BACKGROUND: The cerebellum is one of the major central nervous structures consistently altered in obesity. Its role in higher cognitive function, parts of which are affected by obesity, is mediated through projections to and from the cerebral cortex. We therefore investigated the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and cerebellocerebral connectivity. METHODS: We utilized the Human Connectome Project's Young Adults dataset, including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and behavioral data, to perform connectome-based predictive modeling (CPM) restricted to cerebellocerebral connectivity of resting-state fMRI and task-based fMRI. We developed a Python-based open-source framework to perform CPM, a data-driven technique with built-in cross-validation to establish brain-behavior relationships. Significance was assessed with permutation analysis. RESULTS: We found that (i) cerebellocerebral connectivity predicted BMI, (ii) task-general cerebellocerebral connectivity predicted BMI more reliably than resting-state fMRI and individual task-based fMRI separately, (iii) predictive networks derived this way overlapped with established functional brain networks (namely, frontoparietal networks, the somatomotor network, the salience network, and the default mode network), and (iv) we found there was an inverse overlap between networks predictive of BMI and networks predictive of cognitive measures adversely affected by overweight/obesity. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest obesity-specific alterations in cerebellocerebral connectivity, specifically with regard to task execution. With brain areas and brain networks relevant to task performance implicated, these alterations seem to reflect a neurobiological substrate for task performance adversely affected by obesity.
- Klíčová slova
- BMI, Human Connectome Project (HCP), Python, cerebellum, connectome-based predictive modeling, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI),
- MeSH
- dospělí MeSH
- index tělesné hmotnosti * MeSH
- konektom * metody MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- magnetická rezonanční tomografie * metody MeSH
- mladý dospělý MeSH
- mozeček * diagnostické zobrazování fyziologie MeSH
- nervová síť diagnostické zobrazování fyziologie MeSH
- obezita diagnostické zobrazování MeSH
- Check Tag
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mladý dospělý MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- ženské pohlaví MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
Spontaneously fluctuating brain activity patterns that emerge at rest have been linked to the brain's health and cognition. Despite detailed descriptions of the spatio-temporal brain patterns, our understanding of their generative mechanism is still incomplete. Using a combination of computational modeling and dynamical systems analysis we provide a mechanistic description of the formation of a resting state manifold via the network connectivity. We demonstrate that the symmetry breaking by the connectivity creates a characteristic flow on the manifold, which produces the major data features across scales and imaging modalities. These include spontaneous high-amplitude co-activations, neuronal cascades, spectral cortical gradients, multistability, and characteristic functional connectivity dynamics. When aggregated across cortical hierarchies, these match the profiles from empirical data. The understanding of the brain's resting state manifold is fundamental for the construction of task-specific flows and manifolds used in theories of brain function. In addition, it shifts the focus from the single recordings towards the brain's capacity to generate certain dynamics characteristic of health and pathology.
- MeSH
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- magnetická rezonanční tomografie metody MeSH
- mapování mozku metody MeSH
- modely neurologické * MeSH
- mozek * fyziologie diagnostické zobrazování MeSH
- nervová síť fyziologie MeSH
- odpočinek * fyziologie MeSH
- počítačová simulace MeSH
- Check Tag
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
Neurostimulation employing photoactive organic semiconductors offers an appealing alternative to conventional techniques, enabling targeted action and wireless control through light. In this study, organic electrolytic photocapacitors (OEPC) are employed to investigate the effects of light-controlled electric stimulation on neuronal networks in vitro and in vivo. The interactions between the devices and biological systems are characterized. Stimulation of primary rat cortical neurons results in an elevated expression of c-Fos within a mature neuronal network. OEPC implantation for three weeks and subsequent stimulation of the somatosensory cortex leads to an increase of c-Fos in neurons at the stimulation site and in connected brain regions (entorhinal cortex, hippocampus), both in the ipsi- and contralateral hemispheres. Reactivity of glial and immune cells after semi-chronic implantation of OEPC in the rat brain is comparable to that of surgical controls, indicating minimal foreign body response. Device functionality is further substantiated through retained charging dynamics following explantation. OEPC-based, light-controlled electric stimulation has a significant impact on neural responsiveness. The absence of detrimental effects on both the brain and device encourages further use of OEPC as cortical implants. These findings highlight its potential as a novel mode of neurostimulation and instigate further exploration into applications in fundamental neuroscience.
