Using mindfulness-based intervention to promote executive function in young children: a multivariable and multiscale sample entropy study.

Early childhood marks a pivotal period in the maturation of executive function, the cognitive ability to consciously regulate actions and thoughts. Mindfulness-based interventions have shown promise in bolstering executive function in children. This study used the functional near-infrared spectroscopy technique to explore the impact of mindfulness-based training on young children.

Speaker-turn aware diarization for speech-based cognitive assessments.

Introduction: Speaker diarization is an essential preprocessing step for diagnosing cognitive impairments from speech-based Montreal cognitive assessments (MoCA).

Methods: This paper proposes three enhancements to the conventional speaker diarization methods for such assessments. The enhancements tackle the challenges of diarizing MoCA recordings on two fronts.

A state-of-the-art liposome technology for glioblastoma treatment.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a challenging problem due to the poor BBB permeability of cancer drugs, its recurrence after the treatment, and high malignancy and is difficult to treat with the currently available therapeutic strategies. Furthermore, the prognosis and survival rate of GBM are still poor after surgical removal conventional combination therapy. Owing to the existence of the formidable blood-brain barrier (BBB) and the aggressive, infiltrating nature of GBM growth, the diagnosis and treatment of GBM are quite challenging.

Long-term practice of intuitive inquiry meditation modulates EEG dynamics during self-schema processing.

Objective: Intuitive inquiry meditation is a unique form of Buddhist Zen/Chan practice in which individuals actively and intuitively utilize the cognitive functions to cultivate doubt and explore the concept of the self. This event-related potential (ERP) study aimed to investigate the neural correlates by which long-term practice of intuitive inquiry meditation induces flexibility in self-schema processing, highlighting the role of doubt and belief processes in this exploration.

Methods: Twenty experienced and eighteen beginner meditators in intuitive inquiry meditation were recruited for this ERP study.

Design with a Quadratic Equation: A Better Model of the Hemodynamic Changes in Preschoolers during the Dimension Change Card Sorting Task.

General linear modeling (GLM) has been widely employed to estimate the hemodynamic changes observed by functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) technology, which are found to be nonlinear rather than linear, however. Therefore, GLM might not be appropriate for modeling the hemodynamic changes evoked by cognitive processing in developmental neurocognitive studies. There is an urgent need to identify a better statistical model to fit into the nonlinear fNIRS data.

EEG-based investigation of effects of mindfulness meditation training on state and trait by deep learning and traditional machine learning.

Introduction: This study examines the state and trait effects of short-term mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) training using convolutional neural networks (CNN) based deep learning methods and traditional machine learning methods, including shallow and deep ConvNets as well as support vector machine (SVM) with features extracted from common spatial pattern (CSP) and filter bank CSP (FBCSP).

Methods: We investigated the electroencephalogram (EEG) measurements of 11 novice MBSR practitioners (6 males, 5 females; mean age 35.7 years; 7 Asians and 4 Caucasians) during resting and meditation at early and late training stages.

Iterative Reconstruction Algorithms in Magneto-Acousto-Electrical Computed Tomography (MAE-CT) for Image Quality Improvement.

Magneto-acousto-electrical computed tomography (MAE-CT) is a recently developed rotational magneto-acousto-electrical tomography (MAET) method, which can map the conductivity parameter of tissues with high spatial resolution. Since the imaging mode of MAE-CT is similar to that of CT, the reconstruction algorithms for CT are possible to be adopted for MAE-CT. Previous studies have demonstrated that the filtered back-projection (FBP) algorithm, which is one of the most common CT reconstruction algorithms, can be used for MAE-CT reconstruction.

The neural correlates of apathy in the context of aging and brain disorders: a meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies.

Introduction: Apathy is a prevalent mood disturbance that occurs in a wide range of populations, including those with normal cognitive aging, mental disorders, neurodegenerative disorders and traumatic brain injuries. Recently, neuroimaging technologies have been employed to elucidate the neural substrates underlying brain disorders accompanying apathy. However, the consistent neural correlates of apathy across normal aging and brain disorders are still unclear.

Subcortical structural covariance predicts symptoms in children with different subtypes of ADHD.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder has increasingly been conceptualized as a disorder of abnormal brain connectivity. However, far less is known about the structural covariance in different subtypes of this disorder and how those differences may contribute to the symptomology of these subtypes. In this study, we used a combined volumetric-based methodology and structural covariance approach to investigate structural covariance of subcortical brain volume in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-combined and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-inattentive patients.

Occupation-modulated language networks and its lateralization: A resting-state fMRI study of seafarers.

Introduction: Studies have revealed that the language network of Broca's area and Wernicke's area is modulated by factors such as disease, gender, aging, and handedness. However, how occupational factors modulate the language network remains unclear.

Methods: In this study, taking professional seafarers as an example, we explored the resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) of the language network with seeds (the original and flipped Broca's area and Wernicke's area).

Cryopreservable Through-Hole Arrays for the High-Throughput Three-Dimensional Smartphone-Based Cell Colorimetric Assay.

assays are an important platform for cancer research as they allow high-throughput experimentation that is not possible using animals. Although various assays are developed to study cell viability or migration, many of these assays are often limited to two dimensions, involving complex procedures or relying specialized equipment, etc. Here, we designed a simple colorimetric assay that accommodates automatic liquid samples loading, high-throughput generation of chemical concentration gradient, three-dimensional (3D) cell culture establishment, and smartphone-based colorimetric readouts.

Intracerebral Hemorrhage Models and Behavioral Tests in Rodents.

