Unique Equipment seminars and lectures
16.12.2021 VII International School for Young Scientists Active and Passive Methods of Brain Research
Higher School of Economics (Russia)
Aalto University (Finland)
Kingston University London (UK)
EPFL Lausanne (Switzerland)
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (Germany)
The school focuses on the following topics: How does the human brain recognize specific environmental stimuli? What areas of the brain are involved in the work of this process? Particular emphasis is placed on methods related to brain stimulation.
27.10.2022 VIII International School for Young Scientists Active and Passive Methods of Brain Research
Higher School of Economics (Russia)
School participants have a unique opportunity to get hands-on experience with TMS, TES, EEG techniques and learn about their advantages and limitations. The programme also covers topics on data analysis and interpretation.
18-20.09.2023 International Summer School "Eye-tracking in the Lab and Beyond"
Higher School of Economics (Russia)
The school is dedicated to eye-tracking – a method of tracking human eye movements, which is used both in fundamental research and beyond scientific laboratories. Participants of the school learned about how to study various cognitive strategies using eye-tracking, about the use of this method both in scientific activity and in education, medicine, and neuromarketing, as well as about the peculiarities of analyzing eye-tracking data and how eye-tracking and AI can assist in the diagnosis of dyslexia.
26-28.09.2023 International School "From Idea to Publication"
Higher School of Economics (Russia)
The very essence of the neurolinguistic school is to acquaint students of linguistic disciplines, those standing at the dawn of their academic journey, with the methods and seminal studies in the realm of neurolinguistics. The attendees of this esteemed school were graced with the unique privilege to attend lectures by leading scholars, as well as sessions dedicated to the art of selecting research methods and techniques, the crafting of hypotheses, the pursuit of sources, the construction of experiments using the PsychoPy software, and the nuanced articulation of research methodologies in scholarly articles.
16.12.2021 IX International School for Young Scientists Active and Passive Methods of Brain Research
Higher School of Economics (Russia)
Recently, many discoveries have been made in the field of functional and morphophysiological brain mapping that have greatly expanded our understanding of the brain. Modern methods such as TMS, TES and EEG allow us to effectively assess the role of different brain structures in the organization of individual cognitive functions, as well as to gain insight into its complex workings. The school participants had a unique opportunity to get acquainted with these methods (TMS, TES, EEG) in practice and learn about their advantages and limitations. Special attention was paid to the issues of competent data analysis and interpretation.
Conferences
15-18.10.2021 ECNP
(Viena)
- P.0986 Transcranial dynamics of the mirror neurons effect induced by observation of hand movement : a transcranial magnetic stimulation study Doval C.N, Ragimova A., Feurra M.
- P.1114 The effectiveness of rhythmic transcranial magnetic stimulation in patients with cervical dystonia: a pilot study. Ragimova A., Petelin D., Oganesyan Z., Tolmacheva V.
14-16.09.2022 Fourth International Conference Neurotechnologies and Neurointerfaces (CNN)
(Kaliningrad)
-Popyvanova A., Pomelova E., Ilyukina N. A., Koryakina M. M., Bredikhin D., Shestakova A., Blagoveshchensky E. Effects of noninvasive anodal transspinal direct current stimulation of the cervical segments on motor learning in healthy subjects, in: 2022 Fourth International Conference Neurotechnologies and Neurointerfaces (CNN) Kaliningrad, 14-16 Sept. 2022. IEEE, 2022
-Pomelova E., Popyvanova A., Bredikhin D., Koryakina M. M., Ilyukina N. A., Shestakova A., Blagoveshchensky E. Effects of transspinal electrical stimulation estimated by transcranial magnetic stimulation, in: 2022 Fourth International Conference Neurotechnologies and Neurointerfaces (CNN) Kaliningrad, 14-16 Sept. 2022. IEEE, 2022.
- A. Davydova, J. Sheronova, V. Kosonogov, V. Klucharev and A. Shestakova, "TMS study of the role of the medial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the post-decisional spreading of alternatives," 2022 Fourth International Conference Neurotechnologies and Neurointerfaces (CNN), Kaliningrad, Russian Federation, 2022, pp. 17-20, doi: 10.1109/CNN56452.2022.9912534.
