People diagnosed with substance use disorders (SUDs) are at risk for impairment of brain function and structure. However, physicians still do not have any clinical biomarker of brain impairment that helps diagnose or treat these patients when needed. The most common method to study these patients is the classical electroencephalographic (EEG) analyses of absolute and relative powers, but this has limited individual clinical applicability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe perception of time depends on the rhythmicity of internal and external synchronizers. One external synchronizer that affects time estimation is music. This study aimed to analyze the effects of musical tempi on EEG spectral dynamics during subsequent time estimation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSleep is an activation procedure and is considered the most potent and best-documented modulator of seizures and interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) on electroencephalogram (EEG). The precise role of sleep deprivation in the diagnostic process of epilepsy has not been fully clarified after more than 50 years of use. Sleep deprivation is a procedure that is accompanied by discomfort for patients and their families.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis paper examines the application of electroencephalogram-based methods to assess the effects of audio-tactile substitution training in young, profoundly deaf (PD) participants, with the aim of analyzing the neural mechanisms associated with vibrotactile complex sound discrimination. Electrical brain activity reflects dynamic neural changes, and the temporal precision of event-related potentials (ERPs) has proven to be key in studying time-locked processes while performing behavioral tasks that involve attention and working memory. The current protocol was designed to study electrophysiological activity in PD subjects while they performed a continuous performance task (CPT) using complex-sound stimuli, consisting of five different animal sounds delivered through a portable stimulator system worn on the right index finger.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFModulation of reflex responses is crucial to adapt our behavior and cognition, and this is especially difficult when biological relevant stimuli are present such as emotional faces. The aim of this study was to identify the effect of peripherally presented happy and angry facial expressions in reflexive saccades and saccadic inhibition/re-orientation of attention. Behavior through eye-tracking technique and fMRI event-related BOLD signals activations were evaluated in adult males during the performance of an antisaccade task.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSex differences in cognition and their underlying brain mechanisms have attracted increasing attention. Brain electrical activity (EEG) represents a reliable, high-temporal resolution approach to assessing the neural correlates of ongoing cognitive activity. The aim of the present work was to provide a comprehensive review of the literature regarding sex differences in brain electrical activity during cognitive processing, and their potential relation to behavioral performance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe report of the electroencephalogram (EEG) results has traditionally been made using free-text formats with a huge variation in descriptions due to several factors. Recently, the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology (IFCN) endorsed the use of the Standardized Computer-based Organized Reporting of EEG (SCORE). This system has many advantages, but only some concerns have been investigated so far.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVisuospatial working memory (VSWM) deficits have been demonstrated to occur during the development of type-1-diabetes (T1D). Despite confirming the early appearance of distinct task-related brain activation patterns in T1D patients compared to healthy controls, the effect of VSWM load on functional brain connectivity during task performance is still unknown. Using electroencephalographic methods, the present study evaluated this topic in clinically well-controlled T1D young patients and healthy individuals, while they performed a VSWM task with different memory load levels during two main VSWM processing phases: encoding and maintenance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChallenges in early oral language acquisition in profoundly deaf individuals have an impact on cognitive neurodevelopment. This has led to the exploration of alternative sound perception methods involving training of vibrotactile discrimination of sounds within the language spectrum. In particular, stimulus duration plays an important role in linguistic categorical perception.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Type-1 diabetes (T1D) is a disruptive metabolic disease that has an impact on neurodevelopment through its effects on the structure and function of the brain. One of the cognitive domains affected by T1D is sustained attention. The aim of this study was to analyze this process in children with T1D and compare their results to those of healthy controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecent studies aiming to facilitate mathematical skill development in primary school children have explored the electrophysiological characteristics associated with different levels of arithmetic achievement. The present work introduces an alternative EEG signal characterization using graph metrics and, based on such features, a classification analysis using a decision tree model. This proposal aims to identify group differences in brain connectivity networks with respect to mathematical skills in elementary school children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe ability to modulate automatic responses, in order to favor voluntary actions is crucial for cognition and behavior, and this is particularly difficult when dealing with highly salient stimuli as emotional faces. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of angry faces on cortical activity during preparation of saccadic inhibition and voluntary reorientation of attention. Behavioral performance, eye movements and presaccadic event-related potentials were evaluated as 30 participants performed an antisaccadic task with neutral and angry faces presented in the peripheral visual field.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a metabolic disorder characterized by recurrent hypo- and hyperglycemic episodes, whose clinical development has been associated with cognitive and working memory (WM) deficits.
Objective: To contrast quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) measures between young patients with T1D and healthy controls while performing a visuospatial WM task with two memory load levels and facial emotional stimuli.
Methods: Four or five neutral or happy faces were sequentially and pseudo-randomly presented in different spatial locations, followed by subsequent sequences displaying the reversed spatial order or any other.