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is one of the common types of stroke, which can cause neurological dysfunction. In preclinical ICH studies, researchers often established rodent models by donor/autologous whole blood or a collagenase injection. White matter injury (WMI) can result from primary and secondary injuries after ICH.

Recent progress in nanomedicines for imaging and therapy of brain tumors.

Nowadays, a malignant brain tumor is one of the most life-threatening diseases with poor prognosis, high risk of recurrence, and low survival rate for patients because of the existence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and the lack of efficient diagnostic and therapeutic paradigms. So far, many researchers have devoted their efforts to innovating advanced drugs to efficiently cross the BBB and selectively target brain tumors for optimal imaging and therapy outcomes. Herein, we update the most recent developments in nanomedicines for the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumors in preclinical mouse models.

An fNIRS Study of Applicability of the Unity-Diversity Model of Executive Functions in Preschoolers.

Executive function (EF) includes a set of higher-order abilities that control one's actions and thoughts consciously and has a protracted developmental trajectory that parallels the maturation of the frontal lobes, which develop speedily over the preschool period. To fully understand the development of EF in preschoolers, this study examined the relationship among the three domains of executive function (cognitive shifting, inhibitory control, and working memory) to test the applicability of the unity-diversity model in preschoolers using both behavioral and fNIRS approaches. Altogether, 58 Chinese preschoolers (34 boys, 24 girls, = 5.

Decoding semantics from intermodulation responses in frequency-tagged stereotactic EEG.

Background: Humans perform object recognition using holistic processing, which is different from computers. Intermodulation responses in the steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) of scalp electroencephalography (EEG) have recently been used as an objective label for holistic processing.

New Method: Using stereotactic EEG (sEEG) to record SSVEP directly from inside of the brain, we aimed to decode Chinese characters from non-characters with activation from multiple brain areas including occipital, parietal, temporal, and frontal cortices.

Enhancing Chinese preschoolers' executive function mindfulness training: An fNIRS study.

Mindfulness training has been found to enable cognitive and emotional awareness and diminish emotional distraction and cognitive rigidity. However, the existing intervention studies have largely focused on school children, adolescents, and adults, leaving young children unexplored. This study examined the influence of mindfulness training on young children using the one-group pretest-posttest design.

Advances in Antioxidant Nanomedicines for Imaging and Therapy of Alzheimer's Disease.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are crucial signaling molecules in the regulation of numerous physiological activities including the formation and function of the central nervous system (CNS). So far, many functional antioxidant nanomedicines with ROS scavenging capability to reduce oxidative stress in Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been developed for both imaging and therapy of AD. This review focuses on the most recent advances in antioxidant nanomedicines such as ROS-scavenging nanoparticles (NPs), NPs with intrinsic antioxidant activity, and drug-loaded antioxidant NPs for AD theranostics.

Modulation of the proteoglycan receptor PTPσ promotes white matter integrity and functional recovery after intracerebral hemorrhage stroke in mice.

Background: Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. However, extant investigations have mainly focused on gray matter injury within the primary injury site after ICH rather than on white matter (WM) injury in the brain and spinal cord. This focus partly accounts for the diminished therapeutic discovery.

The brain network underlying attentional blink predicts symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic neuropsychiatric disease that can markedly impair educational, social, and occupational function throughout life. Behavioral deficits may provide clues to the underlying neurological impairments. Children with ADHD exhibit a larger attentional blink (AB) deficit in rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) tasks than typically developing children, so we examined whether brain connectivity in the neural network associated with AB can predict ADHD symptoms and thus serve as potential biomarkers of the underlying neuropathology.

Symmetric Convolutional and Adversarial Neural Network Enables Improved Mental Stress Classification From EEG.

Electroencephalography (EEG) is widely used for mental stress classification, but effective feature extraction and transfer across subjects remain challenging due to its variability. In this paper, a novel deep neural network combining convolutional neural network (CNN) and adversarial theory, named symmetric deep convolutional adversarial network (SDCAN), is proposed for stress classification based on EEG. The adversarial inference is introduced to automatically capture invariant and discriminative features from raw EEG, which aims to improve the classification accuracy and generalization ability across subjects.

Dynamical Complexity Fingerprints of Occupation-Dependent Brain Functional Networks in Professional Seafarers.

The complexity derived from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data has been applied for exploring cognitive states and occupational neuroplasticity. However, there is little information about the influence of occupational factors on dynamic complexity and topological properties of the connectivity networks. In this paper, we proposed a novel dynamical brain complexity analysis (DBCA) framework to explore the changes in dynamical complexity of brain activity at the voxel level and complexity topology for professional seafarers caused by long-term working experience.

A connectome-based neuromarker of nonverbal number acuity and arithmetic skills.

The approximate number system (ANS) is vital for survival and reproduction in animals and is crucial for constructing abstract mathematical abilities in humans. Most previous neuroimaging studies focused on identifying discrete brain regions responsible for the ANS and characterizing their functions in numerosity perception. However, a neuromarker to characterize an individual's ANS acuity is lacking, especially one based on whole-brain functional connectivity (FC).

Modulation of the Neurophysiological Response to Fearful and Stressful Stimuli Through Repetitive Religious Chanting.

In neuropsychological experiments, the late positive potential (LPP) is an event-related potential (ERP) component that reflects the level of one's emotional arousal. This study investigates whether repetitive religious chanting modulates the emotional response to fear- and stress-provoking stimuli, thus leading to a less responsive LPP. Twenty-one participants with at least one year of experience in the repetitive religious chanting of "Amitabha Buddha" were recruited.