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Information gain modulates brain activity evoked by reading.

ABSTRACT: The human brain processes language to optimise efficient communication. Studies have shown extensive evidence that the brain's response to language is affected both by lower-level features, such as word-length and frequency, and syntactic and semantic violations within sentences. However, our understanding on cognitive processes at discourse level remains limited: How does the relationship between words and the wider topic one is reading about affect language processing? We propose an information theoretic model to explain cognitive resourcing. In a study in which participants read sentences from Wikipedia entries, we show information gain, an information theoretic measure that quantifies the specificity of a word given its topic context, modulates word-synchronised brain activity in the EEG. Words with high information gain amplified a slow positive shift in the event related potential. To show that the effect persists for individual and unseen brain responses, we furthermore show that a classifier trained on EEG data can successfully predict information gain from previously unseen EEG. The findings suggest that biological information processing seeks to maximise performance subject to constraints on information capacity.

SUBMITTER: Kangassalo L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7203262 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Information gain modulates brain activity evoked by reading.

Kangassalo Lauri L Spapé Michiel M Ravaja Niklas N Ruotsalo Tuukka T

Scientific reports 20200506 1

The human brain processes language to optimise efficient communication. Studies have shown extensive evidence that the brain's response to language is affected both by lower-level features, such as word-length and frequency, and syntactic and semantic violations within sentences. However, our understanding on cognitive processes at discourse level remains limited: How does the relationship between words and the wider topic one is reading about affect language processing? We propose an informatio ...[more]

PMID: 32376834

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Project description:Deep brain stimulation is an established therapy for Parkinson's disease; however, its effectiveness is hindered by limited understanding of therapeutic mechanisms and the lack of a robust feedback signal for tailoring stimulation. We recently reported that subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation evokes a neural response resembling a decaying high-frequency (200-500?Hz) oscillation that typically has a duration of at least 10?ms and is localizable to the dorsal sub-region. As the morphology of this response suggests a propensity for the underlying neural circuitry to oscillate at a particular frequency, we have named it evoked resonant neural activity. Here, we determine whether this evoked activity is modulated by therapeutic stimulation - a critical attribute of a feedback signal. Furthermore, we investigated whether any related changes occurred in spontaneous local field potentials. Evoked and spontaneous neural activity was intraoperatively recorded from 19 subthalamic nuclei in patients with Parkinson's disease. Recordings were obtained before therapeutic stimulation and during 130?Hz stimulation at increasing amplitudes (0.67-3.38?mA), 'washout' of therapeutic effects, and non-therapeutic 20?Hz stimulation. Therapeutic efficacy was assessed using clinical bradykinesia and rigidity scores. The frequency and amplitude of evoked resonant neural activity varied with the level of 130?Hz stimulation (p?<?.001). This modulation coincided with improvement in bradykinesia and rigidity (p?<?.001), and correlated with spontaneous beta band suppression (p?<?.001). Evoked neural activity occupied a similar frequency band to spontaneous high-frequency oscillations (200-400?Hz), both of which decreased to around twice the 130?Hz stimulation rate. Non-therapeutic stimulation at 20?Hz evoked, but did not modulate, resonant activity. These results indicate that therapeutic deep brain stimulation alters the frequency of evoked and spontaneous oscillations recorded in the subthalamic nucleus that are likely generated by loops within the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical network. Evoked resonant neural activity therefore has potential as a tool for providing insight into brain network function and has key attributes of a dynamic feedback signal for optimizing therapy.

Dataset Information

Information gain modulates brain activity evoked by reading.

Publications

Information gain modulates brain activity evoked by reading.

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