Biology subjects

Chupina, I.

Publications and source records attributed to Chupina, I..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Microstructure of white matter association tracts in the temporal lobe predicts the timing of electrophysiological activity and behaviour in picture naming

White matter (WM) microstructure has been mainly associated with accuracy of picture naming. However, little is known about how WM properties relate to the timing of picture naming and its underlying electrophysiological activity. Here, we linked diffusion-weighted, electrophysiological, and behavioural data, using time-based measures to conceptually connect WM deterioration to alterations in conduction speed and precision. Our sample included individuals of varying age, with or without stroke. We correlated fractional anisotropy (FA) of bilateral WM tracts traversing the temporal lobe with mean response times (RTs) and response time variability (coefficient of variation, CV) in picture naming, and with the onset latency of neuronal activity, represented by the electrophysiological P2 component time-locked to picture onset. We selected tracts showing associations with P2 latency and naming performance separately, on which we conducted path analyses examining the relationship between structure, neuronal activity and behaviour. Depending on the tract, higher FA was associated with faster and/or more consistent naming, suggesting that ventral tracts differentially contribute to naming speed and consistency. Importantly, path modelling for the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF) revealed that FA predicted P2 latency, which in turn predicted RTs, possibly reflecting a structure-activity-behaviour relationship in lexical-semantic processing. P2 source reconstruction demonstrated anatomical proximity to posterior segments of the right IFOF, supporting these findings. Overall, this study provides a proof of concept for modelling structure-activity-behaviour relationships in language research, while highlighting the need for elaboration of such relations at a more mechanistic level.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Posterior language areas share electrophysiological signatures of word retrieval in context-driven object and action naming

Claims about shared neural processing between object and action words have mainly been based on spatial overlap. Spatial overlap alone, however, provides an incomplete understanding of neural (dis)similarity. Here, we compared object and action word retrieval within participants utilising temporal, spectral, and spatial information in the electroencephalogram (EEG) recorded during context-driven object and action picture naming. Constrained sentence contexts elicited pre-picture lexical-semantic word planning for object and action words, indexed by power decreases in the alpha-beta frequency range (8 - 30 Hz). Using a novel approach based on mutual information and source-reconstructed EEG signal, we computed joint temporo-spectro-spatial (dis)similarity indices across object and action naming in the constrained condition where information retrieval occurred. Spatially, dissimilarities were found in bilateral frontal, anterior superior temporal, and right anterior-to-middle temporal areas. Similarity, by contrast, was linked to the precunei and right temporo-parietal areas, regions associated with lexical-semantic processing and word retrieval. Crucially, similarity in the precunei compared to the temporo-parietal regions was characterised by differential patterns of the alpha-beta activity, implying processing and, potentially, functional differences between the areas. This finding highlights how conclusions about shared neural processes depend on the degree of abstraction (e.g., spatial, spatial-spectral) chosen to define the compared neural mechanisms. We tentatively interpret the contribution of the right hemisphere and left frontal areas to (dis)similarity as coarser, less fine-grained lexical-semantic computations.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2023

Cognitive reserve counteracts typical neural activity changes related to ageing

Studies have shown that older adults with high Cognitive Reserve (HCR) exhibit better executive functioning than their low CR (LCR) counterparts. However, the neural processes linked to those differences are unclear. This study investigates (1) the neural processes underlying enhanced executive functions in older adults with HCR and (2) how executive control differences are modulated by task difficulty. We recruited 74 participants, who performed two executive control tasks with different difficulty levels while recording the electroencephalogram. The accuracy on both tasks requiring inhibition of irrelevant information was better in the HCR than the LCR group. Also, in the more demanding task, event-related potentials (ERP) latencies related to inhibition and working memory update were faster in HCR than LCR. Moreover, the HCR, but not the LCR, showed larger P300 amplitude in parietal than frontal regions and in the left than right hemisphere, suggesting a posterior to anterior shift of activity and loss of inter-hemispheric asymmetries in LCR participants. These results suggest that high CR counteracts neural activity changes related to ageing. Thus, high levels of CR can be related to maintenance of neural activity patterns typically observed in young adults rather than to deployment of neural compensatory mechanisms.

neuroscience↗