Brain Function - Science topic

While electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) are well-established noninvasive methods in neuroscience and clinical medicine, they suffer from low spatial resolution. Electrophysiological source imaging (ESI) addresses this by noninvasively exploring the neuronal origins of M/EEG signals. Although subcortical structures are cr...

The rapid development in neurotechnology has significantly advanced our ability to understand and manipulate brain functions. However, these advancements have raised critical concerns regarding the security and privacy of brain data. This paper aims to explore the multifaceted issues surrounding the protection of brain data, focusing on neurosecuri...

Spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) has been shown to significantly alleviate pain in patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH), with its effects closely associated with brain function modulation. This study investigates the neural biomarkers linked to pain relief efficacy following a complete SMT treatment cycle in LDH patients. A total of 59 LDH p...

In this work we present a computationally efficient linear optimization approach for estimating the cross-power spectrum of an hidden multivari-ate stochastic process from that of another observed process. Sparsity in the resulting estimator of the cross-power is induced through ℓ 1 regularization and the Fast Iterative Shrinkage-Thresholding Algor...

The comparison of cerebral circulation impairment in humans and horses provides important insights into the dynamics of blood flow in the brain across different species, connecting veterinary and human medicine. This analysis brings together findings from various studies to highlight the similarities in anatomy and physiology between humans and hor...

IUGR is defined as a rate of fetal growth that is less than normal for the expected growth potential of a specific infant. This is a case report of IUGR associated with raised uterine artery Pulsatility index (P.I.) with no other abnormalities. In present case holistic approach of Ayurveda with proper garbhini paricharya (antenatal care) and manage...

The human brain undergoes remarkable development with the first six postnatal months witnessing the most dramatic structural and functional changes, making this period critical for in-depth research. rsfMRI studies have identified intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs), including the default mode network, in infants. Although early formation of the...

Introduction: Cognitive impairment can emerge as part of aging or from conditions affecting brain function, such as stroke, brain tumors, delirium, and neurodegenerative diseases. Effective cognitive assessment in clinical practice requires brief, reliable tests that evaluate specific cognitive domains. The MMSE (Mini-Mental State Examination) and...

Girls who suffer from central precocious puberty (CPP) are at risk of experiencing detrimental psychological and behavioural consequences, along with impaired brain development. However, the mechanism by which puberty hormones affect patients with CPP remains unclear. This study aimed to use degree centrality (DC) analysis to explore the impact of...

The purpose of this longitudinal pilot study was to add to the body of research relating to head kinematics/vibration in sport and their potential to cause short-term alterations in brain function. In horseracing, due to the horse’s movement, repeated low-level accelerations are transmitted to the jockey’s head. To measure this, professional jockey...

The dopamine D1-like receptor is a dopamine (DA) receptor regulating diverse brain functions. Once the dopamine D1-like receptor is activated, it induces activation of the Protein Kinase A (PKA) that phosphorylates the cAMP Response Element-Binding (CREB) transcription factor, which once active elicits the expression of the critical synaptic elemen...

Background Biopsychosocial changes during adolescence are thought to confer risk for emotion dysregulation, and in particular, anxiety disorders. However, there are substantial gaps in our knowledge about the biological mechanisms underlying anxiety during adolescence, and whether this contributes to the higher prevalence in females. The Puberty an...

Introduction: Transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) is a promising new form of non-invasive neuromodulation. As a nascent technique, replication of its effects on brain function is important. Of particular interest is offline 5Hz repetitive TUS (5Hz-rTUS), originally reported by Zeng and colleagues [1] to elicit lasting corticospinal excitabili...

In recent decades, it has become clear that the gut is more than just a digestive organ; it also functions as an immune organ with regulatory capabilities and acts as a “second brain” that influences brain function due to the presence and regulatory roles of the gut microbiota (GM). The GM is a crucial component of its host and significantly impact...

Background and aims Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is most commonly diagnosed neurodevelopmental disorder in childhood, characterized by developmentally inappropriate inattention and/or hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms. Static and dynamic functional connectivity (FC) studies have revealed brain dysfunction in ADHD. However, few s...

This review investigates the relationship between neuroscience and creative expression, examining how neural processes influence creativity across various art forms. It examiness the brain's intricate networks and regions involved in creativity, including the prefrontal cortex and default mode network, and their role in divergent thinking. The stud...