- Klíčová slova
- bioelectronics, cortical stimulation, c‐Fos, excitability, immunohistochemistry, organic semiconductors, wireless stimulation,
- MeSH
- elektrická stimulace * metody MeSH
- krysa rodu Rattus MeSH
- kultivované buňky MeSH
- nervová síť fyziologie MeSH
- neurony * metabolismus fyziologie MeSH
- polovodiče MeSH
- potkani Sprague-Dawley MeSH
- světlo MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- krysa rodu Rattus MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
Antagonistic activity of brain networks likely plays a fundamental role in how the brain optimizes its performance by efficient allocation of computational resources. A prominent example involves externally/internally oriented attention tasks, implicating two anticorrelated, intrinsic brain networks: the default mode network (DMN) and the dorsal attention network (DAN). To elucidate electrophysiological underpinnings and causal interplay during attention switching, we recorded intracranial EEG (iEEG) from 25 epilepsy patients with electrode contacts localized in the DMN and DAN. We show antagonistic network dynamics of activation-related changes in high-frequency (> 50 Hz) and low-frequency (< 30 Hz) power. The temporal profile of information flow between the networks estimated by functional connectivity suggests that the activated network inhibits the other one, gating its activity by increasing the amplitude of the low-frequency oscillations. Insights about inter-network communication may have profound implications for various brain disorders in which these dynamics are compromised.
- MeSH
- dospělí MeSH
- elektroencefalografie MeSH
- elektrofyziologické jevy MeSH
- epilepsie patofyziologie MeSH
- lidé středního věku MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mladý dospělý MeSH
- mozek * fyziologie patofyziologie MeSH
- nervová síť * fyziologie MeSH
- pozornost * fyziologie MeSH
- Check Tag
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé středního věku MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mladý dospělý MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- ženské pohlaví MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
Brain activity during the resting state is widely used to examine brain organization, cognition and alterations in disease states. While it is known that neuromodulation and the state of alertness impact resting-state activity, neural mechanisms behind such modulation of resting-state activity are unknown. In this work, we used a computational model to demonstrate that change in excitability and recurrent connections, due to cholinergic modulation, impacts resting-state activity. The results of such modulation in the model match closely with experimental work on direct cholinergic modulation of Default Mode Network (DMN) in rodents. We further extended our study to the human connectome derived from diffusion-weighted MRI. In human resting-state simulations, an increase in cholinergic input resulted in a brain-wide reduction of functional connectivity. Furthermore, selective cholinergic modulation of DMN closely captured experimentally observed transitions between the baseline resting state and states with suppressed DMN fluctuations associated with attention to external tasks. Our study thus provides insight into potential neural mechanisms for the effects of cholinergic neuromodulation on resting-state activity and its dynamics.
- MeSH
- acetylcholin metabolismus MeSH
- default mode network fyziologie diagnostické zobrazování MeSH
- dospělí MeSH
- konektom * MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- magnetická rezonanční tomografie MeSH
- modely neurologické * MeSH
- mozek * fyziologie diagnostické zobrazování MeSH
- nervová síť fyziologie diagnostické zobrazování MeSH
- odpočinek * fyziologie MeSH
- počítačová simulace MeSH
- výpočetní biologie MeSH
- Check Tag
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- Názvy látek
- acetylcholin MeSH
Shared input to a population of neurons induces noise correlations, which can decrease the information carried by a population activity. Inhibitory feedback in recurrent neural networks can reduce the noise correlations and thus increase the information carried by the population activity. However, the activity of inhibitory neurons is costly. This inhibitory feedback decreases the gain of the population. Thus, depolarization of its neurons requires stronger excitatory synaptic input, which is associated with higher ATP consumption. Given that the goal of neural populations is to transmit as much information as possible at minimal metabolic costs, it is unclear whether the increased information transmission reliability provided by inhibitory feedback compensates for the additional costs. We analyze this problem in a network of leaky integrate-and-fire neurons receiving correlated input. By maximizing mutual information with metabolic cost constraints, we show that there is an optimal strength of recurrent connections in the network, which maximizes the value of mutual information-per-cost. For higher values of input correlation, the mutual information-per-cost is higher for recurrent networks with inhibitory feedback compared to feedforward networks without any inhibitory neurons. Our results, therefore, show that the optimal synaptic strength of a recurrent network can be inferred from metabolically efficient coding arguments and that decorrelation of the input by inhibitory feedback compensates for the associated increased metabolic costs.
