Neuroscientific results of experimental studies on the control of acute pain with hypnosis and suggested analgesia.

This narrative review summarizes a representative collection of electrophysiological and imaging studies on the neural processes and brain sources underlying hypnotic trance and the effects of hypnotic suggestions on the processing of experimentally induced painful events. It complements several reviews on the effect of hypnosis on brain processes and structures of chronic pain processing. Based on a summary of previous findings on the neuronal processing of experimentally applied pain stimuli and their effects on neuronal brain structures in healthy subjects, three neurophysiological methods are then presented that examine which of these neuronal processes and structures get demonstrably altered by hypnosis and can thus be interpreted as neuronal signatures of the effect of analgesic suggestions: (A) On a more global neuronal level, these are electrical processes of the brain that can be recorded from the cranial surface of the brain with magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG). (B) On a second level, so-called evoked (EPs) or event-related potentials (ERPs) are discussed, which represent a subset of the brain electrical parameters of the EEG. (C) Thirdly, imaging procedures are summarized that focus on brain structures involved in the processing of pain states and belong to the main imaging procedures of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI/fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET). Finally, these different approaches are summarized in a discussion, and some research and methodological suggestions are made as to how this research could be improved in the future.

d-Mon: A Transmon with Strong Anharmonicity Based on Planar c-Axis Tunneling Junction between d-Wave and s-Wave Superconductors.

We propose a novel qubit architecture based on a planar c-axis Josephson junction between a thin flake d-wave superconductor, such as a high-T_{c} cuprate Bi_{2}Sr_{2}CaCu_{2}O_{8+x}, and a conventional s-wave superconductor. When operated in the transmon regime the device-that we call "d mon"-becomes insensitive to offset charge fluctuations and, importantly, exhibits at the same time energy level spectrum with strong anharmonicity that is widely tunable through the device geometry and applied magnetic flux. Crucially, unlike previous qubit designs based on d-wave superconductors the proposed device operates in a regime where quasiparticles are fully gapped and can be therefore expected to achieve long coherence times.

Time-reversal symmetry breaking superconductivity between twisted cuprate superconductors.

Twisted interfaces between stacked van der Waals (vdW) cuprate crystals present a platform for engineering superconducting order parameters by adjusting stacking angles. Using a cryogenic assembly technique, we construct twisted vdW Josephson junctions (JJs) at atomically sharp interfaces between Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x crystals, with quality approaching the limit set by intrinsic JJs. Near 45° twist angle, we observe fractional Shapiro steps and Fraunhofer patterns, consistent with the existence of two degenerate Josephson ground states related by time-reversal symmetry (TRS). By programming the JJ current bias sequence, we controllably break TRS to place the JJ into either of the two ground states, realizing reversible Josephson diodes without external magnetic fields. Our results open a path to engineering topological devices at higher temperatures.

Effects of emotional valence and intensity on cognitive and affective empathy after insula lesions.

The insula plays a central role in empathy. However, the complex structure of cognitive (CE) and affective empathy (AE) deficits following insular damage is not fully understood. In the present study, patients with insular lesions (n = 20) and demographically matched healthy controls (n = 24) viewed ecologically valid videos that varied in terms of valence and emotional intensity. The videos showed a person (target) narrating a personal life event. In CE conditions, subjects continuously rated the affective state of the target, while in AE conditions, they continuously rated their own affect. Mean squared error (MSE) assessed deviations between subject and target ratings. Patients differed from controls only in negative, low-intensity AE, rating their own affective state less negative than the target. This deficit was not related to trait empathy, neuropsychological or clinical parameters, or laterality of lesion. Empathic functions may be widely spared after insular damage in a naturalistic, dynamic setting, potentially due to the intact interpretation of social context by residual networks outside the lesion. The particular role of the insula in AE for negative states may evolve specifically in situations that bear higher uncertainty pointing to a threshold role of the insula in online ratings of AE.

Lateralized deficits in arousal processing after insula lesions: Behavioral and autonomic evidence.

