Cerebral cortexPub Date : 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf173
Marie Drottar, Claire E Manley, Negin Nadvar, Howard J Cabral, Peter J Bex, Lotfi B Merabet, Corinna M Bauer
{"title":"Structural and functional attention network connectivity in relation to visual selective attention dysfunction in cerebral visual impairment.","authors":"Marie Drottar, Claire E Manley, Negin Nadvar, Howard J Cabral, Peter J Bex, Lotfi B Merabet, Corinna M Bauer","doi":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf173","DOIUrl":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf173","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Individuals with cerebral visual impairment (CVI) often demonstrate difficulties with visual selective attention; however, the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we investigated whether structural and functional connectivity between and within the attention networks, thalamus, and early visual areas is differentially associated with performance on a conjunction search task in participants with CVI as compared to controls. Data from 26 participants was collected and analyzed (10 CVI, four female, 17.4 years, 5.38 s.d., 16 control, 10 female, 22.25 years, 4.25 s.d.). White matter tracts associated with the dorsal and ventral attention networks as well as structural and functional connectivity matrices of the dorsal and ventral attention networks were generated for each participant. Group differences in conjunction search outcomes, tract volume, and network connectivity strength were evaluated. General linear models were used to investigate the relationship between neuroimaging predictor variables and each of the four conjunction search primary outcomes. All analyses were adjusted for age and verbal cognition. In the CVI group impaired visual search was associated with weaker structural and stronger functional connectivity, while in the control group the opposite effect was observed. Together, these results suggest that functional over-recruitment may be a maladaptive compensatory mechanism.</p>","PeriodicalId":9715,"journal":{"name":"Cerebral cortex","volume":"35 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144559315","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Learn from your competitor or cooperator? A hyperscanning functional near-infrared spectroscopy study of gender-specific neural dynamics during interactive learning.","authors":"Ming Peng, Xiaoying Yang, Honghui Cai, Mengfei Cai, Xu Li, Mingming Zhang","doi":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf196","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhaf196","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Social learning, a critical mechanism for human adaptation to complex societal environments, hinges not only on learners' cognitive and emotional processes but also on modes and contexts of social interaction. However, the exact mechanisms by which these factors impact social learning, and how gender differences modulate this process, remain unclear. This study employed a dual-player version of the Iowa Gambling Task, where participants alternated selecting decks under cooperative or competitive conditions. Neural signals from the right prefrontal cortex and right temporoparietal junction were captured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy equipment. Results indicated more safe decks but less frequent switching between decks in the cooperative than the competitive context. Participants reported more positive learning experiences in cooperation condition. We found higher intra-brain activation during observation than during direct reaction. Additionally, as an observer, the loss of a competitor triggered greater activation. Stage changes were observed in intra-brain activation and inter-brain synchronization (IBS), revealing gender differences in the stage effect on activation, and opposite effects on time-aligned and time-lagged IBS. Furthermore, gender-specific trends emerged, with males exhibiting higher IBS in competition and females showing higher IBS in cooperation. This study reveals dynamic neuroadaptive reconfigurations in cross-brain connectivity throughout the learning trajectory.</p>","PeriodicalId":9715,"journal":{"name":"Cerebral cortex","volume":"35 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144673936","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cerebral cortexPub Date : 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf153
Kanad N Mandke, Prejaas Tewarie, Peyman Adjamian, Martin Schürmann, Jil Meier
{"title":"Musicians' brains at rest: multilayer network analysis of magnetoencephalography data.","authors":"Kanad N Mandke, Prejaas Tewarie, Peyman Adjamian, Martin Schürmann, Jil Meier","doi":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf153","DOIUrl":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf153","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The ability to proficiently play a musical instrument requires a fine-grained synchronization between several sensorimotor and cognitive brain regions. Previous studies have demonstrated that the brain undergoes functional changes with musical training, identifiable also in resting-state data. These studies analyzed functional MRI or electrophysiological frequency-specific brain networks in isolation. While the analysis of such \"mono-layer\" networks has proven useful, it fails to capture the complexities of multiple interacting networks. To this end, we applied a multilayer network framework