Envisioning the future: An ALE meta-analysis on neural correlates of future thinking, prospective memory and delay discounting.

Our representations of the future are processed in the service of several different cognitive functions, including episodic future thinking, prospective memory, and temporal discounting. The present meta-analysis used the Activation Likelihood Estimation method to understand whether there is a core network underlying future-oriented cognition and to identify the specific brain regions that support future-related processes in each function. Following the PRISMA guidelines, a total of 24, 19, and 27 neuroimaging studies were included for future thinking, prospective memory, and temporal discounting, respectively. Results showed that there is no specific region or network for the future. Instead, the 'future' seems to be represented on an anterior-posterior tangibility gradient, based on the level of abstractness/concreteness of the simulated scenario. Additionally, future-oriented cognition is mediated by two distinct networks: the Default Network and the Salience Network. The Default Network is mainly active in supporting future thinking, whereas the Salience Network is primarily involved in prospective memory and delay discounting.

Visual perspective, distance, and felt presence of others in dreams.

The peripersonal space, that is, the limited space surrounding the body, involves multisensory coding and representation of the self in space. Previous studies have shown that peripersonal space representation and the visual perspective on the environment can be dramatically altered when neurotypical individuals self-identify with a distant avatar (i.e., in virtual reality) or during clinical conditions (i.e., out-of-body experience, heautoscopy, depersonalization). Despite its role in many cognitive/social functions, the perception of peripersonal space in dreams, and its relationship with the perception of other characters (interpersonal distance in dreams), remain largely uncharted. The present study aimed to explore the visuospatial properties of this space, which is likely to underlie self-location as well as self/other distinction in dreams. 530 healthy volunteers answered a web-based questionnaire to measure their dominant visuo-spatial perspective in dreams, the frequency of recall for felt distances between their dream self and other dream characters, and the dreamers' viewing angle of other dream characters. Most participants reported dream experiences from a first-person perspective (1PP) (82%) compared to a third-person perspective (3PP) (18%). Independent of their dream perspective, participants reported that they generally perceived other dream characters in their close space, that is, at distance of either between 0 and 90 cm, or 90-180 cm, than in further spaces (180-270 cm). Regardless of the perspective (1PP or 3PP), both groups also reported more frequently seeing other dream characters from eye level (0° angle of viewing) than from above (30° and 60°) or below eye level (-30° and -60°). Moreover, the intensity of sensory experiences in dreams, as measured by the Bodily Self-Consciousness in Dreams Questionnaire, was higher in individuals who habitually see other dream characters closer to their personal dream self (i.e., within 0-90 cm and 90-180 cm). These preliminary findings offer a new, phenomenological account of space representation in dreams with regards to the felt presence of others. They might provide insights not only to our understanding of how dreams are formed, but also to the type of neurocomputations involved in self/other distinction.

Mind your step: social cerebellum in interactive navigation.

The posterior cerebellum contributes to dynamic social cognition by building representations and predictions about sequences in which social interactions typically take place. However, the extent to which violations of prior social expectations during human interaction activate the cerebellum remains largely unknown. The present study examined inconsistent actions, which violate the expectations of desired goal outcomes, by using a social navigation paradigm in which a protagonist presented a gift to another agent that was liked or not. As an analogous non-social control condition, a pen was transported via an assembly line and filled with ink that matched the pen's cap or not. Participants (n = 25) were required to memorize and subsequently reproduce the sequence of the protagonist's or pen's trajectory. As hypothesized, expectation violations in social (vs non-social) sequencing were associated with activation in the posterior cerebellum (Crus 1/2) and other cortical mentalizing regions. In contrast, non-social (vs social) sequencing recruited cerebellar lobules IV-V, the action observation network and the navigation-related parahippocampal gyrus. There was little effect in comparison with a social non-sequencing control condition, where participants only had to observe the trajectory. The findings provide further evidence of cerebellar involvement in signaling inconsistencies in social outcomes of goal-directed navigation.

A Quantum Predictive Brain: Complementarity Between Top-Down Predictions and Bottom-Up Evidence.

