Anna Gaglianese

How skill expertise shapes the brain functional architecture: an fMRI study of visuo-spatial and motor processing in professional racing-car and naive drivers.

The present study was designed to investigate the brain functional architecture that subserves visuo-spatial and motor processing in highly skilled individuals. By using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we measured brain activity while eleven Formula racing-car drivers and eleven ‘naïve’ volunteers performed a motor reaction and a visuo-spatial task. Tasks were set at a relatively low level of difficulty such to ensure a similar performance in the two groups and thus avoid any potential confounding effects on brain activity due to discrepancies in task execution. The brain functional organization was analyzed in terms of regional brain response, inter-regional interactions and blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal variability. While performance levels were equal in the two groups, as compared to naïve drivers, professional drivers showed a smaller volume recruitment of task-related regions, stronger connections among task-related areas, and an increased information integration as reflected by a higher signal temporal variability. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that, as compared to naïve subjects, the brain functional architecture sustaining visuo-motor processing in professional racing-car drivers, trained to perform at the highest levels under extremely demanding conditions, undergoes both ‘quantitative’ and ‘qualitative’ modifications that are evident even when the brain is engaged in relatively simple, non-demanding tasks. These results provide novel evidence in favor of an increased ‘neural efficiency’ in the brain of highly skilled individuals.

How the brain heals emotional wounds: the functional neuroanatomy of forgiveness

In life, everyone goes through hurtful events caused by significant others: a deceiving friend, a betraying partner, or an unjustly blaming parent. In response to painful emotions, individuals may react with anger, hostility, and the desire for revenge. As an alternative, they may decide to forgive the wrongdoer and relinquish resentment. In the present study, we examined the brain correlates of forgiveness using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Healthy participants were induced to imagine social scenarios that described emotionally hurtful events followed by the indication to either forgive the imagined offenders, or harbor a grudge toward them. Subjects rated their imaginative skills, levels of anger, frustration, and/or relief when imagining negative events as well as following forgiveness. Forgiveness was associated with positive emotional states as compared to unforgiveness. Granting forgiveness was associated with activations in a brain network involved in theory of mind, empathy, and the regulation of affect through cognition, which comprised the precuneus, right inferior parietal regions, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Our results uncovered the neuronal basis of reappraisal-driven forgiveness, and extend extant data on emotional regulation to the resolution of anger and resentment following negative interpersonal events.

Evidence of a direct influence between the thalamus and hMT + independent of V1 in the human brain as measured by fMRI

In the present study we employed Conditional Granger Causality (CGC) and Coherence analysis to investigate whether visual motion-related information reaches the human middle temporal complex (hMT+) directly from the Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (LGN) of the thalamus, by-passing the primary visual cortex (V1). Ten healthy human volunteers underwent brain scan examinations by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during two optic flow experiments. In addition to the classical LGN-V1-hMT+ pathway, our results showed a significant direct influence of the blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal recorded in LGN over that in hMT+, not mediated by V1 activity, which strongly supports the existence of a bilateral pathway that connects LGN directly to hMT+ and serves visual motion processing. Furthermore, we evaluated the relative latencies among areas functionally connected in the processing of visual motion. Using LGN as a reference region, hMT+ exhibited a statistically significant earlier peak of activation as compared to V1. In conclusion, our findings suggest the co-existence of an alternative route that directly links LGN to hMT+, bypassing V1. This direct pathway may play a significant functional role for the faster detection of motion and may contribute to explain persistence of unconscious motion detection in individuals with severe destruction of primary visual cortex (blindsight).

It's not all in your car: functional and structural correlates of exceptional driving skills in professional racers

Driving is a complex behavior that requires the integration of multiple cognitive functions. While many studies have investigated brain activity related to driving simulation under distinct conditions, little is known about the brain morphological and functional architecture in professional competitive driving, which requires exceptional motor and navigational skills. Here, 11 professional racing-car drivers and 11 “naïve” volunteers underwent both structural and functional brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Subjects were presented with short movies depicting a Formula One car racing in four different official circuits. Brain activity was assessed in terms of regional response, using an Inter-Subject Correlation (ISC) approach, and regional interactions by mean of functional connectivity. In addition, voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to identify specific structural differences between the two groups and potential interactions with functional differences detected by the ISC analysis. Relative to non-experienced drivers, professional drivers showed a more consistent recruitment of motor control and spatial navigation devoted areas, including premotor/motor cortex, striatum, anterior, and posterior cingulate cortex and retrosplenial cortex, precuneus, middle temporal cortex, and parahippocampus. Moreover, some of these brain regions, including the retrosplenial cortex, also had an increased gray matter density in professional car drivers. Furthermore, the retrosplenial cortex, which has been previously associated with the storage of observer-independent spatial maps, revealed a specific correlation with the individual drivers success in official competitions. These findings indicate that the brain functional and structural organization in highly trained racing-car drivers differs from that of subjects with an ordinary driving experience, suggesting that specific anatomo-functional changes may subtend the attainment of exceptional driving performance.

