Neuropsychologia
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A period of post-learning sleep benefits memory consolidation compared with an equal-length wake interval. However, whether this sleep-based memory consolidation changes as a function of age remains controversial. Here we report a meta-analysis that investigates the age differences in the sleep-based memory consolidation in two types of memory: declarative memory and procedural memory. ⋯ However, further analyses suggested that the age differences were mainly manifested in sleep-based declarative memory consolidation but not in procedural memory consolidation. We discussed the possible underlying mechanisms for the age-related degradation in sleep-based memory consolidation. Further research is needed to determine the crucial components for sleep-related memory consolidation in older adults such as age-related changes in neurobiological and cardiovascular functions, which may play an important role in this context and have the potential to delineate the interrelationships between age-related changes in sleep and memory.
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The current review investigates the question of the relationship of different hemispheric specializations. Hemispheric specializations are the result of the seemingly distinctive ability of the left and right hemisphere to specialize in different cognitive functions. The review focuses on the concept of complementarity whereby the lateralization of one function predicts the asymmetric processing of another one. ⋯ However, most of the evidence appears to align with the statistical pattern of complementarity. Converging lines of evidence suggest that there are multiple independent biases that play a role in how these functional cerebral asymmetries are organized in the human brain. Some of the functional and evolutionary implications of the existence of complementarity of hemispheric specializations are also briefly discussed.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Anodal tDCS targeting the left temporo-parietal junction disrupts verbal reality-monitoring.
Using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) we aimed to investigate the causal role of the left temporo-parietal and prefrontal regions in source-monitoring. Forty-two healthy participants received tDCS while performing a verbal reality-monitoring task (requiring discrimination between imagined and heard words) and a verbal internal source-monitoring task (requiring discrimination between imagined and said words). In 2 randomized crossover studies, 21 participants received active and sham anodal tDCS applied over the left temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) and 21 participants received active and sham cathodal tDCS applied over the left prefrontal cortex (PFC). ⋯ In summary, anodal tDCS applied over the left TPJ, assumed to enhance cortical excitability, can alter reality-monitoring processes in healthy subjects. Such abnormal reality-monitoring performances have been reported in hallucinating patients with schizophrenia known to display hyperactivity of the left TPJ. Our results highlighted the role of the left TPJ in self/other recognition.
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Whereas numerous studies have investigated hypnotic analgesia, few have investigated hypnotic anaesthesia. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG) we investigated and localized brain responses (event-related fields and oscillatory activity) during sensory processing under hypnotic anaesthesia. Nineteen right handed neurotypical individuals with moderate-to-high hypnotizability received 100 vibrotactile stimuli to right and left index fingers in a random sequence. ⋯ In a second experiment, attention modulation per se was ruled out as the underlying cause of the effects found. These findings may suggest that the brain mechanism underlying hypnotic anaesthesia involves top-down somatosensory inhibition and, therefore, a reduction of somatosensory awareness. The result of this mechanism is a mental state in which individuals lose bodily sensation.
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Recent neuropsychological evidence suggests that acquired brain lesions can, in some instances, abolish the ability to integrate inputs from different sensory modalities, disrupting multisensory perception. We explored the ability to perceive multisensory events, in particular the integrity of audio-visual processing in the temporal domain, in brain-damaged patients with visual field defects (VFD), or with unilateral spatial neglect (USN), by assessing their sensitivity to the 'Sound-Induced Flash Illusion' (SIFI). The study yielded two key findings. ⋯ VFD) and spatial attention (i.e. USN). The occipital cortex represents a key cortical site for binding auditory and visual stimuli in the SIFI, while damage to right-hemisphere areas mediating spatial attention and awareness does not prevent the integration of audio-visual inputs in the temporal domain.