Frontiers in Human Neuroscience最新文献

{"title":"Editorial: Promoting brain health and emotional regulation through prosocial behaviors, social connectedness, and AI.","authors":"Nayara Mota","doi":"10.3389/fnhum.2026.1848176","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2026.1848176","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12536,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Human Neuroscience","volume":"20 ","pages":"1848176"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13139055/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147836558","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Menopause-related brain fog as a midlife window in women's brain aging: toward ecologically valid measurement and digital phenotyping.","authors":"Parisa Gazerani","doi":"10.3389/fnhum.2026.1814092","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2026.1814092","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cognitive complaints commonly described as \"brain fog\" are frequent during the menopause transition and often involve attention and memory difficulties that can affect daily functioning and quality of life. Midlife women may worry these symptoms signal early neurodegenerative disease, yet available evidence indicates that menopause-related cognitive changes are typically mild, variable, and distinct from dementia. Midlife, typically spanning approximately ages 40-60 years and encompassing the menopause transition (most commonly occurring between 45-55 years), represents a critical period for women's brain health. A major barrier to progress is that \"brain fog\" remains inconsistently defined and measured, limiting comparability across studies and constraining prevention-oriented strategies. In this Perspective, we propose that menopause-related brain fog represents a time-limited, clinically meaningful \"measurement window\" in women's brain aging trajectories, in which symptoms may be most detectable and potentially modifiable if assessed with tools that capture real-world fluctuation. We propose a pragmatic, multi-layer measurement framework that integrates (1) patient-centered symptom and functional impact profiling, (2) brief targeted cognitive assessment of vulnerable domains, and (3) ecological momentary assessment combined with passive and active digital measures using wearable and smartphone-based metrics (sleep, activity/circadian regularity, autonomic proxies, and brief repeated digital cognitive tasks). We outline validation principles, equity considerations, and reporting recommendations aligned with sex- and gender-aware research practices. By operationalizing menopause-related brain fog and linking it to feasible digital measurement strategies, aging neuroscience can better distinguish normative midlife cognitive variability from concerning trajectories, accelerate mechanistic research, and support preventive brain health interventions for women.</p>","PeriodicalId":12536,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Human Neuroscience","volume":"20 ","pages":"1814092"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13139119/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147836576","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"In-ear EEG wearables for brain activity assessment and cognitive rehabilitation: the emerging role of multimodal embedded intelligence.","authors":"Asma Channa, Herbert F Jelinek, Abdelkader Nasreddine Belkacem, Mohamed Atef, Ibrahim Abe M Elfadel","doi":"10.3389/fnhum.2026.1793705","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2026.1793705","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This literature review critically examines the design, validation, and application of non-invasive in-ear electroencephalography (ear-EEG) systems as emerging wearable platforms for long-term neurophysiological monitoring and intervention. Following PRISMA guidelines, studies published between 2010 and 2025 were systematically selected from four major databases and organized into four thematic domains: in-ear wearable system design and validation, multimodal sensing and stimulation, embedded intelligence, and brain-state monitoring and rehabilitation. The review focuses exclusively on wearable, ear-centered EEG technologies, explicitly excluding cochlear implants and other invasive or behind-the-ear systems. We analyze key engineering challenges unique to ear-EEG, including electrode placement constraints, mechanical-electrical coupling, motion robustness, power efficiency, and long-term wearability. The review highlights a growing transition toward compact, wireless ear-EEG systems with on-device signal processing and embedded machine learning, enabling real-time brain-state estimation under ambulatory conditions. Multimodal integration, combining ear-EEG with complementary sensors such as EOG, inertial units, and cardiovascular signals is shown to improve artifact awareness, contextual interpretation, and closed-loop capability. Beyond summarizing existing technologies, this review identifies critical gaps limiting clinical translation, including the lack of standardized validation protocols, limited embedded autonomy, and underexplored closed-loop neurofeedback and neuromodulation architectures. By synthesizing advances across hardware design, signal processing, and intelligent system integration, this work provides a systems-level roadmap for the future development of wearable, intelligent, and clinically robust ear-EEG platforms for mental health, neurorehabilitation, and continuous brain monitoring.