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The purpose of this work was to use near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) to investigate the spectral characteristics and frontal lobe activation in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) during a verbal fluency task. Thirty-seven patients with OCD, who met the diagnostic criteria of International Classification of Diseases 10 (ICD-10), were recruited. The total score of the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90, grade 1-5) was ≥160 points. The total score of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale was ≥7 points. The changes in frontal lobe blood flow were measured by NIRS when completing a verbal fluency task. Then, the differences between obsessive-compulsive thoughts and obsessive-compulsive behaviors in OCD, and the concentration variation of oxygenate hemoglobin (Oxy-Hb) and deoxygenate hemoglobin (Deoxy-Hb) were investigated. The difference was significant (P

Background. Drastic functional reorganization was observed in the ipsilateral primary motor cortex (M1) of a Paralympic long jumper with a unilateral below-knee amputation in our previous study. However, it remains unclear whether long-term para-sports are associated with ipsilateral M1 reorganization since only 1 athlete with amputation was investigated. Objective. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the long-term para-sports and ipsilateral M1 reorganization after lower limb amputation. Methods. Lower limb rhythmic muscle contraction tasks with functional magnetic resonance imaging and T1-weighted structural imaging were performed in 30 lower limb amputees with different para-sports experiences in the chronic phase. Results. Brain activity in the ipsilateral primary motor and somatosensory areas (SM1) as well as the contralateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, SM1, and inferior temporal gyrus showed a positive correlation with the years of routine para-sports participation (sports years) during contraction of the amputated knee. Indeed, twelve of the 30 participants who exhibited significant ipsilateral M1 activation during amputated knee contraction had a relatively longer history of para-sports participation. No significant correlation was found in the structural analysis. Conclusions. Long-term para-sports could lead to extensive reorganization at the brain network level, not only bilateral M1 reorganization but also reorganization of the frontal lobe and visual pathways. These results suggest that the interaction of injury-induced and use-dependent cortical plasticity might bring about drastic reorganization in lower limb amputees.

Diabetics are prone to postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD). The occurrence may be related to the damage of the prefrontal lobe. In this study, the prefrontal lobe was segmented based on an improved clustering algorithm in patients with diabetes, in order to evaluate the relationship between prefrontal lobe volume and COPD. In this study, a total of 48 diabetics who underwent selective noncardiac surgery were selected. Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images of the patients were segmented based on the improved clustering algorithm, and their prefrontal volume was measured. The correlation between the volume of the prefrontal lobe and Z -score or blood glucose was analyzed. Qualitative analysis shows that the gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid based on the improved clustering algorithm were easy to distinguish. Quantitative evaluation results show that the proposed segmentation algorithm can obtain the optimal Jaccard coefficient and the least average segmentation time. There was a negative correlation between the volume of the prefrontal lobe and the Z -score. The cut-off value of prefrontal lobe volume for predicting POCD was

Internet addiction is associated with an increased risk of suicidal behavior and can lead to brain dysfunction among adolescents. However, whether brain dysfunction occurs in adolescents with Internet addiction who attempt suicide remains unknown. This observational cross-sectional study enrolled 41 young Internet addicts, aged from 15 to 20 years, from the Department of Psychiatry, the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, China from January to May 2018. The participants included 21 individuals who attempted suicide and 20 individuals with Internet addiction without a suicidal attempt history. Brain images in the resting state were obtained by a 3.0 T magnetic resonance imaging scanner. The results showed that activity in the gyrus frontalis inferior of the right pars triangularis and the right pars opercularis was significantly increased in the suicidal attempt group compared with the non-suicidal attempt group. In the resting state, the prefrontal lobe of adolescents who had attempted suicide because of Internet addiction exhibited functional abnormalities, which may provide a new basis for studying suicide pathogenesis in Internet addicts. The study was authorized by the Ethics Committee of Chongqing Medical University, China (approval No. 2017 Scientific Research Ethics (2017-157)) on December 11, 2017.

The effectiveness of training prefrontal lobe function for suppressing cognitive decline or improving cognitive function has been reported. Some epidemiological studies suggested that gardening activities can contribute to suppression of cognitive decline. In our previous studies using functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), we reported the possibility of frontal pole (FP) activation of healthy older adults during gardening activities in the quasi-laboratory setting. The objective of this study was to examine the impacts of a three-month continual practice of the watering task in the actual gardening settings on the FP activation of healthy older adults. The participants were 18 right-handed healthy older adults without a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or dementia (M = 71.7 years ± SD 5.0, range: 63 - 84 years) who lived independently at home. We asked the participants to continue watering at home for three months in the same way as the research task in the fNIRS measurement. After a three-month intervention, the participants’ task performance improved compared with that of pre-intervention. In addition, the Oxy-Hb values in the right lateral FP during the third trial in the post-intervention measurement were significantly greater compared with the pre-intervention measurement. This study suggested that even a gardening activity with a small number of processes such as watering, if the activity is continued for a certain period of time, can suppress the decline of the FP activation of healthy older adults. Combination of various gardening activities has the potential to be a further cognitive training for activating the FP.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is an emerging brain intervention technique. However, the effects of tDCS on stroke patients are unclear. In this study, Granger Causality (GC) is used to construct brain functional networks of the tDCS group (9 cases) and the sham tDCS group (11 cases). Some parameters of brain functional networks are analyzed comparatively, such as degree, clustering coefficient, betweenness centrality, characteristic path length, and efficiency. In tDCS group, the results show that the distribution of degree changes greatly in left prefrontal lobe and left temporal lobe regions, the distribution of betweenness centrality transfers, characteristic path length decreases, clustering coefficient and efficiency increase significantly (p

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)is a brain-imaging technology used to reveal brain activity by measuring blood oxygenation. Using fNIRS we measured activity in the left prefrontal lobe of 8–14 month-old infants as they crawled or were pushed in a stroller and as they were given a passive attention task or an active executive function (EF) task. For each task, we measured peak total hemoglobin concentration and peak Oxy relative to baseline. Results revealed differences in peak Oxy levels for crawling vs. strolling and between the EF and passive cognitive tasks, with total hemoglobin greater for the EF task than the passive attention task. These results support the theoretical view that both active locomotion and EF engage the prefrontal cortex (PFC) during early development.

