Brain networks for temporal adaptation, anticipation, and sensory-motor integration in rhythmic human behavior.

Human interaction often requires the precise yet flexible interpersonal coordination of rhythmic behavior, as in group music making. The present fMRI study investigates the functional brain networks that may facilitate such behavior by enabling temporal adaptation (error correction), prediction, and the monitoring and integration of information about 'self' and the external environment. Participants were required to synchronize finger taps with computer-controlled auditory sequences that were presented either at a globally steady tempo with local adaptations to the participants' tap timing (Virtual Partner task) or with gradual tempo accelerations and decelerations but without adaptation (Tempo Change task). Connectome-based predictive modelling was used to examine patterns of brain functional connectivity related to individual differences in behavioral performance and parameter estimates from the adaptation and anticipation model (ADAM) of sensorimotor synchronization for these two tasks under conditions of varying cognitive load. Results revealed distinct but overlapping brain networks associated with ADAM-derived estimates of temporal adaptation, anticipation, and the integration of self-controlled and externally controlled processes across task conditions. The partial overlap between ADAM networks suggests common hub regions that modulate functional connectivity within and between the brain's resting-state networks and additional sensory-motor regions and subcortical structures in a manner reflecting coordination skill. Such network reconfiguration might facilitate sensorimotor synchronization by enabling shifts in focus on internal and external information, and, in social contexts requiring interpersonal coordination, variations in the degree of simultaneous integration and segregation of these information sources in internal models that support self, other, and joint action planning and prediction.

A functional connectome phenotyping dataset including cognitive state and personality measures.

The dataset enables exploration of higher-order cognitive faculties, self-generated mental experience, and personality features in relation to the intrinsic functional architecture of the brain. We provide multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data and a broad set of state and trait phenotypic assessments: mind-wandering, personality traits, and cognitive abilities. Specifically, 194 healthy participants (between 20 and 75 years of age) filled out 31 questionnaires, performed 7 tasks, and reported 4 probes of in-scanner mind-wandering. The scanning session included four 15.5-min resting-state functional MRI runs using a multiband EPI sequence and a hig h-resolution structural scan using a 3D MP2RAGE sequence. This dataset constitutes one part of the MPI-Leipzig Mind-Brain-Body database.

Gradients of connectivity distance in the cerebral cortex of the macaque monkey.

Cortical connectivity conforms to a series of organizing principles that are common across species. Spatial proximity, similar cortical type, and similar connectional profile all constitute factors for determining the connectivity between cortical regions. We previously demonstrated another principle of connectivity that is closely related to the spatial layout of the cerebral cortex. Using functional connectivity from resting-state fMRI in the human cortex, we found that the further a region is located from primary cortex, the more distant are its functional connections with the other areas of the cortex. However, it remains unknown whether this relationship between cortical layout and connectivity extends to other primate species. Here, we investigated this relationship using both resting-state functional connectivity as well as gold-standard tract-tracing connectivity in the macaque monkey cortex. For both measures of connectivity, we found a gradient of connectivity distance extending between primary and frontoparietal regions. In the human cortex, the further a region is located from primary areas, the stronger its connections to distant portions of the cortex, with connectivity distance highest in frontal and parietal regions. The similarity between the human and macaque findings provides evidence for a phylogenetically conserved relationship between the spatial layout of cortical areas and connectivity.

Functional organization of the human amygdala in appetitive learning.

The amygdala is a small subcortical structure located bilaterally in medial temporal lobes. It is a key region for emotional processes and some forms of associative learning. In particular, the role of the amygdala in processing of negative emotions and aversive learning has been shown in numerous studies. However, involvement of this structure in processing of positive affect and appetitive learning is not fully understood. Previous experiments in animals are not consistent. While some authors implicate only the centromedial part of the amygdala in appetitive learning, the others suggest contribution of both centromedial and basolateral subregions. Although from the evolutionary perspective appetitive learning is equally important as aversive learning, research on the role of the human amygdala and its subregions in appetitive learning is undertaken relatively rarely and the results are not conclusive. Therefore, the aim of this review is twofold: to summarize the current knowledge in this field and to indicate and discuss the factors, which might affect the observed level of the amygdala activity during appetitive learning in humans.

More intelligent extraverts are more likely to deceive.

The tendency to lie is a part of personality. But are personality traits the only factors that make some people lie more often than others? We propose that cognitive abilities have equal importance. People with higher cognitive abilities are better, and thus more effective liars. This might reinforce using lies to solve problems. Yet, there is no empirical research that shows this relationship in healthy adults. Here we present three studies in which the participants had free choice about their honesty. We related differences in cognitive abilities and personality to the odds of lying. Results show that personality and intelligence are both important. People low on agreeableness and intelligent extraverts are most likely to lie. This suggests that intelligence might mediate the relationship between personality traits and lying frequency. While personality traits set general behavioral tendencies, intelligence and environment set boundaries.

