-
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews Jul 2022As we move through the world, natural and built environments implicitly guide behavior by appealing to certain sensory and motor dynamics. This process can be motivated... (Review)
Review
As we move through the world, natural and built environments implicitly guide behavior by appealing to certain sensory and motor dynamics. This process can be motivated by automatic attention to environmental features that resonate with specific sensorimotor responses. This review aims at providing a psychobiological framework describing how environmental features can lead to automated sensorimotor responses through defined neurophysiological mechanisms underlying attention. Through the use of automated processes in subsets of cortical structures, the goal of this framework is to describe on a neuronal level the functional link between the designed environment and sensorimotor responses. By distinguishing between environmental features and sensorimotor responses we elaborate on how automatic behavior employs the environment for sensorimotor adaptation. This is realized through a thalamo-cortical network integrating environmental features with motor aspects of behavior. We highlight the underlying transthalamic transmission from an Enactive and predictive perspective and review recent studies that effectively modulated behavior by systematically manipulating environmental features. We end by suggesting a promising combination of neuroimaging and computational analysis for future studies.
Topics: Built Environment; Humans; Neurosciences
PubMed: 35654280
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104715 -
The Journal of Comparative Neurology May 2022Visual pathways of the brain are organized into parallel channels that code different features of the external environment. In the current study, we investigated the...
Visual pathways of the brain are organized into parallel channels that code different features of the external environment. In the current study, we investigated the anatomical organization of parallel pathways from the superior colliculus (SC) to the pulvinar nucleus in the mouse. Virus injections placed in the ipsilateral and contralateral SC to induce the expression of different fluorescent proteins define two pulvinar zones. The lateral pulvinar (Pl) receives ipsilateral SC input and the caudal medial pulvinar (Pcm) receives bilateral SC input. To examine the ultrastructure of these projections using transmission electron microscopy, we injected the SC with viruses to induce peroxidase expression within synaptic vesicles or mitochondria. We quantitatively compared the sizes of ipsilateral and contralateral tectopulvinar terminals and their postsynaptic dendrites, as well as the sizes of the overall population of synaptic terminals and their postsynaptic dendrites in the Pl and Pcm. Our ultrastructural analysis revealed that ipsilateral tectopulvinar terminals are significantly larger than contralateral tectopulvinar terminals. In particular, the ipsilateral tectopulvinar projection includes a subset of large terminals (≥ 1 μm ) that envelop dendritic protrusions of postsynaptic dendrites. We also found that both ipsilateral and contralateral tectopulvinar terminals are significantly larger than the overall population of synaptic terminals in both the Pl and Pcm. Thus, the ipsilateral tectopulvinar projection is structurally distinct from the bilateral tectopulvinar pathway, but both tectopulvinar channels may be considered the primary or "driving" input to the Pl and Pcm.
Topics: Animals; Mice; Presynaptic Terminals; Pulvinar; Superior Colliculi; Visual Pathways
PubMed: 34636423
DOI: 10.1002/cne.25264 -
Biomedicines Jun 2023Temporal interference stimulation (TIS) aims at targeting deep brain areas during transcranial electrical alternating current stimulation (tACS) by generating...
Temporal interference stimulation (TIS) aims at targeting deep brain areas during transcranial electrical alternating current stimulation (tACS) by generating interference fields at depth. Although its modulatory effects have been demonstrated in animal and human models and stimulation studies, direct experimental evidence is lacking for its utility in humans (in vivo). Herein, we directly test and compare three different structures: firstly, we perform peripheral nerve and muscle stimulation quantifying muscle twitches as readout, secondly, we stimulate peri-orbitally with phosphene perception as a surrogate marker, and thirdly, we attempt to modulate the mean power of alpha oscillations in the occipital area as measured with electroencephalography (EEG). We found strong evidence for stimulation efficacy on the modulated frequency in the PNS, but we found no evidence for its utility in the CNS. Possible reasons for failing to activate CNS targets could be comparatively higher activation thresholds here or inhibitory stimulation components to the carrier frequency interfering with the effects of the modulated signal.
PubMed: 37509455
DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines11071813 -
Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) Jul 2021Noradrenaline (NA) in the thalamus has important roles in physiological, pharmacological, and pathological neuromodulation. In this work, a complete characterization of...
