Society for Neuroscience 2017 annual meeting

2017年11月11日(土)～15日(水)にかけてWashingtonD.C.にて開催されましたSociety for Neuroscience 2017 annual meetingに参加いたしました．この学会は，神経系や脳についての研究を行っている研究者たちの交流や，神経科学に関する学術的発展に寄与することを目的に開催されています．80以上の国から3万人ほど参加する規模の大きい学会でした．本研究室からは日和先生，藤原（M1），中村（清）（M1），西澤（M1），山本（B4）の5名が参加しました．発表形式はポスター発表でした．発表題目は以下の通りです．

“Detecting meditative states through meta-state matching with time-varying functional connectivity matrices”
S.HIWA; T.HIROYASU.

“Mindful driving:Brain functional state of mind wandering in driving and PVT task”
Y.FUJIWARA; S.HIWA; T.HIROYASU.

“Discussions of brain activity and eye movement during driving”
S.NAKAMURA; S.HIWA; T.HIROYASU.

“Brain activity and functional connectivity in attention and careless states by fNIRS”
M.NISHIZAWA; S.HIWA; T.HIROYASU.

“Network analysis of brain activity during breath-counting meditation by fNIRS”
S.YAMAMOTO; S.HIWA; T.HIROYASU.

私にとって初めての国際学会で，英語での発表ということもあり不安だったのですが，多くの方が興味を持ってポスターを見に来てくださいました．研究室の人以外に英語で説明をし，様々な質問やアドバイスをしていいただいたことは今後の研究にとって非常に参考になると思います．しかし，自分の研究の理解が不十分であることや英語での説明の難しさを感じました．また，自分の同じような研究分野についての発表もあり，世界ではどのような研究が行われているのかを知ることのできた良い機会となりました．しかし，他の人の発表を理解するためには英語力が必要であることを痛感しました．今回の学会では，英語力が乏しいことにより自分が発表する時の説明や他の人の説明を理解できなかった場面が多くありました．そこで来年の国際学会に向けて，今回得られた知識や経験を活かし研究を深めていくことに加え，英語力の向上に努めていきたいと思います．

【文責：M1 藤原】

学会参加報告書

報告者氏名	西澤美結
発表論文タイトル	fNIRSを用いた注意状態と不注意状態における脳活動と機能的結合
発表論文英タイトル	Brain activity and functional connectivity in attention and careless states by fNIRS
著者	西澤美結, 日和悟, 廣安知之
主催	SOCIETY for NEUROSCIENCE
講演会名	NEUROSCIENCE2017
会場	Washington Convention Center
開催日程	2017/11/10-2017/11/15

講演会の詳細

2017/11/10から2017/11/15にかけて，Washington Convention Centerにて開催されましたNEUROSCIENCE2017(https://www.sfn.org/annual-meeting/neuroscience-2017)に参加いたしました．この学会は，30,300人以上，80か国以上の神経工学に関わる先生方や学生が参加し，各々の研究内容に関する情報を共有できる場です．
私は全日参加いたしました．本研究室からは他に日和先生，藤原，中村，山本が参加しました．

研究発表
- 発表概要

私は15日の13時-17時のポスターセッション「Attention Circuits」に参加いたしました．発表形式はポスター発表で4時間自由に参加者の方と議論を行いました．
今回の発表は「Brain activity and functional connectivity in attention and careless states by fNIRS」という題目で，発表を行いました．以下に抄録を記載致します．

【Introduction】
When sustained attention is lost, humans become distracted and an accident may occur. An accident caused by carelessness is prevented when the status of attentive and carelessness is defined. The goal is to define two states based on brain activity. Research to examine the attentive state from the brain function information has been conducted so far, and most of them used fMRI, in this paper, we attempt to investigate brain activation and functional network of two states using functional Infrared Spectroscopy(fNIRS).
【Method】
Brain blood flow change during the task of Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) was measured. Two types of stimulation were used auditory and visual. Attentive state was defined using Reaction Time (RT) which is the time from stimulus presentation to reaction．The brain activation was examined in the following way. Hemodynamic function (HRF) and boxcar function are convolved, and a model was constructed. By GLM operation, the stimulation vector was optimized to reduced the differences between the observed time series data and convolved model. The integral value of the obtained model was derived, and the top 10 brain regions with high integral values were defined as active regions. Also, the functional network is described as follows. A correlation coefficient matrix which shows the coupling among each region the attentive state and the inattentive state was calculated. The degree which is the total number of links in each region was calculated．
【Result＆Discussion】
Among the active regions in auditory stimulation task, the degree of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) was lower of attentive states then inattentive states．The left DLPFC was highly coupled with the left and right frontal pole. It is reported that the left DLPFC is suppressed at the dorsolateral side and frontal pole works for the future prediction． Thus, the results suggest that brain predicted against stimulation and suppressed unintended touch at the time of attention. Among the active regions in visual stimulus, the degree of the left secondary visual cortex(V2) was lower of attentive states then inattentive states．At the same time, the left V2 had a high binding with the left DLPFC. It is reported that the left V2 detects subjective contours, and the left DLPFC has suppression function. At the time of attention, results illustrate that subjects observed carefully and suppressed stimulation which is occurred by the unintended touch.
【Conclusion】
This paper mentioned that the left V2 is essential for auditory stimulation and the left DLPFC is necessary for visual stimulation due to the difference in the state.

質疑応答

今回の講演発表では，以下のような質疑を受けました．

・質問内容1
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．状態の時系列変化の図を見て質問してくださいました．状態変化の激しい，一定の被験者についての考察はないのかという質問を受けました．これに対して状態変化の激しい被験者は状態が一定になっていないことから不注意，一定の被験者は注意と考察することも可能であると答えました．また，この回答に対して，周波数解析を行ってもいいかもしれないとアドバイスをいただきました．

・質問内容2
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．なぜ窓幅は10秒であるのかという質問を受けました．この質問に対する私の回答は，時間変化を検出するためにはより細かい幅で検討する必要があると回答しました．そのため今回の解析では，先行研究で使用されている最も短い窓幅である10秒を採用し検討を行ったと答えました．また，質問をしてくださった方はマウスを使って同じような解析を行っており，その際に窓幅をいくつにするのか迷っているとおっしゃっていました．

・質問内容3
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．NIRSではどれくらいの脳部位がレジストレーションされるのかという質問を受けました．この質問に対する私の回答は，被験者の6割以上が共通してレジストレーションされた部位は48領域であると回答しました．

・質問内容4
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．DMNにはどの領域が含まれているのかという質問を受けました．今回定義した脳部位は中心後回，緑上回，角回，楔前部であると回答しました．DMNに限らずネットワークについてはきちんと調査するべきだと感じました．

・質問内容5
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．PVTとは何をしている課題なのかという質問を受けました．この質問に対する私の回答は，持続的注意を計測する課題だと答えました．しかし，この回答にピンときていなさそうだったので，具体的にはランダムな刺激に対して素早く反応する課題であると答えました．

・質問内容6
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．こういった脳機能研究はfMRIを使用した研究が多いのかという質問を受けました．この質問に対する私の回答は，この解析を始め，PVT研究においてもfMRIを使用した研究が多いと回答しました．この回答に対して，何故fNIRSを使用するのか?という質問を受けました．この質問に対して，fNIRSは他の脳機能イメージング装置と比較して時間分解能が高い長所をもつ．私の研究では時間変化する脳状態を検討する必要があるためより高い時間分解能を持つfNIRSを使用したと回答しました．

・質問内容7
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．計測CHはいくつかという質問を受けました．この質問に対する私の回答は，116CHですと回答しました．

・質問内容8
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．Degreeとは何かという質問を受けました．この質問に対する私の回答は，他領域と結合している本数であると回答しました．

・質問内容9
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．状態の時系列変化が全員分ないのは何故かという質問を受けました．この質問に対する私の回答は今回の発表では代表で4人分掲載しましたと回答しました．ポスターに載せてはいないが全員が2つの状態が繰り返しあらわれていると回答しました．

感想

私は今回初めての国際学会でしたが落ち着いて発表することが出来たと思います．英語でのやり取りには少し緊張しましたが，色んな質問を受け，解析をする上で再検討しなければならないことはたくさんあると感じました．
解析についてもう一度説明してほしいと言われることが多く，発表の際のわかりやすさも考えなければいけないと感じました．

聴講

今回の講演会では，下記の5件の発表を聴講しました．

発表タイトル       ：　Dorsal attention network activation and diminished attention in cerebral visual impairment
著者                  ：C.M.BAUER, E>S>BAILIN,P.J.BEX,L.B.MERABET
セッション名       ： Attention Networks
Abstruct            ： Visual attention is a complex process, encompassing projections between the thalamus and frontal, parietal, and occipital cortices. Damage to any of the specific brain regions or to the white matter connections between them can cause functional deficits in visual attention. The dorsal attention network (DAN) is responsible for the top-down conscious control of attention and may be particularly affected in children with cortical/cerebral visual impairment (CVI), who demonstrate grey and white matter damage throughout occipital, parietal, and subcortical regions. Visual attention is often limited in children with CVI, but it is not known whether these deficits are due to structural or functional abnormalities within the DAN. To this end, the current study examined functional connectivity of the DAN using resting state functional MRI (rsfMRI) in a cohort of individuals with CVI compared to controls. Resting state fMRI was run on a cohort of 7 individuals with CVI (Ages 14-24, mean 18.4 years) and normally sighted and developed controls (Ages 15-24, mean 19.75 years). A structural T1W and field map were also acquired on a 3T Philips Achieva System. To correct for motion, ICA-AROMA was performed on each subject’s rsfMRI data, which were then processed in FreeSurfer. A 6mm diameter spherical seed was placed in the frontal eye fields (MNI 26, -6, 48). The average time course between the seed and the rest of the cortex was calculated for each subject and a GLM was run to compare between CVI and control groups. Visual attention was assessed using computer-based psychometric tests of functional vision, namely a conjunction search and go-no-go sustained attention paradigm. Compared to controls, individuals with CVI demonstrated significant increases in functional activation between the frontal eye fields, superior frontal, caudal middle frontal, par orbitalis, inferior parietal, and pericalcarine regions (p < 0.05). Clusters of significant decreases in activation were observed between the frontal eye fields and the precuneus/rostral anterior cingulate and inferior parietal areas (p < 0.05). The CVI group also demonstrated poor performance on both psychophysical tests of visual attention, as indexed by increased error rates and reaction times (p < 0.05). Our results indicate that functional correlations between the frontal eye fields and portions of the dorsal and ventral attention networks are increased in individuals with CVI compared to controls. These functional changes likely relate to the visual attention difficulties observed in CVI, whereby individuals with poorer performance must recruit more cortical resources in order to complete the task.

