The Effects of Distancing Design Collaboration Necessitated by COVID-19 on Brain Synchrony in Teams Compared to Co-Located Design Collaboration: A Preliminary Study.

Due to the widespread involvement of distributed collaboration triggered by COVID-19, it has become a new trend that has continued into the post-pandemic era. This study investigated collective performance within two collaborative environments (co-located and distancing settings) by assessing inter-brain synchrony patterns (IBS) among design collaborators using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. The preliminary study was conducted with three dyads who possessed 2-3 years of professional product design experience. Each dyad completed two designated design tasks in distinct settings. In the distributed condition, participants interacted through video conferencing in which they were allowed to communicate by verbalization and sketching using a shared digital whiteboard. To prevent the influences of different sketching tools on design outputs, we employed digital sketching for both environments. The interactions between collaborators were identified in three behaviors: verbal only, sketch only, and mixed communication (verbal and sketch). The consequences revealed a higher level of IBS when mixed communication took place in distributed conditions than in co-located conditions. Comparably, the occurrence of IBS increased when participants solely utilized sketching as the interaction approach within the co-located setting. A mixed communication method combining verbalization and sketching might lead to more coordinated cognitive processes when in physical isolation. Design collaborators are inclined to adjust their interaction behaviors in order to adapt to different design environments, strengthen the exchange of ideas, and construct design consensus. Overall, the present paper discussed the performance of virtual collaborative design based on a neurocognitive perspective, contributing valuable insights for the future intervention design that promotes effective virtual teamwork.

Consensus Paper: Cerebellum and Ageing.

Given the key roles of the cerebellum in motor, cognitive, and affective operations and given the decline of brain functions with aging, cerebellar circuitry is attracting the attention of the scientific community. The cerebellum plays a key role in timing aspects of both motor and cognitive operations, including for complex tasks such as spatial navigation. Anatomically, the cerebellum is connected with the basal ganglia via disynaptic loops, and it receives inputs from nearly every region in the cerebral cortex. The current leading hypothesis is that the cerebellum builds internal models and facilitates automatic behaviors through multiple interactions with the cerebral cortex, basal ganglia and spinal cord. The cerebellum undergoes structural and functional changes with aging, being involved in mobility frailty and related cognitive impairment as observed in the physio-cognitive decline syndrome (PCDS) affecting older, functionally-preserved adults who show slowness and/or weakness. Reductions in cerebellar volume accompany aging and are at least correlated with cognitive decline. There is a strongly negative correlation between cerebellar volume and age in cross-sectional studies, often mirrored by a reduced performance in motor tasks. Still, predictive motor timing scores remain stable over various age groups despite marked cerebellar atrophy. The cerebello-frontal network could play a significant role in processing speed and impaired cerebellar function due to aging might be compensated by increasing frontal activity to optimize processing speed in the elderly. For cognitive operations, decreased functional connectivity of the default mode network (DMN) is correlated with lower performances. Neuroimaging studies highlight that the cerebellum might be involved in the cognitive decline occurring in Alzheimer's disease (AD), independently of contributions of the cerebral cortex. Grey matter volume loss in AD is distinct from that seen in normal aging, occurring initially in cerebellar posterior lobe regions, and is associated with neuronal, synaptic and beta-amyloid neuropathology. Regarding depression, structural imaging studies have identified a relationship between depressive symptoms and cerebellar gray matter volume. In particular, major depressive disorder (MDD) and higher depressive symptom burden are associated with smaller gray matter volumes in the total cerebellum as well as the posterior cerebellum, vermis, and posterior Crus I. From the genetic/epigenetic standpoint, prominent DNA methylation changes in the cerebellum with aging are both in the form of hypo- and hyper-methylation, and the presumably increased/decreased expression of certain genes might impact on motor coordination. Training influences motor skills and lifelong practice might contribute to structural maintenance of the cerebellum in old age, reducing loss of grey matter volume and therefore contributing to the maintenance of cerebellar reserve. Non-invasive cerebellar stimulation techniques are increasingly being applied to enhance cerebellar functions related to motor, cognitive, and affective operations. They might enhance cerebellar reserve in the elderly. In conclusion, macroscopic and microscopic changes occur in the cerebellum during the lifespan, with changes in structural and functional connectivity with both the cerebral cortex and basal ganglia. With the aging of the population and the impact of aging on quality of life, the panel of experts considers that there is a huge need to clarify how the effects of aging on the cerebellar circuitry modify specific motor, cognitive, and affective operations both in normal subjects and in brain disorders such as AD or MDD, with the goal of preventing symptoms or improving the motor, cognitive, and affective symptoms.

