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Olfactory perception depends not only on olfactory inputs but also on semantic context. Although multi‐voxel activity patterns of the piriform cortex, a part of the primary olfactory cortex, have been shown to represent odor perception, it remains unclear whether semantic contexts modulate odor representation in this region. Here, we investigated whether multi‐voxel activity patterns in the piriform cortex change when semantic context modulates odor perception and, if so, whether the modulated areas communicate with brain regions involved in semantic and memory processing beyond the piriform cortex. We also explored regional differences within the piriform cortex, which are influenced by olfactory input and semantic context. We used 2 × 2 combinations of word labels and odorants that were perceived as congruent and measured piriform activity with a 1‐mm isotropic resolution using 7T MRI. We found that identical odorants labeled with different words were perceived differently. This labeling effect was observed in multi‐voxel activity patterns in the piriform cortex, as the searchlight decoding analysis distinguished identical odors with different labels for half of the examined stimulus pairs. Significant functional connectivity was observed between parts of the piriform cortex that were modulated by labels and regions associated with semantic and memory processing. While the piriform multi‐voxel patterns evoked by different olfactory inputs were also distinguishable, the decoding accuracy was significant for only one stimulus pair, preventing definitive conclusions regarding the locational differences between areas influenced by word labels and olfactory inputs. These results suggest that multi‐voxel patterns of piriform activity can be modulated by semantic context, possibly due to communication between the piriform cortex and the semantic and memory regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People have a well-described advantage in identifying individuals and emotions in their own culture, a phenomenon also known as the other-race and language-familiarity effect. However, it is unclear whether native-language advantages arise from genuinely enhanced capacities to extract relevant cues in familiar speech or, more simply, from cultural differences in emotional expressions. Here, to rule out production differences, we use algorithmic voice transformations to create French and Japanese stimulus pairs that differed by exactly the same acoustical characteristics. In two cross-cultural experiments, participants performed better in their native language when categorizing vocal emotional cues and detecting non-emotional pitch changes. This advantage persisted over three types of stimulus degradation (jabberwocky, shuffled and reversed sentences), which disturbed semantics, syntax, and supra-segmental patterns, respectively. These results provide evidence that production differences are not the sole drivers of the language-familiarity effect in cross-cultural emotion perception. Listeners' unfamiliarity with the phonology of another language, rather than with its syntax or semantics, impairs the detection of pitch prosodic cues and, in turn, the recognition of expressive prosody. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Number symbols, such as Arabic numerals, are cultural inventions that have transformed human mathematical skills. Although their acquisition is at the core of early elementary education in children, it remains unknown how the neural representations of numerals emerge during that period. It is also unclear whether these relate to an ontogenetically earlier sense of approximate quantity. Here, we used multivariate fMRI adaptation coupled with within- and between-format machine learning to probe the cortical representations of Arabic numerals and approximate nonsymbolic quantity in 89 children either at the beginning (age 5) or four years into formal education (age 8). Although the cortical representations of both numerals and nonsymbolic quantities expanded from age 5 to age 8, these representations also segregated with learning and development. Specifically, a format-independent neural representation of quantity was found in the right parietal cortex, but only for 5-year-olds. These results are consistent with the so-called symbolic estrangement hypothesis, which argues that the relation between symbolic and nonsymbolic quantity weakens with exposure to formal mathematics in children. Using multivariate fMRI adaptation of symbolic and non-symbolic quantities, this study shows that 5-year-old children, but not 8-year-olds, display a format-independent neural representation, indicating that the relation between symbolic and non-symbolic quantities weakens with exposure to formal mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Humans tend to categorize auditory stimuli into discrete classes, such as animal species, language, musical instrument, and music genre. Of these, music genre is a frequently used dimension of human music preference and is determined based on the categorization of complex auditory stimuli. Neuroimaging studies have reported that the superior temporal gyrus (STG) is involved in response to general music‐related features. However, there is considerable uncertainty over how discrete music categories are represented in the brain and which acoustic features are more suited for explaining such representations. Methods: We used a total of 540 music clips to examine comprehensive cortical representations and the functional organization of music genre categories. For this purpose, we applied a voxel‐wise modeling approach to music‐evoked brain activity measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging. In