この発表は，注意ネットワークの活性化と視覚障害の注意力の低下についての発表でした．この研究では，パフォーマンスと機能的結合といった部分で私の研究と似たようなものを感じました．こういった研究が視覚障害といったような障害がない被験者でも対応して解析可能だともっとおもしろくなるのだろうと感じました．

発表タイトル     ：Low trait mind wandering is associated with optimized intrinsic functional connectivity
著者                  ： J. Z. LIM, S. A. A. MASSAR, J. TENG, Z. HASSIRIM, K. WONG, C. WANG, M. W. CHEE
セッション名       ： Attention Networks
Abstruct            ： Abstract: Objective Mind wandering and low meta-awareness are associated with poor cognitive performance and unhappiness in daily life. Furthermore, the tendency to mind wander is trait-like, yet amenable to change through training. Here, we conducted a resting-state fMRI to investigate the individual differences in functional connectivity associated with trait-mind wandering, We hypothesized that lower levels of mind wandering would be associated with greater optimization of the intrinsic functional connectome (i.e. connectivity patterns with higher similarity to that seen during task engagement). Methods 100 healthy young participants were recruited to perform a breath-counting task, a covert measure of meta-awareness and mind wandering. Participants kept track of their breath over an 18-minute period by pressing a button with every 1st to 8th breath, and a separate button for every 9th breath. From this sample, good (accuracy > 81%; N=15) and poor (accuracy < 63%; N=11) performers were invited for an imaging session, which consisted of a second run of the breath-counting task (behavioral), and an ~8 minute resting state (rs)fMRI scan. Whole-brain data were segmented based on the Yeo parcellation, and connectivity was computed using the multiplication of temporal derivatives (MTD) method. Static connectivity maps were calculated as a time-series average, and dynamic functional connectivity analysis was performed using k-means clustering after averaging within a 7-TR sliding window across the MTD time series. Connectivity was compared between the good and poor groups. Results Inter-session reliability of breath counting accuracy was high (ICC = .57; p < .001), and good and poor performers continued to differ significantly in their second test (p = .01). Static rsfMRI connectivity maps showed greater anti-correlation between the dorsal attention network and the default mode network, and greater connectivity strength within the salience network in good performers. Dynamic functional connectivity analysis revealed two reproducible patterns of connectivity, corresponding to optimized (high arousal) and non-optimized (low arousal) brain states. Good performers had significantly more dwell time in the optimized state compared to poor performers. Conclusions Our data demonstrate that breath-counting accuracy is trait-like and reproducible, and indicate that intrinsic functional connectivity is more optimized in individuals with low trait mind wandering. Shifts towards this pattern of optimization may represent a useful biomarker of the gains from training meta-awareness, such as those obtained from mindfulness-based interventions.

この発表は瞑想研究で動的機能接続分析を用いた発表でした．PVTについても計測をしており，自分の研究にちかいものを感じました．Stateの出現率とFFMQの間に相関がみられたという，脳状態と質問紙間の相関でも結果を出しており，驚きました．窓幅の最適化やk数の決定などどうしているのか気になりました．

発表タイトル     ：Real-time neurofeedback of functional connectivity in large-scale brain networks that predict attention
著者                  ： M. D. ROSENBERG, D. SCHEINOST, W.-T. HSU, R. T. CONSTABLE, M. M. CHUN
セッション名       ： Attention Networks
Abstruct            ： Abstract: Recent work has demonstrated that real-time neurofeedback based on patterns of fMRI activity may be used to train attention (deBettencourt et al., 2015; Zilverstand et al., 2017). Given evidence that attention relies on coordinated activity across the brain, we explored the feasibility of using connectome-based feedback to train focus. Specifically, we used fMRI neurofeedback to modulate functional connectivity in two networks — a “high-attention” network with 757 connections and a “low-attention” network with 630 connections — that predict individuals’ attentional abilities across several independent datasets (Rosenberg et al., 2016a, 2016b). To this end, 10 participants performed the gradual-onset continuous performance task (Esterman et al., 2013) during 3 fMRI runs. Each run included four 3-min task blocks each followed by a 30-s block of feedback, visualized as a gas gauge. Participants were told that a “full” gauge indicated optimal attention whereas an “empty” gauge indicated suboptimal focus, and were instructed to keep the gauge as close to full as possible. For neurofeedback participants (n = 6), the position of the gauge reflected high-attention relative to low-attention network strength during the preceding task block. Stronger high-attention and weaker low-attention networks resulted in better feedback. Sham feedback participants (n = 4) saw a yoked participant’s feedback. During neurofeedback sessions, a 268-node brain atlas (Shen et al., 2013) was warped into subject space. Motion correction and nuisance variable regression were performed during data collection (Scheinost et al., 2013). After each task block, timecourses in each pair of nodes were correlated to generate a 268 × 268 connectivity matrix. High- and low-attention network strength values were calculated as the dot product of the connectivity matrix and the attention network masks defined previously. Demonstrating the feasibility of connectome-based feedback, network strength values calculated in real-time and after data collection using published methods were significantly correlated (mean within-subject r-value = .80; range = .58–.94; p < .05 in all participants). As expected, the relationship between feedback and network strength calculated off-line was lower in the sham feedback group (mean within-subject r-value = .44; p < .05 in one participant). Furthermore, mean feedback was more positively correlated with mean task performance (d’) in the neurofeedback than the sham feedback group (r = .48 vs. r = –.61). Thus, these results provide preliminary evidence that whole-brain connectivity-based neurofeedback is feasible and may be useful for attention training.

この発表は注意力の予測に関する発表でした．高注意ネットワークと低注意の2つにわけでそれから予測モデルを作成していました．行動予測という部分で私の研究にあてはまるものがあり大変興味深かったです．今後参考にしていきたいと思いました．

発表タイトル     ：Visual-verbal working memory training versus visual search training have overlapping and distinct transfer effects on tasks of spatial working memory and cognitive control: An event-related potential study
著者                  ： T. J. COVEY, J. L. SHUCARD, X. WANG, K. SHERWOOD, J. NAKUCI, L. GOH, D. W. SHUCARD
セッション名       ： Attention Networks
Abstruct            ： Abstract: Cognitive training may improve aspects of cognitive performance. However, the findings in this literature have been mixed, and the unique impact of different forms of training on distinct cognitive abilities is still not fully understood. We examined the effects of two different forms of cognitive training on brain function and performance. Young adult participants were randomly assigned to one of two different training groups. Both groups underwent 20sessions of adaptive cognitive training (30 minutes per session) over the course of approximately four weeks. One group trained on an n-back task of working memory (WM) with visual letter stimuli (n = 20); the other group trained on a visual search task of selective attention/perceptual discrimination, also with letter stimuli (n = 20). The two tasks were well-matched in terms of difficulty and participant engagement. Participants were administered a battery of tests before and after training (pre- and posttest), which included a Spatial 3-back task and a Go/Nogo Flanker task. The Spatial 3-back task measured transfer of training gains to spatial WM (note, a different domain than the visual-verbal n-back training task); the Go/Nogo Flanker task measured transfer of training gains to cognitive control processes such as response inhibition. Electroencephalographic (EEG) data were obtained during these tasks at pre- and posttest, and event-related potentials (ERPs) were derived for each task. The results indicated that both groups improved on their respective training tasks at a similar rate over the course of training. Only the n-back training group showed improved accuracy (and a greater decrease in RT than the visual search group) from pretest to posttest on the Spatial 3-back task. The n-back training group also exhibited enhancement of the N1 ERP component (within 150 msec after stimulus onset) and reduced latency of the N2 component at posttest on the spatial 3-back task, effects that were not observed for the visual search training group. For the Go/Nogo Flanker task, there was a significant reduction in RT at post- compared to pretest, regardless of group. ERP findings for this task indicated some overlap in training-related changes between the two groups. For example, both groups had reduced P3 latency for trials of the task that required response inhibition. The findings provide evidence that (1) training on a verbal-visual n-back WM task resulted in changes in brain function and cognitive gains on a spatial WM task, and (2) training on tasks that target aspects of attention, regardless of whether they explicitly engage WM, may result in performance gains and changes in brain function on tasks of cognitive control.

