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Scientists discover how brains change with new skills

May 13, 2013 By

By Karene Booker
Reprinted from Cornell Chronicle April 4, 2013

Nathan Spreng

Spreng

The phrase “practice makes perfect” has a neural basis in the brain. Researchers have discovered a set of common changes in the brain upon learning a new skill. They have essentially detected a neural marker for the reorganization the brain undergoes when a person practices and become proficient at a task.

Successful training not only prompts skill-specific changes in the brain, but also more global changes that are consistent across many different types of skills training, the researchers report in the journal Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair (Vol. 27:3). Their results indicate that as you become more adept at a skill, your brain no longer needs to work as hard at it. The brain, they report, shifts from more controlled to more automatic processing as a skill is learned, regardless of the specific type of training, they said.

“The training-related changes we found – that signify a shift to a more ‘efficient’ configuration of brain networks – provide a potential new brain marker for training effectiveness,” said neuroscientist Nathan Spreng, assistant professor of human development and the Rebecca Q. and James C. Morgan Sesquicentennial Faculty Fellow in Cornell’s College of Human Ecology. “Such neural markers are increasingly being used to inform the design of new or more-targeted interventions to improve cognitive and motor functioning in aging, brain injury or disease,” he added.

The study is the most comprehensive review of the neural correlates of training to date and the first to associate training with alterations in large-scale brain networks, said Spreng, who was awarded the distinction of “rising star” in March by the Association for Psychological Science.

The researchers conducted a systematic meta-analysis of 38 neuroimaging studies of cognitive and motor skills training interventions in healthy young adults – more than 500 participants in all. Using a quantitative literature review method, they analyzed functional neuroimaging data and mapped the patterns of brain activity changes before and after the training across the individual experiments.

The researchers found that the brain regions that are involved in attention-demanding activities are less active after training compared with before, whereas the brain regions that typically are at rest (known as the default network), became more active.

Specifically, training resulted in decreased activity in brain regions involved in effortful control and attention that closely overlap with the frontoparietal control and dorsal attention networks. Increased activity was found after training, however, in the default network that is involved in self-reflective activities, including future planning or even day dreaming. Thus, skill mastery is associated with increased activity in areas not engaged in skill performance, and this shift can be detected in the large-scale networks of the brain.

“The power of meta-analysis methods to systematically and quantitatively review neuroimaging studies makes possible discoveries such as ours that can provide new insights into how the brain functions; this helps us lay the foundation for better treatments of brain disorders in the future,” said Spreng.

“There have now been over 100,000 neuroimaging papers published, so these types of meta-analytic reviews offer new opportunities to identify common patterns of brain activity across a larger and more diverse array of studies,” he added.

Spreng co-authored the study, “Functional Brain Changes Following Cognitive and Motor Skills Training: A Quantitative Meta-analysis,” with first author Ronak Patel of Ryerson University and with Gary R. Turner, York University.

The research was supported in part by the Hearth and Stroke Foundation of Canada and York University.

Karene Booker is an extension support specialist in the Department of Human Development.

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Brain scan can decode whom you are thinking about

March 6, 2013 By

By Karene Booker
Reprinted from Cornell Chronicle, March 5, 2013

MRI image

Region of the brain in medial prefrontal cortex where patterns of activity can be decoded to determine who someone is thinking about. Image provided by Nathan Spreng

Our mental picture of another person produces unique patterns of brain activation that can be detected using advanced imaging techniques, report Cornell neuroscientist Nathan Spreng and his colleagues in a study published online in Cerebral Cortex.

“When we looked at our data, we were shocked that we could successfully decode who our participants were thinking about based on their brain activity,” said Spreng, the study’s lead author, with Demis Hassabis of University College London, and an assistant professor of human development and the Rebecca Q. and James C. Morgan Sesquicentennial Faculty Fellow in Cornell’s College of Human Ecology.

“Our findings shed light on how the brain formulates models of people’s personality in order to anticipate their behavior — a faculty critical for success in the social world,” Spreng added.

For their study, the researchers asked 19 young adults to learn about the personalities of four people who differed on key personality traits. Participants were given different scenarios (i.e., sitting on a bus when an elderly person gets on, and there are no seats) and asked to imagine how a specified person would respond. During the task, their brains were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow.

Spreng

Nathan Spreng

The researchers found that different patterns of brain activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) were associated with each of the four different personalities. In other words, which person was being imagined could be accurately identified based solely on the brain activation pattern.

