Using spectral continuity to extract breathing rate from heart rate and its applications in sleep physiology.

ECG Derived Respiration (EDR) are a set of methods used for extracting the breathing rate from the Electrocardiogram (ECG). Recent studies revealed a tight connection between breathing rate and more specifically the breathing patterns during sleep and several related pathologies. Yet, while breathing rate and more specifically the breathing pattern is recognised as a vital sign it is less employed than Electroencephalography (EEG) and heart rate in sleep and polysomnography studies.

Changes in distinct brain systems identified with fMRI during smoking cessation treatment with varenicline: a review.

Background: Varenicline is considered one of the most effective treatment options for smoking cessation. Nonetheless, it is only modestly effective. A deeper comprehension of the effects of varenicline by means of the in-depth review of relevant fMRI studies may assist in paving the development of more targeted and effective treatments.

First activity and interactions in thalamus and cortex using raw single-trial EEG and MEG elicited by somatosensory stimulation.

Introduction: One of the primary motivations for studying the human brain is to comprehend how external sensory input is processed and ultimately perceived by the brain. A good understanding of these processes can promote the identification of biomarkers for the diagnosis of various neurological disorders; it can also provide ways of evaluating therapeutic techniques. In this work, we seek the minimal requirements for identifying key stages of activity in the brain elicited by median nerve stimulation.

A library of sensitive position-specific scoring matrices for high-throughput identification of nuclear pore complex subunits.

The nuclear pore complex exhibits different manifestations across eukaryotes, with certain components being restricted to specific clades. Several studies have been conducted to delineate the nuclear pore complex composition in various model organisms. Due to its pivotal role in cell viability, traditional lab experiments, such as gene knockdowns, can prove inconclusive and need to be complemented by a high-quality computational process.

Rhythmicity in heart rate and its surges usher a special period of sleep, a likely home for PGO waves.

High amplitude electroencephalogram (EEG) events, like unitary K-complex (KC), are used to partition sleep into stages and hence define the hypnogram, a key instrument of sleep medicine. Throughout sleep the heart rate (HR) changes, often as a steady HR increase leading to a peak, what is known as a heart rate surge (HRS). The hypnogram is often unavailable when most needed, when sleep is disturbed and the graphoelements lose their identity.

The Emergence of Spindles and K-Complexes and the Role of the Dorsal Caudal Part of the Anterior Cingulate as the Generator of K-Complexes.

The large multicomponent K-complex (KC) and the rhythmic spindle are the hallmarks of non-rapid eye movement (NREM)-2 sleep stage. We studied with magnetoencephalography (MEG) the progress of light sleep (NREM-1 and NREM-2) and emergence of KCs and spindles. Seven periods of interest (POI) were analyzed: wakefulness, the two quiet "core" periods of light sleep (periods free from any prominent phasic or oscillatory events) and four periods before and during spindles and KCs.

Mapping the Spatiotemporal Evolution of Emotional Processing: An MEG Study Across Arousal and Valence Dimensions.

Electrophysiological and functional neuroimaging findings indicate that the neural mechanisms underlying the processing of emotional dimensions (i.e., valence, arousal) constitute a spatially and temporally distributed emotional network, modulated by the arousal and/or valence of the emotional stimuli.

After-effect induced by microwave radiation in human electroencephalographic signal: a feasibility study.

Purpose: This feasibility study is aimed to clarify the possibility of detection of microwave radiation (MWR)-induced event related potential (ERP) in electroencephalographic (EEG) signal.

Methods: To trigger onset and offset effects in EEG, repetitive MWR stimuli were used. Four 30-channel EEG recordings on a single subject were performed, each about one month apart.

Neurofeedback and the Neural Representation of Self: Lessons From Awake State and Sleep.

Neurofeedback has been around for half a century, but despite some promising results it is not yet widely appreciated. Recently, some of the concerns about neurofeedback have been addressed with functional magnetic resonance imaging and magnetoencephalography adding their contributions to the long history of neurofeedback with electroencephalography. Attempts to address other concerns related to methodological issues with new experiments and meta-analysis of earlier studies, have opened up new questions about its efficacy.

Connectivity and complex systems: learning from a multi-disciplinary perspective.

In recent years, parallel developments in disparate disciplines have focused on what has come to be termed ; a concept used in understanding and describing complex systems. Conceptualisations and operationalisations of connectivity have evolved largely within their disciplinary boundaries, yet similarities in this concept and its application among disciplines are evident. However, any implementation of the concept of connectivity carries with it both ontological and epistemological constraints, which leads us to ask if there is one type or set of approach(es) to connectivity that might be applied to all disciplines.

Using MEG to Understand the Progression of Light Sleep and the Emergence and Functional Roles of Spindles and K-Complexes.

We used tomographic analysis of MEG signals to characterize regional spectral changes in the brain at sleep onset and during light sleep. We identified two key processes that may causally link to loss of consciousness during the quiet or "core" periods of NREM1. First, active inhibition in the frontal lobe leads to delta and theta spectral power increases.

Idiopathic focal epilepsies: the "lost tribe".

