Racial disparities in EEG research and their implications for our understanding of the maternal brain

Conceptualizing an antiracist framework for neuroscience research in art therapy: a qualitative pilot study

Introduction

Advances in social cognitive neuroscience research have contributed deeper understanding of neural processes relevant to art therapy, and of social, interrelational phenomena including racism and implicit bias. Confoundingly, emerging critical discourse about neuroscience research design highlighted systemic racism, implicit bias, and inequality perpetuated by imaging technologies, lack of diversity, and funding disparities. Emphasis toward antiracist practices within cognitive neuroscience research and various other fields has grown; however, literature on antiracist research practices within art therapy research is scant.

Methods

The purpose of this qualitative pilot research study was to elicit conceptualizations about antiracist research practices from art therapy researchers in response to relevant literature. Purposive sampling was used to recruit four female art therapy researchers from the United States (U.S.) and Europe. Semi-structured interviews were analyzed using grounded theory coding resulting in three main categories, seven themes, and subthemes. Member-checking and reflexive journaling were employed to enhance credibility.

Results

Core categories revealed points of convergence across participants, areas of concern, and requirements outlining antiracist research practices in art therapy. The first core category, shared beliefs and values, had three themes: neuroscience-informed perspective of art therapy; neuroscience research can strengthen art therapy theories; and infusion of antiracism and neuroscience into art therapy begins with education. The second core category, barriers and challenges, had two themes: potential credibility and legitimacy concerns for art therapy; and difficult conversations about disparities in awareness, diversity, and resources. The third core category, requirements and responsibilities for antiracist research, had two themes: due diligence to build accountability and legitimacy; and inclusion of diversity in art therapy research, and subthemes.

Discussion

Preliminary outcomes revealed ideas aligning current antiracist neuroscience research discourse with art therapy experimental research practices. The small group of neuroscience-focused art therapist researchers provided realistic considerations about amplifying discourse within the art therapy profession and infusing antiracist research into neuro-informed art therapy curriculum, and prioritizing diversity throughout experimental research design. An antiracist art therapy research framework with principles including education, intentionality, and diversity was proposed, along with recommendations for further research using the framework and to implement the framework into graduate art therapy education.

Modality-level obstacles and initiatives to improve representation in fetal, infant, and toddler neuroimaging research samples

Fetal, infant, and toddler (FIT) neuroimaging researchers study early brain development to gain insights into neurodevelopmental processes and identify early markers of neurobiological vulnerabilities to target for intervention. However, the field has historically excluded people from global majority countries and from marginalized communities in FIT neuroimaging research. Inclusive and representative samples are essential for generalizing findings across neuroimaging modalities, such as magnetic resonance imaging, magnetoencephalography, electroencephalography, functional near-infrared spectroscopy, and cranial ultrasonography. These FIT neuroimaging techniques pose unique and overlapping challenges to equitable representation in research through sampling bias, technical constraints, limited accessibility, and insufficient resources. The present article adds to the conversation around the need to improve inclusivity by highlighting modality-specific historical and current obstacles and ongoing initiatives. We conclude by discussing tangible solutions that transcend individual modalities, ultimately providing recommendations to promote equitable FIT neuroscience.

Protective role of parenthood on age-related brain function in mid- to late-life

The experience of human parenthood is near ubiquitous and can profoundly alter one's body, mind, and environment. However, we know very little about the long-term neural effects of parenthood for parents themselves, or the implications of pregnancy and caregiving experience on the aging adult brain. Here, we investigate the link between the number of children parented and age on brain function in 19,964 females and 17,607 males from the UK Biobank. In both females and males, parenthood was positively correlated with functional connectivity, such that higher number of children parented was associated with higher connectivity, particularly within the somato/motor network. Critically, the spatial topography of parenthood-linked effects was inversely correlated with the impact of age on functional connectivity across the brain for both females and males, such that the connections that were positively correlated with number of children were negatively correlated with age. This result suggests that a higher number of children is associated with patterns of brain function in the opposite direction to age-related alterations. Overall, these results indicate that the changes accompanying parenthood may confer benefits to brain health across the lifespan, altering aging trajectories, consistent with animal models of parenthood and preliminary findings of "younger-looking" brain structure in human parents. Observing this effect in both females and males implicates the caregiving environment, rather than pregnancy alone, and highlights the importance of future work to disentangle the underlying mechanisms related to the direct impact of caregiving, the indirect impact of the environment, and the result of covarying sociodemographic factors.