The supplementary motor area (SMA) syndrome is a frequently encountered clinical phenomenon associated with surgery of the dorsomedial prefrontal lobe. The region has a known motor sequencing function and the dominant pre-SMA specifically is associated with more complex language functions; the SMA is furthermore incorporated in the negative motor network. The SMA has a rich interconnectivity with other cortical regions and subcortical structures using the frontal aslant tract (FAT) and the frontostriatal tract (FST). The development of the SMA syndrome is positively correlated with the extent of resection of the SMA region, especially its medial side. This may be due to interruption of the nearby callosal association fibres as the contralateral SMA has a particular important function in brain plasticity after SMA surgery. The syndrome is characterized by a profound decrease in interhemispheric connectivity of the motor network hubs. Clinical improvement is related to increasing connectivity between the contralateral SMA region and the ipsilateral motor hubs. Overall, most patients know a full recovery of the SMA syndrome, however a minority of patients might continue to suffer from mild motor and speech dysfunction. Rarely, no recovery of neurological function after SMA region resection is reported.

A 56-year-old woman presented with electroclinical focal seizures in the setting of hyperglycemia (808 mg/dL) and elevated HbA1c of 14.7%. She had varying seizure semiology, consisting of early forced head turn to the left, speech arrest, left facial twitching, and impaired awareness. Her seizures arose from the right frontotemporal area on EEG (figure 1). MRI showed hypointensities in the right prefrontal lobe that resolved after 6 months (figure 2).

Introduction The neural mechanism underlying decision‐making, which is an important component of executive function, is complex and not fully understood. Few studies have directly investigated the two types of decision‐making functions – under ambiguity and under risk – in patients with brain tumors in different brain regions. Methods Participants were classified into the ventral prefrontal cortex tumor group (VPFC, n = 27), the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex tumor group (DLPFC, n = 29), and matched healthy controls (HCs, n = 32). All participants were given a battery of neuropsychological tests, and they then performed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the Game of Dice Task (GDT) to assess their decision‐making under ambiguity and under risk, respectively. Results The two patient groups performed significantly worse on attention, memory, information processing, and executive function. Additionally, patients in the DLPFC group performed significantly worse on the memory and information processing tests compared with the VPFC and HC groups. Conclusion This study found that the decision‐making functions of participants in the VPFC and DLPFC tumor groups were impaired to varying degrees. Among them, there was decision‐making impairment under ambiguity and under risk in the VPFC group, and there was decision‐making impairment under risk in the DLPFC group., The neural mechanism underlying decision‐making is complicated and not fully understood. Patients with brain tumors may be a better research focus regarding decision‐making functions. Research showed that patients with prefrontal tumor showed deficits in other several cognitive and decision‐making tasks.

Epileptogenic focus resection is less effective for the treatment of frontal lobe epilepsy compared with temporal lobe epilepsy. However, there is currently a lack of effective therapeutic options for patients with frontal lobe epilepsy who are unsuitable for epileptogenic focus resection (such patients with epileptogenic foci in one frontal lobe in which the precise epileptic foci cannot be determined), or who experience recurrent epilepsy following epileptogenic focus resection. The present study reports a patient with frontal lobe epilepsy who underwent successful frontal lobe isolation surgery following a previous unsuccessful epileptogenic focus resection surgery. To ensure complete isolation of the prefrontal lobe, the surgery included division of the anterior commissure and the anterior part of the corpus callosum. The patient was followed-up for 16 months. Although the follow-up electroencephalogram presented a number of sharp waves on the affected side, the patient did not experience any seizures. The results suggest that prefrontal lobe isolation is an effective method of treating frontal lobe epilepsy, as division of the anterior commissure and the anterior part of the corpus callosum ensures disconnection of the prefrontal lobe from other regions of the brain.

Background: A growing body of evidence has demonstrated that cerebrovascular function abnormality plays a key role in occurrence and worsening of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Reduction of cerebral blood flow (CBF) is a sensitive marker to early perfusion deficiencies in AD. As one of the most important therapies in complementary and alternative medicine, manual acupuncture (MA) has been used in the treatment of AD. However, the moderating effect of MA on CBF remains largely unknown.Objective: To investigate the effect of MA on the behavior and CBF of SAMP8 mice.Methods: SAMP8 mice were randomly divided into the AD, MA, and medicine (M) groups, with SAMR1 mice used as the normal control (N) group. Mice in the M group were treated with donepezil hydrochloride at 0.65 μg/g. In the MA group, MA was applied at Baihui (GV20) and Yintang (GV29) for 20 min. The above treatments were administered once a day for 15 consecutive days. The Morris water maze and arterial spin labeling MRI were used to assess spatial learning and memory in behavior and CBF respectively.Results: Compared with the AD group, both MA and donepezil significantly decreased the escape latency (p < 0.01), while also elevating platform crossover number and the percentage of time and swimming distance in the platform quadrant (p < 0.01 or p < 0.05). The remarkable improvement in escape latency in the MA group appeared earlier than the M group, and no significant statistical significance was observed between the N and MA group with the exception of days 5 and 10. The CBF in the prefrontal lobe and hippocampus in the MA group was substantially higher than in the AD group (p < 0.05) with the exception of the right prefrontal lobe, with similar effects of donepezil.Conclusion: Manual acupuncture can effectively improve the spatial learning, relearning and memory abilities of SAMP8 mice. The increase in CBF in the prefrontal lobe and hippocampus could be an important mechanism for the beneficial cognitive effects of MA in AD.

