Quantitative Meta-analyses of Cognitive Abilities in Children With Pediatric-onset Multiple Sclerosis.

Pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (POMS), is the manifestation of multiple sclerosis in individuals before 18 years of age. About a third of children with POMS show some form of lower cognitive performance. The purpose of this study is to examine using quantitative meta-analyses the effect size of altered performance between children with and without POMS on overall intelligence quotient (IQ), information processing speed, and language functions. We searched the literature for studies that reported scores on cognitive tests administered to children with and without POMS. Studies were systematically reviewed using PRISMA guidelines. We analyzed data from 14 studies that examined 1283 children with and without POMS when cognitive categories consisted of five or more studies. Effect sizes, publication bias and potential confounds were considered. Significant cognitive differences are revealed for all categories with the strongest effect observed for overall IQ. A moderate effect is observed for information processing speed, and small effects for verbal fluency and verbal memory. Cognitive abilities present differently in children with POMS and a better understanding of this manifestation will inform intervention and remediation tools that can improve clinical and educational practice for the benefit of children with POMS.

Converging evidence for domain-general developmental trends of mental attentional capacity: Validity and reliability of full and abbreviated measures.

Our ability to understand the world around us hinges on our cognition. Theoretically, children's abilities improve with age; however, a lively discussion exists on how factors such as task domain, task interference, and task difficulty, as indexed mainly by relevant cues, affect cognitive performance. Practically, cognitive measures take a substantial amount of time to administer, which poses limitations for researchers in the field of psychology. The current study addressed theoretical and practical questions regarding the nature of child cognition using full and abbreviated versions of classic, recent, and new tasks of mental attentional capacity. We employed a cross-sectional design testing 483 participants in six groups (7-30 years of age) on the new Number Matching Task (NMT), the established Color Matching Task (CMT), and the classic Figural Intersection Task (FIT). Results confirm theoretical predictions of the developmental increase in mental attentional capacity and the adjunct hypothesis that tasks with high interference are better to assess the developmental trajectory of mental attentional capacity quantitatively. NMT scores are significantly equivalent to CMT scores and the theoretically predicted mental attentional capacity, and the abbreviated CMT and NMT produce comparable scores to those of the full tests. We determined that the NMT can be administered developmentally and is appropriate for use in assessing mental attentional capacity in studies with both children and adults.

Spatial migration of human reward processing with functional development: Evidence from quantitative meta-analyses.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have shown notable age-dependent differences in reward processing. We analyzed data from a total of 554 children, 1,059 adolescents, and 1,831 adults from 70 articles. Quantitative meta-analyses results show that adults engage an extended set of regions that include anterior and posterior cingulate gyri, insula, basal ganglia, and thalamus. Adolescents engage the posterior cingulate and middle frontal gyri as well as the insula and amygdala, whereas children show concordance in right insula and striatal regions almost exclusively. Our data support the notion of reorganization of function over childhood and adolescence and may inform current hypotheses relating to decision-making across age.

Meta-analyses of the n-back working memory task: fMRI evidence of age-related changes in prefrontal cortex involvement across the adult lifespan.

Working memory, a fundamental cognitive function that is highly dependent on the integrity of the prefrontal cortex, is known to show age-related decline across the typical healthy adult lifespan. Moreover, we know from work in neurophysiology that the prefrontal cortex is disproportionately susceptibly to the pathological effects of aging. The n-back task is arguably the most ubiquitous cognitive task for investigating working memory performance. Many functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies examine brain regions engaged during performance of the n-back task in adults. The current meta-analyses are the first to examine concordance and age-related changes across the healthy adult lifespan in brain areas engaged when performing the n-back task. We compile data from eligible fMRI articles that report stereotaxic coordinates of brain activity from healthy adults in three age-groups: young (23.57 ±â€¯5.63 years), middle-aged (38.13 ±â€¯5.63 years) and older (66.86 ±â€¯5.70 years) adults. Findings show that the three groups share concordance in the engagement of parietal and cingulate cortices, which have been consistently identified as core areas involved in working memory; as well as the insula, claustrum, and cerebellum, which have not been highlighted as areas involved in working memory. Critically, prefrontal cortex engagement is concordant for young, to a lesser degree for middle-aged adults, and absent in older adults, suggesting a gradual linear decline in concordance of prefrontal cortex engagement. Our results provide important new knowledge for improving methodology and theories of cognition across the lifespan.

