•The default mode network deactivated for coordinating cognitive resources available for processing costs related to gap-filler integration.•The task-related positive and negative networks ...concurrently modulated by processing costs related to center-embeddedness.•Syntactic reanalysis elicited increased functional connectivity between the core language network and other networks.•Higher attentional focalization elicited increased functional connectivity within the ventral attention network.
The research on the neural correlates underlying the language system has gradually moved away from the traditional Broca-Wernicke framework to a network perspective in the past 15 years. Language processing is found to be supported by the co-activation of both core and peripheral brain regions. However, the dynamic co-activation patterns of these brain regions serving different language functions remain to be fully revealed. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study focused on sentence processing at different syntactic complexity levels to examine how the co-activation of different brain networks will be modulated by increased processing costs. Chinese relative clauses were used to probe the two dimensions of syntactic complexity: embeddedness (left-branching vs. center-embedded) and gap-filler dependency (subject-gap vs. object-gap) using the general linear model (GLM) approach, independent component analysis (ICA) and graph theoretical analysis. In contrast to localized activation revealed by the GLM approach, ICA identified more extensive networks both positively and negatively correlated with the task. We found that the posterior default mode network was anti-correlated to the gap-filler integration costs with increased deactivation for the left-branching object relative clauses compared to subject relative clauses, suggesting the involvement of this network in leveraging the cognitive resources based on the complexity level of the language task. Concurrent activation and deactivation of networks were found to be associated with the higher costs induced by center-embedding and its interaction with gap-filler integration. The graph theoretical analysis further unveiled that center-embeddedness imposed more attentional demand on the subject relative clause, as characterized by its higher degree and strength in the ventral attention network, and higher processing costs of syntactic reanalysis on the object relative clause, as characterized by increased intermodular connections of the language network with other networks. The results suggest that network activation and deactivation profiles are modulated by different dimensions of syntactic complexity to serve the higher demand of creating a coherent semantic representation.
The current study examined the impact of the use of hormonal birth control, cannabis (CB), and alcohol on depression symptoms.
Survey data from 3,320 college-aged women collected over a 2-year ...period. Depression symptoms were assessed using the PHQ-9.
Individuals taking hormonal birth control (
= 998; age = 19.1 ± 1.6 years) had lower overall depression scores than did those not taking birth control (
= 2,322; age = 19.1 ± 1.8 years) with 15.2% of those not taking hormonal birth control had depressive symptoms while 12.1% of those in the birth control group had depressive symptoms. Additionally, those taking hormonal birth control had higher scores on the alcohol and CB use assessment. A between-subjects ANOVA with depression score as the dependent variable found significant effects hormonal birth control use, CB and alcohol use, as well as a significant interaction between CB use and hormonal birth control use.
While there are some limitations (e.g., the between subjects design makes it such that there may be uncontrolled differences between groups), the results suggest that hormonal birth control use may help to reduce depressive symptoms.
More studies examining the impact of hormonal birth control and substance use on depression are required. The results suggest a potential interaction between CB and hormonal birth control use on depression symptoms that is not observed for alcohol. This implies that alcohol and CB may be linked to depression via different mechanisms.
Discourse abnormalities are a prominent feature in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, including poor lexical diversity, and have been found to differentiate patients from healthy subjects. However, ...discourse processing in individuals with high schizotypal personality traits is less understood and is often overshadowed by research on clinical psychotic symptoms. In the present study, we examined schizotypal traits at a non-clinical threshold and their association with lexical diversity and discourse coherence using two automated Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools - Type-Token-Ratio (TTR) measures from the Tool for the Automatic Analysis of Lexical Diversity (TAALED) and discourse coherence using sentence-level average cosign similarity with FastText to assess sentence similarity. 276 college students completed the full assessment including the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire- Brief Revised (SPQ-BR) and recorded a speech sample describing a detailed painting. Results revealed that high schizotypal traits, specifically positive traits, were associated with lower lexical diversity and higher sentence similarity. Our findings suggest that even when clinically significant symptoms are not present, discourse abnormalities are present in healthy populations with high ST. The stronger association with positive traits suggests that theories of perseveration and top-down processing may warrant further investigation in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.
