Bruna Velasques

Federal University of Rio de Janeiro | UFRJ · Departamento de Biociências

Background High levels of physical conditioning are associated with improvements in cognitive performance. In this sense, electroencephalographic (ECG) correlates are used to investigate the enhancing role of physical exercise on executive functions. Oscillations in the β frequency range are proposed to be evident during sensorimotor activity. Obje...

Backround: Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses worldwide and is a major burden for those affected. As conventional therapies do not always work and are also associated with side effects, alternative treatment methods are urgently indicated. In the past, exercise has established itself as a seemingly good alternative treatment meth...

Aim The present study aims to verify the information processing in athletes through electroencephalography, analyze cortical areas responsible for cognitive functions related to attentional processing of visual stimuli, and investigate motor activity’s influence on cognitive aspects. Material and Methods The sample consisted of 29 subjects, divide...

Aim To investigate attention and working memory, comparing children practice Karate and non-Karate practitioners at different stages of biological maturation through the amplitude and latency of the P300 component during the execution of a Go/No-Go paradigm. Material and Methods The P300 was analyzed for Fz, Cz, and Pz electrodes in 80 participant...

Aim This preliminary study investigated the differences in event-related potential and reaction time under two groups (athletes vs. non-athletes). Material and methods The P300 was analyzed for Fz, Cz, and Pz electrodes in thirty-one healthy volunteers divided into two groups (volleyball athletes and non-athletes). In addition, the participants pe...

RESUMO Os benefícios do contato com a natureza são temas em diversos estudos. Cada vez mais o aumento das horas em contato com a natureza tem sido considerado uma forma de tratamento para transtornos como o Transtorno do Déficit de Atenção e Hiperatividade (TDAH). No entanto, ainda existe pouca produção científica que aponte os benefícios educacion...

Objective Physical exercise interventions can cause neuroendocrine activation, which in turn increases salivary cortisol concentrations. Until now there have been mostly studies focusing on endurance as one possible mode of exercise. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of these different interventions with an intraindividual compar...

Background The saccadic eye movement is responsible for providing focus to a visual object of interest to the retina. In sports like volleyball, identifying relevant targets quickly is essential to a masterful performance. The training improves cortical regions underlying saccadic action, enabling more automated processing in athletes. Objective We...

Purpose: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on athletes' mental health has been significant, leading to concerns about their careers due to suspended training and competitions. Thus, understanding the psychological mechanisms involved is crucial to promote mental health in athletes. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the pandemic on the m...

Aim The current study investigated the differences to event-related potential and reaction time under two groups (athletes vs . non-athletes). Material and Methods The P300 was analyzed for Fz, Cz and Pz electrodes in thirty-one healthy volunteers divided into two groups (volleyball athletes and non-athletes). In addition, the participants perform...

Purpose: Pandemic-induced lockdowns disrupted sport training and competition. We aimed to identify the impact on the mental health of high-level athletes and clarify whether the effects differ for team-based and individual athletes. Methods: This cross-sectional survey, stratified by sex and sport type, collected demographic data and mental heal...

BACKGROUND: Studies indicate that mental practice can be an adjuvant rehabilitation, improving motor functions.AIM: To synthesize the evidence on the intervention with the mental practice for the rehabilitation of the upper limb after stroke in the context of a dependent task. METHODS: The review was registered on the PROSPERO with protocol number:...

SensorimotorSensorimotorintegrationIntegration and decisionDecision-making essentially contribute to time perceptionTime perception by integratingIntegrating different sources of sensorySensorystimuliStimuli and using them for performance in cognitionCognition and adaptationAdaptation to the environmentEnvironment. SchizophreniaSchizophrenia is a n...

The authors of the Integrated ScienceIntegrated science:MultidisciplinarityMultidisciplinarityandInterdisciplinarityInterdisciplinarityinHealthHealth were asked how you would see the future of your field 30 years later. This chapter presents the authors’ views on this subject in 2050. The Al-Samah danceDance. In the above poem, Hushang Ebtehaj says...

Publicação inédita, escrita por 20 autoras, com relatos de experiência emocionantes sobre a relação da natureza com o neurodesenvolvimento saudável na infância, fundamentados nas neurociências, com temas ligados à psicologia, educação e parentalidade.

Os benefícios do contato com a natureza são temas em diversos estudos. Cada vez mais o aumento das horas em contato com a natureza tem sido considerado uma forma de tratamento para transtornos como o Transtorno do Déficit de Atenção e Hiperatividade (TDAH). No entanto, ainda existe pouca produção científica que aponte os benefícios educacionais par...

