Profiles of brain functional asymmetry in patients with alcoholism and drug addiction

Profiles of motor, sensory, and cognitive asymmetries in patients with drug addiction and alcoholism and in people of relevant control group were studied. To reveal the profiles of interhemispheric asymmetry, a set of tests for determination of lateralization of motor (the dominant hand and leg), sensory (eye and ear) and cognitive (right- and left-hemispheric mode of solution of verbal and/or spatial tasks) was used. In patients with drug addiction and alcoholism as compared with the control group, a statistically significant domination of the left-sided lateralization of motor and sensory indexes was found. The right-hemispheric mode was essentially prevailing in solving the verbal and spatial tasks. No differences in motor asymmetry were observed in narcotic addicts and alcoholics. The dominant left eye and ear were statistically significantly more frequent in patients with alcoholism than in patients with drug addiction. The right-hemispheric mode in solution of cognitive tasks was used more often statistically significantly by narcotic addicts than by alcoholics. The obtained data indicate an essential impairment of profiles of the motor, sensory, and cognitive asymmetries in patients with the chemical addiction.Translated from Zhurnal Evolyutsionnoi Biokhimii i Fiziologii, Vol. 40, No. 5, 2004, pp. 450–454.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by Egorov, Tikhomirov.To the 100-Anniversary of N. N. Traugott     

Ear asymmetry and left-side cradling

Women and girls tend to cradle infants and dolls on the left side of the body. Left-sided cradling is found in chimpanzees and gorillas, is cross-cultural and present in historical works of art, and is transmitted down the human maternal line. One explanation for the left-cradling tendency is that it facilitates the flow of affective information from the infant via the left ear and eye to the center for emotional decoding, that is, the right hemisphere of the mother. We show that the developmental stability of the ear, as measured by ear asymmetry, is negatively correlated with the left-sided cradling tendency. Left-cradling English women holding infants and Jamaican girls holding dolls had a strong tendency to show lower ear asymmetry than right cradlers, whereas no such relationship was found in boys nor for various measures of asymmetry of the hand, with the possible exception of the wrist in Jamaican girls. Degree of handedness, as measured by the Annett peg-moving test, did not predict cradling preference in the Jamaican children, and the relationship between ear asymmetry and cradling preference was independent of hand preference. Our results suggest that developmental instability of the ear (including the pinna, external auditory meatus, and middle ear) may interfere with the flow of affective information to the right hemisphere. Ear asymmetry also showed evidence of strong maternal but not paternal transmission. It is suggested that between-individual variation of in utero stress may explain patterns of maternal transmission of lateral cradling tendencies.     

Distribution of students with respect to types of profile of lateral organization of functions

The distribution of students of Moscow State University with respect to the types of profile of lateral organization of motor and sensory functions was studied. The results were compared to previous data (1980–1995) obtained for an identical sample of subjects by the same methods. A considerable decrease in the proportion of “pure” right-handers and increases in the percentages of ambidextrous subjects and left-handers, as well as right-handed subjects with different variants of ear and eye domination, were detected.     

Abnormal Pre-Attentive Arousal in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Contributes to Their Atypical Auditory Behavior: An ERP Study

Auditory sensory modulation difficulties and problems with automatic re-orienting to sound are well documented in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Abnormal preattentive arousal processes may contribute to these deficits. In this study, we investigated components of the cortical auditory evoked potential (CAEP) reflecting preattentive arousal in children with ASD and typically developing (TD) children aged 3-8 years. Pairs of clicks (‘S1’ and ‘S2’) separated by a 1 sec S1-S2 interstimulus interval (ISI) and much longer (8-10 sec) S1-S1 ISIs were presented monaurally to either the left or right ear. In TD children, the P50, P100 and N1c CAEP components were strongly influenced by temporal novelty of clicks and were much greater in response to the S1 than the S2 click. Irrespective of the stimulation side, the ‘tangential’ P100 component was rightward lateralized in TD children, whereas the ‘radial’ N1c component had higher amplitude contralaterally to the stimulated ear. Compared to the TD children, children with ASD demonstrated 1) reduced amplitude of the P100 component under the condition of temporal novelty (S1) and 2) an attenuated P100 repetition suppression effect. The abnormalities were lateralized and depended on the presentation side. They were evident in the case of the left but not the right ear stimulation. The P100 abnormalities in ASD correlated with the degree of developmental delay and with the severity of auditory sensory modulation difficulties observed in early life. The results suggest that some rightward-lateralized brain networks that are crucially important for arousal and attention re-orienting are compromised in children with ASD and that this deficit contributes to sensory modulation difficulties and possibly even other behavioral deficits in ASD.     

