Electrophysiological (EEG) microstates during dream-like bizarre experiences in a naturalistic scenario using immersive virtual reality.

Monitoring the reality status of conscious experience is essential for a human being to interact successfully with the external world. Despite its importance for everyday functioning, reality monitoring can systematically become erroneous, for example, while dreaming or during hallucinatory experiences. To investigate brain processes associated with reality monitoring occurring online during an experience, i.

Optimization of treatment workflow for 0.35T MR-Linac system.

Purpose: This study presents a novel and comprehensive framework for evaluating magnetic resonance guided radiotherapy (MRgRT) workflow by integrating the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) approach with Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TDABC). We assess the workflow for safety, quality, and economic implications, providing a holistic understanding of the MRgRT implementation. The aim is to offer valuable insights to healthcare practitioners and administrators, facilitating informed decision-making regarding the 0.

More than fulfilled expectations: An electrophysiological investigation of varying cause-effect relationships and schizotypal personality traits as related to the sense of agency.

The sense of agency (SoA) is central to human experience. The comparator model, contrasting sensory prediction and action feedback, is influential but limited in explaining SoA. We investigated mechanisms beyond the comparator model, focusing on the processing of unpredictable stimuli, perimotor components of SoA, and their relation to schizotypy.

Mapping the pre-reflective experience of "self" to the brain - An ERP study.

The neural underpinnings of selfhood encompass pre-reflective and reflective self-experience. The former refers to a basic, immediate experience of being a self, while the latter involves cognition and introspection. Although neural correlates of reflective self-experience have been studied, the pre-reflective remains underinvestigated.

Healthcare providers' use of a concise summary to prescribe for lactating patients.

Background: Most breastfeeding individuals take at least one prescription drug, yet limited data from lactation studies are available to inform the safety of these drugs during breastfeeding. As a result, healthcare providers (HCPs) rely on available information about safety of drugs used during pregnancy or on personal experiences to inform prescribing/counseling decisions for breastfeeding individuals. To improve risk communication regarding drugs used during lactation, the U.

Current State of EEG/ERP Microstate Research.

The analysis of EEG microstates for investigating rapid whole-brain network dynamics during rest and tasks has become a standard practice in the EEG research community, leading to a substantial increase in publications across various affective, cognitive, social and clinical neuroscience domains. Recognizing the growing significance of this analytical method, the authors aim to provide the microstate research community with a comprehensive discussion on methodological standards, unresolved questions, and the functional relevance of EEG microstates. In August 2022, a conference was hosted in Bern, Switzerland, which brought together many researchers from 19 countries.

Report of the First ONTOX Stakeholder Network Meeting: Digging Under the Surface of ONTOX Together With the Stakeholders.

The first Stakeholder Network Meeting of the EU Horizon 2020-funded ONTOX project was held on 13-14 March 2023, in Brussels, Belgium. The discussion centred around identifying specific challenges, barriers and drivers in relation to the implementation of non-animal new approach methodologies (NAMs) and probabilistic risk assessment (PRA), in order to help address the issues and rank them according to their associated level of difficulty. ONTOX aims to advance the assessment of chemical risk to humans, without the use of animal testing, by developing non-animal NAMs and PRA in line with 21st century toxicity testing principles.

Acoustic stimulation during sleep predicts long-lasting increases in memory performance and beneficial amyloid response in older adults.

Background: Sleep and neurodegeneration are assumed to be locked in a bi-directional vicious cycle. Improving sleep could break this cycle and help to prevent neurodegeneration. We tested multi-night phase-locked acoustic stimulation (PLAS) during slow wave sleep (SWS) as a non-invasive method to improve SWS, memory performance and plasma amyloid levels.

EEG microstate D as psychosis-specific correlate in adolescents and young adults with clinical high risk for psychosis and first-episode psychosis.

Resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) microstates are brief periods (60-120 ms) of quasi-stable scalp field potentials, indicating simultaneous activity of large-scale networks. Microstates are assumed to reflect basic neuronal information processing. A common finding in psychosis spectrum disorders is that microstates classes C and D are altered.

EEG microstate quantifiers and state space descriptors during anaesthesia in patients with postoperative delirium: a descriptive analysis.

Postoperative delirium is a serious sequela of surgery and surgery-related anaesthesia. One recommended method to prevent postoperative delirium is using bi-frontal EEG recording. The single, processed index of depth of anaesthesia allows the anaesthetist to avoid episodes of suppression EEG and excessively deep anaesthesia.

MICROSTATELAB: The EEGLAB Toolbox for Resting-State Microstate Analysis.

