Comparison and combination of gamified neurofeedback training and general behavioral training.

With the rapid development of the international community, foreign language learning has become increasingly important. Listening training is a particularly important component of foreign language learning. The most difficult aspect of listening training is the development of speech discrimination ability, which is crucial to speech perception.

Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation-Based Prediction Error Decoding and Channel Optimization.

A significant problem in brain-computer interface (BCI) research is decoding - obtaining required information from very weak noisy electroencephalograph signals and extracting considerable information from limited data. Traditional intention decoding methods, which obtain information from induced or spontaneous brain activity, have shortcomings in terms of performance, computational expense and usage burden. Here, a new methodology called prediction error decoding was used for motor imagery (MI) detection and compared with direct intention decoding.

Behavioral effect of mismatch negativity neurofeedback on foreign language learning.

Listening is critical for foreign language learning. Listening difficulties can occur because of an inability to perceive or recognize sounds while listening to speech, whereas successful listening can boost understanding and improve speaking when learning a foreign language. Previous studies in our laboratory revealed that EEG-neurofeedback (NF) using mismatch negativity event-related brain potential successfully induced unconscious learning in terms of auditory discrimination of speech sounds.

Impact of the Fibrosis-4 Index on Risk Stratification of Cardiovascular Events and Mortality in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation: Findings from a Japanese Multicenter Registry.

Background: Liver diseases drive the development and progression of atrial fibrillation (AF). The Fibrosis-4 (FIB4) index is a non-invasive scoring method for detecting liver fibrosis, but the prognostic impact of using it for AF patients is still unknown. Herein, we evaluated using the FIB4 index as a risk assessment tool for cardiovascular events and mortality in patients with AF.

Association of patient satisfaction with direct oral anticoagulants and the clinical outcomes: Findings from the SAKURA AF registry.

Background: The burden or benefit of anticoagulation treatment affects patient satisfaction, which may in turn affect the adherence to the treatment and subsequent outcomes. Thus, we hypothesized that the patient satisfaction with direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) may influence the clinical outcome in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF).

Methods And Results: We investigated the clinical outcomes among 719 DOAC users (age 71.

Comparison of continuous 24-h and 14-day monitoring for detection of otherwise unknown atrial fibrillation: a registry to identify Japanese concealed atrial fibrillation (REAL-AF)-based study.

Early detection of atrial fibrillation (AF) is desirable for preventing strokes. Not only does AF often go undetected in patients being followed up for various disease conditions, but the optimal detection method also remains to be elucidated. In a prospective observational study of 24-h Holter monitoring versus 14-day external loop recording performed for detection of previously undiagnosed AF in 868 Japanese outpatients (aged 75 ± 6 years), with a CHA2DS2-vasc score ≥ 1, but no prior AF episodes, AF was detected during the initial monitoring period in 16 (1.

Correlation between Aortic Calcification Score and Biochemical Parameters in Hemodialysis Patients.

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation between aortic calcification and demographic and biochemical parameters in hemodialysis patients.

Summary: Calcification scores of the aortic arch and abdominal aorta were determined from multi-slice computed tomography scans and evaluated according to the Agatston score. The associations between demographic and biochemical parameters and aortic calcification score were determined.

Patient Satisfaction with Direct Oral Anticoagulants and Warfarin.

The burden of anticoagulation treatment affects patient satisfaction, which in turn affects adherence to treatment. Thus, we must thoroughly understand the advantages of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) over vitamin K antagonists (VKAs)/warfarin given for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). We compared satisfaction with anticoagulation therapy between 654 DOAC and 821 warfarin users enrolled in the SAKURA AF Registry.

Efficacy of L-carnitine supplementation for improving lean body mass and physical function in patients on hemodialysis: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Carnitine deficiency is common in patients on hemodialysis. However, the efficacy of L-carnitine supplementation for improving lean body mass (LBM) and physical function has not yet been evaluated.

Methods: In this multicenter, prospective, parallel, randomized, controlled trial, 91 patients on hemodialysis who developed carnitine deficiency were randomly assigned to receive injections of 1,000 mg L-carnitine 3 times per week after each hemodialysis session (L-carnitine group) or no injections (control group) with monitoring for 12 months.

Utilizing sensory prediction errors for movement intention decoding: A new methodology.

We propose a new methodology for decoding movement intentions of humans. This methodology is motivated by the well-documented ability of the brain to predict sensory outcomes of self-generated and imagined actions using so-called forward models. We propose to subliminally stimulate the sensory modality corresponding to a user's intended movement, and decode a user's movement intention from his electroencephalography (EEG), by decoding for prediction errors-whether the sensory prediction corresponding to a user's intended movement matches the subliminal sensory stimulation we induce.

Galvanic Tongue Stimulation Inhibits Five Basic Tastes Induced by Aqueous Electrolyte Solutions.

Galvanic tongue stimulation (GTS) modulates taste sensation. However, the effect of GTS is contingent on the electrode polarity in the proximity of the tongue. If an anodal electrode is attached in the proximity of the tongue, an electrical or metallic taste is elicited.

Reading Traits for Dynamically Presented Texts: Comparison of the Optimum Reading Rates of Dynamic Text Presentation and the Reading Rates of Static Text Presentation.

