Impairment in reading negative social cues extends beyond the face in autism.

Nonverbal expressions are essential to regulating social communication and interaction. Impaired emotion recognition from facial expressions has been linked to various psychiatric conditions characterized by severe social deficits such as autism. As body expressions as an additional source of social-emotional information have attracted little research attention, little is known about whether emotion recognition impairments are specific to faces, or extend to body expressions.

EmBody/EmFace as a new open tool to assess emotion recognition from body and face expressions.

Nonverbal expressions contribute substantially to social interaction by providing information on another person's intentions and feelings. While emotion recognition from dynamic facial expressions has been widely studied, dynamic body expressions and the interplay of emotion recognition from facial and body expressions have attracted less attention, as suitable diagnostic tools are scarce. Here, we provide validation data on a new open source paradigm enabling the assessment of emotion recognition from both 3D-animated emotional body expressions (Task 1: EmBody) and emotionally corresponding dynamic faces (Task 2: EmFace).

Effects of intranasal oxytocin administration on empathy and approach motivation in women with borderline personality disorder: a randomized controlled trial.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by severe interpersonal dysfunction with problems in social cognition, empathy and social approach. Although the neuropeptide oxytocin is known to regulate complex social cognition and behavior in healthy individuals and clinical populations, there is still a lack of evidence for a potential beneficial effect of oxytocin administration on social cognition and social approach in BPD. Fifty-one women with BPD and 51 matched healthy controls were randomized to a double-blind, placebo-controlled, between-subject experimental trial.

Kinetics of oxytocin effects on amygdala and striatal reactivity vary between women and men.

Accumulating evidence suggests that intranasal oxytocin (OXT; 24 IU) reduces amygdala responses to fear-related stimuli in men, while exerting inverse effects in women. However, OXT enhances activity of the brain reward system in both sexes. Importantly, a crucial and still open question is whether there are sex-specific dose-response relationships for the amygdala and striatal regions.

Studies on the Formation of 3-Deoxyglucosone- and Methylglyoxal-Derived Hydroimidazolones of Creatine during Heat Treatment of Meat.

Dicarbonyl compounds such as methylglyoxal (MGO) and 3-deoxyglucosone (3-DG) are formed via caramelization and the Maillard reaction in food during heating or in vivo as byproducts of glycolysis. Recently, it was shown that creatine, an amino compound linked to the energy metabolism in vertebrate muscle, reacts rapidly with methylglyoxal under physiological conditions to form N-(4-methyl-5-oxo-1-imidazolin-2-yl)sarcosine (MG-HCr), a methylglyoxal-derived hydroimidazolone of creatine. Based on the observation that heated meat contains only small amounts of MGO and 3-DG when compared to many other foodstuffs, the aim of this study was to investigate a possible reaction of creatine with 3-DG and MGO in meat.

A Protective Mechanism against Illusory Perceptions Is Amygdala-Dependent.

Most people have a clear sense of body ownership, preserving them from physical harm. However, perceptual body illusions - famously the rubber hand illusion (RHI) - can be elicited experimentally in healthy individuals. We hypothesize that the amygdala, a core component of neural circuits of threat processing, is involved in protective mechanisms against disturbed body perceptions.

Oxytocin reduces a chemosensory-induced stress bias in social perception.

Social transmission of fear is not restricted to visual or auditory cues, but extends to the phylogenetically more ancient olfactory domain. Anxious individuals exhibit heightened sensitivity towards chemosensory stress signals in sweat; however, it is still unknown whether endogenous neuromodulators such as the peptide hormone oxytocin (OXT) influence the chemosensory communication of stress. Here, we investigated whether OXT selectively diminishes behavioral and neural responses to social chemosensory stress cues utilizing a randomized, double-blind, placebo (PLC)-controlled, within-subject functional MRI study design.

Kinetics and Dose Dependency of Intranasal Oxytocin Effects on Amygdala Reactivity.

Background: Current neuroimaging perspectives on a variety of mental disorders emphasize dysfunction of the amygdala. The neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT), a key mediator in the regulation of social cognition and behavior, accumulates in cerebrospinal fluid after intranasal administration in macaques and humans and modulates amygdala reactivity in both species. However, the translation of neuromodulatory OXT effects to novel treatment approaches is hampered by the absence of studies defining the most effective dose and dose-response latency for targeting the amygdala.

Oxytocin facilitates reciprocity in social communication.

Synchrony in social groups may confer significant evolutionary advantages by improving group cohesion and social interaction. However, the neurobiological mechanisms translating social synchrony into refined social information transmission between interacting individuals are still elusive. In two successively conducted experiments involving a total of 306 healthy volunteers, we explored the involvement of the neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) in reciprocal social interaction.

Receptive field scatter, topography and map variability in different layers of the hindpaw representation of rat somatosensory cortex.

We recorded neurons extracellularly in layers II/III, IV, and V of the hindpaw representation of primary somatosensory cortex in anesthetized rats and studied laminar features of receptive fields (RFs) and representational maps. On average, RFs were smallest in layer IV and largest in layer V; however, for individual penetrations we found substantial deviations from this rule. Within the hindpaw representation, a distinct rostrocaudal gradient of RF size was present in all layers.

Effects of passive tactile co-activation on median ulnar nerve representation in human SI.

In animals simple passive co-activation causes a fusion and expansion of the involved cortical representations. We used passive tactile finger co-activation for 40 min to investigate cortical representational changes in the human somatosensory cortex. Magnetic source imaging revealed that the euclidean distance between median and ulnar nerve somatosensory evoked fields (SEF) was significantly reduced after application of 600 synchronous airpuff stimuli to the fingertips of four fingers.

