Authors:

Farahani, H., Kovač, N., Fardi, H., WATSON, P.

Reference:

Year of publication:

2024

CBU number:

9210

Abstract:

Purpose Perception of pain is a multifactorial mechanism involving physiological, psychological and social factors; only by understanding the interplays of these factors can we hope to develop effective management strategies for pain. To that effect, we developed a computational model using Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs) to simulate and predict individual pain experiences, based on expert input across multiple disciplines. This framework has potential application in individualized pain management, drug development and pain research. Patients and methods The Method of the study is an FCM model based on expert-sourced data for pain perception. A total of 20 experts were recruited using a snowball sampling technique, divided into five specialist groups: neurologists, pain specialists, psychologists, sociologists, and geneticists, with four experts in each group. The experts contributed input in CSV file format specifying concept associations and linguistic terms. Therefore, three types of data collection were used: questionnaires for capturing inter-factor interactions, fuzzy matrices measuring strengths of influences and interviewing in order to validate relationships. The data was then analyzed by summing up expert-defined causal relationships based on fuzzy logic rules, allowing for the construction of the initial weight matrix that reflects both the strength and direction of influence between concepts. Results The built FCM model integrates six significant concepts that influence pain perception: brain and neural basis of pain, psychological factors, social factors, individual differences, type of tissue damage and general pain perception. The model structure indicates strong reinforcing influences between psychological and neural factors, while social influences tend to inhibit perceived pain. Centrality analysis highlighted individual differences as a critical mediating node in the system. The model stabilized to an internally consistent fixed point under a variety of initial conditions, providing internal stability. Conclusion The findings indicate that the FCM model provides a useful framework for representing interactions between pain and its influencing factors. The model was validated through expert consensus and scenario-based simulations. Future work will include empirical validation using standardized psychological instruments to compare FCM outcomes with real-world psychological profiles.

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Authors:

SATISH, A., Hellerstedt, R., ANDERSON, M.C., Bergströmb, Z.M.

Reference:

Year of publication:

2024

CBU number:

9209

Abstract:

The ability to stop unwanted memories from coming to mind is theorised to be essential for maintaining good mental health. People can employ intentional strategies to prevent conscious intrusions of negative memories, and repeated attempts to stop retrieval both reduces the frequency of intrusions and improves subsequent emotions elicited by those memories. However, it is still unknown whether memory control can improve negative emotions immediately, at the time control is attempted. It is also not clear which strategy is most beneficial for emotion regulation; clearing the mind of any thoughts of negative memories via direct suppression, or substituting memory recall with alternative thoughts. Here, we provide novel evidence that memory control immediately regulates negative emotions associated with autobiographical memories of morally wrong actions. Repeated control significantly improved negative emotions over time, regardless of the strategy used to implement control. Thought substitution involving either positive diversionary thinking or counterfactual thinking both induced positive feelings, whereas direct suppression neutralised emotions, regardless of whether memories were positive or negative. These empirical findings have implications for clinical practice as they indicate that memory control strategies could be effective emotion regulation methods for real-world intrusive memories.

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Authors:

SHALEV, I., Uzefovsky, F.

Reference:

Year of publication:

2025

CBU number:

9208

Abstract:

Empathy is central to social cognition, yet efforts to link it with neurodiverse and clinical conditions have yielded contradictory findings, often reinforcing a deficit-focused narrative that conflicts with individuals’ experiences. While traditional models distinguish cognitive (understanding others’ emotions) from emotional empathy (being affected by others’ emotions), they often neglect how their interplay shapes individual outcomes. Addressing these limitations, this article focuses on the emerging concept of empathic disequilibrium, the intrapersonal imbalance between cognitive and emotional empathy. We synthesise current evidence linking empathic disequilibrium with individual differences in autistic traits and mental health, discuss its potential mechanisms, and propose a framework that recognises empathy as a multifaceted system with interacting components, with implications for advancing theory and practice across cognitive sciences.

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Authors:

MITCHELL, D., ASSEM, M., WOOLGAR, A.

Reference:

Year of publication:

2025

CBU number:

9207

Abstract:

Throughout his distinguished career, John Duncan has made numerous influential contributions to understanding the behavioural and brain basis of attention and intelligence. Recognition of John’s work has included the 2012 Heineken Prize in Cognitive Science, and Fellowships of both the Royal Society and the British Academy. At his recent festschrift, John was fittingly described, amongst other superlatives, as “the most complete scientist.” To mark John’s retirement, this special issue brings together a collection of reviews, perspectives, and new research, inspired by John’s work and insights, to celebrate his immense and enduring contributions. See https://osf.io/37kzu for data and analysis scripts

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Data for this project is available at: Https://osf.io/37kzu

Authors:

Jung, J., LAMBON RALPH, M.A.