The results suggest that the brain codes the personality traits of others in distinct brain regions, and that this information is integrated in the mPFC to produce an overall personality model used to plan social interactions, the authors said.

“Prior research has implicated the anterior mPFC in social cognition disorders such as autism, and our results suggest people with such disorders may have an inability to build accurate personality models,” said Spreng. “If further research bears this out, we may ultimately be able to identify specific brain activation biomarkers not only for diagnosing such diseases, but for monitoring the effects of interventions.”

The study, published online in Cerebral Cortex, was also co-authored by Andrie Rusu, Vrije Univesiteit; Raymond Mar, York University; and Clifford Robbin and Daniel L. Schacter, Harvard University.

The research was supported in part by the Wellcome Trust and the National Institutes of Health.

Karene Booker is an extension support specialist in the Department of Human Development.

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MRI to help unlock mysteries of teen risky behavior

February 26, 2013 By

By Karene Booker
Reprinted from Cornell Chronicle, February 13, 2013

Valerie Reyna

Reyna

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $1.7 million to Cornell to enhance understanding of why adolescents are prone to taking risks.

The study, which will compare differences in the brains of teens and adults when faced with risky decisions, will be the first to use the Cornell MRI Facility, a new, state-of-the-art center for neuroscience and other fields of research in Martha Van Rensselaer Hall.

The project will bring together a team of economists, psychologists and neuroscientists to examine decision-making processes in adolescents and adults and shed light on competing theories about how the teen brain works.

“Research suggests that adolescents differ from adults in emotional reactivity, motivation and self-regulation, but substantial ambiguities remain about how these factors determine adolescents’ risky decision-making,” said Valerie Reyna, principal investigator for the grant, professor of human development in the College of Human Ecology and co-director of the Cornell MRI Facility. “Our research will disentangle these key causal factors to better understand, predict and ultimately reduce adolescents’ unhealthy risk-taking.”

The team will answer unresolved questions about how adolescents’ responses to rewards might differ from responses to losses or negative consequences and how desires, strong emotions or the way risks are presented may change responses to risk and to reward. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques performed on the 3 Tesla MRI scanner at the Cornell MRI Facility, the researchers will also look at how the adolescent brain reacts differently from the adult brain when making decisions about risks.

The universitywide facility is the newest addition to Cornell’s imaging resources and will provide detailed structural and functional images for a broad range of scientific studies involving humans, small animals, plants and biomedical materials. Physicist Wenming Luh is the technical director of the facility.

Other investigators on the grant include William Schulze, the Kenneth L. Robinson Professor of Agricultural Economics and Public Policy; David Dunning, professor of psychology; Ted O’Donoghue, professor of economics; Brian Wansink, the John Dyson Professor of Consumer Behavior; Barbara Ganzel, research scientist in human development; all from Cornell in Ithaca; and Henning Voss, associate professor of physics in radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.

Karene Booker is an extension support specialist in the Department of Human Development.

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What is translational neuroscience?

February 26, 2013 By

 
The new field of translational neuroscience uses brain science to inform applications that improve health and well-being. This means using (or improving) our understanding of the brain in order to develop new strategies for intervention. Until recently, translational neuroscience has supported medical interventions that are clinic-based, as in pharmacological, surgical, or behavioral treatments for neural and neuropsychiatric disorders. New on the horizon, however, is the use of neuroscience perspectives to inform social and behavioral interventions that are ecologically-based and can be delivered in the home or school setting. The target of these interventions has expanded to include developmental health outcomes, school readiness, and health promotion, in addition to brain-based disorders. This new approach takes translational neuroscience out of the clinic and puts it to work in our communities.

This series of short articles by Barbara Ganzel, Research Scientist in the Department of Human Development, will present some of the possibilities inherent in this new perspective on translational neuroscience. We invite you to join us in exploring the promise of this approach. Read the full story.

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MRI scanner to propel cutting-edge research across campus

August 29, 2012 By
By Karene Booker
Reprinted from Cornell Chronicle, June 8, 2012.
 

- Mark Vorreuter

A powerful magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner has just been delivered to the East Wing of Martha Van Rensselaer Hall. By the fall, researchers will be able to obtain detailed images with rich tissue contrasts noninvasively and without using ionizing radiation.

The 3 Tesla GE750 MRI scanner is well suited for a broad range of scientific studies for structural and functional investigations involving humans, small animals, plants and biomedical materials.