Eye movements of goldfish depending on the relationship between acceleration vector and otolith organ.

Prior experiments demonstrated that the acceleration deviating 15 degrees to the right (left) from the longitudinal body axis could not produce vertical eye movement in left (right) eye of the goldfish. From these results, we expected that vertical eye movement of goldfish for the acceleration perpendicular to the longitudinal body axis might different between right and left eye. However, in this experiments, there were no clear difference in magnitude of vertical eye movements for the acceleration shifted 15 degrees around the left-right body axis. On the other hand, the response of right eye was larger than that of left eye for the acceleration applied from left to right of the body. These results suggest that stimulation from medial to lateral and lateral to medial of the otolith organ has different effect on vertical eye movement in each eye of goldfish.     

Lateral asymmetry of eye use in Octopus vulgaris

The lateralization of sensory and motor functions has been recently demonstrated in various groups of vertebrates. We examined lateral asymmetry of eye use in Octopus vulgaris by behavioural methods. Octopus vulgaris uses monocular vision almost exclusively and can move its eyes independently. The amount of binocular vision is small because the eyes are on the sides of the head. We tested eight octopuses in two conditions (one with and one without moving stimuli) where the use of the eye for frontal vision could be determined unequivocally. Data were recorded on videotape. All animals showed a preference for one eye (five left, three right). There was no correlation between eye use and the animal's direction of movement. Pigmentation of the ventral side of the arms tended to be most intense on the side of the preferred eye and the body was most pigmented on the side of the eye currently in use. We found no sex differences for visual lateralization. Pigmentation of the ventral side of the arms was lighter in females than in males. Copyright 2002 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.     

Transplantation of Xenopus laevis Tissues to Determine the Ability of Motor Neurons to Acquire a Novel Target

The evolutionary origin of novelties is a central problem in biology. At a cellular level this requires, for example, molecularly resolving how brainstem motor neurons change their innervation target from muscle fibers (branchial motor neurons) to neural crest-derived ganglia (visceral motor neurons) or ear-derived hair cells (inner ear and lateral line efferent neurons). Transplantation of various tissues into the path of motor neuron axons could determine the ability of any motor neuron to innervate a novel target. Several tissues that receive direct, indirect, or no motor innervation were transplanted into the path of different motor neuron populations in Xenopus laevis embryos. Ears, somites, hearts, and lungs were transplanted to the orbit, replacing the eye. Jaw and eye muscle were transplanted to the trunk, replacing a somite. Applications of lipophilic dyes and immunohistochemistry to reveal motor neuron axon terminals were used. The ear, but not somite-derived muscle, heart, or liver, received motor neuron axons via the oculomotor or trochlear nerves. Somite-derived muscle tissue was innervated, likely by the hypoglossal nerve, when replacing the ear. In contrast to our previous report on ear innervation by spinal motor neurons, none of the tissues (eye or jaw muscle) was innervated when transplanted to the trunk. Taken together, these results suggest that there is some plasticity inherent to motor innervation, but not every motor neuron can become an efferent to any target that normally receives motor input. The only tissue among our samples that can be innervated by all motor neurons tested is the ear. We suggest some possible, testable molecular suggestions for this apparent uniqueness.     

Gender differences in medium-latency acoustic evoked potentials

Medium-latency acoustic (auditory) evoked potentials (MLAEPs) were recorded in 30 men and 30 women. The MLAEPs recorded in the left and right mastoid derivations were found to be asymmetrical, the lateral differences depending on the sex: binaural stimulation and stimulation of the right ear yielded a higher total amplitude of the set of medium-latency components in the right derivation in men and in the left derivation in women. If the left ear was stimulated, there were no sex-related differences in MLAEP asymmetry. The data are discussed in terms of gender differences with respect to functional specialization of the cerebral hemispheres.     

Relationship between effective intensity of auditory stimulation and directional eye turns in the human newborn.

To examine Schneirla's biphasic hypothesis that effectively weak stimulation results in approach-type responses and effectively strong stimulation results in withdrawal-type responses, 90 dB white noise stimuli were presented to twenty-five, 2-day-old female infants. Based on prior investigation this stimulus was expected to be effectively strong when presented at the right ear and effectively weak when presented at the left ear. Results obtained from electro-oculargraphic recording of the infants' eye movements supported this hypothesis in that significant towards-turning occurred when the stimulus was presented at the left ear and significant away-turning occurred when the stimulus was presented at the right ear.     