Regular drug use can lead to addiction, but not everyone who takes drugs makes this transition. How exactly drugs of abuse interact with individual vulnerability is not fully understood, nor is it clear how individuals defy the risks associated with drugs or addiction vulnerability. We used resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) in 162 participants to characterize risk- and resilience-related changes in corticostriatal functional circuits in individuals exposed to stimulant drugs both with and without clinically diagnosed drug addiction, siblings of addicted individuals, and control volunteers. The likelihood of developing addiction, whether due to familial vulnerability or drug use, was associated with significant hypoconnectivity in orbitofrontal and ventromedial prefrontal cortical-striatal circuits-pathways critically implicated in goal-directed decision-making. By contrast, resilience against a diagnosis of substance use disorder was associated with hyperconnectivity in two networks involving 1) the lateral prefrontal cortex and medial caudate nucleus and 2) the supplementary motor area, superior medial frontal cortex, and putamen-brain circuits respectively implicated in top-down inhibitory control and the regulation of habits. These findings point toward a predisposing vulnerability in the causation of addiction, related to impaired goal-directed actions, as well as countervailing resilience systems implicated in behavioral regulation, and may inform novel strategies for therapeutic and preventative interventions.
- Klíčová slova
- cocaine, fMRI, functional connectivity, resilience, vulnerability,
- MeSH
- dospělí MeSH
- genetická predispozice k nemoci MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mozek patofyziologie MeSH
- nervová síť fyziologie MeSH
- poruchy spojené s užíváním psychoaktivních látek * MeSH
- psychologie MeSH
- stimulanty centrálního nervového systému * MeSH
- studie případů a kontrol MeSH
- Check Tag
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- ženské pohlaví MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- Názvy látek
- stimulanty centrálního nervového systému * MeSH
Understanding why identical stimuli give differing neuronal responses and percepts is a central challenge in research on attention and consciousness. Ongoing oscillations reflect functional states that bias processing of incoming signals through amplitude and phase. It is not known, however, whether the effect of phase or amplitude on stimulus processing depends on the long-term global dynamics of the networks generating the oscillations. Here, we show, using a computational model, that the ability of networks to regulate stimulus response based on pre-stimulus activity requires near-critical dynamics-a dynamical state that emerges from networks with balanced excitation and inhibition, and that is characterized by scale-free fluctuations. We also find that networks exhibiting critical oscillations produce differing responses to the largest range of stimulus intensities. Thus, the brain may bring its dynamics close to the critical state whenever such network versatility is required.
- Klíčová slova
- critical brain dynamics, neuroscience, ongoing oscillations, perception, versatility,
- MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mozek cytologie fyziologie MeSH
- nervová síť fyziologie MeSH
- neurony fyziologie MeSH
- počítačová simulace MeSH
- zraková percepce MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
This study investigates the role of the dorsal/sensorimotor striatum in visuomotor integration (i.e., the transformation of internal visual information about letter shapes into motor output) during handwriting. Twenty healthy participants underwent fMRI scanning with tasks consisting of self-paced handwriting of alphabetically ordered single letters and simple dots, with both tasks performed without visual feedback. Functional connectivity (FC) from these two tasks was compared to demonstrate the difference between coordinated activity arising during handwriting and the activity during a simpler motor condition. Our study focused upon the writing-specific cortico-striatal network of preselected regions of interest consisting of the visual word form area (VWFA), anterior intraparietal sulcus/superior parietal lobule, striatum, premotor cortex/Exner's area, and primary and supplementary motor regions. We observed systematically increased task-induced cortico-striatal and cortico-cortical FC. This increased synchronization of neural activity between the VWFA, i.e., the visual cortical area containing information about letter shapes, and the frontoparietal motor regions is mediated by the striatum. These findings suggest the involvement of the striatum in integrating stored letter-shape information with motor planning and execution during handwriting.
- Klíčová slova
- Basal ganglia, Functional connectivity, Handwriting, Striatum, Visuomotor integration, fMRI,
- MeSH
- corpus striatum diagnostické zobrazování fyziologie MeSH
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- magnetická rezonanční tomografie MeSH
- mladý dospělý MeSH
- mozková kůra diagnostické zobrazování fyziologie MeSH
- nervová síť diagnostické zobrazování fyziologie MeSH
- pohybová aktivita fyziologie MeSH
- psaní rukou * MeSH
- psychomotorický výkon fyziologie MeSH
- rozpoznávání obrazu fyziologie MeSH
- Check Tag
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mladý dospělý MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- ženské pohlaví MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- MeSH
- duševní procesy fyziologie MeSH
- kongresy jako téma MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- nervová síť fyziologie MeSH
- neurofyziologie * MeSH
- systémová biologie * MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- úvodní články MeSH
- úvodníky MeSH