Perception of Disordered Voice: Reaction Time, Accuracy, and Neural Processing.

The impact of disease states can be measured using health state utilities, which are values that reflect economic preferences for health outcomes. Utilities for dysphonia have not been studied using direct methods. The objective of this project was to establish the baseline health utilities of mild and severe dysphonia from a societal perspective. Direct utility elicitation survey. Four health states (monocular blindness, binocular blindness, mild dysphonia, and severe dysphonia) were evaluated by a convenience sample of adults recruited from the general public with three computer-aided estimation techniques (visual analog scale [VAS], standard gamble [SG], and time trade-off [TTO]). Standardized descriptions and voice recordings from multiple dysphonic patients were employed. Perfect health was defined as a utility of 1, with death 0. Analysis of variance with post hoc pairwise comparison was used to calculate significant differences between health states. Three hundred participants were surveyed, and 225 (75.0%) responses met quality thresholds. Severe dysphonia (VAS = 48.3, SG = 0.810, TTO = 0.798) was valued significantly worse than monocular blindness (VAS = 56.2, SG = 0.834, TTO = 0.839) on the VAS (P < .001) and equivalent on SG and TTO; it was preferred over binocular blindness (VAS = 25.7, SG = 0.631, TTO = 0.622; P < .001) with all methods. Mild dysphonia evaluated favorably with all methods to the other health states (VAS = 78.5, SG = 0.902, TTO = 0.908; P < .001). Voice disorders may have a measurable impact on utility, with severe dysphonia valued equivalently to monocular blindness. Mild dysphonia has a utility decrement from perfect health. These estimates are critical for quality-of-life assessment and could be used to assess cost-effectiveness of treatments for voice disorders. NA Laryngoscope, 130:1256-1262, 2020.

SummaryThe neural responses that distinguish novel from familiar items in recognition memory tasks are remarkably fast in both humans and nonhuman primates. In humans, the earliest onsets of neural novelty effects emerge at about ∼150–200 ms after stimulus onset [1–5]. However, in recognition memory studies with nonhuman primates, novelty effects can arise at as early as 70–80 ms [6, 7]. Here, we address the possibility that this large species difference in onset latencies is caused experimentally by the necessity of using reward reinforcement to motivate the detection of novel or familiar items in nonhuman primates but not in humans. Via magnetoencephalography in humans, we show in two experiments that the onset of neural novelty signals is accelerated from ∼200 ms to ∼85 ms if correct recognition memory for either novel or familiar items is rewarded. Importantly, this acceleration is independent of whether the detection of the novel or the familiar scenes is rewarded. Furthermore, this early novelty effect contributed to memory retrieval because neural reward responses, which were contingent upon novelty detection, followed ∼100 ms later. Thus, under the contextual influence of reward motivation, behaviorally relevant novelty signals emerge much faster than previously held possible in humans.

Objective: Internally guided actions are defined as being purposeful, self-generated and offering choices between alternatives. Intentional actions are essential to reach individual goals. In previous empirical studies, internally guided actions were predominantly related to functional responses in frontal and parietal areas. The aim of the present study was to distinguish event-related potentials and oscillatory responses of intentional actions and externally guided actions. In addition, we compared neurobiological findings of the decision which action to perform with those referring to the decision whether or not to perform an action.Methods: Twenty-eight subjects participated in adapted go/nogo paradigms, including a voluntary selection condition allowing participants to (1) freely decide whether to press the response button or (2) to decide whether they wanted to press the response button with the right index finger or the left index finger.Results: The reaction times were increased when participants freely decided whether and how they wanted to respond compared to the go condition. Intentional processes were associated with a fronto-centrally located N2 and P3 potential. N2 and P3 amplitudes were increased during intentional actions compared to instructed responses (go). In addition, increased activity in the alpha-, beta- and gamma-frequency range was shown during voluntary behavior rather than during externally guided responses.Conclusion: These results may indicate that an additional cognitive process is needed for intentional actions compared to instructed behavior. However, the neural responses were comparatively independent of the kind of decision that was made (1) decision which action to perform; (2) decision whether or not to perform an action).Significance: The study demonstrates the importance of fronto-central alpha-, beta-, and gamma oscillations for voluntary behavior.

The discrimination of voice signals has numerous applications in diagnosing of pathologies related to voice. This paper discussed about the glottal signal that is bound to recognize two sorts of voice issue: Laryngitis and Laryngeal dystonia (LD). The parameters of the glottal signal fill in as contribution to classifiers that characterizes into three unique gatherings of speakers: speakers with Laryngitis; with laryngeal dystonia (LD); lastly speakers with healthy voices. The database is made out of voice accounts containing tests of three gatherings. The classifiers SVM provided 60%, KNN provided 70% and Ensemble provided 80% classification accuracy in the case of Laryngitis. Voice signals of patients affected with Laryngeal dystonia were also collected and tested with same classifiers and the Accuracy of 90%, 80% and 50% were obtained with SVM, KNN and Ensemble respectively.