18-22.02.2023 5th International Brain Stimulation Conference
(Lisbon)
- Transcranial alternating current stimulation of the sensorimotor system: towards customized protocols. Matteo Feurra, Carlos Nieto Doval, Aynur Ragimova
- In search of an optimal transcranial magnetic stimulation protocol for the study of mirror neurons: a comparative of stimuli presentations and temporal dynamics. Carlos Nieto-Doval, Aynur Ragimova, Matteo Feurra
- The influence of menstrual cycle on the indexes of cortical excitability. Vladimir Djurdjevic, Matteo Feurra
- The effectiveness of rhythmic transcranial magnetic stimulation in relation to the severity of cervical dystonia, quality of life, levels of anxiety and depression. Aynur Ragimova, Dmitry Petelin, Violetta Tolmacheva
26-30.06.2023 International conference Volga Neuroscience Meeting
(Nizhny Novgorod)
- Temporal dynamics of the mirror neurons effect and its stimulidependent modulation: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study. Nieto Doval Carlos
- The role of mirror system in influencing the valence evaluation of‘words’ – a transcranial magnetic stimulation (tms) study. Behera Sangram
26-29.06.2023 International Organization of Psychophysiology (IOP)
(Geneva)
- The effect of interstimulus intervals on the outputs of nTMS motor mapping. Sukmanova Anastasia
29-30.09.2023 Embodied and Situated Language Processing (ESLP)
(Catania)
- Priming from time to numerical magnitude and length of randomly generated number words. Malyshevskaya Anastasia
BTS SMART DX SYSTEM SEMINARS 2022
The BTS SMART DX system is a motion capture system based on optical technology, designed for biomechanical and clinical use. SMART DX Can execute three-dimensional reconstruction of trajectories of a certain number of small reflective markers on the subject’s body. By a set of infrared cameras placed all around the volume where the action will be performed, the system will acquire the movement of the subject. The absence of any cable allows a complete freedom of movement. The application of some small passive markers on the subject’s body allows reconstruction of the motion activity precisely and completely. We have tested the system through several sessions, both independently and together with the technical experts of BTS company, to define the possibilities and limitations for future projects. These first testing focused on fine hand movements during displacement and grasping of objects. For some trials head markers were also included to study head orientation during the tasks. The sessions are divided as follows: motion capture, transformation to a 3D environment and pairing with models to define the reference points, analysis of collected data. At the current stage we are working on data analysis. We can extract deep information of the registered movements and body parts regarding their position, speed of movements, changes of angles between points and/or vectors. We have been having weekly sessions since April 2022 where we continue the training for all UNU junior scientists. That became a weekly seminar for the UNU project.
Detailed Sessions:
-19/04: Guided introduction by a technical expert of BTS company about the main softwares and basic use.
-26/04: Practice of system calibration and definition of working space. We run several trials to find and understand the limits of our working space based on the current setup.
-03/05: Practice of data acquisition for a simple montage for fine movements, three references on each finger, index and thumb.
-17/05: Practice on transformation of the acquisition to 3D reconstruction and generation of models to pair with the reference points on the system.
-24/05: Practice with detailed setup for hand reconstruction. Three markers per finger, five markers on back of the hand, and two markers on wrist.
-07/06: Practice of setup for full arm movement registration, 3D reconstruction and building of specific model for reference on the software.
-14/06: Deep analysis and presentation of all details for the softwares Smart Capture and Smart Tracker by a technical expert of BTS company and small introduction to their analysis software.
-28/06: Practice of setup for fine hand movements and head orientation tracking. Placing of references on index and thumb fingers for fine movements detection and on face and neck to attention orientation detection.
-05/07: Practice of setup for big hand movements on working space and grasping movements capture.
-12/07: Practice of setup for fine hand movements. Capturing pincer movements with references on index and thumb fingers and placing references on a motor ability game used for motor evaluation and rehabilitation.
Seminars
02.09.2021 Interactions between numerical and temporal concepts: A semantic priming study
Anastasia Malyshevskaya
Lecture
Processing of abstract concepts (e.g., number and time-related words) is accompanied by activation of spatial attention: small magnitudes and the past are associated with left space and large magnitudes and the future with right space. However, few studies focus on how these conceptual representations interact when they become co-activated and what is the mechanism underlying this interaction. Here, we used numbers (1-9) and verbs (past / future tense) with hypothesized left (e.g., wrote) and right (e.g.,8 ) biases in an online semantic priming study. In Experiment 1 (N=38, 24 females, age 24.8 ± 5.6 years old), participants clicked on a number, and then chose one of four words, located in square corners (1 verb, 3 distractors). In Experiment 2 (N=48, 28 females, age 24.5 ± 5.2 years old), all presented words were verbs. We hypothesized that interaction between the concepts leads to selection of verbs with the same semantic biases as presented numbers. Preliminary analyses did not reveal significant differences in the probability of choosing verbs in both experiments. However, associations between number magnitude and letter length were found, as well as patterns in motor response suggesting smaller numbers are associated with upward space and bigger numbers with downward space. For better control over the examined variables, in Experiment 3 (N=26, 18 females, age 22.54 ± 4.4 years old) the square was divided into separate horizontal and vertical lines (with 1 verb, 1 distractor). The results confirmed findings from Experiment 1 and 2. Results obtained across all four experiments as well as possible explanations will be discussed.
