Dongtao Wei

Neural correlates of mental preparation for successful insight problem solving

A distinct type of mental preparation (activity in medial frontal and temporal areas) had been found to facilitate insight problem solving independent of specific problems [25]. In order to explore whether neural activity during a preparatory interval (mental preparation) is associated with which insight problems would be solved or not, we developed a task that uses Chinese logogriphs (riddles) as materials. Blood oxygenation level-dependent fMRI contrasts between Successful and Unsuccessful mental preparation were measured. Results showed that mental preparation leading to successful problem solving involves heightened activity in the left middle/medial frontal gyrus, the left middle/superior temporal gyrus, the right cerebellum, the bilateral claustrum and the left postcentral gyrus. We discussed the role of these areas in mental preparation for successful insight problem solving.

The impact of social comparison on the neural substrates of reward processing: An event-related potential study

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded to explore the electrophysiological correlates of reward processing in the social comparison context when subjects performed a simple number estimation task that entailed monetary rewards for correct answers. Three social comparison stimulus categories (three relative reward levels/self reward related to the other subjects) were mainly prepared: Self:Other=1:2 (Disadvantageous inequity condition); Self:Other=1:1 (Equity condition); and Self:Other=2:1 (Advantageous inequity condition). Results showed that: both Disadvantageous and Advantageous inequity elicited a more negative ERP deflection (N350-550) than did Equity between 350 and 550 ms, and the generators of N350-550 were localized near the parahippocampal gyrus and the medial frontal/anterior cingulate cortex, which might be related to monitor and control reward prediction error during reward processing. Then, Disadvantageous and Advantageous inequity both elicited a more late negative complex (LNC1 and LNC2) than did Equity between 550 and 750 ms. The generators of LNC1 and LNC2 were both localized near the caudate nucleus, which might be related to reward processing under social comparison.

Spatiotemporal cortical activation underlying self-referencial processing evoked by self-hand

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded to explore the electrophysiological correlates of self-referencial processing when subjects were asked to judge whether the stimuli (their hands) were their own or not. ERP results showed that: first, own hand elicited a greater positive component (P350-500) than did other hand in the time window of 350-500 ms, and the generator of P350-500 was localized in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which might be related to retrieval and identification of self-referencial information due to their sensitivity to self-hand. Second, own hand elicited a more positive component (LPC) than did other hand in the later time window. Dipole analysis revealed that the generators were localized in the parahippocampal gyrus and the medial frontal gyrus, which might be involved in making a self-referencial decision based on retrieval of self-hand information.

The electrophysiological effect of working memory load on involuntary attention in an auditory–visual distraction paradigm: an ERP study

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were used to examine the electrophysiological effect of working memory (WM) load on involuntary attention caused by a task-irrelevant sound in an auditory–visual distraction paradigm. The different WM loads were manipulated by requiring subjects to remember the order of either three digits (low-load condition) or seven digits (high-load condition), and the irrelevant auditory stimuli consisted of repetitive standard sounds (80%) and environmental novel sounds (20%). We found that the difference waves (novel-minus-standard) showed significant MMN and Novelty-P3 components in the two WM load conditions. The amplitude of MMN increased with increasing the WM load, which indicated a more engaged change detection process under high-load condition. Then, the amplitude of Novelty-P3 was attenuated under high-load condition, which indicated a much reduced involuntary orienting of attention to novel sounds when increasing the WM load. These results indicated the top–down control of involuntary attention might be mainly active at the early change detection stage and the control of the later involuntary orienting of attention might be passive.

The vase–face illusion seen by the brain: An event-related brain potentials study

In the present study, we provided a cue (face or vase) beforehand to make subjects attend the target stimuli in the vase-face ambiguous figure, and compared the spatiotemporal cortical activation patterns underlying face (face-face) or vase (vase-vase) processing to the ambiguous figure using high-density (64-channel) event-related brain potential (ERP) recordings. Scalp ERP analysis found that the anterior N100, P160, N320 and posterior P100 and N160 were elicited by the face-face and vase-vase responses. The results of the ANOVAs showed that the anterior N100 and N320 elicited by the vase-vase response were more negative than the face-face response. The anterior N100 might reflect deployment of attention (conscious effort) to identify the target stimuli (face or vase) in early processing of the ambiguous figure, and the N320 might be the reversal negativity (RN) and was involved in involuntary perceptual reversals (from face to vase or reverse). Moreover, the mean amplitude (a late positive component: LPC) between 350 and 450 ms of the face-face response was larger than the vase-vase response on positive orientation over the front-central scalp regions. This result might support the view that the LPC reflect post-perceptual processing and indicated that the perceptual reversal of the vase-face illusion is influenced by top-down control.

