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The Influence of Physical Activity on Brain Aging and Cognition: The Role of Cognitive Reserve, Thresholds for Decline, Genetic Influence, and the Investment Hypothesis
Published in James M. Rippe, Lifestyle Medicine, 2019
Maureen K. Kayes, Bradley D. Hatfield
Healthy APOE-ε4 carriers also show altered brain activation under memory challenge tasks.35,122 Sperling reported that ε4 carriers displayed increased hippocampal activation that subsequently converted to hypoactivation as memory became more impaired, possibly forecasting a path toward dementia.35 (see Figure 112.1). Numerous studies have revealed that older adults carrying the APOE-ε4 allele exhibit lower cognitive function in areas of executive function, working memory, episodic memory, and perceptual processing, as well as cognitive deficits in the absence of pathology.123–125 Some findings in younger adults have also shed some new light on possible effects of the ε4 allele. One study that examined postmortem gene transcripts from brain cortical samples of young adults who were either ε3 or ε4 revealed differences in mitochondrial function in ε4 carriers before any evidence of plaque or tangle formation.126 Another study revealed mitochondrial damage post mortem in the posterior cingulate cortex in young adults, again found without plaque.127 Both studies offer support for a theory of mitochondrial dysfunction mediating, at least in part, the role the APOE-ε4 allele in cognitive aging and development of AD. The mitochondrial synthetic effect of exercise reported above may mitigate this process.
The Neurobiology of Placebo Effects
Published in Hanna Pickard, Serge H. Ahmed, The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy and Science of Addiction, 2019
Elisa Frisaldi, Diletta Barbiani, Fabrizio Benedetti
Many neuroimaging studies have been performed to understand the functional neuroanatomy of placebo analgesia (Eippert et al. 2009; Petrovic et al. 2002; Wager et al. 2004; Zubieta et al. 2005). A meta-analysis of brain imaging data using the activation likelihood estimation method (ALE) identified two distinct phases: the expectation phase of analgesia and the pain inhibition phase (Amanzio et al. 2013). During expectation, areas of activation were found in the anterior cingulate, precentral and lateral prefrontal cortex, and in the periaqueductal gray. During pain inhibition, deactivations were present in the mid- and posterior cingulate cortex, superior temporal and precentral gyri, anterior and posterior insula, claustrum and putamen, thalamus and caudate body. Overall, many of the regions that are activated during expectation are likely to belong to a descending pain inhibitory system that inhibits pain processing.
Mindfulness
Published in Hilary McClafferty, Mind–Body Medicine in Clinical Practice, 2018
Neural connectivity from the pons to posterior cingulate cortex became more positive in the meditation group, and this enhanced connectivity has an important role in increasing self-awareness and regulating negative affective processing (Shao et al. 2016).
Learnings in developmental and epileptic encephalopathies: what do we know?
Published in Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 2023
Martina Giorgia Perinelli, Antonella Riva, Elisabetta Amadori, Roberta Follo, Pasquale Striano
WS is defined by the triad of (1) spasms, (2) hypsarrhythmia, and (3) psychomotor arrest or regression [38]. Children with WS initially appear to follow a typical developmental trajectory, but later, difficulties emerge, including autism traits, behavioral disorders, and learning difficulties. In one study [38], a well-organized sleep electroencephalography (EEG) pattern and cognitive development, measured with the Griffiths Mental Development Scales, were positively correlated. Chapple and Kinsella [39] conducted a study on a group of patients with WS aged 8 to 13 years. Patients displayed delays in literacy, numeracy, and adaptive and behavioral skills despite generally functioning being at an average level. Difficulties were also demonstrated in modulation, awareness, and attention processes [40–42]. According to Siniatchkin [43], hypsarrhythmia is frequently associated with changes in Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) signals in the brainstem, putamen, and thalamus. In addition to the prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex and cerebellum, disruptions of cortical activity also affect the thalamocortical and hippocampal-cortical networks, which cause difficulties with memory, psychomotor functions and executive processes.
A study on BOLD fMRI of the brain basic activities of MDD and the first-degree relatives
Published in International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, 2020
Yulu Song, Xiaojun Shen, Xinnuan Mu, Ning Mao, Bin Wang
It is shown in the correlation analysis (Guo et al. 2015) between clinical depressive symptoms and ReHo levels, that there was a positive correlation between the severity of the block and the ReHo levels in the right posterior cingulate cortex and right insula. So was the severity of the disease and the ReHo levels in the right dorsal anterior cingulate and right insula. Yuan et al. (2008) found that compared with the healthy controls, the volume of the right frontal cortex was decreased in elderly patients with the first depressive episode who was in their remission stage. Using ROC analysis, Liu et al. (2013) found that there was a better specificity in the differentiation between single-phase depression and healthy controls, in the right middle frontal gyrus, right dorsal thalamus, right cerebellum posterior lobe, right cingulate cortex. In our study, the ReHo levels decreased in the right middle frontal gyrus, right anterior cingulate cortex of MDD compared with healthy controls. These results are partly consistent with previous studies (Liu et al. 2013; Guo et al. 2015). Besides, our study also found some other abnormal areas in MDD compared with previous studies, which may be helpful to explain some symptoms of MDD.
Physical Pain as Pleasure: A Theoretical Perspective
Published in The Journal of Sex Research, 2020
Cara R. Dunkley, Craig D. Henshaw, Saira K. Henshaw, Lori A. Brotto
Just how does focused attention mitigate pain? One study used fMRI to assess the neural mechanisms through which mindfulness meditation attenuates pain (Zeidan et al., 2011). After four days of mindfulness training, meditating while receiving a painful stimulus reduced pain intensity by 40% and unpleasantness by 57% compared to controls. Mindfulness-related decreases in pain intensity ratings coincided with increased anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex activity (areas involved in pain processing and cognitive regulation, respectively). Decreases in pain unpleasantness ratings were associated with increased activity in the orbitofrontal cortex (an area involved in the contextual evaluation of physical sensations) and thalamic deactivation, which was postulated to reflect a modifying influence of the limbic system on the interaction between afferent input and brain areas involved in executive function. These findings suggest that the subjective experience of pain is altered by multiple brain mechanisms during mindfulness meditation. Another neuroimaging study found that dispositional mindfulness in nonmeditators during pain induction was associated with more deactivation of the posterior cingulate cortex in the default mode network—an area involved in mind wandering and processing feelings of the self (Zeidan et al., 2015). The default mode network activates during task performance, suspending self-related thoughts and emotions. These findings indicate that mindful individuals may be less caught up in the experience of pain.