Altered functional connectivity of unimodal sensory and multisensory integration networks is related to symptom severity in autism spectrum disorders.

Background: Atypical sensory processing is a prevalent feature in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and constitutes a core diagnostic criterion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental of Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5). However, neurocognitive underpinnings of atypical unimodal and multimodal sensory processing and their relationships with autism symptoms remain unclear.

Methods: This study examined intrinsic functional connectivity (FC) patterns among five unimodal sensory and multisensory integration (MSI) networks in ASD with a large multi-site dataset (n = 646), and investigated the relationships among altered FC, atypical sensory processing, social communicative deficits, and overall autism symptoms with correlation and mediation analyses.

Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation: A Novel Neuromodulatory Treatment for Anxiety and Related Disorders.

Given the high prevalence and socioeconomic burden of anxiety disorders, there is an urgent need for effective, fast-acting, cost-efficient treatment alternatives to traditional psychotherapy. Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), a noninvasive brain stimulation technique that modulates endogenous brain oscillations via the application of sinusoidal currents to the scalp, emerges as a promising neuromodulatory treatment. We reviewed oscillatory neuropsychopathology in anxiety, examined current evidence of tACS interventions for anxiety and related disorders, and proposed novel simulation targets and protocols.

Mapping access to meaning in adolescents with autism: Atypical lateralization and spatiotemporal patterns as a function of language ability.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) vary in their language abilities, associated with atypical patterns of brain activity. However, few studies have examined the spatiotemporal profiles of lexico-semantic processing in ASD, particularly as a function of language heterogeneity. Thirty-nine high-functioning adolescents with ASD and 21 typically developing (TD) peers took part in a lexical decision task that combined semantic access with demands on cognitive control.

Pattern differentiation and tuning shift in human sensory cortex underlie long-term threat memory.

The amygdala-prefrontal-cortex circuit has long occupied the center of the threat system, but new evidence has rapidly amassed to implicate threat processing outside this canonical circuit. Through nonhuman research, the sensory cortex has emerged as a critical substrate for long-term threat memory, underpinned by sensory cortical pattern separation/completion and tuning shift. In humans, research has begun to associate the human sensory cortex with long-term threat memory, but the lack of mechanistic insights obscures a direct linkage.

Transcranial stimulation of alpha oscillations up-regulates the default mode network.

The default mode network (DMN) is the most-prominent intrinsic connectivity network, serving as a key architecture of the brain's functional organization. Conversely, dysregulated DMN is characteristic of major neuropsychiatric disorders. However, the field still lacks mechanistic insights into the regulation of the DMN and effective interventions for DMN dysregulation.

Human Sensory Cortex Contributes to the Long-Term Storage of Aversive Conditioning.

Growing animal data evince a critical role of the sensory cortex in the long-term storage of aversive conditioning, following acquisition and consolidation in the amygdala. Whether and how this function is conserved in the human sensory cortex is nonetheless unclear. We interrogated this question in a human aversive conditioning study using multidimensional assessments of conditioning and long-term (15 d) retention.

MEG Theta during Lexico-Semantic and Executive Processing Is Altered in High-Functioning Adolescents with Autism.

Neuroimaging studies have revealed atypical activation during language and executive tasks in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, the spatiotemporal stages of processing associated with these dysfunctions remain poorly understood. Using an anatomically constrained magnetoencephalography approach, we examined event-related theta oscillations during a double-duty lexical decision task that combined demands on lexico-semantic processing and executive functions.

Functional Connectome Analyses Reveal the Human Olfactory Network Organization.

The olfactory system is uniquely heterogeneous, performing multifaceted functions (beyond basic sensory processing) across diverse, widely distributed neural substrates. While knowledge of human olfaction continues to grow, it remains unclear how the olfactory network is organized to serve this unique set of functions. Leveraging a large and high-quality resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) dataset of nearly 900 participants from the Human Connectome Project (HCP), we identified a human olfactory network encompassing cortical and subcortical regions across the temporal and frontal lobes.

Human chemosignals of disgust facilitate food judgment.

Choosing food is not a trivial decision that people need to make daily, which is often subject to social influences. Here, we studied a human homolog of social transmission of food preference (STFP) as observed in rodents and other animals via chemosignals of body secretions. Human social chemosignals (sweat) produced during a disgust or neutral state among a group of donors were presented to participants undergoing a 2-alternative-forced-choice food healthiness judgment task during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Parallel processing of general and specific threat during early stages of perception.

Differential processing of threat can consummate as early as 100 ms post-stimulus. Moreover, early perception not only differentiates threat from non-threat stimuli but also distinguishes among discrete threat subtypes (e.g.

Emotion impairs extrinsic source memory--An ERP study.

Substantial advancements in understanding emotional modulation of item memory notwithstanding, controversies remain as to how emotion influences source memory. Using an emotional extrinsic source memory paradigm combined with remember/know judgments and two key event-related potentials (ERPs)-the FN400 (a frontal potential at 300-500 ms related to familiarity) and the LPC (a later parietal potential at 500-700 ms related to recollection), our research investigated the impact of emotion on extrinsic source memory and the underlying processes. We varied a semantic prompt (either "people" or "scene") preceding a study item to manipulate the extrinsic source.

Voxel-based analysis of postnatal white matter microstructure in mice exposed to immune challenge in early or late pregnancy.

Maternal infection during prenatal life is a risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders, including schizophrenia and autism, in the offspring. We and others have reported white mater microstructure abnormalities in prefrontal-striato-temporal networks in these disorders. In addition we have shown that early rather than late maternal immune challenge in the mouse model precipitates ventricular volume change and impairs sensorimotor gating similar to that found in schizophrenia.