Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2023
Alan Anticevic, Michael M. Halassa
41 citations
Psychosis spectrum disorder affects 1% of the world population and leads to chronic disability. Developing treatments for its cognitive deficits is hindered by a weak link between neurobiological understanding and clinical symptoms. This perspective highlights an opportunity combining non-invasive human neuroimaging with insights into thalamic regulation of cortical connectivity. The thalamus forms forebrain-wide functional loops critical for processing external inputs and updating internal models. Evidence shows PSD symptomatology may stem from faulty network organization with the thalamus as a central coordinator. Animal work clarifies thalamic circuits regulating cortical dynamics and cognition.
Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2023
Chen Lu, Vera Moliadze, Frauke Nees
13 citations
Mindfulness-based processes can enhance attention and produce analgesia, making them effective for pain interventions. This review introduces the concept of mindfulness and its components as relevant to pain mechanisms, noting that differences in definitions, study design, and attention direction strategies must be considered when synthesizing findings. A dynamic process model of mindfulness-based analgesia is proposed: early effects stem from improved cognitive regulation, while later effects involve reduced interference between cognitive and affective factors. With practice, mechanisms shift, as neural activation changes from increased activity in the ACC and aINS in beginners to increased pINS and reduced lPFC activity in experts.
Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2024
Demi Govender, Leila Moloko, Maria Papathanasopoulos et al.
10 citations
Ibogaine, a psychedelic alkaloid being investigated for opioid use disorder, upregulates genes and proteins involved in remyelination in rats. In an experiment with 50 Sprague Dawley rats, morphine upregulated CNPase, while ibogaine alone had no effect on CNP mRNA or protein expression. However, ibogaine given after repeated morphine immediately increased CNP mRNA expression, which diminished after 72 hours but resulted in highly significant upregulation of CNPase protein at 72 hours. Ibogaine alone significantly upregulated protein expression but downregulated MBP mRNA expression. Ibogaine after morphine significantly upregulated MBP mRNA expression, increasing at 72 hours and leading to highly significant upregulation of MBP protein at 72 hours. These findings indicate ibogaine can upregulate remyelination-related genes and proteins after opioid use.
Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2025
Junling Gao, Hang Kin Leung, Kin Cheung George Lee et al.
6 citations
Mindfulness meditation and 6 Hz high-entropy music both alter adolescent brain dynamics, but in distinct ways. In twenty-eight high school students, single-channel EEG at the forehead during three 5-minute conditions—rest, meditation, and music—showed that music produced the strongest alpha-band synchronization across participants, followed by meditation, then rest. Meditation yielded the highest clustering coefficient and small-world index, indicating more integrated and efficient neural networks. Music generated the largest information cascades and synergy, suggesting extensive information integration. While both interventions changed brain dynamics compared to rest, meditation fostered integrated connectivity, whereas music produced the greatest element-wise correlation.
Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2024
Matthew Bergosh, Sasha Medvidovic, Nancy Zepeda et al.
6 citations
In a rat model of depression, both ketamine and deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the medial prefrontal cortex altered specific brain wave patterns. Depression-like behavior correlated with reduced theta power and increased signal complexity (sample entropy) during treatment, and later with a higher theta peak frequency and a lower aperiodic exponent. Ketamine's remission-like effects were linked to post-treatment increases in aperiodic offset and exponent, and decreased sample entropy. DBS alone produced immediate decreases in sample entropy, sustained increases in low gamma peak width and aperiodic offset, and lasting cognitive improvements.
Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2023
Azat Nasretdinov, Sebastian A Barrientos, Ivani Brys et al.
6 citations
LSD and ketamine produce altered brain states through different underlying mechanisms. In rodents, ketamine increased neuronal activity (indicated by shifts in local field potential power) but reduced connectivity between brain structures, while LSD also reduced connectivity but without a change in broadband power. The findings help bridge human imaging studies, which show altered functional connectivity, with invasive animal recordings that reveal high-frequency oscillations. Understanding these distinct neurophysiological signatures may clarify how classic psychedelics and dissociative anesthetics affect the brain, informing their potential therapeutic uses for psychiatric conditions.
Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2025
Martin Boese, Rina Berman, Kennett Radford et al.
5 citations
This review summarizes preclinical studies on how ketamine affects fear extinction, the process of learning that trauma-related cues are no longer threatening. Findings are inconsistent: ketamine may enhance, impair, have no effect, or produce mixed effects on fear extinction, depending on dosage, route, and timing of administration. The authors recommend future research include more female subjects, use clinically relevant doses and routes, and employ behavioral assays relevant to human PTSD to improve translation from animal studies to clinical treatment.
Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2024
Tim Simon Neuhäusel, Zoltan Gerevich
5 citations
Blocking NMDA receptors with the drug MK-801 for 14 days in rats impaired recognition memory, increased stereotypic behavior, and reduced grooming, predominantly in females. The drug also boosted the peak power of hippocampal gamma oscillations induced by kainate or acetylcholine only in female rats, without changing oscillation frequency. These results align with clinical electrophysiological findings and underscore hippocampal gamma oscillations as a biomarker in schizophrenia and depression, highlighting sex-specific effects of NMDA receptor antagonists.
Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2025
Faly Golshan, Marla J S Mickleborough
4 citations
Meditation alters brain activity in response to both acute and chronic pain, as shown by fMRI studies. The review categorizes general models of how meditation changes cortical responses in naïve and expert practitioners. It discusses three major components of pain processing and how meditation affects each stage, identifies key brain regions consistently involved in pain modulation through meditation, and proposes a framework for differentiating meditation techniques based on their distinct effects on pain experiences. These insights have implications for using various meditation techniques in pain management, especially for chronic conditions.
Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2025
Christine Ramirez, Gertrude Asumpaame Alayine, Cyril Selase Kwaku Akafia et al.
3 citations
Music mindfulness—combining music listening with mindfulness activities—acutely increases heart rate variability and alters brain activity in frontotemporal regions, as measured by wearable electrocardiography and electroencephalography in people with moderate anxiety and depression. Both live and virtual sessions reduce stress and shift state of consciousness, but only live sessions enhance social connection. Effects on physiology and psychology differ by self-reported sex. The findings suggest music mindfulness engages autonomic and neural mechanisms that may help treat anxiety and depression symptoms.
Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2024
Kelly T Cosgrove, Aki Tsuchiyagaito, Zsofia P Cohen et al.
3 citations
A pilot study tested whether a single session of neurofeedback-augmented mindfulness training (NAMT) altered resting-state functional connectivity of the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) in typically developing adolescents. Thirty-one adolescents (average age 14.8 years; 45% female) underwent resting-state fMRI before and after the NAMT task. The hypothesized decrease in connectivity between the PCC and other default mode network regions was not supported. However, functional connectivity between the PCC and a cluster including the left hippocampus and amygdala increased significantly after the task (Fisher's Z from 0.16 to 0.26). This preliminary finding suggests NAMT may strengthen connectivity between default mode and salience regions, potentially supporting self-referential and emotional processing.
Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2018
Camila Sanz, Federico Zamberlan, Earth Erowid et al.
3 citations
correction
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Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2025
Zuxing Feng, Yanli Li, Ying Cai et al.
2 citations
After effective antidepressant treatment in patients with acute major depressive disorder (MDD), plasma glutamate levels increased while levels of inflammatory cytokines (IL-17, IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-8) decreased. Greater improvement in cognitive impairment was associated with smaller changes in glycine. Improvements in depressive and anxiety symptoms, reductions in feelings of despair, and alleviation of somatic anxiety symptoms were linked to changes in inflammatory cytokines. These findings suggest that N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-related indicators and inflammatory markers change with effective treatment and may be associated with clinical outcomes.
Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2024
Yida Wang, Sile Chang, Dongxu Chen
2 citations
A bibliometric analysis of 10,328 ketamine research articles published from 2014 to 2023 shows steady growth in publication volume. The United States and China lead in both publication and citation counts. The National Institute of Mental Health and Yale University are the most active institutions, and Carlos Zarate of the NIMH has the highest number of significant publications and co-citations. Key research themes include mechanism of action, adverse events, psychiatric applications, and perioperative implications. The analysis maps the global research landscape, identifying trends, key contributors, and thematic focus areas to guide future work on ketamine's therapeutic potential.
Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2026
Yue Gou, Xuemei Liu, Wenjie Zhu et al.
1 citation
Cognition, emotion, and behavior arise from ongoing bidirectional communication between a host and its symbiotic gut microbes, not from brain-isolated processes alone. The gut microbiota acts as an embedded signaling system, producing cognitively active metabolites like short-chain fatty acids and neuroactive substances that shape interoceptive states and neural function through neural, immune, and metabolic pathways. Evidence from germ-free animal models, fecal microbiota transplantation, human multi-omics, and clinical interventions indicates that microbiota-derived processes are constitutively relevant to embodied cognitive architectures organized by interoceptive prediction, affective appraisal, and vagal-metabolic signaling. This framework moves beyond a linear gut-brain axis to a multispecies model, offering a biological foundation for the mind and enabling precision mental health interventions like psychobiotics.
Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2026
Marcos Lago, Mariana Cerveira, Joe Xavier Simonet
1 citation
A single case report describes an 80-year-old woman with a 10-year history of Alzheimer's disease and severe functional decline who showed temporary improvements in multiple domains after taking 5 grams of psilocybin-containing mushrooms. Before the intervention, she had urinary incontinence, difficulty walking, minimal speech, and required help with daily activities. About 19 hours after administration, she began speaking spontaneously about her life. Over the following days and weeks, she regained bladder control, walked better, dressed herself, showed more emotion, engaged in conversations, and recalled recent social interactions. The authors suggest that some functional capacity may persist even in late-stage Alzheimer's and can become temporarily accessible under certain conditions, but the findings do not indicate disease reversal.
Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2025
Kasper Recourt, Joop Van Gerven, Nadieh Drenth et al.