16.09.2021 Investigation and neuromodulation of the brain-heart interactions in healthy peoplе
and patients with heart rhythm problems
Alyona Limonova
Lecture
The heart continuously and cyclically communicates with the brain. Beyond homeostatic regulation and sensing, recent neuroscience research has started to shed light on brain-heart interactions in diverse cognitive, emotional processes and cardiovascular pathology. "Neurocardiology" has become a rapidly developing area of scientific research. It refers to physiological and pathophysiological interplays of the nervous and cardiovascular systems, the so-called “heart-brain axis”. There is a growing interest in the study of the mechanisms of heart and brain interactions with the aim to improve the management of high-impact cardiac rhythm disorders, which is a promising translational perspective. Neural responses to heartbeats, as measured with the so-called heartbeat- evoked potentials (HEPs), have been shown to be useful for investigating cortical activity processing cardiac signals. The HEP is considered a reliable approach allowing to objectively assess interoceptive processing. Research evidence suggests that interoception also affects the perception of external stimuli and cognitive processes. It has been shown that the interoception of the heart is able to modulate the central processing of signals of various modalities: auditory, visual, somatosensory, nociceptive, and sensorimotor. In our research we are going to investigate heart-brain interactions with regard to individual characteristics of interoception in two directions: (1) relationship between characteristics of interoception and modulation of the reactivity of the motor cortex to TMS and its dependence on the phases of the cardiac cycle; (2) relationship between the individual characteristics of interoception and subjective complaints about cardiac arrhythmia in patients with and without verified heart rhythm problems.
21.10.2021 Neuropunk revolution and its implementation via real-time neurosimulations and
their integrations
Maxim Talanov
Seminar
In this talk I present the perspectives of the " neuropunk revolution '' technologies. One could understand the " neuropunk revolution '' as the integration of real-time neurosimulations into biological nervous/motor systems via neurostimulation or artificial robotic systems via integration with actuators. I see the added value of the real-time neurosimulations as bridge technology for the set of developed technologies: BCI, neuroprosthetics, AI, robotics to provide bio-compatible integration into biological or artificial limbs. Here I present the three types of integration of the " neuropunk revolution '' technologies as inbound, outbound and closed-loop in-outbound systems. I see the shift of the perspective of how we see now the set of technologies including AI, BCI, neuroprosthetics and robotics due to the proposed concept for example the integration of external to a body simulated part of the nervous system back into the biological nervous system or muscles.
18.11.2021 The influence of menstrual cycle on the indices of cortical excitability
Vladimir Djurdjevic
Lecture
Menstruation is a normal physiological process in women occurring as a result of changes in two ovarian produced hormones – estrogen and progesterone. As a result of these fluctuations, women experience different symptoms in their bodies – their immune system changes (Sekigawa et al, 2004), there are changes in their cardiovascular and digestive system (Millikan, 2006), as well as skin (Hall and Phillips, 2005). But these hormone fluctuations produce major changes in their behavioral pattern as well causing: anxiety, sadness, heightened irritability and anger (Severino and Moline, 1995) which is usually classified as premenstrual syndrome (PMS). In some cases these symptoms severely impair women’s lives and professional help is required. The official diagnosis according to DSM-5 (2013) is premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Despite its ubiquitous presence the origins of PMS and PMDD are poorly understood. Some efforts to understand the underlying brain state during the menstruation cycle were performed by using TMS (Smith et al, 1999; 2002; 2003; Inghilleri et al, 2004; Hausmann et al, 2006). But all of these experiments suffer from major shortcomings - no control groups and small number of subjects. Our plan is to address all of these shortcomings and make this the biggest (to our knowledge) experiment of its kind which will, hopefully, provide us with some much needed answers.