This research is aimed to analysis the resting EEG features in depression and the application in clinic. Sixteen patients with depression and sixteen healthy controls were involved in this study. Both features from the alpha and beta frequency bands were selected to analysis in this study. First the features' sensitivity to the group-difference and the correlation to the clinical HAMD scale score were analyzed, and then the classification method was used to further test the role of the resting EEG features in depression. The results showed that the difference between depression and healthy controls in the absolute power of beta band in the left prefrontal lobe was significant. And the alpha left-right asymmetry in the prefrontal cortex had a correlation with HAMD scale score. In addition, the classification based on the features showed that there was a relative higher accuracy rate to identify the depressions than to identify the healthy controls. Specifically, the classification based on alpha asymmetry was higher than that based on beta asymmetry, and the absolute power in beta band was higher than that in alpha band. Alpha asymmetry is a traditional sensitive resting EEG features for depression, this study provide new evidence to support the view. The findings here further suggest that absolute power in beta band would be important biomarker in depression.

Background: Executive function tends to decline as people age. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is assumed to have beneficial effects on various cognitive functions. Some prior investigations have shown that repeated sessions of tDCS enhance the executive function performance of healthy elderly people by mediating cognitive training gains. However, studies of the effect of long-term stimulation on executive function without cognitive training are absent. Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore whether the executive function of healthy older adults could be enhanced with long-term tDCS alone applied on the prefrontal cortex. Methods: Sixty-five cognitively normal older adults were enrolled and randomly assigned to two groups: an anodal tDCS group and a sham tDCS group. The participants in the two groups received anodal stimulation or sham stimulation over the left dorsolateral prefrontal lobe, for 30 min per day for 10 consecutive days. Executive function was tested before stimulation, immediately after stimulation and 3 months after stimulation. Three core components of executive function were tested using a two-back task for updating, a flanker task for inhibition, and a switching task for shifting. Results: Across the three tasks, we failed to discover any differences between the anodal and sham stimulation. Moreover, we found no statistically significant stimulation effect in the follow-up session. Conclusion: Our study does not support the assumption that multiple sessions of tDCS that are independent of cognitive training have a beneficial effect on executive function in healthy older adults, presumably because the effect of the stimulation lies in its amplification of training gains. It indicates that combining traditional cognitive training methods with brain stimulation may be a better approach to improve older adults’ executive function.

In this study we compared the neuropsychological profile of phenylketonuria (PKU) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to examine the specificity of the executive function (EF) impairment reported in these two patologies. A total of 55 age-matched children and adolescents were assessed, including 11 patients with PKU, 16 patients with HIV and 28 healthy controls, underwent a neuropsychological assessment. Although neither the PKU nor the HIV group scored below the normative ranges, both groups showed lower scores in neuropsychological tests engaging EFs than controls. In addition, compared to patients with PKU the HIV group performed significantly worse in the Trail-Making Test A, Corsi Span and Verbal Fluency. These findings suggest that EF impairments in PKU (a) are limited to EFs (i.e., working memory and attentional shifting), (b) are not simply due to generalized processing speed deficits and (c) overlap partially with EF impairments found in a chronic medical developmental disorder.

Source at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.01.043. Creatine is a key regulator of brain energy homeostasis, and well-balanced creatine metabolism is central in healthy brain functioning. Still, the variability of brain creatine metabolism is largely unattended in magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) research. In the human brain, marginal sex differences in creatine levels have been found in the prefrontal cortex. It is however not known to what degree these sex differences are stable or change with varying gonadal hormone levels. The current study therefore investigated creatine in the prefrontal cortex across the menstrual cycle. In addition, we explored cerebral asymmetries. Creatine, Choline (Cho), N-acetylaspartate (NAA), Myo inositol (mI), and glutamate þ glutamine (Glx) were assessed three times in 15 women and 14 men using MRS. Women were tested in cycle phases of varying hormone levels (menstrual, follicular, and luteal phase). Prefrontal creatine was found to change across the menstrual cycle, in a hemisphere-specific manner. Women in the follicular phase showed increased left prefrontal creatine accompanied with reduced right prefrontal creatine, while this asymmetry was not present in the luteal phase. In men, the creatine levels remained stable across three testing sessions. In general, both men and women were found to have higher creatine levels in the left as compared to the right prefrontal cortex. Exploratory analyses of other metabolites showed similar asymmetries in NAA, Cho, and mI, while Cho also showed a menstrual cycle effect. This is the first time that sex hormone-related changes in creatine metabolism have been demonstrated in the human brain. These findings may have important methodological implications for MRS research, as it supports previous concerns against uncritical usage of creatine as a reference measure for other metabolites, assumed to be invariant across individuals and conditions.

Background. The prospective memory (PM) construct is aimed at capturing cognitive operations involved in the successful accomplishment of delayed intentions. It is generally agreed that PM impairment occurs in patients with prefrontal lobes damage.Objective. To evaluate if there is a causal role of a deficit of executive abilities (failures of planning, set-shifting, selective attention, or working memory) over the PM impairment.Methods. We report a detailed investigation of PM and executive abilities in two patients with posttraumatic damage to prefrontal lobes who complained from a reduced compliance with appointments and daily routines.Results. Laboratory tests confirmed a difficulty in fulfilling delayed intentions in response to the occurrence of critical events and elapsed time. In one patient, PM impairment was associated with poor performance on tests investigating planning, working memory, and mental shifting. The other patient performed in the normal range on all executive tests.Conclusions. Despite the frequent claim of a dependence of PM deficits from executive dysfunction, the reported cases demonstrate that this is not necessarily the case. The results are discussed in the light of current hypotheses relating PM impairment to other deficits that commonly occur as a result of damage to the prefrontal lobes.