この発表は2つの異なる形態の認知訓練が脳の機能および能力に及ぼす影響に関する発表でした．具体的にはGo/NoGo課題とnback課題が使用されており，その前後のパフォーマンス変化に関する研究でした．類似した論文を胃炎読んだことがあり，こうした2課題間の解析とパフォーマンスの関係性は，私の研究でも使用しようと思っているので大変参考になりました．

発表タイトル       ：Neural correlates of an associative memory of elapsed time
著者                  ： V. G. VAN DE VEN, J. LIFANOV, O. IOSIF, S. KOCHS, F. SMULDERS, P. DE WEERD
セッション名       ： Attention Networks
Abstruct            ： Abstract: The extent to which time duration is represented in associate memory remains under-investigated. We designed a time paired associate task (TPAT) in which participants implicitly learnt cue-time-target associations between cue-target pairs and specific cue-target intervals ranging from 500 to 2000 msec (van de Ven et al. 2017). Importantly, participants only judged whether a cue and probe item were part of the same pair, while making no explicit judgment about time. During learning, some cue-target pairs became associated to a short interval while others became associated to a long interval. During subsequent memory testing, cue-target pairs were shown with both the short and long intervals. Participants showed increased accuracy of identifying matching cue-target pairs if the time interval during testing matched the implicitly learnt interval. A control experiment showed that participants had no explicit knowledge about the time associations. In subsequent neuroimaging experiments we investigated the neural correlates of TPAT memory performance. Using ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging (UHF-MRI) study at 7 Tesla we found less hippocampal activity (in left Dentate Gyrus and CA1) when time intervals during test trials did not match the learnt interval, compared to when they did match. Further, in an electroencephalography (EEG) study we found decreased Theta oscillation power (centered at 6 Hz) at occipital/parietal scalp locations for the same comparison of trial types. These findings are in line with the role of hippocampus and Theta oscillations in associate memory (Buzsáki 2006) and suggest that the same mechanisms also play a role in representing time in memory (Ranganath and Hsieh 2016). Mismatch between presented and expected associate memory of time may change hippocampal activity and cortical Theta oscillations, possibly through a common neural source. We suggest that cue-dependent retrieval of time in associate memory could perhaps serve as a mechanism for prospective coding of expected visual spatiotemporal events.References: Buzsáki G. 2006. Rhythms of the brain.

この発表は関連する記憶における時間のキュー依存検索に関する発表でした．時間間隔に関する研究で，私の研究でISIなどに関して考えたことがあったので参考になる研究でした．記憶，学習されていた時間と，出現刺激が合わなかった時に海馬活動が関連しているという発表でした．使用されていたTPATというタスクを今後調べて見ようと思いました．
参考文献

NeuroScience2017, https://www.sfn.org/annual-meeting/neuroscience-2017

学会参加報告書

報告者氏名	藤原侑亮
発表論文タイトル	マインドフルドライビング：運転タスクとPVT時におけるマインドワンダリングの脳機能状態の検討
発表論文英タイトル	Mindful Driving: Brain functional state of mind wandering in driving and PVT task
著者	藤原侑亮, 日和悟，廣安知之
主催	Society of Neuroscience
講演会名	Neuroscience2017（https://www.sfn.org/annual-meeting/neuroscience-2017）
会場	Washington Convention Center Hall A-C
開催日程	2017/11/11-2017/11/15

講演会の詳細

2017/11/11から2017/11/15にかけて，Washington Convention Center Hall A-Cにて開催されましたNeuroscience2017に参加いたしました．このNeuroscience2017は，Society of Neuroscienceによって主催された学会で，脳や神経系の理解に専念する科学者や医師のための世界最大の神経科学に関する学会である．神経系や脳についての研究を行っている研究者たちの交流や，神経科学に関する学術的発展に寄与することを目的に開催されています．
私は11日から15日にかけて参加いたしました．本研究室からは他に日和先生，M1西澤さん，中村清志郎，B4山本さんが参加しました．

研究発表
- 発表概要

私は14日の午後のポスターセッション（13:00~17:00）に参加いたしました．発表の形式はポスター発表で，4時間のポスター発表となっておりました．
今回の発表は，Mindful Driving: Brain functional state of mind wandering in driving and PVT taskという題目で行いました．以下に抄録を記載致します．

抄録中身
本研究の目的は，脳活動を用いた運転時におけるマインドワンダリングの検出である．そこで，本実験ではマインドワンダリング状態に陥らせるためにdual taskを用いた．メインタスクはシミュレータを用いての運転課題，サブタスクは持続的注意を測定する課題であるPVTである．その時の脳活動をfNIRSで計測した．反応時間から注意の対象と区間を定義し，その区間の運転評価指標として用いたステアリングの舵角変化と脳血流データを用いて運転時におけるマインドワンダリング状態の検討を行った．

質疑応答

今回の講演発表では，以下のような質疑を受けました．
・質問内容1
島根大学の川越さんからの質問です．こちらの質問は前頭部のみでワンダリング状態を評価できるのか，他の区間（RT10%区間）でも同じ傾向が見られるのかというものでした．この質問に対する私の回答は，DMNは全脳を用いて評価している研究が多いが，今回は前頭部に加え，車両情報を用いることで評価できるのではないかというものでした．また，他の区間での検討は今回行っていないが今後検討していきたいと回答しました．

・質問内容2
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．こちらの質問はマインドフルドライビングとは何かというものでした．この質問に対して，マインドフルドライビングはマインドフルネスの概念をドライビングに応用する新しい概念であると回答しました．

・質問内容3
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．こちらの質問はDMNにあたるチャンネルでは有意差は見られなかったのかというものでした．この質問に対して，比較した結果有意差は見られなかったが，注意に関する脳部位で有意差が見られたと伝えました．

・質問内容4
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．こちらの質問は，なぜ前頭部しか計測していないのかというものでした．この質問に対して，全脳計測する環境が整っていないことに加え，実験時間が長いことから被験者に負担になる可能性があると回答しました．

・質問内容5
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．こちらの質問は，DMNにあたる脳部位の計測はできているのかというものでした．この質問に対して，計測できている被験者もいるが，過半数は計測できなかったと回答しました．
・質問内容6
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．こちらの質問は，Attention評価になっているのではないかというものでした．この質問に対して，今回有意差の見られた脳部位は注意に関する部位であるが，ワンダリングしている時には注意を向けるべき対象に注意が向けられていないと考えていることからワンダリング状態である可能性も考えられると回答しました．

感想

・今回初めて国際学会に参加して，世界では自分の研究分野でどのようなことが行われているのかについて知れた良い経験となりました．自分の研究にも生かせるような新しい発見もあり，今後の方針が見えたと思いました．また，まだ提唱されていないマインドフルドライビングに興味を持ってもらえたことは，今後の研究のモチベーションにつながると感じています．
また，反省点として，事前準備が不十分であったこと，英語の問題がありました．学会準備が計画通りに進まなかったことで，今回推したかったマインドフルドライビングに関しての見せ方がイマイチだったと感じています．また，結果についても，もっと深める必要があったと感じています．英語に関しては，自分の発表や他の人の発表において，伝える部分，聞く部分両方で支障が出ました．もっと英語に関する準備をしていれば，もっと得るものが多い学会になったのではと思います．今回の反省を生かして，次回の学会に向けて研究を進めていきたいと思います．

聴講

今回の講演会では，下記の5件の発表を聴講しました．

発表タイトル       ：　The relationship between cognitive workload and attentional reserve: An empirical investigation
著者                  ： K. JAQUESS, R. J. GENTILI, L.-C. LO, H. OH, J. ZHANG, J. C. RIETSCHEL, M. W. MILLER, Y. Y. TAN, B. D. HATFIELD
セッション名       ： Nanosymposium, Attention Networks
Abstruct          ： It has long been considered, on the conceptual level, that cognitive workload and attentional reserve have an inverse relationship. However, to our knowledge, this relationship has never been tested empirically. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between cognitive workload and attentional reserve using objective measures derived from the electroencephalogram (EEG). To assess cognitive workload, we utilized spectral power measures of cortical activation (theta, alpha, beta, and the ratio of theta/alpha). To assess attentional reserve, we utilized components of the event-related potential (ERP) from the presentation of unattended “novel” sounds (N1, P2, and P3a amplitudes). The relationship between these two families of measures was assessed using a canonical correlation methodology. Twenty-seven participants undergoing flight training performed a flight simulator task under three levels of difficulty. Results revealed a strong, negative relationship between measures of cognitive workload and attentional reserve (all canonical correlation coefficients > 0.9). This finding provides empirical support for the theoretical and intuitive notion that cognitive workload and attentional reserve are inversely related. While cognitive workload and attentional reserve are broad concepts and may consist of many elements, these results inform further work investigating the more specific aspects of these constructs and their relationships.

この発表は，EEGを用いての認知作業負荷と注意に関しての発表でした．実験タスクに飛行機操縦タスクを行い，脳波の周波数帯別のパワースペクトルを指標として用いていました．また，同時にERPも見ていました．以前EEGを使っていたので，EEGの解析には両方の解析をすることが必要だったと感じました．また，タスクの作業負荷の評価にNASA-TLXを用いていて，そのアンケート結果とEEG解析結果も見ていたので，私の研究でも行う必要があると感じました．

発表タイトル       ：Real-time neurofeedback of functional connectivity in large-scale brain networks that predict attention
著者                  ： M. D. ROSENBERG, D. SCHEINOST, W.-T. HSU, R. T. CONSTABLE, M. M. CHUN
セッション名       ： Nanosymposium, Attention Networks
Abstruct            ： Recent work has demonstrated that real-time neurofeedback based on patterns of fMRI activity may be used to train attention (deBettencourt et al., 2015; Zilverstand et al., 2017). Given evidence that attention relies on coordinated activity across the brain, we explored the feasibility of using connectome-based feedback to train focus. Specifically, we used fMRI neurofeedback to modulate functional connectivity in two networks — a “high-attention” network with 757 connections and a “low-attention” network with 630 connections — that predict individuals’ attentional abilities across several independent datasets (Rosenberg et al., 2016a, 2016b). To this end, 10 participants performed the gradual-onset continuous performance task (Esterman et al., 2013) during 3 fMRI runs. Each run included four 3-min task blocks each followed by a 30-s block of feedback, visualized as a gas gauge. Participants were told that a “full” gauge indicated optimal attention whereas an “empty” gauge indicated suboptimal focus, and were instructed to keep the gauge as close to full as possible. For neurofeedback participants (n = 6), the position of the gauge reflected high-attention relative to low-attention network strength during the preceding task block. Stronger high-attention and weaker low-attention networks resulted in better feedback. Sham feedback participants (n = 4) saw a yoked participant’s feedback. During neurofeedback sessions, a 268-node brain atlas (Shen et al., 2013) was warped into subject space. Motion correction and nuisance variable regression were performed during data collection (Scheinost et al., 2013). After each task block, timecourses in each pair of nodes were correlated to generate a 268 × 268 connectivity matrix. High- and low- attention network strength values were calculated as the dot product of the connectivity matrix and the attention network masks defined previously. Demonstrating the feasibility of connectome-based feedback, network strength values calculated in real-time and after data collection using published methods were significantly correlated (mean within-subject r-value = .80; range = .58–.94; p < .05 in all participants). As expected, the relationship between feedback and network strength calculated off-line was lower in the sham feedback group (mean within-subject r-value = .44; p < .05 in one participant). Furthermore, mean feedback was more positively correlated with mean task performance (d’) in the neurofeedback than the sham feedback group (r = .48 vs. r = –.61). Thus, these results provide preliminary evidence that whole-brain connectivity-based neurofeedback is feasible and may be useful for attention training.

