Brain Sciences最新文献

{"title":"Early Risk Stratification and Time-to-Cure Analysis in Patients with Residual Hemifacial Spasm After Microvascular Decompression.","authors":"Siyi Liu, Tao Du, Feng Hou, Zaiying Jiang, Liu He, Yunjian Huang, Bing Ni, Xueyuan Wang, Yunpeng Wang, Hongwei Zhu","doi":"10.3390/brainsci16090978","DOIUrl":"10.3390/brainsci16090978","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background/objectives: </strong>Microvascular decompression (MVD) is an effective treatment for hemifacial spasm (HFS), but some patients have residual spasms after surgery. Some later achieve delayed cure, whereas others have persistent HFS, making reoperation planning difficult. This study aimed to develop a prediction model for early risk stratification in patients with residual HFS after MVD.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We retrospectively analyzed 500 consecutive patients with primary HFS who underwent MVD between November 2021 and August 2023. Among them, 140 patients with residual HFS at 24 h postoperatively were included. Clinical variables, intraoperative abnormal muscle response, Cohen grade at 24 h after surgery (Cohen-post), and Immediate Subjective Improvement Rate (ISIR) were collected. A multivariable logistic regression model was developed and presented as a nomogram, with bootstrap internal validation. Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analyses were used to assess time to cure.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Mean follow-up was 21.9 months. Delayed cure occurred in 102 patients (72.9%), whereas 38 (27.1%) had persistent HFS. The final model included ISIR, Cohen-post, and offending artery status. The nomogram showed good discrimination (area under the curve 0.901). Patients with higher ISIR and lower Cohen-post recovered faster. Among patients with delayed cure, median time to cure was 30 days, and 95% achieved cure within 300 days after surgery.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In patients with residual HFS at 24 h after MVD, a nomogram incorporating ISIR, Cohen-post, and offending artery status may help distinguish delayed cure from persistent HFS and may provide useful information on the likelihood of further recovery.</p>","PeriodicalId":9095,"journal":{"name":"Brain Sciences","volume":"16 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13604143/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149058319","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":"FastSurfer-Based Brain Morphometry and Machine-Learning Classification Across the Alzheimer's Disease Spectrum.","authors":"Sinem Nur Altun, Hurriyet Cetinok","doi":"10.3390/brainsci16090980","DOIUrl":"10.3390/brainsci16090980","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Background&lt;/b&gt;: This study aimed to quantitatively assess structural changes in the hippocampus, amygdala, entorhinal cortex, lateral ventricles, precuneus, and posterior cingulate using deep-learning-based FastSurfer morphometry and evaluate their contribution to classification across the Alzheimer's disease (AD) spectrum. &lt;b&gt;Methods&lt;/b&gt;: Three-dimensional T1-weighted MRI data from the AD Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) were analyzed using FastSurfer. The study included 791 participants (425 female and 366 male): 365 cognitively normal (CN), 273 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 153 with AD. Morphometric measures included hippocampal and amygdala volumes, lateral ventricular volume, entorhinal cortical thickness and surface area, and precuneus and posterior cingulate thickness and folding index. Volumetric measures were normalized to estimated total intracranial volume (eTIV). Principal morphometric comparisons were additionally adjusted for age, sex, and education. Six machine-learning classifiers were evaluated using participant-level training (&lt;i&gt;n&lt;/i&gt; = 632) and held-out test (&lt;i&gt;n&lt;/i&gt; = 159) sets, with an additional MMSE-ablation analysis. &lt;b&gt;Results&lt;/b&gt;: Hippocampal and amygdala volumes were significantly lower and lateral ventricular volume was significantly higher in AD than in CN (all &lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; &lt; 0.001), with these differences persisting after eTIV normalization and remaining significant after adjustment for age, sex, and education (all adjusted &lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; &lt; 0.001). MCI generally showed intermediate volumetric values between CN and AD. Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores correlated positively with total hippocampal (&lt;i&gt;r&lt;/i&gt; = 0.495) and amygdala (&lt;i&gt;r&lt;/i&gt; = 0.462) volumes and negatively with lateral ventricular volume (&lt;i&gt;r&lt;/i&gt; = -0.256) (all &lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; &lt; 0.001). For three-class CN/MCI/AD classification, Logistic Regression with ElasticNet achieved a mean macro-F1 score of 0.706 ± 0.017 in five-fold cross-validation and a held-out macro-F1 score of 0.705 with MMSE included. Excluding MMSE reduced the held-out macro-F1 score to 0.531 and ROC-AUC to 0.735, compared with 0.857 when MMSE was included. Performance was higher for binary CN-versus-AD classification, with a held-out test macro-F1 score of 0.919 and ROC-AUC of 0.990. &lt;b&gt;Conclusions&lt;/b&gt;: FastSurfer-based morphometry demonstrated medial temporal atrophy and