Search results for "Neurosciences"
showing 10 items of 844 documents
Haptic Perception in Extreme Obesity: qEEG Study Focused on Predictive Coding and Body Schema
2020
Haptic perception (HP) is a perceptual modality requiring manual exploration to elaborate the physical characteristics of external stimuli through multisensory integrative cortical pathways. Cortical areas exploit processes of predictive coding that collect sensorial inputs to build and update internal perceptual models. Modifications to the internal representation of the body have been associated with eating disorders. In the light of this, obese subjects were selected as a valid experimental model to explore predictive coding in haptic perception. To this purpose, we performed electroencephalographic (EEG) continuous recordings during a haptic task in normally weighted versus obese subjec…
Individualized Template MRI Is a Valid and Reliable Alternative to Individual MRI for Spatial Tracking in Navigated TMS Studies in Healthy Subjects
2020
Objectives: Navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS) provides significant benefits over classic TMS. Yet, the acquisition of individual structural magnetic resonance images (MRIindividual) is a time-consuming, expensive, and not feasible prerequisite in all subjects for spatial tracking and anatomical guidance in nTMS studies. We hypothesize that spatial transformation can be used to adjust MRI templates to individual head shapes (MRIwarped) and that TMS parameters do not differ between nTMS using MRIindividual or MRIwarped.Materials and Methods: Twenty identical TMS sessions, each including four different navigation conditions, were conducted in 10 healthy subjects (one female, 2…
A time estimation task as a possible measure of emotions: difference depending on the nature of the stimulus used
2015
Objective: Time perception is fundamental for human experience. A topic which has attracted the attention of researchers for long time is how the stimulus sensory modality (e.g., images vs. sounds) affects time judgments. However, so far, no study has directly compared the effect of two sensory modalities using emotional stimuli on time judgments. Methods: In the present two studies, healthy participants were asked to estimate the duration of a pure sound preceded by the presentation of odors vs. emotional videos as priming stimuli (implicit emotion-eliciting task). During the task, skin conductance (SC) was measured as an index of arousal. Results: Olfactory stimuli resulted in an increase…
Disentangling the Amyloid Pathways: A Mechanistic Approach to Etiology
2020
Amyloids are fibrillar protein aggregates associated with diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), type II diabetes and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. The process of amyloid polymerization involves three pathological protein transformations; from natively folded conformation to the cross-β conformation, from biophysically soluble to insoluble, and from biologically functional to non-functional. While amyloids share a similar cross-β conformation, the biophysical transformation can either take place spontaneously via a homogeneous nucleation mechanism (HON) or catalytically on an exogenous surface via a heterogeneous nucleation mechanism (HEN). Here, we postulate that…
Does predictability matter? Effects of cue predictability on neurocognitive mechanisms underlying prospective memory
2015
Prospective memory (PM) represents the ability to successfully realize intentions when the appropriate moment or cue occurs. In this study, we used event-related potentials (ERPs) to explore the impact of cue predictability on the cognitive and neural mechanisms supporting PM. Participants performed an ongoing task and, simultaneously, had to remember to execute a pre-specified action when they encountered the PM cues. The occurrence of the PM cues was predictable (being signalled by a warning cue) for some participants and was completely unpredictable for others. In the predictable cue condition, the behavioural and ERP correlates of strategic monitoring were observed mainly in the ongoing…
Validating Habitual and Goal-Directed Decision-Making Performance Online in Healthy Older Adults
2021
Everyday decision-making is supported by a dual-system of control comprised of parallel goal-directed and habitual systems. Over the past decade, the two-stage Markov decision task has become popularized for its ability to dissociate between goal-directed and habitual decision-making. While a handful of studies have implemented decision-making tasks online, only one study has validated the task by comparing in-person and web-based performance on the two-stage task in children and young adults. To date, no study has validated the dissociation of goal-directed and habitual behaviors in older adults online. Here, we implemented and validated a web-based version of the two-stage Markov task usi…
Clinical Onset and Multiple Sclerosis Relapse after SARS-CoV-2 Infection
2021
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has been associated with several neurological disorders including headache, facial palsy, encephalitis, stroke, demyelinating disorders. The present report will discuss cases of multiple sclerosis (MS) onset and relapse both beginning early after SARS-CoV-2 infection. In both cases, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed widespread bilateral subcortical and periventricular active lesions. Serum IgG against SARS-CoV-2 Spike antigens confirmed seroconversion with titers that are considered not definitely protective against possible reinfection. We hypothesize that SARS-CoV-2 infection, as previously reported for other vir…
Retinal Vascular Assessment in Psoriasis: A Multicenter Study
2021
PurposeTo investigate the vascular status of the macula in psoriasis patients without history of ocular inflammation by Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA).MethodsThis prospective cross-sectional multicenter study included 55 psoriasis patients and 55 control healthy subjects. A complete eye examination and 6 mm × 6 mm OCTA imaging were performed. Retinal vascular status was evaluated by analyzing vascular density (VD) of superficial vascular plexus (superficial wVD) and deep vascular plexuses (deep wVD) in a 6 mm × 6 mm area and in foveal (superficial fVD and deep fVD) and parafoveal sectors (superficial pVD and deep pVD). In addition, foveal thickness (FT) and foveal avascular…
Internet out of control: The role of self-esteem and personality traits in pathological internet use
2017
Objective: Young people seem particularly likely to develop pathological Internet use (PIU) with the use of social networks, chat, and videos. Sensation-seeking, neuroticism, introversion, and low self-esteem are personality features frequently associated with the disease. The aim of this study was to replicate and to extend previous findings by exploring the combined effect of personality traits and self-esteem on PIU. Method: A sample of 652 male students attending vocational technical schools in Palermo (Southern Italy) was assessed using the following measures: the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire to evaluate personality traits; the Multidimensional Self-Concept Scale to asse…
A Process-Oriented View of Procedural Memory Can Help Better Understand Tourette’s Syndrome
2021
Tourette’s syndrome (TS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by repetitive movements and vocalizations, also known as tics. The phenomenology of tics and the underlying neurobiology of the disorder have suggested that the altered functioning of the procedural memory system might contribute to its etiology. However, contrary to the robust findings of impaired procedural memory in neurodevelopmental disorders of language, results from TS have been somewhat mixed. We review the previous studies in the field and note that they have reported normal, impaired, and even enhanced procedural performance. These mixed findings may be at least partially be explained by the diversity of the s…