Sleep quality mediates the relationship between systemic inflammation and neurocognitive performance.

Background: Systemic inflammation is a significant mechanism underpinning adverse cognitive changes. Sleep quality is a crucial factor associated with systemic inflammation and neurocognitive health. Elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the periphery help mark inflammation. With this background, we examined the relationship between systemic inflammation, subjective sleep quality, and neurocognitive performance in adults. Method & Results: In 252 healthy adults, we measured the systemic inflammation reflected by serum levels of IL-6, IL-12, IL-18, TNF-α and IFN-γ, subjective sleep quality reflected by the global scores of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and their neurocognitive performance measured by the Hong Kong Montreal Cognitive Assessment. We observed that neurocognitive performance was negatively related to IL-18 (p = 0.046) and positively related to sleep quality (p = 0.006). We did not observe significant associations between other cytokines and neurocognitive performance. Furthermore, we found that sleep quality as a mediator explained the relationship between IL-18 and neurocognitive performance depending on the levels of IL-12 (index of moderated mediation: 95% CI = [0.0047, 0.0664]). Better subjective sleep quality buffered the negative effect of IL-18 on neurocognitive performance when IL-12 was low (bootstrapping 95% CI: [- 0.0824, - 0.0018]). On the contrary, poor subjective sleep quality mediated the association between higher IL-18 and poorer neurocognitive performance when IL-12 was elevated (bootstrapping 95% CI: [0.0004, 0.0608]). Conclusion & Implications: Our findings indicate that systemic inflammation was negatively associated with neurocognitive performance. Sleep quality regulated by IL-18/IL-12 axis activation could be a potential mechanism underpinning neurocognitive changes. Our results illustrate the intricate relationships between immune functioning, sleep quality and neurocognitive performance. These insights are essential to understand the potential mechanisms underpinning neurocognitive changes, paving the way for the development of preventive interventions for the risk of cognitive impairment.

Implicit threat learning involves the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the cerebellum

Background/Objective: Most studies investigating the neural correlates of threat learning were carried out using an explicit Pavlovian conditioning paradigm where declarative knowledge on contingencies between conditioned (CS) and unconditioned stimuli (US) is acquired. The current study aimed at understanding the neural correlates of threat conditioning when contingency awareness is limited or even absent. Method: We conducted an fMRI report of threat learning in an implicit associative learning paradigm called multi-CS conditioning, in which a number of faces were associated with aversive screams (US) such that participants could not report contingencies between the faces and the screams. Results: The univariate results showed support for the recruitment of threat-related regions including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and the cerebellum during acquisition. Further analyses by the multivariate representational similarity technique identified learning-dependent changes in the bilateral dlPFC. Conclusion: Our findings support the involvement of the dlPFC and the cerebellum in threat conditioning that occurs with highly limited or even absent contingency awareness. (AU)

Implicit threat learning involves the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the cerebellum.

Background/Objective: Most studies investigating the neural correlates of threat learning were carried out using an explicit Pavlovian conditioning paradigm where declarative knowledge on contingencies between conditioned (CS) and unconditioned stimuli (US) is acquired. The current study aimed at understanding the neural correlates of threat conditioning when contingency awareness is limited or even absent. Method: We conducted an fMRI report of threat learning in an implicit associative learning paradigm called multi-CS conditioning, in which a number of faces were associated with aversive screams (US) such that participants could not report contingencies between the faces and the screams. Results: The univariate results showed support for the recruitment of threat-related regions including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and the cerebellum during acquisition. Further analyses by the multivariate representational similarity technique identified learning-dependent changes in the bilateral dlPFC. Conclusion: Our findings support the involvement of the dlPFC and the cerebellum in threat conditioning that occurs with highly limited or even absent contingency awareness.

