Medial anterior prefrontal cortex stimulation downregulates implicit reactions to threats and prevents the return of fear.

Downregulating emotional overreactions toward threats is fundamental for developing treatments for anxiety and post-traumatic disorders. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is critical for top-down modulatory processes, and despite previous studies adopting repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over this region provided encouraging results in enhancing extinction, no studies have hitherto explored the effects of stimulating the medial anterior PFC (aPFC, encompassing the Brodmann area 10) on threat memory and generalization. Here we showed that rTMS over the aPFC applied before threat memory retrieval immediately decreases implicit reactions to learned and novel stimuli in humans.

Modulation of Motor Awareness: A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study in the Healthy Brain.

Previous studies on the mechanisms underlying willed actions reported that the premotor cortex may be involved in the construction of motor awareness. However, its exact role is still under investigation. Here, we investigated the role of the dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) in motor awareness by modulating its activity applying inhibitory rTMS to PMd, before a specific motor awareness task (under three conditions: without stimulation, after rTMS and after Sham stimulation).

Modulation of vestibular input by short-term head-down bed rest affects somatosensory perception: implications for space missions.

Introduction: On Earth, self-produced somatosensory stimuli are typically perceived as less intense than externally generated stimuli of the same intensity, a phenomenon referred to as somatosensory attenuation (SA). Although this phenomenon arises from the integration of multisensory signals, the specific contribution of the vestibular system and the sense of gravity to somatosensory cognition underlying distinction between self-generated and externally generated sensations remains largely unknown. Here, we investigated whether temporary modulation of the gravitational input by head-down tilt bed rest (HDBR)-a well-known Earth-based analog of microgravity-might significantly affect somatosensory perception of self- and externally generated stimuli.

Can static Rorschach stimuli perceived as in motion affect corticospinal excitability?

It has been proposed that seeing human movement or activity (M), while trying to say what the static Rorschach inkblot design look like, is accompanied by Mirror Neuron System (MNS)-like mirroring activity in the brain. The present study aimed to investigate whether the Rorschach cards eliciting M responses could affect the excitability of the motor cortex by recording motor evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by single-pulse TMS over the primary motor cortex (M1). We hypothesized that Rorschach inkblot stimuli triggering the viewer's experience of human movement would increase corticospinal excitability.

Virtual reality rehabilitation for unilateral spatial neglect: A systematic review of immersive, semi-immersive and non-immersive techniques.

Introduction: In recent decades, new virtual reality (VR)-based protocols have been proposed for the rehabilitation of Unilateral Spatial Neglect (USN), a debilitating disorder of spatial awareness. However, it remains unclear which type of VR protocol and level of VR immersion can maximize the clinical benefits. To answer these questions, we conducted a systematic review of the use of VR for the rehabilitation of USN.

Effects of prism adaptation and visual scanning training on perceptual and response bias in unilateral spatial neglect.

In some patients with unilateral spatial neglect, symptoms reflect impaired lateralized spatial attention and representation (perceptual bias) whereas in others the inability to respond to stimuli located in contralesional space (response bias). Here, we investigated whether prismatic adaptation (PA) and visual scanning training (VST) differentially affect perceptual and response bias and whether rehabilitation outcome depends on the type of bias underlying symptoms. Two groups of neglect patients in the subacute phase were evaluated before, immediately after, and two weeks following 10 days of PA ( = 9) or VST ( = 9).

Investigating the Origin of TMS-evoked Brain Potentials Using Topographic Analysis.

The combination of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and electroencephalography (EEG) represents an increasingly popular tool to non-invasively probe cortical excitability in humans. TMS-evoked brain potentials (TEPs) are composed of successive components reflecting the propagation of activity from the site of stimulation, thereby providing information on the state of brain networks. However, TMS also generates peripherally evoked sensory activity which contributes to TEP waveforms and hinders their interpretation.

When Right Goes Left: Phantom Touch Induced by Mirror Box Procedure in Healthy Individuals.

In the present article, we investigated the possibility of inducing phantom tactile sensations in healthy individuals similar to those that we observed in patients after stroke. On the basis of previous research, we assumed that manipulating visual feedbacks may guide and influence, under certain conditions, the phenomenal experience of touch. To this aim, we used the Tactile Quadrant Stimulation (TQS) test in which subjects, in the crucial condition, must indicate whether and where they perceive a double tactile stimulation applied simultaneously in different quadrants of the two hands (asymmetrical Double Simultaneous Stimulation trial, Asym-DSS).

Zero gravity induced by parabolic flight enhances automatic capture and weakens voluntary maintenance of visuospatial attention.