for analyzing publicly available data (Open MEG Archive) obtained with magnetoencephalography. We investigated resting-state differences between participants with musical training (n = 31) and those without (n = 31). While single-layer analysis did not demonstrate any group differences, multilayer analysis revealed that musicians show a modular organization that spans visuo-motor and fronto-temporal areas, known to be involved in musical performance execution, which is significantly different from non-musicians. Differences between the two groups are primarily observed in the theta (6.5 to 8 Hz), alpha1 (8.5 to 10 Hz), and beta1 (12.5 to 16 Hz) frequency bands. We demonstrate that the multilayer method provides additional information that single-layer analysis cannot. Overall, the multilayer network method provides a unique opportunity to explore the pan-spectral nature of oscillatory networks, with studies of brain plasticity as a potential future application.</p>","PeriodicalId":9715,"journal":{"name":"Cerebral cortex","volume":"35 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12231559/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144559314","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cerebral cortexPub Date : 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf169
Minwoo Lee, Marlen Z Gonzalez
{"title":"Asymmetric access to social vs. economic resources during development calibrates socio-cognitive pathways to risk-taking in emerging adults.","authors":"Minwoo Lee, Marlen Z Gonzalez","doi":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf169","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhaf169","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Developmental plasticity enables organisms to adapt to early-life environments by tailoring neurocognitive and behavioral strategies to local risks and resources. However, existing research often reduces this dynamic calibration to aggregate exposure to adversity, leaving the effect of distinct early-life environments on adult behaviors and brain functions poorly understood. We investigated how differential childhood socio-economic contexts influence adult risk-taking and associated mechanisms. Forty-eight adults were recruited, and grouped based on their relative access to social (socially-rich) or economic (economically-rich) resources during childhood and completed a balloon analog risk task during functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. Risk-taking tendencies were estimated via computational modeling and analyzed relative to developmental and current socio-economic contexts. While groups showed similar average risk-taking tendencies, for socially-rich participants only, greater current social support correlated with lower risk-taking. Similarly, risk-taking in both groups coincided with activation in the supramarginal gyrus. However, socially-rich participants uniquely recruited occipito-parietal cortices during risk-taking, a pattern attenuated by higher current social support. Across groups, supramarginal gyrus-prefrontal cortex connectivity tracked mismatches between childhood- and current resource environments, potentially reflecting \"sensitized-specialization\" of neural systems. Our findings highlight how exposure to distinct early-life environments shapes divergent neurocognitive mechanisms underlying adult risk-taking, offering insights for developing context-sensitive interventions.</p>","PeriodicalId":9715,"journal":{"name":"Cerebral cortex","volume":"35 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144559312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cerebral cortexPub Date : 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf167
Timofei Ponomarev, Anatoly Vasilyev, Eva Novikova, Alexandra Pokidko, Natalia Zaitseva, Dmitry Zaitsev, Alexander Kaplan
{"title":"Brain mechanisms of (dis)agreement: ERP evidence from binary choice responses.","authors":"Timofei Ponomarev, Anatoly Vasilyev, Eva Novikova, Alexandra Pokidko, Natalia Zaitseva, Dmitry Zaitsev, Alexander Kaplan","doi":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf167","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhaf167","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Agreement and disagreement are essential brain processes that enable effective communication and decision-making. However, a clear neurophysiological framework explaining their organization is still lacking. The present study aimed to identify EEG correlates of implicit agreement and disagreement, developing a novel experimental paradigm to model these internal responses. Participants were tasked with mentally responding to binary (\"yes\" or \"no\") questions and evaluating the accuracy of a computer system's attempts to \"guess\" their responses. Event-related potentials (ERP) revealed distinct patterns associated with agreement and disagreement in two key contexts: when participants read the final word of a question and when they observed the computer's \"guess.