Multimodal neuroimaging is an emerging field that leverages multiple sources of information to diagnose specific brain disorders, especially when deep learning‐based AI algorithms are applied. The successful combination of different brain imaging modalities using deep learning remains a challenging yet crucial research topic. The integration of str...

Growing evidence demonstrates the connection between gut microbiota, neurodevelopment, and adult brain function. Microbial colonization occurs before the maturation of neural systems and its association with brain development. The early microbiome interactions with the gut-brain axis evolved to stimulate cognitive activities. Gut dysbiosis can lead...

Traditional models of human brain activity often represent it as a network of pairwise interactions between brain regions. Going beyond this limitation, recent approaches have been proposed to infer higher-order interactions from temporal brain signals involving three or more regions. However, to this day it remains unclear whether methods based on...

This paper introduces a novel approach for modelling time-varying connectivity in neuroimaging data, focusing on the slow fluctuations in synaptic efficacy that mediate neuronal dynamics. Building on the framework of Dynamic Causal Modelling (DCM), we propose a method that incorporates temporal basis functions into neural models, allowing for the e...

Objectives To observe the functional differences in the key brain areas in patients with different levels of consciousness after severe brain injury, and provide reference for confirming the objective diagnosis indicators for prolonged disorders of consciousness (pDoCs). Methods This prospective study enrolled patients with pDoCs hospitalized in t...

Cytokine-mediated inflammation is becoming recognized as a vital role in the pathophysiology of a wide range of brain illnesses, including neurodegenerative, psychiatric, and neurodevelopmental problems. Pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and interleukin- 6 (IL-6) cause neuroinflammation, a...

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Long-Term Mental Health Outcomes Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a significant global public health concern, affecting millions annually and often resulting in long-term physical, cognitive, and emotional challenges. Emerging evidence highlights the profound and lasting impact of TBI on mental health, with survivors...

The brain-mesh model introduces a novel three-layered architecture that integrates local and macroregional connectivity with an underlying, mesh-inspired network layer. This foundational mesh layer, based on metallic mesh structures, spans the entire brain and generates interference patterns, noise, and resonance effects that modulate both local an...

Working memory plays a crucial role in various aspects of human life. Therefore, it has been an area of interest in different research studies, especially neuroscience. The neuroscientists investigating working memory have primarily emphasized the brain's functional modularity. At the same time, a holistic perspective is still required to investiga...

Objective Depression is increasingly prevalent among adolescents, with parents’ socioeconomic status (SES) serving as significant predictors. Understanding the link between parents’ SES and college students’ depressive symptoms is of paramount concern. However, the neural basis linking the association between parents’ SES and students’ depressive s...

Objective This study investigates the differences in brain functional activity and connectivity patterns between Cancer Pain (CP) patients and Healthy Controls (HCs) using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) to identify potential neuroimaging biomarkers. Methods This study collected rs-fMRI data from 25 CP patients and 25...

Neurodegenerative dementias have a profound impact on higher-order cognitive and behavioural functions. Investigating macroscale functional networks through cortical gradients provides valuable insights into the neurodegenerative dementia process and overall brain function. This approach allows for the exploration of unimodal-multimodal differentia...

Introduction: Liver dysfunction can significantly impact the central nervous system (CNS), leading to neuropsychiatric complications such as hepatic encephalopathy (HE). HE, a potentially reversible condition, results from the accumulation of toxins, particularly ammonia, which a diseased liver fails to detoxify, affecting brain function. It is com...

Evidence suggests that Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (LP) can positively influence gut microbiota, subsequently affecting brain function via the gut–brain axis. However, the oral administration of LP may subject it to damage from gastric acid. To address this issue, a microencapsulation system was developed to protect LP and enhance its viability i...

Severely brain-injured patients may enter a spectrum of conditions collectively known as disorders of consciousness (DoC). This spectrum includes clinical categories such as unresponsive wakefulness syndrome or minimally conscious state, where the behavioral assessment of consciousness can often be deceptive. To bridge this dissociation, neuroimagi...

GPCR-based fluorescent sensors are widely used to correlate neuromodulatory signaling with brain function. While experiments in transfected cells often reveal selectivity for individual neurotransmitters, sensor specificity in the brain frequently remains uncertain. Pursuing experiments in brain slices and in vivo, we find that norepinephrine and d...