lateral ventricular enlargement across the CN-MCI-AD spectrum, with the principal volumetric differences remaining robust after adjustment for age, sex, and education. The intermediate morphometric profile of MCI and the associations between medial temporal volumes and cognitive performance support the relevance of these structural measures. Machine-learning performance improved substantially when MMSE was incorporated, indicating that the combined models reflect integrated morphometric, demographic, genetic, and cognitive information rather than morphometry alone. External validation in independent cohorts ","PeriodicalId":9095,"journal":{"name":"Brain Sciences","volume":"16 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13604509/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149058411","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":"RIFT: A Fractal-Holographic Theory of Consciousness and Autopoietic Control.","authors":"Erhard Bieberich","doi":"10.3390/brainsci16090983","DOIUrl":"10.3390/brainsci16090983","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Background/Objectives:</b> Consciousness remains poorly understood as a causative force. Existing theories describe neural correlates or information processing but do not explain how a unified inner experiential space is physically generated or acts back upon its substrate. Recurrent Integration Fractal Theory (RIFT) proposes a three-step mechanism that reconstructs the spatial relationships of the outer world (exospace) within the experiential space of the Self (endospace) and enables autopoietic feedback. <b>Methods:</b> RIFT was examined through six computational modules representing successive transformations from recurrent network activity to endospace generation and feedback. Recurrent loops through fractal dendritic trees generated temporally organized excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) and dynamic information integration. Coincident EPSPs programmed somatic multifractals composed of ion channels and membrane lipid domains, producing a fractal Self-attractor (fractal enfolding, Step 1). Coherent point sources derived from this attractor generated a holographic endospace that preserved exospace relationships (holographic unfolding, Step 2), and the reconstructed field modulated lipid-channel coupling and channel opening (autopoietic feedback, Step 3). Generational Fractal Mapping (GFM), in which new EPSPs are mapped onto the compressed fractal seed of the prior state, enables incremental updating, temporal continuity, and Self-attractor transfer. <b>Results:</b> The architecture was validated computationally against three properties specified by RIFT as requirements of consciousness: irreducibility, information integration, and holographic encoding. The simulations also reproduced signatures consistent with conscious access and low-dimensional volitional control. <b>Conclusions:</b> RIFT provides a testable computational framework linking neural activity, endospace generation, and feedback. It predicts effects of lipid-substrate disruption in Alzheimer's disease, fractal signatures of conscious states, and structural criteria for artificial consciousness.</p>","PeriodicalId":9095,"journal":{"name":"Brain Sciences","volume":"16 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13604132/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149058377","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":"Awakening the Vagus: Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation-A Narrative Review.","authors":"Lara Portincaso, Gaia Chiara Santi, Nicole Villa, Davide Antonio Di Pietro","doi":"10.3390/brainsci16090979","DOIUrl":"10.3390/brainsci16090979","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Disorders of consciousness (DoC), including unresponsive wakefulness syndrome/vegetative state (UWS/VS) and minimally conscious state (MCS), remain a major challenge in clinical neurology. Therapeutic options are limited, and prognosis is often uncertain. Transcutaneous stimulation of the auricular branch of the vagus nerve (taVNS) is a non-invasive neuromodulation technique that has gained increasing interest as a potential strategy to promote recovery of consciousness. This narrative review summarizes the anatomical and functional rationale of taVNS, compares invasive and non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation techniques, reviews the biological mechanisms underlying its effects, discusses established clinical applications, technological innovations, and available clinical trial evidence. Current data suggest that taVNS is safe and well-tolerated, with preliminary evidence of applicability in DoC, particularly in patients with MCS. However, heterogeneity in stimulation protocols and the limited number of large-scale randomized controlled trials highlight the need for further standardized research.