Microstate analysis is a multivariate method that enables investigations of the temporal dynamics of large-scale neural networks in EEG recordings of human brain activity. To meet the enormously increasing interest in this approach, we provide a thoroughly updated version of the first open source EEGLAB toolbox for the standardized identification, visualization, and quantification of microstates in resting-state EEG data. The toolbox allows scientists to (i) identify individual, mean, and grand mean microstate maps using topographical clustering approaches, (ii) check data quality and detect outlier maps, (iii) visualize, sort, and label individual, mean, and grand mean microstate maps according to published maps, (iv) compare topographical similarities of group and grand mean microstate maps and quantify shared variances, (v) obtain the temporal dynamics of the microstate classes in individual EEGs, (vi) export quantifications of these temporal dynamics of the microstates for statistical tests, and finally, (vii) test for topographical differences between groups and conditions using topographic analysis of variance (TANOVA).

EEG-Meta-Microstates: Towards a More Objective Use of Resting-State EEG Microstate Findings Across Studies.

Over the last decade, EEG resting-state microstate analysis has evolved from a niche existence to a widely used and well-accepted methodology. The rapidly increasing body of empirical findings started to yield overarching patterns of associations of biological and psychological states and traits with specific microstate classes. However, currently, this cross-referencing among apparently similar microstate classes of different studies is typically done by "eyeballing" of printed template maps by the individual authors, lacking a systematic procedure.

Real-time 3D reconstruction of guidewires and stents using two update X-ray projections in a rotating imaging setup.

Background: Vascular diseases are often treated minimally invasively. The interventional material (stents, guidewires, etc.) used during such percutaneous interventions are visualized by some form of image guidance.

Normative Intercorrelations Between EEG Microstate Characteristics.

EEG microstates are brief, recurring periods of stable brain activity that reflect the activation of large-scale neural networks. The temporal characteristics of these microstates, including their average duration, number of occurrences, and percentage contribution have been shown to serve as biomarkers of mental and neurological disorders. However, little is known about how microstate characteristics of prototypical network types relate to each other.

High frequency alternating current neurostimulation decreases nocifensive behavior in a disc herniation model of lumbar radiculopathy.

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate if kilohertz frequency alternating current (KHFAC) stimulation of peripheral nerve could serve as a treatment for lumbar radiculopathy. Prior work shows that KHFAC stimulation can treat sciatica resulting from chronic sciatic nerve constriction. Here, we evaluate if KHFAC stimulation is also beneficial in a more physiologic model of low back pain which mimics nucleus pulposus (NP) impingement of a lumbar dorsal root ganglion (DRG).

On the Reliability of the EEG Microstate Approach.

EEG microstates represent functional brain networks observable in resting EEG recordings that remain stable for 40-120ms before rapidly switching into another network. It is assumed that microstate characteristics (i.e.

Electrophysiological Correlates of Reward Anticipation in Subjects with Schizophrenia: An ERP Microstate Study.

The current study aimed to investigate alterations of event-related potentials (ERPs) microstate during reward anticipation in subjects with schizophrenia (SCZ), and their association with hedonic experience and negative symptoms. EEG data were recorded in thirty SCZ and twenty-three healthy controls (HC) during the monetary incentive delay task in which reward, loss and neutral cues were presented. Microstate analysis and standardized low-resolution electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA) were applied to EEG data.

Molecular Imaging of Myocardial Fibroblast Activation in Patients with Advanced Aortic Stenosis Before Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: A Pilot Study.

Using multimodal imaging, we investigated the extent and functional correlates of myocardial fibroblast activation in patients with aortic stenosis (AS) scheduled for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). AS may cause myocardial fibrosis, which is associated with disease progression and may limit response to TAVR. Novel radiopharmaceuticals identify upregulation of fibroblast activation protein (FAP) as a cellular substrate of cardiac profibrotic activity.

A multivariate approach to investigate the associations of electrophysiological indices with schizophrenia clinical and functional outcome.

Background: Different electrophysiological (EEG) indices have been investigated as possible biomarkers of schizophrenia. However, these indices have a very limited use in clinical practice, as their associations with clinical and functional outcomes remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the associations of multiple EEG markers with clinical variables and functional outcomes in subjects with schizophrenia (SCZs).

The Functional Aspects of Resting EEG Microstates: A Systematic Review.

A growing body of clinical and cognitive neuroscience studies have adapted a broadband EEG microstate approach to evaluate the electrical activity of large-scale cortical networks. However, the functional aspects of these microstates have not yet been systematically reviewed. Here, we present an overview of the existing literature and systematize the results to provide hints on the functional role of electrical brain microstates.

Elevated urine BMP phospholipids in LRRK2 and VPS35 mutation carriers with and without Parkinson's disease.

Elevated urine bis(monoacylglycerol)phosphate (BMP) levels have been found in gain-of-kinase function LRRK2 G2019S mutation carriers. Here, we have expanded urine BMP analysis to other Parkinson's disease (PD) associated mutations and found them to be consistently elevated in carriers of LRRK2 G2019S and R1441G/C as well as VPS35 D620N mutations. Urine BMP levels are promising biomarkers for patient stratification and potentially target engagement in clinical trials of emerging targeted PD therapies.