\" Disagreement, compared to agreement, elicited larger ERP amplitudes, specifically an enhanced N400 component in the first context and increased feedback-related negativity in the second. Considering the associations of these ERP components with cognitive processes, this research offers robust evidence linking agreement and disagreement to the brain's effort in reconciling personal beliefs and expectations with new information. Furthermore, the experimental framework and findings provide a foundation for the development of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) capable of detecting \"yes\" and \"no\" commands based on their intrinsic EEG predictors, offering promising applications in assistive technologies and neural communication systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":9715,"journal":{"name":"Cerebral cortex","volume":"35 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144559313","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Anger expression facilitates social punishment and neural synchrony in collective unfairness.","authors":"Xudong Wang, Youxun Ge, Kuilin Ying, Yingchao Chang, Yangmei Luo, Hao Yan, Xuhai Chen","doi":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf185","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhaf185","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>When confronted with unfair treatment, individuals often forgo personal interests to punish those who act unjustly, a behavior known as social punishment. Prior research suggests that the experience of anger can unite individuals in executing social punishment. However, how an individual's angry expression following unfairness influences others' social punishment behaviors, as well as the underlying interpersonal neural mechanisms, remains insufficiently explored. To address these questions, we conducted a functional near-infrared spectroscopy-based hyperscanning study using an adapted three-person ultimatum game involving one proposer and two responders. By manipulating both the emotional expression and the visibility of facial expressions between responders, we found that clear angry expressions significantly increased social punishment and enhanced interpersonal neural synchrony (INS) in the right temporoparietal junction (r-TPJ). Moreover, INS emerged as a strong predictor of collective rejection rates. In contrast, when angry expressions were masked, collective rejection rates decreased, and INS did not significantly increase. These findings provide evidence that angry expressions in unfair situations amplify social punishment directed toward advantaged parties and are associated with increased INS, underscoring the role of angry expression in coordinated group responses.</p>","PeriodicalId":9715,"journal":{"name":"Cerebral cortex","volume":"35 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144641908","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cerebral cortexPub Date : 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf165
Peter Herman, Simon Sanggaard, Shaun D James, Adil Akif, Sandeep Kumar Mishra, Basavaraju G Sanganahalli, Justus V Verhagen, Hal Blumenfeld, Fahmeed Hyder
{"title":"Mapping of neurovascular and neurometabolic couplings by multimodal optical imaging.","authors":"Peter Herman, Simon Sanggaard, Shaun D James, Adil Akif, Sandeep Kumar Mishra, Basavaraju G Sanganahalli, Justus V Verhagen, Hal Blumenfeld, Fahmeed Hyder","doi":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf165","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhaf165","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Neurovascular coupling links calcium (Ca2+)-dependent neuronal activity to cerebral blood volume changes, whereas neurometabolic coupling describes alterations of neuronal activity and glucose uptake. While mesoscale optical imaging of neurovascular coupling is prevalent, neurometabolic coupling has been explored much less. We describe a multiplexed optical system with a closed cranial window setup for longitudinal studies in Thy1-jRGECO1a mice where neuronal activity is measured with Ca2+-dependent red fluorescence, glucose uptake with bolus injections of 2NBDG with green fluorescence, and cerebral blood volume (CBV) with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Genetically encoded calcium indicators (GECIs) provide strong fluorescent signals for assessing Ca2+-dependent neuronal activity. Thy1-jRGECO1a, a novel GECI with red fluorescence emission that penetrates deeper into tissue, allows for simultaneous imaging of metabolic activity using a green-fluorescent glucose analog, 2-(N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)amino)-2-deoxyglucose (2NBDG), which is taken up like glucose and then phosphorylated. Dual-fluorescent (red, green) and NIRS recordings confirm strong neurovascular coupling during hindpaw stimuli (Ca2+-CBV; P = 0.0033, r2 = 0.91), whereas neurometabolic coupling (Ca2+-2NBDG; P < 0.001) was three times stronger during stimulation (r2 = 0.75; slope = 0.6) compared to rest (r2 = 0.49; slope = 0.23). In summary, multiplexed optical imaging can be used to reveal mechanisms of neurovascular and neurometabolic (un)couplings during ischemia, traumatic brain injury, aging, and Alzheimer's disease.