In need of constraint: Understanding the role of the cingulate cortex in the impulsive mind.

Impulsive behavior often occurs without forethought and can be driven by strong emotions or sudden impulses, leading to problems in cognition and behavior across a wide range of situations. Although neuroimaging studies have explored the neurocognitive indicators of impulsivity, the large-scale functional networks that contribute to different aspects of impulsive cognition remain unclear. In particular, we lack a coherent account of why impulsivity is associated with such a broad range of different psychological features. Here, we use resting state functional connectivity, acquired in two independent samples, to investigate the neural substrates underlying different aspects of self-reported impulsivity. Based on the involvement of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in cognitive but also affective processes, five seed regions were placed along the caudal to rostral gradient of the ACC. We found that positive urgency was related to functional connectivity between subgenual ACC and bilateral parietal regions such as retrosplenial cortex potentially highlighting this connection as being important in the modulation of the non-prospective, hastiness - related aspects of impulsivity. Further, two impulsivity dimensions were associated with significant alterations in functional connectivity of the supragenual ACC: (i) lack of perseverance was positively correlated to connectivity with the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and right inferior frontal gyrus and (ii) lack of premeditation was inversely associated with functional connectivity with clusters within bilateral occipital cortex. Further analysis revealed that these connectivity patterns overlapped with bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal and bilateral occipital regions of the multiple demand network, a large-scale neural system implicated in the general control of thought and action. Together these results demonstrate that different forms of impulsivity have different neural correlates, which are linked to the functional connectivity of a region of anterior cingulate cortex. This suggests that poor perseveration and premeditation might be linked to dysfunctions in how the rostral zone of the ACC interacts with the multiple demand network that allows cognition to proceed in a controlled way.

Situating the default-mode network along a principal gradient of macroscale cortical organization.

Understanding how the structure of cognition arises from the topographical organization of the cortex is a primary goal in neuroscience. Previous work has described local functional gradients extending from perceptual and motor regions to cortical areas representing more abstract functions, but an overarching framework for the association between structure and function is still lacking. Here, we show that the principal gradient revealed by the decomposition of connectivity data in humans and the macaque monkey is anchored by, at one end, regions serving primary sensory/motor functions and at the other end, transmodal regions that, in humans, are known as the default-mode network (DMN). These DMN regions exhibit the greatest geodesic distance along the cortical surface-and are precisely equidistant-from primary sensory/motor morphological landmarks. The principal gradient also provides an organizing spatial framework for multiple large-scale networks and characterizes a spectrum from unimodal to heteromodal activity in a functional metaanalysis. Together, these observations provide a characterization of the topographical organization of cortex and indicate that the role of the DMN in cognition might arise from its position at one extreme of a hierarchy, allowing it to process transmodal information that is unrelated to immediate sensory input.

Eye movement abnormalities in essential tremor.

Essential tremor (ET) is the most prevalent movement disorder, characterized mainly by an action tremor of the arms. Only a few studies published as yet have assessed oculomotor abnormalities in ET and their results are unequivocal. The aim of this study was to assess the oculomotor abnormalities in ET patients compared with the control group and to find the relationship between oculomotor abnormalities and clinical features of ET patients. We studied 50 ET patients and 42 matched by age and gender healthy controls. Saccadometer Advanced (Ober Consulting, Poland) was used to investigate reflexive, pace-induced and cued saccades and conventional electrooculography for evaluation of smooth pursuit and fixation. The severity of the tremor was assessed by the Clinical Rating Scale for Tremor. Significant differences between ET patients and controls were found for the incidence of reflexive saccades dysmetria and deficit of smooth pursuit. Reflexive saccades dysmetria was more frequent in patients in the second and third phase of ET compared to the first phase. The reflexive saccades latency increase was correlated with severity of the tremor. In conclusion, oculomotor abnormalities were significantly more common in ET patients than in healthy subjects. The most common oculomotor disturbances in ET were reflexive saccades dysmetria and slowing of smooth pursuit. The frequency of reflexive saccades dysmetria increased with progression of ET. The reflexive saccades latency increase was related to the severity of tremor.

Explicit Instructions Increase Cognitive Costs of Deception in Predictable Social Context.