A large body of evidence ascribes a pivotal role in emotion processing to the insular cortex. However, the complex structure and lateralization of emotional deficits following insular damage are not understood. Here, we investigated emotional ratings of valence and arousal and skin conductance responses (SCR) to a graded series of emotionally arousing scenes in patients with left (n = 10) or right (n = 9) insular damage and in healthy controls (n = 18). We found a significant reduction in overall SCRs, arousal ratings and valence extremity scores in right-lesioned patients, as compared to left-lesioned patients and healthy controls. The degree of right insular damage was significantly correlated with the degree of arousal, SCR and extremity attenuation. Additional analyses of correlations between subjective arousal ratings resp. SCR and normative arousal ratings revealed that both lesion groups had evaluative and physiological difficulties to discover changes in stimulus arousal. Although no group differences emerged on overall ratings of valence, analysis of correlations between subjective and normative valence ratings displayed markedly reduced accuracy in right-lesioned patients, as compared to left-lesioned patients and healthy controls. Our findings support the hypothesis that the left and right insulae subserve different functions in emotion processing, potentially due to asymmetrical representations of autonomic information in the left and right human forebrain. The right insula may serve as integral node for sympathetic arousal and cognitive-affective processing.

Probing Time Reversal Symmetry Breaking Topological Superconductivity in Twisted Double Layer Copper Oxides with Polar Kerr Effect.

Recent theoretical work predicted the emergence of a chiral topological superconducting phase with spontaneously broken time reversal symmetry in a twisted bilayer composed of two high-T_{c} cuprate monolayers such as Bi_{2}Sr_{2}CaCu_{2}O_{8+δ}. Here, we identify a large intrinsic Hall response that can be probed through the polar Kerr effect measurement as a convenient signature of the T-broken phase. Our modeling predicts the Kerr angle θ_{K} to be in the range of 10-100 µrad, which is a factor of 10^{3} to 10^{4} times larger than what is expected for the leading chiral superconductor candidate Sr_{2}RuO_{4}. In addition, we show that the optical Hall conductivity σ_{H}(ω) can be used to distinguish between the topological d_{x^{2}-y^{2}}±id_{xy} phase and the d_{x^{2}-y^{2}}±is phase, which is also expected to be present in the phase diagram but is topologically trivial.

Suggested visual blockade during hypnosis: Top-down modulation of stimulus processing in a visual oddball task.

Several theories of hypnosis assume that responses to hypnotic suggestions are implemented through top-down modulations via a frontoparietal network that is involved in monitoring and cognitive control. The current study addressed this issue re-analyzing previously published event-related-potentials (ERP) (N1, P2, and P3b amplitudes) and combined it with source reconstruction and connectivity analysis methods. ERP data were obtained from participants engaged in a visual oddball paradigm composed of target, standard, and distractor stimuli during a hypnosis (HYP) and a control (CON) condition. In both conditions, participants were asked to count the rare targets presented on a video screen. During HYP participants received suggestions that a wooden board in front of their eyes would obstruct their view of the screen. The results showed that participants' counting accuracy was significantly impaired during HYP compared to CON. ERP components in the N1 and P2 window revealed no amplitude differences between CON and HYP at sensor-level. In contrast, P3b amplitudes in response to target stimuli were significantly reduced during HYP compared to CON. Source analysis of the P3b amplitudes in response to targets indicated that HYP was associated with reduced source activities in occipital and parietal brain areas related to stimulus categorization and attention. We further explored how these brain sources interacted by computing time-frequency effective connectivity between electrodes that best represented frontal, parietal, and occipital sources. This analysis revealed reduced directed information flow from parietal attentional to frontal executive sources during processing of target stimuli. These results provide preliminary evidence that hypnotic suggestions of a visual blockade are associated with a disruption of the coupling within the frontoparietal network implicated in top-down control.

Magnetic Suppression of Non-Hermitian Skin Effects.

