Biology subjects

Urgesi, C.

Publications and source records attributed to Urgesi, C..

6 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

A network for self-transcendence derived from patients with brain lesions

Self-transcendence, the reorientation of experience away from the self toward others, nature, or broader meaning, is a fundamental dimension of human psychology, yet its causal neural architecture remains poorly understood. Here we applied lesion network mapping to 88 neurosurgical patients with pre- and post-operative assessments of trait self-transcendence to identify the distributed brain network whose disruption alters this capacity. The resulting network showed significant spatial correspondence with the default mode network and, at a finer parcellation level, with frontoparietal control subnetworks. Leave-one-out analyses identified posterior midline regions as the most stable correlates of increased self-transcendence following brain lesions. Independent validation against fMRI meta-analyses of self-referential processing, compassion, and ketamine administration, alongside a neuromodulation target previously shown to modulate the sense of self, converged on a consistent model. These findings provide causal evidence for a network architecture in which posterior midline hubs constrain, and brainstem and anterior midline regions facilitate, self-transcendent experience.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Boosting forward connectivity between primary visual and body selective cortex reduces interference of task irrelevant dimensions on body judgements

We effortlessly categorise other people along socially relevant categories such as sex, age, and emotion. A core question in social vision relates to whether we perceive these categories independently or in relation to each other. Here, we investigated categorisation of sex and emotion from the body, finding that participants generally fail to fully ignore task-irrelevant variations of sex while judging body emotional expressions. In contrast, sex categorisation was unaffected by variations in emotional expression. This asymmetric interaction between sex and emotion may arise because of bottom-up visual processing, due to partially shared visual features used for both judgments, or because of top-down, categorical associations between sex and emotion categories. To disentangle these possibilities, we used cortico-cortical paired associative stimulation (ccPAS) to modulate the connectivity between primary visual cortex and the extrastriate body area. We posited that boosting forward connectivity between these regions would increase efficiency of feature-based processing, while boosting feedback connectivity would enhance the separability of semantic categories related to sex and emotion. We found that boosting forward connectivity eliminated the interference of sex on emotion judgments, while that interference remained unaffected with modulation of feedback connectivity. These findings suggest that interactions between sex and emotion in body perception emerge during the perceptual analysis of the stimuli, and add to our understanding of person perception and social categorization.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Investigating the effects of transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation on motor cortex excitability and inhibition through paired-pulse Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve stimulation (tVNS) has been proposed as a prospective treatment for clinical conditions with altered GABAergic transmission. While possible effects of tVNS on behavioral performance in inhibitory control tasks have been previously reported, neurophysiological evidence showing its effects on GABA-mediated inhibition in the motor cortex is limited. Concurrently, the possible influence of participants gender and state conditions remains unexplored. Here, we applied, single- and paired-pulse TMS to the right or the left primary motor in two different groups of participants. We measured corticospinal excitability (CSE), short and long intracortical inhibition (SICI and LICI), cortical silent period (cSP) and intracortical facilitation (ICF) indexes. The measures were taken, in separated sessions of a within-subject design, at baseline prior to tVNS and after delivering active and sham tVNS in the Cymba conchae of the left ear. To exploit state dependent effects and assess the role of tVNS in motor learning, tVNS was applied, during the execution of a computerized visuomotor task. In the left TMS group, we observed better visuomotor performance during active than sham tVNS, regardless of participants gender. Interestingly, in both groups, we found a specific increase of SICI, which is mediated by GABAa activity, after active compared to sham-tVNS and baseline evaluations, which was specifically limited to female participants. No effects on CSE, ICF or GABAb-mediated intracortical inhibition indexes were observed. The results show specific effects of tVNS on motor learning and GABAa-mediated motor inhibition, providing supportive evidence for the application of tVNS as an alternative and coadjuvant treatment for disorders featured by altered inhibition mechanisms.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2023

To touch or to be touched? Comparing pleasantness of vicarious execution and reception of interpersonal touch

Unmyelinated C-Tactile (CT) fibres are activated by caress-like touch, eliciting a pleasant feeling that decreases for static and faster stroking. Previous studies documented this effect also for vicarious touch, hypothesising mirror-neurons mechanisms driving the perception and appreciation of observed interpersonal touch. Notably, less is known about appreciation of vicarious execution of touch, that is as referred to the one giving gentle touch. To address this issue, 53 healthy participants were asked to view and rate a series of videoclips displaying an individual being touched by another on hairy (i.e., hand dorsum) or glabrous (i.e., palm) skin sites, with touch being delivered at CT-optimal (5 cm/s) or non-CT optimal velocities (0 cm/s or 30 cm/s). Following the observation of each clip, participants were asked to complete self- and other-directed ratings of the pleasantness of touch for both executer (toucher-referred) and receiver (touchee-referred). Consistent with the CT fibres properties, for both self- and other-directed judgements of touch execution and reception, participants provided higher ratings for touch delivered at CT-optimal than other velocities, and when CT-optimal touch was delivered to the hand-dorsum compared to the palm. However, higher ratings were attributed to reception compared to execution of CT-optimal touch. Notably, individual differences in interoceptive trusting and attitude to interpersonal touch were positively correlated with, respectively, toucher- and touchee-related overall pleasantness of touch. These findings suggest that the appreciation of both toucher- and touchee-referred vicarious touch is specifically attuned to CT-optimal touch, even though they might rely on different neurocognitive mechanisms to understand affective information conveyed by interpersonal tactile interactions.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2023

Lesion Network Localization of a Stable Personality Trait

ObjectiveTo identify a convergent neuroanatomical substrate for novelty seeking (NS), a stable personality trait, which could serve as a therapeutic target for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). MethodsWe analyzed two independent datasets (total n=136) in which the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) was used to document alterations across 7 stable personality traits before and after brain lesions surgically induced by glioma resection. Using lesion network mapping, we examined whether alterations in NS were causally associated with lesions to specific brain networks. We assessed for strength of replication across datasets and specificity against other personality traits. ResultsLesion locations that are linked to NS map to a common brain with its largest cluster in the dorsal cingulate. This map was specific to NS relative to other personality traits and overlapped with prior published neuroimaging findings related to the term "novelty". Utilizing a pre-computed connectome, we also derived a map highlighting potential targets for non-invasive brain stimulation that may alter this stable personality trait. ConclusionsWe derived and cross-validated a brain network that is functionally connected to lesions that are causally responsible for the stable personality trait "novelty seeking". Lesions to this network were associated with changes in NS. This includes a superficial node within the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex that may serve as a promising TMS target to modulate or protect against abnormal NS.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2021

Neuropsychological assessment and virtual reality training of social prediction in patients with cerebellar malformation

It has been proposed that impairments of the predictive function exerted by the cerebellum may account for social cognition deficits. Here, we integrated cerebellar functions in a predictive coding framework to elucidate how cerebellar alterations could affect the predictive processing of others behavior. Experiment 1 demonstrated that cerebellar patients were impaired in relying on contextual information during action prediction, and this impairment was significantly associated with social cognition abilities. Experiment 2 indicated that patients with cerebellar malformation showed a domain-general deficit in using contextual information to predict both social and physical events. Experiment 3 provided first evidence that a social-prediction training in virtual reality could boost the ability to use context-based predictions to understand others intentions. These findings shed new light on the predictive role of the cerebellum and its contribution to social cognition, paving the way for new approaches to the rehabilitation of the Cerebellar Cognitive Affective Syndrome.

neuroscience↗