EEG Source Localization: The Solution to Psychiatric Disorders?

EEG source localization is a technique used to determine the specific brain regions responsible for generating electrical activity recorded on the scalp. Since the discovery of EEG, researchers and clinicians have become optimistic about receiving an innovative “window into the brain” and localizing neuronal activity that generates scalp potentials in a noninvasive manner. The groundbreaking method has become a pivotal procedure in over forty-two statistical methods in which EEG source localization played a role in localizing brain activity sources. Although a multitude of noninvasive techniques have surfaced the medical field such as positron emission tomography, single-photon emission computed tomography, and functional magnetic resonance imaging, none of them have been as effective in delivering timely-mannered resolutions and values as EEG source localization. In her research, Elizabeth Paitel pivots her research using EEG source localization towards dictating a correlation amongst age and early-onset Alzheimer’s disease risk factors. Yet, in addition to Paitel’s findings, EEG source localization can also be used to diagnose and cure various psychiatric disorders.  

In Paitel's case, EEG source localization is an essential tool to study the cognitive aging and Alzheimer's risk factors of those who are genetically prone to developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease. The study intricately focuses on investigating the role of executive functions, particularly inhibitory control, with a specific emphasis on the cerebellum's involvement. EEG data was collected and processed using advanced techniques to localize brain activity during an inhibitory control task. The results reflected age-related compensatory cerebellar activity in APOE4- elders, while APOE4+ individuals demonstrated signs of declining cerebellar responses, proving an indication of early-onset Alzheimer's disease. The findings and methodology utilized infer the impact of aging and neuropathology on the cognitive cerebellum leading to further questions of neurological and psychopathological conditions that may cause cerebellar dysfunction. 

On the other hand, Shiva Asadzadeh, Tohid Yousefi Rezaii, Soosan Beheshti, Azra Delpak, and Saeed Meshgini delve into the theory that EEG source localization can be performed to unravel distinctive psychiatric disorders and explore how this technique can cure those disorders in their research article “A systematic review of EEG source localization techniques and their applications on diagnosis of brain abnormalities.” The research article begins by highlighting EEG and MEG and their imperative advantages over other imaging techniques including fMRI, PET, and fNIRS. They use analytical methods, for instance LORETA to traverse through conditions such as epilepsy, ADHD, and OCD to further evaluate their activity patterns and prove an accelerated diagnosis and treatment due to source localization. Through detecting epileptic seizures, studying meditative states, phobias, schizophrenia, and conduct/attention spans, they were able to achieve just that. However, they found EEG developed limitations for such circumstances affecting the accuracy due to electrode placement, head cavities, and head model accuracy. As a result, they profoundly emphasize the importance of modeling precision in the components to provide the most intricate localization results possible.  

Overall, both researches outlined accentuates the profound job of EEG source localization on not only Alzheimer’s disease and age correlation, but as well as an abundant array of other psychiatric disorders which have been long overdue for diagnosis and treatment revelations. It is evident that EEG source localization is a prominent imaging technique to promote the facilitation in addressing pressing concerns as finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease and formulating better rehabilitation for disorders who do not attain the privilege of having many. This pioneering method has granted the world hope amid uncertainty amongst these specific health concerns discussed and will continue to do so in the future.  

References: 

Asadzadeh, S., Rezaii, T. Y., Beheshti, S., Delpak, A., & Meshgini, S. (2020). A systematic review of EEG source localization techniques and their applications on diagnosis of brain abnormalities. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 339, 108740. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2020.108740 

Michel, C. M., & He, B. (2019). EEG source localization. In Handbook of clinical neurology (pp. 85–101). https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-444-64032-1.00006-0 

 

 

 

Language and the Brain

Dr. Chung-Fat-Yim’s research facilitates ongoing discussion of the effects of bilingualism on cognitive processing. When an individual learns a language and how well they learn it determines the impact of billingualism for that person. The study examined the advantages of bilingualism through examining the different types of attention and their implications for cognitive performance. Sustained attention involves maintaining focus without being distractions. Selective attention is the ability to filter out irrelevant stimuli. Alternating attention is the ability to quickly change focus between stimuli. With sustained attention, the study showed no significant difference between bilinguals and monlinguals. However, billinguals showed an advantage in both Selective and Alternating attention. Bilingualism encompasses diverse experiences that can not be generalized.

