Search results for "Brain activity"

Gaming is related to enhanced working memory performance and task-related cortical activity

2017

Gaming experience has been suggested to lead to performance enhancements in a wide variety of working memory tasks. Previous studies have, however, mostly focused on adult expert gamers and have not included measurements of both behavioral performance and brain activity. In the current study, 167 adolescents and young adults (aged 13–24 years) with different amounts of gaming experience performed an n-back working memory task with vowels, with the sensory modality of the vowel stream switching between audition and vision at random intervals. We studied the relationship between self-reported daily gaming activity, working memory (n-back) task performance and related brain activity measured u…

2013

Neurovascular coupling (NVC) in the adult central nervous system (CNS) is a mechanism that provides regions of the brain with more oxygen and glucose upon increased levels of neural activation. Hemodynamic changes that go along with neural activation evoke a blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) that can be used to study brain activity non-invasively. A correct correlation of the BOLD signal to neural activity is pivotal to understand this signal in neuronal development, health and disease. However, the function of NVC during development is largely unknown. The rodent whisker-to-barrel cortex is an experimentally well established model to…

Neuroergonomic Assessment of Hot Beverage Preparation and Consumption: An EEG and EDA Study.

2020

Neuroergonomics is an emerging field that investigates the human brain in relation to behavioral performance in natural environments and everyday settings. This study investigated the body and brain activity correlates of a typical daily activity, hot beverage preparation, and consumption in a realistic office environment where participants performed natural daily tasks. Using wearable, battery operated and wireless Electroencephalogram (EEG) and Electrodermal activity (EDA) sensors, neural and physiological responses were measured in untethered, freely moving participants who prepared hot beverages using two different machines (a market leader and follower as determined by annual US sales)…

Alpha-Synchronized Stimulation of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC) in Major Depression: A Proof-of-Principle EEG-TMS Study

2018

High-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) shows therapeutic potential in pharmaco-resistant patients with major depression. However, clinical efficacy is limited by high inter-individual variability and low response rates. One possible strategy to improve the effect size and consistency may be brain state dependent brain stimulation, i.e. coupling of TMS pulses to the endogenous brain states as reflected by the instantaneous oscillatory brain activity. Here we present findings from a proof-of-principle study of alpha-oscillation synchronized brain stimulation of the frontal cortex in patients with major depression (…

The role of left supplementary motor area in grip force scaling

2013

Skilled tool use and object manipulation critically relies on the ability to scale anticipatorily the grip force (GF) in relation to object dynamics. This predictive behaviour entails that the nervous system is able to store, and then select, the appropriate internal representation of common object dynamics, allowing GF to be applied in parallel with the arm motor commands. Although psychophysical studies have provided strong evidence supporting the existence of internal representations of object dynamics, known as "internal models", their neural correlates are still debated. Because functional neuroimaging studies have repeatedly designated the supplementary motor area (SMA) as a possible …

Personality modulates brain responses to emotion in music: Comparing whole-brain and regions-of-variance approaches

2019

AbstractWhether and how personality traits explain the individual variance in neural responses to emotion in music remains unclear. The sparse studies on this topic report inconsistent findings. The present study extends previous work using regions of variance (ROVs) as regions of interest, compared with whole-brain analysis. Fifty-five subjects listened to happy, sad, and fearful music during functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Personality was measured with the Big Five Questionnaire. Results confirmed previous observations of Neuroticism being positively related to activation during sad music, in the left inferior parietal lobe. In an exploratory analysis, Openness was positively relat…

Current neuroscientific research database findings of brain activity changes after hypnosis.

2021

Using multi-modal brain imaging techniques we found pronounced changes in neuronal activity after hypnotic trance induction whereby state changes seem to occur synchronously with the specific induction instructions. In clinical patients, hypnosis proved to be a powerful method in inhibiting the reaction of the fear circuitry structures. The aim of the present paper is to critically discuss the limitations of the current neuroscientific research database in the light of a debate in defining relevant hypnotic constructs and to suggest ideas for future research projects. We discuss the role of hypnotic suggestibility (HS), the impact of hypnotic inductions and the importance of the depth of hy…

Can neurophysiological markers of anticipation and attention predict ADHD severity and neurofeedback outcomes?

2021

Abstract Neurophysiological measures of preparation and attention are often atypical in ADHD. Still, replicated findings that these measures predict which patients improve after Neurofeedback (NF), reveal neurophysiological specificity, and reflect ADHD-severity are limited. Methods We analyzed children’s preparatory (CNV) and attentional (Cue-P3) brain activity and behavioral performance during a cued Continuous Performance Task (CPT) before and after slow cortical potential (SCP)-NF or semi-active control treatment (electromyogram biofeedback). Mixed-effects models were performed with 103 participants at baseline and 77 were assessed for pre-post comparisons focusing on clinical outcome p…

The Approach Behavior to Angry Words in Athletes—A Pilot Study

2019

An increasing number of studies have found that athletes have a higher level of aggression than non-athletes. Anger is an important factor in the generation of aggressive behavior, and anger has been found to relate to both approach behavior and avoidance behavior. The present pilot study compared the aggression level of athletes and non-athletes using the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire, and examined the responses of participants to anger-related stimuli using the manikin task, a paradigm that measures approach-avoidance behavior. In total, 15 athletes and 15 non-athletes finished the questionnaire and the manikin task, which included two conditions. In the anger approach condition, pa…

2020

Besides the pure pleasure of watching a dance performance, dance as a whole-body movement is becoming increasingly popular for health-related interventions. However, the science-based evidence for improvements in health or well-being through dance is still ambiguous and little is known about the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms. This may be partly related to the fact that previous studies mostly examined the neurophysiological effects of imagination and observation of dance rather than the physical execution itself. The objective of this pilot study was to investigate acute effects of a physically executed dance with its different components (recalling the choreography and physical …