Lateralization of Brain Networks and Clinical Severity in Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A HARDI Diffusion MRI Study

Recent diffusion tensor imaging studies in adolescents and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have reported a loss or an inversion of the typical left–right lateralization in fronto‐temporal regions crucial for sociocommunicative skills. No studies explored atypical lateralization in toddlers and its correlation with clinical severity of ASD. We recruited a cohort of 20 subjects aged 36 months or younger receiving a first clinical diagnosis of ASD (15 males; age range 20–36 months). Patients underwent diffusion MRI (High‐Angular‐Resolution Diffusion Imaging protocol). Data from cortical parcellation were combined with tractography to obtain a connection matrix and diffusion indexes (DI) including mean fractional anisotropy (DFA), number of tracts (DNUM), and total tract length (DTTL). A laterality index was generated for each measure, and then correlated with the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule‐Generic (ADOS‐G) total score. Laterality indexes of DFA were significantly correlated with ADOS‐G total scores only in two intrafrontal connected areas (correlation was positive in one case and negative in the other). Laterality indexes of DTTL and DNUM showed significant negative correlations (P < 0.05) in six connected areas, mainly fronto‐temporal. This study provides first evidence of a significant correlation between brain lateralization of diffusion indexes and clinical severity in toddlers with a first diagnosis of ASD. Significant correlations mainly involved regions within the fronto‐temporal circuits, known to be crucial for sociocommunicative skills. It is of interest that all correlations but one were negative, suggesting an inversion of the typical left–right asymmetry in subjects with most severe clinical impairment. Autism Res 2016, 9: 382–392.

Lateralization of Brain Networks and Clinical Severity in Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Recent diffusion tensor imaging studies in adolescents and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have reported a loss or an inversion of the typical left–right lateralization in fronto‐temporal regions crucial for sociocommunicative skills. No studies explored atypical lateralization in toddlers and its correlation with clinical severity of ASD. We recruited a cohort of 20 subjects aged 36 months or younger receiving a first clinical diagnosis of ASD (15 males; age range 20–36 months). Patients underwent diffusion MRI (High‐Angular‐Resolution Diffusion Imaging protocol). Data from cortical parcellation were combined with tractography to obtain a connection matrix and diffusion indexes (DI) including mean fractional anisotropy (DFA), number of tracts (DNUM), and total tract length (DTTL). A laterality index was generated for each measure, and then correlated with the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule‐Generic (ADOS‐G) total score. Laterality indexes of DFA were significantly correlated with ADOS‐G total scores only in two intrafrontal connected areas (correlation was positive in one case and negative in the other). Laterality indexes of DTTL and DNUM showed significant negative correlations (P < 0.05) in six connected areas, mainly fronto‐temporal. This study provides first evidence of a significant correlation between brain lateralization of diffusion indexes and clinical severity in toddlers with a first diagnosis of ASD. Significant correlations mainly involved regions within the fronto‐temporal circuits, known to be crucial for sociocommunicative skills. It is of interest that all correlations but one were negative, suggesting an inversion of the typical left–right asymmetry in subjects with most severe clinical impairment. Autism Res 2016, 9: 382–392.

Lateralization of Brain Networks and Clinical Severity in Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A HARDI Diffusion MRI Study: Brain tracts lateralization in ASD toddlers

Recent diffusion tensor imaging studies in adolescents and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have reported a loss or an inversion of the typical left–right lateralization in fronto‐temporal regions crucial for sociocommunicative skills. No studies explored atypical lateralization in toddlers and its correlation with clinical severity of ASD. We recruited a cohort of 20 subjects aged 36 months or younger receiving a first clinical diagnosis of ASD (15 males; age range 20–36 months). Patients underwent diffusion MRI (High‐Angular‐Resolution Diffusion Imaging protocol). Data from cortical parcellation were combined with tractography to obtain a connection matrix and diffusion indexes (DI) including mean fractional anisotropy (DFA), number of tracts (DNUM), and total tract length (DTTL). A laterality index was generated for each measure, and then correlated with the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule‐Generic (ADOS‐G) total score. Laterality indexes of DFA were significantly correlated with ADOS‐G total scores only in two intrafrontal connected areas (correlation was positive in one case and negative in the other). Laterality indexes of DTTL and DNUM showed significant negative correlations (P < 0.05) in six connected areas, mainly fronto‐temporal. This study provides first evidence of a significant correlation between brain lateralization of diffusion indexes and clinical severity in toddlers with a first diagnosis of ASD. Significant correlations mainly involved regions within the fronto‐temporal circuits, known to be crucial for sociocommunicative skills. It is of interest that all correlations but one were negative, suggesting an inversion of the typical left–right asymmetry in subjects with most severe clinical impairment. Autism Res 2016, 9: 382–392.