Noradrenaline (NA) in the thalamus has important roles in physiological, pharmacological, and pathological neuromodulation. In this work, a complete characterization of NA axons and Alpha adrenoceptors distributions is provided. NA axons, revealed by immunohistochemistry against the synthesizing enzyme and the NA transporter, are present in all thalamic nuclei. The most densely innervated ones are the midline nuclei, intralaminar nuclei (paracentral and parafascicular), and the medial sector of the mediodorsal nucleus (MDm). The ventral motor nuclei and most somatosensory relay nuclei receive a moderate NA innervation. The pulvinar complex receives a heterogeneous innervation. The lateral geniculate nucleus (GL) has the lowest NA innervation. Alpha adrenoceptors were analyzed by in vitro quantitative autoradiography. Alpha-1 receptor densities are higher than Alpha-2 densities. Overall, axonal densities and Alpha adrenoceptor densities coincide; although some mismatches were identified. The nuclei with the highest Alpha-1 values are MDm, the parvocellular part of the ventral posterior medial nucleus, medial pulvinar, and midline nuclei. The nucleus with the lowest Alpha-1 receptor density is GL. Alpha-2 receptor densities are highest in the lateral dorsal, centromedian, medial and inferior pulvinar, and midline nuclei. These results suggest a role for NA in modulating thalamic involvement in consciousness, limbic, cognitive, and executive functions.
Topics: Animals; Autoradiography; Axons; Dopamine beta-Hydroxylase; Electrophysiological Phenomena; Female; Macaca mulatta; Macaca nemestrina; Norepinephrine; Norepinephrine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; Receptors, Adrenergic; Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha-1; Sympathetic Nervous System; Thalamus
PubMed: 34003210
DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab073 -
Neurology Jun 2019To investigate the dynamic functional connectivity of thalamocortical networks in interictal migraine patients and whether clinical features are associated with abnormal...
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the dynamic functional connectivity of thalamocortical networks in interictal migraine patients and whether clinical features are associated with abnormal connectivity.
METHODS
We investigated dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) of the migraine brain in 89 interictal migraine patients and 70 healthy controls. We focused on the temporal properties of thalamocortical connectivity using sliding window cross-correlation, clustering state analysis, and graph-theory methods. Relationships between clinical symptoms and abnormal dFNC were evaluated using a multivariate linear regression model.
RESULTS
Five dFNC brain states were identified to characterize and compare dynamic functional connectivity patterns. We demonstrated that migraineurs spent more time in a strongly interconnected between-network state, but they spent less time in a sparsely connected state. Interestingly, we found that abnormal posterior thalamus (pulvinar nucleus) dFNC with the visual cortex and the precuneus were significantly correlated with headache frequency of migraine. Further topologic measures revealed that migraineurs had significantly lower efficiency of information transfer in both global and local dFNC.
CONCLUSION
Our results demonstrated a transient pathologic state with atypical thalamocortical connectivity in migraineurs and extended current findings regarding abnormal thalamocortical networks and dysrhythmia in migraine.
Topics: Case-Control Studies; Cerebral Cortex; Female; Functional Neuroimaging; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Migraine Disorders; Neural Pathways; Parietal Lobe; Pulvinar; Thalamus; Visual Cortex; Young Adult
PubMed: 31076535
DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000007607 -
Seizure Aug 2017The aim of this review was to identify published studies in the literature relating to ictal induced MRI change and to identify certain common themes, practical points... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE
The aim of this review was to identify published studies in the literature relating to ictal induced MRI change and to identify certain common themes, practical points for clinicians and areas for future research.
METHODS
We identified 96 articles that satisfied our inclusion criteria yielding 575 cases. All articles were analysed; number of subjects, spectrum of MRI and EEG change, aetiology, and follow-up (both clinical and imaging) were noted.
RESULTS
The most frequent imaging changes were restricted diffusion, T2-hyperintensity and reduced ADC values. The mesial temporal structures and neocortex were most commonly affected locations though subcortical structures like the thalamus and pulvinar were also described. Practical clinical points included; the development of PLEDS concordant with ictal imaging change was associated with worse clinical prognosis, patients with seizures due to symptomatic aetiology may be more likely to develop ictal related imaging change and follow up is vitally important to ensure that ictal related oedema is not misidentified as a mass lesion or conversely that a mass lesion is not misidentified as ictal related change.