addition, we introduced a novel technique for feature‐brain similarity analysis and assessed how discrete music categories are represented based on the cortical response pattern to acoustic features. Results: Our findings indicated distinct cortical organizations for different music genres in the bilateral STG, and they revealed representational relationships between different music genres. On comparing different acoustic feature models, we found that these representations of music genres could be explained largely by a biologically plausible spectro‐temporal modulation‐transfer function model. Conclusion: Our findings have elucidated the quantitative representation of music genres in the human cortex, indicating the possibility of modeling this categorization of complex auditory stimuli based on brain activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Respect is a positive other-oriented social emotion upon the recognition of excellence in others. We previously reported that respect-related brain activity in the left anterior temporal lobe (ATL). Since brain activity and structure are often involved in common cognitive functions, we investigated the morphological properties of the left ATL using voxel-based morphometry analysis. We found an association of trait respect with reduced gray matter volume (GMV) in part of the left ATL. Moreover, since the ATL is involved in general conceptual knowledge, we investigated the relationships between other social emotions with similar properties as respect and the GMV of the left ATL. We observed an association of reduced GMV with empathic concern, which is an other-oriented and affective aspect of trait empathy. Our findings indicated an association of the left ATL with other-oriented and affective aspect of social emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem-solving can be facilitated with instructions or hints, which provide information about given problems. The proper amount of instruction that should be provided for learners is controversial. Research shows that tasks with intermediate difficulty induce the largest sense of accomplishment (SA), leading to an intrinsic motivation for learning. To investigate the effect of instructions, we prepared three instruction levels (No hint, Indirect hint, and Direct hint) for the same insight-problem types. We hypothesized that indirect instructions impose intermediate difficulty for each individual, thereby inducing the greatest SA per person. Based on previous neuroimaging studies that showed involvement of the bilateral caudate in learning and motivation, we expected SA to be processed in this reward system. We recruited twenty-one participants, and investigated neural activations during problem solving by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We confirmed that the Indirect hint, which imposed intermediate difficulty, induced the largest SA among the three instruction types. Using fMRI, we showed that activations in the bilateral caudate and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) were significantly modulated by SA. In the bilateral caudate, the indirect hint induced the largest activation, while the ACC seemed to reflect the difference between correct and incorrect trials. Importantly, such activation pattern was independent of notations (number or letter). Our results indicate that SA is represented in the reward system, and that the Indirect instruction effectively induces such sensation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photovoltaic (PV) systems have been regarded as maintenance-free; however, numerous failures have been reported recently during their operation. These failures not only cause power drops in the PV system but can also lead to serious accidents. This paper proposes a diagnosis method that utilizes the current-voltage (I-V) measurements of the PV string to detect the existence of a power drop module in the PV system. This diagnostic methodology is based on the calculation of the decrease in the area of the string I-V curve and dP/dV-V characteristic from the obtained data. A power drop module in the PV string is assumed and calculated. First, the normal and failed versions of the PV string are distinguished by plotting the decrease in the area of the I-V curve on one axis and the ratio of the power drop on the other axis. The differences among each failure mode are then obtained by evaluating the dP/dV-V characteristic of the PV string. Finally, experimental tests are performed on the PV string to validate the proposed method of detecting power drop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether mathematical and linguistic processes share the same neural mechanisms has been a matter of controversy. By examining various sentence structures, we recently demonstrated that activations in the left inferior frontal gyrus (L. IFG) and left supramarginal gyrus (L. SMG) were modulated by the Degree of Merger (DoM), a measure for the complexity of tree structures. In the present study, we hypothesize that the DoM is also critical in mathematical calculations, and clarify whether the DoM in the hierarchical tree structures modulates activations in these regions. We tested an arithmetic task that involved linear and quadratic sequences with recursive computation. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we found significant activation in the L. IFG, L. SMG, bilateral intraparietal sulcus (IPS), and precuneus selectively among the tested conditions. We also confirmed that activations in the L. IFG and L. SMG were free from memory-related factors, and that activations in the bilateral IPS and precuneus were independent from other possible factors. Moreover, by fitting parametric models of eight factors, we found that the model of DoM in the hierarchical tree structures was the best to explain the modulation of activations in these five regions. Using dynamic causal modeling, we showed that the model with a modulatory effect for the connection from the L. IPS to the L. IFG, and with driving inputs into the L. IFG, was highly probable. The intrinsic, i.e., task-independent, connection from the L. IFG to the L. IPS, as well as that from the L. IPS to the R. IPS, would provide a feedforward signal, together with negative feedback connections. We indicate that mathematics and language share the network of the L. IFG and L. IPS/SMG for the computation of hierarchical tree structures, and that mathematics recruits the additional network of the L. IPS and R. IPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Neural substrates underlying admiration and respect are unclear. • Admiration focuses on the admirable behavior of a person. • Respect focuses on the person as a whole and is based on the person's behavior. • Part of the left ATL is differentially activated by admiration and respect. Admiration and respect are positive social emotions often experienced when recognizing excellent behavior in another person. Although both strongly rely on appraisal of behavior, admiration focuses on the admirable behavior of a person, while respect focuses on the person as a whole. The evaluation and interpretation of the social behavior of another person are dependent on semantic memory. Social semantic knowledge is represented in the anterior temporal lobe (ATL), and ATL activity is modulated by conceptual details of semantic knowledge. As respect requires evaluation of not only excellent behavior but also of the person as a whole, we hypothesized that the ATL is differentially activated by admiration and respect. To test our hypothesis, we conducted functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments. We presented participants with vignettes describing admirable behavior of fictitious characters and asked them to imagine and report how they would normally feel when encountering the situation described in the vignettes, i.e., admiration or respect and its intensity. A part of the left ATL was more strongly modulated by the intensity of respect than of admiration. Although admiration and respect are often considered to be closely related, our results indicate that the neural substrates underlying these emotions are different. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mathematical problems can be described in either symbolic form or natural language. Previous studies have reported that activation overlaps exist for these two types of mathematical problems, but it is unclear whether they are based on similar brain representations. Furthermore, quantitative modelling of mathematical problem solving has yet to be attempted. In the present study, subjects underwent 3 h of functional magnetic resonance experiments involving math word and math expression problems, and a read word condition without any calculations was used as a control. To evaluate the brain representations of mathematical problems quantitatively, we constructed voxel-wise encoding models. Both intra- and cross-format encoding modelling significantly predicted brain activity predominantly in the left intraparietal sulcus (IPS), even after subtraction of the control condition. Representational similarity analysis and principal component analysis revealed that mathematical problems with different formats had similar cortical organization in the IPS. These findings support the idea that mathematical problems are represented in the brain in a format-invariant manner., (© 2023 The Authors. European Journal of Neuroscience published by Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

This dataset includes functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data collected while five subjects extensively listened to 540 music pieces from 10 music genres over the course of 3 days. Behavioral data are also available. Data are separated into training and test samples to facilitate the application of machine learning algorithms. Test stimuli were repeated four times and can be used to evaluate the signal to noise ratio of brain activity. Using this dataset, both neuroimaging and machine learning researchers can test multiple algorithms regarding the prediction performance of brain activity induced by various music stimuli. Although two previous studies have used this dataset, there remains much room to apply different acoustic models. This dataset can contribute to integration of the fields of auditory neuroscience and machine learning., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

A particular feature of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), which is considered a central region for language processing, is leftward functional/anatomical asymmetry. However, previous studies have not clearly shown lateralization of neurotransmitters in the cortical regions. Using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, we measured γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentrations in the bilateral IFG. To evaluate individual variability in linguistic performance, we further used a verbal fluency test. Although GABA+/creatine (Cr) values were not different between the left and the right IFG, we found a significant correlation between category fluency scores and GABA+/Cr values in the left IFG. No correlation was found between letter fluency scores and GABA+/Cr values. We also confirmed that the result was independent of the references used (Cr and H2O). Our results show a new physiological basis of linguistic performance as well as leftward asymmetry of the IFG.