Aim This study investigated the differences in frontoparietal EEG gamma coherence between expert meditators (EM) and naïve meditators (NM). Material and methods This is a cross-sectional study with a sample of twenty-one healthy adults divided under two groups (experts meditators vs. naive-meditators), with analyzing the intra-hemispheric coherenc...

Aim: The present study investigated the differences between the Panic Disorder (PD) patients groups’ and healthy controls for the EEG alpha dynamics under the frontal cortex and reaction time during the oddball task. Material and Methods: The reaction time during the oddball paradigm concomitant to EEG alpha power was tested in nine PD patients and...

Aim This study investigated the bromazepam effects in male subjects during the time estimation performance and EEG alpha asymmetry in electrodes associated with the frontal and motor cortex. Material and methods This is a double-blind, crossover study with a sample of 32 healthy adults under control (placebo) vs. experimental (bromazepam) during v...

Introdução. Nas últimas décadas diferentes ferramentas em neurorreabilitação estão surgindo em detrimento a reabilitação física de pacientes com doenças neuromotoras. Entre essas, a imagética motora através da prática mental, parece promover melhora da performance motora e da funcionalidade em sujeitos com distúrbios neurológicos (p.ex. Acidente Va...

Bromazepam emulates the inhibitory effect of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and can lead to impaired visuomotor performance. However, few studies have evaluated its effects on cortical coupling in target shooting activities. The present study aimed to analyze the acute effects of bromazepam administration in a target shooting t...

The voluntary movement demands integration between cognitive and motor functions. During the initial stages of motor learning until mastery of a new motor task, and during a demanding task that is not automatic, cognitive and motor functions can be perceived as independent from each other. Areas used for actually performing motor tasks are essentia...

This study investigated the effects of dopaminergic drugs on the EEG mu power during motor imagery, action observation, and execution. This is a double-blind, crossover study with a sample of 15 healthy adults under placebo vs. methylphenidate vs. risperidone conditions during motor imagery, action observation, and execution tasks. The participants...

Average slow potentials (SPs) can be computed from any voluntary task, minimally involving attention to anticipated stimuli. Their topography when recorded by large electrode arrays even during simple tasks is complex, multifocal, and its generators appear to be equally multifocal and highly variable across subjects. Various sources of noise of cou...

Background: The current study is a reanalysis in the time domain of EEG data collection in healthy adults during an oddball paradigm using levetiracetam (LEV) vs. placebo acute administration. Specifically, the event-related potential (ERP) technique provides a tool for exploring the EEG responses to a specific event/stimulus. One of the ERP compo...

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been used as a non-invasive method for enhanced motor and cognitive abilities. However, no previous study has investigated if the tDCS application in unskilled shooters on cortical sites, selected based on the cortical activity of skilled shooters, improves the accuracy and shot grouping. Sixty par...

Background: Motor Imagery (MI) represents the cognitive component of the movement and recruits dopaminergic systems. Objective: To investigate the role of dopaminergic system through the action of methylphenidate and risperidone over beta coherence during execution, action observation and motor imagery. Methods: Electroencephalography (EEG) da...

Aim: This study investigated whether time-estimation task exposure influences the severity of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), as well as theta band activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. Material and methods: Twenty-two patients with ADHD participated in a crossover experiment with a vis...

Scientific research records Nature Deficit Disorder and reveals the importance of nature contact on the occurrence of healthy individual development-physical and mental. In recent decades, studies on early childhood have confirmed a significant increase in problems that can interfere with learning: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, obesity,...

No âmbito da fisioterapia, movimentos realizados em diagonal por meio de padrões específicos visam a recuperação funcional dos pacientes. Esses exercícios terapêuticos são utilizados com o intuito de evitar lesões, sendo benéficos nos programas que promovam alongamento e fortalecimento. No entanto, embora movimentos em diagonal sejam bastante utili...

O Transtorno de Déficit de Natureza (TDN) tem sido registrado em pesquisas científicas que revelam o quanto o contato com a natureza é necessário para que ocorra um desenvolvimento saudável – físico e mental - do indivíduo. Nas últimas décadas, os estudos sobre a primeira infância registraram aumento significativo de problemas relacionados ao apren...

A growing body of neurobiological and anatomic data continues to provide an increasingly detailed understanding of the role of amygdala in cognitive and motor control. We review evidence from past studies showing that the amygdala, which for many years was considered a black box, plays important roles in many neurobiological processes. The amygdala...

