内—外倾人格对情绪事件易感性的影响，如外倾人格得分的增高伴随着对奖赏刺激更强的积极情绪反应水平。然而，上述联系也有可能是由于外倾性不同的人群具有不同的情绪调节特点导致。因此，可通过系统操纵外倾性人格因素与情绪调节方式，从外倾性人格特质对情绪调节方式及调节效果影响的角度，深入探讨外倾性和人类情绪与健康的关系。拟综合使用行为调查与生理测量、EEG/ERP 与 fMRI 手段，开展如下三个层面的研究工作：1)情绪调节问卷的编制及内、外倾人群情绪调节策略的比较研究；2)外倾性对情绪调节的影响及其脑机制研究，探讨认知情绪调节的生理变化、时间进程及神经基础与内—外倾人格的关系；3)情绪稳定性不同的内、外倾人群其情绪调节的特点及其脑机制研究。通过上述系列研究，深化对情绪与人格关系的认识，从而为心理健康的维护，情绪障碍的治疗及相关疗法的开发应用奠定理论基础。     

Listenmee® and Listenmee® smartphone application: Synchronizing walking to rhythmic auditory cues to improve gait in Parkinson’s disease

Evidence supports the use of rhythmic external auditory signals to improve gait in PD patients (Arias & Cudeiro, 2008; Kenyon & Thaut, 2000; McIntosh, Rice & Thaut, 1994; McIntosh et al., 1997; Morris, Iansek, & Matyas, 1994; Thaut, McIntosh, & Rice, 1997; Suteerawattananon, Morris, Etnyre, Jankovic, & Protas , 2004; Willems, Nieuwboer, Chavert, & Desloovere, 2006). However, few prototypes are available for daily use, and to our knowledge, none utilize a smartphone application allowing individualized sounds and cadence. Therefore, we analyzed the effects on gait of Listenmee®, an intelligent glasses system with a portable auditory device, and present its smartphone application, the Listenmee app®, offering over 100 different sounds and an adjustable metronome to individualize the cueing rate as well as its smartwatch with accelerometer to detect magnitude and direction of the proper acceleration, track calorie count, sleep patterns, steps count and daily distances. The present study included patients with idiopathic PD presented gait disturbances including freezing. Auditory rhythmic cues were delivered through Listenmee®. Performance was analyzed in a motion and gait analysis laboratory. The results revealed significant improvements in gait performance over three major dependent variables: walking speed in 38.1%, cadence in 28.1% and stride length in 44.5%. Our findings suggest that auditory cueing through Listenmee® may significantly enhance gait performance. Further studies are needed to elucidate the potential role and maximize the benefits of these portable devices.     

Responsiveness and functional connectivity of the scene-sensitive retrosplenial complex in 7–11-year-old children

Brain imaging studies have identified two cortical areas, the parahippocampal place area (PPA) and the retrosplenial complex (RSC), that respond preferentially to the viewing of scenes. Contrary to the PPA, little is known about the functional maturation and cognitive control of the RSC. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging and tasks that required attention to scene (or face) images and suppression of face (or scene) images, respectively, to investigate task-dependent modulation of activity in the RSC and whole-brain functional connectivity (FC) of this area in 7–11-year-old children and young adults. We compared responsiveness of the RSC with that of the PPA. The RSC was selectively activated by scene images in both groups, albeit less than the PPA. Children modulated activity between the tasks similarly in the RSC and PPA, and to the same extent as adults in PPA, whereas adults modulated activity in the RSC less than in PPA. In children, the whole brain FC of the RSC was stronger in the Sf than Fs task between the left RSC and right fusiform gyrus. The between groups comparison suggested stronger FC in children than adults in the Sf task between the right RSC and the left inferior parietal lobule and intraparietal sulcus. Together the results suggest that the function of the RSC and the related networks undergo dynamic changes over the development from 7–11-year-old children to adulthood.     

Differences in practices of body stimulation during the first 3 months: Ethnotheories and behaviors of Italian mothers and West African immigrant mothers

This study investigated cultural differences, continuity and change of practices concerning body stimulation in a context of immigration. Parenting behaviors during the interaction with infants at 4, 8 and 12 weeks, and parenting ethnotheories at 12 weeks of first-generation West African immigrant mothers in Italy and autochthonous Italian mothers were compared. A qualitative inspection of ethnotheories using a thematic approach was included. As expected, results showed that immigrant mothers placed more emphasis on motor stimulation and showed longer durations of rhythmic motor and rhythmic tactile behaviors than Italian mothers; the latter placed more emphasis on tactile stimulation than immigrant mothers. The practice of motor stimulation in immigrant mothers was also adapted to values of the new context of life, becoming a positive interaction game with a mutual exchange of positive emotions. Findings express the complexity of a multidimensional process of acculturation.