Brain responses to social norms: Meta-analyses of fMRI studies.

Social norms have a critical role in everyday decision-making, as frequent interaction with others regulates our behavior. Neuroimaging studies show that social-based and fairness-related decision-making activates an inconsistent set of areas, which sometimes includes the anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and others lateral prefrontal cortices. Social-based decision-making is complex and variability in findings may be driven by socio-cognitive activities related to social norms. To distinguish among social-cognitive activities related to social norms, we identified 36 eligible articles in the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) literature, which we separate into two categories (a) social norm representation and (b) norm violations. The majority of original articles (>60%) used tasks associated with fairness norms and decision-making, such as ultimatum game, dictator game, or prisoner's dilemma; the rest used tasks associated to violation of moral norms, such as scenarios and sentences of moral depravity ratings. Using quantitative meta-analyses, we report common and distinct brain areas that show concordance as a function of category. Specifically, concordance in ventromedial prefrontal regions is distinct to social norm representation processing, whereas concordance in right insula, dorsolateral prefrontal, and dorsal cingulate cortices is distinct to norm violation processing. We propose a neurocognitive model of social norms for healthy adults, which could help guide future research in social norm compliance and mechanisms of its enforcement.

Dissociations of cognitive inhibition, response inhibition, and emotional interference: Voxelwise ALE meta-analyses of fMRI studies.

Inhibitory control is the stopping of a mental process with or without intention, conceptualized as mental suppression of competing information because of limited cognitive capacity. Inhibitory control dysfunction is a core characteristic of many major psychiatric disorders. Inhibition is generally thought to involve the prefrontal cortex; however, a single inhibitory mechanism is insufficient for interpreting the heterogeneous nature of human cognition. It remains unclear whether different dimensions of inhibitory processes-specifically cognitive inhibition, response inhibition, and emotional interference-rely on dissociated neural systems. We conducted systematic meta-analyses of fMRI studies in the BrainMap database supplemented by PubMed using whole-brain activation likelihood estimation. A total of 66 study experiments including 1,447 participants and 987 foci revealed that while the left anterior insula was concordant in all inhibitory dimensions, cognitive inhibition reliably activated specific dorsal frontal inhibitory system, engaging dorsal anterior cingulate, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and parietal areas, whereas emotional interference reliably implicated a ventral inhibitory system, involving the ventral surface of the inferior frontal gyrus and the amygdala. Response inhibition showed concordant clusters in the fronto-striatal system, including the dorsal anterior cingulate region and extended supplementary motor areas, the dorsal and ventral lateral prefrontal cortex, basal ganglia, midbrain regions, and parietal regions. We provide an empirically derived dimensional model of inhibition characterizing neural systems underlying different aspects of inhibitory mechanisms. This study offers a fundamental framework to advance current understanding of inhibition and provides new insights for future clinical research into disorders with different types of inhibition-related dysfunctions.

N-back Working Memory Task: Meta-analysis of Normative fMRI Studies With Children.

The n-back task is likely the most popular measure of working memory for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies. Despite accumulating neuroimaging studies with the n-back task and children, its neural representation is still unclear. fMRI studies that used the n-back were compiled, and data from children up to 15 years (n = 260) were analyzed using activation likelihood estimation. Results show concordance in frontoparietal regions recognized for their role in working memory as well as regions not typically highlighted as part of the working memory network, such as the insula. Findings are discussed in terms of developmental methodology and potential contribution to developmental theories of cognition.

Negative priming: a meta-analysis of fMRI studies.