Skin effect, where macroscopically many bulk states are aggregated toward the system boundary, is one of the most important and distinguishing phenomena in non-Hermitian quantum systems. We discuss a new aspect of this effect whereby, despite its topological origin, applying a magnetic field can largely suppress it. Skin states are pushed back into the bulk, and the skin topological area, which we define, is sharply reduced. As seen from exact solutions of representative models, this is fundamentally rooted in the fact that the applied magnetic field restores the validity of the low-energy description that is rendered inapplicable in the presence of non-Bloch skin states. We further study this phenomenon using rational gauge fluxes, which reveals a unique irrelevance of the generalized Brillouin zone in the standard non-Bloch band theory of non-Hermitian systems.

Suggested deafness during hypnosis and simulation of hypnosis compared to a distraction and control condition: A study on subjective experience and cortical brain responses.

Hypnosis is a powerful tool to affect the processing and perception of stimuli. Here, we investigated the effects of hypnosis on the processing of auditory stimuli, the time course of event-related-potentials (ERP; N1 and P3b amplitudes) and the activity of cortical sources of the P3b component. Forty-eight participants completed an auditory oddball paradigm composed of standard, distractor, and target stimuli during a hypnosis (HYP), a simulation of hypnosis (SIM), a distraction (DIS), and a control (CON) condition. During HYP, participants were suggested that an earplug would obstruct the perception of tones and during SIM they should pretend being hypnotized and obstructed to hear the tones. During DIS, participants' attention was withdrawn from the tones by focusing participants' attention onto a film. In each condition, subjects were asked to press a key whenever a target stimulus was presented. Behavioral data show that target hit rates and response time became significantly reduced during HYP and SIM and loudness ratings of tones were only reduced during HYP. Distraction from stimuli by the film was less effective in reducing target hit rate and tone loudness. Although, the N1 amplitude was not affected by the experimental conditions, the P3b amplitude was significantly reduced in HYP and SIM compared to CON and DIS. In addition, source localization results indicate that only a small number of neural sources organize the differences of tone processing between the control condition and the distraction, hypnosis, and simulation of hypnosis conditions. These sources belong to brain areas that control the focus of attention, the discrimination of auditory stimuli, and the organization of behavioral responses to targets. Our data confirm that deafness suggestions significantly change auditory processing and perception but complete deafness is hard to achieve during HYP. Therefore, the term 'deafness' may be misleading and should better be replaced by 'hypoacusis'.

Revival Dynamics in a Traversable Wormhole.

Quantum effects can stabilize wormhole solutions in general relativity, allowing information and matter to be transported between two connected spacetimes. Here we study the revival dynamics of signals sent between two weakly coupled quantum chaotic systems, represented as identical Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev models, that realize holographically a traversable wormhole in anti-de Sitter spacetime AdS_{2} for large number N of particles. In this limit we find clear signatures of wormhole behavior: an excitation created in one system is quickly scrambled under its unitary dynamics, and is reassembled in the other system after a characteristic time consistent with holography predictions. This leads to revival oscillations that at low but finite temperature decay as a power law in time. For small N we also observe revivals and show that they arise from a different, nongravitational mechanism.

Non-Hermitian Exceptional Landau Quantization in Electric Circuits.

Alternating current RLC electric circuits form an accessible and highly tunable platform simulating Hermitian as well as non-Hermitian (NH) quantum systems. We propose here a circuit realization of NH Dirac and Weyl Hamiltonians subject to time-reversal invariant pseudomagnetic field, enabling the exploration of novel NH physics. We identify the low-energy physics with a generic real energy spectrum from the NH Landau quantization of exceptional points and rings, which can avoid the NH skin effect and provides a physical example of a quasiparticle moving in the complex plane. Realistic detection schemes are designed to probe the flat energy bands, sublattice polarization, edge states protected by a NH energy-reflection symmetry, and a characteristic nodeless probability distribution.

How words impact on pain.