この発表は，connectomeに基づいたフィードバックを使用して焦点を鍛える研究についてでした．手法として，low-network strengthとhigh-network strength のmatrixに分解してこれを説明変数として目的変数 behavioral dataを予測するモデルを構築するものでした．私が注目した点は，ネットワークとフィードバック方法です．なぜなら，高注意ネットワークと低注意ネットワークがあることを知ることが出来たこと，ゲージによってフィードバックするという方法を用いていたからです．なぜこのフィードバック方法を用いたのかは調査が必要だと感じました．

発表タイトル       ：　Connectome-based predictive modeling (CPM) of sustained attention: Comparing different methods for feature selection and prediction
著者                  ： K. R. YOO, K, M. D. ROSENBERG, W.-T. HSU, S. ZHANG, C.-S. R. LI, D. SCHEINOST, R. T. CONSTABLE, M. M. CHUN
セッション名       ： Nanosymposium, Attention Networks
Abstruct            ： Connectome-based predictive modeling (CPM; Shen et al., 2017) was recently developed to predict individual differences in traits and behaviors, including fluid intelligence (Finn et al., 2015) and sustained attention (Rosenberg et al., 2016a). CPM is a data-driven approach to construct a model predicting individual behaviors from brain connectome data. Here, we compared the predictive power of three different connectivity features (Pearson’s correlation, accordance and discordance) and two different prediction algorithms (linear regression and partial least square regression; PLSR) in CPM for attention function. Accordance and discordance are recently proposed connectivity measures that separately track in-phase synchronization and out-of-phase anti-correlation, respectively (Meskaldji et al., 2016). We defined models over task or rest fMRI data, and tested 1) whether accordance and discordance are more reliable measures than Pearson’s correlation for functional connectivity and 2) whether PLSR or linear regression better relates connectivity features to behavioral traits. Connectome-based predictive models of sustained attention were developed from fMRI data collected while participants performed a sustained attention task (gradCPT), and while at rest (N=25; Rosenberg et al., 2016a). The three other independent fMRI datasets included: 1) data collected during stop-signal task performance and rest (N=83, including 19 participants administered methylphenidate prior to scanning; Rosenberg et al., 2016b), 2) data collected during Attention Network Task performance and rest (N=41), and 3) resting data and ADHD symptom severity from the ADHD-200 Consortium (N=113; Rosenberg et al., 2016a). All models significantly predicted individual performance with correlations between predicted and observed measures of attention as high as 0.9 for internal, and 0.6 for external validation; all p’s < 0.05). Models trained on task-data outperformed models based on rest data. Accordance features generally showed a small numerical advantage over correlation features, while PLSR models were usually better than linear regression models. Overall, in addition to correlation features combined with linear models (Rosenberg et al., 2016a), it is useful to consider accordance features and PLSR for CPM.

この発表はMRIを用いたConnectomeベースの予測モデリングについての研究でした．脳結合データから個々の行動を予測するモデルを構築するためのデータ駆動アプローチであるCPMを用いて持続的注意を評価するというものでした．また，Accordanceとdiscordanceをconnectivityの指標にしていました．この手法は，自分の研究でも結合が取ることが出来れば，応用することが可能だと思いました．

発表タイトル       ：　Visual-verbal working memory training versus visual search training have overlapping and distinct transfer effects on tasks of spatial working memory and cognitive control: An event-related potential study
著者                  ： T. J. COVEY, J. L. SHUCARD, X. WANG, K. SHERWOOD, J. NAKUCI, L. GOH, D. W. SHUCARD
セッション名       ： Nanosymposium: Mechanisms of Working Memory
Abstruct            ：Cognitive training may improve aspects of cognitive performance. However, the findings in this literature have been mixed, and the unique impact of different forms of training on distinct cognitive abilities is still not fully understood. We examined the effects of two different forms of cognitive training on brain function and performance. Young adult participants were randomly assigned to one of two different training groups. Both groups underwent 20 sessions of adaptive cognitive training (30 minutes per session) over the course of approximately four weeks. One group trained on an n-back task of working memory (WM) with visual letter stimuli (n = 20); the other group trained on a visual search task of selective attention/perceptual discrimination, also with letter stimuli (n = 20). The two tasks were well-matched in terms of difficulty and participant engagement. Participants were administered a battery of tests before and after training (pre- and posttest), which included a Spatial 3-back task and a Go/Nogo Flanker task. The Spatial 3-back task measured transfer of training gains to spatial WM (note, a different domain than the visual-verbal n-back training task); the Go/Nogo Flanker task measured transfer of training gains to cognitive control processes such as response inhibition. Electroencephalographic (EEG) data were obtained during these tasks at pre- and posttest, and event-related potentials (ERPs) were derived for each task. The results indicated that both groups improved on their respective training tasks at a similar rate over the course of training. Only the n-back training group showed improved accuracy (and a greater decrease in RT than the visual search group) from pretest to posttest on the Spatial 3-back task. The n-back training group also exhibited enhancement of the N1 ERP component (within 150 msec after stimulus onset) and reduced latency of the N2 component at posttest on the spatial 3-back task, effects that were not observed for the visual search training group. For the Go/Nogo Flanker task, there was a significant reduction in RT at post- compared to pretest, regardless of group. ERP findings for this task indicated some overlap in training-related changes between the two groups. For example, both groups had reduced P3 latency for trials of the task that required response inhibition. The findings provide evidence that (1) training on a verbal-visual n-back WM task resulted in changes in brain function and cognitive gains on a spatial WM task, and (2) training on tasks that target aspects of attention, regardless of whether they explicitly engage WM, may result in performance gains and changes in brain function on tasks of cognitive control.

この発表は，ワーキングメモリの訓練として，n-backを行っている群と行っていない群でselective attention taskにおいて比較を行っている研究でした．EEGで計測を行っており，P1，N1，P2，N2，P3などのERPを解析対象としていました．訓練をしている群の方がN2の潜時を減少させたという結果が報告されました．疑問に思った点は，ERPの解析については，多くの加算平均が必要となるが，タスク時間が長くないのに試行数に関してはどうしているのかという点でした．

発表タイトル       ：　Neural prediction of community support providers
著者                  ： Y. LEONG, S. MORELLI, R. CARLSON, M. KULLAR, J. ZAKI
セッション名       ： Nanosymposium: Social Decision-Making
Abstruct            ： The receipt of high-quality social support bolsters individuals’ mental and physical health. It is often beneficial for members of a community to keep in mind the people likely to provide social support, such that one knows whom to turn to in times of distress. Here, we test the hypothesis that people passively keep track of the individuals who are likely to provide social support within their community. We recruited 97 students from two freshman dormitories and had them nominate individuals in their dorm who provide them with eight different types of social support (e.g., companionship, social advice, emotional support). We computed a sociometric index of social support by taking a weighted sum of the number of nominations received by a given individual. Individuals who scored in the top, middle and bottom tercile on this metric were designated as high, medium and low support providers respectively. In a separate session, we scanned a subset of the participants (N=50) as they passively viewed photos of their dormmates. Participants were told to attend to the photos, but were not otherwise instructed on what to think about. We trained a Lasso-PCR algorithm on the BOLD data of participants from one of the dorms (N = 26) to identify a pattern of BOLD activity that monotonically increased when participants viewed dormmates with increasing levels of

この発表は，Measuring social valueという質問紙でSocial valueが高い人，低い人を見つけることで，これを脳活動から予測するモデルを構築する研究でした．解析手法が興味深いと思いました．なぜなら，脳活動をみて，ハブである人を見つけるよいう方法はよくあると思うが，アンケートから予測しているという点が面白いと感じました．この研究が進むと，アンケートのみでの評価もできるのではないかと思いました。自分の研究には，注意の予測に置き換えると用いることができるのではないかと考えました．

参考文献

Neuroscience2017, https://www.sfn.org/annual-meeting/neuroscience-2017

学会参加報告書

報告者氏名	山本渉子
発表論文タイトル
発表論文英タイトル	Network analysis of brain activity during breath-counting meditation by fNIRS
著者	山本渉子, 日和悟，廣安知之,
主催	Society for Neuroscience
講演会名	Neuroscience2017
会場	Walter E. Washington Convention Center
開催日程	2017/11/11-2017/11/15

講演会の詳細

2017/11/11から2017/11/15にかけて，Walter E. Washington Convention Centerにて開催されましたNeuroscience2017に参加いたしました．このNeuroscience2017は，Society for Neuroscienceによって主催された研究会で，学生や教員が参加して，神経科学に関する学術的な発見を目的に開催され，80カ国から3万人以上参加がした大きな学会です．
私は全ての日程に参加いたしました．本研究室からは他に日和先生，藤原さん．中村（清）さん，西澤さんが参加しました．

研究発表
- 発表概要

私は11日の13－17時のセッション「Poster」に参加いたしました．発表の形式はポスター発表で，発表時間は1時間となっておりました．
今回は，Network analysis of brain activity during breath-counting meditation by fNIRSというタイトルで発表致しました．以下に抄録を記載致します．