The scanner will help foster cross-disciplinary collaboration and innovative technology development among faculty from diverse fields such as biomedical engineering, neuroscience, behavioral science, and plant and animal science. It will also enhance Cornell’s resources for analyzing and visualizing research data, leading to new areas of investigation and expanding educational opportunities for the next generation of scientists.

“The MRI scanner fills the void of in vivo imaging capability on Ithaca campus and enhances Cornell’s competitiveness in research,” said Yi Wang, professor of biomedical engineering in the College of Engineering and Faculty Distinguished Professor of Radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College. Wang is the principal investigator for the National Institutes of Health MRI equipment grant and co-directs the new Cornell MRI Facility with Valerie Reyna, professor of human development in the College of Human Ecology.

“We expect this MRI research scanner will enable and stimulate various fundamental studies at the Ithaca campus, with potential for results to be translated into clinical practice at Weill Cornell and into healthier life commercialization opportunities in the CornellNYC Tech campus,” Wang added.

“The MRI scanner expands Cornell’s capacity to push the boundaries of research in the social, biological and physical sciences – and to integrate these sciences,” said Reyna. “This versatile tool makes it possible to observe the brain in action, creating opportunities for scientific innovation to improve the human condition. It will be an asset in attracting and retaining excellent faculty, enriching the educational experience for our students.”

The 3.0T MRI scanner is a resource for discovery across all domains, allowing researchers to look into structures and how humans function to better understand how we behave and how our health is determined, along with other research projects that might emanate from being able to have a scanner of this quality, said Alan Mathios, the Rebecca Q. and James C. Morgan Dean of the College of Human Ecology. “It provides a unique opportunity for the entire university to collaborate across many colleges to advance science and well-being.”

The Cornell MRI Facility is supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Human Ecology and Veterinary Medicine.

Karene Booker is an extension support specialist in the Department of Human Development.

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Meet HD’s newest faculty member Nathan Spreng

May 22, 2012 By

 

Nathan Spreng

Spreng

Please welcome our newest faculty member, Nathan Spreng, assistant professor in the department of human development in Cornell’s College of Human Ecology. Spreng is Director of the Laboratory of Brain and Cognition. His research examines large-scale brain network dynamics and their role in cognition. Currently, he is investigating the link between autobiography and imagination, how we conceive of the future, and successful navigation of the social world. These investigations extend to the related processes of memory, cognitive control, and social cognition and the interacting brain networks that support them. He is also actively involved in the development and implementation of multivariate and network-based statistical approaches to assess brain activity. In doing so, he hopes to better understand the properties of the brain networks underlying complex cognitive processes as they change across the lifespan.

Spreng comes to us from Department of Psychology at Harvard University where he was a postdoctoral research fellow.

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New approach could more effectively diagnose personality disorders

February 27, 2012 By

By Karene Booker
Reprinted from Cornell Chronicle, February 20, 2012

Depue

Depue

Personality disorders could be more effectively diagnosed by identifying and targeting the disrupted neurobiological systems where the disorders originate, report Cornell researchers.

The way that these mental illnesses are now classified — based on particular patterns of thought and behavior — is misguided and has little hard evidence to support it, reports Cornell neuroscientist Richard Depue and his colleague in a special issue of the Journal of International Review of Psychiatry (23:3).

“The behavioral features used to diagnose personality disorders do not coalesce into coherent disorders in any research,” says Depue, professor of human development in the College of Human Ecology, who co-authored the article with graduate student Yu Fu. “As currently defined, the different personality disorders have overlapping behavioral symptoms that also merge imperceptibly with normal behavior. A diagnosis should define a coherent behavioral pattern and predict a particular course, prognosis and treatment. No personality disorder diagnosis can do that.”

Their findings fly in the face of current medical practice. Nearly one in 10 Americans suffers from a personality disorder, a group of disabling conditions characterized by serious, sometimes catastrophic, problems with relationships and work. Behavioral features can vary widely, from pervasive disregard for the law and the rights of others (antisocial personality disorder) to extreme mood instability (borderline personality disorder).

The researchers drew their conclusions by conducting a detailed review of the brain systems that underlie the major human personality traits.

Humans have about six major personality traits, each with its own neurobiological foundation that influences such behaviors as how anxious or impulsive we are, Depue notes. For example, the underlying systems and associated personality traits in their model include anxiety/stress-reactivity (thought to underlie neuroticism and negative emotionality) and neural constraint (thought to underlie conscientiousness), among others. The variety of behaviors associated with personality disorders arise from the influence of an individual’s genetic make-up and environment on neurobiological functioning, they say.

