Metabolic Dynamics in the Prefrontal Cortex during a Working Memory Task in Young Adult Smokers.

Introduction: Cigarette smoking is known to modulate brain metabolism and brain function. How the dynamics of these metabolic alterations influence the active performance of higher order cognitive tasks in smokers, compared to non-smokers, is still unclear. The present exploratory study sought to examine the impact of smoking on the "complete" metabolic profile while the participants performed a working memory (N-back) task.

Human body odor increases familiarity for faces during encoding-retrieval task.

Odors can increase memory performance when presented as context during both encoding and retrieval phases. Since information from different sensory modalities is integrated into a unified conceptual knowledge, we hypothesize that the social information from body odors and faces would be integrated during encoding. The integration of such social information would enhance retrieval more so than when the encoding occurs in the context of common odors.

When to collect resting-state data: The influence of odor on post-task resting-state connectivity.

The human brain networks at rest represent spontaneous activity that is highly correlated between different brain regions. Previous studies have shown that these resting-state networks are flexible and dynamic, and they can be affected by performance of different types of tasks. Moreover, it has been suggested that the re-activation of a task-related brain network during rest promotes learning and improves the expertise on that task.

Investigating Sex-Specific Characteristics of Nicotine Addiction Using Metabolic and Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Nicotine addiction is known to modulate neurotransmission and alter the brain structure. The detrimental effect of nicotine is more prominent in females as compared to males. This study sought to examine the sex-specific influence of nicotine addiction on gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) and the white matter (WM) microstructure.

Modulation of resting-state network connectivity by verbal divergent thinking training.

A growing body of evidence suggests that creativity is associated with functional connectivity across widespread neural networks, including regions associated with executive processes and cognitive control, along with regions linked to the default mode network (DMN) of the brain. This study investigated whether a three-week verbal divergent thinking training modulates functional connectivity in networks that have been related to creativity. In a task-based functional imaging study (Fink et al.

Influence of 4-week multi-strain probiotic administration on resting-state functional connectivity in healthy volunteers.

Purpose: Experimental investigations in rodents have contributed significantly to our current understanding of the potential importance of the gut microbiome and brain interactions for neurotransmitter expression, neurodevelopment, and behaviour. However, clinical evidence to support such interactions is still scarce. The present study used a double-blind, randomized, pre- and post-intervention assessment design to investigate the effects of a 4-week multi-strain probiotic administration on whole-brain functional and structural connectivity in healthy volunteers.

Probiotics drive gut microbiome triggering emotional brain signatures.

Experimental manipulation of the gut microbiome was found to modify emotional and cognitive behavior, neurotransmitter expression and brain function in rodents, but corresponding human data remain scarce. The present double-blind, placebo-controlled randomised study aimed at investigating the effects of 4 weeks' probiotic administration on behavior, brain function and gut microbial composition in healthy volunteers. Forty-five healthy participants divided equally into three groups (probiotic, placebo and no intervention) underwent functional MRI (emotional decision-making and emotional recognition memory tasks).

T2 relaxation time alterations underlying neurocognitive deficits in alcohol-use disorders (AUD) in an Indian population: A combined conventional ROI and voxel-based relaxometry analysis.

Long-term heavy alcohol consumption has traditionally been associated with impaired cognitive abilities, such as deficits in abstract reasoning, problem solving, verbal fluency, memory, attention, and visuospatial processing. The present study aimed at exploring these neuropsychological deficits in alcohol-use disorders (AUD) in an Indian population using the Postgraduate Institute Battery of Brain Dysfunction (PGIBBD) and their possible correlation with alterations in T2 relaxation times (T2-RT), using whole-brain voxel-based relaxometry (VBR) and conventional region of interest (ROI) approach. Multi-echo T2 mapping sequence was performed on 25 subjects with AUD and 25 healthy controls matched for age, education, and socioeconomic status.

Impaired visual information processing in alcohol-dependent subjects: a proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study of the primary visual cortex.

Objective: Chronic alcoholism is associated with impaired cognitive abilities, with a more severe deficit in visual than in verbal functions. The visual processing deficits have classically been associated with impaired function of the visual cortex, located in the occipital lobe. The present study sought to increase current understanding of the impaired visual processing abilities in alcohol-dependent subjects and their correlation with metabolic aberrations in the occipital lobe using in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H MRS).

Decreased white matter integrity in fronto-occipital fasciculus bundles: relation to visual information processing in alcohol-dependent subjects.

Chronic alcohol abuse is characterized by impaired cognitive abilities with a more severe deficit in visual than in verbal functions. Neuropathologically, it is associated with widespread brain structural compromise marked by gray matter shrinkage, ventricular enlargement, and white matter degradation. The present study sought to increase current understanding of the impairment of visual processing abilities in alcohol-dependent subjects, and its correlation with white matter microstructural alterations, using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).

Assessment of abstract reasoning abilities in alcohol-dependent subjects: an fMRI study.

Introduction: Chronic alcohol abuse has been traditionally associated with impaired cognitive abilities. The deficits are most evident in higher order cognitive functions, such as abstract reasoning, problem solving and visuospatial processing. The present study sought to increase current understanding of the neuropsychological basis of poor abstract reasoning abilities in alcohol-dependent subjects using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

White matter damage is associated with memory decline in chronic alcoholics: a quantitative diffusion tensor tractography study.

Neuroimaging studies have reported an association between white matter integrity and cognitive performance in normal aging and various neuropathological conditions. We compared alcoholics with controls and hypothesized that the degree of disconnection of white matter fibers would be negatively correlated with memory dysfunction scores. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) based tractography and PGI-memory scale (PGIMS) test was performed in 10 abstinent chronic alcoholic and 10 demographically equivalent control men.