Anxiety and neural correlates of attention and self-regulation in pregnancy: a resting-state EEG study

PURPOSE

Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to experiencing mental health difficulties, especially anxiety. Anxiety in pregnancy can be characterized as having two components: general symptomology experienced in the general population, and pregnancy-related anxiety more focused on pregnancy, delivery, and the future child. In addition, women also commonly report experiencing attentional control and self-regulation difficulties across the peripartum period. However, links between anxiety and neural and cognitive functioning in pregnancy remain unclear. The present study investigated whether anxiety is associated with neural markers of attention and self-regulation measured using electroencephalography (EEG). Specifically, we examined associations between general and pregnancy-related anxiety and (1) beta oscillations, a neural marker of attentional processing; and (2) the coupling of beta and delta oscillations, a neural marker of self-regulation, in frontal and prefrontal regions.

METHODS

A sample of 135 women in the third trimester of their pregnancy completed a resting-state EEG session.

RESULTS

General anxiety was associated with increased beta oscillations, in line with research in the general population, interpreted as reflecting hyperarousal. Pregnancy-related anxiety was associated with decreased beta oscillations, interpreted as reflecting inattention and mind-wandering. Moreover, pregnancy-related anxiety, but not general anxiety, was linked to stronger delta-beta coupling, suggesting anxiety specifically related to the pregnancy is associated with investing greater effort in self-regulation.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that general and pregnancy-related anxiety may differentially relate to neural patterns underlying attention and self-regulation in pregnancy.

Birthing a new maternal cognition literature: 10 recommendations for future research

Whilst the field of maternal cognition is gaining interest, with a recent increase in publications, there are still only a handful of existing studies. This presents a unique opportunity for reflection and growth, advancing scientific rigor to ensure that future interpretations of maternal cognitive functioning are based on robust, generalizable data. With this in mind, we offer ten recommendations for future cognitive research in motherhood, with a focus on intentional study design. A study's design dictates the questions that can be asked, and the answers that can be gleaned from collected data, making study design a cornerstone of robust and reproducible science. These recommendations are intended as a resource for study conceptualization and design, participant recruitment, result interpretation, and peer review.

Brain Connectivity, Neural Networks, and Resilience in Aging and Neurodegeneration

The importance of complex systems has become increasingly evident in recent years. The nervous system is one such example, with neural networks sitting at the intersection of complex networks and biology. A particularly exciting feature is the resilience of complex systems. For example, the ability of the nervous system to perform even in the face of challenges that include neuronal loss, neuroinflammation, protein accumulation, axonal disruptions, and metabolic stress is an intriguing and exciting line of investigation. In neurodegenerative diseases, neural network resilience is responsible for the time between the earliest disease-linked changes and clinical symptom onset and disease diagnosis. In this way, connectivity resilience of neurons within the complex network of cells that make up the nervous system has significant implications. This review provides an overview of relevant concepts related to complex systems with a focus on the connectivity of the nervous system. It discusses the development of the neural network and how a delicate balance determines how this complex system responds to injury, with examples illustrating maladaptive plasticity. The review then addresses the implications of these concepts, methods to understand brain connectivity and neural networks, and recent research efforts aimed at understanding neurodegeneration from this perspective. This study aims to provide foundational knowledge and an overview of current research directions in this evolving and exciting area of neuroscience.

