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Because many words are typically used in the context of their referent objects and actions, distributed cortical circuits for these words may bind information about their form with perceptual and motor aspects of their meaning. Previous work has demonstrated such semantic grounding for sensorimotor, visual, auditory, and olfactory knowledge linked to words, which is manifest in activation of the corresponding areas of the cortex. Here, we explore the brain basis of gustatory semantic links of words whose meaning is primarily related to taste. In a blocked functional magnetic resonance imaging design, Spanish taste words and control words matched for a range of factors (including valence, arousal, image-ability, frequency of use, number of letters and syllables) were presented to 59 right-handed participants in a passive reading task. Whereas all the words activated the left inferior frontal (BA44/45) and the posterior middle and superior temporal gyri (BA21/22), taste-related words produced a significantly stronger activation in these same areas and also in the anterior insula, frontal operculum, lateral orbitofrontal gyrus, and thalamus among others. As these areas comprise primary and secondary gustatory cortices, we conclude that the meaning of taste words is grounded in distributed cortical circuits reaching into areas that process taste sensations.

Registro de acceso restringido Este recurso no está disponible en acceso abierto por política de la editorial. No obstante, se puede acceder al texto completo desde la Universitat Jaume I o si el usuario cuenta con suscripción. Registre d'accés restringit Aquest recurs no està disponible en accés obert per política de l'editorial. No obstant això, es pot accedir al text complet des de la Universitat Jaume I o si l'usuari compta amb subscripció. Restricted access item This item isn't open access because of publisher's policy. The full--text version is only available from Jaume I University or if the user has a running suscription to the publisher's contents.

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Using optimized voxel-based morphometry, we studied the relationship between gray matter volume in brain areas associated with reward and scores on a behavioral activation system measure (the Sensitivity to Reward scale) in a sample of 50 male undergraduates. Voxel-based morphometry analysis revealed a negative correlation between Sensitivity to Reward scores and gray matter volume in the dorsal striatum and prefrontal cortex. Results indicate that a reduced volume in the striatum might be associated with enhanced reward sensitivity and deficits in inhibitory control.

Abstract-Some meditation techniques teach the practitioner to achieve the state of mental silence. The aim of this study was to investigate brain regions that are associated with their volume and functional connectivity (FC) with the depth of mental silence in long-term practitioners of Sahaja Yoga Meditation. Twenty-three longterm practitioners of this meditation were scanned using Magnetic Resonance Imaging. In order to identify the neural correlates of the depth of mental silence, we tested which gray matter volumes (GMV) were correlated with the depth of mental silence and which regions these areas were functionally connected to under a meditation condition. GMV in medial prefrontal cortex including rostral anterior cingulate cortex were positively correlated with the subjective perception of the depth of mental silence inside the scanner. Furthermore, there was significantly increased FC between this area and bilateral anterior insula/putamen during a meditation-state specifically, while decreased connectivity with the right thalamus/parahippocampal gyrus was present during the meditation-state and the resting-state. The capacity of long-term meditators to establish a durable state of mental silence inside an MRI scanner was associated with larger gray matter volume in a medial frontal region that is crucial for topdown cognitive, emotion and attention control. This is furthermore corroborated by increased FC of this region during the meditation-state with bilateral anterior insula/putamen, which are important for interoception, emotion, and attention regulation. The findings hence suggest that the depth of mental silence is associated with medial fronto-insular-striatal networks that are crucial for top-down attention and emotional control.

Recent fMRI studies have suggested that multiple sclerosis (MS) patients show adaptive cortical changes (i.e., compensatory mechanisms) during motor and cognitive tasks to limit the clinical impact of tissue injury. In this study, we investigated the activation pattern during the auditory n-back working memory (WM) paradigm in a group of 17 MS patients and 10 healthy controls with preserved performance in WM tasks. Compared with healthy controls, MS patients showed significantly greater bilateral activation in prefrontal cortex (BA 44), and the insula. These findings were similar to those obtained in previous studies showing that compensatory mechanisms during WM tasks in MS may be based on the use of prefrontal areas adjacent to those involved in the task.