Predictive brain theory challenges the general assumption of a brain extracting knowledge from sensations and considers the brain as an organ of inference, actively constructing explanations about reality beyond its sensory evidence. Predictive brain has been formalized through Bayesian updating, where top-down predictions are compared with bottom-up evidence. In this article, we propose a different approach to predictive brain based on quantum probability-we call it Quantum Predictive Brain (QPB). QPB is consistent with the Bayesian framework, but considers it as a special case. The tenet of QPB is that top-down predictions and bottom-up evidence are complementary, as they cannot be co-jointly determined to pursue a univocal model of brain functioning. QPB can account for several high-order cognitive phenomena (which are problematic in current predictive brain theories) and offers new insights into the mechanisms of neural reuse.

Unraveling Negative Expectations and Nocebo-Related Effects in Musculoskeletal Pain.

This Perspective adapts the ViolEx Model, a framework validated in several clinical conditions, to better understand the role of expectations in the recovery and/or maintenance of musculoskeletal (MSK) pain. Here, particular attention is given to the condition in which dysfunctional expectations are maintained despite no longer being supported by confirmatory evidence (i.e., belief-lifting the arm leads to permanent tendon damage; evidence-after the patient lifts the arm no tendon damage occurs). While the ViolEx Model suggests that cognitive immunization strategies are responsible for the maintenance of dysfunctional expectations, we suggest that such phenomenon can also be understood from a Bayesian Brain perspective, according to which the level of precision of the priors (i.e., expectations) is the determinant factor accounting for the extent of priors' updating (i.e., we merge the two frameworks, suggesting that highly precise prior can lead to cognitive immunization responses). Importantly, this Perspective translates the theory behind these two frameworks into clinical suggestions. Precisely, it is argued that different strategies should be implemented when treating MSK pain patients, depending on the nature of their expectations (i.e., positive or negative and the level of their precision).

From many to (n)one: Meditation and the plasticity of the predictive mind.

How profoundly can humans change their own minds? In this paper we offer a unifying account of deconstructive meditation under the predictive processing view. We start from simple axioms. First, the brain makes predictions based on past experience, both phylogenetic and ontogenetic. Second, deconstructive meditation brings one closer to the here and now by disengaging anticipatory processes. We propose that practicing meditation therefore gradually reduces counterfactual temporally deep cognition, until all conceptual processing falls away, unveiling a state of pure awareness. Our account also places three main styles of meditation (focused attention, open monitoring, and non-dual) on a single continuum, where each technique relinquishes increasingly engrained habits of prediction, including the predicted self. This deconstruction can also permit certain insights by making the above processes available to introspection. Our framework is consistent with the state of empirical and (neuro)phenomenological evidence and illuminates the top-down plasticity of the predictive mind. Experimental rigor, neurophenomenology, and no-report paradigms are needed to further understanding of how meditation affects predictive processing and the self.

Harnessing Neuroimaging to Reduce Socioeconomic Disparities in Chronic Disease: A Conceptual Framework for Improving Health Messaging.

Socioeconomic status (SES)-related health disparities persist for numerous chronic diseases, with lower-SES individuals exhibiting greater risk of morbidity and mortality compared to their higher-SES counterparts. One likely contributor is disparities in health messaging efforts, which are currently less effective for motivating health behavior change among those lower in SES. Drawing on communication neuroscience and social neuroscience research, we describe a conceptual framework to improve health messaging effectiveness in lower SES communities. The framework is based on evidence that health-message-induced activity in the ventral striatum (VS) and subdivisions of the medial pre-frontal cortex (MPFC) predicts behavior change. Additionally, we draw from social neuroscience work showing that activity in these regions during valuation and the processing of self-related vs. social information, differs as a function of SES. Bringing together these previously disparate lines of work, we argue that health messages emphasizing the benefits to close others (vs. the self) of engaging in behavior change will be more effective among lower SES individuals. We also outline a research agenda based on our framework. Ultimately, we hope that this framework utilizing a "brain-as-predictor" approach generates novel insights about the neural underpinnings of message-induced behavior change among lower SES individuals, and helps to close the gap in SES-based health disparities by harnessing the power of neuroimaging.

Females are more proactive, males are more reactive: neural basis of the gender-related speed/accuracy trade-off in visuo-motor tasks.