Binocular coordination during reading]

Is there an effect on binocular coordination during reading of oculomotor imbalance (heterophoria, strabismus and inadequate convergence) and of functional lateral characteristics (eye preference and perceptually privileged visual laterality)? Recordings of the binocular eye-movements of ten-year-old children show that oculomotor imbalances occur most often among children whose left visual perceptual channel is privileged, and that these subjects can present optomotor dissociation and manifest lack of motor coordination. Close binocular motor coordination is far from being the norm in reading. The faster reader displays saccades of differing spatial amplitude and the slower reader an oculomotor hyperactivity, especially during fixations. The recording of binocular movements in reading appears to be an excellent means of diagnosing difficulties related to visual laterality and to problems associated with oculomotor imbalance.     

Complementary left and right eye use during predator inspection and shoal-mate scrutiny in minnows

Minnows Phoxinus phoxinus did not show any difference in the average distance from a predator associated with the left or right position of a shoal-mate. While inspection behaviour of fish tested with a mirror on their left side was indistinguishable from the behaviour of controls tested without a mirror, inspection behaviour of fish tested with the mirror on their right side appeared to be changed and incoherent in both temporal and spatial parameters. These results suggest that, as in mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki , the condition with the mirror on the left provided the best arrangement of monocular lateral stimulation in which each stimulus fell into the correct lateral visual field. Minnows showed a significant left eye preference during scrutiny of their mirror image when tested in the absence of any predator and a significant right eye preference while monitoring a live predator in the absence of a social partner.     

The effects of simulated microgravity on characteristics of slow presaccadic potentials

The parameters of saccades and presaccadic slow potentials were studied in seven right-handed male volunteers with a dominant right eye before and after exposure to 6-day dry immersion. Visual stimuli were presented using three light diodes, which were located in the center of the visual field (the central fixation stimulus) and 10° to the right and left of it (peripheral stimuli (PSs)). The subjects performed a test with simple saccades to a PS and a test with antisaccades to the point located symmetrically in the opposite visual field. The EEG (19 monopolar leads) and electrooculogram were recorded. To isolate slow potentials, backward EEG averaging was performed, with the moment of switching on the PS serving as a trigger for the averaging. It was found that the characteristics of saccadic eye movements did not substantially change after exposure to immersion. However, both tests revealed a change in topography and a decrease in the amplitude of presaccadic slow negative potentials (PSNPs) during immersion. Characteristically, the focus of presaccadic negativity shifted to the right hemisphere so that the PSNP amplitude sharply decreased in the left and increased in the right hemisphere. A significant decrease in the PSNP amplitude on day 6 of immersion was found in the midline and left-hemispheric frontal and parietal leads. It may be suggested that, because of support unloading and a decrease in proprioceptive input, exposure to microgravity causes a decrease in the activity of the left hemisphere and prefrontal and parietal cortices, initially involved in preparation and realization of motor responses. The activation of the right hemisphere could be of compensatory character.     

Characteristics of the hearing loss in unilateral cleft lip and palate-influence on communication

Etiology of otitis media with effusion (OME) is still unclear and often described as multi-factorial. It is very usual finding in cleft palate population. We tested relationship between the hearing level, audiometric frequencies, aging and ear side in unilateral cleft lip and palate 101 children (UCLP) and subgroups of left (UCLP)(L) and right cleft side (UCLP)(R). Group of left ears is prone to higher frequency and more severe hearing disturbances than groups of right ears, with less chance of normalizing hearing level with aging. Characteristics of hearing loss level and its improvement, in UCLP children depend of cleft type, ear side and age group.     

Mere expectation to move causes attenuation of sensory signals

When a part of the body moves, the sensation evoked by a probe stimulus to that body part is attenuated. Two mechanisms have been proposed to explain this robust and general effect. First, feedforward motor signals may modulate activity evoked by incoming sensory signals. Second, reafferent sensation from body movements may mask the stimulus. Here we delivered probe stimuli to the right index finger just before a cue which instructed subjects to make left or right index finger movements. When left and right cues were equiprobable, we found attenuation for stimuli to the right index finger just before this finger was cued (and subsequently moved). However, there was no attenuation in the right finger just before the left finger was cued. This result suggests that the movement made in response to the cue caused 'postdictive' attenuation of a sensation occurring prior to the cue. In a second experiment, the right cue was more frequent than the left. We now found attenuation in the right index finger even when the left finger was cued and moved. This attenuation linked to a movement that was likely but did not in fact occur, suggests a new expectation-based mechanism, distinct from both feedforward motor signals and postdiction. Our results suggest a new mechanism in motor-sensory interactions in which the motor system tunes the sensory inputs based on expectations about future possible actions that may not, in fact, be implemented.     