Introduction and Purpose: Recently, depression has significantly marked its presence in both the scientific and social spheres due to its connections with suicides. According to WHO data, it affects approximately 280 million people and as much as 5% of all adults worldwide. The primary treatment for this condition includes drugs such as SSRIs and S...

The use of tech in mental health has drastically increased in the recent years. Indeed advances in technology have made it possible to better characterize, predict, prevent, and treat a range of psychiatric illnesses. What is less paid attention to however is the impact of tech on our mental health and brain functioning, or what we have called, the...

Astrocytes regulate brain functions through gliotransmitters like ATP/ADP and glutamate, but their release patterns and mechanisms remain controversial. Here, we visualized ATP/ADP and glutamate response following astrocyte activation and investigated their mechanisms in vivo. Employing cOpn5-mediated optogenetic stimulation, genetically encoded fl...

Human behavior can be remarkably shaped by experience, such as the removal of sensory input. Many studies of conditions such as stroke, limb amputation, and vision loss have examined how removal of input changes brain function. However, an important question yet to be answered is: when input is lost, does the brain change its connectivity to prefer...

Traditional rigid electronic materials for brain-computer interface cannot work stably and will cause rejection reactions and inflammation of the brain. In response, scientists have tried new strategies to develop flexible bioelectronic materials that can stably recognize and control neural activity in the tissue interface environment to monitor an...

This case report shows the importance of multimodal evaluation to formulate a proper diagnosis of negative motor seizures (NMSs). Only few reports in literature document NMSs with video‐electroencephalographic (EEG) and electromyographic coregistration. A multimodal evaluation is crucial to exclude common mimics and propose correct therapy. We desc...

Motion design plays a crucial role in enhancing both product functionality and visual appeal, fostering an emotional connection with users and promoting engagement. This study aims to develop metrics for assessing curiosity and interest in motion by creating a computational framework that generates motions stimulating inquiry. Conceptualizing curio...

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is characterized by persistent symptoms of hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention, presenting significant challenges in daily functioning. Diagnosing ADHD, particularly in adulthood, can be intricate due to symptom overlap with other disorders and the subjective nature of behavioral assessments....

It has all been a bit too exciting for seriousness and too intense for art, as scientists and engineers alike have been dazzled by the remarkable similarities between human brain function and artificial learning systems. The integration of biological and artificial information processing is one of the most fascinating chapters of our view of intell...

Treatment with valproic acid (VPA) can induce oxidative stress, leading to neuronal degeneration. Hesperidin (HSD) has an antioxidant function that can mitigate oxidative stress, thereby promoting hippocampal neurogenesis. Because brain function and memory are reliant on hippocampal neurogenesis, this work is planned to elucidate the effects of HSD...

Huntington’s disease (HD) is strongly associated with psychiatric symptoms, yet, associations between huntingtin gene ( HTT ) CAG repeat size variations and psychiatric phenotypes outside the HD complex are still under-investigated. In this genetic case-control study we compared the distribution of HTT CAG repeat sizes in predefined ranges between...

Epilepsy is a chronic disease and one of the most common neurological disorders worldwide. Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals are widely used to detect epileptic seizures, which provide specialists with essential information about the brain’s functioning. However, manual screening of EEG signals is laborious, time-consuming, and subjective. The rap...

Emotional prosody processing involves multiple brain regions, but the specific roles of the cerebellum and basal ganglia in explicit (conscious) and implicit (incidental) tasks are not well known or understood. This study investigated how the cerebellum and basal ganglia contribute to explicit (emotion categorization) and implicit (gender categoriz...

Electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are the two most commonlyusednon-invasive methods for studying brain function, having different but complementary strengths: high temporal resolution of the former and high spatial resolution of the latter. Crucially, fMRI is vital for studying subcortical areas, as those...

Purpose: Positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) are essential molecular imaging tools for the in vivo investigation of neurotransmission. Traditionally, PET and SPECT images are analysed in a univariate manner, testing for changes in radiotracer binding in regions or voxels of interest independentl...

Background Psychotic depression (PD) and schizophrenia (SCZ) share overlapping symptoms yet differ in etiology, progression, and treatment approaches. Differentiating these disorders through symptom-based diagnosis is challenging, emphasizing the need for a clearer understanding of their distinct cognitive and neural mechanisms. Aim This study aim...