16.12.2021 A Network for Computing Value Equilibrium in the Human Medial Prefrontal Cortex
Anush Ghambaryan
Lecture
Humans and other animals make decisions in order to satisfy their goals. However, it remains unknown how neural circuits compute which of multiple possible goals should be pursued (e.g., when balancing hunger and thirst) and how to combine these signals with estimates of available reward alternatives. Here, humans undergoing fMRI accumulated two distinct assets over a sequence of trials. Financial outcomes depended on the minimum cumulate of either asset, creating a need to maintain “value equilibrium” by redressing any imbalance among the assets. Blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signals in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) tracked the level of imbalance among goals, whereas the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) signaled the level of redress incurred by a choice rather than the overall amount received. These results suggest that a network of medial frontal brain regions compute a value signal that maintains value equilibrium among internal goals.
03.03.2022 Towards the optimal protocol for investigation of the mirror neuron system
Carlos Nieto
Lecture
The study of mirror neurons (MN) has a long way since its discovery on monkeys and later on humans. However, in literature there are inconsistencies on the ways stimuli are presented and on the time of presentation. Which is the best way to present motor movement stimuli? Is it possible to estimate when the mirror neurons effect take place by using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation at specific time windows? In the current study we test different ways of stimuli presentation (photo and video of hand movements) and brain stimulation (e.g. TMS) delivered on the dominant primary motor cortex (M1) at different time windows. Our aim is to solve this void still present on the field and create a standardized protocol that will generate the strongest mirror neurons response in order to have the way for future studies on the field.
17.03.2022 Cerebello-Motor Paired Associative Stimulation and Motor Recovery in Stroke: a
Randomized, Sham-Controlled, Double-Blind Pilot Trial
Anastasia Sukmanova
Lecture
Cerebellum is a key structure for functional motor recovery after stroke. Enhancing the cerebello-motor pathway by paired associative stimulation (PAS) might improve upper limb function. Here, we conducted a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled pilot trial investigating the efficacy of a 5-day treatment of cerebello-motor PAS coupled with physiotherapy for promoting upper limb motor function compared to sham stimulation. The secondary objectives were to determine in the active treated group (i) whether improvement of upper limb motor function was associated with changes in corticospinal excitability or changes in functional activity in the primary motor cortex and (ii) whether improvements were correlated to the structural integrity of the input and output pathways. To that purpose, hand dexterity and maximal grip strength were assessed along with TMS recordings and multimodal magnetic resonance imaging, before the first treatment, immediately after the last one and a month later. Twenty-seven patients were analyzed. Cerebello-motor PAS was effective compared to sham in improving hand dexterity (p: 0.04) but not grip strength. This improvement was associated with increased activation in the ipsilesional primary motor cortex (p: 0.04). Moreover, the inter-individual variability in clinical improvement was partly explained by the structural integrity of the afferent (p: 0.06) and efferent pathways (p: 0.02) engaged in this paired associative stimulation (i.e., cortico-spinal and dentato-thalamo-cortical tracts). In conclusion, cerebello-motor-paired associative stimulation combined with physiotherapy might be a promising approach to enhance upper limb motor function after stroke.
07.04.2022 Functional segregation of rostral and caudal hippocampus in associative memory
Alicia Vorobiova
Lecture
It has long been established that the hippocampus plays a crucial role for episodic memory. As opposed to the modular approach, now it is generally assumed that being a complex structure, the HC performs multiplex interconnected functions, whose hierarchical organization provides basis for the higher cognitive functions such as semantics-based encoding and retrieval. However, the «where, when and how» properties of distinct memory aspects within and outside the HC are still under debate. Here we used a visual associative memory task as a probe to test the hypothesis about the differential involvement of the rostral and caudal portions of the human hippocampus in memory encoding, recognition and associative recall. In epilepsy patients implanted with stereo-EEG, we show that at retrieval the rostral HC is selectively active for recognition memory, whereas the caudal HC is selectively active for the associative memory. Low frequency desynchronization and high frequency synchronization characterize the temporal dynamic in encoding and retrieval. Therefore, we describe here anatomical segregation in the hippocampal contributions to associative and recognition memory.
21.04.2022 Geometry of sequence working memory in macaque prefrontal cortex
Nikita Otstavnov
Lecture
How the brain stores a sequence in memory remains largely unknown. We investigated the neural code underlying sequence working memory using two-photon calcium imaging to record thousands of neurons in the prefrontal cortex of macaque monkeys memorizing and then reproducing a sequence of locations after a delay. We discovered a regular geometrical organization: The high-dimensional neural state space during the delay could be decomposed into a sum of low-dimensional subspaces, each storing the spatial location at a given ordinal rank, which could be generalized to novel sequences and explain monkey behavior. The rank subspaces were distributed across large overlapping neural groups, and the integration of ordinal and spatial information occurred at the collective level rather than within single neurons. Thus, a simple representational geometry underlies sequence working memory.