Chronic deep brain stimulation (CDBS) is a surgical treatment that reduces the cardinal signs of Parkinson's disease (PD). Although CDBS has been in use for a long time, very little has been reported on its supposed effects on cognition, particularly in relation to implants in the subthalamic nucleus. The results of the rare studies that do exist a...

Chronic deep brain stimulation (CDBS) is a surgical treatment that reduces the cardinal signs of Parkinson's disease (PD). Although CDBS has been in use for a long time, very little has been reported on its supposed effects on cognition, particularly in relation to implants in the subthala-mic nucleus. The results of the rare studies that do exist...

Introdução: O equilíbrio corporal pode ser afetado por déficits visuais, proprioceptivos e/ou vestibulares centrais ou periféricas. Dentre as afecções vestibulares periféricos, a Vertigem Postural Paroxística Benigna apresenta grande interesse em pesquisas que buscam responder suas apresentações clínicas em adultos e sua associação com a integralid...

Mindfulness attitudes, as gentleness, openness, acceptance, curiosity and being non-judgmental have been related to improvement in cognitive and emotional functions, but few studies have focused on its specific contribution. The present study investigated the effect of the mindfulness attitudes on top-down attentional control abilities. Twenty one...

The low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) application has been associated with changes in cognitive processes embedded during time perception tasks. Although several studies have investigated the influence of neuromodulation on time perception, the effect of the 1-Hz rTMS application on the superior parietal cortex is no...

Introdução: O tempo de reação é uma medida que indica o tempo que uma pessoa leva para iniciar um movimento. Há situações em que o tempo de reação encontra-se alterado, comprometendo o processamento da informação, com diminuição na detecção, transmissão e processamento dos estímulos. Objetivo: Investigar o tempo de reação visual em acadêmicos antes...

Methylphenidate produces its effects via actions on cortical areas involved with attention and working memory, which have a direct role in time estimation judgment tasks. In particular, the prefrontal and parietal cortex has been the target of several studies to understand the effect of methylphenidate on executive functions and time interval perce...

SUMMARY Brain computer interface (BCI) is a technique that utilizes elec- tric signals which can be detected from scalp, cortical surface or brain subcortical areas to activate external devices such as computers, interruptors or prosthesis, allowing that users can communicate with the outside world. The aim of this study was related to basic concep...

Métodos de estimulação cerebral não invasiva, como a estimulação magnética transcraniana (EMT), vêm demonstrando bons resultados na reabilitação de transtornos neuropsiquiátricos, porém ainda é uma ferramenta de alto custo. Neste contexto, uma possibilidade de uso simples e seguro e que tem demonstrado resultados positivos na modulação da atividade...

Objective The present study investigated the association of 3′-UTR VNTR and intron 8 VNTR polymorphisms with a time estimation task performance. Materials and methods One hundred and eight men in a Brazilian Northeast population (18–32 years old) participated in the experiment. The 3′-UTR VNTR and intron 8 VNTR polymorphisms were associated alone...

ARTIGO ORIGINAL Análise do tempo de reação simples e do paradigma oddball em estudantes antes e após participação em atividades acadêmicas: uma análise da neurociência aplicada a educação Analysis of simple reaction time and the oddball paradigm in students before and after participation in academic activities: an analysis of neuroscience applied t...

The visual acuity loss enables the brain to access new pathways in the quest to overcome the visual limitation and this is well-known as neuroplasticity which have mechanisms to cortical reorganization. In this review, we related the evidences about the neuroplasticity as well as cortical anatomical differences and functional repercussions in visua...

Background: Studies at the molecular level aim to integrate genetic and neurobiological data to provide an increasingly detailed understanding of phenotypes related to the ability in time perception. Main text: This study suggests that the polymorphisms genetic SLC6A4 5-HTTLPR, 5HTR2A T102C, DRD2/ANKK1-Taq1A, SLC6A3 3'-UTR VNTR, COMT Val158Met,...

Although Parkinson Disease was described a long time ago by James Parkinson and several biomarkers were used to predict the symptoms of PD, there is no accepted tool to distinguish the initial stages of this pathology. The present hypothesis discusses the Coherence Function, an Electroencephalography measure which could be used as a simple, and low...

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) studies are used to test motor imagery hypothesis. Motor Imagery (MI) represents conscious access to contents of movement intention, generally executed unconsciously during motor preparation. The main objective of this study was to investigate electrophysiological changes, which occurred before an...