Taurine is an essential amino acid. It has been shown to be neuroprotective including protecting against the neurotoxic effects of glutamate. The goal of the current study was to examine the ...relationship between CB use and taurine measured in brain using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), and peripherally from a urine sample. Two experiments are presented. The first is a reanalysis of published data that examined taurine and glutamate in the dorsal anterior cingulate of a CB user group and non-user group using MRS. The second experiment, in a separate CB user group, used metabolomics analysis to measure taurine levels in urine. Because body composition has been associated with the pharmacokinetics of cannabis and taurine levels, a moderation model was examined with body composition included as the covariate. The MRS study found taurine levels were correlated with glutamate in both groups and taurine was correlated with frequency of CB use in the CB user group. The moderation model demonstrated significant effects of CB use and BMI; the interaction was marginally significant with lower BMI individuals showing a positive relationship between CB use and taurine. A similar finding was observed for the urine analysis. Both CB use and weight, as well as the interaction were significant. In this case, individuals with higher weight showed an association between CB use and taurine levels. This study shows the feasibility and potential importance of examining the relationship between taurine and CB use as it may shed light on a mechanism that underlies the neuroprotective effects of CB.
Abstract
Previous studies report hippocampal volume loss can help predict conversion from normative aging to mild cognitive impairment to dementia. Additionally, a growing literature indicates that ...stress-related allostatic load may increase disease vulnerability. The current study examined the relationship between stress-related cytokines (ie, interleukin-6 IL-6), cognition as measured by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores, and hippocampal volume. Mixed models were employed to examine both within- (across time) and between-subject effects of IL-6 and hippocampal volume on MMSE score among 566 participants from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). The within-subject analysis found left hippocampal volume significantly (p = .009) predicted MMSE score. Between-subject analysis found the effect of IL-6 on MMSE was moderated by right hippocampal volume (p = .001). These results replicate previous findings and also extend prior work demonstrating stress-related cytokines may play a role in Alzheimer’s disease progression.
The impact of fingers on numerical and mathematical cognition has received a great deal of attention recently. However, the precise role that fingers play in numerical cognition is unknown. The ...current study explores the relationship between finger sense, arithmetic and general cognitive ability. Seventy-six children between the ages of 5 and 12 participated in the study. The results of stepwise multiple regression analyses demonstrated that while general cognitive ability including language processing was a predictor of addition performance, finger sense was not. The impact of age on the relationship between finger sense, and addition was further examined. The participants were separated into two groups based on age. The results showed that finger gnosia score impacted addition performance in the older group but not the younger group. These results appear to support the hypothesis that fingers provide a scaffold for calculation and that if that scaffold is not properly built, it has continued differential consequences to mathematical cognition.
The current study examines the relationship between perceived stress and non-clinical autism traits by age and gender in a predominately rural African American population. Previous studies have shown ...an association between perceived stress and autism traits. Perceived stress has also been shown to increase with age. However, little research has examined the association between age, gender, and autistic traits. 223 participants (age 18–86 years) completed a survey that included perceived stress (PSS-4), depression (PHQ2), anxiety (GAD2) and autism trait (RAAD-14) assessments. 62% of the participants in the rural communities have high perceived stress. Stress was correlated with age, autistic traits (total as well as the sub-scores), depression and anxiety; the relationship with autistic traits remained when controlling for depression and anxiety. Age was correlated with autistic traits only for male participants, no association was found for female participants. The results replicate and extend previous work. Further research examining the observed gender differences in rural African Americans is warranted.
•Participants with primary progressive aphasia (PPA1 and PPA2) were trained on naming object and action words concurrently.•PPA1 exhibited mild nonfluent variant PPA and showed substantial gains and ...generalization to untrained items and tasks.•PPA2 exhibited severe semantic variant PPA and showed less treatment benefits compared to PPA1.•PPA1 demonstrated more improvement in action naming than object naming, and PPA2 in object naming than action naming.•The extent of brain activation after treatment was larger for PPA1 who showed less impaired cognitive-linguistic skills.