02.06.2022 Adaptive neural network classifier for decoding finger movements
Alexey Zabolotniy
Lecture
While non-invasive Brain-to-Computer interface can accurately classify the lateralization of hand moments, the distinction of fingers activation in the same hand is limited by their local and overlapping representation in the motor cortex. In particular, the low signal-to-noise ratio restrains the opportunity to identify meaningful patterns in a supervised fashion. Here we combined Magnetoencephalography (MEG) recordings with advanced decoding strategy to classify finger movements at single trial level. We recorded eight subjects performing a serial reaction time task, where they pressed four buttons with left and right index and middle fingers. We evaluated the classification performance of hand and finger movements with increasingly complex approaches: supervised common spatial patterns and logistic regression (CSP + LR) and unsupervised linear finite convolutional neural network (LF-CNN). The right vs left fingers classification performance was accurate above 90% for all methods. However, the classification of the single finger provided the following accuracy: CSP+SVM : – 68 ± 7%, LF-CNN : 71 ± 10%. CNN methods allowed the inspection of spatial and spectral patterns, which reflected activity in the motor cortex in the theta and alpha ranges. Thus, we have shown that the use of CNN in decoding MEG single trials with low signal to noise ratio is a promising approach that, in turn, could be extended to a manifold of problems in clinical and cognitive neuroscience.
04.08.2022 Inflectional zero morphology – linguistic myth or neurocognitive reality?
Maria Alexeeva
Lecture
Language is an essential part of our education and daily activities. Despite the importance of language, linguistic theories that explain how the language system operates are often disconnected from psycho- and neurocognitive mechanisms underpinning the linguistic function. In consequence, some abstract and often controversial elements are included into language grammar theories. As an example of one of such elements, we use the case of the so-called null constituent and its local variant – the zero morpheme, that has no overt expression on the phonological and orthographic levels. We will discuss the theoretical origins of inflectional zeroes and pitfalls in this research line and advocate the important future role of neurobiological research that will allow us to elucidate the neurocognitive reality of zero morphemes.
10.11.2022 TMS study of cognitive dissonance and the following preference change: focus on temporal
dynamics and the role of the medial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
Alina Davidova and Julia Sheronova
Lecture
Our project is aimed at examining the cognitive dissonance (CD) processing in terms of the functions of its key neural correlates, which are posterior medial frontal cortex (pMFC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and from the perspective of the exact timing and sequence of pMFC and DLPFC involvement in the CD identification and reduction processes. Online repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) as the active method of influencing cognitive processes in different time moments was chosen as the most optimal method to address our goal. However, TMS neurochronometrical study is possible on the basis of the most optimal paradigm in terms of its efficiency in evoking CD and avoiding artifacts. Thus, the first part of our study is targeted at searching for the most suitable paradigm for our main research question, while the second part includes elaborating and realizing the online rTMS protocol.
15.12.2022 Effects of noninvasive anodal transspinal direct current stimulation of the cervical segments
on the еxcitability of the сorticospinal system and motor learning in healthy subjects
Ekaterina Pomelova, Alena Popyvanova and Dmitry Bredikhin
Lecture
Transspinal direct current stimulation (tsDCS) is a method for modulating the activity of the corticospinal system. The possibility of influencing this system is critical, in case of violation of precise voluntary movements, which are impossible without cognitive control of the motor system. In our opinion, it is the influence on the corticospinal system that can correct the interaction between the cognitive and motor systems of the brain, which possibly affects the development of motor skills and is a possible method for restoring precise movements in people with motor disorders.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of anodal tsDCS (at the C7-Th1 level of the spinal cord) on the activity of the corticospinal system and on the development of new motor skills in healthy people.
The study involved 54 healthy adults aged 22±4 years. The effect of tsDCS was assessed using motor-evoked potentials (MEP) from FDI muscle by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in the primary motor cortex before and after stimulation in both stages immediately and 15 minutes after tsDCS.
The results show that the application of anodic tsDCS has an effect on the muscles of the upper extremities, first reducing the amplitude of TMS-induced MEP immediately after stimulation, and 15 minutes after stimulation, the amplitude of MEP increases. Also, tsDCS does not affect the development of new motor skills in healthy people, learning like a false stimulation. We also found that the motor learning factor during stimulation did not affect MEP, which was confirmed by statistical analysis based on mixed models.