The EEG asymmetry of prefrontal lobe has been researched to analyze the affect such as depression or anxiety and the behavioral characteristics such as BIS(Behavioral Inhibition System)/BAS(Behavioral Activational System) on the basiss of alpha band. However there has been several proposals about the importance of beta asymmetry pointing out the limitation of alpha asymmetry. Here, for 44 numbers of 4-year-old children, by comparing alpha asymmetry and beta asymmetry with BIS/BAS results respectively, we propose the way to classify the characteristics of affect and behavioral trend. We also found that BIS is related with beta-asymmetry, while BAS is related with alpha-asymmetry. As for the affective trait, we use the alpha asymmetry following the other results. Our results seem to be consistent with the other results that the synapse formation of young children is more active at the hemisphere than the right hemisphere. Key Words : Prefrontal Lobe, Electroencephalogram, EEG Asymmetry, BIS/BAS, Early Childhood, Emotion, Behavioral

This study was to examine the effectiveness of neurofeedback training by observing the pre and post brainwave measurement results of about 52 (experimental group 26. comparative group 26) subjects who have shown self regulation ability. The study took place at neuro-training center B, in between the months of Jan. 2008 and Dec. 2008. As the brainwaves are adjusted by timeseries linear analysis, the tool used to measure the self regulation ability was 5 Likert Scale questionnaire. The result confirmed the differences of both self regulation quotient, training protocol, upper deviation and questionnaire. The result of the study suggest prefrontal lobe neurofeedback technique's possibility in positively affecting the subjects' self regulation ability. This result suggested that follow-up researches should be figuring out more detailed explanations for journal of adolescent welfare.Key Words : Neurofeedback, Brainwave, Self regulation ability, Brain quotient 1. 서 론 1.1 연구의 필요성과 목적

Objective:Recent cross-sectional studies suggest that brain changes in schizophrenia are progressive during the course of the disorder. However, it remains unknown whether this is a global process or whether some brain areas are affected to a greater degree. The aim of this study was to examine the longitudinal brain changes in patients with chronic older schizophrenia by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Methods:Three-dimensional (3D) T1-weighted and diffusion tensor (DT) MRI were performed twice on each of 16 chronic older schizophrenia patients (mean age = 58.1 ± 6.7 years ) with an interval of 1 year between imaging sessions. To clarify the longitudinal morphological and white matter changes, volume data and normalised diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics were compared between the first and follow-up studies using a paired t-test.Results:Focal cortical volume loss was observed in the left prefrontal lobe and anterior cingulate on volumetric study. In addition, DTI metrics changed significantly at the bilateral posterior superior temporal lobes, left insula, genu of the corpus callosum and anterior cingulate.Conclusion:There are ongoing changes in the brains of schizophrenic patients during the course of the illness. Discrepancies between volume data and DTI metrics may indicate that the pattern of progressive brain changes varies according to brain region.

This study was to examine the effectiveness of prefrontal Neurofeedback training by observing the pre and post brainwave measurement results of about Y kindergarten kids 50 (experimental group 25.comparative group 25) subjects who have shown corelation, in between the months of Mar. 2008 and Nov. 2008. As the brainwaves are adjusted by timeseries linear analysis, the result confirmed the differences of both corelation . The result of the study suggest Neurofeedback technique's possibility in positively affecting the subjects' corelation and mental state. Key Words : Neurofeedback, Brainwave, Brain Quoient, Corelation quotient 1. 서론 1.1 연구의 필요성 현재 세계 여러 나라에서 진행하고 있는 교육 개혁의 핵심은 두뇌 과학이라고 할 정도로 두뇌 과학에 대한 연구와 관심은 매우 높다. 두뇌 과학은 학업 뿐 아니라 인간의 삶을 근본적으로 바꿔 줄 수 있는 분야로 일반적으로 두뇌를 이야기할 때 언급하는 좌뇌, 우뇌 이론도 두뇌 과학의 연구 성과물이다. 인간의 대뇌는 서로 다른 기능을 수행하는 좌반구와 우반구로 나누어져있다. 좌우반구는 서로 다른 방식으로 정보를 받아들이고 해석하며, 어느 한 쪽 반구는 다른 쪽 반구에 비하여 특정한 과제를 더 잘 수행할 수 있도록 발달되어 있다. 이와 같은 좌, 우뇌의 기능적 차이를 두뇌 과학에서는 뇌의 기능 분화 또는 대뇌반구의 기능 분화라고 한다. 이 이론은 대뇌기능 국재설, 편측성, 편재화, 비대칭성, 특이성 등으로도 불린다. 일반적으로 뇌파 분석을 통하여 좌우 뇌반구의 우세성 유형이나 비대칭의 정도 등을 파악할 수 있다. 모든 인간의 뇌는 각기 다른 특성을 지니며 뇌의 전체적인 발달과 좌우뇌 균형을 이루어낼 때 비로소 뇌기능이 최적화 될 수 있다. 최근에는 뇌파 조절 기기의 활용과 관련하여 이에 대한 객관적인 연구 방법과 결과의 계량화를 위한 연구가 시도되면서 뉴로 피드백에 대한 객관적인 검증이 시도되고 있다. [1]은 좌, 우 반구의 활성차이에 의하여 정서적 성향이 달라지며, [2]는 비대칭 조절이 정

The intelligence quotient (IQ) is typically associated with the architecture of gray and white matter in specific brain regions, and this association appears to be genetically based. However, specific sources of genetic variation for the association have not been studied extensively. Using diffusion tensor imaging in 15 mental retardation patients and 80 healthy volunteers, we studied the association between white matter architecture and IQ and also investigated the effects of COMT val158met on this association. The results showed that fractional anisotropy (FA) values in the prefrontal lobe and the hippocampus formation were associated with IQ and that val158met may affect this association. Subjects who were val homozygous showed steeper slopes for regression of the FA value on IQ than met carriers. Our findings suggest that COMT val158met may contribute to intelligence by affecting the association between IQ and the white matter architecture in the prefrontal lobe and the hippocampal formation.