In their multidimensional model, a person’s personality traits can be plotted in three-dimensional space where the axes represent the underlying neurobehavioral systems. The patterns of behavior associated with personality disorders emerge from the interaction of extremely high or low values or levels of normal traits; such extremes lead to impaired interactions, they say.

“Our model links personality traits with the underlying neurobiology, which provides a better framework for understanding how and why personality disorders develop and how they can be treated,” he says. “It allows us to better predict interventions, such as certain drugs and/or environmental interventions, which may be of benefit. We can also start thinking of treatments that modify multiple neurobiological variables, rather than just one or two.”

And recent discoveries in neuroscience point to the important role environment plays, particularly during early childhood, in how genes are expressed, Depue says. “So, risks for personality disorders can be either magnified or reduced by the interaction of the individual’s circumstances with their genetic make-up, in a process called epigenetics. We see evidence for this in personality disorders, which are much more prevalent in those who have suffered from a variety of childhood stresses and abuse.”

Their theoretical analysis has implications for the criteria used for classifying personality disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. It also contributes to a growing body of evidence that calls for a rethinking of the approach to classifying these illnesses, based on the underlying biochemical and neural processes that result in the symptoms.

The research was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.

Karene Booker is an extension support specialist in the Department of Human Development.

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New Book on teen brains can help improve reasoning, decision making

February 27, 2012 By

By Karene Booker
Reprinted from Cornell Chronicle, December 15, 2011 

Reyna

Reyna

Teenage brains undergo big changes, and they won’t look or function like adult brains until well into one’s 20s. In the first book on the adolescent brain and development of higher cognition, a Cornell professor helps highlight recent neuroscience discoveries about how the brain develops and their implications for real-world problems and how we teach young people and prepare them to make healthy life choices.

For the new book, “The Adolescent Brain: Learning, Reasoning, and Decision Making” (APA Books), Valerie Reyna, professor of human development in the College of Human Ecology and co-director of Cornell’s Center for Behavioral Economics and Decision Research, brought together an interdisciplinary group of leading scientists to focus on brain development and higher cognition, which is necessary for students to learn math and science and make good decisions. Higher cognition is the set of thinking skills students use to manipulate information and ideas in ways that lead to problem solving and new insights.

“A major implication of the provocative research highlighted in this book is the contrast between adolescents’ cognitive skills, which are at a lifetime peak, and their frequent inability to use this competence in everyday decision making,” said Reyna, who co-edited the volume with Sandra Chapman, director of the Center for Brain Health at the University of Texas at Dallas; Michael Dougherty, professor of psychology at University of Maryland; and Jere Confrey, professor of mathematics education at North Carolina State University.

“But the evidence suggests that the way young people learn, reason and decide changes [during this period] and can be changed,” said Reyna. “We must move education beyond rote learning to fostering the cognitive skills essential for academic achievement and economic well-being in our knowledge-based economy. Higher cognition is a foundation critical for individuals and our country to be competitive. This volume introduces a new framework for interdisciplinary collaboration among scientists in neuroscience, psychology and education.”

“The Adolescent Brain” addresses the major changes in memory, learning and decision making experienced by adolescents as they mature, beginning with a review of the changes in brain anatomy and physiology based on extensive neuroimaging studies. The ensuing chapters examine the developing capacity of the adolescent brain, covering such topics as the underpinnings of intelligence and problem solving, strategies for training teen reasoning abilities, effectively teaching mathematical concepts, the effects of emotion on reasoning, and factors that promote teen engagement in health-related behaviors.

The book wraps up with a chapter by Reyna and Ph.D. student Christina Chick that integrates the behavioral and neuroscience evidence in a process model of adolescent risky decision making. Chick and Reyna explain, for example, how massive pruning of gray matter in late adolescence fits with the growth of adolescents’ ability to connect the dots and understand the underlying meaning of situations. This gist thinking facilitates recognition of danger and protects against unhealthy risk-taking, they say.

The book is intended for researchers, students and professionals in the fields of cognitive neuroscience and psychology and for education policymakers and educators, especially in mathematics.

Reyna will present a talk on the “Adolescent Brain” March 1 at 4-5:30 p.m., 160 Mann Library.

Karene Booker is extension support specialist in the Department of Human Development.

