Bipedalism (using only two legs for walking) and having the capability to use tools have long been considered characteristic features that differentiate human beings from animals. Being able to walk upright freed up human hands, allowing us to reach, grasp, carry food, make and use tools, which greatly increased the survivability of our ancestors. Hand actions not only involve muscles and joints to execute actions but also require computations in the brain to analyze the visual environment and select the appropriate action, as well as formulate the action before execution and correct it in real-time during execution. Here, we review the behavioral and brain imaging research of human hand actions from a perspective of cognitive neuroscience. The review includes the research contents and methods of visually-guided action, existing theories, current debates, new evidence of existing theories, and the applications of action research in robotics and artificial intelligence.
Brain ; diagnostic imaging ; physiology ; Hand ; Humans ; Neuroimaging ; Psychomotor Performance

Mirror neuron system (MNS) represents one of the most important discoveries of cognitive neuroscience in the past decade, and it has been found to involve in multiple aspects of brain functions including action understanding, imitation, language understanding, empathy, action prediction and speech evolution. This manuscript reviewed the function of MNS in action understanding as well as language evolution, and specifically assessed its roles as the bridge from body language to fluent speeches. Then we discussed the speech defects of autism patients due to the disruption of MNS. Finally, given that MNS is plastic in adult brain, we proposed MNS targeted therapy provides an efficient rehabilitation approach for brain damages conditions as well as autism patients.
Autistic Disorder ; physiopathology ; Brain ; physiology ; Humans ; Language ; Motor Neurons ; physiology ; Psychomotor Performance ; physiology ; Visual Perception ; physiology

In order to promote the performance of EEG classification based on multi-task motor imagery (MI), we used common spatial pattern (CSP) as the feature extraction method, and we extracted the features under two conditions, with one "One versus One" and the other "One versus Rest". Then, as for the different feature extraction methods, we presented different classification methods based on support vector machine (SVM) according to the different input features. The final classification results showed that the mean Kappa of "One versus One" classification method based on decision value is much higher than that of voting rule, and a little higher than that of "One versus Rest" classification method.
Algorithms ; Brain ; physiology ; Electroencephalography ; Humans ; Imagination ; physiology ; Movement ; physiology ; Psychomotor Performance ; Support Vector Machine ; Task Performance and Analysis

This investigation was made on the characteristic of the N400 event-related potentials in excessive internet users by analyzing the N400 difference between the excessive internet users (trial team) and normal subjects (control team); the aim was to provide a theoretic basis for the diagnosis and treatment of excessive internet users. Ten right-handed excessive internet users and ten healthy right-handed volunteers aged 20 to 25 years were recruited to attend the experimentation of single Chinese character with semantically matching or mismatching ending strokes. The N400 displayed obvious difference between the excessive internet users and normal subjects when they were confronted with mis-matching ending strokes of single simple Chinese character. The N400 amplitude of the trial team was significantly lower than that of the control team (P<0.05), and the N400 latency of the trial team was significantly earlier than that of the control team (P<0.05). In addition, the distribution of the N400 in the brain was more wide-spread in the control team than in the trial team. These results showed there was significant difference in N400 between the excessive internet users and the normal subjects.
Behavior, Addictive ; physiopathology ; psychology ; Electroencephalography ; methods ; Evoked Potentials ; physiology ; Female ; Humans ; Internet ; utilization ; Male ; Psychomotor Performance ; physiology ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo explore the effects of the genetic and environmental factors on intelligence of children and adolescent from the Southwest China Prospective Twin Registry (SCPT).

METHODSThe intelligence was investigated by using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (C-WISC) in 333 twin pairs aged 6-16 years. The effects of genetic and environmental factors on IQ were analyzed by using structural equation modeling (SEM) and correlation analysis method. The effects in different sex and age groups in this population were also investigated.

RESULTSGenetic influence accounted for 0.43 of total IQ variance and 0.37 of verbal IQ in 6-16 years old children and adolescent, but there was no significant genetic effect on performance IQ. The heritability of children aged 10-16 years was higher than that of those aged 6-10 years (total IQ: 0.82 vs 0.00, verbal IQ: 0.80 vs 0.00, performance IQ:0.51 vs 0.00). In males the heritability of verbal IQ (0.47) was higher than that in females (0.05). The shared environmental influences accounted fo r the majority of variance of performance IQ in both males and females.

CONCLUSIONThere is moderate heritability on the total IQ and verbal IQ, while shared environmental factors played important roles on the variance of performance IQ. The heritability of IQ, verbal IQ and performance IQ are higher in older children and adolescent than that in younger children.

Adolescent ; Age Factors ; Child ; Child Development ; physiology ; Environment ; Female ; Humans ; Intelligence ; genetics ; Male ; Psychomotor Performance ; physiology ; Reaction Time ; genetics ; Sex Characteristics ; Sex Factors ; Twins ; genetics ; Wechsler Scales

