instrumental learning
Research Papers
Anterior insular cortex regulation in autism spectrum disorders
Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) comprise a heterogeneous set of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by dramatic impairments of interpersonal behavior, communication, and empathy. Recent neuroimaging studies suggested that ASD are disorders characterized by widespread abnormalities involving distributed brain network, though clear evidence of differences in large-scale brain network interactions underlying the cognitive and behavioral symptoms of ASD are still lacking. Consistent findings of anterior insula cortex hypoactivation and dysconnectivity during tasks related to emotional and social processing indicates its dysfunctional role in ASD. In parallel, increasing evidence showed that successful control of anterior insula activity can be attained using real-time fMRI paradigms. More importantly, successful regulation of this region was associated with changes in behavior and brain connectivity in both healthy individuals and psychiatric patients. Building on these results we here propose and discuss the use of real-time fMRI neurofeedback in ASD aiming at improving emotional and social behavior.
View Full Paper →Self-regulation of Slow Cortical Potentials: A New Treatment for Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
OBJECTIVE. We investigated the effects of self-regulation of slow cortical potentials for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Slow cortical potentials are slow event-related direct-current shifts of the electroencephalogram. Slow cortical potential shifts in the electrical negative direction reflect the depolarization of large cortical cell assemblies, reducing their excitation threshold. This training aims at regulation of cortical excitation thresholds considered to be impaired in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Electroencephalographic data from the training and the 6-month follow-up are reported, as are changes in behavior and cognition. METHOD. Twenty-three children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder aged between 8 and 13 years received 30 sessions of self-regulation training of slow cortical potentials in 3 phases of 10 sessions each. Increasing and decreasing slow cortical potentials at central brain regions was fed back visually and auditorily. Transfer trials without feedback were intermixed with feedback trials to allow generalization to everyday-life situations. In addition to the neurofeedback sessions, children exercised during the third training phase to apply the self-regulation strategy while doing their homework. RESULTS. For the first time, electroencephalographic data during the course of slow cortical potential neurofeedback are reported. Measurement before and after the trials showed that children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder learn to regulate negative slow cortical potentials. After training, significant improvement in behavior, attention, and IQ score was observed. The behavior ratings included Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria, number of problems, and social behavior at school and were conducted by parents and teachers. The cognitive variables were assessed with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children and with a computerized test battery that measures several components of attention. All changes proved to be stable at 6 months' follow-up after the end of training. Clinical outcome was predicted by the ability to produce negative potential shifts in transfer sessions without feedback. CONCLUSIONS. According to the guidelines of the efficacy of treatments, the evidence of the efficacy of slow cortical potential feedback found in this study reaches level 2: “possibly efficacious.” In the absence of a control group, no causal relationship between observed improvements and the ability to regulate brain activity can be made. However, it could be shown for the first time that good performance in self-regulation predicts clinical outcome. “Good performance” was defined as the ability to produce negative potential shifts in trials without feedback, because it is known that the ability to self-regulate without feedback is impaired in children and adults with attention problems. Additional research should focus on the control of unspecific effects, medication, and subtypes to confirm the assumption that slow cortical potential feedback is a viable treatment option for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Regulation of slow cortical potentials may involve similar neurobiological pathways as medical treatment. It is suggested that regulation of frontocentral negative slow cortical potentials affects the cholinergic-dopaminergic balance and allows children to adapt to task requirements more flexibly.
View Full Paper →Self-regulation of slow cortical potentials in psychiatric patients: Schizophrenia
Slow cortical potentials (SCPs) are considered to reflect the regulation of attention resources and cortical excitability in cortical neuronal networks. Impaired attentional functioning, as found in patients with schizophrenic disorders, may covary with impaired SCP regulation. This hypothesis was tested using a self-regulation paradigm. Twelve medicated male schizophrenic inpatients and 12 healthy male controls received continuous feedback of their SCPs, during intervals of 8 s each, by means of a visual stimulus (a stylized rocket) moving horizontally across a TV screen. The position of the feedback stimulus was a linear function of the integrated SCP at each point in time during the feedback interval. Subjects were required to increase or reduce negative SCPs (referred to pretrial baseline) depending on the presentation of a discriminative stimulus. The correct response was indicated by the amount of forward movement of the feedback stimulus and by monetary rewards. Schizophrenics participated in 20 sessions (each comprising 110 trials), while controls participated in 5 sessions. Compared with the healthy controls, schizophrenics showed no significant differentiation between negativity increase and negativity suppression during the first sessions. However, in the last 3 sessions, patients achieved differentiation similar to controls, demonstrating the acquisition of SCP control after extensive training.
View Full Paper →Biofeedback-produced hemispheric asymmetry of slow cortical potentials and its behavioural effects
Two studies served to examine behavioural effects of slow cortical potentials (SPs). SPs were manipulated by means of a biofeedback procedure. The ability of human subjects to alter SPs differentially between the two hemispheres - specifically over the lateral aspects of teh central sulcus - was tested by providing feedback ofthe SP difference betwrrn C3 and C4. In Expt. I, 21 of the 45 subjects produced hemispheric asymmetries of more than 2 μV between C3 and C4 on an average after 80 trials of analogue, continuous and immediate feedback. In Expt. II, SP changes were fed back digitally at the end of each trial. Within 120 trials, 20 of the 48 subjects reached the criterion of a minimum 2-μV difference in SPs between C3 and C4 on the average. Average differentiation remained significantly below the SP differentiations achieved for continuous feedback. Trials with feedback were followed by ‘task’ trials without feedback, during which subjects were still requested to produce SP changes but also had to complete a task: Either sensorimotor tasks (Expt. I) or forced choice handedness tasks (Expt. II) were presented to evaluate behavioural consequences of hemispheric SP differences. In subjects achieving the required SP differentiation it affected the behavioural output in agreement with the known functions of the respective cortical area.
View Full Paper →Self‐Report During Feedback Regulation of Slow Cortical Potentials
ABSTRACT Subjects received exteroceptive feedback for bidirectional changes in slow cortical potentials or alpha power measured from the vertex. The slow potential group succeeded in shifting slow potentials toward negativity and positivity on feedback and transfer trials requiring these changes, after two sessions of training. Differentiation of negativity and positivity was accompanied by verbal reports of somatomotor activation that occurred on trials on which negative slow potentials were required ( p < .01). Vertical and lateral eye movements, chin and frontalis electromyogram, and heart rate did not differentiate between negativity and positivity trials in the slow potential group. However, heart rate acceleration correlated between‐subjects with slow potential negativity during feedback. Although the alpha power group did not succeed at controlling changes in alpha, evidence of a training effect appeared in verbal reports of emotional arousal ( p < .05) and focused vision ( p < .08) on alpha suppression trials in this group. We discuss the findings from the viewpoint that biofeedback tasks involving electrocortical responses are problems in the organization of action that subjects seek to solve.
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