Dr. Xue Hu Wei et. al at Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Germany continued the examination of languages impact on the brain. Rather than focusing on the cognitive effects of language, this lab studied how the language we learn in childhood shapes the structure of our brains. They specifically compared how German and Arabic speakers exhibit different connection strengths in specific parts of the brain's language circuit. From MRI scans of 100 participants, researchers found that Arabic speakers tend to have stronger connections going between the left and right hemispheres, and German speakers tend to connections concentrated in the left hemisphere. Native speakers showed stronger connections than individuals who acquired the language later in life. Based on the way words and sentences are formed, written, and spoken, different parts of the brain are stimulated, leading to the difference in brain structure of populations speaking different languages. In addition, learning a new language can also influence brain connectivity. The study emphasized that mechanisms involved in language processing may also be related to nonlinguistic information.

Cutts, E.  Your brain wires itself to match your native language. ScienceNews. March 29, 2023. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/brain-wires-native-language-neurons. 

Chung-Fat-Yim A, Calvo N and Grundy JG (2022) The Multifaceted Nature of Bilingualism and Attention. Front. Psychol. 13:910382. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.910382

Can revised therapy intervention strategies be effective in regulating positive emotions?

Mental health has been at the forefront of conversation more often than ever in the past years. With an influx of speakers, college students pursuing the major of psychology at a 2% increase since the 1980’s, and practically every organization around the country devoting time to developing their mental health resources, this disparity has become increasingly welcomed for discussion. This is partially due to the increased awareness around the topic and the increased rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide especially amongst teens. While the awareness has increased to new heights, behavioral health research is still very much underdeveloped despite the effort to promote therapy, open dialogue conversations, and peer-to-peer support. One of the key areas that has seen limited research is the topic of positive emotional regulation. In Dr. Rebecca Silton’s research article entitled, “Regulating Positive Emotions: Implications for Promoting Well-Being in Individuals With Depression”, she discusses the role positive emotions can have on depression levels. While positive emotional regulation has been studied its relation to depression hasn't, which is what this paper is dissecting. Positive emotion is defined as the modulation of the response to stimuli such that the momentary experience of positive emotions is enhanced. 

Positive or negative emotions can play an essential role in many of our bodily functions and have the ability to increase or decrease our performance levels. “Positive emotions are also related to improved sleep quality, increased exercise, and lower levels of cortisol, as well as decreased levels of depression and pain resilience.” (Silton, 93) Because all of these side effects are very important to development and vitality, evidence-based research on this topic will help tremendously in finding therapeutic approaches that boost societal health. To examine the correlation between depression and positive emotions Dr. Silton took a look at Anhedonia. Anhedonia is a medical term for the lack of enjoyment or pleasure from an experience. Dr. Silton describes it as a hallmark feature of major depressive disorder. “Treatment outcomes for depression show that 54% of individuals relapse within two years following cognitive-behavioral therapy.” (Vittengl, Clark, Dunn, & Jarrett, 2007) Knowing the role of anhedonia on emotional well being, Dr. Silton knew the role it could play in advancing effective evidence based therapies. Dr. Silton recognized that the previous way of approaching therapy was down regulating negative emotions to decrease sadness. But her proposal is to target specific impairments to improve the low treatment outcomes.

 Regulating positive emotions can be extremely beneficial to mitigating depressive symptoms and increasing the life expectancy for people that suffer from depression. It will be interesting to see the additional research that comes from this topic because addressing the regulation of positive emotions can lead to learning how the regulation in anxiety, ADHD, OCD, and other major mental health disorders. Because mental health disorders become present at such an early stage in our lives it will be thought-provoking to see how this same research process may apply to youth and if new therapy intervention strategies are what we needed the whole time. 

References: 

https://summer.harvard.edu/blog/why-choose-psychology-as-your-college-major/#:~:text=Accor ding%20to%20a%20Niche%20ranking,5%20percent%20in%20the%201980s.

