Search results for "lcsh:Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry"

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…

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…

Antennal lobe representations are optimized when olfactory stimuli are periodically structured to simulate natural wing beat effects

2014

Animals use behaviors to actively sample the environment across a broad spectrum of sensory domains. These behaviors discretize the sensory experience into unique spatiotemporal moments, minimize sensory adaptation, and enhance perception. In olfaction, behaviors such as sniffing, antennal flicking, and wing beating all act to periodically expose olfactory epithelium. In mammals, it is thought that sniffing enhances neural representations; however, the effects of insect wing beating on representations remain unknown. To determine how well the antennal lobe produces odor-dependent representations when wing beating effects are simulated, we used extracellular methods to record neural units an…

Editorial: Neurobehavioural Mechanisms of Resilience and Vulnerability in Addictive Disorders

2021

Using Temporal Expectation to Assess Auditory Streaming in Mice

2018

Auditory streaming is the process by which environmental sound is segregated into discrete perceptual objects. The auditory system has a remarkable capability in this regard as revealed in psychophysical experiments in humans and other primates. However, little is known about the underlying neuronal mechanisms, in part because of the lack of suitable behavioural paradigms in non-primate species. The mouse is an increasingly popular model for studying the neural mechanisms of perception and action because of the range of molecular tools enabling precise manipulation of neural circuitry. Here we present a novel behavioural task that can be used to assess perceptual aspects of auditory streami…