Chronic alcohol abuse leads to morphological changes of the brain. We investigated if these volumetric changes are reversible after a period of abstinence. For this reason 41 male and 15 female alcohol patients underwent MRI-scanning after in-patient detoxification (baseline) entering alcoholism treatment programs, and between 6 and 9 months later (follow-up), in a phase of convalescence. Additionally, 29 male and 16 female control subjects were examined. The MRI-scans were delineated and the resulting regions of interest, volumes of lateral ventricles and prefrontal lobes were expressed relatively to total brain volume. Compared to control subjects alcohol patients showed bilaterally decreased prefrontal lobes (11% reduction) and increased lateral ventricles (up to 42% enlargement). The extent of the ventricular increase was depending on patient’s additional psychiatric diagnosis, showing smaller lateral ventricles in patients with additional personality disorder. While at follow-up the size of prefrontal lobes remained unchanged, volumes of the lateral ventricles decreased (5–6% reduction) in alcohol patients with abstinence and improved drinking behavior, especially in patients that underwent only one detoxification. The extent of the ventricular enlargement correlated with the elevation of alcohol related laboratory measures (mean corpuscular volume, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase). In conclusion this study confirms the hypothesis that alcoholism causes brain damages that are partially reversible. It should be analyzed in further studies with larger sample sizes, if complete brain regeneration is possible maintaining abstinence over a longer period.

Driver fatigue is one of the leading causes of traffic accidents. It is imperative to develop a technique to monitor fatigue of drivers in real situation. Near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is now capable of measuring brain functional activity noninvasively in terms of hemodynamic responses sensitively, which shed a light to us that it may be possible to detect fatigue-specified brain functional activity signal. We developed a sensitive, portable and absolute-measure fNIRS, and utilized it to monitor cerebral hemodynamics on car drivers during prolonged true driving. An odd-ball protocol was employed to trigger the drivers’ visual divided attention, which is a critical function in safe driving. We found that oxyhemoglobin concentration and blood volume in prefrontal lobe dramatically increased with driving duration (stand for fatigue degree; 2-10 hours), while deoxyhemoglobin concentration increased to the top at 4 hours then decreased slowly. The behavior performance showed clear decrement only after 6 hours. Our study showed the strong potential of fNIRS combined with divided visual attention protocol in driving fatigue degree monitoring. Our findings indicated the fNIRS-measured hemodynamic parameters were more sensitive than behavior performance evaluation.

Non-invasive measures of brain gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentrations may be especially useful in the identification of cocaine-related changes in brain chemistry that can be used to guide the development of future treatments for cocaine-dependent persons. This study assessed whether brain GABA levels in cocaine-dependent subjects with and without an alcohol disorder differ from GABA levels in healthy comparison subjects. Two-dimensional, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to determine GABA levels in the left prefrontal lobe of cocaine-dependent subjects (N=35) recruited from a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-sponsored treatment trial of cocaine dependence and a comparison group (N=20). At treatment baseline, mean GABA concentrations were 0.93+/-0.27 mM/kg in cocaine-dependent subjects and 1.32+/-0.44 mM/kg in the comparison sample (t [d.f.=53]=3.65, P0.001). Cocaine-dependent subjects with a history of a co-morbid alcohol disorder (N=23) had significantly lower baseline GABA levels (0.87 mM/kg) (t [d.f.=41]=4.31, P0.001) than the comparison group. However, cocaine-dependent subjects without an alcohol disorder (N=12) also had lower GABA levels (1.04 mM/kg) than the comparison subjects (t [d.f.=30]=2.09, P=0.045), suggesting that cocaine dependence alone can decrease GABA levels.

This study aimed to evaluate the influence of cognitive demand on prospective-memory in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) using a dual-task paradigm. Fourteen individuals with severe TBI and 14 matched controls were required to undertake two tasks. A lexical-decision task was used as an ongoing task and had two levels of cognitive demand (viz., low and high). The event-based prospective-memory task involved performing a specific action whenever a target stimulus appeared during the ongoing task. The Letter-Number Sequencing Test, the Tower of London and the Controlled Oral Word Association Test were also administered to assess the relationship between prefrontal lobe functions and prospective memory. As hypothesised, participants in the TBI group performed more poorly than participants in the control group on the prospective-memory task in the high but not in the low demand condition. There were significant correlations between prospective-memory task performance and scores on the Letter-Number Sequencing Test and the Controlled Oral Word Association Test. These findings help to clarify the nature of prospective-memory impairment in individuals with TBI and support the involvement of prefrontal processes in prospective remembering.

In 11 healthy volunteers, we used event-related potentials (ERP) to investigate the frontal activity associated with imagining a beat. In imagery sessions, subjects were asked to imagine a rhythm during a silent recording period following a series of guide sounds played at 1 Hz. In control sessions, subjects were asked to imagine a vowel sound (“a”) continuously during the silent recording period. In eight subjects, relative negative potentials were recorded during imagery sessions (compared with potentials in control sessions), with timing that was similar to that of the guide sounds. Activity in the left frontal region was more significant than that in other areas during beat imagination. These data indicate that a semantic strategy for simple rhythm imagery might involve temporary phasic activation in the left frontal area, although rhythm production and perception might be generated in the right side, as reported in previous studies.

