Online monitoring of the social presence effects in a two‐person‐like driving video game using near‐infrared spectroscopy

We examined how a friend's presence affects a performer's prefrontal activation in daily‐life activities using two wireless portable near‐infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) devices. Participants played a driving video game either solely in the single group or with a friend in the paired group. The two groups (single and paired) were subdivided according to their game proficiency (low and high). The NIRS data demonstrated a significant interaction of group by proficiency. Low‐proficiency players in the paired group showed lower activation than those in the single group, but high‐proficiency players did not. In the paired group, high‐proficiency players showed higher activation than low‐proficiency players, but not in the single group. These results suggest that NIRS detects social presence effects in everyday situations: decreasing prefrontal activation in low‐proficiency performers due to tension reduction and increasing prefrontal activation in high‐proficiency performers due to increased arousal.     

The modulatory impact of reward and attention on global feature selection in human visual cortex

Reward powerfully influences human behaviour and perception, with reward effects being observed already on the level of basic sensory processing. Although reward-related modulations generally resemble those related to attentional selection, it is debated whether these effects indeed reflect the same selection operations. Here we focus on neuromagnetic indices of global colour-based attention in visual cortex, and ask whether reward elicits the same or separable underlying modulation effects. Observers performed a colour/orientation selection task where colour served to define the target as well as reward prospect. On each trial a target containing the target colour and one other colour was presented in the left visual field (VF) together with a bicoloured distractor in the right VF. Reward was delivered on correctly performed trials when the reward colour appeared in the target but not when it appeared in the distractor. The effect of global colour selection was assessed by comparing the brain response to the distractor depending on whether it contained the target colour, the reward colour, both, or neither. We observed that both the reward and target colour led to similar increases of the neuromagnetic response between ~200–260 ms originating from the same ventral extrastriate visual cortex areas, albeit slightly temporally lagged. Importantly, the response to the target and reward colour alone always added up to match the response size of their combined presentation. These results suggest that while reward and attention recruit the same global feature selection effects in extrastriate visual cortex, they are likely controlled by independent top-down influences.     

Stress,coping, executive function,and brain activation in adolescent offspring of depressed and nondepressed mothers

This study examined the associations among chronic stress, activation in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), executive function, and coping with stress in at-risk and a comparison sample of adolescents. Adolescents (N = 16; age 12–15) of mothers with (n = 8) and without (n = 8) a history of depression completed questionnaires, neurocognitive testing, and functional neuroimaging in response to a working memory task (N-back). Children of depressed mothers demonstrated less activation in the anterior PFC (APFC) and both greater and less activation than controls in distinct areas within the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) in response to the N-back task. Across both groups, activation of the dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC; Brodmann area [BA9]) and APFC (BA10) was positively correlated with greater exposure to stress and negatively correlated with secondary control coping. Similarly, activation of the dACC (BA32) was negatively correlated with secondary control coping. Regression analyses revealed that DLPFC, dACC, and APFC activation were significant predictors of adolescents’ reports of their use of secondary control coping and accounted for the effects of stress exposure on adolescents’ coping. This study provides evidence that chronic stress may impact coping through its effects on the brain regions responsible for executive functions foundational to adaptive coping skills.     

Brain activation patterns in response to complex triggers in the Word Association Test: results from a new study in the United States

C.G. Jung's theory of psychological complexes lies at the root of analytical psychology theory and practice. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) provides a powerful tool to validate the theory of complexes and eludicate the neuropsychologic mechanisms underlying the unconscious activation of significant memories. In this study, using fMRI, we identify two brain circuits which are activated in response to complex triggering words. Circuit one involves brain regions involved in episodic memory and somatic (body) responses and the experience of uncertainty. A second circuit involves episodic memory, emotion, visual and language association, and semiotic meaning. Specific brain regions include the right prefrontal cortex, SMA cortex, left temporal cortex, and the caudate and cingulate. These brain circuits may be thought of as the biological form in which complexes are experienced. Implications for analytic psychology practice and theory are discussed.     

Interference and conflict monitoring in individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment: A structural study of the anterior cingulate cortex

Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) is a clinical condition characterized by memory impairment in the absence of any other cognitive impairment and is commonly associated with high conversion to Alzheimer's disease. Recent evidence shows that executive functions and selective attention mechanisms could also be impaired in aMCI. In this study, we investigated performance differences (i.e., reaction times [RTs] and accuracy) between a group of aMCI participants and a group of age‐matched healthy individuals on the attentional network task (ANT) focusing on situations with increased interference. In particular, we assessed the relationship between interference and conflict effects and grey matter volumes (GMVs) of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)/pre‐supplementary motor area in the entire sample because of its crucial role in conflict monitoring. When compared with controls, aMCI participants were less accurate on the ANT, showing increased interference and conflict effects, but no differences in RTs. In addition, aMCI participants exhibited lower GMV in the ACC than controls. While better accuracy for interference and conflict effects was associated with an increase of GMV in the ACC for both groups, RTs from the interference effect were negatively correlated with GMV of the ACC only in aMCI participants. In other words, lower GMV values of the ACC were paralleled with significantly impaired performance in terms of interference resolution. In conclusion, our study suggests the presence of a selective impairment in interference and conflict monitoring in aMCI, which in turn is associated with decreased GMVs in the ACC.     

Somatic Markers and Response Reversal: Is There Orbitofrontal Cortex Dysfunction in Boys with Psychopathic Tendencies?

This study investigated the performance of boys with psychopathic tendencies and comparison boys, aged 9 to 17 years, on two tasks believed to be sensitive to amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex functioning. Fifty-one boys were divided into two groups according to the Psychopathy Screening Device (PSD, P. J. Frick & R. D. Hare, in press) and presented with two tasks. The tasks were the gambling task (A. Bechara, A. R. Damasio, H. Damasio, & S. W. Anderson, 1994) and the Intradimensional/Extradimensional (ID/ED) shift task (R. Dias, T. W. Robbins, & A. C. Roberts, 1996). The boys with psychopathic tendencies showed impaired performance on the gambling task. However, there were no group differences on the ID/ED task either for response reversal or extradimensional set shifting. The implications of these results for models of psychopathy are discussed.