2013 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
Neural Correlates of Interoceptive Attention/Awareness
| Project/Area Number |
25880004
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
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| Research Institution | Tohoku University |
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Principal Investigator |
カシュクリネジャド ケイヴァン 東北大学, 加齢医学研究所, 教育研究支援者 (00711954)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2013-08-30 – 2015-03-31
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| Keywords | Interoception / fmri / spinal cord / brain / attention / awareness |
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| Research Abstract |
I basically continued my research on the neural correlates of interoceptive attention in both spinal cord and brain: In this project we acquired data from both novices and expert subjects while they performed interoceptive attention/awareness tasks.
The results on the spinal activation showed significantly different activation between novices and the expert group in the expected region of interest. Part of results were submitted to the Heat and Brain 2014 conference, and also the main results were summarized and submitted as one journal paper.
Also, as proposed in my previous report, I performed a multivariate pattern analyses on the brain activation patterns to decode the expertise in interoceptive tasks. The results were very promising and the decoding works with an accuracy significantly higher than chance. Part of these results were submitted as a poster presentation to OHBM 2014 conference, and main results were summarized and submitted as a journal paper.
I am currently writing another paper using univariate analysis on the brain data to test the hypotheses that interoceptive attention and awareness can be independant of awareness and attention towards peripersonal space. The results seem to support our hypotheses and we plan to submit a paper based on them to the special issue of journal of Neuropsychologia on “Sensorimotor and social aspects of peripersonal space”. This paper will be ready soon to be submitted before the deadline on 1st of May.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
I think it was acceptable considering the two accepted poster presentations in coferences of Heart and Brain 2014 (Paris) and OHBM 2014(Hamburg) and two new submitted journal papers completed in this time. In total, I have executed my goals which I proposed in my previous reports including the multivariate pattern analyses on brain activity patterns for interoception attention/awareness tasks.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
The main scope of my experiments from now will be focused on the relationship between breathing patterns and the brain, and this line of research will itself includes two projects:
1. The relationship between breathing pattern and the brain structure: We will measure subjects’ breathing pattern and also other biomarkers such as skin conductance and heart rate under different levels of cognitive. We will also acquire structural brain images of the subjects. Based on these data, we will investigate the relation between the breathing pattern and the brain structure. Here we might also have an intervention inducing certain breathing patterns and compare results after intervention. I have written the proposal and will be soon translated to be proposed to the ethical committee.
2. The other idea is investigate the effect of breathing pattern on different aspects of perception: Here, we are mainly interested on the effect on time perception, an important and perpetual component of our daily perceptions. We will instruct subjects to perform different breathing patterns (deep or shallow, rhythmical or non-rhythmical) and ask them to judge the length of time for different stimuli outside and while their brains is being scanned by MRI or EEG/MEG (In addition to ANS activity measurements). The effect of time perception on their perceived time will be investigated and the brain activities related to time perception will be investigated and compared for different breathing patterns.
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