In the present study, we investigated neural correlates associated with gender differences in a simple response task (SRT) and in a discriminative response task (DRT) by means of event-related potential (ERP) technique. 120 adults participated in the study, and, based on their sex, were divided into two groups matched for age and education level. Behavioral performance was assessed with computing response speed, accuracy rates and response consistency. Pre- and post-stimulus ERPs were analyzed and compared between groups. Results indicated that males were faster than females in all tasks, while females were more accurate and consistent than males in the more complex tasks. This different behavioral performance was associated with distinctive ERP features. In the preparation phase, males showed smaller prefrontal negativity (pN) and visual negativity (vN), interpreted as reduced cognitive preparation to stimulus occurrence and reduced reliance on sensory proactive readiness, respectively. In the post-stimulus phase, gender differences were present over occipital (P1, N1, P2 components) and prefrontal (pN1, pP1, pP2 components) areas, suggesting allocation of attentional resources at distinct stages of information processing in the two groups. Overall, the present data provide evidence in favor of a more proactive and cautious cognitive processing in females and a more reactive and fast cognitive processing in males. In addition, we confirm that (1) gender is an important variable to be considered in ERP studies on perceptual processing and decision making, and (2) the pre-stimulus component analysis can provide useful information concerning neural correlates of upcoming performance.

Tinnitus: una patología cerebral / Tinnitus: a brain pathology

RESUMEN El tinnitus es un síntoma caracterizado por la percepción de un sonido en ausencia de un estímulo externo. Si bien su fisiopatología puede involucrar una alteración a nivel del funcionamiento del oído interno, la percepción de éste y el grado de molestias asociadas dependen de modificaciones de redes cerebrales cognitivas y emocionales. En la presente revisión, se abordan los cambios que existen a nivel coclear, de tronco encefálico, tálamo y la extensa red cerebral que dan cuenta del tinnitus, discutiendo como esta nueva conceptualización tiene importantes implicancias clínicas, permitiendo una mejor comprensión de los síntomas asociados al tinnitus, sus comorbilidades, y el desarrollo de nuevas estrategias terapéuticas.

ABSTRACT Tinnitus is a symptom characterized by the perception of a sound without an external stimulus. Although the pathophysiology of tinnitus initially involves an alteration of the inner ear function, the perception of it and the degree of distress associated with it depends on changes in cognitive and emotional brain networks. In this article, we review the changes that exist at the cochlea, brainstem, thalamus and a widespread cerebral networks that account for tinnitus, discussing how this new conceptualization has significant clinical implications and allows a better understanding of the symptoms associated with tinnitus, its co-morbidities, and how this view has allowed the development of new therapies.

Embodiment and Estrangement: Results from a First-in-Human "Intelligent BCI" Trial.

While new generations of implantable brain computer interface (BCI) devices are being developed, evidence in the literature about their impact on the patient experience is lagging. In this article, we address this knowledge gap by analysing data from the first-in-human clinical trial to study patients with implanted BCI advisory devices. We explored perceptions of self-change across six patients who volunteered to be implanted with artificially intelligent BCI devices. We used qualitative methodological tools grounded in phenomenology to conduct in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Results show that, on the one hand, BCIs can positively increase a sense of the self and control; on the other hand, they can induce radical distress, feelings of loss of control, and a rupture of patient identity. We conclude by offering suggestions for the proactive creation of preparedness protocols specific to intelligent-predictive and advisory-BCI technologies essential to prevent potential iatrogenic harms.

[Brain stimulation for the selective treatment of schizophrenia symptom domains : Non-invasive and invasive concepts]. / Hirnstimulation zur selektiven Behandlung von Zielsymptomen der Schizophrenie : Nichtinvasive und invasive Konzepte.

Given that one third of patients with schizophrenia (SZ) only show limited response to established treatments, alternative therapeutic strategies such as non-invasive/invasive brain stimulation approaches have emerged as an adjunctive treatment option for distinct SZ symptom domains (e.g. acoustic hallucinations, negative/positive symptoms and cognitive impairment). Taking comparative interventional studies and standardized technical parameters into consideration, current meta-analyses indicate that adjunctive electroconvulsive therapy, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation have a positive effect. Invasive deep brain stimulation and MR-guided ultrasound brain ablation procedures represent treatment modalities that are currently being clinically tested. Complementary pre-interventional screening approaches (e.g. electrophysiology, neuroimaging and molecular inflammatory profiling) have been recommended in order to identify symptom-tailored predictive measures for diagnosis and treatment.

The importance of recurrent top-down synaptic connections for the anticipation of dynamic emotions.