Learning cortical topography from spatiotemporal stimuli.

Stimulus representation is a functional interpretation of early sensory cortices. Early sensory cortices are subject to stimulus-induced modifications. Common models for stimulus-induced learning within topographic representations are based on the stimuli's spatial structure and probability distribution.

Tactile coactivation-induced changes in spatial discrimination performance.

We studied coactivation-based cortical plasticity at a psychophysical level in humans. For induction of plasticity, we used a protocol of simultaneous pairing of tactile stimulation to follow as closely as possible the idea of Hebbian learning. We reported previously that a few hours of tactile coactivation resulted in selective and reversible reorganization of receptive fields and cortical maps of the hindpaw representation of the somatosensory cortex of adult rats (Godde et al.

Proprioception acts as the main source of input in human S-I activation experiments: a functional MRI study.

During tactile exploration cells in human somatosensory cortex S-I receive input from skin receptors and from proprioceptive feedback. To study the extent to which these sources contribute to cell activation we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in order to visualize the spatial extent and amplitude of activation in S-I during active finger movement and passive stimulation of finger tips. In all subjects (n = 6) we measured activation elicited by unilateral single finger tapping (active task) and mechanical stimulation of the palm of the index finger (passive task).

Learning transfer and neuronal plasticity in humans trained in tactile discrimination.

Adult humans were unilaterally trained in a tactile discrimination task of sequentially applied multi-finger stimuli. Magnetic source imaging (MSI) was performed before and after the training to evaluate use-dependent neuronal plasticity. All subjects showed fast improvements in performance and complete transfer of the learned task.

Low-frequency oscillations of visual, auditory and somatosensory cortical neurons evoked by sensory stimulation.

Low-frequency oscillations-LFOs-below 20 Hz in the activity of cortical neurons are a commonly observed property across all sensory modalities. However, the functional significance and potential role of these intrinsic oscillations are not well understood. Here, we attempt to provide a general framework for the interpretation of this phenomenon by considering its properties across several sensory modalities.

Short-term functional plasticity of cortical and thalamic sensory representations and its implication for information processing.

We studied phenomena, constraints, rules, and implications of cortical plastic reorganization produced by input coactivation patterns in primary somatosensory cortex of adult rats. Intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) and an associative pairing of tactile stimulation (PPTS) induced plastic changes within minutes to hours that were fully reversible. Reorganization of receptive fields and topographic maps was studied with electrophysiologic recordings, mapping techniques, and optical imaging of intrinsic signals.

Associative pairing of tactile stimulation induces somatosensory cortical reorganization in rats and humans.

We used a protocol of associative (Hebbian) pairing of tactile stimulation (APTS) to evoke cortical plastic changes. Reversible reorganization of the adult rat paw representations in somatosensory cortex (SI) induced by a few hours of APTS included selective enlargement of the areas of cortical neurones representing the stimulated skin fields and of the corresponding receptive fields (RFs). Late, presumably NMDA receptor-mediated response components were enhanced, indicating an involvement of glutamatergic synapses.

A columnar model of somatosensory reorganizational plasticity based on Hebbian and non-Hebbian learning rules.

Topographical and functional aspects of neuronal plasticity were studied in the primary somatosensory cortex of adult rats in acute electrophysiological experiments. Under these experimental conditions, we observed short-term reversible reorganization induced by intracortical microstimulation or by an associative pairing of peripheral tactile stimulation. Both types of stimulation generate large-scale and reversible changes of the representational topography and of single cell functional properties.

Effects of ageing on topographic organization of somatosensory cortex.

Deficits in limb coordination and decreased motor activity have been described in old rats older than 24 months, an approved animal model in ageing research. We investigated the implications of age-related decline of sensorimotor performance by studying the functional cortical organization of aged rats. The cutaneous receptive fields of the hindpaw representations in somatosensory cortex and the cortical areas excited by tactile point-stimulation were enlarged and highly overlapping in old rats when compared with young rats.

Reversible relocation of representational boundaries of adult rats by intracortical microstimulation.

Cortical reorganization of somatosensory maps of adult rats is not restricted to central, already cutaneous zones. A few hours of intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) at the boundaries of the hindpaw representation generated plastic reorganization beyond these functionally defined representational borders by inducing new skin field representations in previously non-somatic cortical regions, from where low-threshold movements could be elicited. In this way, individually defined borders could be reversibly relocated over distances up to 800 microns, containing selectively skin field representations of the ICMS site.

Dynamic properties of cortical evoked (10 Hz) oscillations: theory and experiment.

Experiments probed the dynamic properties of stimulus-evoked (approximately 10 Hz) oscillations in somatosensory cortex of anesthetized rats. Experimental paradigms and statistical time series analysis were based on theoretical ideas from a dynamic approach to temporal patterns of neuronal activity. From the results of a double-stimulus paradigm we conclude that the neuronal response contains two components with different dynamics and different coupling to the stimulus.

Evoked oscillatory cortical responses are dynamically coupled to peripheral stimuli.

We report that the response of neurons in rat somatosensory cortex to tactile stimulation consists of two components, a short-latency response and an oscillatory response, observable as up to 8 peaks in the post-stimulus-time-histogram with interpeak intervals in the order of 100 ms (10 Hz). While the first component is always stimulus locked, the second component is strictly stimulus-locked only when elicited from the resting state: once started, the oscillations are only weakly affected by further stimulation. This implies generally that the question of stimulus locking of oscillatory response components is not a yes/no question.