Individuals with primary progressive aphasia (PPA) exhibit differential impairment patterns in noun and verb naming, but it remains unclear whether anomia treatment results in similar improvements in noun and verb naming. Therefore, we examined the immediate and long-term (3-months post-treatment) behavioral and neural effects of an anomia treatment on object and action naming skills in PPA. A case-series design was utilized involving two individuals with PPA. Object and action words were trained concurrently and probed regularly using word lists matched on a number of lexical characteristics. One participant showed improvements in all word categories with different effect sizes whereas the other participant demonstrated improved naming only on trained object words. Treatment-induced fMRI changes were found in both hemispheres, with distinct patterns observed across participants. Further research is needed to better understand the effects of residual language and cognitive skills on behavioral and neurophysiological outcomes following anomia treatment for PPA.
Scientific research aims to bring forward innovative ideas and constantly challenges existing knowledge structures and stereotypes. However, women, ethnic and cultural minorities, as well as ...individuals with disabilities, are systematically discriminated against or even excluded from promotions, publications, and general visibility. A more diverse workforce is more productive, and thus discrimination has a negative impact on science and the wider society, as well as on the education, careers, and well-being of individuals who are discriminated against. Moreover, the lack of diversity at scientific gatherings can lead to micro-aggressions or harassment, making such meetings unpleasant, or even unsafe environments for early career and underrepresented scientists.
At the Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM), we recognized the need for promoting underrepresented scientists and creating diverse role models in the field of neuroimaging. To foster this, the OHBM has created a Diversity and Inclusivity Committee (DIC). In this article, we review the composition and activities of the DIC that have promoted diversity within OHBM, in order to inspire other organizations to implement similar initiatives.
Activities of the committee over the past four years have included (a) creating a code of conduct, (b) providing diversity and inclusivity education for OHBM members, (c) organizing interviews and symposia on diversity issues, and (d) organizing family-friendly activities and providing childcare grants during the OHBM annual meetings.
We strongly believe that these activities have brought positive change within the wider OHBM community, improving inclusivity and fostering diversity while promoting rigorous, ground-breaking science. These positive changes could not have been so rapidly implemented without the enthusiastic support from the leadership, including OHBM Council and Program Committee, and the OHBM Special Interest Groups (SIGs), namely the Open Science, Student and Postdoc, and Brain-Art SIGs. Nevertheless, there remains ample room for improvement, in all areas, and even more so in the area of targeted attempts to increase inclusivity for women, individuals with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ+ community, racial/ethnic minorities, and individuals of lower socioeconomic status or from low and middle-income countries.
Here, we present an overview of the DIC's composition, its activities, future directions and challenges. Our goal is to share our experiences with a wider audience to provide information to other organizations and institutions wishing to implement similar comprehensive diversity initiatives. We propose that scientific organizations can push the boundaries of scientific progress only by moving beyond existing power structures and by integrating principles of equity and inclusivity in their core values.
•Neural correlates of L2 speech perception in noise were examined.•Listening to L2 sentences in noise activated auditory and executive control regions.•Listening to L1 sentences in noise activated ...only executive control regions.•L2 learners use different strategies to understand speech in noise in L1/L2.
This experiment examined the neural correlates of second language (L2) speech perception in noise in advanced Spanish students. Participants completed a speech perception task in quiet and noise in their first language (L1 = English) and L2 during fMRI. Behavioral tests of L2 Spanish sentence recognition confirmed that advanced learners of Spanish can recognize sentences in quiet and in noise with an average of 85.45% and 74.43% accuracy, respectively. While listening to degraded sentences in the L2, both auditory and executive processing regions (specifically those of attention) were activated. While listening to L2 sentences in noise, learners focused on decoding the speech signal at the perceptual level, indicating a bottom-up processing strategy relying heavily on the signal’s phonetic detail. During the processing of L1 in noise there was only significant activation in executive processing regions like the cingulate cortex and a region linked to lexical-semantic access (LIFG). In this case, participants appear to use a top-down strategy for sentence recognition, relying on lexical resources using a holistic strategy for perception. These findings suggest that L2 learners use fundamentally different perceptual strategies and neural circuits for understanding speech in noise in their L1 and L2.
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