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Intimate partner violence (IPV) among parents impacts their child's development both directly through exposure to violence and indirectly through disruptions in parenting. In particular, use of IPV may affect how fathers respond to infant crying, including at a neurophysiological level. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether use of IPV behavior is associated with differences in fathers' neural response to infant's cries. Frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry, as an index of motivational tendencies, was assessed in 25 fathers who used IPV in the last 12 months and 19 fathers with no history of IPV in response to videos of an infant crying, white noise as an aversive control stimulus, and a baseline (no stimulus) condition. Across all conditions, fathers with and without IPV history evidenced greater left frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA), consistent with greater approach motivation. Relative to baseline, infant cries elicited a decrease in left FAA in both groups, whereas white noise elicited different responses between fathers with and without IPV histories, namely less change in FAA from baseline in fathers who used IPV. This suggests similar shifts in motivational intensity in fathers in response to infant cries, but not white noise. Across the sample, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) were positively associated with FAA response to white noise. Together these results reveal neural differences between fathers with and without IPV histories, potentially linked to experiences of childhood adversity., Author(s): Ellie N. Baker [sup.1] [sup.2] , Ciara McFaul [sup.1] , Jia Wu [sup.1] , Ivett Karina Sandoval [sup.1] , Michael J. Crowley [sup.1] , Helena J. V. Rutherford [sup.1] [...]

Background: A hyperactive default mode network (DMN) has been observed in people with major depressive disorder (MDD), and weak DMN suppression has been linked to depressive symptoms. However, whether dysregulation of the DMN contributes to blunted positive emotional experience in people with MDD is unclear. Methods: We recorded 128-channel electroencephalograms (EEGs) from 24 participants with MDD and 31 healthy controls in a resting state (RS) and an emotion-induction state (ES), in which participants engaged with emotionally positive pictures. We combined Granger causality analysis and data-driven decomposition to extract latent brain networks shared among states and groups, and we further evaluated their interactions across individuals. Results: We extracted 2 subnetworks. Subnetwork 1 represented a delta (8)-band (1~4 Hz) frontal network that was activated more in the ES than the RS (i.e., task-positive). Subnetwork 2 represented an alpha (a)-band (8~13 Hz) parietal network that was suppressed more in the ES than the RS (i.e., task-negative). These subnetworks were anticorrelated in both the healthy control and MDD groups, but with different sensitivities: for participants with MDD to achieve the same level of task-positive (subnetwork 1) activation as healthy controls, more suppression of task-negative (subnetwork 2) activation was necessary. Furthermore, the anticorrelation strength in participants with MDD correlated with the severity of 2 core MDD symptoms: anhedonia and rumination. Limitations: The sample size was small. Conclusion: Our findings revealed altered coordination between 2 functional networks in MDD and suggest that weak suppression of the task-negative [alpha]-band parietal network contributes to blunted positive emotional responses in adults with depression. The subnetworks identified here could be used for diagnosis or targeted for treatment in the future., Introduction Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by a wide range of symptoms, including persistent and profound sadness, lack of mood reactivity, repetitive and passive thinking loops (depressive rumination), and [...]

Purpose: This research examined the expression of cortical auditory evoked potentials in a cohort of children who received cochlear implants (CIs) for treatment of congenital deafness (n = 28) and typically hearing controls (n = 28). Method: We make use of a novel electroencephalography paradigm that permits the assessment of auditory responses to ambiently presented speech and evaluates the contributions of concurrent visual stimulation on this activity. Results: Our findings show group differences in the expression of auditory sensory and perceptual event-related potential components occurring in 80- to 200-ms and 200- to 300-ms time windows, with reductions in amplitude and a greater latency difference for CI-using children. Relative to typically hearing children, current source density analysis showed muted responses to concurrent visual stimulation in CI-using children, suggesting less cortical specialization and/or reduced responsiveness to auditory information that limits the detection of the interaction between sensory systems. Conclusion: These findings indicate that even in the face of early interventions, CI-using children may exhibit disruptions in the development of auditory and multisensory processing., Early auditory deprivation in cases of severe to profound congenital hearing loss has been associated with changes in primary sensory processing and increasingly higher level processes, including attention and learning [...]