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Videos Now Online from Bronfenbrenner Neuroscience of Risk Conference

February 27, 2012 By

 

Videos are now online from the 2011 Bronfenbrenner Conference, “The Neuroscience of Risky Decision Making.”

At the conference, neuroscientists, neuroeconomists and social scientists explored scientific theories about the brain mechanisms underlying risky decision-making, paving the way for translation of basic science into policy and practice.

The conference, co-organized by Valerie Reyna, professor of human development and co-director for Cornell’s new Magnetic Resonance Imaging Facility, and Vivian Zayas, assistant professor of psychology, drew scholars from as far away as Europe to share research on such topics as brain maturation, neural responses to rewards and punishments at different ages, emotional regulation and self-control. Many of those who participated are founders in their field.

Presenters:

Antoine Bechara, University of Southern California
Eveline Crone, Leiden University
Paul Glimcher, New York University
Jay Giedd, National Institute of Mental Health
Scott Huettel, Duke University
Brian Knutson, Stanford University
Beatriz Luna, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Kevin Ochsner, Columbia University
Philip Zelazo, University of Minnesota

Links:

Presentations, discussions, Q & A, and panel conversations

Article: Experts explore links between risk-taking, brain mechanisms

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Experts explore links between risk-taking, brain mechanisms

November 1, 2011 By

By Karene Booker
Reprinted from Cornell Chronicle, October 7, 2011

Anthony Bechara

Conference participants Antoine Bechara and Kevin Ochsner. Photo by Jason Koski, University Photography

Most diseases people die from are those borne of bad choices. Whether the decision is to have unprotected sex, smoke, drink and drive, not save for retirement, or to eat fries with that burger, risky decisions permeate our lives, sometimes with disastrous consequences, which is why researchers gathered on campus Sept. 22-23 to better understand risk-taking.

At the Third Biennial Urie Bronfenbrenner Conference, “The Neuroscience of Risky Decision Making,” neuroscientists, neuroeconomists and social scientists explored scientific theories about the brain mechanisms underlying risky decision-making, paving the way for translation of basic science into policy and practice.

“From neurons to basic psychological processes, such as memory and meaning, to complex social and economic behavior, we need to build a dialogue across disciplines,” said Valerie Reyna, professor of human development in the College of Human Ecology and co-director for Cornell’s Center for Behavioral Economics and Decision Research. “We need a common language and collaboration to improve educational and health outcomes and to advance neuroscience research.”

The conference, co-organized by Reyna and Vivian Zayas, Cornell assistant professor of psychology, drew scholars from as far away as Europe to share research on such topics as brain maturation, neural responses to rewards and punishments at different ages, emotional regulation and self-control.

Many of those who participated are founders in their field. Paul Glimcher, a professor in New York University’s Center for Neural Science and of psychology and economics, for example, literally wrote the book on neuroeconomics in 2003 when he released his seminal work on the biological foundations of economic behavior. At the conference, he reported on some of his findings, such as work that suggests that neural networks are connected — hungry people, for example, make riskier decisions not just about food, but also about money.

Antoine Bechara, professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Southern California, researches the decision-making capabilities of patients with brain damage, such as the case of the 40-cigarette-a-day smoker who no longer had the urge to smoke after suffering a stroke. Bechara’s findings shed light on the workings of the brain systems involved in decision-making and addiction.

One of the developmental neuroscientist pioneers, University of Pittsburgh’s Beatriz Luna, focuses on the transition from adolescence to adulthood. She reported that incentives have a magnified effect on cognitive control in adolescents, compared with adults. Adolescents performing a particular cognitive control task seem to require incentives in order to succeed, she said, suggesting immaturities in their reward system.

Participants, including program officials from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, also debated core assumptions about reward sensitivity and self-control, and their implications for practice and policy.

“There is such tremendous synergy among fields,” said Reyna. “Collaborating and thinking together is important for setting a research agenda that will shape the field and have big payoffs in terms of public health and well-being.”

The event was the kickoff to multiple interdisciplinary initiatives on campus, including the acquisition of a new neuroimaging facility to be housed in the College of Human Ecology. The American Psychological Association plans to publish a book based on the papers presented at the conference.

The Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research, Center for Behavioral Economics and Decision Research, and Institute for the Social Sciences, all at Cornell, co-sponsored the conference.

Karene Booker is an extension support specialist in the Department of Human Development.

Related Links:
The Neuroscience of Risky Decision Making
College of Human Ecology
Valerie Reyna
ISS Judgment, Decision Making and Social Behavior

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