Introduction: Attention deviates from the focused task, and the state that is not related to the task is called mind wandering. About 50% in daily life, people are in a state of mind wandering. Mind wandering is said to lead to a decrease in happiness and work efficiency. Mindfulness meditation is drawing attention. Mindfulness is to pay attention to what is happening now, and effects of stress reduction and concentration are expected by mindfulness meditation. In this study, brain states during breath-counting meditation were compared with meditation novices, and the degree of functional brain network was compared. In the experiments, brain
Methods: The meditation task is breath-counting which counts entrance and exit of breathing. Six male meditation beginners participated in the experiment. Brain activity at rest and breath-counting was measured using fNIRS (ETG – 7100). The measurement site was 116 channels in the forehead, crown and occipital area. The measured data was processed by a band pass filter with a frequency of 0.008 Hz to 0.09 Hz. All the channels were correlated by stochastic registration with the sites divided by Automated Anatomical Labeling (AAL). The correlation coefficient matrix between all channels with the correlation of the channel’s blood flow change was calculated at rest and breath-counting, respectively. The order of degree corresponding to an edge density of 15% was compared to rest and breath-counting.
Results, Discussion: At breath – counting time compared to rest before pre-task, it was found that the order of the coupling of the middle prefrontal cortex increased in many subjects. The middle prefrontal cortex is reported to be a brain part that acts during meditation and controls attention. The results suggest that the brain part of attention control emphasizes with other regions during meditation. Also, at the time of rest after breath-counting, the degree of coupling of the middle frontal round remained high. This result indicates that the brain state during meditation was preserved even after meditation. It is a new result that brain states at the time of rest and pre-task rest were different.
Conclusion: A comparison of the order of the degree of resting time and meditating in a novice was performed. Brain activity was measured by fNIRS. When breath-counting was performed, the order of the degree of the medial frontal gyrus increased compared to that at rest. Therefore, even if a meditate novice, there is a possibility that the brain part of attention control exaggerates with other regions more than at rest.

質疑応答

今回の講演発表では，以下のような質疑を受けました．

・質問内容1
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．こちらの質問は，ボタンプレスの意味は何かというものでした．この質問に対して，ボタンプレスは気が逸れたときに押してもらうよう被験者に指示したと回答しました．

・質問内容2
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．こちらの質問は，PC4とは脳のどの部位かというものでした．この質問に対する回答ですが，PCAによって得られた軸であり，そのため直接脳部位を表しているわけではなく，負荷量が高い領域を見たと回答しました．

・質問内容3
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．こちらの質問は，SMAとはなんという脳領域か，その部位の働きは何かというものでした．この質問に対して，Supplementary motor area，運動制御の働きを持つと回答しました．

・質問内容4
台湾からいらしたYu Chenさんから質問いただきました．　こちらの質問は，fNIRSをなぜ使っているのかというものでした．この質問に対して，fMRIと比べて日常の生活に近い状態で測定できるからであると回答しました．

・質問内容5
同じく，Yu Chenさんから質問いただきました．こちらの質問は，なぜdegreeを使うのかというものでした．この質問に対する回答ですが，degreeとは各ノードの結合本数の和であると回答し，ポスターの図を用いて，各ノードのdegreeがいくつになるか説明しました．
degreeを用いる意味は，うまく答えられず日和先生に助けていただきました．degreeは結合本数を表すので，degreeが高いほど他の領域と多く強調しているので重要な領域であると考えていると回答していただきました．

・質問内容6
複数の方から質問いただきました．この質問は，初心者と熟練者の年齢差は重要な意味はないのかというものでした．この質問に対して，問題ないと考えていると回答しました．しかし今後検討する必要があると考えています．

・質問内容7
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．こちらの質問は，PC1，2を使わずなぜPC4，7，8を使ったのかというものでした．この質問に対して，今回は初心者と熟練者の違いを視覚化できる軸を見つけたかったからであると回答しました．

・質問内容8
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．こちらの質問は，矢印のincreaseが表すのは相関か，activityかというものでした．この質問に対する回答ですが，相関やactivityではなくdegreeが増えたと回答しました．

・質問内容9
同志社大学脳神経行動工学研究室の梁さんから質問いただきました．こちらの質問は，レジストレーションはどのように行っているのかというものでした．この質問に対する回答ですが，3Dデジタイザーを使って座標を測定し，NIRS-SPMを使って行ったと回答しました．

・質問内容10
同志社大学脳神経行動工学研究室の板垣さんから質問いただきました．こちらの質問は，closerとは相関係数を計算した結果から言っているのかというものでした．この質問に対する回答ですが，計算したわけではなく目視で判断したと回答しました．
計算しないと根拠がないと言われるのではないかとご意見いただいたので，今後検討すると回答しました．

・質問内容11
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．こちらの質問は，fNIRSではcortexしか測定できないのかというものでした．この質問に対する回答ですが，cortexのみしか測定できず，深部は測定できないと回答しました．

・質問内容12
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．こちらの質問は，脳の図はどの向きかというものでした．この質問に対して，上が前，下が後ろであると回答しました．

・質問内容13
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．こちらの質問は，レストと比較していなくていいのかというものでした．この質問に対して，今回は瞑想中の検討しか行っていないと回答しました．その場では回答が不十分だったと思います．脳活動量を見ているわけではなく，ネットワークを見ているのでレストと比較しなくてもよいと考えています．

・質問内容14
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．こちらの質問は，116CHから42領域にはどうやってしたのかというものでした．この質問に対して，被験者の過半数がレジストレーションされた領域を使用したと回答しました．

・質問内容15
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．こちらの質問は，熟練者が行っている瞑想の種類は全員同じなのかというものでした．この質問に対して，同じではないと回答したところ，瞑想の種類によって違いがあることが知られているので，合わせた方がよいとのご意見いただきました．確かに瞑想の種類をそろえた方がいいと思いますが，熟練者を集めることも難しいので，瞑想の種類は違っても熟練者の傾向を見るのが現実的であると考えています．

感想

初めての学会参加，そして国際学会ということでとても緊張しました．しかし，発表が始まると，たくさんの方が聞きに来てくださりとても嬉しかったです．黙らないように，質問を聞き直したり，わかる範囲でお答えしたりとどうにか黙らないように話せたことはよかったと思います．せっかくたくさんの方が聞きに来てくださったのに，私の英語力が乏しいために，議論を深めることができなかったのが残念で反省すべき点であると感じています．日々努力して，次回の国際学会の機会までに，英語の能力をあげようと強く思います．さらに自分の研究についてももっと理解を深めて，進めていきたいと思います．

聴講

今回の講演会では，下記の6件の発表を聴講しました．

発表タイトル       ：　Low trait mind wandering is associated with optimized intrinsic functional connectivity
著者                  ： J. Z. LIM, S. A. A. MASSAR, J. TENG, Z. HASSIRIM, K. WONG, C. WANG, M. W. CHEE
セッション名       ： Attention Networks
Abstruct             ：
Objective Mind wandering and low meta-awareness are associated with poor cognitive performance and unhappiness in daily life. Furthermore, the tendency to mind wander is trait-like, yet amenable to change through training. Here, we conducted a resting-state fMRI to investigate the individual differences in functional connectivity associated with trait-mind wandering, We hypothesized that lower levels of mind wandering would be associated with greater optimization of the intrinsic functional connectome (i.e. connectivity patterns with higher similarity to that seen during task engagement).

Methods 100 healthy young participants were recruited to perform a breath-counting task, a covert measure of meta-awareness and mind wandering. Participants kept track of their breath over an 18-minute period by pressing a button with every 1st to 8th breath, and a separate button for every 9th breath. From this sample, good (accuracy > 81%; N=15) and poor (accuracy < 63%; N=11) performers were invited for an imaging session, which consisted of a second run of the breath-counting task (behavioral), and an ~8 minute resting state (rs)fMRI scan. Whole-brain data were segmented based on the Yeo parcellation, and connectivity was computed using the multiplication of temporal derivatives (MTD) method. Static connectivity maps were calculated as a time-series average, and dynamic functional connectivity analysis was performed using k-means clustering after averaging within a 7-TR sliding window across the MTD time series. Connectivity was compared between the good and poor groups.

Results Inter-session reliability of breath counting accuracy was high (ICC = .57; p < .001), and good and poor performers continued to differ significantly in their second test (p = .01). Static rsfMRI connectivity maps showed greater anti-correlation between the dorsal attention network and the default mode network, and greater connectivity strength within the salience
network in good performers. Dynamic functional connectivity analysis revealed two reproducible patterns of connectivity, corresponding to optimized (high arousal) and non-optimized (low arousal) brain states. Good performers had significantly more dwell time in the optimized state compared to poor performers.

Conclusions Our data demonstrate that breath-counting accuracy is trait-like and reproducible, and indicate that intrinsic functional connectivity is more optimized in individuals with low trait mind wandering. Shifts towards this pattern of optimization may represent a useful biomarker of the gains from training meta-awareness, such as those obtained from mindfulness-based interventions.

この発表では，私たちの実験と同じく，数息観を用いて実験を行っていました．しかし実験設計が異なっており，ボタンプレスを1回目から8回目までの呼吸を数えた後、9回目の呼吸時に別のボタンを押すことによって呼吸に注意を向けているかを確かめていました．私の実験設計では，気が逸れたときにのみボタンを押してもらうので，ボタンプレスは気が逸れたことに気づいた意味となります．しかし，気が逸れたことに気が付かずに，ボタンを押せないだけで気が逸れている可能性があり，どうするべきか考えていたので参考になりました．

発表タイトル       ：Deficits and compensation in visual attention networks in schizophrenia
著者                  ： G. H. PATEL, S. C. ARKIN, E. C. JAMERSON, R. SMITH, III, D. C. JAVITT
セッション名       ： Attention Networks
Abstruct             ：
Background: Selective visual attention is governed by the interactions of low-level visual (striate/extrastriate), high-level visual (lateral/ventral occipital), dorsal attention, ventral attention, and task control networks. Schizophrenia patients (SzP) may be impaired in one or more of these networks, resulting in significant disability.

