Search

Neuroeducation seeks to implement knowledge about neural mechanisms of learning into educational practice and to understand the impact of learning itself. The crucial tasks in this field are to evaluate and to enhance cognitive abilities, that are used in monitoring educational performance, but also known to greatly impact learning process. Contemporary neuroscience achieved significant progress in measuring brain cognitive abilities through mental state assessment. Popular approach to this task based on brain-computer interface can be difficult to implement in the context of education, but general concept of neuroadaptation is still plausible. In this study, we propose open-loop neuroadaptive system for enhancing student’s cognitive abilities in learning. Assessment of cognitive abilities is based on the concept of executive functions. We design EEG study with special tests and use combined analysis of behavioral and brain activity to assess the level of development of cognitive abilities. Feedback in this system is implemented in the form of recommendations aimed to develop and enhance underdeveloped cognitive abilities and skills. Recommendations have form of various types of extracurricular activities and are based on extensive literature search. This is the system with open-loop adaptation, as it can assess cognitive abilities, provide feedback aimed to enhance these abilities and then after a period of time it can assess cognitive abilities again as a part of the next loop. We believe that developed neuroadaptive system has a potential to be used in educational institutes.

We revealed physical processes responsible for the excitation of higher-order modes in volume free-electron laser with photonic crystal. We discovered the new approach for the selection of the electromagnetic modes in volume free-electron laser with photonic crystal based on the choice of the emitter configuration. This approach allows essential multiplying the generation frequency. We found that the regimes with developed higher-order modes are accompanied by complex squeezed-like beam dynamics. Also, we present the results of the optimization of volume free-electron laser with photonic crystal in terms of excitation of high-order modes. In particular, we investigated the influence of the location of electron beams on the excitation of photonic crystal eigenmodes. Keywords: Electron beam, Distributed feedback, Volume free-electron laser, Photonic crystal, Higher-order modes, Modes selection, Sub-terahertz radiation

The problem of hidden data recovery is crucial in various scientific and technological fields, particularly in neurophysiology, where experimental data can often be incomplete or corrupted. We investigate the application of reservoir computing (RC) to recover hidden data from both model Kuramoto network system and real neurophysiological signals (EEG). Using an adaptive network of Kuramoto phase oscillators, we generated and analyzed macroscopic signals to understand the efficiency of RC in hidden signal recovery compared to linear regression (LR). Our findings indicate that RC significantly outperforms LR, especially in scenarios with reduced signal information. Furthermore, when applied to real EEG data, RC achieved more accurate signal reconstruction than traditional spline interpolation methods. These results underscore RC's potential for enhancing data recovery in neurophysiological studies, offering a robust solution to improve data integrity and reliability, which is essential for accurate scientific analysis and interpretation., (© 2024 Author(s). Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.)

This review provides a comprehensive examination of recent developments in both neurofeedback and brain-computer interface (BCI) within the medical field and rehabilitation. By analyzing and comparing results obtained with various tools and techniques, we aim to offer a systematic understanding of BCI applications concerning different modalities of neurofeedback and input data utilized. Our primary objective is to address the existing gap in the area of meta-reviews, which provides a more comprehensive outlook on the field, allowing for the assessment of the current landscape and developments within the scope of BCI. Our main methodologies include meta-analysis, search queries employing relevant keywords, and a network-based approach. We are dedicated to delivering an unbiased evaluation of BCI studies, elucidating the primary vectors of research development in this field. Our review encompasses a diverse range of applications, incorporating the use of brain-computer interfaces for rehabilitation and the treatment of various diagnoses, including those related to affective spectrum disorders. By encompassing a wide variety of use cases, we aim to offer a more comprehensive perspective on the utilization of neurofeedback treatments across different contexts. The structured and organized presentation of information, complemented by accompanying visualizations and diagrams, renders this review a valuable resource for scientists and researchers engaged in the domains of biofeedback and brain-computer interfaces., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2024 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.)