Regional gray matter density associated with emotional conflict resolution: Evidence from voxel-based morphometry

Successful emotion regulation is a fundamental prerequisite for well-being and dysregulation may lead to psychopathology. The ability to inhibit spontaneous emotions while behaving in accordance with desired goals is an important dimension of emotion regulation and can be measured using emotional conflict resolution tasks. Few studies have investigated the gray matter correlates underlying successful emotional conflict resolution at the whole-brain level. We had 190 adults complete an emotional conflict resolution task (face-word task) and examined the brain regions significantly correlated with successful emotional conflict resolution using voxel-based morphometry. We found successful emotional conflict resolution was associated with increased regional gray matter density in widely distributed brain regions. These regions included the dorsal anterior cingulate/dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, ventral medial prefrontal cortex, supplementary motor area, amygdala, ventral striatum, precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex, inferior parietal lobule, superior temporal gyrus and fusiform face area. Together, our results indicate that individual differences in emotional conflict resolution ability may be attributed to regional structural differences across widely distributed brain regions.

Longitudinal Alterations of Frontoparietal and Frontotemporal Networks Predict Future Creative Cognitive Ability.

Creative cognition is important to academic performance and career success during late adolescence and adulthood. However, there is a lack of longitudinal data on whether brain structural development could predict improvements in creative thinking, and how such changes interact with other cognitive abilities to support creative performance. Here we examined longitudinal alterations of brain structure and their relation to creative cognitive ability in a sample of 159 healthy young adults who were scanned using magnetic resonance imaging 2-3 times over the course of 3 years. The most robust predictor of future creative ability was the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), which in conjunction with baseline creative capacity showed a 31% prediction rate. Longitudinal analysis revealed that slower decreases in gray matter density within left frontoparietal and right frontotemporal clusters predicted enhanced creative ability. Moreoever, the relationship between longitudinal alterations within frontal-related clusters and improved creative ability was moderated by the right DLPFC and working memory ability. We conclude that continuous goal-directed planning and accumulated knowledge are implemented in the right DLPFC and temporal areas, respectively, which in turn support longitudinal gains in creative cognitive ability.

Abnormal degree centrality of functional hubs associated with negative coping in older Chinese adults who lost their only child

The loss of an only child is a negative life event and may potentially increase the risk of psychiatric disorders. However, the psychological consequences of the loss of an only child and the associated neural mechanisms remain largely unexplored. Degree centrality (DC), derived from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), was used to examine network communication in 22 older adults who lost their only child and 23 matched controls. The older adults who lost their only child exhibited an ineffective coping style. They also showed decreased distant and local DC in the precuneus and left inferior parietal lobule and decreased distant DC in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Furthermore, the decreased local and distant DC of these regions and the decreased DLPFC-precuneus connectivity strength were negatively correlated with negative coping scores in the loss group but not in the controls. Overall, the results suggested a model that the impaired neural network communication of brain hubs within the default mode network (DMN) and central executive network (CEN) were associated with a negative coping style in older adults who lost their only child. The decreased connectivity of the hubs can be identified as a neural risk factor that is related to future psychopathology.

Electrophysiological evidence of personal experiences in the great Sichuan earthquake impacting on selective attention

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were measured when 24 Chinese subjects performed the earthquake color-matching Stroop task. All of them have experienced the great Sichuan earthquake (5.12), with 12 subjects in each of Chengdu city and Chongqing city (different earthquake experiences) groups. The behavioral data showed that the earthquake Stroop task yielded robust the earthquake interference effect as indexed by longer RT for earthquake-related (Related) words than earthquake-unrelated (Unrelated) words only in the Chengdu group. Scalp ERP analysis also revealed the neurophysiological substrate of the interference effect: a greater positivity (P350–450) in Related words as compared to Unrelated words was found between 350 and 450 ms post-stimulus over fronto-central scalp regions in the Chengdu group, while the interference effect was not found in the Chongqing group. The P350–450 might reflect an earthquake experience interference, but also attention enhancing, effect of earthquake-related words. Dipole source analysis of the difference wave (Related-Unrelated) showed that a generator was localized in the parahippocampal gyrus, which was possibly associated with flashbulb memory (personal earthquake experience). The results indicated that different personal earthquake experiences might be critical in engaging the neural mechanisms that underlie the modulation of selective attention.

Rumination mediates the relationship between structural variations in ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and sensitivity to negative life events.

Individuals have different levels of stress sensitivity. An individuals predisposition to experience negative life events (NLEs) may make him/her more vulnerable to a series of psychopathological and physical diseases. However, the neuroanatomical correlates of individual differences in sensitivity to NLEs remain unknown. In this study, voxel-based morphometry was used to identify the gray matter (GM) associations of individual differences in sensitivity to NLEs measured by adolescent self-rating life events checklist. Results showed that there was a positive association between individual NLEs sensitivity and regional GM volume (rGMV) in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC). GM was mostly evident in the left frontal operculum and a small part of the left middle frontal gyrus. This region was thought to play an important role in introception. Importantly, our study revealed that rumination served as a mediator between the rGMV of the VLPFC and individual NLEs sensitivity. These findings suggest that people with greater VLPFC might be more inclined to ruminate and the ruminative response style might make them more sensitive to NLEs.