The present study examined influences of reading aloud and performing simple calculation on the cognitive functioning of healthy elderly adults, based on the findings that these tasks activated the prefrontal lobe. The elderly adults' memory and inhibitory functions were assesed by Short-Term memory, CST, Stroop, and SRC tasks, before and after intervention for 18 months. The study found that the learning group had significant improvement from the pre- to the post-test for the short-term memory, STM, CST, and Stroop tasks. On the other hand, there was significant decline over the 18 months in the control group which was given only the assessment tasks. These results are discussed in terms of the effectiveness of cognitive training.

Most individuals with severe handicaps rely on remedial helper. They are uncomfortable with using HCI or HRI to control helpful robot which can substitute remedial helpers. Although disabled people have difficulty in moving their body freely, the brain electroencephalography(EEG) signals, can be expressed as freely as they want. Recently, EEG signal measuring equipments, which are now easy to use and wear, are available in low price. EMOTIV Epoc Neuro Headset is one of these devices. In this paper, we suggest interface using EMOTIV Epoc Neuro Headset. Individuals with severe disability are able to control robot by movement of neck, and blinking eye, which well measures EEG signals in the prefrontal lobe. Expressivity of disabled people will be improved through BCI. Furthermore, patients with similar diseases will benefit from the new interface as well.

PURPOSE OF THE REPORT The aim of this study is to observe the abnormalities of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in migraine patients and to evaluate its relation to the severity of the headache in patients with migraine. PATIENTS AND METHODS The rCBF imaging was done on 19 patients with migraine and 15 normal controls using single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). The abnormal character of cerebral perfusion function was analyzed with Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM) software, and the headache grade of patients was evaluated with the headache severity measuring scale. RESULTS The results of SPM analysis demonstrated a decreased rCBF on both sides of the frontal and temporal lobes, left parietal lobe, and right occipital lobe (P < 0.001), and increased rCBF focus on the left prefrontal lobe and right temporal lobe (P < 0.001). The headache scores in migraineurs were correlated to the rCBF on the bilateral temporal lobes and right frontal lobe (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS The migraineurs had lower rCBF at the frontal and temporal lobes, and the lower rCBF was correlated to the degree of headache.

The prefrontal cortex plays an especially important role in human social-cognitive behavior. It has been difficult to quantify deficits in this domain in patients with frontal lobe lesions using standardized psychological instruments. We administered the Everyday Problem Solving Inventory (EPSI), which is composed of a range of scenarios depicting everyday social problems and their possible solutions, to a group of patients with frontal lobe lesions who were required to rate each of 4 possible solutions to each problem for their effectiveness. Our sample consisted of 27 normal controls (NCs), 33 patients with focal frontal lobe lesions (FLL), and 3 patients with frontal lobe dementia (FLD). The performance of the FLL patients on the EPSI instrument was also compared with their performance on traditional neuropsychological tests. The results indicated that the FLD patients' EPSI rank ordering of social problem solutions was uncorrelated with the performance of NCs and about half of the FLL patients EPSI rank orderings of solutions also varied substantially from those of the NCs. These same FLL patients also had the lowest scores, compared to FLL patients whose judgements on the EPSI were similar to that of the NCs, on a set of neuropsychological tasks sensitive to frontal lobe dysfunction. There was no obvious relationship between locus of lesion within the frontal lobes and performance on the EPSI. These results suggest that some patients with prefrontal lobe lesions may have impaired social judgement that can be directly revealed through the use of a conventional psychological inventory such as the EPSI.

Purpose:To understand the role of O2 utilization in the sex differences of fatigue during intermittent activity, we compared the cerebral (prefrontal lobe) and muscle (vastus lateralis) oxygenation of men and women during repeated-sprint exercise (RSE).Methods:Ten men and 10 women matched for initial-sprint mechanical work performed ten, 10 s cycle sprints (with 30 s of rest) under normoxic (NM: 21% FIO2) and acute hypoxic (HY: 13% FIO2) conditions in a randomized single-blind and crossover design. Mechanical work was calculated and arterial O2 saturation (SpO2) was estimated via pulse oximetry during every sprint. Cerebral and muscle oxy- (O2Hb) and deoxy-hemoglobin (HHb) were monitored continuously by near-infrared spectroscopy.Results:Compared with NM, work decrement was accentuated (P = 0.01) in HY for both men (–16.4 ± 10.3%) and women (–16.8 ± 9.0%). This was associated with lower SpO2 and lower cerebral Δ[O2Hb] in both sexes (–13.6 ± 7.5%, P = .008, and –134.5 ± 73.8%, P = .003, respectively). These HY-induced changes were nearly identical in these men and women matched for initial-sprint work. Muscle Δ[HHb] increased 9-fold (P = .009) and 5-fold (P = .02) in men and women, respectively, and plateaued. This muscle deoxygenation was not exacerbated in HY.Conclusions:Results indicate that men and women matched for initial-sprint work experience similar levels of fatigue and systemic, cerebral, and peripheral adjustments during RSE performed in NM and HY. These data suggest that cerebral deoxygenation imposes a limitation to repeated-sprint performance.