A phenomenon termed negative priming is defined as an increase in reaction time and/or decrease in performance during instances in which current target stimuli are employed as distractor stimuli in the previous trial. A recent qualitative review on negative priming reported neural regions of interest underlined by activity within the right middle frontal gyrus and left middle temporal gyrus; however, these areas of interest have not been tested and supported by using coordinate-based, quantitative meta-analysis. We compiled functional magnetic resonance imaging studies that examined neural correlates of priming tasks using perceptual, conceptual and lexical primes. Effect-size signed differential mapping was used to perform a neuroimaging meta-analysis on the negative priming effect. Results from fourteen studies (245 participants; 85 foci) show concordance across studies in the right middle frontal gyrus and the left superior temporal gyrus, as suggested by the previous review; however, results also yielded concordance within the anterior cingulate cortex. Our data support the extant hypothesis and offer new insights into the neural mechanisms of the negative priming effect.

Neuropsychology still needs to model organismic processes "from within".

Four issues are discussed: (1) differences between cognition and emotion; (2) affect, emotion, and motivation differentials, including a neuropsychological model of motivation; (3) mental attention (working memory) as a resource neither affective nor cognitive, but applicable to both; and (4) explication of neuropsychological scheme units, which have neuronal circuits as functional infrastructure, thus helping to clarify the semantics of functional connectivity.

Add, subtract and multiply: Meta-analyses of brain correlates of arithmetic operations in children and adults.

Mathematical operations are cognitive actions we take to calculate relations among numbers. Arithmetic operations, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division are elemental in education. Addition is the first one taught in school and is most popular in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies. Division, typically taught last is least studied with fMRI. fMRI meta-analyses show that arithmetic operations activate brain areas in parietal, cingulate and insular cortices for children and adults. Critically, no meta-analysis examines concordance across brain correlates of separate arithmetic operations in children and adults. We review and examine using quantitative meta-analyses data from fMRI articles that report brain coordinates separately for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in children and adults. Results show that arithmetic operations elicit common areas of concordance in fronto-parietal and cingulo-opercular networks in adults and children. Between operations differences are observed primarily for adults. Interestingly, higher within-group concordance, expressed in activation likelihood estimates, is found in brain areas associated with the cingulo-opercular network rather than the fronto-parietal network in children, areas also common between adults and children. Findings are discussed in relation to constructivist cognitive theory and practical directions for future research.

Working memory processes and intrinsic motivation: An EEG study.

Processes typically encompassed by working memory (WM) include encoding, retention, and retrieval of information. Previous research has demonstrated that motivation can influence WM performance, although the specific WM processes affected by motivation are not yet fully understood. In this study, we investigated the effects of motivation on different WM processes, examining how task difficulty modulates these effects. We hypothesized that motivation level and personality traits of the participants (N = 48, 32 females; mean age = 21) would modulate the parietal alpha and frontal theta electroencephalography (EEG) correlates of WM encoding, retention, and retrieval phases of the Sternberg task. This effect was expected to be more pronounced under conditions of very high task difficulty. We found that increasing difficulty led to reduced accuracy and increased response time, but no significant relationship was found between motivation and accuracy. However, EEG data revealed that motivation influenced WM processes, as indicated by changes in alpha and theta oscillations. Specifically, higher levels of the Resilience trait-associated with mental toughness, hardiness, self-efficacy, achievement motivation, and low anxiety-were related to increased alpha desynchronization during encoding and retrieval. Increased scores of Subjective Motivation to perform well in the task were related to enhanced frontal midline theta during retention. Additionally, these effects were significantly stronger under conditions of high difficulty. These findings provide insights into the specific WM processes that are influenced by motivation, and underscore the importance of considering both task difficulty and intrinsic motivation in WM research.

Lateralization of affective processing in the insula.

Evidence from electrophysiological and functional neuroimaging studies has suggested strong lateralization of affective processing within the insular cortices; however, little is known about the spatial location of these processes in these regions. Using quantitative meta-analytic methods the laterality of: (1) emotional processing; (2) stimulus valence (positive vs. negative); (3) perception vs. experience of emotion; and (4) sex-differences were assessed using the data from 143 functional magnetic resonance imaging studies. Activation in response to all emotional stimuli occurred in bilateral anterior and mid-insula, and the left posterior insula. Positive emotional stimuli were associated with activation in the left anterior and mid-insula, while negative emotional stimuli activated bilateral anterior and mid-insula. Activation in response to the perception and experience of emotions was highest in bilateral anterior insula, and within the mid and posterior insula it was left lateralized. In males, emotional stimuli predominantly activated the left anterior/mid-insula and right posterior insula, whereas females activated bilateral anterior insula and the left mid and posterior insula. Spatial distinctions observed in emotional processing and its subcategories can provide a comprehensive account of the role of the insular cortices in affect processing, which could aid in understanding deficits seen in psychiatric or developmental disorders.

