Search results for "PREFRONTAL CORTEX"
showing 10 items of 323 documents
Dissociable contributions of left and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in planning.
2010
It is well established that the mid-dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) plays a critical role in planning. Neuroimaging studies have yielded predominantly bilateral dlPFC activations, but the existence and nature of functionally specific contributions of left and right dlPFC have remained elusive. In recent experiments, 2 independent parameters have been identified which substantially determine planning: 1) the degree of interdependence between consecutive steps (search depth) and 2) the degree to which the configuration of the goal state renders the order of single steps either clearly evident or ambiguous (goal hierarchy). Thus, search depth affects the actual mental generation and eva…
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…
Measuring spectrally-resolved information transfer.
2020
Information transfer, measured by transfer entropy, is a key component of distributed computation. It is therefore important to understand the pattern of information transfer in order to unravel the distributed computational algorithms of a system. Since in many natural systems distributed computation is thought to rely on rhythmic processes a frequency resolved measure of information transfer is highly desirable. Here, we present a novel algorithm, and its efficient implementation, to identify separately frequencies sending and receiving information in a network. Our approach relies on the invertible maximum overlap discrete wavelet transform (MODWT) for the creation of surrogate data in t…
Behavioral deficits induced by lead exposure are accompanied by serotonergic and cholinergic alterations in the prefrontal cortex
2013
The effects of long-term lead (Pb) exposure producing a blood Pb concentration of lower than 20 μg/dL, i.e. below that associated with overt neurological deficits in occupationally exposed individuals, was studied in adult rats. In order to assess gender differences, we performed parallel behavioral experiments in male and female rats. Exposure to Pb acetate (50 ppm in drinking water) for 6 months induced motor and cognitive alterations, however these effects were gender- and task-dependent. Chronic lead exposure impaired spatial learning assessed in the Morris water maze test (MWM) in both genders, whereas it only induced hyperactivity in the open field and impaired motor coordination in t…
Frequency-specific network activity predicts bradykinesia severity in Parkinson’s disease
2021
Highlights • Parallel subnetworks are affected in bradykinesia. • The primary motor and the premotor cortex are common nodes with task-specificity. • Beta activity decreases, gamma activity increases with improvement of bradykinesia. • Subthalamic stimulation reduces beta, increases gamma power in ipsilateral cortex. • Subnetworks act with frequency-specific oscillations.
Near-Infrared Hemoencephalography for Monitoring Blood Oxygenation in Prefrontal Cortical Areas in Diagnosis and Therapy of Developmental Dyslexia
2013
The purpose of this study was to check empirically the relevance of the near-infrared hemoencephalography (NIR-HEG), which assesses local brain blood oxygenation, in facilitation of the diagnosis and behavioral therapy in dyslexics. The study was carried out in children and teenagers with physiologically recognized dyslexia, of three increasing age-groups: 6–7, 9–10, and 19–20 years old. Healthy age- and gender-matched subjects were used as controls. Left and right prefrontal cortical areas were targeted for the NIR-HEG measurements that were taken at baseline in both controls and dyslexics and then after a 10-day course of midriff breathing exercise combined with a standard vocal and writi…
Verbal suppression and strategy use: a role for the right lateral prefrontal cortex?
2015
Verbal initiation, suppression and strategy generation/use are cognitive processes widely held to be supported by the frontal cortex. The Hayling Test was designed to tap these cognitive processes within the same sentence completion task. There are few studies specifically investigating the neural correlates of the Hayling Test but it has been primarily used to detect frontal lobe damage. This study investigates the components of the Hayling Test in a large sample of patients with unselected focal frontal (n = 60) and posterior (n = 30) lesions. Patients and controls (n = 40) matched for education, age and sex were administered the Hayling Test as well as background cognitive tests. The sta…
Does dark chocolate have an ergogenic impact on emotional state, vegetative nervous system and strength performance?
2021
International audience; The aim of this research is to assess the acute effect of consuming a dark chocolate with lemon (DCL) bar on the emotional state, the vegetative nervous system, and strength performance. This protocol was carried out by eleven male trained cyclists and trail runners (age: 27 ± 12 years old), who tested, in random order, either DCL bar containing flavonoids or a white chocolate bar (placebo) before a simulated competition of knee extension force. Their precompetitive state anxiety (SA), blood pressure, heart rate variability (HRV), and electroencephalography (EEG) responses were measured before and after eating the bars. The maximal voluntary force (MVC) of the knee e…
Emotion regulation strategies modulate the effect of adverse childhood experiences on perceived chronic stress with implications for cognitive flexib…
2020
Exposure to early life adversity is associated with chronic stress and a range of stress-related health problems in adulthood. Since chronic stress debilitates activity in the prefrontal cortex (pFC), maladaptive regulatory strategies in response to stress have been proposed as one explanation for the impact of early life adversity on health outcomes in adulthood. We conducted a study to examine the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on cognitive flexibility, a key executive function implicated in activity in the pFC, in a sample of adults (N = 486). Additionally, we investigated whether perceptions of chronic stress in adulthood would mediate the influence of ACEs on cognitive …
Metabolic and structural connectivity within the default mode network relates to working memory performance in young healthy adults.
2012
Abstract Studies of functional connectivity suggest that the default mode network (DMN) might be relevant for cognitive functions. Here, we examined metabolic and structural connectivity between major DMN nodes, the posterior cingulate (PCC) and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), in relation to normal working memory (WM). DMN was captured using independent component analysis of [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) data from 35 young healthy adults (27.1 ± 5.1 years). Metabolic connectivity, a correlation between FDG uptake in PCC and MPFC, was examined in groups of subjects with (relative to median) low (n = 18) and high (n = 17) performance on digit span backward te…