Orienting attention in the space around us is a fundamental prerequisite for willed actions. On Earth, at 1 g, orienting attention requires the integration of vestibular signals and vision, although the specific vestibular contribution to voluntary and automatic components of visuospatial attention remains largely unknown. Here, we show that unweighting of the otolith organ in zero gravity during parabolic flight, selectively enhances stimulus-driven capture of automatic visuospatial attention, while weakening voluntary maintenance of covert attention.

Improvement of Impulsivity and Decision Making by Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in a Patient with Gambling Disorder.

Gambling disorder (GD) is a form of behavioral addiction. In recent years, it has been suggested that the application of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), which plays a key role in top-down inhibitory control and impulsivity, may represent a new therapeutic approach for treating addictions. Here we investigated the effectiveness of a novel low dose tDCS protocol (i.

Right and left inferior frontal opercula are involved in discriminating angry and sad facial expressions.

Background: Neuroimaging studies suggest that the inferior frontal operculum (IFO) is part of a neuronal network involved in facial expression processing, but the causal role of this region in emotional face discrimination remains elusive.

Objective: We used cathodal (inhibitory) tDCS to test whether right (r-IFO) and left (l-IFO) IFO play a role in discriminating basic facial emotions in healthy volunteers. Specifically, we tested if the two sites are selectively involved in the processing of facial expressions conveying high or low arousal emotions.

I'm a believer: Illusory self-generated touch elicits sensory attenuation and somatosensory evoked potentials similar to the real self-touch.

Sensory attenuation (i.e., the phenomenon whereby self-produced sensations are perceived as less intense compared to externally occurring ones) is among the neurocognitive processes that help distinguishing ourselves from others.

Unilateral Spatial Neglect After Stroke: Current Insights.

Introduction: Unilateral spatial neglect (USN) is a disorder of contralesional space awareness which often follows unilateral brain lesion. Since USN impairs awareness of contralesional space/body and often of concomitant motor disorders, its presence represents a negative prognostic factor of functional recovery. Thus, the disorder needs to be carefully diagnosed and treated.

Acute and cumulative effects of rTMS on behavioural and EMG parameters in Focal Hand Dystonia.

Previous studies suggest that low-frequency repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) over contralateral premotor cortex (PMC) might ameliorate Focal Hand Dystonia (FHD) symptoms. In the present study behavioral and muscle activity outcomes were explored in a patient with FHD following a single and multiple sessions of rTMS. The patient's behavior was assessed on handwriting tasks, while surface EMG signals were recorded.

Phantom touch: How to unmask sensory unawareness after stroke.

Comprehending the nature of tactile disorders following brain damage is crucial to understand how the brain constructs sensory awareness. Stroke patients may be unaware of being touched on the affected hand if, simultaneously, they are touched on the unaffected hand (i.e.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of Posterior Parietal Cortex Modulates Line-Length Estimation but Not Illusory Depth Perception.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) may affect attentional processing when applied to the right posterior parietal cortex (PPC) of healthy participants in line with neuropsychological and neuroimaging evidence on the neural bases of this cognitive function. Specifically, the application of TMS to right PPC induces a rightward attentional bias on line length estimation in healthy participants (i.e.

Personality features and vulnerability to stress: a case study on hyperhidrosis.

By using the Rorschach test, self-reports, and psychophysiological measures, we investigated thoroughly the psychological functioning in a hyperhidrotic case. Erica, a young female with hyperhidrosis, was assessed in three times at one-week distance. First, specific tools assessing potential psychological and affective distress, and the Rorschach test were administered.

Selective Emotional Dysregulation in Splenium Agenesis. A Case Report of a Patient With Normal Cognitive Profile.

Patients with lesions of the corpus callosum are rare and may present different symptoms of the disconnection syndrome. However, to-date studies on callosotomized patients have not been conclusive, likely because of the non-uniform nature of clinical features, the extent of resection, and methods used to investigate specific and related deficits. Agenesis of the corpus callosum (AgCC) may be asymptomatic and discovered incidentally or associated with very slight deficits diagnosed during neurological examinations.

Endogenous orientation of visual attention in auditory space.

Visuospatial attention is asymmetrically distributed with a leftward bias (i.e. pseudoneglect), while evidence for asymmetries in auditory spatial attention is still controversial.

Shared neurocognitive mechanisms of attenuating self-touch and illusory self-touch.

Despite the fact that any successful achievement of willed actions necessarily entails the sense of body ownership (the feeling of owning the moving body parts), it is still unclear how this happens. To address this issue at both behavioral and neural levels, we capitalized on sensory attenuation (SA) phenomenon (a self-generated stimulus is perceived as less intense than an identical externally generated stimulus). We compared the intensity of somatosensory stimuli produced by one's own intended movements and by movements of an embodied fake hand.

Do movements contribute to sense of body ownership? Rubber hand illusion in expert pianists.

Currently, it is still debated whether, how and to what extent movements contribute to the sense of body ownership (i.e., the feeling that one's body belongs to oneself).