The centre of the brain: topographical model of motor, cognitive, affective, and somatosensory functions of the basal ganglia.

The basal ganglia have traditionally been viewed as motor processing nuclei; however, functional neuroimaging evidence has implicated these structures in more complex cognitive and affective processes that are fundamental for a range of human activities. Using quantitative meta-analysis methods we assessed the functional subdivisions of basal ganglia nuclei in relation to motor (body and eye movements), cognitive (working-memory and executive), affective (emotion and reward) and somatosensory functions in healthy participants. We document affective processes in the anterior parts of the caudate head with the most overlap within the left hemisphere. Cognitive processes showed the most widespread response, whereas motor processes occupied more central structures. On the basis of these demonstrated functional roles of the basal ganglia, we provide a new comprehensive topographical model of these nuclei and insight into how they are linked to a wide range of behaviors.

Multiple levels of mental attentional demand modulate peak saccade velocity and blink rate.

Every day we mentally process new information that needs to be attended, encoded and retrieved. Processing demands depend on the amount of information and the mental attentional capacity of the individual. Research shows that eye movement indices such as peak saccade velocity and blink rate are related to processes of attentional control, however it is still unclear how eye movements are affected by graded changes in task demand. We examine for the first time relations of eye movements to mental attentional tasks with six levels of task demand and two interference conditions. We report data on 57 adults who completed two versions of the color matching task and provided subjective self rating for each mental attentional demand level. Results show that peak saccade velocity and blink rate decrease as a function of mental attentional demand and correlate negatively with self rating of mental effort. Theoretically, new findings related to mental attentional demand and eye movements inform models of visual processing and cognition. Practically, results point to directions for further research to better understand complex relations among eye movements and mental attentional demand in pediatric populations and individuals with cognitive deficits.

Parietal Alpha Oscillations: Cognitive Load and Mental Toughness.

Cognitive effort is intrinsically linked to task difficulty, intelligence, and mental toughness. Intelligence reflects an individual's cognitive aptitude, whereas mental toughness (MT) reflects an individual's resilience in pursuing success. Research shows that parietal alpha oscillations are associated with changes in task difficulty. Critically, it remains unclear whether parietal alpha oscillations are modulated by intelligence and MT as a personality trait. We examined event-related (de)synchronization (ERD/ERS) of alpha oscillations associated with encoding, retention, and recognition in the Sternberg task in relation to intelligence and mental toughness. Eighty participants completed the Sternberg task with 3, 4, 5 and 6 digits, Raven Standard Progressive Matrices test and an MT questionnaire. A positive dependence on difficulty was observed for all studied oscillatory effects (t = −8.497, p < 0.001; t = 2.806, p < 0.005; t = −2.103, p < 0.05). The influence of Raven intelligence was observed for encoding-related alpha ERD (t = −2.02, p = 0.049). The influence of MT was observed only for difficult conditions in recognition-related alpha ERD (t = −3.282, p < 0.005). Findings indicate that the modulation of alpha rhythm related to encoding, retention and recognition may be interpreted as correlates of cognitive effort modulation. Specifically, results suggest that effort related to encoding depends on intelligence, whereas recognition-related effort level depends on mental toughness.

Effects of age, gender, and hemisphere on cerebrovascular hemodynamics in children and young adults: Developmental scores and machine learning classifiers.

