Sensory-Tactile Functional Mapping and Use-Associated Structural Variation of the Human Female Genital Representation Field.

The precise location of the human female genital representation field in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) is controversial and its capacity for use-associated structural variation as a function of sexual behavior remains unknown. We used a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)-compatible sensory-tactile stimulation paradigm to functionally map the location of the female genital representation field in 20 adult women. Neural response to tactile stimulation of the clitoral region (vs right hand) identified individually-diverse focal bilateral activations in dorsolateral areas of S1 (BA1-BA3) in alignment with anatomic location.

Interacting and dissociable effects of alexithymia and depression on empathy.

Major-depressive-disorder (MDD) and alexithymia have both been associated with empathy deficits. We examined whether depression and alexithymia show dissociable or interacting effects on cognitive and emotional trait and state empathy. Healthy controls with high and low alexithymia and MDD-patients with high and low alexithymia were assessed.

Decreased medial prefrontal cortex activation during self-referential processing in bipolar mania.

Background: Patients with bipolar disorder in mania exhibit symptoms pointing towards altered self-referential processing, such as decreased self-focus, flight of ideas and high distractibility. In depression, the opposite pattern of symptoms has been connected to increased activation of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) during self-referential processing. In this study, we hypothesized that (1) patients with mania will exhibit decreased activation in the mPFC during self-referential processing and (2) will be more alexithymic and that levels of alexithymia will correlate negatively with mPFC activation.

Social cognition in aggressive offenders: Impaired empathy, but intact theory of mind.

Aggressive, violent behaviour is a major burden and challenge for society. It has been linked to deficits in social understanding, but the evidence is inconsistent and the specifics of such deficits are unclear. Here, we investigated affective (empathy) and cognitive (Theory of Mind) routes to understanding other people in aggressive individuals.

Behavioral impulsivity mediates the relationship between decreased frontal gray matter volume and harmful alcohol drinking: A voxel-based morphometry study.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) with harmful drinking patterns is on the one hand characterized by impulsive behavior and is on the other hand known to involve structural brain alterations with lower gray matter volume (GMV), especially in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). So far it is unclear whether frontal brain volumes are associated to harmful alcohol drinking and impulsivity, while controlling simultaneously for a wide array of important confounding factors, which are related to alcohol consumption. We used voxel-based morphometry in 99 adults ranging within a continuum of normal to harmful drinking behavior and alcohol dependence, measured by the 'Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test', to examine whether the severity of harmful drinking is correlated with structural markers, in particular in the PFC and whether such markers are linked to self-reported impulsivity.

To drink or not to drink: Harmful drinking is associated with hyperactivation of reward areas rather than hypoactivation of control areas in men.

Background: The maintenance of harmful alcohol use can be considered a reiterated decision in favour of alcohol in concrete drinking occasions. These decisions are often made despite an intention to quit or reduce alcohol consumption. We tested if a hyperactive reward system and/or an impaired cognitive control system contribute to such unfavourable decision-making.

Alterations in neural Theory of Mind processing in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder and unaffected relatives.

Objectives: Behavioral deficits in the Theory of Mind (ToM) have been robustly demonstrated in bipolar disorder. These deficits may represent an intermediate phenotype of the disease. The aim of this study was: (i) to investigate alterations in neural ToM processing in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder, and (ii) to examine whether similar effects are present in unaffected relatives of patients with bipolar disorder suggesting that ToM functional activation may be, in part, due to genetic risk for the disease.

Common and distinct networks for self-referential and social stimulus processing in the human brain.

Self-referential processing is a complex cognitive function, involving a set of implicit and explicit processes, complicating investigation of its distinct neural signature. The present study explores the functional overlap and dissociability of self-referential and social stimulus processing. We combined an established paradigm for explicit self-referential processing with an implicit social stimulus processing paradigm in one fMRI experiment to determine the neural effects of self-relatedness and social processing within one study.

Decreased gray matter volume in inferior frontal gyrus is related to stop-signal task performance in alcohol-dependent patients.

Impairment in inhibitory control has been proposed to contribute to habitual alcohol use, abuse and eventually dependence. Moreover, alcohol-dependent (AD) patients have shown a loss of gray matter volume (GMV) in the brain, specifically in prefrontal regions associated with executive functions, including response inhibition. To date, no study has evaluated whether this prefrontal GMV reduction is related to response inhibition in alcohol dependence.

Doing good or bad: How interactions between action and emotion expectations shape the sense of agency.

The emotional consequences of our own and others' actions can influence our agentive self-awareness in social contexts. Positive outcomes are usually linked to the self and used for self-enhancement, whereas negative outcomes are more often attributed to others. In most situations, these causal attribution tendencies seem to be immediately present instead of involving reflective interpretations of the action experience.

Perception of social stimuli in mania: an fMRI study.

Patients with mania show alterations of social behaviour. Neuropsychological studies in euthymic bipolar disorder (BD) have revealed deficits in cognitive, but not emotional aspects of social cognition (SC). Here, we studied the neural signature of social stimulus processing in mania.