 Silton, R. L., Kahrilas, I. J., Skymba, H. V., Smith, J., Bryant, F. B., & Heller, W. (2020). Regulating positive emotions: Implications for promoting well-being in individuals with depression. Emotion, 20(1), 93–97. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000675 

Vittengl, J. R., Clark, L. A., Dunn, T. W., & Jarrett, R. B. (2007). Reducing relapse and recurrence in unipolar depression: A comparative meta-analysis of cognitive-behavioral therapy's effects. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 75(3), 475–488. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.75.3.475

Health as a Determinant of Happiness

 Health as a Determinant of Happiness

Does health equal happiness? Although this is a complex proposition, the answer might not be as convoluted as we think.  Individuals who experience happiness also encounter positive affect, which refers to “the extent to which an individual subjectively experiences positive moods such as joy, interest, and alertness” (Miller). According to Rebecca Alexander’s article “The neuroscience of positive emotions and affect: Implications for cultivating happiness and wellbeing,” positive affect correlates to prosperity in numerous aspects of life, one of which being physical health.  

In 2012, the United Nations compiled the first World Happiness Report, which compared countries to a mean global level of happiness.  Geographical areas and countries who scored above the average on this report, such as North America, Western Europe, and New Zealand, tend to be more developed countries with more wealth. Those who scored below the average, such as areas like Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, tend to be developing countries who are less wealthy. In terms of predictors of a community’s health, income/wealth is one of the highest socioeconomic factors on the list, which would suggest that areas that scored higher also have better health outcomes.  

Why do wealthier nations tend to have better health outcomes? One answer is universal healthcare.  Wealthier nations have the money, resources, and professional workers to offer healthcare to all of their citizens, whether they are employed or not.  Countries like Japan, Germany, Switzerland, and Canada have constructed healthcare systems that offer a wide range of services for very limited cost to the consumer, while the rest is subsidized by taxes and the government.  The United States is an outlier compared to other wealthy countries; they are the only wealthy, more developed country who does not consider healthcare to be a right, and thus does not offer it to their citizens. The US healthcare system is actually more similar to the healthcare systems of developing countries, where the wealthy and elite can get all the healthcare they need, while the poor/middle to lower class can only get the healthcare they can afford, which in some cases is none. It’s no surprise that healthier countries that offer universal care tend to be happier, where medical bankruptcy is unheard of and people receive the care they need. 

Alexander, Rebecca. “The Neuroscience of Positive Emotions and Affect: Implications for Cultivating Happiness and Wellbeing.” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, Pergamon, 8 Dec. 2020, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763420306801?via%3Dihub.

Cui, Xiaodong, and Ching-Ter Chang. “How Income Influences Health: Decomposition Based on Absolute Income and Relative Income Effects.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 13 Oct. 2021, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8535401/

Miller, David N. “Positive Affect.” SpringerLink, Springer US, https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-0-387-79061-9_2193#citeas

Artificial Intelligence and Brain-Computer Interfaces - A Pair to Remember

In the 21st century, the state of modern medicine is rapidly taking its course, using the most updated technologies to improve treatment and the overall condition of patients. One of these ultra-modern techniques are Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs). Broadly speaking, BCIs translate the electrical activity of the brain into the physical movement of, say, a robotic limb. In order to investigate how the technology can be best utilized in a healthcare context, Dr. Samejima, Dr. Khorasani, and other scientists explored the positive effect BCIs have on spinal cord injury (SCI), and more specifically, how they could recover limb function in affected patients. The study discusses utilizing rat models, which were handled through spinal surgery. The “implementation” of an SCI allowed researchers to test the effects of BCI. Results showed that the BCI interface improved the forelimb function of all rats in the experimental group (Samejima et al., 2021). 

Extending upon this study and ones similar to it, the new boundary that is being pushed for patient treatment is the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) as a mediator between the BCI and the human. One such study is done by Zhang et al. and is titled The combination of brain-computer interfaces and artificial intelligence: applications and challenges. Here, it is stated that, in the past, scientists were unable to distinguish between a person’s intentions from general electrical activity in the brain to match it to the robotic arm (Zhang et al., 2020). This is where AI comes in, acting as an assistant and aiding humans in their ability to analyze neural activity. 

Similar to the formerly mentioned study, Zhang et al. dives into the potential for limb rehabilitation using AI, which would likely allow for unprecedented quickness in decoding signals and therefore improvement in the patient’s condition and percentage of limb function recovery. Along with this, other fields that can look for improvements with the implementation of AI are user cursor control, somatosensation and feedback, auditory restoration, and even optical prosthetics. 

The study concludes by stating that AI’s biggest impact on BCI treatment is “the ability to achieve real-time or near-real-time modulation of training parameters and subsequent adjustments in response to active real-time feedback” (Zhang et al., 2020). Overall, with such a wide range of uses, this tandem of highly advanced technologies should benefit the medical field for eons to come. With this field being highly and thoroughly researched in the recent past, the trend will continue at a potentially greater rate and lead to more flushed-out applications to improve the way humans deliver healthcare.

