A number of recent studies utilizing both functional neuroimaging and lesion analysis techniques in neurologic patients have produced conflicting results with respect to the neural correlates of ...picture naming. Picture naming involves a number of cognitive processes, from visual perception/recognition to lexical-semantic retrieval to articulation. This middle process, the ability to retrieve a name associated with an object, has been attributed in some cases to posterior portions of the left lateral temporal lobe and in other cases, to anterior temporal cortex. In the current study, we used voxel-based lesion symptom mapping (VLSM) to identify neural correlates of picture naming in a large sample of well-characterized left hemisphere (LH) patients suffering from a range of naming deficits. We tested patients on the Boston Naming Test (BNT), a clinical, standardized measure of picture naming that is widely used in both clinical and research settings. We found that overall performance on the BNT was associated with a network of LH regions that included significant portions of the left anterior to posterior middle temporal gyrus (MTG) and superior temporal gyrus (STG) and underlying white matter, and extended into left inferior parietal cortex. However, when we added covariates to this analysis that controlled for deficits in visual recognition and motor speech in order to isolate brain regions specific to lexical-semantic retrieval, the significant regions that remained were confined almost exclusively to the left mid-posterior MTG and underlying white matter. These findings support the notion that a large network in left peri-Sylvian cortex supports picture naming, but that the left mid-posterior MTG and underlying white matter play a critical role in the core ability to retrieve a name associated with an object or picture.
...for people in education, it can mean properly guiding and preparing generations to come, as well as contributing to the proper allocation of resources. A response to this problem was offered by ...Ivanova et al., in “Advancing neurolinguistics in Russia: experience and implications of building experimental research and evidence-based practices,” who described their establishment of the Center for Language and Brain at HSE University in Moscow, which started as a small group of scientists and in a short amount of time became a center for cutting edge research and several public outreach programs. Two other innovative studies were conducted with educators in Liberia: in one, training in neuroscience and mental health development improved teacher self-efficacy, self-responsibility for student outcomes, and motivation to teach (“Tiered neuroscience and mental health professional development in Liberia improves teacher self-efficacy, self-responsibility, and motivation,” Brick et al.), and in the other, mental health training improved teachers' understanding of their students' mental and emotional difficulties, reduced their use of verbal and corporal punishment, and helped them establish positive rewards systems (“Training-of-trainers neuroscience and mental health teacher education in Liberia improves self-reported support for students,” Brick et al.). ...in “Neuroscience outside the box: from the laboratory to discussing drug abuse at schools,” Machado do Vale et al. offer perspectives on how scientists can engage educators, students, policymakers, and the public at large to effect real change in society through a neuroscientific perspective.
The field of Neuroscience has experienced a growing interest in recent decades, which has led to an exponential growth in the amount of related information made available online as well as the market ...for Neuroscience-related courses. While this type of knowledge can be greatly beneficial to people working in science, health and education, it can also benefit individuals in other areas. For example, neuroscience knowledge can help people from all fields better understand and critique information about new discoveries or products, and even make better education- and health-related decisions. Online platforms are fertile ground for the creation and spread of fake information, including misrepresentations of scientific knowledge or new discoveries (e.g., neuromyths). These types of false information, once spread, can be difficult to tear down and may have widespread negative effects. For example, even scientists are less likely to access retractions of peer-reviewed articles than the original discredited articles. In this study we surveyed general knowledge about neuroscience and the brain among volunteers in Brazil, Latin America's largest country. We were interested in evaluating the prevalence of neuromyths in this region, and test whether knowledge/neuromyth endorsement differs by age, region, and/or profession. To that end, we created a 30-item survey that was anonymously answered online by 1128 individuals. While younger people (20-29-year-olds) generally responded more accurately than people 60 and older, people in the North responded significantly worse than those in the South and Southeast. Most interestingly, people in the biological sciences consistently responded best, but people in the health sciences responded no better than people in the exact sciences or humanities. Furthermore, years of schooling did not correlate with performance, suggesting that quantity may surpass quality when it comes to extension or graduate-level course offerings. We discuss how our findings can help guide efforts toward improving access to quality information and training in the region.
In this article, we address the tenability of Darwin’s musical protolanguage, arguing that a more compelling evolutionary scenario is one where a prosodic protolanguage is taken to be the preliminary ...step to represent the hierarchy involved in linguistic structures within a linear auditory signal. We hypothesize that the establishment of a prosodic protolanguage results from an enhancement of a rhythmic system that transformed linear signals into speech prosody, which in turn can mark syntactic hierarchical relations. To develop this claim, we explore the role of prosodic cues on the parsing of syntactic structures, as well as neuroscientific evidence connecting the evolutionary development of music and linguistic capacities. Finally, we entertain the assumption that the capacity to generate hierarchical structure might have developed as part of tool-making in human prehistory, and hence was established prior to the enhancement of a prosodic protolinguistic system.
Recent studies suggest that action-verb processing is particularly affected in early stage Parkinson’s disease (PD), highlighting the potential role of subcortical areas in language processing and in ...the semantic integration of actions. However, this disorder-related language impairment is frequently unrecognized by clinicians and often remains untreated. Early detection of action-language processing deficits could be critical for diagnosing and developing treatment strategies for PD. In this article, we review how action-verb processing is affected in PD and propose a model in which multiple and parallel frontotemporal circuits between the cortex and the basal ganglia provide the anatomic substrate for supporting action-language processing. We hypothesize that contextual coupling of action-language networks are partially dependent on cortical–subcortical integration, and not only on somatotopic motor cortical organization or in a mirror neuron system. This hypothesis is supported by both experimental and clinical evidence. Then, we identify further research steps that would help to determine the reliability of action-language impairments as an early marker of PD. Finally, theoretical implications for clinical assessment and for models of action-language interaction (action–perception cycle theories, mirror system models of language, and embodied cognition approaches to language) are discussed.