INTRODUCTION: The wording used before and during painful medical procedures might significantly affect the painfulness and discomfort of the procedures. Two theories might account for these effects: the motivational priming theory (Lang, 1995, American Psychologist, 50, 372) and the theory of neural networks (Hebb, 1949, The organization of behavior. New York, NY: Wiley; Pulvermuller, 1999, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22, 253; Pulvermüller and Fadiga, 2010, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 11, 351). METHODS: Using fMRI, we investigated how negative, pain-related, and neutral words that preceded the application of noxious stimuli as priming stimuli affect the cortical processing and pain ratings of following noxious stimuli. RESULTS: Here, we show that both theories are applicable: Stronger pain and stronger activation were observed in several brain areas in response to noxious stimuli preceded by both, negative and pain-related words, respectively, as compared to preceding neutral words, thus supporting motivational priming theory. Furthermore, pain ratings and activation in somatosensory cortices, primary motor cortex, premotor cortex, thalamus, putamen, and precuneus were even stronger for preceding pain-related than for negative words supporting the theory of neural networks. CONCLUSION: Our results explain the influence of wording on pain perception and might have important consequences for clinical work.

Interacting Majorana fermions.

Majorana fermions are the real (in a mathematical sense) counterparts of complex fermions like ordinary electrons. The promise of topological quantum computing has lead to substantial experimental progress in realizing these particles in various synthetic platforms. The realization of Majorana fermions motivates a fundamental question: what phases of matter can emerge if many Majorana fermions are allowed to interact? Here we review recent progress in this direction on the proposed experimental setups, analytical and numerical results on low-dimensional lattice models, and the exactly solvable Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model. The early progress thus far suggests that strongly correlated phases of matter with Majorana building blocks can exhibit many novel phenomena, such as emergent spacetime supersymmetry, topological order and the physics of black-holes, in condensed matter systems. They may also provide alternative avenues for universal topological quantum computing through the realization of the Fibonacci phase and measurement-based only surface codes.

Effects of Temporary Functional Deafferentation in Chronic Stroke Patients: Who Profits More?

Temporary functional deafferentation (TFD) by an anesthetic cream on the stroke-affected forearm was shown to improve sensorimotor abilities of stroke patients. The present study investigated different predictors for sensorimotor improvements during TFD and indicated outcome differences between patients grouped in subcortical lesions only and lesions with any cortical involvement. Thirty-four chronic stroke patients were temporarily deafferented on the more affected forearm by an anesthetic cream. Somatosensory performance was assessed using von Frey Hair and grating orientation task; motor performance was assessed by a shape-sorter-drum task. Seven potential predictors were entered into three linear multiple regression models. Furthermore, effects of TFD on outcome variables for the two groups (cortical versus subcortical lesion) were compared. Sex and sensory deficit were significant predictors for changes in motor function while age accounted for changes in grating orienting task. Males, patients with a stronger sensory deficit, and older patients profited more. None of the potential predictors made significant contributions to changes in threshold for touch. Furthermore, there were no differences in sensorimotor improvement between lesion site groups. The effects of TFD together with the low predictability of the investigated parameters suggest that characteristics of patients alone are not suitable to exclude some patients from TFD.

Quantitative sensory testing after macroreplantation: evidence for a specific somatosensory profile.

A comprehensive functional recovery is one of the criteria for successful replantation of an amputated limb. Functionality of a replanted limb is strongly dependent on its regained sensibility. In previous studies concerning the sensibility of replanted limbs, only a few somatosensory submodalities were examined in small samples. The purpose of this study is to provide a full pattern of somatosensory symptoms after replantation. Quantitative sensory testing was performed according to a standardized protocol in a sample of 15 patients who underwent replantation of their upper limb proximal to the radiocarpal joint (macroreplantation). Results indicate that most of these patients showed a specific somatosensory profile characterized by thermal and mechanical hypoesthesia and hyperalgesia in response to pressure pain, whereas no single case of hyperalgesia to heat pain occurred. This distinct profile of impaired somatosensation shares some features of the somatosensory profile of neuropathic pain syndromes. Patients' limbs that were replanted many years before the present quantitative sensory testing showed more sensory deficits than patients with more recent replantations. This knowledge might be helpful in the development of more specific and more successful rehabilitation programs with replanted patients and improves the behavioral function of the replanted limb.

Type-II Dirac semimetal stabilized by electron-phonon coupling.

