Olfactory Dysfunction and Limbic Hypoactivation in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.

The epileptogenic network in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) contains structures of the primary and secondary olfactory cortex such as the piriform and entorhinal cortex, the amygdala, and the hippocampus. Olfactory auras and olfactory dysfunction are relevant symptoms of TLE. This study aims to characterize olfactory function in TLE using olfactory testing and olfactory functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Brain and eye movement dynamics track the transition from learning to memory-guided action.

Learning never stops. As we navigate life, we continuously acquire and update knowledge to optimize memory-guided action, with a gradual shift from the former to the latter as we master our environment. How are these learning dynamics expressed in the brain and in behavioral patterns? Here, we devised a spatiotemporal image learning task ("Memory Arena") in which participants learn a set of 50 items to criterion across repeated exposure blocks.

Single-neuron representations of odours in the human brain.

Olfaction is a fundamental sensory modality that guides animal and human behaviour. However, the underlying neural processes of human olfaction are still poorly understood at the fundamental-that is, the single-neuron-level. Here we report recordings of single-neuron activity in the piriform cortex and medial temporal lobe in awake humans performing an odour rating and identification task.

Single-neuron mechanisms of neural adaptation in the human temporal lobe.

A central function of the human brain is to adapt to new situations based on past experience. Adaptation is reflected behaviorally by shorter reaction times to repeating or similar stimuli, and neurophysiologically by reduced neural activity in bulk-tissue measurements with fMRI or EEG. Several potential single-neuron mechanisms have been hypothesized to cause this reduction of activity at the macroscopic level.

Duplicate Detection of Spike Events: A Relevant Problem in Human Single-Unit Recordings.

Single-unit recordings in the brain of behaving human subjects provide a unique opportunity to advance our understanding of neural mechanisms of cognition. These recordings are exclusively performed in medical centers during diagnostic or therapeutic procedures. The presence of medical instruments along with other aspects of the hospital environment limit the control of electrical noise compared to animal laboratory environments.

Frontotemporal Regulation of Subjective Value to Suppress Impulsivity in Intertemporal Choices.

Impulsive decisions arise from preferring smaller but sooner rewards compared with larger but later rewards. How neural activity and attention to choice alternatives contribute to reward decisions during temporal discounting is not clear. Here we probed (1) attention to and (2) neural representation of delay and reward information in humans (both sexes) engaged in choices.