Bioethical and critical consciousness in clinical translational neuroscience

Clinical translational neuroscience (CTN) is positioned to generate novel discoveries for advancing treatments for mental health disorders, but it is held back today by the siloing of bioethical considerations from critical consciousness. In this article, we suggest that bioethical and critical consciousness can be paired to intersect with structures of power within which science and clinical practice are conducted. We examine barriers to the adoption of neuroscience findings in mental health from this perspective, especially in the context of current collective attention to widespread disparities in the access to and outcomes of mental health services, lack of representation of marginalized populations in the relevant sectors of the workforce, and the importance of knowledge that draws upon multicultural perspectives. We provide 10 actionable solutions to confront these barriers in CTN research, as informed by existing frameworks such as structural competency, adaptive calibration models, and community-based participatory research. By integrating critical consciousness with bioethical considerations, we believe that practitioners will be better positioned to benefit from cutting-edge research in the biological and social sciences than in the past, alert to biases and equipped to mitigate them, and poised to shepherd in a robust generation of future translational therapies and practitioners.

Barriers and facilitators to conducting human subjects research at a safety net institution from the perspective of researchers

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed glaring problems with clinical research enterprise. Faced with crisis, several trials opened rapidly but enrolled homogenous populations with few Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) individuals. Inclusive trial enrollment is important to inspire trust and confidence in BIPOC populations that have been historically excluded or harmed from research and to improve the generalizability of research findings. Safety-net hospitals and institutions often care for BIPOC populations, and thus it is essential to improve equitable participation in research at these institutions. In this study, we sought to understand barriers and facilitators to research participation at safety net institutions.

METHODS

We conducted semi-structured interviews among principal investigators, research assistants, research coordinators, and research nurses who conducted human subjects research at an urban, safety-net hospital from October, 2022 to December, 2022. We used inductive qualitative methods to identify themes associated with barriers and facilitators to clinical research participation.

RESULTS

We completed 28 interviews and identified five themes: (1) compared to non-safety net systems, safety-net systems were perceived to require additional resources and funding to achieve comparable research recruitment and retention; (2) language barriers and translational processes are burdensome for researchers; (3) interactions between research staff and patients impact trust; (4) social determinants of health specific to safety-net populations are a barrier to participation; (5) competing priorities between clinical staff and researchers exist.

CONCLUSION

Safety net institutions face several barriers to conducting human subjects research. However, identified facilitators may help inform future efforts to reduce inequities in research participation.

Caregiver-child neural synchrony: Magic, mirage, or developmental mechanism?

Young children transition in and out of synchronous states with their caregivers across physiology, behavior, and brain activity, but what do these synchronous periods mean? One body of two-brain studies using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) finds that individual, family, and moment-to-moment behavioral and contextual factors are associated with caregiver-child neural synchrony, while another body of literature finds that neural synchrony is associated with positive child outcomes. Taken together, it is tempting to conclude that caregiver-child neural synchrony may act as a foundational developmental mechanism linking children's experiences to their healthy development, but many questions remain. In this review, we synthesize recent findings and open questions from caregiver-child studies using fNIRS, which is uniquely well suited for use with caregivers and children, but also laden with unique constraints. Throughout, we highlight open questions alongside best practices for optimizing two-brain fNIRS to examine hypothesized developmental mechanisms. We particularly emphasize the need to consider immediate and global stressors as context for interpretation of neural synchrony findings, and the need for full inclusion of socioeconomically and racially diverse families in future studies.

The development and structure of the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study EEG protocol

The HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study, a multi-site prospective longitudinal cohort study, will examine human brain, cognitive, behavioral, social, and emotional development beginning prenatally and planned through early childhood. Electroencephalography (EEG) is one of two brain imaging modalities central to the HBCD Study. EEG records electrical signals from the scalp that reflect electrical brain activity. In addition, the EEG signal can be synchronized to the presentation of discrete stimuli (auditory or visual) to measure specific cognitive processes with excellent temporal precision (e.g., event-related potentials; ERPs). EEG is particularly helpful for the HBCD Study as it can be used with awake, alert infants, and can be acquired continuously across development. The current paper reviews the HBCD Study's EEG/ERP protocol: (a) the selection and development of the tasks (Video Resting State, Visual Evoked Potential, Auditory Oddball, Face Processing); (b) the implementation of common cross-site acquisition parameters and hardware, site setup, training, and initial piloting; (c) the development of the preprocessing pipelines and creation of derivatives; and (d) the incorporation of equity and inclusion considerations. The paper also provides an overview of the functioning of the EEG Workgroup and the input from members across all steps of protocol development and piloting.