CONCLUSION
Qualitative MRI studies have provided clinicians with useful in-vivo insights into the dynamic ictal neuronal environment. Changes are not only localised to the ictal focus but can be remote and irreversible. Small patient numbers varying study design and high numbers of symptomatic seizures makes comparison between studies problematic. Also there is possible microstructural quantitative MRI changes that are missed on qualitative MRI. There is a need for prospective quantitative MRI studies in patients with epilepsy peri-icatlly with a uniform period of follow up and comparison to control data.
Topics: Brain; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Neuroimaging; Seizures
PubMed: 28600921
DOI: 10.1016/j.seizure.2017.05.005 -
Epilepsy & Behavior : E&B Feb 2021While temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is a focal epilepsy, previous work demonstrates that TLE causes widespread brain-network disruptions. Impaired visuospatial attention...
While temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is a focal epilepsy, previous work demonstrates that TLE causes widespread brain-network disruptions. Impaired visuospatial attention and learning in TLE may be related to thalamic arousal nuclei connectivity. Our prior preliminary work in a smaller patient cohort suggests that patients with TLE demonstrate abnormal functional connectivity between central lateral (CL) thalamic nucleus and medial occipital lobe. Others have shown pulvinar connectivity disturbances in TLE, but it is incompletely understood how TLE affects pulvinar subnuclei. Also, the effects of epilepsy surgery on thalamic functional connectivity remains poorly understood. In this study, we examine the effects of TLE on functional connectivity of two key thalamic arousal-nuclei: lateral pulvinar (PuL) and CL. We evaluate resting-state functional connectivity of the PuL and CL in 40 patients with TLE and 40 controls using fMRI. In 25 patients, postoperative images (>1 year) were also compared with preoperative images. Compared to controls, patients with TLE exhibit loss of normal positive connectivity between PuL and lateral occipital lobe (p < 0.05), and a loss of normal negative connectivity between CL and medial occipital lobe (p < 0.01, paired t-tests). FMRI amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) in TLE trended higher in ipsilateral PuL (p = 0.06), but was lower in the lateral occipital (p < 0.01) and medial occipital lobe in patients versus controls (p < 0.05, paired t-tests). More abnormal ALFF in the ipsilateral lateral occipital lobe is associated with worse preoperative performance on Rey Complex Figure Test Immediate (p < 0.05, r = 0.381) and Delayed scores (p < 0.05, r = 0.413, Pearson's Correlations). After surgery, connectivity between PuL and lateral occipital lobe remains abnormal in patients (p < 0.01), but connectivity between CL and medial occipital lobe improves and is no longer different from control values (p > 0.05, ANOVA, post hoc Fischer's LSD). In conclusion, thalamic arousal nuclei exhibit abnormal connectivity with occipital lobe in TLE, and some connections may improve after surgery. Studying thalamic arousal centers may help explain distal network disturbances in TLE.
Topics: Arousal; Brain; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Thalamus
PubMed: 33334720
DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2020.107645 -
Brain and Language Feb 2015Broca's area is crucially involved in language processing. The sub-regions of Broca's area (pars triangularis, pars opercularis) presumably are connected via...
Broca's area is crucially involved in language processing. The sub-regions of Broca's area (pars triangularis, pars opercularis) presumably are connected via corticocortical pathways. However, growing evidence suggests that the thalamus may also be involved in language and share some of the linguistic functions supported by Broca's area. Functional connectivity is thought to be achieved via corticothalamic/thalamocortical white matter pathways. Our study investigates structural connectivity between Broca's area and the thalamus, specifically ventral anterior nucleus and pulvinar. We demonstrate that Broca's area shares direct connections with these thalamic nuclei and suggest a local Broca's area-thalamus network potentially involved in linguistic processing. Thalamic connectivity with Broca's area may serve to selectively recruit cortical regions storing multimodal features of lexical items and to bind them together during lexical-semantic processing. In addition, Broca's area-thalamic circuitry may enable cortico-thalamo-cortical information transfer and modulation between BA 44 and 45 during language comprehension and production.