Based on this, we can suggest: the mechanisms underlying plastic changes in the spinal cord caused by tsDCS are ambiguous and very mosaic. Perhaps the use of tsDCS in sick and healthy people has a different effect. Therefore, we see an opportunity in the effectiveness of tsDCS in the rehabilitation/habilitation of people with motor skills disorder. Therefore, we see an opportunity in the effectiveness of tsDCS in the rehabilitation / habilitation of people with impaired motor skills associated with precise voluntary movements, as well as with the interaction of cognitive and motor systems of the brain .
02.02.2023 Towards speech prosthesis: speech decoding from a small set of spatially segregated
minimally invasive intracranial EEG electrodes
Alex Ossadtchi
Lecture
In this talk, we present research on speech decoding using a small set of minimally invasive electrodes. Our results show that it is possible to decode speech on the level of individual words with this method. The process is split into two stages: first, we recover an Intermediate Speech Representation (ISR) such as a Mel-spectrogram, and then decode the words. We found that using a single shaft or stripe of electrodes only slightly reduces the achievable accuracy compared to using larger electrode sets. Additionally, we found that a compact and interpretable architecture performs well and better than more elaborate solutions, possibly due to a tradeoff between the amount of data and the size of the network. On-off decoding can also be achieved with simpler approaches. Different ISRs are recovered with varying degrees of fidelity, but all result in comparable words decoding accuracy. We also found that the fidelity of the individual ISR recovery correlates with the corresponding words classification accuracy. There was no evidence of decoding from muscular activity or acoustic contamination, and the decoding was done causally to avoid hearing-based decoding. We achieved 7-10-fold chance level accuracy in decoding on the level of individual words. We did not use a language model in this research, which may improve the quality of the results. Transitioning to decoding mouthed or imagined speech is a key step towards developing real-life prosthetic devices. However, training tools still need to be developed.
27.04.2023 Investigation of psychophysiological substrates of hand grasping via non-invasive brain
stimulation and motion analysis: motor planning and motor learning aspects
Alexander Vyazmin
Lecture
There are a lot of studies was done to understand the cortical representations of motor planning and particular with regards to hand grasping. Studies done with neuroimaging showed involvement of premotor cortex in motor planning, motor observation and in hand grasping movement. But some questions are still also because these studies had a lot of limitations. What is casual role of different regions of premotor cortex in motor planning? Will the same areas will be involved in motor planning when naturalistic tasks will be presented instead of computer task or task in the fMRi camera? In the current study we will analyze the kinematic data of hand grasping movement during the task similar with shape sorter toy and also use transcranial magnetic stimulation to inhibit premotor cortex area to investigate how it will affect on task execution. The aim of my study is to understand the causal role of premotor cortex in motor planning during real hand grasping movement.
18.05.2023 Inflectional zero morphology – linguistic myth or neurocognitive reality?
Maria ALexeeva
Lecture
Knowledge of language, its structure and grammar are an essential part of our education and daily activities. Despite the importance of language in our lives, linguistic theories that explain how the language system operates are often disconnected from our knowledge of the brain’s neurocognitive mechanisms underpinning the linguistic function. This is reflected, for example, in the inclusion of abstract and often controversial elements into theories of language. We are going to discuss the case of the so-called null constituent and its smallest but arguably the most controversial variant – the zero morpheme, a hypothetical morphosyntactic device that has no overt physical (phonological or orthographic) expression. Focusing on the putative inflectional zero morpheme, we are planning to go deeper into the theoretical origins and pitfalls of this approach and advocate the important role for neurobiological research that could tries to elucidate the neurocognitive reality of such constructs in linguistics communication.
06.07.2023 An Investigation of Neural Dynamics of the Prefrontal Cortex in Decision-Making Under
Uncertainty
Oksana Zinchenko
Lecture
The goal of the study was to confirm the causal role of the frontopolar cortex in managing counterfactual task sets during decision-making in the uncertain and changing environments. Taken together the results of this study did not demonstrate any evidence for our hypothesis. Using computational modeling, tDCS, and fNIRS, we could not confirm the role of the frontopolar cortex predicted by the prefrontal executive function theory (Koechlin, 2014; Koechlin, 2020). Absence of stimulation effect could be explained by the problems with the tDCS protocol. Still, the PROBE model could capture the learning effect which is narrower than was estimated on the behavioural data. Finally, despite the problems with the stimulation, the results of this research contribute to the behavioural validity of the prefrontal executive function and the field of computational modeling of behaviour.