Reference:

Year of publication:

2021

CBU number:

9206

Abstract:

Recent evidence demonstrates that activation-dependent neuroplasticity on a structural level can occur in a short time (2 hour or less) in the human brain. However, the exact time scale of structural plasticity in the human brain remains unclear. Using voxel-based morphometry (VBM), we investigated changes in grey matter (GM) after one session of continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) delivered to the anterior temporal lobe (ATL). Twenty-five participants received cTBS over the left ATL or the occipital pole as a control site outside of the scanner, followed by structural and functional imaging. During functional imaging, participants performed a semantic association task and a number judgment task as a control task. VBM results revealed decreased GM in the left ATL and right cerebellum after the ATL stimulation compared to the control stimulation. In addition, cTBS over the left ATL induced slower semantic reaction times, reduced regional activity at the target site, and altered functional connectivity between the left and right ATL during semantic processing. Furthermore, the decreased ATL GM density was associated with the interhemispheric ATL-connectivity changes after the ATL stimulation. These results demonstrate that structural alterations caused by one session of cTBS are mirrored in the functional reorganizations in the semantic representation system, showing the rapid dynamics of cortical plasticity. Our findings support fast adapting neuronal plasticity such as synaptic morphology changes. Our results suggest that TBS is able to produce powerful changes in regional synaptic activity in the adult human brain.

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Authors:

Rahimi, S., Jackson, R.L., HAUK. O.

Reference:

Year of publication:

2025

CBU number:

9205

Abstract:

Introduction: Investigating task- and stimulus-dependent connectivity is key to understanding how the interactions between brain regions underpin complex cognitive processes. Yet, the connections identified depend on the assumptions of the connectivity method. To date, methods designed for time-resolved electroencephalography/magnetoencephalography (EEG/MEG) data typically reduce signals in regions to one time course per region. This may fail to identify critical relationships between activation patterns across regions. Time-Lagged Multidimensional Pattern Connectivity (TL-MDPC) is a promising new EEG/MEG functional connectivity method improving previous approaches by assessing multidimensional relationships between patterns of brain activity. However, TL-MDPC remains linear and may therefore miss nonlinear interactions among brain areas. Methods: Thus, we introduce Nonlinear TL-MDPC (nTL-MDPC), a novel bivariate functional connectivity method for event-related EEG/MEG applications, and compare its performance to the original linear TL-MDPC. nTL-MDPC describes how well patterns in ROI X at a time point tx can predict patterns of ROI Y at a time point ty using artificial neural networks. Results: Applying this method and its linear counterpart to simulated data demonstrates that both can identify nonlinear dependencies, with nTL-MDPC achieving up to ~0.75 explained variance under optimal conditions (e.g., high SNR), compared to ~0.65 with TL-MDPC. However, with a sufficient number of trials- e.g., a trials-to-vertex ratio ≥10:1 – nTL-MDPC achieves up to 15% higher explained variance than the linear method. Nevertheless, application to a real EEG/MEG dataset demonstrated only subtle increases in nonlinear connectivity strength at longer time lags with no significant differences between the two approaches. Discussion: Overall, this suggests that linear multidimensional methods may be a reasonable practical choice to approximate brain connectivity, given the additional computational demands of nonlinear methods.

URL:

Data for this project is available at: https://github.com/setareh10/Method-Development-MDPC

Authors:

Dolling, H., Rowitch, S., Bromham, M., Archer, S., O'Curry, S., Rowitch, D.H., Raymonds, F.L., Hughes, C., BAKER, K.

Reference:

Year of publication:

2025

CBU number:

9204

Abstract:

As early rapid genomic sequencing (rGS) is adopted in paediatric medicine, there is an urgency to understand and address family support needs. This mixed methods study (Peregrin*) examined the experiences of 96 parents, 1–5 years after receiving trio rGS results for their child with a severe early-onset condition. Quantitative outcome measures assessed parental well-being, life satisfaction, and family impact, comparing results to nonclinical population data, between mothers and fathers, and according to child’s diagnostic outcome. Qualitative semi-structured interviews explored parents’ satisfaction with support, engagement with support networks, and unmet needs. Quantitatively, mothers exhibited elevated anxiety and depression relative to population norms, and there was a lack of strong correlation in well-being metrics within couples. Parents of children with a genomic diagnosis reported poorer well-being, explained by greater medical complexity. Qualitatively, insufficient support was more frequently reported by those whose child had received a genomic diagnosis (36%) compared to those without (6%). Families drew on a range of formal and informal support sources, including condition-specific groups, though these were accessed by a minority of fathers. These findings highlight persistent and evolving support needs in families affected by complex childhood health conditions, which persist after rGS. Parents’ support needs are highly individual, vary over time and across children’s illness trajectory. There remain important gaps between parental needs and support, impacting on family well-being.

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Authors:

MOUSLEY, A., Bethlehem, R.A.I., Yeh, F-C., ASTLE, D.