Previous studies have shown that several cortical regions are involved in temporal tasks in multiple time-scales. But the hemispheric predominance of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during time reproduction after repetitive low-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is relatively unexplored. Here, we study the effects of 1Hz...

We have recently provided evidence for highly idiosyncratic topographic distributions of beta oscillations (as well as slow potentials) across individuals. More recently, by emphasizing the analysis of similarity instead of differences across tasks, we concluded that differences between an attention task and quiet resting may be negligible or at le...

Background: Parkinson's disease is described as resulting from dopaminergic cells progressive degeneration, specifically in the substantia nigra pars compacta that influence the voluntary movements control, decision making and time perception. Aim: This review had a goal to update the relation between time perception and Parkinson's Disease. Me...

Ethanol (ET) is a substance that modulates the Central Nervous System (CNS). Frequently, ET intake occurs combined with energy drinks, which contain taurine (TA), an important amino acid found in the body (i.e brain and muscles). Although TA administration has been used in the improvement of physical performance, the impact of TA, ET and exercise r...

The effect sizes for variables of frontal cortex, moments and treatments. (DOCX)

Spatial working memory has been extensively investigated with different tasks, treatments, and analysis tools. Several studies suggest that low frequency of the repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) applied to the parietal cortex may influence spatial working memory (SWM). However, it is not yet known if after low-frequency rTMS appli...

Background and objectives Several studies indicate that subjects with Parkinson’s disease present motor impaired, timing and many interventions used to improve their motor behavior, but so far no training protocols that use time-estimation tasks. In this preliminary study, we aimed to report the effects of the time-estimation task training on motor...

Taurine (TA) ingestion has been touted as blunting the deleterious effects of ethanol (ET) ingestion on motor performance. This study investigated the effects of ingestion of 0.6 mL·kg-1of ET, 6 grams of TA, and ethanol in combination with taurine (ET+TA) on economy of movement (EM) and heart rate (HR). Nine volunteers, five female (22 ± 3 years) a...

Dopaminergic system plays a key role in perception, which is an important executive function of the brain. Modulation in dopaminergic system forms an important biochemical underpinning of neural mechanisms of time perception in a very wide range, from milliseconds to seconds to longer daily rhythms. Distinct types of temporal experience are poorly...

Introduction One of the positive effects of brain stimulation is interhemispheric modulation as shown in some scientific studies. This study examined if a type of noninvasive stimulation using binaural beats with led-lights and sound would show different modulatory effects upon Alfa and SMR brain waves of elderlies and children with some disease ty...

The physiotherapist’s clinical practice includes proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF), which is a treatment concept that accelerates the response of neuromuscular mechanisms through spiral and diagonal movements. The adaptations that occur in the nervous system following PNF are still poorly described in the literature. Thus, this study...

Taurine and alcohol has been popularly ingested through energy drinks. Reports from both compounds shows they are active on nervous system but little is known about the acute effect of these substances on the frontal cortex in an exercise approach. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of 0,6 mL dL⁻¹ of ethanol (ET), 6 grams of taurine...

The motor rehabilitation is based on exercises that involve various joints and muscle groups. One such treatment method is Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF), which involves diagonal movements simulating many activities of daily living. The objective of this study was to investigate the differences between PNF and shoulder flexion move...

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to analyze changes in beta band absolute power in cortical areas, before and after a condition of hand immobilization for 48 hours. METHOD: Fifteen healthy volunteers, aged between 20 and 30, were submitted to EEG assessment before and after immobilization, while performing a motor task triggered by a visua...

OBJECTIVE: To analyze changes in gamma band absolute power in motor cortical areas, before and after a condition of hand immobilization for 48 hours. METHOD: Fifteen healthy volunteers, aged between 20 and 30, were submitted to EEG assessment before and after 48 hours of immobilization of the dominant hand, while performing a motor task triggered...

Studies have shown an association between time perception and the basal ganglia and cortical areas, suggesting a role for these regions in the perception of seconds, minutes, and hours. We present the hypothesis that time estimation training tasks may change the modulatory activity of dopamine in the basal ganglia and the cortical areas related to...

A deficiency in processing, retaining and consolidating information in the short and long term memory is observed in schizophrenics. Dopaminergic levels and synchronism of neural inputs in coding of events interpreted by the central nervous system appear to be related to this deficiency. However, there is limited understanding on the specific memor...