Browsing by Author "Soto-Icaza, Patricia"

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    Another in need enhances prosociality and modulates frontal theta oscillations in young adults
    (2023) Lavin, Claudio; Soto-Icaza, Patricia; Lopez, Vladimir; Billeke, Pablo
    IntroductionDecision-making is a process that can be strongly affected by social factors. Evidence has shown how people deviate from traditional rational-choice predictions under different levels of social interactions. The emergence of prosocial decision-making, defined as any action that is addressed to benefit another individual even at the expense of personal benefits, has been reported as an example of such social influence. Furthermore, brain evidence has shown the involvement of structures such as the prefrontal cortex, anterior insula, and midcingulate cortex during decision settings in which a decision maker interacts with others under physical pain or distress or while being observed by others. MethodsUsing a slightly modified version of the dictator game and EEG recordings, we tested the hypothesis that the inclusion of another person into the decision setting increases prosocial decisions in young adults and that this increase is higher when the other person is associated with others in need. At the brain level, we hypothesized that the increase in prosocial decisions correlates with frontal theta activity. Results and DiscussionThe results showed that including another person in the decision, setting increased prosocial behavior only when this presence was associated with someone in need. This effect was associated with an increase in frontocentral theta-oscillatory activity. These results suggest that the presence of someone in need enhances empathy concerns and norm compliance, raising the participants' prosocial decision-making.
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    Beta oscillations precede joint attention and correlate with mentalization in typical development and autism
    (2019) Soto-Icaza, Patricia; Vargas, Lorena; Aboitiz, Francisco; Billeke, Pablo
    A precursor of adult social functioning is joint attention (JA), which is the capacity to share attention on an object with another person. JA precedes the development of the capacity to attribute mental states to others (i.e., mentalization or theory of mind). The neural mechanisms involved in the development of mentalization are not fully understood. Electroencephalographic recordings were made of children while they watched stimuli on a screen and their interaction with the experimenter was assessed. We tested whether neuronal activity preceding JA correlates with mentalization in typically developing (TD) children and whether this activity is impaired in children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) who evidence deficits in JA and mentalization skills. Both groups exhibited JA behavior with comparable frequency. TD children displayed a higher amplitude of negative central (Nc) event-related potential preceding JA behavior (similar to 500 msec after stimuli presentation), than did the ASD group. Previous to JA behavior, TD children demonstrated beta oscillatory activity in the temporoparietal region, while ASD children did not show an increase in beta activity. In both groups, the beta power correlated with mentalization, suggesting that this specific neuronal mechanism is involved in mentalization, which used during social interaction. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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    Differences in cortical processing of facial emotions in broader autism phenotype
    (2022) Soto-Icaza, Patricia; Beffara-Bret, Brice; Vargas, Lorena; Aboitiz, Francisco; Billeke, Pablo
    Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous condition that affects face perception. Evidence shows that there are differences in face perception associated with the processing of low spatial frequency (LSF) and high spatial frequency (HSF) of visual stimuli between non-symptomatic relatives of individuals with autism (broader autism phenotype, BAP) and typically developing individuals. However, the neural mechanisms involved in these differences are not fully understood. Here we tested whether face-sensitive event related potentials could serve as neuronal markers of differential spatial frequency processing, and whether these potentials could differentiate non-symptomatic parents of children with autism (pASD) from parents of typically developing children (pTD). To this end, we performed electroencephalographic recordings of both groups of parents while they had to recognize emotions of face pictures composed of the same or different emotions (happiness or anger) presented in different spatial frequencies. We found no significant differences in the accuracy between groups but lower amplitude modulation in the Late Positive Potential activity in pASD. Source analysis showed a difference in the right posterior part of the superior temporal region that correlated with ASD symptomatology of the child. These results reveal differences in brain processing of recognition of facial emotion in BAP that could be a precursor of ASD.
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    Oscillatory activity underlying cognitive performance in children and adolescents with autism: a systematic review
    (2024) Soto-Icaza, Patricia; Soto-Fernandez, Patricio; Kausel, Leonie; Marquez-Rodriguez, Victor; Carvajal-Paredes, Patricio; Martinez-Molina, Maria Paz; Figueroa-Vargas, Alejandra; Billeke, Pablo
    Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that exhibits a widely heterogeneous range of social and cognitive symptoms. This feature has challenged a broad comprehension of this neurodevelopmental disorder and therapeutic efforts to address its difficulties. Current therapeutic strategies have focused primarily on treating behavioral symptoms rather than on brain psychophysiology. During the past years, the emergence of non-invasive brain stimulation techniques (NIBS) has opened alternatives to the design of potential combined treatments focused on the neurophysiopathology of neuropsychiatric disorders like ASD. Such interventions require identifying the key brain mechanisms underlying the symptomatology and cognitive features. Evidence has shown alterations in oscillatory features of the neural ensembles associated with cognitive functions in ASD. In this line, we elaborated a systematic revision of the evidence of alterations in brain oscillations that underlie key cognitive processes that have been shown to be affected in ASD during childhood and adolescence, namely, social cognition, attention, working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility. This knowledge could contribute to developing therapies based on NIBS to improve these processes in populations with ASD.
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    Patients recovering from COVID-19 who presented with anosmia during their acute episode have behavioral, functional, and structural brain alterations
    (2024) Kausel, Leonie; Figueroa-Vargas, Alejandra; Zamorano, Francisco; Stecher, