Right frontal cortex generates reward-related theta-band oscillatory activity

When participants in a gambling game are given feedback as to whether they won or lost the previous bet, a series of stereotypical brain electrical responses can be observed in the electroencephalogram (EEG) and the stimulus-locked Event-Related Potential (ERP). These include the Feedback-Related Mediofrontal Negativity (FRN), a posterior P300, and a feedback-induced increase in power at the theta (4 to 8 Hz) band over frontal scalp. Although the generators of the FRN and P300 have been studied previously, little is known about the generator of feedback-induced theta. We employed a gambling game in which participants chose either high-risk/high-reward or low-risk/low-reward bets to investigate these feedback-related responses. The FRN was not modulated by the riskiness of the bet, but both P300 and feedback-induced theta were of greater amplitude following high- relative to low-risk bets. Using a bilateral multi-source Beamformer approach, we localized the induced theta-band responses following wins and losses to partially overlapping regions in the right medial frontal cortex, possibly including the Anterior Cingulate. Using a dipole-fitting approach, we found that the generators of feedback-induced theta are anatomically distinct from those of the FRN and P300.     

Attentional modulation of oscillatory activity in human visual cortex

The effects of attentional modulation on activity within the human visual cortex were investigated using magnetoencephalography. Chromatic sinusoidal stimuli were used to evoke activity from the occipital cortex, with attention directed either toward or away from the stimulus using a bar-orientation judgment task. For five observers, global magnetic field power was plotted as a function of time from stimulus onset. The major peak of each function occurred at about 120 ms latency and was well modeled by a current dipole near the calcarine sulcus. Independent component analysis (ICA) on the non-averaged data for each observer also revealed one component of calcarine origin, the location of which matched that of the dipolar source determined from the averaged data. For two observers, ICA revealed a second component near the parieto-occipital sulcus. Although no effects of attention were evident using standard averaging procedures, time-varying spectral analyses of single trials revealed that the main effect of attention was to alter the level of oscillatory activity. Most notably, a sustained increase in alpha-band (7-12 Hz) activity of both calcarine and parieto-occipital origin was evident. In addition, calcarine activity in the range of 13-21 Hz was enhanced, while calcarine activity in the range of 5-6 Hz was reduced. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that attentional modulation affects neural processing within the calcarine and parieto-occipital cortex by altering the amplitude of alpha-band activity and other natural brain rhythms.     

Self-modulation of primary motor cortex activity with motor and motor imagery tasks using real-time fMRI-based neurofeedback

Advances in fMRI data acquisition and processing have made it possible to analyze brain activity as rapidly as the images are acquired allowing this information to be fed back to subjects in the scanner. The ability of subjects to learn to volitionally control localized brain activity within motor cortex using such real-time fMRI-based neurofeedback (NF) is actively being investigated as it may have clinical implications for motor rehabilitation after central nervous system injury and brain-computer interfaces. We investigated the ability of fifteen healthy volunteers to use NF to modulate brain activity within the primary motor cortex (M1) during a finger tapping and tapping imagery task. The M1 hand area ROI (ROI_m) was functionally localized during finger tapping and a visual representation of BOLD signal changes within the ROI_m fed back to the subject in the scanner. Surface EMG was used to assess motor output during tapping and ensure no motor activity was present during motor imagery task. Subjects quickly learned to modulate brain activity within their ROI_m during the finger-tapping task, which could be dissociated from the magnitude of the tapping, but did not show a significant increase within the ROI_m during the hand motor imagery task at the group level despite strongly activating a network consistent with the performance of motor imagery. The inability of subjects to modulate M1 proper with motor imagery may reflect an inherent difficulty in activating synapses in this area, with or without NF, since such activation may lead to M1 neuronal output and obligatory muscle activity. Future real-time fMRI-based NF investigations involving motor cortex may benefit from focusing attention on cortical regions other than M1 for feedback training or alternative feedback strategies such as measures of functional connectivity within the motor system.     

Human motor cortex activity during mental rotation

The functional role of human premotor and primary motor cortex during mental rotation has been studied using functional MRI at 3 T. Fourteen young, male subjects performed a mental rotation task in which they had to decide whether two visually presented cubes could be identical. Exploratory Fuzzy Cluster Analysis was applied to identify brain regions with stimulus-related time courses. This revealed one dominant cluster which included the parietal cortex, premotor cortex, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex that showed signal enhancement during the whole stimulus presentation period, reflecting cognitive processing. A second cluster, encompassing the contralateral primary motor cortex, showed activation exclusively after the button press response. This clear separation was possible in 3 subjects only, however. Based on these exploratory results, the hypothesis that primary motor cortex activity was related to button pressing only was tested using a parametric approach via a random-effects group analysis over all 14 subjects in SPM99. The results confirmed that the stimulus response via button pressing causes activation in the primary motor cortex and supplementary motor area while parietal cortex and mesial regions rostral to the supplementary motor area are recruited for the actual mental rotation process.     

运动双手食指后应用磁源性影像对运动皮质及体感皮质定位

目的确定运动双手食指后应用磁源性影像对运动皮质及体感皮质功能区定位的价值并探讨其成像方法。方法6例受试者接受左、右侧视觉光刺激后运动相应侧食指,双手食指下方各放置一块垫板,垫板上有一个光电偶合器,食指抬起后数据采集计算机即可将光电偶合的一刻为“零”对脑反应信号进行叠加。应用脑磁图记录运动及体感反应叠加后的脑电磁波并将其与相应受试者头MRI叠加形成磁源性影像。结果食指运动后,每个受试者双侧半球均出现一个最高的波峰,左右半球潜伏期分别为(41.5±7.8)ms和(35.5±3.6)ms。受试者之间左、右半球皮质兴奋的潜伏期(W1)差异无显著意义(t=2.046,P=0.096)。将其ECD叠加到MRI上可见ECD均位于中央后回。每个受试者在最高波峰之前出现一个小的波峰,潜伏期为负值,左、右半球分别为-(52.9±25.9)ms和-(63.8±19.5)ms。受试者之间左、右半球皮质兴奋的潜伏期(W2)差异无显著意义(t=1.342,P=0.237)。由磁源性影像显示兴奋的皮质位于中央前回。结论磁源性影像可很好地显示健康受试者运动皮质及体感皮质,可对运动皮质及体感皮质进行精确定位。     

变频相位干涉电场刺激对运动皮层兴奋性及运动学习表现的影响

摘要目的：探究变频相位干涉电场刺激（temporal interference electrical fields stimulation, TI）对健康成年人运动皮层兴奋性及运动学习能力的影响,为TI刺激的应用提供依据。方法：采用随机交叉双盲设计,研究对象为健康成年人。试验1：20例受试者完成经颅磁刺激（transcranial magnetic stimulation,TMS）测试,评估刺激前后皮层兴奋性指标的改变,包括运动诱发电位（motor evoked potential, MEP）、静息运动阈值（resting motor threshold, RMT）、短时距皮层内抑制（short-interval intracortical inhibition, SICI）、皮质内促通（intracortical facilitation, ICF）。试验2：16例受试者完成随机反应时任务（random reaction time task, RRTT）和序列反应时任务（serial reaction time task, SRTT）,测试指标包括平均反应时（reaction time, RT）、第一内隐学习（first implicit learning, FIL）、第二内隐学习（second implicit learning, SIL）。通过双因素重复测量方差分析评价TI刺激对受试者运动皮层兴奋性及运动学习能力的影响。结果：试验1：刺激条件和时间对MEP（F=28.787,P<0.001,ηP2=0.602）和RMT（F=23.524,P<0.001,ηP2=0.580）具有显著交互作用,而SICI和ICF无显著交互效应。试验2：与假刺激相比,TI刺激后SRTT中的FIL有显著提升（F=4.601,P=0.049,ηP2=0.235）,而RRTT任务则无显著交互效应。结论：变频TI刺激可以显著增加初级运动皮层的兴奋性,这种调控效应可能有助于促进健康成年人运动学习表现。     

Artifact correction and source analysis of early electroencephalographic responses evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation over primary motor cortex

Analyzing the brain responses to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) using electroencephalography (EEG) is a promising method for the assessment of functional cortical connectivity and excitability of areas accessible to this stimulation. However, until now it has been difficult to analyze the EEG responses during the several tens of milliseconds immediately following the stimulus due to TMS-induced artifacts. In the present study we show that by combining a specially adapted recording system with software artifact correction it is possible to remove a major part of the artifact and analyze the cortical responses as early as 10 ms after TMS. We used this methodology to examine responses of left and right primary motor cortex (M1) to TMS at different intensities. Based on the artifact-corrected data we propose a model for the cortical activation following M1 stimulation. The model revealed the same basic response sequence for both hemispheres. A large part of the response could be accounted for by two sources: a source close to the stimulation site (peaking approximately 15 ms after the stimulus) and a midline frontal source ipsilateral to the stimulus (peaking approximately 25 ms). In addition the model suggests responses in ipsilateral temporo-parietal junction areas (approximately 35 ms) and ipsilateral (approximately 30 ms) and middle (approximately 50 ms) cerebellum. Statistical analysis revealed significant dependence on stimulation intensity for the ipsilateral midline frontal source. The methodology developed in the present study paves the way for the detailed study of early responses to TMS in a wide variety of brain areas.     

Investigation of fMRI neurofeedback of differential primary motor cortex activity using kinesthetic motor imagery

Functional MRI neurofeedback (fMRI NF) is an emerging technique that trains subjects to regulate their brain activity while they manipulate sensory stimulus representations of fMRI signals in "real-time". Here we report an fMRI NF study of brain activity associated with kinesthetic motor imagery (kMI), analyzed using partial least squares (PLS), a multivariate analysis technique. Thirteen healthy young adult subjects performed kMI involving each hand separately, with NF training targeting regions of interest (ROIs) in the left and right primary motor cortex (M1). Throughout, subjects attempted to maximize a laterality index (LI) of brain activity-the difference in activity between the contralateral ROI (relative to the hand involved in kMI) and the ipsilateral M1 ROI-while receiving real-time updates on a visual display. Six of 13 subjects were successful in increasing the LI value, whereas the other 7 were not successful and performed similarly to 5 control subjects who received sham NF training. Ability to suppress activity in the ipsilateral M1 ROI was the primary driver of successful NF performance. Multiple PLS analyses depicted activated networks of brain regions involved with imagery, self-awareness, and feedback processing, and additionally showed that activation of the task positive network was correlated with task performance. These results indicate that fMRI NF of kMI is capable of modulating brain activity in primary motor regions in a subset of the population. In the future, such methods may be useful in the development of NF training methods for enhancing motor rehabilitation following stroke.     

Illusory movements of the paralyzed limb restore motor cortex activity

In humans, limb amputation or brachial plexus avulsion (BPA) often results in phantom pain sensation. Actively observing movements made by a substitute of the injured limb can reduce phantom pain, Proc. R. Soc. London B Biol. Sci. 263, 377-386). The neural basis of phantom limb sensation and its amelioration remains unclear. Here, we studied the effects of visuomotor training on motor cortex (M1) activity in three patients with BPA. Functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were obtained before and after an 8-week training program during which patients learned to match voluntary "movements" of the phantom limb with prerecorded movements of a virtual hand. Before training, phantom limb movements activated the contralateral premotor cortex. After training, two subjects showed increased activity in the contralateral primary motor area. This change was paralleled by a significant reduction in phantom pain. The third subject showed no increase in motor cortex activity and no improvement in phantom pain. We suggest that successful visuomotor training restores a coherent body image in the M1 region and, as a result, directly affects the experience of phantom pain sensation. Artificial visual feedback on the movements of the phantom limb may thus "fool" the brain and reestablish the original hand/arm cortical representation.     

Frequency-correlated decreases of motor cortex activity associated with subthalamic nucleus stimulation in Parkinson's disease

According to the classical model of basal ganglia organization, deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) for the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) blocks overactive excitatory projections to inhibitory basal ganglia output structures. This would release the break on thalamofrontal neurons alleviating the poverty of movement, the hallmark of PD. Such parallels to a functional lesion certainly simplify the mechanism of STN DBS. Here, we applied parametric analyses of H2(15)O positron emission tomography (PET) scans at rest while systematically varying stimulation frequency in 6 patients with STN DBS for akinetic PD. A strong positive correlation of rCBF to increasing stimulation frequency was detected around the STN bilaterally. More importantly, we show that gradual increases in STN stimulation frequency are tightly correlated with decreases in motor cortex activity. This demonstrates an active modulation of resting activity within the subcortical stimulation target and within motor cortex by STN DBS. Rather than a possible downstream effect, we propose to consider the tight correlations between DBS frequency and motor cortex activity in the context of an upstream modulation of direct efferents to the STN from primary motor and premotor cortices.     

High gamma frequency oscillatory activity dissociates attention from intention in the human premotor cortex

The premotor cortex is well known for its role in motor planning. In addition, recent studies have shown that it is also involved in nonmotor functions such as attention and memory, a notion derived from both animal neurophysiology and human functional imaging. The present study is an attempt to bridge the gap between these experimental techniques in the human brain, using a task initially designed to dissociate attention from intention in the monkey, and recently adapted for a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study [Simon, S.R., Meunier, M., Piettre, L., Berardi, A.M., Segebarth, C.M., Boussaoud, D. (2002). Spatial attention and memory versus motor preparation: premotor cortex involvement as revealed by fMRI. J. Neurophysiol., 88, 2047-57]. Intracranial EEG was recorded from the cortical regions preferentially active in the spatial attention and/or working memory task and those involved in motor intention. The results show that, among the different intracranial EEG responses, only the high gamma frequency (60-200 Hz) oscillatory activity both dissociates attention/memory from motor intention and spatially colocalizes with the fMRI-identified premotor substrates of these two functions. This finding provides electrophysiological confirmation that the human premotor cortex is involved in spatial attention and/or working memory. Additionally, it provides timely support to the idea that high gamma frequency oscillations are involved in the cascade of neural processes underlying the hemodynamic responses measured with fMRI [Logothetis, N.K., Pauls, J., Augath, M., Trinath, T. and Oeltermann, A. (2001). Neurophysiological investigation of the basis of the fMRI signal. Nature, 412, 150-7], and suggests a functional selectivity of the gamma oscillations that could be critical for future EEG investigations, whether experimental or clinical.     

正常人三种运动任务的血氧水平依赖性磁共振脑功能成像定量分析

目的 利用全脑血氧水平依赖性磁共振脑功能成像(BOLD-fMRI)技术,探讨参与对指、握拳、被动运动的关键脑功能区.方法对10例健康右利手志愿者右手(利手)或左手(非利手)的对指、握拳、被动运动进行全脑BOLD-fMRI扫描,记录激活体积、激活强度,应用配对t检验进行定量分析.结果三种运动模式下,左手运动激活对侧感觉运动皮层(SMC)体积、强度大于右手运动(P<0.05).被动、时指运动激活对侧SMC体积、强度差异无统计学意义(P>0.05).被动、对指运动激活对侧SMC体积大于握拳运动(P<0.05).被动运动激活对侧SMC强度大于握拳运动(P<0.05).对指与握拳运动激活对侧SMC强度差异无统计学意义(P>0.05).结论脑功能区的激活情况与手运动复杂程度有关,体积、强度等定量指标进一步证实利手、非利手激活脑功能区的不对称性.恒定的被动运动(五指依次被动曲伸)任务用于BOLD-fMRI研究具有实用性、可靠性.     

Additional neuromagnetic source activity outside the auditory cortex in duration discrimination correlates with behavioural ability

In magneto- and electroencephalographic experiments on an oddball paradigm we compared the components of the auditory evoked fields and potentials of "attend" with "nonattend" conditions in 17 subjects. The former consisted of the performance of a duration discrimination task, where we observed augmented activity for the auditory sustained response. A multiple source analysis showed this effect mainly stemming from a third source outside the auditory cortices. The dipole moment of this specific activation was increased by 150% under the attend condition. Having anatomical 3D MRI data sets of 12 subjects the likely location of the third source was shown to be within the area of the precuneus or the posterior cingulate gyrus, which, along with its waveform, suggests it to be a CNV equivalent. Further, the dipole moment is correlated significantly to the subjects' psychometrically derived discriminative abilities.     

Cortical reorganization of hand motor function to primary sensory cortex in hemiparetic patients with a primary motor cortex infarct

OBJECTIVE: To show cortical reorganization in hemiparetic patients with a primary motor cortex (M1) infarct including the precentral knob by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). DESIGN: Case-control. SETTING: Outpatient clinics in the rehabilitation department of a university hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Two stroke patients and 20 control subjects. INTERVENTIONS: By using fMRI, we evaluated the hand motor function of 2 hemiparetic stroke patients, who had made some recovery from complete paralysis of the affected hand, and 20 control subjects. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: fMRI was performed by using the blood oxygen level-dependent technique at 1.5 T with a standard head coil. The motor task paradigm consisted of hand grasp-release movements. RESULTS: The contralateral primary sensorimotor cortex was activated by the hand movements of the control subjects and of the unaffected side of the 2 patients. Only the contralateral (infarct side) primary sensory cortex (S1) was activated by the movements of the affected hand of the 2 patients, a result that was not observed in the control subjects or with the unaffected hand in the stroke patients. CONCLUSIONS: The hand motor function associated with the infarcted M1 in our patients was reorganized into the S1. These results suggest cortical reorganization in patients with an M1 infarct.     

Abnormal facilitatory mechanisms in motor cortex of migraine with aura

Experimental evidence suggests impairment of inhibitory intracortical circuits in migraine, while not much is known about activity of facilitatory intracortical circuits. In the present work we evaluated the effects of high frequency‐repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (hf‐rTMS) on the activity of facilitatory circuits of motor cortex in 18 patients affected by migraine with aura and 18 healthy subjects. Trains of 10 stimuli were applied to the motor cortex at 5‐Hz frequency with recording of the EMG traces from the contralateral abductor pollicis brevis muscle (APB). Two intensities of stimulation (110% and 130% of resting motor threshold) were used in order to explore whether motor cortex excitability was differently modulated. Twelve patients underwent hf‐rTMS both before and during prophylactic treatment with levetiracetam. Results showed that rTMS delivered at 110% intensity of stimulation at rest had a facilitatory effect on MEP size in untreated patients, while left MEP unchanged in controls. Conversely, when rTMS was applied at 130%, we observed MEP potentiation in healthy subjects and paradoxical MEP inhibition in migraineurs. In treated patients, levetiracetam inhibited MEP size at both 110% and 130% intensity of stimulation. Our findings reveal an opposite response of migraine motor cortex to 5‐Hz rTMS when it is delivered at different stimulation intensities, providing evidence of both hyper‐responsivity and self‐limiting hyperexcitability capacity, in line with studies supporting the concept that under conditions of cortical hyperexcitability inhibitory mechanisms of homeostatic plasticity could be activated.     

Partially coherent phase imaging with simultaneous source recovery

We propose a new method for phase retrieval that uses partially coherent illumination created by any arbitrary source shape in Köhler geometry. Using a stack of defocused intensity images, we recover not only the phase and amplitude of the sample, but also an estimate of the unknown source shape, which describes the spatial coherence of the illumination. Our algorithm uses a Kalman filtering approach which is fast, accurate and robust to noise. The method is experimentally simple and flexible, so should find use in optical, electron, X-ray and other phase imaging systems which employ partially coherent light. We provide an experimental demonstration in an optical microscope with various condenser apertures.OCIS codes: (100.5070) Phase retrieval, (110.3010) Image reconstruction techniques     

The Functional MR study of motor cortex

By certain functional stimulates, the brain cortex becomes active. The MR scan has been proven to image these cortex activities by comparing the images with and without functional stimulates. The signal differences between the image with and without functional stimulates is related with the hemodynamic and metabolic changes induced by functional activities. This signal difference is very small, but detectable by MR system, and is the functional MR signal. The MR scan displaying the functio…