The study of moral emotions (i.e. Schadenfreude and envy) is critical to understand the ecological complexity of everyday interactions between cognitive, affective, and social cognition processes. ...Most previous studies in this area have used correlational imaging techniques and framed Schadenfreude and envy as unified and monolithic emotional domains. Here, we profit from a relevant neurodegeneration model to disentangle the brain regions engaged in three dimensions of Schadenfreude and envy: deservingness, morality, and legality. We tested a group of patients with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), patients with Alzheimer's disease, as a contrastive neurodegeneration model, and healthy controls on a novel task highlighting each of these dimensions in scenarios eliciting Schadenfreude and envy. Compared with the Alzheimer's disease and control groups, patients with bvFTD obtained significantly higher scores on all dimensions for both emotions. Correlational analyses revealed an association between envy and Schadenfreude scores and greater deficits in social cognition, inhibitory control, and behaviour disturbances in bvFTD patients. Brain anatomy findings (restricted to bvFTD and controls) confirmed the partially dissociable nature of the moral emotions' experiences and highlighted the importance of socio-moral brain areas in processing those emotions. In all subjects, an association emerged between Schadenfreude and the ventral striatum, and between envy and the anterior cingulate cortex. In addition, the results supported an association between scores for moral and legal transgression and the morphology of areas implicated in emotional appraisal, including the amygdala and the parahippocampus. By contrast, bvFTD patients exhibited a negative association between increased Schadenfreude and envy across dimensions and critical regions supporting social-value rewards and social-moral processes (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, angular gyrus and precuneus). Together, this study provides lesion-based evidence for the multidimensional nature of the emotional experiences of envy and Schadenfreude. Our results offer new insights into the mechanisms subsuming complex emotions and moral cognition in neurodegeneration. Moreover, this study presents the exacerbation of envy and Schadenfreude as a new potential hallmark of bvFTD that could impact in diagnosis and progression.
The objective of this study was to calculate the risk of postsurgical hearing deterioration as a function of changes in the amplitude and latency of the most stable components (waves III and V) of ...the auditory evoked potential (AEP) during petroclival meningioma resection surgery. We retrospectively analyzed intraoperative AEP monitoring results and pre- and postsurgical hearing status in 40 consecutive patients who were surgically treated for petroclival meningiomas. Statistical analyses were conducted to identify the most sensitive and specific way to predict hearing dysfunction after surgery. Patients’ mean age was 59 ± 10 years, and 31 (77.5%) were women. Twelve (30%) patients presented with clinically detectable hearing impairment preoperatively. At the first postoperative assessment, four of those 12 patients reported subjective improvement, and eight reported hearing deterioration. Of those eight, four remained stable and four recovered hearing by the last assessment. Wave III latency reached its highest specificity (100%) and sensitivity (71.43%) at
x
= 143%. Wave V latency, on the other hand, reached its highest sensitivity (71%) and specificity (93%) at
x
= 124%. Finally, wave V amplitude reached its highest sensitivity (100%) and specificity (79%) at
x
= 74%. Intraoperative alterations of wave III latency and wave V amplitude seem to be highly sensitive and specific at predicting the risk of auditory dysfunction in patients undergoing petroclival meningioma resection and should be used to determine maximum resection with preservation of function.
Immunotherapy has brought hope to the fight against glioblastoma, but its efficacy remains unclear. We present the case of CST, a 25-year-old female patient with a large right-hemisphere glioblastoma ...treated with a dendritic-tumor cell fusion vaccine. CST showed a near-complete tumor response, with a marked improvement in her functional status and simultaneous increases in tumor-specific CD8+ and CD4+ T cells. Two months before recurrence, the frequency of tumor-specific T cells decreased, while that of IL-17 and CD4+ T cells increased. CST passed away 15 months after enrollment. In this illustrative case, the tumor-specific CD4+ T-cell numbers and phenotype behaved as treatment efficacy biomarkers, highlighting the key role of the latter in glioblastoma immunotherapy.
Immunotherapy for cancer treatment has gained increased attention in recent years. Recently, our group reported the case of a patient with glioblastoma who underwent vaccination based on dendritic ...cells and experienced a strong Th1 immune response together with near-complete tumor remission. Here we report the results of a phase I/II prospective, non-controlled clinical trial with 37 patients harboring glioblastoma or grade 4 astrocytomas. At the time of first recurrence after surgery, patients began receiving monthly intradermal injections of allogenic DC-autologous tumor cell hybridomas. Overall survival, quality of life, and immunological profiles were assessed prospectively. Compared with patients in the Genomic Data Commons data bank, overall survival for vaccinated patients with glioblastoma was 27.6 ± 2.4 months (vs. 16.3 ± 0.7, log-rank
< 0.001, hazard ratio 0.53, 95%CI 0.36-0.78,
< 0.01), and it was 59.5 ± 15.9 for vaccinated astrocytoma grade 4 patients (vs. 19.8 ± 2.5, log-rank
< 0.05, hazard ratio 0.18, 95%CI 0.05-0.62,
< 0.01). Furthermore, seven vaccinated patients (two IDH-1-mutated and five wild type) remain alive at the time of this report (overall survival 47.9 months, SD 21.1, range: 25.4-78.6 months since diagnosis; and 34.2 months since recurrence, range: 17.8 to 40.7, SD 21.3). We believe that the data reported here can foster the improvement of treatment protocols for high-grade gliomas based on cellular immunotherapy.
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