Motor learning in man: A review of functional and clinical studies

This chapter reviews results of clinical and functional imaging studies which investigated the time-course of cortical and subcortical activation during the acquisition of motor a skill. During the early phases of learning by trial and error, activation in prefrontal areas, especially in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, is has been reported. The role of these areas is presumably related to explicit working memory and the establishment of a novel association between visual cues and motor commands. Furthermore, motor associated areas of the right hemisphere and distributed cerebellar areas reveal strong activation during the early motor learning. Activation in superior-posterior parietal cortex presumably arises from visuospatial processes, while sensory feedback is coded in the anterior-inferior parietal cortex and the neocerebellar structures. With practice, motor associated areas of the left-hemisphere reveal increased activity. This shift to the left hemisphere has been observed regardless of the hand used during training, indicating a left-hemispheric dominance in the storage of visuomotor skills. Concerning frontal areas, learned actions of sequential character are represented in the caudal part of the supplementary motor area (SMA proper), whereas the lateral premotor cortex appears to be responsible for the coding of the association between visuo-spatial information and motor commands. Functional imaging studies which investigated the activation patterns of motor learning under implicit conditions identified for the first, a motor circuit which includes lateral premotor cortex and SMA proper of the left hemisphere and primary motor cortex, for the second, a cognitive loop which consists of basal ganglia structures of the right hemisphere. Finally, activity patterns of intermanual transfer are discussed. After right-handed training, activity in motor associated areas maintains during performance of the mirror version, but is increased during the performance of the original-oriented version with the left hand. In contrary, increased activity during the mirror reversed action, but not during the original-oriented performance of the untrained right hand is observed after left-handed training. These results indicate the transfer of acquired right-handed information which reflects the mirror symmetry of the body, whereas spatial information is mainly transferred after left-handed training. Taken together, a combined approach of clinical lesion studies and functional imaging is a promising tool for identifying the cerebral regions involved in the process of motor learning and provides insight into the mechanisms underlying the generalisation of actions.     

Thrombophilia gene mutations in oculoauriculovertebral spectrum

Oculoauriculovertebral spectrum or Goldenhar syndrome is a phenotypically and probably genetically heterogeneous disorder characterized by hemifacial microsomia (unilateral ear abnormalities and ipsilateral mandibular hypoplasia) as well as vertebral anomalies and epibulbar dermoid/lipodermoids. Although most cases of the Goldenhar syndrome are sporadic, both autosomal recessive and dominant inheritance have been reported so far. In this report, we describe the clinical aspects of two familial cases with evidence of autosomal dominant inheritance and a non-familial case, and compare them with the reports in the literature. One of our familial cases was a ten day old female infant of a mother with left hemifacial microsomia. She had multiple bilateral preauricular tags and a "fleshy masse" on her right cheek. The other familial case was a two months old male infant whose father had hemifacial asymmetry. He had unilateral microtia, and abnormal antihelix, a skin tag in the contralateral ear associated with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. The third case was a sporadic case who was 2 years old boy with preauricular skin tag, right hemifacial microsomia and limbal dermoid at the temporal limbus of the right eye. As there were no other associated defects, the cases we presented here were thought to be mild variations of the Goldenhar spectrum. The most commonly encountered mutations of thrombophilia genes were studied. We believe that the interfamilial and intrafamilial clinical variabilities observed in these cases reinforce the necessity of a careful examination for the whole family with regards to the stigmata of Goldenhar syndrome.     

