Saturday, Jun 28: 11:30 AM - 12:45 PM
Oral Sessions
Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
Room: M1 & M2 (Mezzanine Level)
Perception, Attention and Sleep
Presentations
Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, characterized by vivid dreaming and muscle atonia, raises fascinating questions about how such immersive experiences occur without external sensory input. An fMRI study has shown that REM-time-locked activations were found in multiple non-visual primary sensory cortices, along with the visual cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and thalamus (Hong et al., 2009). These findings suggest that the thalamus is simultaneously functionally connected to multiple sensory cortices during REM sleep, a pattern not observed during wakefulness. For instance, Seitzman et al. (2019) identified five distinct thalamic subnetworks based on their unique functional connectivity to cortical networks. Given that pontine cholinergic neurons discharge in bursts just before each ponto-geniculo-occipital (PGO) wave-a process associated with eye movements-it is plausible that these neurons release acetylcholine to the thalamus (Datta & Siwek, 2002; Steriade & McCarley, 2013), which in turn activates the limbic system and sensory cortices. Taken together, we hypothesize that these five thalamic subnetworks function collectively as a sensory relay station during REM sleep, simultaneously connecting to sensory-related cortical networks (See Figure 1).
Presenter
Nils Yang, National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD
United States
Chronic pain compromises quality of life (Kuehn, 2018), yet its subjective variability complicates both research and treatment (Kohoutová et al., 2022). Identifying neural markers of individual pain sensitivity is critical for understanding why some individuals develop chronic pain while others recover (Kehlet et la., 2006). Previous imaging studies, focusing on brain networks, reveal stable resting-state features that predict pain sensitivity (Spisak et al., 2020). However, clinical translation remains limited, and the spinal cord's crucial role is understudied. Integrated corticospinal fMRI now allows simultaneous exploration of brain and cervical spinal cord activity, potentially improving prediction models (Tinnermann et al., 2017). Our study presents a pioneering approach to understanding interindividual differences in pain sensitivity by developing a novel corticospinal pain sensitivity signature (CSps). The integration of corticospinal functional connectivity with machine learning offers a significant advancement over traditional brain-centric models. The study situates itself within the broader context of pain research by addressing gaps related to the spinal cord's contribution to pain sensitivity, promising to refine pain prediction frameworks and improve clinical interventions.
Presenter
Xiaomin Lin, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing, Beijing
China
Pain imagination involves mentally simulating or recalling painful experiences without actual nociceptive input. This cognitive process can influence athletic performance, physical rehabilitation, and anxiety by activating sensory pathways similar to real pain. While imagined sensations have been shown to produce somatotopic neural activity, no prior study has compared this to the somatotopy of verum pain.
Using nine subjects, this study takes a precision functional deep-phenotyping approach to compare individual-level overlap in pain- and somatotopy-relevant brain activity. It explores how brain regions like the anterior cingulate cortex, insula, and prefrontal cortex contribute to pain imagination and examines whether imagined and experienced pain share a somatotopic bodymap. This spatial mapping of body regions is essential for pain responses, but it remains unclear if imagined pain activates these maps similarly to verum pain.
Presenter
Michael Sun, Dartmouth College Hanover, NH
United States
Chronotype is a multifaceted construct linked to a broad spectrum of behaviors and health outcomes (Hasler, 2023; Montaruli et al., 2021). Individuals with similar chronotypes may exhibit distinct brain and behavioral patterns. To investigate this relationship, we developed a holistic pattern-learning algorithm. Our approach integrates three brain imaging modalities-regional gray matter volume, white matter microstructure, and functional connectivity-with 977 phenotypes, 1,447 diagnoses, and 133 medications from 27,030 UK Biobank participants. By disentangling chronotype subtypes, we move beyond simple dichotomies to uncover individual differences in chronotype expression and distinct brain-behavior patterns with potential health implications.
Presenter
Le Zhou, McGill University Montreal, Quebec
Canada
To make sense of the soundscape of our surroundings, listeners continuously use contextual information to form prediction about what is likely to occur next whilst suppressing repeated sensations. Although both prediction (Tang et al., 2021) and repetition suppression (Todorovic & de Lange, 2012) aid neural sound processing, differentiating between the two remains challenging. Events that elicit surprise often coincides with changes in low-level attributes, triggering a release form adaptation. Despite their co-occurrence, expectations may modulate neural responses beyond what can be explained by repetition suppression alone.
Here, we explore influences from past, present and inferences towards the future in shaping auditory perception. We present probabilistically sampled sequences of pure tones and employ ultra-high-field (7T) functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine layer-specific effects of low-level tuning, expectations, and repetition suppression. Complimentary, we use magnetoencephalography to decern the temporal dynamics of the repetition suppression – prediction interplay.
Presenter
Jorie van Haren, Maastricht University Maastricht, Limburg
Netherlands
Night shift is a prevalent workstyle in medical hospitals, demanding continuous health monitoring and rapid decision making of medical professionals. Night shifts may cause serious health problems to medical staff, including cognitive impairments, poor sleep, and lowered brain functionality [1, 2]. In the Taiwanese medical field, the consecutive rotation of 3–5-night shifts in a row are a common schedule across medical staffs [3]. However, how long the aversive impact lasts remain to be studied. Hence, we designed repeated measures of brain functions following the night shifts and subsequent recovery among medical shift workers. Accordingly, we hypothesized that the functional connectivity in default-mode network (DMN) and dorsal attention network (DAN) may be altered after night shifts and recovered after circadian realignments, as well as the functional index of amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF).
Presenter
Tengmao Yao, Taipei Medical University New Taipei
Taiwan