</p>","PeriodicalId":12536,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Human Neuroscience","volume":"20 ","pages":"1793705"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13137128/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147836555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A systematic review on multifocal non-invasive brain stimulation on motor function enhancement.","authors":"Won Kee Chang, Ji Soo Choi, Won-Seok Kim, Nam-Jong Paik","doi":"10.3389/fnhum.2026.1779424","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2026.1779424","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Multifocal non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) has been highlighted as a promising approach for modulating motor functions by simultaneously stimulating several brain areas. However, the effectiveness and underlying mechanisms of this technique are still not well understood.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>To evaluate the effectiveness of multifocal NIBS in promoting motor recovery, considering the targeted brain regions, stimulation protocols, and both behavioral and neurophysiological outcomes.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted a systematic search of the PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Web of Science databases up to February 10, 2025, adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 2020 guidelines. The inclusion criteria encompassed human studies utilizing concurrent dual-site or multifocal NIBS with pre- and post-intervention behavioral assessments. Studies on deep brain stimulation, corticocortical paired associative stimulation, sequential stimulation, case reports, and reviews were excluded.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Out of 1,453 initial records, 9 studies met the inclusion criteria. These studies primarily focused on stimulating the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and primary motor cortex. Neurophysiological data obtained from electroencephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging indicated network-level modulations. Behavioral outcomes were variable, with some studies showing improvements in response inhibition, and motor learning, while others found no significant differences compared to sham stimulation.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>While multifocal NIBS shows promise as a novel therapeutic approach, its efficacy remains uncertain due to variations in study designs, small sample sizes, and inconsistent results. Future research should focus on larger sample size, multi-arm trials and inclusion of neurophysiological biomarkers.</p><p><strong>Systematic review registration: </strong>https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD420250646196, identifier: CRD420250646196.</p>","PeriodicalId":12536,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Human Neuroscience","volume":"20 ","pages":"1779424"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13136090/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147836598","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Listen to your inner body: embodied emotions in predictive neuroscience and traditional East Asian medicine.","authors":"Seoyoung Lee, Seok-In Yoon, Hsien-Yin Liao, Jong Woo Kim, In-Seon Lee, Younbyoung Chae","doi":"10.3389/fnhum.2026.1807034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2026.1807034","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The self is increasingly conceptualized as an embodied, predictive process in contemporary cognitive and affective neuroscience. The brain continually infers the causes of both exteroceptive and interoceptive signals in order to minimize prediction error and maintain allostatic balance. Within this framework, emotion can be understood as an inference about changes in bodily states. Parallel themes have long been articulated in traditional East Asian medicine (TEAM), where emotions are understood to modulate the flow of Qi and clinical practice is aimed at restoring dynamic balance through breath, movement, attention, acupuncture, and related interventions. This study brings these traditions into dialogue, arguing that the phenomenology of bodily patterns and the directional qualities of emotion in TEAM are compatible with predictive-processing accounts of interoception, allostasis, and affect regulation. We summarize key research on autonomic flexibility, emotional \"body maps,\" and interoception; integrate clinical observations from acupuncture practice; offer testable cross-framework hypotheses; and outline implications for mental health and wellbeing. We advocate a pluralistic, pragmatic approach that acknowledges conceptual diversity while using points of convergence to guide research and practice, rather than forcing one framework into the terms of the other. Bridging modern neuroscience with traditional insights can support a more deeply embodied understanding of the self and provide new avenues for investigating the regulation of emotional life.