Methods: We compared these networks in 20 SzP and 20 healthy controls (HC) with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task-evoked activity and resting state functional connectivity (RSFC). We defined regions of interest (ROIs) in each group by activation/deactivations evoked by the monitoring and detection of targets in
the RSVP stream. These ROIs were used to calculate task-evoked activity magnitude and inter-ROI RSFC strength in each individual. Results: In the task data, detection rates and activation magnitudes did not differ between groups. However, TPJ deactivation by RSVP stream monitoring strongly correlated with detection rate in SzP (r=-.60, p=.0051), but not HC (r=.0091). In the RSFC data, only connectivity of high-level visual areas was weaker in SzP than HC (p<.0128). Detection rate correlated positively with RSFC of high-level visual areas to low-level visual areas and negatively with RSFC of dorsal to ventral attention areas (p<.05). TPJ deactivation correlated with RSFC of right prefrontal cortex (PFC) to both high- and low-level visual cortex (p=.0196). Two alternative linear models combined these measures to predict detection rate more than TPJ deactivation alone (p<.05). Model 1 included TPJ deactivation, high/low-level visual cortex RSFC, and dorsal/ventral attention network RSFC (r2=.655, adjusted r2=.581, F=8.84). Model 2 replaced TPJ deactivation with right PFC-visual connectivity (r2=.695, adjusted r2=.634, F=11.4).

Conclusion: We found that while performance and task activation of the visual/attention networks were similar in the two groups, SzP had an underlying deficit in the RSFC of visual cortex areas. SzP compensated for these deficits with improved connectivity of visual and attention areas, allowing for efficient use of the TPJ to suppress the processing of distracting stimuli. TPJ deactivation in turn relied on intact connectivity of PFC to visual areas, as predicted by the model by Corbetta et al. The results demonstrate how SzP may use the attention network to overcome visual processing deficits.

これは，統合失調症における視覚的注意ネットワークに関しての発表でした．私たちの研究室でもネットワーク解析を行っているので，どのように解析をされているのか興味を持ちました．私の研究でも使用した特徴量が使われており，国際的にも行われている解析なのだと実感しました．また，ネットワークを表現する図の種類が異なり，それらを見ることで，これからさらに見やすくしていきたいと思いました．

発表タイトル       ：A novel mobile video game to assess the neural correlates of working and visual spatial memory for the brainstation wearable electroencephalography system
著者                  ： R. GIL-DA-COSTA, M. LOPES, M. ZINNI, M. CASWELL
セッション名       ： Mechanisms of Working Memory
Abstruct            ：
The measurement of the brain bases of cognition has long been restricted to laboratory environments with specialized equipment and staff, limiting the ability for applications at a large-scale and in real-world settings. With a rapidly growing number of persons affected by working and/or spatial memory deficits (prevalent in neurological and psychiatric disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases or Depression), it is imperative to develop novel technologies with engaging assessments to enable monitoring of memory processes over time. To address this need, we used the Brainstation®, Neuroverse’s fully integrated wearable electroencephalographic (EEG) system and software application for testing and analysis in mobile platforms (e.g. smartphones and tablets), to measure the neural correlates of working and visual spatial memory during performance of a novel memory game in healthy adults. Naturalistic images from a given semantic category (e.g. animals) were rapidly displayed on the screen, one at a time, at random locations in a grid of cards. Subjects were asked to detect and memorize the identity and location of matching pairs of cards, and subsequently tap the locations at which the matching cards had appeared. Subjects were given feedback on their performance after each trial and, using an adaptive algorithm based on the subject’s performance, game parameters were adjusted in real-time to maintain engagement and promote potential training. Due to the nature of the game, subjects were not aware of the identity of the paired images until the presentation of the second image of the matching pair, thus requiring retention of the identity and location of every presented image until the paired image was detected. A first-level analysis of the correct trials using event-related brain potentials (ERPs) suggests that successful memory use in this game is correlated with an attentional focus strategy. Subjects maintain visual attention until the matching card is detected, and withdraw it immediately after in order to aid memory retention of the location of the matching cards, as expressed by a statistically significant amplitude reduction of the P300 ERP for cards presented after the matching pair. This finding provides both an interesting insight into memory and attention compensation strategies, and a memory correlated neural measure that can be used, with this wearable EEG system, in healthy aging individuals and neurological and psychiatric patients for regular “at home” large-scale monitoring and assessment. Additionally, future and ongoing research is investigating the efficacy of this system and game for cognitive training and rehabilitation.

この発表では神経衰弱のような記憶ゲームを行ったときの脳波を測定していました．ゲームのデモを発表で見ることができて，どんな実験なのかもわかりやすかったです．聞いている人にどんな実験を行っているかを伝えることの重要性を改めて感じました．しかしこの実験では，よく使われている脳機能イメージング装置ではない機器で測定していたため，どんなデータが取れているのか少し疑問でした．

発表タイトル       ：Face processing is attenuated during mind wandering: An ERP investigation
著者                  ： E. DENKOVA, E. BRUDNER, K. ZAYAN, J. DUNN, *A. P. JHA
セッション名       ： Functional Basis of Attention
Abstruct             ： How do you perceive a face when your mind wanders? Mind wandering (MW), defined as self-generated thinking that is unrelated to the task at hand, has been recently investigated in an escalating number of studies. It has been suggested that, during MW, processing of external stimuli is diminished in favor of internal thoughts. This phenomenon has been referred to as perceptual decoupling and has been investigated in event-related potential (ERP) studies, which have good temporal resolution that allow for the examination of the temporal dynamics of MW. Yet, perceptual decoupling during MW has never been investigated in a task involving attention to faces, nor has it been examined using the early ERP component associated with face processing, the N170. Here, we investigated the modulation of the N170 as a function of subjective reports of MW to tackle perceptual decoupling in the context of faces. We collected ERP data from 36 participants while they completed a sustained attention to response task with faces. Participants were instructed to respond to upright faces (non-targets, 90% of trials) and to withhold their response to inverted faces (targets, 5% of trials). Two questions related to mind wandering and metacognition were presented in succession on 5% of trials. The first question assessed participants’ experience of task engagement vs. mind wandering using a dichotomous judgment of ‘on task’ vs. ‘off task’. The second question assessed participants’ level of confidence in their ‘on task’ and ‘off task’ reports using a 3-point Likert scale. The behavioral (intra-individual coefficient of variation in reaction time, ICV) and ERP (N170 amplitude) responses to the 6 non-targets preceding the first question were examined as a function of ‘on task’ vs. ‘off task’ reports. Behavioral results revealed greater ICV for periods preceding ‘off task’ vs. ‘on task’ reports (p < .01), suggesting less stable attentional performance during MW. ERP results revealed attenuated N170 amplitude to faces preceding ‘off task’ vs. ‘on task’ reports (p < .05). The latter findings are in line with perceptual decoupling
literature and suggest attenuated visual processing of faces during MW, which may have implications for social neuroscience research.

この発表では，マインドワンダリングになるとパフォーマンスに障害が出るという結果でした．マインドワンダリングをどのように評価するのかが難しいと自分の実験でも思っていましたが，この実験では，RT変動の増加をマインドワンダリングの客観的指標として使用していました．タスクは，顔に注意を払うというもので，EPRを使用して検討していました．顔というのが面白かったですが，なぜ顔にしたのかが気になりました．

発表タイトル       ： Neural prediction of community support providers
著者                  ： Y. LEONG, S. MORELLI, R. CARLSON, M. KULLAR, J. ZAKI
セッション名       ： Social Decision-Making
Abstruct            ： The receipt of high-quality social support bolsters individuals’ mental and physical health. It is often beneficial for members of a community to keep in mind the people likely to provide social support, such that one knows whom to turn to in times of distress. Here, we test the hypothesis that people passively keep track of the individuals who are likely to provide social support within their community. We recruited 97 students from two freshman dormitories and had them nominate individuals in their dorm who provide them with eight different types of social support (e.g., companionship, social advice, emotional support). We computed a sociometric index of social support by taking a weighted sum of the number of nominations received by a given individual. Individuals who scored in the top, middle and bottom tercile on this metric were designated as high, medium and low support providers respectively. In a separate session, we scanned a subset of the participants (N=50) as they passively viewed photos of their dormmates. Participants were told to attend to the photos, but were not otherwise instructed on what to think about. We trained a Lasso-PCR algorithm on the BOLD data of participants from one of the dorms (N = 26) to identify a pattern of BOLD activity that monotonically increased when participants viewed dormmates with increasing levels of
sociometric social supportiveness. We then tested the algorithm on the BOLD data of participants from the other dorm (N = 24). Neural activity in the mentalizing network reliably predicted when participants were viewing dorm members who were low, medium and high support providers. On average, the predicted and actual levels of social supportiveness were moderately correlated (r = 0.35, p < 0.001). As a second measure of prediction accuracy, we computed the forced-choice classification accuracy when the algorithm was used to classify which of two patterns was associated with viewing faces of individuals who score higher on social supportiveness. Classification accuracy was significantly above chance when distinguishing between viewing high support providers and viewing medium or low support providers, but not significantly different from chance when distinguishing between viewing medium and low support providers. These results suggest that participants’ brains automatically detect high social support providers, even when not explicitly instructed to do so. Our method also demonstrates the possibility of out-of-sample prediction of high support providers from the brain activity of a subset of individuals in a community.