Pilot Evaluation of Sevo Systems for Epilepsy: Equitable EEG for Coarse, Dense, and Curly Hair

Collecting electroencephalography (EEG) data from individuals with coarse, curly, or afro-textured hair can be challenging, leading to noisier data, negative clinical outcomes (e.g., risk of misdiagnosis, discomfort, longer setup times, unsavory treatment, hair shaving, and microaggressions), and unreliable basic science conclusions due to the disproportionate exclusion of people with this physical feature worldwide. Our prior work demonstrated that strategically braiding hair to expose the scalp at standard locations improves impedance and that novel electrode adapters that we developed called "Sevo" can further lower impedance by more than 15x. In this article, we further quantify the signal quality of Sevo EEG compared to traditional EEG on a cohort of pediatric epileptic patients and health adult volunteers. We assessed the influence of braiding and the use of Sevo adapters on signal quality and found that Sevo reduces noise in two key metrics of the power spectra, especially for the pediatric epilepsy group. We conclude by outlining best practices for preparing coarse, curly hair for use by EEG technicians, researchers, and patients.

Neuroelectric indices of pre-motor planning and adiposity are selectively related to balance in children

BACKGROUND

Motor function and weight status are components of physical fitness that have been implicated in childhood motor and cognitive development. The lateralized readiness potential (LRP), an index of motor planning and action, can provide context surrounding relationships between fitness and brain activity underlying cognitive and motor functions. This study evaluated the relationship between the LRP and motor skills, as well as associations between weight status and neural and behavioral motor functions.

METHODS

Children aged 7-13 (n = 35) participated in a cross-sectional study, using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children 2nd edition (MABC-2) to assess balance, manual dexterity, and aiming/catching. The stimulus- (LRP-S) and response-locked (LRP-R) LRPs were elicited from a modified flanker task. Stepwise regressions tested the association between LRPs and MABC-2 components. Linear regressions were conducted to examine BMI and %Fat in relation to LRPs and MABC-2 components.

RESULTS

Analyses revealed that LRP-S mean amplitude difference (β = 0.401, P = 0.042) and reaction time interference scores (β = 0.545, P = 0.004) were positively associated with balance, after adjusting for covariates. The LRP-S and interference scores did not predict other MABC-2 outcomes and LRP-R did not predict any MABC-2 components. Further, %Fat (β = -0.439, P = 0.044), not BMI (β = -0.364, P = 0.082), only predicted balance.

CONCLUSION

We found that changes in the LRP-S amplitude were positively associated with balance, and %Fat was negatively related to balance. This evidence is that fitness components such as weight status and coordination are related to neural markers of motor function which may be useful in intervention designs aimed to improve brain function via improvements in physical fitness and health behaviors.

Boundary updating as a source of history effect on decision uncertainty

When sorting a sequence of stimuli into binary classes, current choices are often negatively correlated with recent stimulus history. This phenomenon-dubbed the repulsive bias-can be explained by boundary updating, a process of shifting the class boundary to previous stimuli. This explanation implies that recent stimulus history can also influence "decision uncertainty," the probability of making incorrect decisions, because it depends on the location of the boundary. However, there have been no previous efforts to elucidate the impact of previous stimulus history on decision uncertainty. Here, from the boundary-updating process that accounts for the repulsive bias, we derived a prediction that decision uncertainty increases as current choices become more congruent with previous stimuli. We confirmed this prediction in behavioral, physiological, and neural correlates of decision uncertainty. Our work demonstrates that boundary updating offers a principled account of how previous stimulus history concurrently relates to choice bias and decision uncertainty.