A number of different therapies have been used in the management of spasmodic dysphonia. None are curative, and the results of the most widely used surgical procedure (resection of the recurrent laryngeal nerve) are not universally good, with a high recurrence rate in some series. Furthermore, the procedure is not reversible. Using a special electromyographic hypodermic needle, we injected botulinum A toxin into one of the vocal folds of two patients with severe spasmodic dysphonia. Both had significant improvement without any complications. Although the resultant paresis is not permanent, the injection can be repeated as needed as an outpatient procedure.

The aim of this study was to provide a neurophysiological evaluation of the function of large and small fibers, particularly the peripheral part of the thermonociceptive Aδ pathway in patients with primary restless legs syndrome (RLS). The main evaluation was based on an analysis of the parameters of laser-evoked potentials (LEPs), N2 and P2 components, and an assessment of thermonociceptive thresholds (pain thresholds; PThs). Routine nerve conduction studies (NCS) were also performed. No essential or important differences of clinical significance were observed in the parameters of large fiber conduction between the study and the control groups. Prolonged latencies of N2 and P2 potentials were obtained during foot stimulation in patients with primary RLS when compared to controls (N2, P2-lower right limb, and N2-lower left limb). We also observed higher amplitudes of LEPs evaluated as P2 and N2-P2 potentials in patients with primary RLS in comparison with the control group. Significantly higher (normal distribution P < .05) thermonociceptive thresholds in both lower and upper limbs were found in the RLS group. On the basis of the analysis of LEPs and their comparison with the respective results from the control group, the presence of functional disability of the thermonociceptive Aδ pathway was confirmed in patients with primary RLS. The results indicated the presence of changes in the conduction of small fiber pathways in the pathomechanism of idiopathic RLS.

Auditory P300 event related potentials and serotonin reuptake inhibitor treatment in patients with fibromyalgia

The P300 and late positive potential in pregnancy prospectively predict increases in depressive and anxious symptoms in the early postpartum period

We used event-related potentials (ERPs) to tap the temporal dynamics of first impressions based on face appearance. Participants were asked to evaluate briefly presented faces for trustworthiness and political choice. Behaviorally, participants were better at discriminating faces that were pre-rated as untrustworthy. The ERP results showed that the P100 component was enhanced for untrustworthy faces, consistently with the view that signals of potential threat are given precedence in neural processing. The enhanced ERP responses to untrustworthy faces persisted throughout the processing sequence and the amplitude of early posterior negativity (EPN), and subsequent late positive potential (LPP) was increased with respect to trustworthy faces which, in contrast, elicited an enhanced positivity around 150 ms on frontal sites. These ERP patterns were found specifically for the trustworthiness evaluation and not for the political decision task. Political decision yielded an increase in the N170 amplitude, reflecting a more demanding and taxing structural encoding. Similar ERP responses, as previously reported in the literature for facial expressions processing, were found throughout the entire time course specifically elicited by faces explicitly judged as untrustworthy. One possibility might be that evolution has provided the brain with a 'special toolkit' for trust evaluation that is fast and triggers ERPs related to emotional processing.

Detecting signs for an increased level of risk during driving are critical for the effective prevention of road traffic accidents. The current study searched for literature through major databases such as PubMed, EBSCO, IEEE, and ScienceDirect. A total of 14 articles that measured P300 components in relation to driving tasks were included for a systematic review and meta-analysis. The risk factors investigated in the reviewed articles were summarized in five categories, including reduced attention, distraction, alcohol, challenging situations on the road, and negative emotion. A meta-analysis was conducted at both behavioral and neural levels. Behavioral performance was measured by the reaction time and driving performance, while the neural response was measured by P300 amplitude and latency. A significant increase in reaction time was identified when drivers were exposed to the risk factors. In addition, the significant effects of a reduced P300 amplitude and prolonged P300 latency indicated a reduced capacity for cognitive information processing. There was a tendency of driving performance decrement in relation to the risk factors, however, the effect was non-significant due to considerable variations and heterogeneity across the included studies. The results led to the conclusion that the P300 amplitude and latency are reliable indicators and predictors of the increased risk in driving. Future applications of the P300-based brain–computer interface (BCI) system may make considerable contributions toward preventing road traffic accidents.

From eye to face: The impact of face outline, feature number, and feature saliency on the early neural response to faces

Many abstract bipolar concepts are usually represented by metaphors on vertical dimensions (e.g. positive-up, negative-down). However, several studies have found an asymmetry in the way in which individuals process bipolar dimensions, with +polarities being stronger than -polarities. The current research focused on moral metaphors on a vertical dimension (e.g. moral-up and immoral-down) and examined the asymmetric representation of moral and immoral concepts. The first experiment showed a distinct metaphorical association between morality and vertical space, consistent with earlier research. The second experiment showed that moral and immoral words are processed differently depending on whether they are used as metaphorically congruent or incongruent vertical cues. 'Moral-up' association modulated the amplitudes of the N1, P2, and late positive-going potential during the processing of moral words, whereas the 'immoral-down' association only modulated the amplitudes of the late positive-going potential induced during the processing of immoral words. These results suggest that asymmetry in the processing of vertically represented morality metaphors is reflected in the time course of the representation of these bipolar concepts, with the 'moral-up' association having an earlier effect than the 'immoral-down' association.