With the growth in digital display technologies, dynamic text presentation is used widely in every day life, such as in electric advertisements and tickers on TV programs. Unlike static text reading, little is known about the basic characteristics underlying reading dynamically presented texts. Two experiments were performed to investigate this.

Levocarnitine Injections Decrease the Need for Erythropoiesis-Stimulating Agents in Hemodialysis Patients with Renal Anemia.

Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of levocarnitine injection for renal anemia in hemodialysis patients.

Methods: In this randomized controlled clinical trial, we randomly assigned patients on maintenance hemodialysis at our hospital to receive levocarnitine injections ( = 30) or no injection ( = 30) and monitored the patients during 12 months of treatment. In the treatment group, patients received an injection of levocarnitine 1,000 mg 3 times weekly after hemodialysis sessions.

Levocarnitine Improves Cardiac Function in Hemodialysis Patients With Left Ventricular Hypertrophy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Levocarnitine deficiency in hemodialysis patients is common. Although the effect of levocarnitine therapy on uremic anemia has been studied in small trials, its effects on cardiac function remain unclear.

Study Design: Multicenter, prospective, open-label, parallel, randomized, controlled trial.

Association of restless legs syndrome with oxidative stress and inflammation in patients undergoing hemodialysis.

Background: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common comorbidity in patients undergoing hemodialysis, but clinical factors predictive of RLS risk and severity have not been identified. The aims of this multicenter cross-sectional study were to document RLS prevalence and severity in patients undergoing hemodialysis and to identify associated risk factors.

Methods: One-hundred and fifty-nine stable patients on maintenance hemodialysis were enrolled (113 men, 46 women; mean age: 68 ± 11 years; mean duration of dialysis: 54 ± 60 months).

Four-pole galvanic vestibular stimulation causes body sway about three axes.

Galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) can be applied to induce the feeling of directional virtual head motion by stimulating the vestibular organs electrically. Conventional studies used a two-pole GVS, in which electrodes are placed behind each ear, or a three-pole GVS, in which an additional electrode is placed on the forehead. These stimulation methods can be used to induce virtual head roll and pitch motions when a subject is looking upright.

Effects of levocarnitine on brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity in hemodialysis patients: a randomized controlled trial.

Background And Aims: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of mortality in patients with end-stage kidney disease. Chronic kidney disease patients often exhibit a deficiency in L-carnitine due to loss during hemodialysis (HD). We studied the effects of L-carnitine supplementation on brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), a marker of atherosclerosis, in HD patients.

Unconscious learning of auditory discrimination using mismatch negativity (MMN) neurofeedback.

Neurofeedback is a strong direct training method for brain function, wherein brain activity patterns are measured and displayed as feedback, and trainees try to stabilize the feedback signal onto certain desirable states to regulate their own mental states. Here, we introduce a novel neurofeedback method, using the mismatch negativity (MMN) responses elicited by similar sounds that cannot be consciously discriminated. Through neurofeedback training, without participants' attention to the auditory stimuli or awareness of what was to be learned, we found that the participants could unconsciously achieve a significant improvement in the auditory discrimination of the applied stimuli.

Alternating images of congruent and incongruent movement creates the illusion of agency.

We report a novel illusion whereby people perceive both congruent and incongruent hand motions as a united, single, and continuous motion of one's own hand (i.e. a sense of agency).

Two-dimensional grouping affects perisaccadic perception of depth and synchrony.

There is considerable evidence that, when visual stimuli are presented around the time of a saccade, spatial and temporal perceptions of them are distorted. However, only a small number of previous studies have addressed the perception of a visual image induced by a saccade eye movement (visual image that is dynamically drawn on the retina during a saccade at the speed of the eye movement). Here we investigated three-dimensional and temporal perceptions of the saccade-induced images and found that perceptual grouping of objects has a significant effect on the perceived depth and timing of the images.

Experimental study on co-evolution of categorical perception and communication systems in humans.

In this paper, we present an experiment that integrates a semiotic investigation with a dynamical perspective on embodied social interactions. The primary objective is to study the emergence of a communication system between two interacting individuals, where no dedicated communication modalities are predefined and the only possible interaction is very simple, non-directional, and embodied. Throughout the experiment, we observe the following three phenomena: (1) the spontaneous emergence of turn-taking behaviour that allows communication in non-directional environments; (2) the development of an association between behaviours and perceptive categories; (3) the acquisition of novel meaning by exploiting the notion of complementary set theory.

Development of a BCI master switch based on single-trial detection of contingent negative variation related potentials.

To control the startup/shutdown of a conventional brain-computer interface (BCI) that is always running for daily use, we proposed and developed a new BCI system called a BCI master switch. We designed it with on/off switching functions by detecting the contingent negative variation (CNV)--related potentials. We chose CNV to improve the single-trial discrimination of user intentions to switch because CNV had a high signal-to-noise ratio and needed high concentration for its elicitation.

Mechanisms underlying referral of thermal sensations to sites of tactile stimulation.

When three stimulators are simultaneously touched with the middle three fingers of one hand but only the outer two stimulators are cooled or heated, the central (neutral) stimulator is also perceived to be cold or warm. This phenomenon is known as thermal referral and it shares phenomenological similarities with filling-in, in which the discontinuity in the signals of interest can be compensated perceptually on the basis of the spatially adjacent context. Although the mechanisms underlying filling-in have been well substantiated, those underlying thermal referral are still poorly understood.