Different studies have shown the efficiency of a feed-forward neural network in categorizing basic emotional facial expressions. However, recent findings in psychology and cognitive neuroscience suggest that visual recognition is not a pure bottom-up process but likely involves top-down recurrent connectivity. In the present computational study, we compared the performances of a pure bottom-up neural network (a standard multi-layer perceptron, MLP) with a neural network involving recurrent top-down connections (a simple recurrent network, SRN) in the anticipation of emotional expressions. In two complementary simulations, results revealed that the SRN outperformed the MLP for ambiguous intensities in the temporal sequence, when the emotions were not fully depicted but when sufficient contextual information (related to previous time frames) was provided. Taken together, these results suggest that, despite the cost of recurrent connections in terms of energy and processing time for biological organisms, they can provide a substantial advantage for the fast recognition of uncertain visual signals.

The discovery of slowness: Time to deconstruct Gretzky's and Messi's predictive brains.

Jafari and Smith hypothesized that time during games may pass slower for the world's best football player, Lionel Messi, from Argentina. This hypothesis leads to two questions: How can we explain such temporal paradox and how could this explain his dominant performances? Remarkably, the Argentinian's case was preceded by the equally astonishing case of Wayne Gretzky: The Canadian considered ice hockey as a rather slow game and was the best player in the sport's history. Whether Messi's and Gretzky's motor neurons fire faster, (inter)act differently or whether other mechanisms are at (inter)play warrants targeted research. A further explanation for such dominance of football and ice hockey, respectively, could be that both athletes "buy time": To this end, automized motor skills may allow their predictive brains to make better use of time than other players to read the games and plan ahead. Deconstructing predictive minds of outperforming individuals like Gretzky and Messi could provide unique options to elucidate how differential time perception may make performances in athletes, and beyond, more swift and more efficient.

A Threat to Autonomy? The Intrusion of Predictive Brain Implants.

The world's first-in-human clinical trial using invasive intelligent brain devices-devices that predict specific neuronal events directly to the implanted person-has been completed with significant success. Predicting brain activity before specific outcomes occur brings a raft of unprecedented applications, especially when implants offer advice on how to respond to the neuronal events forecasted. Although these novel predictive and advisory implantable devices offer great potential to positively affect patients following surgery by enhancing quality of life (e.g., provide control over symptoms), substantial ethical concerns remain. The invasive nature of these novel devices is not unique; however, the inclusion of predictive and advisory functionalities within the implants, involving permanent monitoring of brain activity in real time, raises new ethical issues to explore, especially in relation to concerns for patient autonomy. What might be the effects of ongoing monitoring of predictive and advisory brain technologies on a patient's postoperative sense of autonomy? The role played by predictive and advisory implantable brain devices on patient's feelings of autonomy following surgery is completely unknown. The first section of this article addresses this shortcoming by reporting on a pilot study that we conducted with one of the patients implanted with one of these novel brain devices. The second section examines how overreliance on predictive and advisory brain technologies may threaten patients' autonomy. The third section looks into ethical problems concerning how devices delivering automated therapeutic responses might, hypothetically speaking, be used to monitor and control individual's autonomy through inhibition of undesirable behaviors.

The body beyond the body: expectation of a sensory event is enough to induce ownership over a fake hand.

More than 100 papers have been published on the rubber hand illusion since its discovery 14 years ago. The illusion has been proposed as a demonstration that the body is distinguished from other objects by its participation in specific forms of intermodal perceptual correlation. Here, we radically challenge this view by claiming that perceptual correlation is not necessary to produce the experience of this body as mine. Each of 15 participants was seated with his/her right arm resting upon a table just below another smaller table. Thus, the real hand was hidden from the participant's view and a life-sized rubber model of a right hand was placed on the small table in front of the participant. The participant observed the experimenter's hand while approaching--without touching--the rubber hand. Phenomenology of the illusion was measured by means of skin conductance response and questionnaire. Both measures indicated that participants experienced the illusion that the experimenter's hand was about to touch their hidden hand rather than the rubber hand, as if the latter replaced their own hand. This did not occur when the rubber hand was rotated by 180° or replaced by a piece of wood. This illusion indicates that our brain does not build a sense of self in a merely reactive way, via perceptual correlations; rather it generates predictions on what may or may not belong to itself.