この発表でアンケートからsocial networkを構築してハブとなっている人を見つけ，それを脳活動から予測するモデルを構築するという手法をとっていました．脳活動とアンケートの結果を比較して検討する研究はよく見かけますが，先にアンケートの結果から検討するというのをはじめて見たので興味深かったです．この発表でも脳領域の名前がたくさん出てきましたが，研究し始めたときから比べてかなり覚えてきたなと思った反面，まだまだ学ぶべきことがたくさんあるなと思いました．

発表タイトル       ：The neurobiological mechanisms supporting mindfulness-based analgesia: A longitudinal perspective
著者                  ： F. ZEIDAN, R. C. COGHILL, Y. JUNG, A. ADLER-NEAL, S. FARRIS
セッション名       ： Advances in Pain Neuroimaging
Abstruct             ：
The experience of pain is mediated by sensory, cognitive, and affective factors, rendering the treatment of chronic pain difficult and often a financial burden. New far-reaching policy guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control have advocated for the utilization of non-pharmacological pain therapies. To this extent, mindfulness meditation, a cognitive practice premised on sustaining non-judgmental awareness of arising sensory events, significantly attenuates experimental and clinical pain. Yet, the neural mechanisms supporting mindfulness-based analgesia remain poorly characterized. This presentation will provide a comprehensive understanding of the brain processes supporting the modulation of pain by mindfulness meditation from a longitudinal perspective. Novel findings, from our laboratory, reveal that healthy individuals (with no prior meditation experience) exhibiting higher levels of dispositional mindfulness report significantly lower pain ratings in response to noxious heat stimulation (49°C). Employing arterial spin labeling functional magnetic resonance imaging (ASL fMRI), we found that greater trait mindfulness was also associated with greater deactivation of the precuneus/ posterior cingulate cortex during noxious stimulation, brain regions critically involved in facilitating self-referential processes. In two ASL fMRI studies, mindfulness meditation, after a brief, four-session (20min/session) meditation-training regimen, significantly reduced pain through greater activation of the orbitofrontal cortex, subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, right anterior insula and deactivation of the thalamus. These findings demonstrate that mindfulness meditation reduces pain through unique cortico-thalamo-cortical interactions. We will also discuss findings showing that mindfulness meditation, after brief mental training, does not engage endogenous opioids to attenuate pain, an important consideration for the millions of pain patients seeking a fast-acting, non-opioid pain therapy. Finally, we will present findings demonstrating that meditation-induced analgesia, after extensive meditation training (> 1000 hours), is associated with greater activation in somatosensory cortices and deactivation of the prefrontal cortex during noxious heat stimulation, likely reflective of a decoupling between sensory and appraisal systems. These findings suggest that mindfulness meditation after brief training engages brain mechanisms supporting unique reappraisal processes, while meditation-based analgesia after long-term training employ non-appraisal mechanisms.

これは，瞑想によって痛みを軽減するメカニズムについての発表でした．初心者は再評価することで痛みから離れようとするが，熟練者は痛みと共にあろうとするという結果でした．初心者と熟練者それぞれの傾向が示されていてわかりやすかったです．しかし，使用している刺激が強く，もう少し適度な刺激にできたらと思いましたが，そうすると痛みと感じないのから難しいのかなとも思いました．

参考文献

Neuroscience2017， https://www.sfn.org/annual-meeting/neuroscience-2017

学会参加報告書

報告者氏名	中村清志郎
発表論文タイトル	自動車運転時の脳活動と眼球運動の検討
発表論文英タイトル	Discussions of brain activity and eye movement during driving
著者	中村清志郎，日和悟，廣安知之,
主催	Society for Neuroscience
講演会名	Neuroscience 2017
会場	Walter E. Washington Convention Center (801 Mt Vernon Place NW, Washington, DC 20001)
開催日程	2017/11/11–15

講演会の詳細

2017/11/11–15にWalter E. Washington Convention Center (801 Mt Vernon Place NW, Washington, DC 20001)にて開催されましたNeuroscience 2017（https://www.sfn.org/annual-meeting/neuroscience-2017）に参加いたしました．この学会は，脳と神経システムに関する世界最大規模の組織であるSociety for Neuroscienceによって主催されています．この組織は1969年に設立され，世界中に130の支部を擁しています．脳や神経系に関する研究全般を対象としており， 90以上の国から38000人ほどの科学者や医師が参加する規模の大きい学会です．

私は全ての日程に参加いたしました．本研究室からは私以外に日和先生，M1の藤原さん，西澤さん，M0の山本さんが参加し，ポスター発表を行いました．

研究発表
- 発表概要

私は4日目の11/14 13:00~17:00のポスターセッション” Functional Mechanisms of Attention”に参加いたしました．発表の形式はポスター発表で，4時間の発表となっておりました．
今回の発表は，自動車運転動画視聴時の脳活動と眼球運動の関係性について発表しました．以下に抄録を記載致します．

[Background and Objective]
90% of traffic accidents are caused by human errors. Human errors are existed by errors in recognition, judgment, and operation in driving. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a driving support system that assists driver recognition, judgment, and operation. In the future driving support system, the quality of driving is improved by using the biological information of the driver. In recent research, acquisition of brain function information using fNIRS, EEG and the like has been carried out. In this study, brain activity and eye movements by fNIRS during driving are measured, and their correlation is examined.
[Methods]
In the experiment, driving movie was presented to four subjects. The state of driving by a third person was recorded with driver’s viewpoint, and the movie was presented to the examinees. During Rest, plus mark was presented for 30 seconds. During Task, a total of four types of moving images (turn left, two types of straight, turn right) were presented for 30 seconds. Brain activity was measured with the fNIRS device (LABNIRS).Measurement points are the forehead 22 ch and the back head 22 ch. Eye movements were measured with an eye tracker (Tobii X2 – 60).Also, to confirm the driving history, a questionnaire on the latest driving day, driving frequency, and licensing acquisition years questionnaire was conducted. The rest of the cerebral blood flow change model and the integrated value at the time of the task were obtained. Also, gaze point, gaze time and saccade time were calculated.
[Results and Discussion]
Subjects were divided into two groups in two-dimensional space of gaze time and saccade time. As a result, it was classified into a group with a lot of gazes and a group with many saccades. The gaze distribution during the left turn of a group with a lot of gazes was concentrated in one central point of the screen. Furthermore, there was a tendency that gaze was more frequent in groups with more gaze than groups with many saccades. It is said that gaze will gather on one point while driving idly. There is no significant difference from the brain function data, and future study is necessary. As a tendency, in the group in which attention was frequently observed, there were many channels with small integrated values at the time of left turn. Therefore, it is described that the subjects in the group with a high degree of gaze are in a state of seeing the front but in a state in which the brain is not active. In other words, it is conceivable that the subject can’t concentrate on the driving.
[Conclusions]
Subjects who had less Saccade while driving and focused on one point were observed. In that case, there is a possibility that the concentration status is lacking.

質疑応答

今回の講演発表では，以下のような質疑を受けました．

・質問内容1
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．こちらの質問はFixationとSaccadeの閾値はどの程度なのかというものでした．この質問に対する回答ですが，Tobiiに用いられているI-VTフィルタを用いており，20 [ms]の窓で，30度/s以上で移動したときをSaccadeとしていると回答しました．Micro Saccadeに関しての研究もおこなわれているのでそれを参考にする必要もあると助言もいただきました．

・質問内容2
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．こちらの質問は動画を見た時の脳活動の特徴が分かって，結果として何ができるようになるのかというものでした．この質問に対する私の回答は現段階では眼球運動の状態が異なっていても脳は視覚処理を行っており，注意状態が異なっていることがわかり，眼球運動の差から脳活動が異なることから，より研究を深めると運転支援システムに応用できると回答しました．

・質問内容3
質問者の氏名を控え損ねてしまいました．こちらの質問はどのような動画を被験者に提示したのかというものでした．この質問に対する回答ですが本実験で用いた運転動画をお見せしました．

感想
本学会に参加するにあたって，実験結果が思うように出なかったこともあり，とても準備に時間がかかってしまい，発表直前まで準備をしていました．その結果，英語で研究を説明するスキル，聞き取るスキルがない状態でした．そのため，多くの質問が来ましたが，どのような質問がされているのかわからず，返答ができないことが多くありました．そのため，今後は研究だけでなく英語の勉強にも力を入れていきたいと思いました．また，簡潔で分かりやすく，深い発表ができるように精進していく必要があると感じました．

聴講

今回の講演会では，下記の発表を聴講しました．

発表タイトル       ：　Real-time neurofeedback of functional connectivity in large-scale brain networks that predict attention
著者                  ： M. D. ROSENBERG, D. SCHEINOST, W.-T. HSU, R. T. CONSTABLE , M. M. CHUN
セッション名       ： Nanosymposium
Abstract　　　　　： Recent work has demonstrated that real-time neurofeedback based on patterns of fMRI activity may be used to train attention (deBettencourt et al., 2015; Zilverstand et al., 2017). Given evidence that attention relies on coordinated activity across the brain, we explored the feasibility of using connectome-based feedback to train focus. Specifically, we used fMRI neurofeedback to modulate functional connectivity in two networks — a “high-attention” network with 757 connections and a “low-attention” network with 630 connections — that predict individuals’ attentional abilities across several independent datasets (Rosenberg et al., 2016a, 2016b). To this end, 10 participants performed the gradual-onset continuous performance task (Esterman et al., 2013) during 3 fMRI runs. Each run included four 3-min task blocks each followed by a 30-s block of feedback, visualized as a gas gauge. Participants were told that a “full” gauge indicated optimal attention whereas an “empty” gauge indicated suboptimal focus, and were instructed to keep the gauge as close to full as possible. For neurofeedback participants (n = 6), the position of the gauge reflected high-attention relative to low-attention network strength during the preceding task block. Stronger high-attention and weaker low-attention networks resulted in better feedback. Sham feedback participants (n = 4) saw a yoked participant’s feedback. During neurofeedback sessions, a 268-node brain atlas (Shen et al., 2013) was warped into subject space. Motion correction and nuisance variable regression were performed during data collection (Scheinost et al., 2013). After each task block, timecourses in each pair of nodes were correlated to generate a 268 × 268 connectivity matrix. High- and low- attention network strength values were calculated as the dot product of the connectivity matrix and the attention network masks defined previously. Demonstrating the feasibility of connectome-based feedback, network strength values calculated in real-time and after data collection using published methods were significantly correlated (mean within-subject r-value = .80; range = .58–.94; p < .05 in all participants). As expected, the relationship between feedback and network strength calculated off-line was lower in the sham feedback group (mean within-subject r-value = .44; p < .05 in one participant). Furthermore, mean feedback was more positively correlated with mean task performance (d’) in the neurofeedback than the sham feedback group (r = .48 vs. r = –.61). Thus, these results provide preliminary evidence that whole-brain connectivity-based neurofeedback is feasible and may be useful for attention training.