</p>","PeriodicalId":12536,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Human Neuroscience","volume":"20 ","pages":"1807034"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13136236/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147836582","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploring individual biases in BCI research and users: Does gender matter?","authors":"Cornelia Herbert, Viviana Ramos Acuna, Raphael R K Kneipp, Nina I Kapfer","doi":"10.3389/fnhum.2025.1695370","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2025.1695370","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) is an interdisciplinary research field characterized by rapid technological advances and collaborative efforts to develop user-friendly, adaptive devices that enable healthy and non-responsive users to communicate and interact with their environment through brain signals elicited by specific instructions or tasks. However, research often shows gender bias, especially in scientific disciplines with strong technological, medical, or social foundations. Gender biases have been found among scientists conducting and publishing research. They may also exist among examiners and study participants.</p><p><strong>Research question and methods: </strong>This study investigates whether gender biases are present in BCI research, particularly in the distribution of women and men across editorial boards and authorship of studies focusing on psychological human factors that influence BCI performance and usability. We systematically analyzed the gender distribution in neuroscientific journals that accept BCI research or have a strong focus on BCI, reviewed their editorial boards, analyzed BCI publications -including those related to psychological human factors-and examined gender biases among study participants. Additionally, we reviewed EEG studies investigating sex- or gender-related differences in EEG signals relevant to BCI research.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We observed significant differences in the representation of women and men among editorial board members and BCI authors, including first-, co-, and last-authorship. Similarly, there were differences in the gender distribution of participants in BCI studies. Moreover, the literature review suggests potential differences in brain signals between women and men within the studied samples. The impact of these differences on performance in BCIs, such as motor-imagery SMR-BCIs, SSVEP-BCIs, and P300-BCIs, as well as training methods and BCI usability, still needs to be explored.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our findings emphasize the importance of increasing awareness of gender-, sex-, and user-related factors in BCI research. In line with recent perspectives that highlight the need to address gender biases and individual differences in the language of the user, their motivation or cultural background, future BCI research should focus on systematically examining gender and sex differences. This will help promote gender equality in BCI research and lead to a better understanding of users' needs, preferences, and individual characteristics.</p>","PeriodicalId":12536,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Human Neuroscience","volume":"19 ","pages":"1695370"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13133739/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147813536","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Editorial: Advanced interventions for self-regulation and neuroplasticity.","authors":"Naama Schwartz, Sophie Clarke, Elsa Florence Fouragnan","doi":"10.3389/fnhum.2026.1837168","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2026.1837168","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12536,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Human Neuroscience","volume":"20 ","pages":"1837168"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13128591/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147813612","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impaired event-related theta spectral coherence in emotional facial expression processing in neurodegenerative disorders.","authors":"Hakan Uzunlar, Rümeysa Duygun, İlayda Kıyı-Atilla, Tuba Aktürk, Ebru Yıldırım, Nesrin Helvacı Yılmaz, Lütfü Hanoğlu, Henrique Sequeira, David Papo, Massimiliano Zanin, Claudio Babiloni, Görsev Yener, Bahar Güntekin","doi":"10.3389/fnhum.2026.1708832","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2026.1708832","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>The ability to recognize emotional facial expressions relies on brain functional networks, particularly in the right hemisphere, and is impaired in neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Given that this ability involves brain networks operating within hundreds of milliseconds, we tested the hypothesis of abnormalities in event-related spectral electroencephalographic coherence, with a focus on the right versus left hemispheres in these patients.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Event-related theta (4-7 Hz) magnitude-squared coherence was calculated for both intra-hemispheric (frontal-temporal, frontal-parietal, central-temporal, and related pairs) and inter-hemispheric homologous electrode pairs (F3-F4, C3-C4, T7-T8, TP7-TP8, P3-P4, O1-O2). We enrolled 25 patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment, 15 Parkinson's disease patients with mild cognitive impairment, 25 Alzheimer's disease patients with dementia, and 16 Parkinson's disease patients with dementia, along with 25 healthy elderly as controls. Participants were presented with three different facial expressions (angry, happy, and neutral) 60 times each in a pseudo-random order.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Theta (4-7 Hz) spectral coherence was higher in the right than the left hemisphere across all groups, with Parkinson's disease patients exhibiting the lowest values. Moreover, interhemispheric theta coherence was lower in Parkinson's disease patients with mild cognitive impairment and dementia compared to the amnestic mild cognitive impairment and healthy elderly groups.