13.07.2023 Working memory processes and motivation: an EEG study
Natalia Zhozhikashvili
Lecture
Processes typically encompassed by working memory (WM) include encoding, retention, and retrieval of information. Previous research has demonstrated that motivation can influence WM performance, although the specific WM processes affected by motivation are not yet fully understood. We investigated the effects of internal motivation on different WM processes, examining how task difficulty modulates these effects. We hypothesized that motivation would enhance parietal alpha and frontal theta EEG correlates of WM encoding, retention, and retrieval. This dependence was anticipated under conditions of high task difficulty, taking into consideration the participants' motivation levels and personality traits. Our results showed that motivation influenced WM processes, as indicated by changes in alpha and theta oscillations. Specifically, higher levels of the Resilience trait—associated with mental toughness, hardiness, self-efficacy, achievement motivation, and low anxiety—were related with increased alpha desynchronization during encoding and retrieval. Increased scores of Subjective Motivation to perform well in the task were related to enhanced frontal midline theta during retention. These effects were significantly stronger under conditions of high task difficulty. I will also talk about our new similar experiment, in which we manipulate the reward (external motivation) and select individual levels of difficulty for the test subjects.
21.09.2023 Development of spinal cord stimulation protocols for the correction of motor skills: in normal
and pathological conditions
Popyvanova Alena, Pomelova Ekaterina
Lecture
Transspinal direct current stimulation (tsDCS) is a method for modulating the activity of the corticospinal system (CSS). The possibility of influencing this system is critical in case of violation of precise voluntary movements, which are impossible without cognitive control of the motor system. In our opinion, it is the influence on the corticospinal system that can correct the interaction between the cognitive and motor systems of the brain, which possibly affects the development of motor skills and is a possible method for restoring precise movements in people with motor disorders. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of different types of tsDCS applied at the level of the cervical extension of the spinal cord (segments C7-Th1) on the excitability of the corticospinal system and the correction of motor skills in healthy people. The study involved 104 healthy adults aged 22±4 years. The effect of tsDCS was assessed using motor evoked potentials (MEP) from FDI muscle by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in the primary motor cortex before and after stimulation immediately and 15 minutes after tsDCS. Our data show that increasing stimulation intensity does not increase the effects but rather reduces the effects of stimulation. The application of 11-minute anodal tsDCS at the level of the cervical spine C7-Th1 with a current intensity of 2.5 mA did not alter the MEP amplitude of the upper limb muscles; in contrast, a current intensity of 1.5 mA initially reduced the MEP amplitude induced by TMS immediately after stimulation and then increased it 15 minutes post stimulation. Additionally, the study observed anodal stimulation at 1.5 mA coupled with white noise to have an inverse effect on the corticospinal system, initially increasing the MEP amplitude and then decreasing it after 15 minutes. Cathodal stimulation at 1.5 mA demonstrated no significant impact on the CSS. Furthermore, no significant difference in motor skill correction was found for 2.5 mA stimulation versus 1.5 mA stimulation in healthy subjects, as assessed by the 9-Hole Peg Test and the Serial Reaction Time test. Based on this, we can suggest that the mechanisms underlying plastic changes in the spinal cord caused by tsDCS are ambiguous and very mosaic. Our data show that an increase in the intensity of stimulation does not lead to an increase in the effects but instead reduces the effects of stimulation. These results add information about optimally appropriate stimulation current intensities to induce CSS excitability and the ability of tsDCS to influence motor skills in healthy adults.