Topics: Adult; Broca Area; Connectome; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Semantics; Thalamus
PubMed: 25555132
DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2014.12.001 -
Neuroscience Aug 2021Some patients with damage to the primary visual cortex (V1) exhibit visuomotor ability, despite loss of visual awareness, a phenomenon termed "blindsight". We review a... (Review)
Review
Some patients with damage to the primary visual cortex (V1) exhibit visuomotor ability, despite loss of visual awareness, a phenomenon termed "blindsight". We review a series of studies conducted mainly in our laboratory on macaque monkeys with unilateral V1 lesioning to reveal the neural pathways underlying visuomotor transformation and the cognitive capabilities retained in blindsight. After lesioning, it takes several weeks for the recovery of visually guided saccades toward the lesion-affected visual field. In addition to the lateral geniculate nucleus, the pathway from the superior colliculus to the pulvinar participates in visuomotor processing in blindsight. At the cortical level, bilateral lateral intraparietal regions become critically involved in the saccade control. These results suggest that the visual circuits experience drastic changes while the monkey acquires blindsight. In these animals, analysis based on signal detection theory adapted to behavior in the "Yes-No" task indicates reduced sensitivity to visual targets, suggesting that visual awareness is impaired. Saccades become less accurate, decisions become less deliberate, and some forms of bottom-up attention are impaired. However, a variety of cognitive functions are retained such as saliency detection during free viewing, top-down attention, short-term spatial memory, and associative learning. These observations indicate that blindsight is not a low-level sensory-motor response, but the residual visual inputs can access these cognitive capabilities. Based on these results we suggest that the macaque model of blindsight replicates type II blindsight patients who experience some "feeling" of objects, which guides cognitive capabilities that we naïvely think are not possible without phenomenal consciousness.
Topics: Animals; Geniculate Bodies; Humans; Macaca; Photic Stimulation; Saccades; Visual Cortex; Visual Pathways; Visual Perception
PubMed: 34153356
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2021.06.022 -
NeuroImage. Clinical 2022Dysfunction of the thalamus has been proposed as a core mechanism of fatal familial insomnia. However, detailed metabolic and structural alterations in thalamic...
BACKGROUND
Dysfunction of the thalamus has been proposed as a core mechanism of fatal familial insomnia. However, detailed metabolic and structural alterations in thalamic subnuclei are not well documented. We aimed to address the multimodal structuro-metabolic pattern at the level of the thalamic nuclei in fatal familial insomnia patients, and investigated the clinical presentation of primary thalamic alterations.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Five fatal familial insomnia patients and 10 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. All participants underwent neuropsychological assessments, polysomnography, electroencephalogram, and cerebrospinal fluid tests. MRI and fluorodeoxyglucose PET were acquired on a hybrid PET/MRI system. Structural and metabolic changes were compared using voxel-based morphometry analyses and standardized uptake value ratio analyses, focusing on thalamic subnuclei region of interest analyses. Correlation analysis was conducted between gray matter volume and metabolic decrease ratios, and clinical features.
RESULTS
The whole-brain analysis showed that gray matter volume decline was confined to the bilateral thalamus and right middle temporal pole in fatal familial insomnia patients, whereas hypometabolism was observed in the bilateral thalamus, basal ganglia, and widespread cortices, mainly in the forebrain. In the regions of interest analysis, gray matter volume and metabolism decreases were prominent in bilateral medial dorsal nuclei, anterior nuclei, and the pulvinar, which is consistent with neuropathological and clinical findings. A positive correlation was found between gray matter volume and metabolic decrease ratios.
CONCLUSIONS
Our study revealed specific structuro-metabolic pattern of fatal familial insomnia that demonstrated the essential roles of medial dorsal nuclei, anterior nuclei, and pulvinar, which may be a potential biomarker in diagnosis. Also, primary thalamic subnuclei alterations may be correlated with insomnia, neuropsychiatric, and autonomic symptoms sparing primary cortical involvement.
Topics: Case-Control Studies; Humans; Insomnia, Fatal Familial; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Positron-Emission Tomography; Thalamus
PubMed: 35504222
DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103026