Cannabinoid receptor 1 (CNR1) gene variant moderates neural index of cognitive disruption during nicotine withdrawal

Nicotine withdrawal‐related disruption of cognitive control may contribute to the reinforcement of tobacco use. Identification of gene variants that predict this withdrawal phenotype may lead to tailored pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation. Variation on the cannabinoid receptor 1 gene (CNR1) has been related to nicotine dependence, and CNR1 antagonists may increase attention and memory functioning. We targeted CNR1 variants as moderators of a validated neural marker of nicotine withdrawal‐related cognitive disruption. CNR1 polymorphisms comprising the ‘TAG’ haplotype (rs806379, rs1535255 and rs2023239) were tested independently, as no participants in this sample possessed this haplotype. Nicotine withdrawal‐related cognitive disruption was indexed as increased resting electroencephalogram (EEG) alpha‐1 power density across 17 electrodes. Seventy‐three Caucasian Non‐Hispanic smokers (≥15 cigarettes per day) visited the laboratory on two occasions following overnight smoking/nicotine deprivation. Either two nicotine or two placebo cigarettes were smoked prior to collecting EEG data at each session. Analyses showed that rs806379 moderated the effects of nicotine deprivation increasing slow wave EEG (P = 0.004). Smokers homozygous for the major allele exhibited greater nicotine withdrawal‐related cognitive disruption. The current findings suggest potential efficacy of cannabinoid receptor antagonism as a pharmacotherapy approach for smoking cessation among individuals who exhibit greater nicotine withdrawal‐related cognitive disruption.     

Effect of the catechol-O-methyltransferase val(158)met genotype on children's early phases of facial stimuli processing

The ability to process and identify human faces matures early in life, is universal and is mediated by a distributed neural system. The temporal dynamics of this cognitive-emotional task can be studied by cerebral visual event-related potentials (ERPs) that are stable from midchildhood onwards. We hypothesized that part of individual variability in the parameters of the N170, a waveform that specifically marks the early, precategorical phases of human face processing, could be associated with genetic variation at the functional polymorphism of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (val(158)met) gene, which influences information processing, cognitive control tasks and patterns of brain activation during passive processing of human facial stimuli. Forty-nine third and fourth graders underwent a task of implicit processing of other children's facial expressions of emotions while ERPs were recorded. The N170 parameters (latency and amplitude) were insensitive to the type of expression, stimulus repetition, gender or school grade. Although limited by the absence of met- homozygotes among boys, data showed shorter N170 latency associated with the presence of 1-2 met158 alleles, and family-based association tests (as implemented in the PBAT version 2.6 software package) confirmed the association. These data were independent of the serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism and the N400 waveform investigated in the same group of children in a previous study. Some electrophysiological features of face processing may be stable from midchildhood onwards. Different waveforms generated by face processing may have at least partially independent genetic architectures and yield different implications toward the understanding of individual differences in cognition and emotions.     

Human electrophysiological and cognitive effects of exposure to ELF magnetic and ELF modulated RF and microwave fields: a review of recent studies

The investigation of weak (<500 microT), extremely low frequency (ELF, 0-300 Hz) magnetic field (MF) exposure upon human cognition and electrophysiology has yielded incomplete and contradictory evidence that MFs interact with human biology. This may be due to the small number of studies undertaken examining ELF MF effects upon the human electroencephalogram (EEG), and the associated analysis of evoked related potentials (ERPs). Relatively few studies have examined how MF exposure may affect cognitive and perceptual processing in human subjects. The introduction of this review considers some of the recent studies of ELF MF exposure upon the EEG, ERPs and cognitive and perceptual tasks. We also consider some of the confounding factors within current human MF studies and suggest some new strategies for further experimentation.     

