Titone, S. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2022

Connectivity in Large-Scale Resting State Brain Networks is Related to Motor Learning: a High-Density EEG Study

Previous research has shown that resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) between different brain regions (seeds) is related to motor learning and motor memory consolidation. Using high-density electroencephalography (hdEEG) we addressed this question from a brain network perspective. Specifically, we examined frequency-dependent functional connectivity in resting-state networks from twenty-nine young healthy participants before and after they were trained on a motor sequence learning task. Consolidation was assessed with an overnight retest on the motor task. We showed training-related decreases in gamma band connectivity within the motor network, and between the motor and functionally distinct resting-state networks including the attentional network. Brain-behavior correlation analyses revealed that baseline beta, delta and theta rsFC was related to subsequent motor learning and memory consolidation such that lower connectivity within the motor network and between the motor and several distinct resting-state networks was correlated with better learning and overnight consolidation. Last, training-related increases in beta-band connectivity between the motor and the visual networks were related to greater consolidation. Altogether our results indicate that connectivity in large-scale resting-state brain networks is related to - and modulated by - motor learning and memory consolidation processes. These finding corroborate previous seed-based connectivity research and provide evidence that frequency-dependent functional connectivity in resting state networks is critically linked to motor learning and memory consolidation.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2018

A neurocognitive investigation of the impact of socialising with a robot on empathy for pain

To what extent can humans form social relationships with robots? In the present study, we combined functional neuroimaging with a robot socialising intervention to probe the flexibility of empathy, a core component of social relationships, toward robots. Twenty-six individuals underwent identical fMRI sessions before and after being issued a social robot to take home and interact with over the course of a week. While undergoing fMRI, participants observed videos of a human actor or a robot experiencing pain or pleasure in response to electrical stimulation. Repetition suppression of activity in the pain network, a collection of brain regions associated with empathy and emotional responding, was measured to test whether socialising with a social robot leads to greater overlap in neural mechanisms when observing human and robotic agents experiencing pain or pleasure. In contrast to our hypothesis, functional region-of-interest analyses revealed no change in neural overlap for agents after the socialising intervention. Similarly, no increase in activation when observing a robot experiencing pain emerged post-socialising. Whole-brain analysis showed that, before the socialising intervention, superior parietal and early visual regions are sensitive to novel agents, while after socialising, medial temporal regions show agent sensitivity. A region of the inferior parietal lobule was sensitive to novel emotions, but only during the pre-socialising scan session. Together, these findings suggest that a short socialisation intervention with a social robot does not lead to discernible differences in empathy toward the robot, as measured by behavioural or brain responses. We discuss the extent to which longer term socialisation with robots might shape social cognitive processes and ultimately our relationships with these machines.

neuroscience↗