Phantom limbs are usually observed after amputation of extremities. In patients after a stroke, a similar but rarely occurring phenomenon consisting of the patient experiencing the presence of an additional limb has been described. This phenomenon, generally called supernumerary phantom limb (SPL), may be caused by lesions in the right or left cerebral hemisphere, but has been predominantly reported in patients who have had a right hemispheric stroke. We report two cases of atypical SPL and phantom limb pain (PLP) after pontine hemorrhage. The patients were treated conservatively and their symptoms lasted more than 1 month. This is the first report of SPLs after left pontine hemorrhage, and phantom perception and pain lasted longer than those in previously observed cases. Our results indicate that SPL may be more common than reported; therefore, thorough examinations are essential for the care of stroke patients.
Cerebral Hemorrhage/*complications ; Cerebral Infarction/complications ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pain/etiology ; Phantom Limb/*diagnosis/etiology/therapy ; Psychomotor Performance/physiology ; Stroke/complications ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Objective To explore the change rules of blood ethanol and blood acetaldehyde concentration, the impairment of psychomotor functions of different acetaldehyde dehydrogenase （ALDH） 2 genotype individuals after alcohol consumption and the relationship among them. Methods The ALDH2 genotypes in seventy-nine healthy volunteers were obtained by SNaPshot^TM method, then divided into ALDH2*1/*1 （wild type） and ALDH2*1/*2 （mutant type） group. After volunteers consumed 1.0 g/kg of alcohol, blood ethanol concentration and blood acetaldehyde concentration at a series of time points before and after alcohol consumption and psychomotor functions, such as, visual selective response time, auditory simple response time and tracking experiment were detected. Biphasic alcohol response questionnaires were collected. Results After alcohol consumption, ALDH2*1/*2 group's blood ethanol and blood acetaldehyde concentration reached the peak earlier than ALDH2*1/*1 group. Its blood acetaldehyde concentration was higher than that of ALDH2*1/*1 group, 1-6 h after alcohol consumption. The psychomotor functions, such as visual selective response time and auditory simple response time in ALDH2*1/*2 group were more significantly impaired than those in ALDH2*1/*1 group after alcohol consumption. There was no statistical significance between the two groups in excitement or sedation reactions （P>0.05）. Pearson correlation coefficient test showed that blood acetaldehyde concentration was related with psychomotor function. Conclusion There are significant differences between the psychomotor function of ALDH2 wild type and mutant type individuals after alcohol consumption estimated to be related to the difference in blood acetaldehyde concentration after alcohol consumption.
Acetaldehyde/metabolism* ; Alcohol Drinking/blood* ; Aldehyde Dehydrogenase/genetics* ; Aldehyde Dehydrogenase, Mitochondrial ; Aldehyde Oxidoreductases ; Ethanol/metabolism* ; Genotype ; Humans ; Polymorphism, Genetic/genetics* ; Psychomotor Performance/physiology*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of an exercise program on frontal lobe cognitive function in seniors. METHODS: The participants were 42 seniors using a health center in Seoul (experimental group) and 28 seniors using a facility for elders in Seoul (control group). The exercise program was carried out for 16 weeks from April to August 2007. The frontal lobe cognitive function, which includes short term memory, attention, immediate memory, delayed memory, verbal fluency and motor function, was measured by the Digit Span Forward test, Trail Making test, Immediate recall words test, Delayed recall words, Controlled oral word association test and Finger tapping test. The collected data were analyzed by Fisher's exact test, Chi-square, t-test, and ANCOVA using the SAS program. RESULTS: The major findings of this study were as follows: Attention (p=.009), immediate memory (p=.005), delayed memory (p=.009), and verbal fluency (p=.004) improved after the exercise program. CONCLUSION: In this study, the exercise program was effective in improving frontal lobe cognitive function in elders. So it provides basic information for further nursing education on exercise programs which will be effective for prevention of early cognitive function decline in normally aging elders.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Attention ; Cognition ; *Exercise ; Female ; Frontal Lobe/*physiology ; Humans ; Male ; Memory, Short-Term ; Mental Recall ; Middle Aged ; Psychomotor Performance ; Trail Making Test ; Verbal Behavior

OBJECTIVETo test the reliability of quantitative neurological tests in evaluating the neurological deficits in rat models of cerebral ischemia.

METHODSForty male SD rats (7 to 9 weeks old) were subjected to transient (1 h) middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) to induce cerebral infarction and 9 received sham operation only. The motor and sensory functions of the rats were measured before and 1, 3, 7 and 14 days after MCAO by accelerating rotarod test and modified adhesive removal test. Fourteen days later, the rats were sacrificed for histological examination, and the lesion size was determined by Winroof image analysis. The neurological deficits of the rats with different lesion sizes and at different time points were analyzed.

RESULTSAccording to the infarct size, the rats after MCAO were divided into two subgroups with large lesions [(68.56+/-12.54)%] affecting both the cortical area and basal ganglia and small lesions [(12.45+/-9.06)%] affecting the basal ganglia. Significant differences in the results of modified adhesive removal test and rotarod test were found between the two groups, and a liner relationship was noted between the lesion size and the results of the neurological tests.

CONCLUSIONThe modified quantitative neurological tests can reliably evaluate the severity of the infarction and estimate the infarct size in rats with cerebral infarction.

Animals ; Behavior, Animal ; physiology ; Brain Ischemia ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Male ; Motor Activity ; Neurologic Examination ; Psychomotor Performance ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Severity of Illness Index

INTRODUCTIONFunctional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a neuroradiological technique for the localisation of cortical function. FMRI made its debut in cognitive neuroscience and then eventually to other clinical applications. We report our experience with pre-surgical fMRI on a high field scanner, based purely on a clinical platform.

MATERIALS AND METHODSThe protocols included motor, auditory, visual and language fMRI. The choice of protocols was dependant on clinical request and lesion locale.

RESULTSRetrospective analysis and audit of the fi rst 30 consecutive patients over a 12-month period revealed that about 85% of patients had a successful examination. In a pictorial essay, we demonstrate that patients with weakness in performing a motor task showed abnormal activations of the pre-motor and supplementary motor areas.

CONCLUSIONFMRI data greatly enhances the pre-surgical planning process and the conduct of surgery when it is incorporated into the surgical navigation system in the operating theatre.

Adult ; Aged ; Diagnostic Techniques, Neurological ; Female ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Preoperative Period ; Psychomotor Performance ; physiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Singapore