The same phenomenon or action may evoke different imaginations across the minds of people. For instance, locking the door could be construed either as putting the key into the lock or as securing the house. According to the construal level theory, the former (latter) is more likely to happen among people with a low (high) level of construal, who have an intrinsic inclination to focus on peripheral details (central features) of the phenomena or action. Given that object's peripheral details are more concrete and less abstract than its central features, people with a low (high) level of construal have better developed concrete-mindset (abstract-mindset). Previous research has been consistently assuming that people with a low (high) level of construal are better at cognitively processing the concrete (abstract) phenomenon or action. However, this assumption has not yet been empirically tested with EEG methodology. In this paper, we test this assumption through within-subject experimental design (n = 44) conducting EEG methodology. Results of the P-300 component of the event-related brain potential, which is an indicator of mental workload, demonstrated that people with a low (high) level of construal experienced a greater mental workload when they were processing abstract (concrete) phenomena., Author(s): Behcet Yalin Ozkara [sup.1] , Volkan Dogan [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.164274.2, 0000 0004 0596 2460, Department of Marketing, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, , 26480, Eskisehir, Turkey Introduction > It [...]

Background: The synchronized activity of distributed neural assemblies--reflected in the electroencephalogram (EEG)--underpins mental function. In schizophrenia, modulation deficits of EEG spectral content during a P300 task have been replicated. The effects of treatment, chronicity and specificity in these deficits and their possible relationship with anatomic connectivity remain to be explored. Methods: We assessed spectral entropy modulation of the EEG during a P300 task in 79 patients with schizophrenia (of those, 31 were in their first episode), 29 patients with bipolar disorder and 48 healthy controls. Spectral entropy values summarize EEG characteristics by quantifying the irregularity of spectral content. In a subsample, we calculated the network architecture of structural connectivity using diffusion tensor imaging and graph-theory parameters. Results: We found significant spectral entropy modulation deficits with task performance in patients with chronic or first-episode schizophrenia and in patients with bipolar disorder, without significant pre-stimulus spectral entropy differences. The deficits were unrelated to treatment doses, and spectral entropy modulation did not differ between patients taking or not taking antipsychotics, lithium, benzodiazepines or antidepressants. Structural connectivity values were unrelated to spectral entropy modulation. In patients with schizophrenia, spectral entropy modulation was inversely related to negative symptoms and directly related to verbal memory. Limitations: All patients were taking medication. Patients with bipolar disorder were euthymic and chronic. The cross-sectional nature of this study prevented a more thorough analysis of state versus trait criteria for spectral entropy changes. Conclusion: Spectral entropy modulation with task performance is decreased in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. This deficit was not an effect of psychopharmacological treatment or structural connectivity and might reflect a deficit in the synchronization of the neural assemblies that underlie cognitive activity., Introduction Mental functions are underpinned by the quickly evolving synchronization of distributed neural assemblies. (1,2) Because the electroencephalogram (EEG) reflects this synchronized activity, its modulation during cognitive activity can be [...]

Byline: Jitender. Sorout, Sudhanshu. Kacker, Neha. Saboo, Harsha. Soni, Karampreet. Buttar, Satyanath. Reddy Background: Electrophysiological investigations are now very common in clinical investigations. Event-related potential (ERP) is also common in [...]