Objective To investigate the value of combining neuropsychological tests with auditory event-related potential (ERP) P300 for cognitive assessment in elderly patients with cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD). Methods A total of 183 elderly patients with cSVD were enrolled in this study. They were divided into 3 groups according to brain MRI: lacunar infarct (LACI) group (N = 62), white matter hyperintensity (WMH) group (N = 60) and LACI + WMH group (N = 61). A total of 50 brain MRI normal persons were selected as control group. Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA, Chinese version) was used to evaluate the cognitive function, and the amplitude and latency of P300 were measured in each group. Results Compared with control group, the MoCA total score in LACI, WMH and LACI + WMH groups were significantly lower ( P = 0.042, 0.015, 0.000), and the score in LACI + WMH group was significantly lower than that in LACI and WMH groups ( P = 0.001, 0.042). In the eight cognitive domains of MoCA scale, the visual space and executive function ( P = 0.006, 0.041, 0.035), delayed memory ( P = 0.006, 0.012, 0.048), language ( P = 0.001, 0.032, 0.047) and calculation ( P = 0.009, 0.001, 0.003) in LACI + WMH group were significantly lower than those in control, LACI and WMH groups. The delayed memory in LACI group was significantly lower than that in control group ( P = 0.037). The delayed memory ( P = 0.005) and language ( P = 0.047) in WMH group were significantly lower than those in control group. Compared with control group, the amplitudes of P300 ( P = 0.025, 0.033, 0.000) in LACI, WMH and LACI + WMH groups were significantly decreased, and the latencies ( P = 0.018, 0.000, 0.000) were significantly prolonged. The amplitude of P300 in LACI + WMH group was significantly lower than that in LACI and WMH groups ( P = 0.041, 0.018), and the latency was significantly prolonged ( P = 0.000, 0.022). Conclusions Elderly patients of cSVD all suffer from different degrees of cognitive impairment, especially those with both LACI and WMH. The impaired cognitive domains mainly include visual space and executive function, delayed memory, language and calculation. MoCA scale and P300 examination have their advantages in cognitive assessment, and their combination shows more objective result. Early diagnosis of cSVD in elderly patients with MoCA and P300 is beneficial to timely treatment, delay the progression of this disease and ease the family and social burden. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2016.11.009

Abnormal social or reward processing is associated with several mental disorders. Although most studies examining reward processing have focused on monetary rewards, recent research also has tested neural reactivity to social rewards (e.g., positive social feedback). However, the majority of these studies only include two feedback valences (e.g., acceptance, rejection). Yet, social evaluation is rarely binary (positive vs. negative) and people often give 'on the fence' or neutral evaluations of others. Processing of this type of social feedback may be ambiguous and impacted by factors such as psychopathology, self-esteem, and prior experiences of rejection. Thus, the present study probed the reward positivity (RewP), P300, and late positive potential (LPP) following acceptance, rejection, and "one the fence" [between acceptance and rejection] feedback in undergraduate students (n = 45). Results indicated that the RewP showed more positive amplitudes following acceptance compared to both rejection and "on the fence" feedback, and the RewP was larger (i.e., more positive) following rejection relative to "on the fence" feedback. In contrast, the P300 did not differ between rejection and "on the fence" feedback, and both were reduced compared to acceptance. The LPP was blunted in response to rejection relative to acceptance and "on the fence" feedback (which did not differ from each other). Exploratory analyses demonstrated that greater self-reported rejection sensitivity was associated with a reduced LPP to acceptance. Taken together, these findings suggest that the neural systems underlying the RewP, P300, and LPP may evaluate "on the fence" social feedback differently, and that individuals high on rejection sensitivity may exhibit reduced attention toward and elaborative processing of social acceptance.

Distinguishing between equity and equality is essential when making social and moral decisions, yet the related neurodevelopmental processes are unknown. Evaluations of contextually based third-party distributions incorporating recipient need and resource importance were examined in children and adolescents (N=82; 8-16years). Spatiotemporal neurodynamic responses show distinct developmental profiles to viewing such distributions. Event-related potentials (ERPs) differentially predicted real-life behaviors based on age, where older children's (8-10years) evaluations were related to a fairly rapid, automatic ERP component (early posterior negativity), whereas adolescent and preadolescent (11-16years) evaluations, first-person allocations, and prosocial behaviors were predicted by later, cognitively controlled ERP components (P3 and late positive potential). Together, these results reveal age-related changes regarding the neural responses that correspond to distributive justice decisions.