36h睡眠剥夺对事件相关电位N270影响的对照研究

目的:应用事件相关电位技术探讨36 h完全睡眠剥夺对认知功能的影响。方法:9名健康被试参加36h睡眠剥夺试验,被试在36 h睡眠剥夺前后分别接受数字-符号联想测验,同时记录其事件相关电位,分析其在睡眠剥夺前后认知功能的动态变化情况。结果:1被试在睡眠剥夺前后的反应时相比[(748.16±193.27)与(775.79±205.48)ms],显著增加(t=3.86,P0.05),正确率相比[(74.56±0.11)与(67.12±0.07)],没有显著性差异(P0.05)。2被试在睡眠剥夺36 h后,P3、P4、C3和C4四点潜伏期没有显著性变化[P3:(296.44±16.61)与(300.22±16.16)ms,t=1.43,P=0.19;P4:(303.33±38.48)与(308.78±38.65)ms,t=2.35,P=0.05;C3:(309.56±34.09)与(308.44±28.49)ms,t=0.45,P=0.66;C4:(317.33±64.83)与(303.33±39.42)ms,t=1.31,P=0.23],四点波幅降低,且差异具有统计学意义(P0.05)[P3:(2.74±1.21)与(1.32±0.92)μv,t=2.54,P=0.04;P4:(2.34±1.27)与(0.94±0.49)μv,t=3.44,P=0.01;C3:(2.60±1.49)与(0.94±0.78)μv,t=2.65,P=0.03;C4:(2.60±0.81)与(1.11±1.03)μv,t=2.61,P=0.03]。结论:睡眠剥夺影响人的正常认知活动,损害了大脑对冲突信息的判断,睡眠对维持大脑的正常功能有重要作用。     

Inter-individual relationships in empathic traits and feedback-related fronto-central brain activity: an event-related potential study

Background

Neuroimaging studies continue to indicate the major role the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) plays in processing empathic responses. Error-related negativity (ERN), an event-related potential (ERP) thought to arise from the ACC, has been found to correlate with scores for individual empathic personality. This study investigated the relationship between empathic personality traits and the amplitude of feedback-related negativity (FRN), an ERP sourced from the ACC and similar to the ERN, using a task involving feedback of monetary gains or losses.

Methods

Sixteen healthy participants answered an empathy trait questionnaire and performed a gambling task to elicit FRN. Because FRN amplitude is thought to be associated with attention, motivation, emotional state, and anxiety trait, we performed a partial correlation analysis between the empathic trait score and FRN amplitude while controlling for variables.

Results

In partial correlation analysis, FRN amplitude was significantly inversely correlated with scores for personal distress and marginally correlated with scores for empathic concern and with total average score.

Discussion

The study revealed for the first time an association between FRN and emotional empathic traits, after controlling for variables that can affect FRN amplitude. However, we also found a reversed directional correlation contrary to our expectations. This fronto-central brain activity may be associated with empathic properties via dopaminergic neuronal function. Future study using these electric potentials as experimental tools is expected to help elucidate the neurological mechanism of empathy.

     

Comparison between principal component analysis and independent component analysis in electroencephalograms modelling

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is a classical technique in statistical data analysis, feature extraction and data reduction, aiming at explaining observed signals as a linear combination of orthogonal principal components. Independent Component Analysis (ICA) is a technique of array processing and data analysis, aiming at recovering unobserved signals or 'sources' from observed mixtures, exploiting only the assumption of mutual independence between the signals. The separation of the sources by ICA has great potential in applications such as the separation of sound signals (like voices mixed in simultaneous multiple records, for example), in telecommunication or in the treatment of medical signals. However, ICA is not yet often used by statisticians. In this paper, we shall present ICA in a statistical framework and compare this method with PCA for electroencephalograms (EEG) analysis.We shall see that ICA provides a more useful data representation than PCA, for instance, for the representation of a particular characteristic of the EEG named event-related potential (ERP).     

早产儿语言发展及其脑机制

早产儿语言发展存在特殊规律.行为研究发现,早产儿在词汇、句法、语义言语流畅性等方面存在发展滞后的现象.早产对语言发展的影响可能持续到成年早期,但具体的滞后程度受到生物因素和社会因素的影响.随着脑成像技术的发展,有研究开始考察早产儿的脑发育情况.研究者发现,青少年时期的早产儿在大脑白质、皮层下灰质和小脑结构等方面发生了改变,但关于早产儿语言发展的脑机制还有待进一步的研究来确证.简述了早产儿语言发展的行为研究和脑神经研究方面的最新进展,以揭示早产儿这一特殊群体在语言发展和认知神经方面的规律.研究认为,应结合行为研究与脑神经研究的优势,进一步深化对早产儿语言发展机制的探讨,也为考察正常儿童语言获得规律提供特殊的科学依据.     

基于FPGA的随机字符发生器在ERP中的应用

脑电领域的众多探索一直以来都是各国科学家研究的热点。刺激源是脑电实验中不可或缺的一部分。刺激序列正确编排和稳定发生是诱发脑电信号被正确提取的先决条件。利用可编程逻辑器件作为随机字符信号发生器,使之同时具有计数和VGA显示功能,由此产生的视觉ERP刺激序列,可以作为脑区功能存在病变的病人的理想刺激源。