</p>","PeriodicalId":9095,"journal":{"name":"Brain Sciences","volume":"16 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13604547/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149058446","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":"Psychological Issues Among Caregivers of Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Scoping Review.","authors":"Gerald Agyapong-Opoku, Ejemai Eboreime, Andrew J Greenshaw, Belinda Agyapong","doi":"10.3390/brainsci16090982","DOIUrl":"10.3390/brainsci16090982","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Background:</b> Caring for children with neurodevelopmental disorders can be challenging and is normally associated with a heightened risk of psychological challenges among caregivers. <b>Objective:</b> This scoping review aims to synthesize the existing literature on the prevalence and correlates of stress, anxiety, and depression among caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental disorders. <b>Methods:</b> This scoping review was conducted following the methodological framework outlined by Arksey and O'Malley and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA-ScR) extension for scoping reviews. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science, and CINAHL. <b>Results:</b> A total of 56 studies were included in this review. Factors associated with caregivers' psychological issues include the age of the child, daily stress from own needs and the child's care needs, and co-morbidity in the child. Articles utilized different screening tools and diverse diagnostic classifications to determine symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression, leading to variations in prevalence estimates. The lowest prevalence of stress reported was 7.9%, while the highest reported caregiver moderate-to-severe stress was 94.6%. Similarly, the prevalence of anxiety and depression varied from 6.0% to 85.8% and from 5.2% to 85.1%, respectively. This substantial variability is likely attributable to the heterogeneity of assessment tools and inconsistencies in the use of classificatory terminology, such as \"severe,\" \"clinical range,\" and \"high\", which may limit the generalizability of the findings. <b>Conclusions:</b> Caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities experience an immense psychological burden. Expanding access to sustainable psychosocial and social protection interventions is a vital step toward improving their well-being. This will indirectly improve the overall outcomes for the children. Government and policymakers should prioritize the implementation of measures such as social support allocated to this cohort to enhance their quality of life and improve their overall well-being.</p>","PeriodicalId":9095,"journal":{"name":"Brain Sciences","volume":"16 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13604884/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149058402","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":"From Clipping to Coiling and Beyond: Mapping the Evolution and Future Directions of Intracranial Aneurysm Research.","authors":"Jure Pešak, Andrej Kastrin","doi":"10.3390/brainsci16090984","DOIUrl":"10.3390/brainsci16090984","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Background/Objectives</b>: Intracranial aneurysm (IA) management has evolved from surgical treatment of ruptured lesions into a multidisciplinary field integrating diagnostics, neurocritical care, endovascular techniques, and individualized risk assessment. As the literature has grown beyond the scope of traditional narrative synthesis, bibliometric methods are needed to characterize the field's development. We used co-word analysis to map the conceptual structure and thematic evolution of IA research over nearly eight decades. <b>Methods</b>: We analyzed 22,061 publications indexed in PubMed between 1946 and 2023. Co-word analysis of Medical Subject Headings tracked thematic development across six subperiods grouped into eras. Within each thematic network, topics were classified by centrality and density as motor, niche (highly developed but isolated), emerging or declining, or basic themes. <b>Results</b>: Four historical eras were delineated as an interpretative synthesis of the six subperiods. The open-surgery era (1946-1980) centered on ruptured aneurysms and refinement of operative techniques. The transitional era (1981-1990) was marked by proactive vasospasm management and emerging neurocritical care. The endovascular era (1991-2010) reflected the rise of evidence-based medicine and endovascular therapy. The multidisciplinary era (2011-2023) shifted toward unruptured aneurysms, molecular research, biomechanics, and individualized risk stratification. Recent themes, including hemodynamics, flow diversion, and precision medicine, reflect a growing research emphasis on predictive and personalized approaches to aneurysm management. <b>Conclusions</b>: IA research has evolved from descriptive, technique-oriented studies toward a data-driven landscape increasingly focused on predictive assessment and management of unruptured lesions. Its thematic evolution highlights the growing prominence of molecular and computational approaches, although their clinical and translational impact cannot be directly inferred from the present analysis.