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>These findings indicate that cortical functional connectivity related to emotional facial expression processing is more disrupted in Parkinson's disease than in Alzheimer's disease, at both mild cognitive impairment and dementia stages. This disruption affects not only the right hemisphere but also interhemispheric connectivity. Finally, it would occur at theta frequencies.</p>","PeriodicalId":12536,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Human Neuroscience","volume":"20 ","pages":"1708832"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13128654/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147813609","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A two-person neuroscience perspective on parent-infant dyadic expansion of consciousness.","authors":"Giorgia Procissi, Elena Capelli, Beatrice Riva, Martina Collura, Lucia Billeci, Valentina Riva, Ed Tronick, Livio Provenzi","doi":"10.3389/fnhum.2026.1727030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2026.1727030","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Caregiver-infant interaction represents the space where development happens through time. According to the mutual regulation model (MRM) by Tronick, meaning-making, emotion regulation, and stress resilience all emerge from the complex fabric of caregiver-infant interaction. Within this model, the dyadic expansion of consciousness (DEC) identifies how adult caregivers and infants co-create an expanded state of consciousness characterized by greater complexity through reciprocal interactions of their individual states of consciousness and alternating phases of matching, mismatching, and reparation. The well-validated Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigm (FFSF), by introducing experimental manipulations of caregiver's interactive availability, represents a reliable procedure to investigate these early forms of socio-emotional and socio-cognitive exchanges. Nonetheless, there is a general lack of studies investigating and providing measures of DEC. Recent advancements in the developmental neuroscience field (i.e., hyperscanning protocols) hold promises to provide renewed interest in studying DEC by exploring the dyadic co-regulation of inter-brain coupling and uncoupling from a caregiver-infant perspective. By employing diverse emerging metrics of neural coupling, researchers can investigate, using unprecedented neuroscientific approaches, how the behavioral and neural activity of each interactive partner may lead to the emergence of a \"two-brained system\" capable of producing dyadic meanings through dynamically synchronized and resonating individual brain networks. In the present contribution, we highlight how developmental hyperscanning research can be beneficial to our comprehension of the early mutual regulation processes occurring in caregiver-infant dyads.</p>","PeriodicalId":12536,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Human Neuroscience","volume":"20 ","pages":"1727030"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13125086/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147813584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Case Report: post-stroke rehabilitation with a visuomotor transformation-based brain-computer interface.","authors":"Alisa Kokorina, Nikolay Syrov, Lev Yakovlev, Mikhail Lebedev","doi":"10.3389/fnhum.2026.1774409","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2026.1774409","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are increasingly explored as tools for post-stroke neurorehabilitation. Motor imagery (MI)-based paradigms are widely used but may be difficult for some patients to perform reliably, motivating the exploration of alternative control strategies. This study presents a retrospective exploratory case series (<i>n</i> = 5) evaluating the feasibility and safety of a P300-based BCI paradigm designed to engage visuomotor transformation processes during upper limb rehabilitation. Two patients underwent rehabilitation using the P300-based paradigm, while three patients used an MI-based BCI within the same rehabilitation framework. In both conditions, BCI control was integrated with a robotic orthosis and an immersive virtual reality (VR) environment. BCI performance, neurophysiological responses (event-related potentials and event-related desynchronization), and clinical measures (Fugl-Meyer Assessment of the Upper Extremity, NIHSS) were assessed before and after a 10-session rehabilitation course. All participants were able to achieve BCI control above chance level. Across cases, changes in clinical scores and consistent neurophysiological patterns associated with task engagement were observed. No adverse events or clinically significant safety concerns were identified. These findings suggest that a P300-based BCI paradigm incorporating visuomotor transformation can be feasibly implemented within a VR-assisted robotic rehabilitation framework. Given the exploratory design, small sample size, and heterogeneity of the cohort, the results should be interpreted as hypothesis-generating. Further controlled studies are required to determine the clinical relevance and potential applications of this approach.</p>","PeriodicalId":12536,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Human Neuroscience","volume":"20 ","pages":"1774409"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13121322/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147767314","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}