Convincing participants to deceive remains one of the biggest and most important challenges of laboratory-based deception research. The simplest and most prevalent method involves explicitly instructing participants to lie or tell the truth before presenting each task item. The usual finding of such experiments is increased cognitive load associated with deceptive responses, explained by necessity to inhibit default and automatic honest responses. However, explicit instructions are usually coupled with the absence of social context in the experimental task. Context plays a key role in social cognition by activating prior knowledge, which facilitates behaviors consistent with the latter. We hypothesized that in the presence of social context, both honest and deceptive responses can be produced on the basis of prior knowledge, without reliance on truth and without additional cognitive load during deceptive responses. In order to test the hypothesis, we have developed Speed-Dating Task (SDT), which is based on a real-life social event. In SDT, participants respond both honestly and deceptively to questions in order to appear similar to each of the dates. The dates are predictable and represent well-known categories (i.e., atheist or conservative). In one condition participants rely on explicit instructions preceding each question (external cue). In the second condition no explicit instructions are present, so the participants need to adapt based on prior knowledge about the category the dates belong to (internal cue). With internal cues, reaction times (RTs) are similar for both honest and deceptive responses. However, in the presence of external cues (EC), RTs are longer for deceptive than honest responses, suggesting that deceptive responses are associated with increased cognitive load. Compared to internal cues, deception costs were higher when EC were present. However, the effect was limited to the first part of the experiment, only partially confirming our initial hypothesis. The results suggest that the presence of social context in deception tasks might have a significant influence on cognitive processes associated with deception.

Effect of Frustration on Brain Activation Pattern in Subjects with Different Temperament.

In spite of the prevalence of frustration in everyday life, very few neuroimaging studies were focused on this emotional state. In the current study we aimed to examine effects of frustration on brain activity while performing a well-learned task in participants with low and high tolerance for arousal. Prior to the functional magnetic resonance imaging session, the subjects underwent 2 weeks of Braille reading training. Frustration induction was obtained by using a novel highly difficult tactile task based on discrimination of Braille-like raised dots patterns and negative feedback. Effectiveness of this procedure has been confirmed in a pilot study using galvanic skin response and questionnaires. Brain activation pattern during tactile discrimination task before and after frustration were compared directly. Results revealed changes in brain activity in structures mostly reported in acute stress studies: striatum, cingulate cortex, insula, middle frontal gyrus and precuneus and in structures engaged in tactile Braille discrimination: SI and SII. Temperament type affected activation pattern. Subjects with low tolerance for arousal showed higher activation in the posterior cingulate gyrus, precuneus, and inferior parietal lobule than high reactivity group. Even though performance in the discrimination trials following frustration was unaltered, we observed increased activity of primary and secondary somatosensory cortex processing the tactile information. We interpret this effect as an indicator of additional involvement required to counteract the effects of frustration.

The neural correlates of specific executive dysfunctions in Parkinson's disease.

Several functional neuroimaging studies in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) have suggested that changes in the fronto-parietal-striatal networks are associated with deficits in executive functioning. However, executive functions (EF) are multifaceted and include three dissociable components: working memory, response inhibition, and task-switching. This study investigated which component of executive functioning is most strongly associated with fronto-parietal-striatal efficiency in PD. PD patients (with and without executive dysfunction), and age-matched healthy subjects, completed a battery of cognitive tests previously shown to discriminate among the three EF components. Principal component analysis conducted on the selected cognitive test variables yielded three expected EF components. The component scores were used in regression analysis to assess the relationship between the EF efficiency and blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal related to performing the n-back, an experimental task that draws upon multiple components of executive functioning: working memory, response inhibition, and task-switching. We found distinct neural correlates of specific executive dysfunctions in patients with PD. However, all of them seem to be associated with fronto-parietal-striatal efficiency.

Sex, lies and fMRI--gender differences in neural basis of deception.

Deception has always been a part of human communication as it helps to promote self-presentation. Although both men and women are equally prone to try to manage their appearance, their strategies, motivation and eagerness may be different. Here, we asked if lying could be influenced by gender on both the behavioral and neural levels. To test whether the hypothesized gender differences in brain activity related to deceptive responses were caused by differential socialization in men and women, we administered the Gender Identity Inventory probing the participants' subjective social sex role. In an fMRI session, participants were instructed either to lie or to tell the truth while answering a questionnaire focusing on general and personal information. Only for personal information, we found differences in neural responses during instructed deception in men and women. The women vs. men direct contrast revealed no significant differences in areas of activation, but men showed higher BOLD signal compared to women in the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG). Moreover, this effect remained unchanged when self-reported psychological gender was controlled for. Thus, our study showed that gender differences in the neural processes engaged during falsifying personal information might be independent from socialization.