</p>","PeriodicalId":9095,"journal":{"name":"Brain Sciences","volume":"16 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13604126/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149058451","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":"Evaluation of Clusterin, Sestrin-2, Oxidative Stress, and Inflammatory Indices in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease Dementia.","authors":"Nida Aslan Karakelle, Safiye Göçer, Esra Eruyar, Yasemin Atıcı, Müge Coşkun Yıldırım","doi":"10.3390/brainsci16090977","DOIUrl":"10.3390/brainsci16090977","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Introduction:</b> Alzheimer's disease dementia (AD dementia) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder associated with cognitive decline. Oxidative stress and inflammation may contribute to its pathophysiology, with clusterin (CLU) and sestrin-2 (SESN2) emerging as potential biomarkers. This study evaluated oxidative stress markers, inflammatory indices, and serum CLU and SESN2 levels in patients with AD dementia. <b>Methods:</b> A total of 48 patients with AD dementia and 39 healthy controls in a broadly comparable age range were enrolled from a neurology outpatient clinic. AD dementia was diagnosed according to internationally accepted clinical criteria. Cognitive function was assessed using Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores obtained at diagnosis. Serum malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), CLU, and SESN2 were measured, with MDA and GSH analyzed spectrophotometrically and CLU and SESN2 concentrations determined using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Inflammatory indices were calculated from routine hematological and biochemical parameters. <b>Results:</b> A multivariable logistic regression model including age, MDA, and GSH showed excellent discriminatory performance for distinguishing patients with AD dementia from healthy controls. Patients with AD dementia had significantly lower SESN2 levels (<i>p</i> < 0.001) and higher CLU levels (<i>p</i> < 0.001) than controls. No significant associations were observed between inflammatory indices and the investigated clinical or biochemical variables in the AD dementia group (<i>p</i> > 0.05). <b>Conclusions:</b> Oxidative stress and altered SESN2 and CLU levels may be associated with AD dementia, whereas the inflammatory indices showed limited utility. Larger prospective studies are needed to validate these findings and clarify their clinical significance.</p>","PeriodicalId":9095,"journal":{"name":"Brain Sciences","volume":"16 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13604225/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149058436","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":"Cognitive and Behavioral Functioning in Female Former Soccer Players: Results from the Head Impact and Trauma Surveillance Study (HITSS).","authors":"Shania C Mulayi, Anna Aaronson, Kelsey J Goostrey, Fatima Tuz-Zahra, Yorghos Tripodis, William S Cole-French, Matthew Roebuck, Greta Schneider, Brittany N Pine, Joseph N Palmisano, Brett M Martin, Kenton H Zavitz, Douglas I Katz, Christopher J Nowinski, Ann C McKee, Thor D Stein, R Scott Mackin, Michael D McClean, Jennifer Weuve, Jesse Mez, Michael W Weiner, Rachel L Nosheny, Michael L Alosco, Robert A Stern","doi":"10.3390/brainsci16090974","DOIUrl":"10.3390/brainsci16090974","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Background/Objectives:</b> Repetitive head impacts (RHI) from contact and collision sports have been associated with later-life cognitive and neurobehavioral impairments, as well as neurodegenerative conditions such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). RHI-associated clinical sequelae among female former soccer players, specifically, are not well understood. This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the relationship of RHI exposure proxies (e.g., total years of soccer play, concussion history, highest level of play, and estimated cumulative heading frequency) with clinical measures (e.g., subjective cognitive complaints, objective cognitive performance, behavioral dysregulation, and depressive symptoms) among 2732 women, aged 40 years or above, enrolled in the Head Impact and Trauma Surveillance Study (HITSS), all of whom formerly played organized soccer. <b>Methods:</b> HITSS participants completed an online battery that elicited self-reported cognitive and behavioral complaints and depressive symptoms and that assessed cognitive performance via computerized tests. Multivariable linear regression models estimated associations between soccer-related RHI proxies and outcome measures, adjusting for age and education. <b>Results:</b> Among the former soccer players, longer duration of soccer play, higher level of play, greater estimated cumulative heading frequency, and concussion history were significantly associated with worse self-reported cognitive functioning, greater behavioral dysregulation, and elevated depressive symptom severity. Apart from a single association between concussion history and visual learning and episodic memory performance, we found no other associations between RHI proxies and objective cognitive test performance. <b>Conclusions:</b> Among middle-aged women who played organized soccer, cumulative RHI exposure corresponded to a higher degree of subjective cognitive complaints, worse behavioral functioning, and more severe depressive symptoms. Continued monitoring of this large cohort of female former soccer players offers a more comprehensive understanding of long-term health consequences of soccer play.