The degree of behavioral problems associated with epilepsy in children is greater than would be expected on the basis of the existence of a chronic illness alone. Involvement of the frontal lobe such as atypical evolution of benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BCECTS), epilepsy with continuous spike-waves during slow sleep (CSWS), and frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) are characterized by impairment of neuropsychological abilities, and are frequently associated with behavioral disorders. In volumetric studies using three-dimensional (3D) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), frontal and prefrontal lobe volumes revealed growth disturbance in patients with atypical evolution of BCECTS, CSWS, and FLE compared with those of normal subjects. These studies also revealed that in patients with shorter seizure durations and abnormal EEG periods, developmental abnormalities of the frontal lobe were soon restored to a more normal growth ratio. Conversely, growth disturbances of the prefrontal lobes were persistent in the patients with longer seizure durations and abnormal EEG periods. These findings suggest that seizure and the duration of paroxysmal anomalies may be associated with prefrontal lobe growth abnormalities, which are associated with neuropsychological problems. The urgent suppression of these seizure and EEG abnormalities may be necessary to prevent the progression of neuropsychological impairments.

A research prop-am studyina individuab aeneticaUy at hiP risk for alcoholism is preseuted. Multiplleratioaal nonproblem-drinkinl sons of male alcobolics display a pattern of autonomic byperreaclivity to a variety of stimuli. This pattern of readivity is siini6cantly dampened by hiP doses of alcobol. These individuab also display difficulty on copitive tests sugestive of prefrontal lobe dysftmction. This response pattern is not cbatacteristic of controls nor of dauabten of multipllerationaJ male alcobolics. A model is presented that hypothesizes a copitive disturbance underlyina the byperreactivity and posiu a problem in the attribution of meaJlina to novel stimuli and threateDina evenu. Alcoholism is a pervasive and pernicious dis­ order. Five to 10% of adults abuse or are depen­ dent upon alcohol (Kamerow, Pincus, & Mc­ Donald, 1986). The physical, social, and economic consequences of alcoholism are so se­ vere that, by comparison, detrimental effects of illegal substance abuse pale to relative insin Harwood, Napoli­ tano, & Kristiannsen, 1984). Given the death, mayhem, and economic loss these facts repre­ sent, one mi&ht assume that the etioloay of the problem would be weU delineated and that dem­ onstrated effective treatments would be avail­ able. Unfortunately, one would err in formi111 both assumptions. lt bas been estimated (Na­ than, 1987) that less than 5% of alcoholics are ever treated. lf rouably 50% of those treated re

The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) with age in patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Twenty-nine drug-naive ADHD subjects (24 boys, 5 girls; age 7–13; mean±SD=age 9.2±2.1) and 12 subjects with epilepsy (all diagnosed as having complex partial seizure, 6 boys, 6 girls; age 7–14; mean±SD=8.5±2.1) were included in the study. All cases of ADHD were diagnosed according to DSM-IV criteria. Cerebral blood flow was evaluated with Tc-99m-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (Tc99m HMPAO) brain single photon emission tomography (SPECT) during standard resting condition in all of the cases. Asymmetry indices for each region of interest were calculated. Absolute rCBF values were normalized as the absolute rCBF values divided by the whole brain absolute value. The prefrontal lobe asymmetry indices were significantly negatively correlated with age in ADHD cases ( r =−0.408, P =0.025), which indicated the increased prefrontal rCBF lateralization from the right to the left side with age. When ADHD cases older than 7 years of age were compared with those with epilepsy, the ADHD cases had lower right prefrontal and frontal rCBF and higher left parietal rCBF. The epilepsy group showed no significant correlations between age and asymmetry indices and showed a different developmental trajectory for prefrontal asymmetry and right prefrontal rCBF values. The results indicated that the left hemisphere dominance in the prefrontal cortex significantly increases with age in ADHD cases.

Findings from Arnone et al ’s[1][1] systematic review and meta-analysis of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies suggest that patients with bipolar disorder are characterised, in comparison with healthy controls, by significant reductions of whole-brain and prefrontal lobe volumes and by

The purpose of our study was to examine the neuroanatomical correlates of late-onset minor and major depression and to compare them with similar measures obtained from nondepressed controls. Our study groups were comprised of 18 patients with late-onset minor depression, 35 patients diagnosed with late-onset major depression, and 30 nondepressed controls. All subjects were scanned by using a 1.5-tesla MRI scanner. Absolute whole brain volume and normalized measures of prefrontal and temporal lobe volumes were obtained and used for comparison among groups. Our findings indicate that patients with minor depression present with specific neuroanatomical abnormalities that are comparable with the major depression group but significantly different from the controls. Normalized prefrontal lobe volumes show a significant linear trend with severity of depression, with volumes decreasing with illness severity. Whole brain volumes did not differ significantly among groups. These findings have broad implications for the biology of late-life depression and suggest that there may be common neurobiological substrates that underlie all clinically significant forms of late-onset mood disturbances.

Drug addiction has been associated with structural brain changes, but do they precede addiction or are they the consequence of it? Here, the authors showed that compared with unrelated healthy controls, stimulant-dependent individuals and their biological siblings have impaired inhibitory control, reduced white matter integrity in the prefrontal lobe and altered grey matter volume. These findings suggest that structural brain abnormalities may predispose individuals to reduced self-control, which, in the absence of resilience factors, may lead to stimulant addiction.

Rhesus monkeys were trained in a discriminated conditioned emotional responses paradigm. The discriminated conditioned response (CR) complex consisted of bar-press suppression, increased terminal aortic blood flow, and increased arterial pressure. Bar-press suppression and blood flow responses were temporarily eliminated by single-stage bilateral prefrontal lobectomy but not by extensive posterior cortical ablation, 2-stage prefrontal lobe removal, or 3-stage prefrontal cortical surface ablation. The blood pressure CR was attenuated by almost every surgical operation. The changes in heart rate paralleled changes in general activity. These data indicate that the prefrontal lobes influence the conditioned suppression of ongoing rewarded behavior and the vascular responses accompanying the suppression. The time course for recovery of the somatic CR after lobectomy differed from those of the cardiovascular CRs.

