International Journal of Developmental NeuroscienceVolume 47, Issue Part_A p. 125-125 Article ISDN2014_0416: LORIS: Enhanced tools for data management in neurodevelopmental studies C. Rogers, Corresponding Author C. Rogers n/[email protected] Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorP. Kostopoulos, P. Kostopoulos Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorD. McFarlane, D. McFarlane Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorZ. Mohades, Z. Mohades Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorD. Brien, D. Brien Queen's University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorN. St-Georges, N. St-Georges Centre for High Through-Put Biology, University of British Columbia, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorE. Portales-Casamar, E. Portales-Casamar Centre for High Through-Put Biology, University of British Columbia, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorS. Das, S. Das Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorA. Evans, A. Evans Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this author C. Rogers, Corresponding Author C. Rogers n/[email protected] Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorP. Kostopoulos, P. Kostopoulos Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorD. McFarlane, D. McFarlane Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorZ. Mohades, Z. Mohades Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorD. Brien, D. Brien Queen's University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorN. St-Georges, N. St-Georges Centre for High Through-Put Biology, University of British Columbia, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorE. Portales-Casamar, E. Portales-Casamar Centre for High Through-Put Biology, University of British Columbia, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorS. Das, S. Das Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorA. Evans, A. Evans Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this author First published: 05 November 2015 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2015.04.334Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL No abstract is available for this article. Volume47, IssuePart_AISDN 2014 AbstractsDecember 2015Pages 125-125 RelatedInformation

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder defined by behavioral symptoms that emerge during the first years of life. Associated with these symptoms are differences in the structure of a wide array of brain regions, and in the connectivity between these regions. However, the use of cohorts with large age variability and participants past the generally recognized age of onset of the defining behaviors means that many of the reported abnormalities may be a result of cascade effects of developmentally earlier deviations. This study assessed differences in connectivity in ASD at the age at which the defining behaviors first become clear. There were 113 24-month-old participants at high risk for ASD, 31 of whom were classified as ASD, and 23 typically developing 24-month-old participants at low risk for ASD. Utilizing diffusion data to obtain measures of the length and strength of connections between anatomical regions, we performed an analysis of network efficiency. Our results showed significantly decreased local and global efficiency over temporal, parietal and occipital lobes in high-risk infants classified as ASD, relative to both low- and high-risk infants not classified as ASD. The frontal lobes showed only a reduction in global efficiency in Broca’s area. In addition, these same regions showed an inverse relation between efficiency and symptom severity across the high-risk infants. The results suggest delay or deficits in infants with ASD in the optimization of both local and global aspects of network structure in regions involved in processing auditory and visual stimuli, language and nonlinguistic social stimuli.

A confusing picture of the functional organization of the dorsal premotor region of the human brain emerged when functional neuroimaging studies that either examined visuomotor hand conditional activity or attempted to localize the human frontal eye field reported activity increases at the same general location, namely the junction of the superior precentral sulcus with the superior frontal sulcus. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging study examined visuomotor hand conditional activity and the locus of the frontal eye field as defined by a standard task, on a subject-by-subject basis, to clarify their location and reveal relationships between the pattern of local morphology and functional activity. The results demonstrate that visuomotor hand conditional activity and the frontal eye field lie within distinct parts of the superior precentral sulcus, revealing an organization of the human premotor cortex consistent with that observed in experimental studies in the monkey.

In the present experiment we investigated the hypothesis that a specific part of the prefrontal cortex, the mid- ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), is involved in the active retrieval of mnemonic information. Active retrieval is necessary in situations where mnemonic traces are embedded in ambiguous relations and, therefore, their retrieval cannot be the result of automatic recognition, but rather the result of higher control mechanisms. We used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to examine the activity in the brain related to the active retrieval of nonverbal stimuli (faces and locations). The results of the research confirmed the hypothesis that the right mid-VLPFC is critical for the retrieval of nonverbal information.

Having recently demonstrated that the human orbitofrontal cortex is selectively activated during the encoding of visual information, we investigated whether this same frontal region, which is directly connected to medial temporal structures, would be activated during the encoding of auditory stimuli. We measured cerebral blood flow (CBF) with positron emission tomography (PET) during the encoding of nonverbal abstract auditory stimuli in a group of young healthy volunteers. The results demonstrate that the left orbitofrontal cortex, area 11 in particular, is involved in the encoding of auditory information. We suggest that the orbitofrontal cortex is a critical frontal region that can exert top-down regulation of other regions of the brain including the medial temporal structures and the lateral frontal cortex, enabling the further processing of information.

Although it is widely known that the prefrontal cortex plays a role in memory, the specific contribution of particular prefrontal regions in mnemonic functions remains controversial. The present investigation examined whether the mid-ventrolateral prefrontal cortex is selectively involved in active memory retrieval in situations in which mnemonic traces are embedded in ambiguous relations and automatic recollection cannot lead to successful retrieval. Thirteen subjects participated in this event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment. Throughout the scanning session, trials belonging to an experimental and a control condition were administered in a pseudorandom fashion. During the encoding phase of any particular trial, subjects were presented with a stimulus-complex that was a combination of a face and a spatial location on the screen. In the experimental active retrieval condition, a question cue following the encoding phase instructed the subjects to retrieve selectively one of the two aspects of the encoded stimulus-complex, i.e. the face or the location. In the control condition, the question cue that followed the encoding phase instructed the subjects simply to recall the initially presented stimulus-complex, so as to be able to make a decision during the test phase based on simple stimulus familiarity. The comparison of the signal obtained during the retrieval phase of these two conditions yielded an increase in activity selective to the right mid-ventrolateral prefrontal region. These results therefore establish a specific link between the mid-ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and active retrieval mechanisms.

Although little is known about the contribution of the orbitofrontal cortex to the processing of new information in man, lesion studies in monkeys have suggested that it plays a critical role. The present study investigated changes in cerebral blood flow with positron emission tomography in normal human subjects during exposure to unpleasant auditory stimuli. The results indicated that the caudal orbitofrontal cortex, area 13, which is powerfully linked to the medial temporal limbic region and is involved in the regulation of autonomic responses, is a key part of the frontal cortex responding in the face of unpleasant incoming information.