</p>","PeriodicalId":9715,"journal":{"name":"Cerebral cortex","volume":"35 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144583203","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Neural networks underlying magnitude perception: a specific meta-analysis of fMRI studies.","authors":"Hazal Şimşek-Ünver, Burcu Sırmatel-Bakrıyanık, Beyza Doğanay, Fuat Balcı, Metehan Çiçek","doi":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf163","DOIUrl":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf163","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Daily life requires simultaneously processing spatial, temporal, and numerical inputs to form a valid mental representation of the environment. The interrelation between these perceptions has been a subject of theoretical debate. For instance, a theory of magnitude (ATOM) asserts that magnitude perceptions are processed in overlapping brain areas, which has been tested in behavioral and neuroimaging studies. We aimed to combine functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) results using a coordinate-based meta-analysis to test this primary assumption of ATOM regarding overlapping brain areas. We conducted separate literature searches for space, time, and number perception following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The analysis was based on 19 articles regarding space, 38 regarding time, and 31 regarding number perception. Coordinates were analyzed using the \"Activation Likelihood Estimation\" method, which focused on conjunction analysis. Double conjunction analyses revealed activations mainly in the fronto-parietal areas and insular cortex. The triple conjunction analysis revealed activations in the right hemisphere, specifically in the inferior parietal and inferior frontal areas (previously linked to magnitude perception) and the anterior insular cortex (implicated in interoception and salience). In support of the ATOM theory, these findings suggest that overlapping neural networks may underlie space, time, and number perceptions.</p>","PeriodicalId":9715,"journal":{"name":"Cerebral cortex","volume":"35 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12235004/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144583205","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cerebral cortexPub Date : 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf171
Donghui Song, Xin-Ping Deng, Da Chang, Ze Wang
{"title":"Altered resting-state brain entropy by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation across the human cortex.","authors":"Donghui Song, Xin-Ping Deng, Da Chang, Ze Wang","doi":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf171","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhaf171","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive neuromodulation technique used to treat neuropsychiatric disorders. Despite its efficacy, its neuro-mechanisms remain unclear. Brain entropy (BEN), a measure of the irregularity and complexity of brain activity, has been shown to reflect the effects of high-frequency rTMS (HF-rTMS). However, it remains unknown whether BEN is sensitive to low-frequency rTMS (LF-rTMS), as well as to target-specific effects. Eighteen healthy adult participants underwent continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (L-DLPFC), and 23 healthy adult participants underwent LF-rTMS targeting the L-DLPFC, left temporoparietal junction (L-TPJ), and left occipital cortex (L-OCC). Magnetic resonance imaging scans were performed pre- and post-stimulation, and BEN maps were calculated from the preprocessed functional images. Results showed that cTBS over L-DLPFC increased BEN in the medial orbitofrontal cortex (MOFC), while L-DLPFC LF-rTMS increased BEN in the MOFC, subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, and putamen. LF-rTMS at the L-TPJ increased BEN in the right TPJ, while LF-rTMS at the L-OCC decreased BEN in the posterior cingulate cortex. These findings demonstrate BEN remains sensitive to LF-rTMS and exhibits target-specific effects. Furthermore, this work advances BEN as a promising biomarker for rTMS effects beyond motor cortex paradigms.</p>","PeriodicalId":9715,"journal":{"name":"Cerebral cortex","volume":"35 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144616475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cerebral cortexPub Date : 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf184
Frederick Chien, Valentina L Kouznetsova, Santosh Kesari, Igor F Tsigelny
{"title":"Electroencephalography-based diagnosis of schizophrenia using machine learning.","authors":"Frederick Chien, Valentina L Kouznetsova, Santosh Kesari, Igor F Tsigelny","doi":"10.1093/cercor/bhaf184","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhaf184","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Schizophrenia is a mental disorder with a high social burden. Identification of quantitative biomarkers has the potential to facilitate the diagnosis process. This study aims to explore a routine to gain such biomarkers using quantitative analysis of electroencephalography (EEG) data. Previous studies suggest that EEG data can be used to differentiate schizophrenia patients from healthy subjects. Various EEG features were used for such diagnostics using machine learning (ML) algorithms, but selecting the optimal EEG features and the classifiers is still insufficient. We propose an automatic selection of ML parameters using the Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis software. Using Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis's \"Supervised Attribute Selection\" tool, we identified attributes that allow the identification of schizophrenia patients with a high accuracy of 93%. The attributes identified were EEG signals enriched for alpha and gamma frequencies from specific brain areas (frontal right, central, parietal, and occipital). This proposed strategy can effectively identify schizophrenia patients with high accuracy. It could be used as an ML tool to support diagnosis and potentially provide insights into the underlying disease mechanism of schizophrenia.</p>","PeriodicalId":9715,"journal":{"name":"Cerebral cortex","volume":"35 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144616477","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}