Positron emission tomography allows for the study of brain physiology and chemistry in humans. Most studies to date have examined cerebral blood flow, oxygen or glucose metabolism. Studies in aphasic patients have focused on glucose metabolism and have demonstrated that the extent of cerebral metabolic changes consistently involves brain regions which are not structurally damaged. These remote metabolic changes follow consistent patterns that are dependent on the location and extent of structural damage. Metabolic changes were variably found in undamaged prefrontal lobe, basal ganglia and thalamus. Variation in clinical aphasic syndromes were found to relate to these metabolic changes, suggesting that some aspects of the clinical features result from differences in prefrontal function rather than directly from structural damage to perisylvian structures.

Summary Previous investigations have clearly demonstrated that destruction of frontal granular cortex in monkeys within the first 5 months of life is far less detrimental to delayed response ability than is damage sustained at a later time. Once this sparing effect ceases to occur, however, performance after surgery has tended to improve with age. In the present investigation, monkeys operated at 5, 12, or from 18 to 24 months were compared with unoperated controls on delayed response, object discrimination learning, and ability to develop object discrimination or oddity learning sets. Results showed that in all cases where monkeys of different ages were unequally disrupted, those tested soon after surgery at 12 months were significantly inferior to those tested after surgery at 18 or 24 months. These findings suggest that abilities normally mediated by the frontal lobes can also be mediated with somewhat less efficiency by other areas as the remaining parts of the nervous system develop.

No. 2345, æt 27, transferred from Saughton Hall to Murray's Asylum, Perth, on June 4th, 1897. An unmarried male.

Summary Monkeys 5 and 24 months old were subjected to prefrontal topectomy or lobectomy, and were compared with like-aged controls on object discrimination, delayed response, object discrimination learning set, and oddity learning set. Size of lesion was the variable of primary importance in determining the extent of intellectual deficit. Total lobectomy produced significant performance decrements on the object discrimination, delayed response, and object discrimination learning set tasks. Differences between topectomized and control monkeys did not reach statistical significance on any of the tests utilized. There was little or no evidence from the present study that surgery at 5 months spared any intellectual functions that were lost after surgery at 24 months. Older monkeys were superior to younger monkeys on object discrimination, and to some extent on oddity learning set. Younger monkeys were superior to older monkeys on delayed response, but poor performance by the older control group suggests that this result may have been merely an age effect, rather than any compensation of function occurring after early surgery. Sparing of delayed response ability in monkeys operated during infancy is a concept supported by data from other sources, but the present study emphasizes the need for including older control groups in future work in this area.

A series of 18 consecutive patients were selected for frontal lobe surgery over a 10 year period to obtain relief from chronic, intractable anxiety. Of the 13 who were not psychotic, 12 have returned to a well adjusted, independent existence at home without further hospitalization or continuation of therapy. Certain observations based on these case studies have been made, with full realization that generalizations cannot be drawn from 18 cases and that whatever value this study may have is dependent upon intense personal investigation of all relevant factors in a small group of individuals.

Introduction The right prefrontal lobe has not traditionally been considered eloquent brain. Resection of tumours within this region does not typically lead to permanent functional impairment. In this report, we highlight the case of a patient who developed autobiographical memory loss following an uncomplicated resection of a right prefrontal tumour. Case material A previously fit and well 15-year old presented with a persistent right-sided headache. An MRI demonstrated an expanded right mid-frontal gyrus with changes consistent with a low-grade tumour. The patient underwent a right-sided craniotomy and resection of the lesion which was confirmed as a WHO grade II diffuse astrocytoma. Postoperatively, the patient reported profound retrograde amnesia for a range of memory components, in particular autobiographical memory and semantic memory. Postoperative imaging showed a good resection margin with no evidence of underlying brain injury. Over an 18-month period, the patient showed no improvement in autobiographical memory; however, significant relearning of semantic knowledge took place and her academic performance was found to be in line with expectations for her age. Conclusion In this report, we discuss a case and review the literature on the role of the right prefrontal cortex in memory and caution on the perception of right prefrontal non-eloquence.

Cerebral localization had several epochs during the nineteenth century. At its dawn the views of Gall had awakened interest not only in the scientific world, but in all the European centers of population. Gall had boldly advanced the idea that the brain was not only subdivided into centers of special function, but that these were indicated on the outside of the head by peculiar prominences and conformations. An essential element of his phrenology was the existence of cranial salients, recognizable by the skilled fingers of the examiner, and constituting the ectal correlatives of ental physiologic centers in the brain substance. The bumps of the phrenologist represented gyres and subgyres, in which resided, as in the compartments of an elaborately arranged house, the habitants of the soul or mind. Gall, who was a worker as well as theorizer, eventually lost himself in mazes of his own creation, but he will at

Comparative anatomy teaches that the frontal lobes of ascending types of animals are found gradually increasing in size. In anthropoid apes, the brain, which is very similar to that of man, is distinguished from the latter by the development of the frontal convolutions; they are all short and the inferior one, particularly so. In the studies by morphologists and neurologists, considerable attention is given to the question of the localization of psychic functions. Researches in comparative and experimental physiology, clinical observations, histologic studies, all lead to this view that a cooperation of all constituent portions of the brain is necessary for a normal function of intellect and that only a diffuse alteration of the brain is able to produce a modification in intelligence. Nevertheless, the anterior portion, the so-called prefrontal lobe, has been recognized since Gall, as the preponderantly better developed in highly intellectual individuals and that mental deficiency goes