Causal influences of salience/cerebellar networks on dorsal attention network subserved age-related cognitive slowing.

Age-related cognitive slowing is a prominent precursor of cognitive decline. Functional neuroimaging studies found that cognitive processing speed is associated with activation and coupling among frontal, parietal and cerebellar brain networks. However, how the reciprocal influences of inter- and intra-network coupling mediate age-related decline in processing speed remains insufficiently studied. This study examined how inter- and intra-brain network influences mediate age-related slowing. We were interested in the fronto-insular salience network (SN), frontoparietal dorsal attention network (DAN), cerebellar network (CN) and default mode network (DMN). Reaction time (RT) and functional MRI data from 84 participants (aged 18-75) were collected while they were performing the Arrow Task in visual or audial forms. At the subject level, effective connectivities (ECs) were estimated with regression dynamic causal modelling. At the group level, structural equation models (SEMs) were used to model latent speed based on age and the EC mediators. Age was associated with decreased speed and increased inter-network effective connectivity. The CN exerting influence on the DAN (CN → DAN EC) mediated, while the SN → DAN EC suppressed age-related slowing. The DMN and intra-network ECs did not seem to play significant roles in slowing due to ageing. Inter-network connectivity from the CN and SN to the DAN contributes to age-related slowing. The seemingly antagonizing influences of the CN and SN indicate that increased task-related automaticity and decreased effortful control on top-down attention would promote greater speed in older individuals.

Cognitive and Emotional Appraisal of Motivational Interviewing Statements: An Event-Related Potential Study.

The counseling process involves attention, emotional perception, cognitive appraisal, and decision-making. This study aimed to investigate cognitive appraisal and the associated emotional processes when reading short therapists' statements of motivational interviewing (MI). Thirty participants with work injuries were classified into the pre-contemplation (PC, n = 15) or readiness stage of the change group (RD, n = 15). The participants viewed MI congruent (MI-C), MI incongruent (MI-INC), or control phrases during which their electroencephalograms were captured. The results indicated significant Group × Condition effects in the frontally oriented late positive complex (P600/LPC). The P600/LPC's amplitudes were more positive-going in the PC than in the RD group for the MI congruent statements. Within the PC group, the amplitudes of the N400 were significantly correlated (r = 0.607-0.649) with the participants' level of negative affect. Our findings suggest that the brief contents of MI statements alone can elicit late cognitive and emotional appraisal processes beyond semantic processing.

Common and distinct neural trends of allocentric and egocentric spatial coding: An ALE meta-analysis.

The uniqueness of neural processes between allocentric and egocentric spatial coding has been controversial. The distinctive paradigms used in previous studies for manipulating spatial coding could have attributed for the inconsistent results. This study was aimed to generate converging evidence from previous functional brain imaging experiments for collating neural substrates associated with these two types of spatial coding. An additional aim was to test whether test-taking processes would have influenced the results. We obtained coordinate-based functional neuroimaging data for 447 subjects and performed activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis. Among the 28 experiments, the results indicate two common clusters of convergence. They were the right precuneus and the right superior frontal gyrus as parts of the parieto-frontal circuit. Between-type differences were in the parieto-occipital circuit, with allocentric showing convergence in the superior occipital gyrus (SOG) cluster compared with egocentric showing convergence in the middle occipital gyrus (MOG) cluster. Task-specific influences were only found in allocentric spatial coding. Spatial judgment-oriented tasks seem to increase the demands on manipulating spatial relationships among the visual objects, while spatial navigation tasks seem to increase the demands on maintaining object representations. Our findings address the theoretical controversies on spatial coding that both the allocentric and egocentric types are common in their processes mediated by the parieto-frontal network, while unique and additional processes in the allocentric type are mediated by the parieto-occipital network. The positive results on possible task-specific confound offer insights into the future design of spatial tasks for eliciting spatial coding processes.

