Publications by authors named "Silvia Isabella"

Magnetoencephalography and electroencephalography (M/EEG) seed-based connectivity analysis requires the extraction of measures from regions of interest (ROI). M/EEG ROI-derived source activity can be treated in different ways. It is possible, for instance, to average each ROI's time series prior to calculating connectivity measures.

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  • Scientists studied how our brain changes when we use artificial limbs, like prosthetics that feel like part of our body.
  • They used a trick called the Rubber Hand Illusion to see how our brain reacts when we think an artificial limb is really ours.
  • They found that different parts of the brain react at different times, showing that our brain has special ways to help us feel like the artificial limb belongs to us.
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  • - The study investigates the role of auditory-driven gamma synchrony (GS) in neuropsychiatric conditions and examines whether a single EEG electrode can effectively measure GS compared to expensive techniques like MEG.
  • - Researchers conducted experiments with 29 healthy subjects, using 3 EEG electrodes alongside a full MEG setup during auditory stimulation to assess GS, focusing on how well the EEG captured brain activity during this process.
  • - Results indicated that while comprehensive techniques are ideal for detailed mapping, a single EEG channel can still reliably detect overall GS levels, suggesting its potential use in clinical environments for monitoring brain activity.
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Cognitive control of action is associated with conscious effort and is hypothesised to be reflected by increased frontal theta activity. However, the functional role of these increases in theta power, and how they contribute to cognitive control remains unknown. We conducted an MEG study to test the hypothesis that frontal theta oscillations interact with sensorimotor signals in order to produce controlled behaviour, and that the strength of these interactions will vary with the amount of control required.

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Purpose The planning and execution of motor behaviors require coordination of neurons that are established through synchronization of neural activity. Movements are typically preceded by event-related desynchronization (ERD) in the beta range (15-30 Hz) primarily localized in the motor cortex, while movement onset is associated with event-related synchronization (ERS). It is hypothesized that ERD is important for movement preparation and execution, and ERS serves to inhibit movement and update the motor plan.

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Our ability to control and inhibit automatic behaviors is crucial for negotiating complex environments, all of which require rapid communication between sensory, motor, and cognitive networks. Here, we measured neuromagnetic brain activity to investigate the neural timing of cortical areas needed for inhibitory control, while 14 healthy young adults performed an interleaved prosaccade (look at a peripheral visual stimulus) and antisaccade (look away from stimulus) task. Analysis of how neural activity relates to saccade reaction time (SRT) and occurrence of direction errors (look at stimulus on antisaccade trials) provides insight into inhibitory control.

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In previous studies we have provided evidence that performance in speeded response tasks with infrequent target stimuli reflects both automatic and controlled cognitive processes, based on differences in reaction time (RT) and task-related brain responses (Cheyne et al. 2012, Isabella et al. 2015).

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is an easy-to-use Matlab toolbox for the analysis of magnetoencephalography data. It provides a graphical user interface for performing minimum-variance beamforming analysis with rapid and interactive visualization of evoked and induced brain activity. This article provides an overview of the main features of with a step-by-step demonstration of how to proceed from raw experimental data to group source images and time series analyses.

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Beta oscillations are associated with motor function and are thought to play a role in movement impairment. In a recent magnetoencephalography (MEG) study, Rossiter et al. (J Neurophysiol 112: 2053-2058, 2014) found a disruption in the modulation of movement-related beta oscillations in stroke patients that correlated with motor impairment.

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Cognitive control may involve adjusting behaviour by inhibiting or altering habitual actions, requiring rapid communication between sensory, cognitive, and motor systems of the brain. Cognitive control may be achieved using top-down processing from frontal areas to inhibit prepared responses, likely mediated through frontal theta (4-8 Hz) oscillations. However there is conflicting evidence for mechanisms of response inhibition, where global and selective inhibition are either considered separate processes, or frontal areas maintain and execute goal-directed actions, including inhibition.

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Subcallosal cingulate gyrus (SCG) deep brain stimulation (DBS) is currently being investigated as a treatment for major depression. Despite the encouraging findings of the initial clinical series, several questions remain unanswered, including the most effective stimulation parameters (i.e.

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