</p>","PeriodicalId":9095,"journal":{"name":"Brain Sciences","volume":"16 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13604785/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149058219","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":"Resting-State 40 Hz EEG Activity Before and After Single-Session Non-Flickering 40 Hz Light Stimulation in Cognitively Normal Older Adults: An Uncontrolled Pilot Study.","authors":"Chia-Hsiung Cheng, Hsinjie Lu","doi":"10.3390/brainsci16090976","DOIUrl":"10.3390/brainsci16090976","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Background</b>: Forty-hertz sensory stimulation has emerged as a potential approach for modulating neural activity relevant to Alzheimer's disease. However, electrophysiological changes following non-flickering 40 Hz light stimulation in older adults remain unclear. This study investigated whether a single-session intervention of non-flickering 40 Hz light stimulation would be associated with increased resting-state 40 Hz oscillations in cognitively normal older adults. <b>Methods</b>: In this uncontrolled single-arm pilot study, 16 cognitively normal older adults underwent a 60 min session of non-flickering 40 Hz light stimulation. Resting-state EEG was recorded immediately before and after stimulation. Relative power within 38-42 Hz was analyzed across six predefined scalp regions and the whole-brain measure using one-tailed Wilcoxon signed-rank tests with Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate (FDR) correction. Exploratory real-time EEG recordings during stimulation were available in 10 participants. <b>Results</b>: After FDR correction, resting-state 38-42 Hz relative power was higher post-stimulation in the central (FDR = 0.045, effect size = 0.555) and right temporal (FDR = 0.014, effect size = 0.724) regions. In the absolute-power sensitivity analysis, only the right temporal increase remained significant after FDR correction (FDR = 0.042). Exploratory during-stimulation analysis showed a nominally increased 38-42 Hz signal-to-noise ratio in the right temporal region (<i>p</i> = 0.026). One participant reported very mild fatigue; no other adverse responses were reported. <b>Conclusions</b>: This pilot study suggests regional increases in resting-state 38-42 Hz activity after non-flickering 40 Hz light stimulation, with additional absolute-power support for the right temporal finding. These findings remain preliminary given the uncontrolled design and small sample.</p>","PeriodicalId":9095,"journal":{"name":"Brain Sciences","volume":"16 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13604170/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149058388","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":"Cognitive Control and Metacognition: The Effect of Interference, Working-Memory Load, and Shifting on Confidence in Response Correctness and Partial Error.","authors":"Patryk Guzda, Marta Siedlecka, Aleksandra Gruszka","doi":"10.3390/brainsci16090975","DOIUrl":"10.3390/brainsci16090975","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background/objectives: </strong>Confidence is typically studied in simple perceptual decisions, although everyday decisions also require cognitive control and monitoring of action. Across two experiments, we examined whether response conflict, stimulus complexity, and sequence affect task performance and retrospective metacognitive judgments concerning different aspects of performance: confidence in response correctness and confidence that a covert partial error occurred.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Participants performed a modified Stroop task in which they responded to word colour and, in compound trials, also reported the position of an accompanying line. In Experiment 1 (<i>N</i> = 66), participants rated confidence in the correctness of their responses. In Experiment 2 (<i>N</i> = 47), electromyography was used to identify covert partial errors, and participants rated confidence that a partial error had occurred.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Conflict reduced response accuracy, prolonged response times, and was associated with a small reduction in confidence in correct responses. In Experiment 1, the effect of sequence on confidence depended on stimulus complexity: confidence was higher in simple-repeated than in simple-switched trials, whereas the opposite pattern was observed for compound trials. In Experiment 2, partial errors occurred more frequently under conflict but less frequently in compound trials. Greater incorrect-burst surface and longer correction time were associated with higher partial-error confidence, and both relationships were weaker in compound trials. The association with incorrect-burst surface remained reliable after adjustment for response time. Exploratory analyses also showed lower metacognitive sensitivity under conflict and complexity and lower metacognitive efficiency in compound trials.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Cognitive-control demands were associated with retrospective metacognitive judgments concerning both completed response outcomes and partial-error events occurring during response generation. Conflict was associated with a small reduction in confidence in correct responses, whereas partial-error confidence was associated with measurable characteristics of the partial-error event. The weaker relationship between EMG-derived response-process characteristics and confidence during compound processing suggests that current task demands affect how strongly internal response-related information is related to metacognitive judgments.</p>","PeriodicalId":9095,"journal":{"name":"Brain Sciences","volume":"16 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13604749/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149058202","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}