Qigong exercise enhances cognitive functions in the elderly via an interleukin-6-hippocampus pathway: A randomized active-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Evidence has suggested that exercise protects against cognitive decline in aging, but the recent lockdown measures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have limited the opportunity for outdoor exercise. Herein we tested the effects of an indoor exercise, Qigong, on neurocognitive functioning as well as its potential neuro-immune pathway. METHODS: We conducted a 12-week randomized active-controlled trial with two study arms in cognitively healthy older people. We applied Wu Xing Ping Heng Gong (Qigong), which was designed by an experienced Daoist Qigong master, to the experimental group, whereas we applied the physical stretching exercise to the control group. The Qigong exercise consisted of a range of movements involving the stretching of arms and legs, the turning of the torso, and relaxing, which would follow the fundamental principles of Daoism and traditional Chinese medicine (e.g., Qi). We measured aging-sensitive neurocognitive abilities, serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels, and brain structural volumes in the experimental (Qigong, n = 22) and control groups (stretching, n = 26) before and after the 12-week training. RESULTS: We observed that Qigong caused significant improvement in processing speed (t (46) = 2.03, p = 0.048) and sustained attention (t (46) = -2.34, p = 0.023), increased hippocampal volume (t (41) = 3.94, p < 0.001), and reduced peripheral IL-6 levels (t (46) = -3.17, p = 0.003). Moreover, following Qigong training, greater reduction of peripheral IL-6 levels was associated with a greater increase of processing speed performance (bootstrapping CI: [0.16, 3.30]) and a more significant training-induced effect of hippocampal volume on the improvement in sustained attention (bootstrapping CI: [-0.35, -0.004]). CONCLUSION: Overall, these findings offer significant insight into the mechanistic role of peripheral IL-6-and its intricate interplay with neural processes-in the beneficial neurocognitive effects of Qigong. The findings have profound implications for early identification and intervention of older individuals vulnerable to cognitive decline, focusing on the neuro-immune pathway. The trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (identifier: NCT04641429).

Fronto-cerebellar connectivity mediating cognitive processing speed.

Processing speed is an important construct in understanding cognition. This study was aimed to control task specificity for understanding the neural mechanisms underlying cognitive processing speed. Forty young adult subjects performed attention tasks of two modalities (auditory and visual) and two levels of task rules (compatible and incompatible). Block-design fMRI captured BOLD signals during the tasks. Thirteen regions of interest were defined with reference to publicly available activation maps for processing speed tasks. Cognitive speed was derived from task reaction times, which yielded six sets of connectivity measures. Mixed-effect LASSO regression revealed six significant paths suggestive of a cerebello-frontal network predicting the cognitive speed. Among them, three are long range (two fronto-cerebellar, one cerebello-frontal), and three are short range (fronto-frontal, cerebello-cerebellar, and cerebello-thalamic). The long-range connections are likely to relate to cognitive control, and the short-range connections relate to rule-based stimulus-response processes. The revealed neural network suggests that automaticity, acting on the task rules and interplaying with effortful top-down attentional control, accounts for cognitive speed.

Connectome-based models can predict processing speed in older adults.

Decrement in processing speed (PS) is a primary cognitive morbidity in clinical populations and could significantly influence other cognitive functions, such as attention and memory. Verifying the usefulness of connectome-based models for predicting neurocognitive abilities has significant translational implications on clinical and aging research. In this study, we verified that resting-state functional connectivity could be used to predict PS in 99 older adults by using connectome-based predictive modeling (CPM). We identified two distinct connectome patterns across the whole brain: the fast-PS and slow-PS networks. Relative to the slow-PS network, the fast-PS network showed more within-network connectivity in the motor and visual networks and less between-network connectivity in the motor-visual, motor-subcortical/cerebellum and motor-frontoparietal networks. We further verified that the connectivity patterns for prediction of PS were also useful for predicting attention and memory in the same sample. To test the generalizability and specificity of the connectome-based predictive models, we applied these two connectome models to an independent sample of three age groups (101 younger adults, 103 middle-aged adults and 91 older adults) and confirmed these models could specifically be generalized to predict PS of the older adults, but not the younger and middle-aged adults. Taking all the findings together, the identified connectome-based predictive models are strong for predicting PS in older adults. The application of CPM to predict neurocognitive abilities can complement conventional neurocognitive assessments, bring significant clinical benefits to patient management and aid the clinical diagnoses, prognoses and management of people undergoing the aging process.