We objectively quantified the neural sensitivity of school-aged boys with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to detect briefly presented fearful expressions by combining fast periodic visual stimulation with frequency-tagging electroencephalography. Images of neutral faces were presented at 6 Hz, periodically interleaved with fearful expressions at 1.2 Hz oddball rate. While both groups equally display the face inversion effect and mainly rely on information from the mouth to detect fearful expressions, boys with ASD generally show reduced neural responses to rapid changes in expression. At an individual level, fear discrimination responses predict clinical status with an 83% accuracy. This implicit and straightforward approach identifies subtle deficits that remain concealed in behavioral tasks, thereby opening new perspectives for clinical diagnosis., Author(s): Stephanie Van der Donck [sup.1] [sup.2] , Milena Dzhelyova [sup.3] , Sofie Vettori [sup.1] [sup.2] , Hella Thielen [sup.4] , Jean Steyaert [sup.1] [sup.2] , Bruno Rossion [sup.3] [sup.5] [...]

Purpose: We sought to estimate the prevalence of isolated epileptiform activity (IEA) in children with speech and language impairments and discuss the utility of an electroencephalogram (EEG) in assessing these children. Method: We conducted a systematic review and searched for eligible studies in 8 databases. All languages were included, and meta-analyses were performed. Results: We found 55 prevalence estimates (8 with control group). The odds of having IEA were 6 times greater for children with speech and language impairments than for typically developing children. The overall pooled prevalence of IEA was 27.3%. A wide variation between the prevalence estimates was, to a certain degree, explained by type of impairment (8.1% in speech impairments, 25.8% in language impairments, and 51.5% in language regression). Sleep EEGs detected a significantly higher prevalence than awake EEGs. Although the presence of epilepsy gave a significantly higher prevalence than if epilepsy was not present, 33.5% of children with language impairment but without epilepsy were found to have IEA in sleep EEGs. Conclusions: This systematic review shows that IEA is 6 times more prevalent in children with speech and language impairment than in typically developing children. However, the prevalence rates vary to a great extent. Uncovering IEA will, in addition to information from other clinical assessments, provide a more comprehensive understanding of the child's impairments. We argue that, although EEG is of questionable value when assessing children with speech impairments, sleep EEG could be valuable when assessing children with language impairments and, in particular, children who experience language regression., Electroencephalogram (EEG) is an essential tool in epilepsy diagnostics and can confirm a seizure as epileptic by detecting epileptiform activity (S. J. M. Smith, 2005). Sometimes, epileptiform activity is registered [...]

Byline: Soumya. Chandrasekharan, Ramshekhar. Menon, Satyan. Nanda, Jeevan. Nair, Ashalatha. Radhakrishnan, Ajith. Cherian, Sanjeev. Thomas Background: Prediction of outcome of West syndrome (WS) in relation to etiology and electrophysiology remain [...]

Byline: B. Ushasree, A. Al Anzari, N. Sampath Kumar, P. Phanisree, S. Indira, Luis. Moscote-Salazar, Amit. Agrawal Music is universal and is present in all cultures and capable of conveying [...]

Byline: Lakshminarayanapuram. Viswanathan, Shreedhara. Siddappa, Madhu. Nagappa, Anita. Mahadevan, Shishir. Duble, Parayil. Bindu, Arun. Taly, Sanjib. Sinha Background: NMDA receptor encephalitis (NMDARE) is the most prevalent autoimmune encephalitis and it [...]

Although prior studies have demonstrated reduced resting state EEG coherence in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), no studies have explored the nature of EEG coherence during joint attention. We examined the EEG coherence of the joint attention network in adolescents with and without ASD during congruent and incongruent joint attention perception and an eyes-open resting condition. Across conditions, adolescents with ASD showed reduced right hemisphere temporal-central alpha coherence compared to typically developing adolescents. Greater right temporal-central alpha coherence during joint attention was positively associated with social cognitive performance in typical development but not in ASD. These results suggest that, in addition to a resting state, EEG coherence during joint attention perception is reduced in ASD., Author(s): Mark Jaime[sup.1] [sup.7] , Camilla M. McMahon[sup.2] [sup.7] , Bridget C. Davidson[sup.3] [sup.7] , Lisa C. Newell[sup.4] [sup.7] , Peter C. Mundy[sup.5] [sup.7] , Heather A. Henderson[sup.6] [sup.7] Author [...]