The term idiopathic focal epilepsies of childhood (IFE) is not formally recognised by the ILAE in its 2010 revision (Berg et al., 2010), nor are its members and boundaries precisely delineated. The IFEs are amongst the most commonly encountered epilepsy syndromes affecting children.

Neuroplastic effects of combined computerized physical and cognitive training in elderly individuals at risk for dementia: an eLORETA controlled study on resting states.

The present study investigates whether a combined cognitive and physical training may induce changes in the cortical activity as measured via electroencephalogram (EEG) and whether this change may index a deceleration of pathological processes of brain aging. Seventy seniors meeting the clinical criteria of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) were equally divided into 5 groups: 3 experimental groups engaged in eight-week cognitive and/or physical training and 2 control groups: active and passive. A 5-minute long resting state EEG was measured before and after the intervention.

Interprofessional education in the care of people diagnosed with dementia: protocol for a systematic review.

Introduction: Interprofessional education (IPE) offers a possible way to improve interprofessional collaboration and patient care. Current research addressing the effectiveness of IPE in dementia care is limited. A protocol is described for a systematic review to investigate the evidence for the influence of IPE on collaborative knowledge and skills; interprofessional practice and the delivery of dementia care.

Distinct cerebellar lobules process arousal, valence and their interaction in parallel following a temporal hierarchy.

The cerebellum participates in emotion-related neural circuits formed by different cortical and subcortical areas, which sub-serve arousal and valence. Recent neuroimaging studies have shown a functional specificity of cerebellar lobules in the processing of emotional stimuli. However, little is known about the temporal component of this process.

Robotic thumb grasp-based range of motion optimisation.

With the thumb serving an important role in the function of the human hand, improving robotic prosthetic thumb functionality will have a direct impact on the prosthesis itself. So far, no significant work exists that examines the ranges of motion a prosthetic thumb should exhibit; many myoelectric prostheses arbitrarily select them. We question this design practice as we expect a significant functional volume reduction for performing certain activities vs.

MEG reveals a fast pathway from somatosensory cortex to occipital areas via posterior parietal cortex in a blind subject.

Cross-modal activity in visual cortex of blind subjects has been reported during performance of variety of non-visual tasks. A key unanswered question is through which pathways non-visual inputs are funneled to the visual cortex. Here we used tomographic analysis of single trial magnetoencephalography (MEG) data recorded from one congenitally blind and two sighted subjects after stimulation of the left and right median nerves at three intensities: below sensory threshold, above sensory threshold and above motor threshold; the last sufficient to produce thumb twitching.

Amygdala responses to Valence and its interaction by arousal revealed by MEG.

It is widely accepted that the amygdala plays a crucial role in the processing of emotions. The precise nature of its involvement is however unclear. We hypothesized that ambivalent findings from neuroimaging studies that report amygdala's activity in emotions, are due to distinct functional specificity of amygdala's sub-divisions and specifically to differential reactivity to arousal and valence.

Source space analysis of event-related dynamic reorganization of brain networks.

How the brain works is nowadays synonymous with how different parts of the brain work together and the derivation of mathematical descriptions for the functional connectivity patterns that can be objectively derived from data of different neuroimaging techniques. In most cases static networks are studied, often relying on resting state recordings. Here, we present a quantitative study of dynamic reconfiguration of connectivity for event-related experiments.

An MEG compatible system for measuring skin conductance responses.

We present the design of a low-cost system for recording galvanic skin conductance responses (SCRs) from humans in a magnetically shielded room (MSR) simultaneously to magnetoencephalography (MEG). Such a system was so far not available to the MEG community. Its availability is of utmost importance for neuroscience, since it will allow the concurrent assessment of the autonomic and central nervous system activity.

Spatiotemporal profiles of visual processing with and without primary visual cortex.

The spatiotemporal profiles of visual processing are normally distributed in two temporal phases, each lasting about 100 ms. Within each phase, cortical processing begins in V1 and traverses the visual cortical hierarchy. However, the causal role of V1 in starting each of these two phases is unknown.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of early spatial and category-specific attentional modulations.

Different attention types select and focus brain resources on relevant sensory information. However, key questions remain unresolved: when and where cortical visual processing is first modulated by different types of attention? How do such modulatory effects spread thereafter? Here, we address these issues for spatial and category-specific types of attention using magnetoencephalography (MEG). First we identified the dynamics of visual attention-independent sensory processing to serve as a baseline framework for the attentional modulations of interest.

Rhythmogram-based analysis for continuous electrographic data of the human brain.

Ecologically relevant stimuli are rarely used in scientific studies because they are difficult to control. Instead, researchers employ simple stimuli with sharp boundaries (in space and time). Here, we explore how the rhythmogram can be used to provide much needed rigorous control of natural continuous stimuli like music and speech.

BA3b and BA1 activate in a serial fashion after median nerve stimulation: direct evidence from combining source analysis of evoked fields and cytoarchitectonic probabilistic maps.

This study combines source analysis imaging data for early somatosensory processing and the probabilistic cytoarchitectonic maps (PCMs). Human somatosensory evoked fields (SEFs) were recorded by stimulating left and right median nerves. Filtering the recorded responses in different frequency ranges identified the most responsive frequency band.