A constant blood supply to the brain is required for mental function. Research with Doppler ultrasonography has important clinical value and burgeoning potential with machine learning applications in studies predicting gestational age and vascular aging. Critically, studies on ultrasound metrics in school-age children are sparse and no machine learning study to date has used color duplex ultrasonography to predict age and classify age-group. The purpose of our study is two-fold: first to document cerebrovascular hemodynamics considering age, gender, and hemisphere in three arteries; and second to construct machine learning models that can predict and classify the age and age-group of a participant using ultrasonography metrics. We record peak systolic, end-diastolic, and time-averaged maximum velocities bilaterally in internal carotid, vertebral, and middle cerebral arteries from 821 participants. Results confirm that ultrasonography values decrease with age and reveal that gender and hemispheres show more similarities than differences, which depend on age, artery, and metric. Machine learning algorithms predict age and classifier models distinguish cerebrovascular hemodynamics between children and adults. Blood velocities, rather than blood vessel diameters, are more important for classifier models, and common and distinct variables contribute to age classification models for males and females.

Is 2+2=4? Meta-analyses of brain areas needed for numbers and calculations.

Most of us use numbers daily for counting, estimating quantities or formal mathematics, yet despite their importance our understanding of the brain correlates of these processes is still evolving. A neurofunctional model of mental arithmetic, proposed more than a decade ago, stimulated a substantial body of research in this area. Using quantitative meta-analyses of fMRI studies we identified brain regions concordant among studies that used number and calculation tasks. These tasks elicited activity in a set of common regions such as the inferior parietal lobule; however, the regions in which they differed were most notable, such as distinct areas of prefrontal cortices for specific arithmetic operations. Given the current knowledge, we propose an updated topographical brain atlas of mental arithmetic with improved interpretative power.

Converging evidence for the advantage of dynamic facial expressions.

Neuroimaging evidence suggests that dynamic facial expressions elicit greater activity than static face stimuli in brain structures associated with social cognition, interpreted as greater ecological validity. However, a quantitative meta-analysis of brain activity associated with dynamic facial expressions is lacking. The current study investigated, using three fMRI experiments, activity elicited by (a) dynamic and static happy faces, (b) dynamic and static happy and angry faces, and (c) dynamic faces and dynamic flowers. In addition, using activation likelihood estimate (ALE) meta-analysis, we determined areas concordant across published studies that (a) used dynamic faces and (b) specifically compared dynamic and static emotional faces. The middle temporal gyri (Experiment 1) and superior temporal sulci (STS; Experiment 1 and 2) were more active for dynamic than static faces. In contrasts with the baseline the amygdalae were more active for dynamic faces (Experiment 1 and 2) and the fusiform gyri were active for all conditions (all Experiments). The ALE meta-analyses revealed concordant activation in all of these regions as well as in areas associated with cognitive manipulations (inferior frontal gyri). Converging data from the experiments and the meta-analyses suggest that dynamic facial stimuli elicit increased activity in regions associated with interpretation of social signals and emotional processing.

Cerebral White Matter Myelination and Relations to Age, Gender, and Cognition: A Selective Review.

White matter makes up about fifty percent of the human brain. Maturation of white matter accompanies biological development and undergoes the most dramatic changes during childhood and adolescence. Despite the advances in neuroimaging techniques, controversy concerning spatial, and temporal patterns of myelination, as well as the degree to which the microstructural characteristics of white matter can vary in a healthy brain as a function of age, gender and cognitive abilities still exists. In a selective review we describe methods of assessing myelination and evaluate effects of age and gender in nine major fiber tracts, highlighting their role in higher-order cognitive functions. Our findings suggests that myelination indices vary by age, fiber tract, and hemisphere. Effects of gender were also identified, although some attribute differences to methodological factors or social and learning opportunities. Findings point to further directions of research that will improve our understanding of the complex myelination-behavior relation across development that may have implications for educational and clinical practice.

Brain responses differ to faces of mothers and fathers.

We encounter many faces each day but relatively few are personally familiar. Once faces are familiar, they evoke semantic and social information known about the person. Neuroimaging studies demonstrate differential brain activity to familiar and non-familiar faces; however, brain responses related to personally familiar faces have been more rarely studied. We examined brain activity with fMRI in adults in response to faces of their mothers and fathers compared to faces of celebrities and strangers. Overall, faces of mothers elicited more activity in core and extended brain regions associated with face processing, compared to fathers, celebrity or stranger faces. Fathers' faces elicited activity in the caudate, a deep brain structure associated with feelings of love. These new findings of differential brain responses elicited by faces of mothers and fathers are consistent with psychological research on attachment, evident even during adulthood.