The aim of this study was to compare a reconfigurable mobile electroencephalography (EEG) system (M-EMOTIV) based on the Emotiv Epoc® (which has the ability to record up to 14 electrode sites in the 10/20 International System) and a commercial, clinical-grade EEG system (Neuronic MEDICID-05®), and then validate the rationale and accuracy of recordings obtained with the prototype proposed. In this approach, an Emotiv Epoc® was modified to enable it to record in the parieto-central area. All subjects (15 healthy individuals) performed a visual oddball task while connected to both devices to obtain electrophysiological data and behavioral responses for comparative analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSeveral executive functions decline with the development of type-1 diabetes (T1D), particularly working memory (WM). In adults, WM ensures efficient cognitive processing by focusing on task-relevant information while suppressing distractors. It has been well documented that WM can be influenced by emotional stimuli, which may facilitate the retention of information, interfere with uptake, or even affect its capacity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) affects the entire cellular network of the organism. Some patients develop cognitive disturbances due to the disease, but several authors have suggested that the brain develops compensatory mechanisms to minimize or prevent neuropsychological decline. The present study aimed to assess the effective connectivity underlying visuospatial working memory performance in young adults diagnosed with T1D using neuroimaging techniques (fMRI).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis article presents the data related to the research paper entitled "The analysis of EEG coherence reflects middle childhood differences in mathematical achievement" (González-Garrido et al., 2018). The dataset is derived from the electroencephalographic (EEG) records registered from a total of 60 8-9-years-old children with different math skill levels (High: HA, Average: AA, and Low Achievement: LA) while performing a symbolic magnitude comparison task.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of the study was to evaluate the neurofunctional effect of gender in Type-1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) patients during a Visual Spatial Working Memory (VSWM) task. The study included 28 participants with ages ranging from 17-28 years. Fourteen well-controlled T1DM patients (7 female) and 14 controls matched by age, sex, and education level were scanned performing a block-design VSWM paradigm.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSymbolic numerical magnitude processing is crucial to arithmetic development, and it is thought to be supported by the functional activation of several brain-interconnected structures. In this context, EEG beta oscillations have been recently associated with attention and working memory processing that underlie math achievement. Due to that EEG coherence represents a useful measure of brain functional connectivity, we aimed to contrast the EEG coherence in forty 8-to-9-year-old children with different math skill levels (High: HA, and Low achievement: LA) according to their arithmetic scores in the Fourth Edition of the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT-4) while performing a symbolic magnitude comparison task (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOrthographic competence allows automatic word recognition and reading fluency. To elucidate how the orthographic competence in Spanish-speaking adults might affect the neurofunctional mechanisms of visual word recognition, 32 young adults equally divided in two groups (HSS: High Spelling Skills, and LSS: Low Spelling Skills) were evaluated using fMRI methods, while they performed an orthographic recognition task involving pseudohomophones. HSS achieved significantly more correct responses and lower reaction times than LSS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFType 1 diabetes (T1D) is commonly diagnosed in childhood and adolescence, and the developing brain has to cope with its deleterious effects. Although brain adaptation to the disease may not result in evident cognitive dysfunction, the effects of T1D on neurodevelopment could alter the pattern of BOLD fMRI activation. The aim of this study was to explore the neural BOLD activation pattern in patients with T1D versus that of healthy matched controls while performing two visuospatial working memory tasks, which included a pair of assignments administered through a block design.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdolescents exhibit difficulties in behavioral regulation that become more evident when emotional contexts are involved, since these may hinder the development of socially-adaptive behaviors. The objectives of the present study were: to examine the influence of emotional contexts on adolescents' ability to inhibit a prepotent response, evaluated by ERPs, and to determine whether sex differences in response inhibition are observed in adolescents in those contexts. Participants performed a prepotent response inhibition task (Go-NoGo) under 3 background context conditions: neutral, pleasant, and unpleasant.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEarly auditory deprivation has serious neurodevelopmental and cognitive repercussions largely derived from impoverished and delayed language acquisition. These conditions may be associated with early changes in brain connectivity. Vibrotactile stimulation is a sensory substitution method that allows perception and discrimination of sound, and even speech.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChildren with mathematical difficulties usually have an impaired ability to process symbolic representations. Functional MRI methods have suggested that early frontoparietal connectivity can predict mathematic achievements; however, the study of brain connectivity during numerical processing remains unexplored. With the aim of evaluating this in children with different math proficiencies, we selected a sample of 40 children divided into two groups [high achievement (HA) and low achievement (LA)] according to their arithmetic scores in the Wide Range Achievement Test, 4th ed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of the present study was to explore sex differences in the effects that emotional contexts exert on the temporal course of response inhibition using event-related potentials (ERP). Participants performed a Go-NoGo response inhibition task under 3 context conditions: with 1) neutral background stimuli, and 2) pleasant, and 3) unpleasant emotional contexts. No sex differences were found in relation to accuracy.
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