Investigating mental representations of psychoactive substance use and other potentially addictive behaviors using a data driven network-based clustering method.

Background And Aims: The aim of the present study was to examine the mental representations of the use of different substances and other potentially addictive behaviors in order to explore meaningful similarities and differences that may contribute to a better understanding of behavioral addictions' representations and diagnostic criteria.

Methods: The authors mapped the mental and emotional representations of 661 participants (70.5% women; Mage = 35.

Novel Insights into the Physiology of Nutrient Sensing and Gut-Brain Communication in Surgical and Experimental Obesity Therapy.

Despite standardized surgical technique and peri-operative care, metabolic outcomes of bariatric surgery are not uniform. Adaptive changes in brain function may play a crucial role in achieving optimal postbariatric weight loss. This review follows the anatomic-physiologic structure of the postbariatric nutrient-gut-brain communication chain through its key stations and provides a concise summary of recent findings in bariatric physiology, with a special focus on the composition of the intestinal milieu, intestinal nutrient sensing, vagal nerve-mediated gastrointestinal satiation signals, circulating hormones and nutrients, as well as descending neural signals from the forebrain.

Attitudes of primary care physicians toward bariatric surgery: a free word association networks analysis.

Background: Primary care physicians (PCPs) hold major responsibility in referring patients with obesity eligible for bariatric surgery (BS).

Objective: The aim was to explore PCPs' mental representation of BS in order to identify barriers and catalysts of BS referral practices.

Setting: Switzerland.

Adolescent ADHD and electrophysiological reward responsiveness: A machine learning approach to evaluate classification accuracy and prognosis.

We evaluated event-related potential (ERP) indices of reinforcement sensitivity as ADHD biomarkers by examining, in N=306 adolescents (M=15.78, SD=1.08), the extent to which ERP amplitude and latency variables measuring reward anticipation and response (1) differentiate, in age- and sex-matched subsamples, (i) youth with vs.

Burst-pause criterion derivation for drinkometer measurements of ingestive behavior.

The drinkometer is a promising device for the study of ingestive behavior of liquid meals in humans. It can be used to investigate behavior in different target populations. However, ingestive behavior has a great variability across study participants.

Microstructural changes in human ingestive behavior after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass during liquid meals.

BACKGROUNDRoux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) decreases energy intake and is, therefore, an effective treatment of obesity. The behavioral bases of the decreased calorie intake remain to be elucidated. We applied the methodology of microstructural analysis of meal intake to establish the behavioral features of ingestion in an effort to discern the various controls of feeding as a function of RYGB.

Mental and emotional representations of "weight loss": free-word association networks in members of bariatric surgery-related social media communities.

Background: Mindset and communication barriers may hinder the acceptance of bariatric surgery (BS) by the eligible patient population.

Objectives: To improve the understanding of expectations, opinions, emotions, and attitudes toward weight loss among patients with obesity.

Setting: Switzerland, Germany, Austria.

Reorganization of Large-Scale Functional Networks During Low-Frequency Electrical Stimulation of the Cortical Surface.

We investigated the functional network reorganization caused by low-frequency electrical stimulation (LFES) of human brain cortical surface. Intracranial EEG data from subdural grid positions were analyzed in 16 pre-surgery epileptic patients. LFES was performed by injecting current pulses (10mA, 0.

Drinking microstructure in humans: A proof of concept study of a novel drinkometer in healthy adults.

Microstructural analysis of ingestion provides valuable insight into the roles of chemosensory signals, nutritional content, postingestive events, and physiological state. Our aim was to develop a novel drinkometer for humans to measure detailed aspects of ingestion of an entire liquid meal or drinking session. The drinkometer records, in high definition (1 kHz), the weight of a fluid reservoir from which participants drink via a tube.

Visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) for low- and high-level deviances: A control study.

The aim of our studies was to separate the effects of violating a sequential rule (genuine visual mismatch negativity; gvMMN) from the decreased activity in response to repeated stimuli (stimulus-specific adaptation; SSA) for simple and more complex stimuli. To accomplish this goal, different control procedures were applied with the aim of finding the correct control for vMMN studies. Event-related brain electric activity (ERPs) was measured in response to nonattended visual stimuli that were presented either in an oddball manner or in various control sequences.

[ELECTROPHYSIOLOGIC ANALYSIS OF MENTAL ARITHMETIC TASK BY THE "MINIMUM SPANNING TREE" METHOD].

Goals: In the present study basic arithmetic induced rearrangements in functional connections of the brain were investigated by using graph theoretical analysis what becomes increasingly important both in theoretical neuroscience and also in clinical investigations.

Research Questions: During mental arithmetic operations (working) memory plays an important role, but there are only a few studies in which an attempt was made to separate this effect from the process of arithmetic operations themselves. The goal of our study was to separate the neural networks involved in cognitive functions.

Age-related characteristics of risky decision-making and progressive expectation formation.

During daily encounters, it is inevitable that people take risks. Investigating the sequential processing of risk hazards involve expectation formation about outcome contingencies. The present study aimed to explore risk behavior and its neural correlates in sequences of decision making, particularly in old age, which represents a critical period regarding risk-taking propensity.

Age-dependent characteristics of feedback evaluation related to monetary gains and losses.

Monitoring the consequences of actions is of crucial importance in order to optimize behavior to the challenges of the environment. Recently the age-related aspects of this fundamentally important cognitive processing have been brought into the focus of investigation since behavioral monitoring and related control mechanisms are widely known to be affected by aging. Processing of feedback stimuli is a core mechanism for rapid evaluation of the functionally significant aspects of outcome, guiding behavior towards avoidance or approach.

Frontal midline theta connectivity is related to efficiency of WM maintenance and is affected by aging.

Representations in working memory (WM) are temporary, but can be refreshed for longer periods of time through maintenance mechanisms, thereby establishing their availability for subsequent memory tests. Frontal brain regions supporting WM maintenance operations undergo anatomical and functional changes with advancing age, leading to age related decline of memory functions. The present study focused on age-related functional connectivity changes of the frontal midline (FM) cortex in the theta band (4-8 Hz), related to WM maintenance.

EEG network connectivity changes in mild cognitive impairment - Preliminary results.

Resting state EEGs were compared between patients with amnestic subtype of mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and matched elderly controls at two times over a one year period. The study aimed at investigating the role of functional connectivity between and within different brain regions in relation to the progression of cognitive deficit in MCI. The EEG was recorded in two sessions during eyes closed and eyes open resting conditions.

[Spectral, phase-synchronization, and graph theoretical EEG changes related to mental arithmetics].

During mental arithmetic operations working memory plays an important role, but there are only few studies in which an attempt was made to separate this effect from the process of arithmetics per se. In this study the effects of arithmetic on the EEG of young adults (14 participants, six of them women, mean age 21.57 years, SD: 2.