12.10.2023 Emotional Words Evaluation and Cortical Excitability: A TMS Study
Sangram Kesheri Behera
Lecture
Mirror neurons are present and have a role in the auditory area, according to studies. By processing empathy, emotions, and creativity, these neurons have also been shown to play a part in altering cortical excitability. Affective stimuli's valence also appears to be a factor in determining the motor cortex's level of excitability. When compared to positive and negative stimuli, negative stimuli are observed to cause increased cortical excitability. For this study, we set out to accomplish two key goals. First, we were interested in seeing if processing auditory words input would alter participants' cortical plasticity over time. If so, what kind of alterations in cortical state can be expected? The second is how valence affects various states of excitation and what role it plays. To do this, we used TMS as a probe and focused on the primary motor cortex (M1). Since most studies investigated cortical excitability and the effects of emotions using a visuo-emotional or audio-visuo-emotional paradigm, none of those studies attempted to investigate the effect of only auditory emotional words with various valence in combination with TMS. We looked at two phases of cortical state following the presentation of emotional words because the study was exploratory and new. In the first instance, a single TMS pulse was delivered immediately after the word was finished (TMS pulse - 0 ms), while in the second, a single TMS pulse was delivered 500 ms after the word was presented. 37 participants (16 male and 21 female) were included for the study. Overall, when TMS pulse was applied 500 ms after word presentation we observed a significant drop in the MEPs as compared to presentation of TMS pulse right after word presentation (0 ms). This drop was high for emotive words as compared to neutral words. The two-way repeated measures ANOVA contrasted factor valence for the emotional component of the words categorized as neutral, positive, and negative as well as factor time, differentiating TMS stimulations at the offset of words at 0 ms and 500 ms. Valence (neutral, positive, and negative) had no noticeable effects on cortical excitability as measured by changes in MEP values [F (2, 54) = 2.71, p = 0.075, partial Eta squared = 0.91]. Although a inhibitory trend in MEP values was observed. On the other hand, the impact of time (0, 500) on changes in the levels of MEPs was extremely significant [F (1, 27) = 10.91, p = 0.003, partial Eta squared = 0.29]. On the changes in MEPs, the combined effect of valence and time was found to be statistically insignificant [F (1.47, 39.55) = 0.88, p = 0.39, partial Eta squared = 0.03]. Through our novel and exploratory work we have attempted to shed some fresh insight on how the primary motor cortex's plasticity is affected in relation to processing of affective auditory stimuli.
30.11.2023 Hierarchical inference in the brain as a chain of 7 “neurons” (excitable integrators): criticality,
activity and prediction errors, power-laws, and Up-Down states
Mario Martinez Saito
Lecture
We describe a minimal toy model of the brain as a system performing inference through a hierarchical model: a chain of 7 adaptive excitable elements or "neurons" slowly driven by a stochastic process from one end and open at the other end. The predicted subthreshold membrane bistability closely resembles empirical measurements of intracellular membrane potential. We suggest that critical cortical cascades emerge from a trade-off between metabolic power consumption and performance requirements in a critical world, and that the temporal scaling patterns of brain electrophysiological recordings ensue from weighted linear combinations of subthreshold activities and pulses from different levels of the brain hierarchy that models the world.
28.12.2023 Merging Nonlinear Dynamics, Graphs and Artificial Intelligence: Synolitic Networks and
Noise-induced AI
Alexey Zaikin
Lecture
Recently we observe merging Nonlinear Dynamics, graphs and Artificial Intelligence research directions. Here we will focus on two interesting subtopics of this: How to represent the multidimensional data in the form of the graph, and whether noise can induce AI. Representing high-dimensional biological data in the form of a graph and linking features by biological and thermodynamic laws seems to be a very promising approach to deal with overwhelming complexity of biological systems. However, one can utilise this approach only if we have information about how features and attributes are connected biologically. Here we would like to draw attention to alternative methods to represent high dimensional data in the form of the graph if a-priori we do not have established connections. First of all, correlation-prediction graphs can be used as a marker of survival and have been constructed to represent the gene methylation profiles of individuals. Secondly, there is an algorithm, first described by Zanin and Bocaletti, able to establish links between parameters/nodes without any a-priori knowledge of their interactions using residual distances from linear regression models constructed between every pair of analytes to construct a graph. They termed this approach a “parenclitic” network representation, from the Greek term for “deviation”. Parenclitic networks have been successfully applied to problems of the detection of key genes and metabolites in different diseases. We likewise have applied this methodology to implement machine learning classification to identify signatures of cancer development from human DNA methylation data. Thirdly, based on the understanding that the interactions of two features (at least in biological systems) often cannot be described by a linear model, we proposed to use 2-dimensional kernel density estimation (2DKDE) to model the control distribution. Finally, we have introduced a variation of paren-clitic networks, that can be called synolitic from the Greek word for “ensemble”. In principle, these networks can be considered an ensemble of classifiers in a graph form and thus are a kind of correlation network where the correlation is in the changes between two classes (e.g. disease and non-disease). These networks have been successfully used to detect age related trajectories in Down’s syndrome and for prediction of survival for severely ill Covid-19 patients. Especially important is that Synolitic graphs enable us to use Graph Neural Networks for analysis of the data. Another our interesting result is that AI itself can be induced by stochasticity because noise can change the effective phase space of the system. In particular, noise can induced excitability, needed by AI properties of the neuron-astrocyte systems, by means of the noise-induced phase transition.
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