1 citation
Ketamine, given intravenously at 0.5 mg/kg, rapidly reduces depression symptoms in patients with non-treatment-resistant major depressive disorder. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study with 16 patients, ketamine lowered mean MADRS scores from 21.2 before dosing to 10.3 at 24 hours, compared with placebo. Resting-state fMRI showed that ketamine altered functional connectivity only in brain circuits previously linked to depression—the corticolimbic-insular-striatal-pallidal-thalamic (CLIPST) network—at both acute (50–165 minutes) and delayed (24 hours) time points. No connectivity changes occurred outside this depression-related circuitry. The results indicate that ketamine specifically targets depression-associated neural pathways, supporting model-based analysis in future pharmaco-fMRI studies.
Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2025
Albert Gidon, Jaan Aru, Matthew E. Larkum
1 citation
Simulating a simple computation in an artificial neural network, researchers recorded neuron activity during visual stimulation and replayed those signals back into the same neurons. This replay degraded the computation by erasing counterfactual activity patterns—alternative neural states that could have occurred—while leaving ongoing brain activity unchanged. This outcome reveals a disconnect between neural activity and computational structure, challenging the computational functionalist view that consciousness emerges from the right computations, whether in machines or biological brains.
Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2026
Jenna E Kachmarik, Jennifer M Loftis, Christopher S Stauffer
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is linked to higher inflammation and chronic illness risk, but few studies have examined how PTSD interventions affect inflammatory biomarkers. In this pilot study, 23 Veterans with PTSD provided blood samples before and after MDMA-assisted group therapy. Small increases occurred in interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP), while tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) showed a small decrease. Higher baseline IL-6 and TNF-α were associated with more severe PTSD symptoms. IL-6 change correlated with symptom change, and higher baseline IL-6 weakly predicted symptom improvement. These preliminary results suggest MDMA-assisted therapy may influence inflammatory biomarkers and highlight relationships between biomarkers and PTSD symptoms.
Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2025
Laura Lindenbaum, Inga Steppacher, Alexandra Mehlmann et al.
In people with disorders of consciousness, brain activity before a sound influences how the brain responds to that sound. Among 14 patients (12 in a minimally conscious state, 2 with unresponsive wakefulness syndrome), half showed a P3-like brain response to auditory oddball stimuli. Patients who had this response tended to have more beta and gamma brain wave power before the stimulus. The relationship between pre-stimulus brain activity and post-stimulus responses varied greatly across patients, with some showing negative correlations between high-frequency pre-stimulus power and later brain responses. This variability highlights the need for individual assessment to find optimal stimulation windows for each patient.
Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2025
Antonio Inserra, Colin J Murray, Antonella Campanale et al.
Rapid-acting antidepressants, such as ketamine and serotonergic psychedelics, may affect myelin homeostasis. A systematic review of 41 studies (12 in humans, 21 in animals, 7 in vitro, and 1 computational) found that these drugs modulate myelination in a dose- and exposure-dependent manner: therapeutic doses generally promote myelin integrity and oligodendrocyte maturation, while high or repeated doses, or neonatal exposure, can disrupt myelin structure, impair oligodendrocyte viability, and produce cognitive, affective, and neurotoxic side effects. Myelin regulation may be a component of antidepressant action, but further research is needed to clarify mechanisms and implications for therapy.
Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2025
Fa Lu, Lunxu Li, Juan Wang et al.
Global signal regression (GSR), a common preprocessing step in fMRI analysis, affects brain activity patterns differently depending on the anesthetic agent used. Using fMRI data from patients under general anesthesia, the work shows that GSR alters specific network connections under propofol but broadly reduces connectivity differences under sevoflurane. Network topology analyses reveal that GSR minimally affects propofol-induced changes in graph theoretical measures but significantly diminishes sevoflurane-related network alterations. These findings indicate that GSR's impact on functional brain organization is anesthetic-specific, with sevoflurane-induced changes being particularly sensitive to global signal removal. The results suggest that GSR should be applied cautiously when comparing different anesthetic agents.
Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2025
Haoyang Jiao, Weihang Zhai, Jinling Zhang et al.
Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) may help restore consciousness in patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness (pDOC), but clinical results have been inconsistent. This study will enroll 50 patients with pDOC who will receive a 4-week taVNS treatment. Before and after treatment, each patient will undergo a 30-minute resting electroencephalogram (EEG) and a Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) assessment. After treatment, patients will be followed up at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. Patients will be classified as responders or non-responders based on whether their CRS-R scores increase. The study aims to identify EEG characteristics—such as differences in brain power spectrum and functional connectivity—that predict which patients are suitable for taVNS, to improve treatment selection.
Frontiers in neuroscience
January 1, 2024
Weronika Dębowska, Magdalena Więdłocha, Marta Dębowska et al.
correction
A corrigendum corrects errors in a previously published article on transcranial magnetic stimulation and ketamine for depression. The original funding statement displayed an incorrect grant number; the correct number is "Key Development Project of Department of Science and Technology (2015C03Bd051)." Additionally, the original Conflict of Interest statement omitted that two co-authors were employed by KeyClinic, a commercial mental health center offering ketamine and TMS treatment among other services, and one author was employed by Mind Health, served on the Janssen Cilag Advisory Board, and gave lectures for Janssen Cilag.