References:

Samejima, S., Khorasani, A., Ranganathan, V., Nakahara, J., Tolley, N. M., Boissenin, A., Shalchyan, V., Daliri, M. R., Smith, J. R., & Moritz, C. T. (2021). Brain-Computer-spinal interface restores upper limb function after spinal cord injury. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 29, 1233–1242. https://doi.org/10.1109/tnsre.2021.3090269

Zhang, X., Ma, Z., Zheng, H., Li, T., Chen, K., Wang, X., Liu, C., Xu, L., Wu, X., Lin, D., & Lin, H. (2020). The combination of brain-computer interfaces and Artificial Intelligence: Applications and challenges. Annals of Translational Medicine, 8(11), 712–712. https://doi.org/10.21037/atm.2019.11.109 

Artifical Intelligence: Why should you care?

 

    In his talk titled "Can Silicon Be Conscious?" Dr. Vukov posed a fundamental question to the audience: What defines personhood? Dr. Joe Vukov, a professional philosopher, undertook a personal exploration to unravel this question. As part of this quest, he engaged in a conversation with Blake Lemoine, a former leader involved in the development of Google's AI LaMDA, alongside his colleague Michael Burns. This insightful discussion unfolded on the podcast "Appleseeds to Apples: Catholicism and The Next ChaptGPT." Dr. Vukov and Dr. Burns guided the discourse towards the inquiry of the AI's potential sentience, the essence of personhood, and the ethical considerations that would arise if the AI were acknowledged as sentient. Blake Lemoine notably asserted that the Google AI LaMDA, specifically designed for dialogue applications, could indeed be considered sentient. In order to explain how advanced the AI is, Dr. Vukov informed the audience about the Turing Test, this test was developed as a method to see if an AI can effectively communicate to the observer that the sender of the messages is also a human. If an AI can convince the receiver that would mean that the AI has passed the Turing test. However, this brought up the argument that is tricking a human into thing that the AI is human really enough to consider the AI to have personhood? Blake Lemoine argues that in the past humans have made the mistake of dehumanizing people of color and women. Since humans have a bad history of impeding on the rights of those that should not, it makes the most sense to give AI some rights as well. However, Many argue AI systems have access to all of the resources on the internet, making its “mind” limitless. However,regurgitating the information on the internet to humans really makes AI as complex as a human?  Many people are convinced that it does not. 

    In their study, "Protecting Sentient Artificial Intelligence: A Survey of Lay Intuitions on Standing, Personhood, and General Legal Protection," Dr. Eric Martinez and Dr. Christoph Winter aimed to explore public opinions on AI rights. They sought to understand what the public thought about extending legal protection to sentient AI and what they perceived as personhood. The results were somewhat surprising, with participants ranking desired legal protection for AI lower than other groups (humans in the jurisdiction, humans outside the jurisdiction, corporations, unions, non-human animals, the environment, humans living in the near future, and humans living in the far future), indicating a perceived lesser importance. However, the desired protection level for AI was significantly higher than its perceived current protection, suggesting a nuanced concern for AI's legal status. About one-third of participants endorsed granting personhood and standing to sentient AI, either aligning with or deviating from legal expert opinions. Political differences emerged, with liberals advocating higher legal protection and personhood for AI than conservatives. Both political groups, however, showed lower favorability towards legal protection for AI compared to other neglected groups. The findings also prompt considerations for potential reforms in existing legal systems, with a democratic lens on lay attitudes influencing legal philosophy and policy. The study's descriptive focus emphasizes the importance of further research to draw normative implications from the results within the evolving landscape of AI ethics and law.

    AI is an inevitable part of the future, thus people should increasingly become more involved with the ethical implications of AI. With artificial intelligence offering a bright prospect for numerous fields, it becomes even more logical for us to closely monitor its developments.

Andreotta A. J. (2021). The Hard Problem of AI Rights. AI Soc. 36, 19–32. 10.1007/s00146-020-00997-x [PMC free article] [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

Martínez, E., & Winter, C. (2021). Protecting Sentient Artificial Intelligence: A Survey of Lay Intuitions on Standing, Personhood, and General Legal Protection. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2021.788355

Effects of Night Shifts on Circadian Rhythms