Analysis of ear side of mobile phone use in the general population of Japan

This study aimed to clarify the distribution of the ear side of mobile phone use in the general population of Japan and clarify what factors are associated with the ear side of mobile phone use. Children at elementary and junior high schools (n = 2,518) and adults aged ≥20 years (n = 1,529) completed an Internet‐based survey. Data were subjected to a logistic regression analysis. In children, due to the tendency to use the dominant hand, we analyzed the factors associated with the use of right ear in right‐handed people. Statistically significant differences were observed only in talk time per call (odds ratio (OR) = 2.17; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.22–3.99). In adults, due to the tendency to use the left ear, we analyzed factors associated with the use of left ear in right‐handed people. Significant differences were observed in those aged 30–39 years (OR = 2.55; 95% CI: 1.79–3.68), those aged 40–49 years (OR = 3.08; 95% CI: 2.15–4.43), those aged >50 years (OR = 1.85; 95% CI: 1.20–2.85), and in those with a percentage of total talk time when using mobile phones at work of 51–100% (OR = 1.75; 95% CI: 1.21–2.55). We believe that future epidemiological studies on mobile phone use can be improved by considering the trends in mobile phone use identified in this study. Bioelectromagnetics. 39:53–59, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Differential negative air ion effects on learning disabled and normal-achieving children

Forty normal-achieving and 33 learning disabled (LD) children were assigned randomly to either a negative ion or placebo test condition. On a dichotic listening task using consonant-vowel (CV) combinations, both groups showed an ioninduced increase in the normal right ear advantage (REA). However, the mechanisms for this effect were different for each group. The LDs showed the effect at the right ear/left hemisphere (enhancement). The normal achievers showed the effect at the left ear/right hemisphere (inhibition). The results are consistent with an activation-inhibition model of cerebral function and suggest a functional relationship between arousal, interhemispheric activation-inhibition, and learning disabilities. The LDs may have an interhemispheric dysfunction. Both groups showed superior right ear report and the normal achiever showed overall superiority. Normal achievers showed higher consonant intrusion scores, probably due to a greater cognitive capacity. Age was a significant covariate reflecting developmental capacity changes. Negative air ions are seen to be a tool with potential theoretical and remedial applications.     

How birds use their eyes: Opposite left-right specialization for the lateral and frontal visual hemifield in the domestic chick

Recent evidence has demonstrated that, in animals with laterally placed eyes, functional cerebral asymmetry is revealed by preferential use of either the left or right eye in a range of behaviors (birds: [1, 2, 3]; fish: [4, 5]; reptiles: [6, 7]). These findings pose a theoretical problem. It seems that there would be disadvantages in having a substantial degree of asymmetry in the use of the two eyes; a deficit on one side would leave the organism vulnerable to attack on that side or unable to exploit resources appearing on one side. We here report a possible solution to the problem. We have found that domestic chicks show selective use of the lateral visual field of the left eye and of the right hemifield in the binocular, frontal visual field when they peck at strangers but not at cagemates. Thus, during social recognition, there seems to be opposite and complementary left-right specialization for the lateral and frontal visual fields of the two eyes. These findings can reconcile the computational advantages associated with asymmetry of the left and right sides of the brain with the ecological demands for an animal to perceive and respond equally well to the left and right sides of its midline.     

Changes in the Motor Asymmetry and Structure of Mauthner Neurons of the Goldfish Resulting from Unilateral Visual Deprivation

We studied the effects of unilateral enucleation of the eye on the motor asymmetry of goldfish fries and morphometric characteristics of their Mauthner neurons, MNs (data of 3D reconstruction using serial slices). Enucleation of the right or left eye in ambidextral fishes resulted in stable preference of turnings during swimming toward the side of visual deafferentation and in a shift of the initial motor asymmetry coefficient (MAC) by 25%, on average. Ipsilateral enucleation of the eye in dextral and sinistral fishes intensified the initial motor asymmetry by 20%. Contralateral enucleation of the eye in dextral and sinistral fishes induced inversion of the motor asymmetry with a decrease in the MAC by 50%, on average. All operated fishes stably (within 3 months or more) preferred to turn toward the side of the enucleated eye. Morphological measurements showed that the size of the ventral dendrite of the MN contralateral with respect to the side of enucleation noticeably decreased. At the same time, this neuron (according to a shift in the motor asymmetry of the fish) became the functionally dominant unit. These data agree with the earlier supposition on a reciprocal relation between the level of functional activity of the MN and the size of its ventral dendrite. Selective changes in the dimension of the ventral dendrite of the MN receiving visual inputs probably resulted from the action of some endogenous trophic factor. The effect of this factor was enhanced after enucleation of the eye and the corresponding dysfunction of the contralateral visual input. A specific local change in the balance of neurotransmitter influences upon the MN ventral dendrite can play the role of such a factor. From the neurophysiological aspect, a decrease in the size of the ventral MN dendrite is a primary link in the chain of events resulting in modification of behavior; it leads to intensification of the integral functional activity of the MN and a shift of the motor asymmetry of the fish compensating, in such a way, the effect of unilateral visual deprivation.