Reference:

Year of publication:

2025

CBU number:

9203

Abstract:

Structural topology develops non-linearly across the lifespan and is strongly related to cognitive trajectories. We gathered diffusion imaging from datasets with a collective age range of zero to 90 years old (N = 4,216). We analyzed how 12 graph theory metrics of organization change with age and projected these data into manifold spaces using Uniform Manifold Projection and Approximation. With these manifolds, we identified four major topological turning points across the lifespan – around nine, 32, 66, and 83 years old. These ages defined five major epochs of topological development, each with distinctive age-related changes in topology. These lifespan epochs each have a distinct direction of topological development and specific changes in the organizational properties driving the age-topology relationship. This study underscores the complex, non-linear nature of human development, with unique phases of topological maturation, which can only be illuminated with a multivariate, lifespan, population-level perspective.

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Authors:

LU, R., POLLITT, E., WOOLGAR, A.

Reference:

Year of publication:

2025

CBU number:

9202

Abstract:

Alpha oscillations are thought to play a key role in visuospatial attention, particularly through lateralisation mechanisms. However, whether this function is driven purely by oscillatory activity or also involves aperiodic neural components remains unclear, making it difficult to develop precise theoretical models of alpha function and attention. Using EEG and concurrent TMS-EEG, this study aimed to (1) disentangle the contributions of oscillatory and aperiodic alpha activity to visuospatial attention and (2) examine their causal roles by differentially modulating aperiodic and oscillatory components. First, across four independent EEG datasets, we found that both aperiodic and oscillatory alpha activity contribute to spatial attention encoding and univariate lateralisation effects. The two signals were uncorrelated across electrodes and their combination yielded stronger lateralisation effects than either signal separately, suggesting that they may play complementary roles. Then, we used concurrent TMS-EEG to modulate the two signals. Compared to arrhythmic TMS (ar-TMS), rhythmic TMS (rh-TMS), enhanced oscillatory alpha power, especially at the stimulated area, while decreasing aperiodic alpha power across the scalp. Despite these opposing effects, rh-TMS improved visuospatial attention representation carried by both oscillatory and aperiodic alpha signals, suggesting that both signals may reflect attentional processing. Moreover, TMS-induced changes in oscillatory and aperiodic alpha decoding differentially predicted behavioural performance, with TMS-induced changes in oscillatory alpha decoding correlating with response errors and changes in aperiodic alpha decoding correlating with response speed. Together these findings reveal a functional dissociation between oscillatory and aperiodic activity in the alpha band. We suggest a dual mechanism for alpha band activity in supporting visuospatial attention, where the two components have distinct but complementary roles. Oscillatory components may primarily support attentional filtering and target prioritization, while aperiodic components may reflect overall neural excitability and cognitive efficiency. Both of these mechanisms contribute to successful visuospatial attention.

URL:

Data available, click to request

Authors:

Henderson, S., Murley, A.G., Cope, T.E., Bowns, L., Malpetti, M., PATTERSON, K.E., ROWE, J.B., LAMBON RALPH, M.A.

Reference:

Year of publication:

2025

CBU number:

9201

Abstract:

Background: In this two-part investigation, we examined whether Alzheimer’s disease (AD) phenotypes are distinct clinical entities or represent positions within a graded multidimensional space. Methods: First, using a large retrospective dataset of past research participants (n = 413) from memory clinics, we examined the comparative distributions of cognitive performance in people diagnosed with typical amnestic AD (tAD), logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia (lvPPA), and posterior cortical atrophy (PCA). Secondly, a prospective deep phenotyping study of lvPPA (n = 18) compared to typical AD (n = 9) addressed the following questions: (1) Does the multidimensional cognitive pattern of impairment only emerge in advanced lvPPA, and how does it compare to tAD? (2) Do memory deficits in lvPPA appear in a simple clinic-level cognitive assessment or require in-depth neuropsychological investigation? (3) To what extent is performance on verbal episodic memory attributable to language impairment? (4) Do the patterns of decline in lvPPA and tAD stay categorical or multidimensional over time? We explored the associations between scores derived from a principal component analysis of cognitive measures, and grey matter volumes in key memory- and language-related brain regions, at baseline and longitudinally. Results: The clinic-level assessment revealed similar results in both the prospective and retrospective data: (i) patients showed graded distinctions (e.g., predominant visual versus language impairment in people with PCA versus lvPPA) and overlap (e.g., shared weakness in domains such as memory); and (ii) people with lvPPA and tAD were equally impaired on both verbal and non-verbal memory tests. Longitudinal assessment showed phenotypic dispersion: (i) people with tAD showed varied patterns of phenotypic differentiation; and (ii) people with lvPPA and lvPPA+ exhibited a multidimensional pattern of decline with decreasing principal component scores and worsening multi-domain cognitive performance. The results of Bayesian linear regressions showed evidence for the association of grey matter volumes in language and memory networks with principal component analysis derived scores. Conclusions: The graded distinctions amongst typical amnestic and atypical (language and visual) phenotypes of AD support the proposal for a transdiagnostic, multidimensional phenotype geometry that spans all AD subtypes.

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