There is major interest, in condensed matter physics, in understanding the role of topology: remarkable progress has been made in classifying topological properties of non-interacting electrons, and on understanding the interplay between topology and electron-electron interactions. We extend such studies to interactions with the lattice, and predict non-trivial topological effects in infinitely long-lived polaron bands. Specifically, for a two-dimensional many-band model with realistic electron-phonon coupling, we verify that sharp level crossings are possible for polaron eigenstates, and prove that they are responsible for a novel type of sharp transition in the ground state of the polaron that can occur at a fixed momentum. Furthermore, they result in the appearance of Dirac cones stabilized by electron-phonon coupling. Thus, electron-phonon coupling opens an avenue to create and control Dirac and Weyl semimetals.

Dermatomal Organization of SI Leg Representation in Humans: Revising the Somatosensory Homunculus.

Penfield and Rasmussen's homunculus is the valid map of the neural body representation of nearly each textbook of biology, physiology, and neuroscience. The somatosensory homunculus places the foot representation on the mesial surface of the postcentral gyrus followed by the representations of the lower leg and the thigh in superio-lateral direction. However, this strong homuncular organization contradicts the "dermatomal" organization of spinal nerves. We used somatosensory-evoked magnetic fields and source analysis to study the leg's neural representation in the primary somatosensory cortex (SI). We show that the representation of the back of the thigh is located inferior to the foot's representation in SI whereas the front of the thigh is located laterally to the foot's representation. This observation indicates that the localization of the leg in SI rather follows the dermatomal organization of spinal nerves than the typical map of neighboring body parts as depicted in Penfield and Rasmussen's illustration of the somatosensory homunculus.

Are There Abnormalities in Peripheral and Central Components of Somatosensory Evoked Potentials in Non-Specific Chronic Low Back Pain?

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) was shown to be associated with longer reflex response latencies of trunk muscles during external upper limb perturbations. One theoretical, but rarely investigated possibility for longer reflex latencies might be related to modulated somatosensory information processing. Therefore, the present study investigated somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) to median nerve stimulation in CLBP patients and healthy controls (HC). Latencies of the peripheral N9 SEP component were used as the primary outcome. In addition, latencies and amplitudes of the central N20 SEP component, sensory thresholds, motor thresholds and nerve conduction velocity were also analyzed in CLBP patients and HC. There is a trend for the CLBP patients to exhibit longer N9 latencies at the ipsilateral Erb's point compared to HC. This trend is substantiated by significantly longer N9 latencies in CLBP patients compared to normative data. None of the other parameters showed any significant difference between CLBP patients and HC. Overall, our data indicate small differences of the peripheral N9 SEP component; however, these differences cannot explain the reflex delay observed in CLBP patients. While it was important to rule out the contribution of early somatosensory processing and to elucidate its contribution to the delayed reflex responses in CLBP patients, further research is needed to find the primary source(s) of time-delayed reflexes in CLBP.

Enhanced Brain Responses to Pain-Related Words in Chronic Back Pain Patients and Their Modulation by Current Pain.

Previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies in healthy controls (HC) and pain-free migraine patients found activations to pain-related words in brain regions known to be activated while subjects experience pain. The aim of the present study was to identify neural activations induced by pain-related words in a sample of chronic back pain (CBP) patients experiencing current chronic pain compared to HC. In particular, we were interested in how current pain influences brain activations induced by pain-related adjectives. Subjects viewed pain-related, negative, positive, and neutral words; subjects were asked to generate mental images related to these words during fMRI scanning. Brain activation was compared between CBP patients and HC in response to the different word categories and examined in relation to current pain in CBP patients. Pain-related words vs. neutral words activated a network of brain regions including cingulate cortex and insula in subjects and patients. There was stronger activation in medial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and anterior midcingulate cortex in CPB patients than in HC. The magnitude of activation for pain-related vs. negative words showed a negative linear relationship to CBP patients' current pain. Our findings confirm earlier observations showing that pain-related words activate brain networks similar to noxious stimulation. Importantly, CBP patients show even stronger activation of these structures while merely processing pain-related words. Current pain directly influences on this activation.