この発表は注意状態と不注意状態の脳機能ネットワークを用いて，それをコントロールするためのフィードバックを行うという発表でした．ネットワークに関する説明がとても分かりやすく，自分が発表するうえで非常に参考になった発表であったと思います．

発表タイトル       ：　Maintenance mechanisms of the content and the rule during visuomotor working memory
著者                  ： *R. QUENTIN, J. KING, E. SALLARD, N. FISHMAN, E. BUCH, R.THOMPSON, L. COHEN
セッション名       ： Nanosymposium
Abstract　　　　　： Working memory is our ability to temporarily hold information available for processing. It is required for learning, reasoning, updating information, and performing everyday visuomotor tasks. Intra-cortical recordings in nonhuman primates and functional MRI studies in humans demonstrated the involvement of an extended group of cortical and subcortical brain areas during working memory. However, the spatiotemporal neural mechanisms of memory content and recall rule maintenance are unknown. In this experiment, we used magneto-encephalography (MEG) recordings and novel machinelearning algorithms to determine the spatiotemporal neural dynamics of memory content and recall rule maintenance. Two visual stimuli with different line orientations and spatial frequencies were briefly presented to the participant. After a short delay, a post-cue instruction indicated which visual feature (spatial frequency or orientation) of which stimulus (left or right) the participant had to remember in order to perform a motor action. We applied machinelearning algorithms to the MEG brain signal to decode i) the visual features of the stimuli immediately after their presentation; ii) the specific visual content maintained in memory (cued item) and iii) the maintenance of the rule that specify which visual feature has to be remembered. At the group level, we were able to decode i) visual perceptual features embedded in early stages of processing, ii) the working memory content and, weakly, the un-cued item (distractor) and iii) the working memory rule during several seconds after its presentation with a strong generalization across time. We conclude that persistent and stable neural activity in a distributed brain network underlies working memory content and recall rule maintenance. Thus, our ability to act appropriately in our changing environment depends on the capacity of our neural networks to encode the task-relevant information via a persistent neural activity.

この発表は，ワーキングメモリで記憶されている内容とその時の脳活動を判定するために機械学習を用いて探索するというものでした．Morlet Waveletが使われており，解析手法について今までよりも理解が深まったと思います．

発表タイトル       ：　Neural correlates of an associative memory of elapsed time
著者                  ： V. G. VAN DE VEN, J. LIFANOV, O. IOSIF, S. KOCHS, F. SMULDERS, P. DE WEERD
セッション名       ： Nanosymposium
Abstract　　　　　：　　The extent to which time duration is represented in associate memory remains underinvestigated. We designed a time paired associate task (TPAT) in which participants implicitly learnt cue-time-target associations between cue-target pairs and specific cue-target intervals ranging from 500 to 2000 msec (van de Ven et al. 2017). Importantly, participants only judged whether a cue and probe item were part of the same pair, while making no explicit judgment about time. During learning, some cue-target pairs became associated to a short interval while others became associated to a long interval. During subsequent memory testing, cue-target pairs were shown with both the short and long intervals. Participants showed increased accuracy of identifying matching cue-target pairs if the time interval during testing matched the implicitly learnt interval. A control experiment showed that participants had no explicit knowledge about the time associations. In subsequent neuroimaging experiments we investigated the neural correlates of TPAT memory performance. Using ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging (UHF-MRI) study at 7 Tesla we found less hippocampal activity (in left Dentate Gyrus and CA1) when time intervals during test trials did not match the learnt interval, compared to when they did match. Further, in an electroencephalography (EEG) study we found decreased Theta oscillation power (centered at 6 Hz) at occipital/parietal scalp locations for the same comparison of trial types. These findings are in line with the role of hippocampus and Theta oscillations in associate memory (Buzsáki 2006) and suggest that the same mechanisms also play a role in representing time in memory (Ranganath and Hsieh 2016). Mismatch between presented and expected associate memory of time may change hippocampal activity and cortical Theta oscillations, possibly through a common neural source. We suggest that cue-dependent retrieval of time in associate memory could perhaps serve as a mechanism for prospective coding of expected visual spatiotemporal events.References: Buzsáki G. 2006. Rhythms of the brain. OUP; Ranganath C, Hsieh LT. 2016. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1369: 93-110; van de Ven V et al. 2017. Learn Mem 24: 158-162.

この発表は，time paired associate taskでMRIとEEGを用いてtask時の記憶力に関係する相関のある脳部位を突き止めるというものでした．MRIとEEGを用いている実験に関する発表を聞くのは初めてでしたのでとても興味がわきました．

発表タイトル       ：　Cooperation and trust between identity groups: An fMRI study
著者                  ： *S. HONG, A. MOORE, N. ROBERTS, K. NICOL, L. CRAM
セッション名       ： Nanosymposium
Abstract　　　　　：　　Perceived trustworthiness of other race groups has been found to influence social decisions (Stanley et al 2012), but there are no equivalent studies that investigate trust decisionmaking with regard to national bias. We investigate the neural correlates of cooperation and defection when participants engage in a cooperative game with opponents of different perceived nationalities using a Stag Hunt (SH) task. We predicted that cooperation with opponents of different perceived nationalities would modulate brain regions involved in Theory of Mind and reward processing: medial prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex and ventral striatum. We also predicted that emotional brain regions would be modulated depending on perceived opponent nationality in the task. Right-handed, healthy Scottish participants underwent blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast fMRI scanning (N28, mean age 27.81, fifteen females). We modified the stimuli of SH task (Yoshida et al, 2010) by adding different identity groups as opponents using UK and EU national flags (the Saltire, St George’s Cross, Union Jack, or EU). Participants could choose whether to cooperate with opponents for greater mutual reward (20 points) or to defect and gain a lower reward individually (10 points). fMRI results showed activation in superior occipital lobe, calcarine, and cuneus to be significantly greater when participants cooperated with English and EU opponents(out-groups) compared to when they cooperated with Scottish opponents(in-group). Defecting on Scottish opponents compared to defecting on English opponents significantly activated putamen, caudate, insula, orbital superior frontal cortex, superior temporal pole, inferior orbital frontal cortex, and pallidum. The results suggest that cooperation with different identity groups may increase visual attention and can be related to reward expectation (Thomas et al, 2013). Ventral striatum and anterior insula involvement in defection suggests that defecting on the in-group rather than the out-group may require increased emotional processing

この発表は，スタグハントゲームを用いた人人間の協調は国籍に依存しているという推定をfMRIを用いて実証するというものでした．スタグハントゲームという課題を今まで聞いたことがなく，非常に興味がわきました．ゲームの内容はシンプルですが，協調を計測するにはうってつけの課題であることがわかりました．

発表タイトル       ：　The neurobiological mechanisms supporting mindfulness-based analgesia: A longitudinal perspective
著者                  ： F. ZEIDAN, R. C. COGHILL, Y. JUNG, A. ADLER-NEAL, S. FARRIS
セッション名       ： Nanosymposium
Abstract　　　　　：　　The experience of pain is mediated by sensory, cognitive, and affective factors, rendering the treatment of chronic pain difficult and often a financial burden. New far-reaching policy guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control have advocated for the utilization of nonpharmacological pain therapies. To this extent, mindfulness meditation, a cognitive practice premised on sustaining non-judgmental awareness of arising sensory events, significantly attenuates experimental and clinical pain. Yet, the neural mechanisms supporting mindfulnessbased analgesia remain poorly characterized. This presentation will provide a comprehensive understanding of the brain processes supporting the modulation of pain by mindfulness meditation from a longitudinal perspective. Novel findings, from our laboratory, reveal that healthy individuals (with no prior meditation experience) exhibiting higher levels of dispositional mindfulness report significantly lower pain ratings in response to noxious heat stimulation (49°C). Employing arterial spin labeling functional magnetic resonance imaging (ASL fMRI), we found that greater trait mindfulness was also associated with greater deactivation of the precuneus/ posterior cingulate cortex during noxious stimulation, brain regions critically involved in facilitating self-referential processes. In two ASL fMRI studies, mindfulness meditation, after a brief, four-session (20min/session) meditation-training regimen, significantly reduced pain through greater activation of the orbitofrontal cortex, subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, right anterior insula and deactivation of the thalamus. These findings demonstrate that mindfulness meditation reduces pain through unique cortico-thalamo-cortical interactions. We will also discuss findings showing that mindfulness meditation, after brief mental training, does not engage endogenous opioids to attenuate pain, an important consideration for the millions of pain patients seeking a fast-acting, non-opioid pain therapy. Finally, we will present findings demonstrating that meditation-induced analgesia, after extensive meditation training (> 1000 hours), is associated with greater activation in somatosensory cortices and deactivation of the prefrontal cortex during noxious heat stimulation, likely reflective of a decoupling between sensory and appraisal systems. These findings suggest that mindfulness meditation after brief training engages brain mechanisms supporting unique reappraisal processes, while meditation-based analgesia after long-term training employ nonappraisal mechanisms.

この発表では，マインドフルネスに基づいた痛みを軽減した時の脳活動をfMRIを用いて計測し，どのようなプロセスで実現されているのかが明らかにされた．実験タスクが非常にきつい熱刺激で，瞑想が痛みの軽減に効果をもたらすということが事実らしく感じられた．

参考文献
Neuroscience 2017
（https://www.sfn.org/annual-meeting/neuroscience-2017）