Understanding the interrelationship between the gut microbiota and host physiology, although still in its relative infancy, has taken important steps forward over the past decade. In the context of brain disorders including those characterized by neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative changes there have been important advances. However, initially...

A key question in human neuroscience is to understand how individual differences in brain function are related to cognitive differences. However, the optimal condition of brain function to study between-person differences in cognition remains unclear. Additionally, there is a lack of objective biomarkers to accurately predict cognitive function, wi...

Ischemic strokes disrupt brain networks, leading to remote effects in key regions like the thalamus, a critical hub for brain functions. However, non-invasive methods to quantify these remote consequences still need to be explored. This study aimed to demonstrate that MRI-derived R2* changes can capture iron accumulation linked with inflammation se...

Objective State anxiety and trait anxiety are differentially mapped in brain function. However, the genetic and neurobiological basis of anxiety-related functional changes remain largely unknown. Methods Participants aged 18–30 from the community underwent resting-state fMRI and were assessed with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Using a general...

The present review investigates the relationship between polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and mental health disorders, such as dementia, psychosis, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, anorexia nervosa, and impairment problems in animals and human models. Data were collected from a variety of studies: randomized intervention trials, observational...

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder accompanied by structural and functional changes in the brain. However, the relationship between brain structure and function in children with ASD remains largely obscure. In the current study, parallel independent component analysis (pICA) was performed to identify inter-modality asso...

Background Psychiatric diagnosis is based on categorical diagnostic classification, yet similarities in genetics and clinical features across disorders suggest that these classifications share commonalities in neurobiology, particularly regarding neurotransmitters. Glutamate (Glu) and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the brain's primary excitatory a...

The purpose of the study is the theoretical substantiation and development of linguistic and didactic foundations for the implementation of technology for the development of foreign–language grammatical competence of primary school students, taking into account the psychological characteristics of students. In this study, individual psychological c...

Mammalian milk contains milk-derived extracellular vesicles (MEVs), a group of biological nanovesicles that transport macromolecules. Their ability to cross the blood brain barrier and the presence of cargo capable of modifying gene function have led to the hypothesis that MEVs may play a role in brain function and development. Here, we investigate...

Background Postpartum women often show depression and anxiety, abnormal memory and cognitive function, and pelvic floor function problems. Brain function test is also a new research direction generated combining life science and computer science. This study aimed to observe the brain function status of postpartum women and analyze the correlation b...

Understanding the sequence and timing of brain functional network development at the beginning of human life is critically important from both normative and clinical perspectives. Yet, we presently lack rigorous examination of the longitudinal emergence of human brain functional networks over the birth transition. Leveraging a large, longitudinal p...

BACKGROUND Compared with current methods used to assess schizophrenia, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has the advantages of providing noninvasive and real-time monitoring of functional activities of the brain and providing direct and objective assessment information. AIM To explore the research field of NIRS in schizophrenia from the perspective...

Since the first studies in functional connectivity, Pearson’s correlation has been the primary tool to determine relatedness between the activity of different brain locations. Over the years, concern over the information neglected by correlation pushed toward using different measures accounting for non-linearity. However, some studies suggest that,...

Human organ structure and function are important endophenotypes for clinical outcomes. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous common variants associated with phenotypes derived from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain and body. However, the role of rare protein-coding variations affecting organ size and function i...

Advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment have substantially improved patient outcomes and survival in recent years. However, up to 75% of cancer patients and survivors, including those with non-central nervous system (non-CNS) cancers, suffer from “brain fog” or impairments in cognitive functions such as attention, memory, learning, and decision-...

Higher brain functions depend on experience-dependent representations of relevant information that may be organized by attractor dynamics or by geometrical modifications of continuous "neural manifolds". To explore these scenarios we analyzed odor-evoked activity in telencephalic area pDp of juvenile and adult zebrafish, the homolog of piriform cor...

The human brain exhibits remarkable complexity, with intricate networks of neurons interacting in a highly dynamic manner. Scaling exponents, which quantify how the size of a system relates to the scaling of its various parameters, have become an important tool for understanding brain dynamics. This paper explores the scaling behaviour in the human...