When viewing a completely ambiguous image, different interpretations can switch involuntarily due to internal top-down processing. In the case of the Necker cube, an entirely ambiguous stimulus, observers often display a bias in perceptual switching between two interpretations based on their perspectives: one with a from-above perspective (FA) and the other with a from-below perspective (FB). Typically, observers exhibit a priori top-down bias in favor of the FA interpretation, which may stem from a statistical tendency in everyday life where we more frequently observe objects from above. However, it remains unclear whether this perceptual bias persists when individuals voluntarily decide on the Necker cube's interpretation in goal-directed behavior, and the impact of ambiguity in this context is not well-understood. In our study, we instructed observers to voluntarily identify the orientation of a Necker cube while manipulating its ambiguity from low (LA) to high (HA). Our investigation aimed to test two hypotheses: (i) whether the perspective (FA or FB) would result in a bias in response time, and (ii) whether this bias would depend on the level of stimulus ambiguity. Additionally, we analyzed electroencephalogram (EEG) signals to identify potential biomarkers that could explain the observed perceptual bias. The behavioral results confirmed a perceptual bias in favor of the from-above perspective, as indicated by shorter response times. However, this bias diminished for stimuli with high ambiguity. For the LA stimuli, the occipital theta-band power consistently exceeded the frontal theta-band power throughout most of the decision-making time. In contrast, for the HA stimuli, the frontal theta-band power started to exceed the occipital theta-band power during the 0.3-s period preceding the decision. We propose that occipital theta-band power reflects evidence accumulation, while frontal theta-band power reflects its evaluation and decision-making processes. For the FB perspective, occipital theta-band power exhibited higher values and dominated over a longer duration, leading to an overall increase in response time. These results suggest that more information and more time are needed to encode stimuli with a FB perspective, as this template is less common for the observers compared to the template for a cube with a FA perspective., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Kuc, Maksimenko, Savosenkov, Grigorev, Grubov, Badarin, Kazantsev, Gordleeva and Hramov.)

Sensorimotor integration (SI) brain functions that are vital for everyday life tend to decline in advanced age. At the same time, elderly people preserve a moderate level of neuroplasticity, which allows the brain's functionality to be maintained and slows down the process of neuronal degradation. Hence, it is important to understand which aspects of SI are modifiable in healthy old age. The current study focuses on an auditory-based SI task and explores: (i) if the repetition of such a task can modify neural activity associated with SI, and (ii) if this effect is different in young and healthy old age. A group of healthy older subjects and young controls underwent an assessment of the whole-brain electroencephalography (EEG) while repetitively executing a motor task cued by the auditory signal. Using EEG spectral power and functional connectivity analyses, we observed a differential age-related modulation of theta activity throughout the repetition of the SI task. Growth of the anterior stimulus-related theta oscillations accompanied by enhanced right-lateralized frontotemporal phase-locking was found in elderly adults. Their young counterparts demonstrated a progressive increase in prestimulus occipital theta power. Our results suggest that the short-term repetition of the auditory-based SI task modulates sensory processing in the elderly. Older participants most likely progressively improve perceptual integration rather than attention-driven processing compared to their younger counterparts.

In this study, we investigated the neural and behavioral mechanisms associated with precision visual-motor control during the learning of sport shooting. We developed an experimental paradigm adapted for naïve individuals and a multisensory experimental paradigm. We showed that in the proposed experimental paradigms, subjects trained well and significantly increased their accuracy. We also identified several psycho-physiological parameters that were associated with shooting outcomes, including EEG biomarkers. In particular, we observed an increase in head-averaged delta and right temporal alpha EEG power before missing shots, as well as a negative correlation between theta-band energies in the frontal and central brain regions and shooting success. Our findings suggest that the multimodal analysis approach has the potential to be highly informative in studying the complex processes involved in visual-motor control learning and may be useful for optimizing training processes.

Aim: This study aims to develop new approaches to characterize brain networks to potentially contribute to a better understanding of mechanisms involved in depression., Method and Subjects: We recruited 90 subjects: 49 healthy controls (HC) and 41 patients with a major depressive episode (MDE). All subjects underwent clinical evaluation and functional resting-state MRI. The data were processed investigating functional connectivity network measures across the two groups using Brain Connectivity Toolbox. The statistical inferences were developed at a functional network level, using a false discovery rate method. Linear discriminant analysis was used to differentiate between the two groups., Results and Discussion: Significant differences in functional connectivity (FC) between depressed patients vs. healthy controls was demonstrated, with brain regions including the lingual gyrus, cerebellum, midcingulate cortex and thalamus more prominent in healthy subjects as compared to depression where the orbitofrontal cortex emerged as a key node. Linear discriminant analysis demonstrated that full-connectivity matrices were the most precise in differentiating between depression vs. health subjects., Conclusion: The study provides supportive evidence for impaired functional connectivity networks in MDE patients.

Sensor-level human brain activity is studied during real and imaginary motor execution using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Blood oxygenation and deoxygenation spatial dynamics exhibit pronounced hemispheric lateralization when performing motor tasks with the left and right hands. This fact allowed us to reveal biomarkers of hemodynamical response of the motor cortex on the motor execution, and use them for designing a sensing method for classification of the type of movement. The recognition accuracy of real movements is close to 100%, while the classification accuracy of imaginary movements is lower but quite high (at the level of 90%). The advantage of the proposed method is its ability to classify real and imaginary movements with sufficiently high efficiency without the need for recalculating parameters. The proposed system can serve as a sensor of motor activity to be used for neurorehabilitation after severe brain injuries, including traumas and strokes.