Imagining triadic interactions simultaneously activates mirror and mentalizing systems.

Coordinated triadic interactions, involving oneself, another person, and an external object, are considered a uniquely human skill. However, the exact mechanisms underlying the ability to engage in such social interactions remain hitherto unknown. We used functional neuroimaging to investigate the neural signature of triadic interactions.

Hyperimitation of actions is related to reduced understanding of others' minds in autism spectrum conditions.

Background: Anecdotal evidence has noted that individuals with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) frequently exhibit heightened spontaneous imitative behavior, with symptoms of echolalia and echopraxia. This is contrasted by empiric reports that ASC results in decreased imitation and an underlying deficit in the mirror system, leading to impaired social understanding. Thus, it remains unclear whether automatic imitation is enhanced in ASC and how this is related to poorer social abilities.

Resisting motor mimicry: control of imitation involves processes central to social cognition in patients with frontal and temporo-parietal lesions.

Perception and execution of actions share a common representational and neural substrate and thereby facilitate unintentional motor mimicry. Controlling automatic imitation is therefore a crucial requirement of such a "shared representational" system. Based on previous findings from neuroimaging, we suggest that resisting motor mimicry recruits the same underlying computational mechanisms also involved in higher-level social cognitive processing, such as self - other differentiation and the representation of mental states.

Minimizing motor mimicry by myself: self-focus enhances online action-control mechanisms during motor contagion.

Ideomotor theory of human action control proposes that activation of a motor representation can occur either through internally-intended or externally-perceived actions. Critically, sometimes these alternatives of eliciting a motor response may be conflicting, for example, when intending one action and perceiving another, necessitating the recruitment of enhanced action-control to avoid motor mimicry. Based on previous neuroimaging evidence, suggesting that reduced mimicry is associated with self-related processing, we aimed to experimentally enhance these action-control mechanisms during motor contagion by inducing self-focus.

Inhibition of imitative behaviour and social cognition.

There is converging evidence that the observation of an action activates a corresponding motor representation in the observer through a 'mirror-matching' mechanism. However, research on such 'shared representations' of perception and action has widely neglected the question of how we can distinguish our own motor intentions from externally triggered motor representations. By investigating the inhibition of imitative response tendencies, as an index for the control of shared representations, we can show that self-other distinction plays a fundamental role in the control of shared representations.

Control of shared representations relies on key processes involved in mental state attribution.

Action observation leads to the automatic activation of the corresponding motor representation in the observer through "mirror-matching." This constitutes a "shared representational system," which is thought to subserve social understanding by motor simulation. However, it is unclear how these shared representations can be controlled and distinguished.

Was it me or was it you? How the sense of agency originates from ideomotor learning revealed by fMRI.

One fundamental property of voluntary action is the feeling of control and causation, also referred to as self agency. Recent research suggests that the sense of agency is based on low-level, sensory-motor control processes, which compare predicted and actual action-effects. Brain imaging research revealed that the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) plays a crucial role for signalling whether a sensory action-consequence matches the prediction or not.

Neural correlates of overcoming interference from instructed and implemented stimulus-response associations.

One of the major evolutionary advances of human primates in the motor domain is their ability to use verbal instructions to guide their behavior. Despite this fundamental role of verbal information for our behavioral regulation, the functional and neural mechanisms underlying the transformation of verbal instructions into efficient behavior are still poorly understood. To gain deeper insights into the motor representation of verbal instructions, we investigated the neural circuits involved in overcoming interference from stimulus- response (S-R) mappings that are merely instructed and S-R mappings that are implemented.

Contextual movement constraints of others modulate motor preparation in the observer.

Previous research demonstrated that observing an action seems to automatically activate a corresponding motor representation in the observer. It has been argued that this direct matching of observed on executed actions is modulated by contextual factors. An open question is whether observing another person being physically restrained has an influence on action execution in the observer.

Investigating action understanding: inferential processes versus action simulation.

In our daily life, we continuously monitor others' behaviors and interpret them in terms of goals, intentions, and reasons. Despite their central importance for predicting and interpreting each other's actions, the functional mechanisms and neural circuits involved in action understanding remain highly controversial. Two alternative accounts have been advanced.

Functional specialization within rostral prefrontal cortex (area 10): a meta-analysis.

One of the least well understood regions of the human brain is rostral prefrontal cortex, approximating Brodmann's area 10. Here, we investigate the possibility that there are functional subdivisions within this region by conducting a meta-analysis of 104 functional neuroimaging studies (using positron emission tomography/functional magnetic resonance imaging). Studies involving working memory and episodic memory retrieval were disproportionately associated with lateral activations, whereas studies involving mentalizing (i.

Differential functions of lateral and medial rostral prefrontal cortex (area 10) revealed by brain-behavior associations.

We analyzed the behavioral data from 104 neuroimaging studies using positron emission tomography or functional magnetic resonance imaging that reported activation peaks in rostral prefrontal cortex (PFC), approximating Brodmann's area 10. The distribution of absolute x coordinates of activation peaks (i.e.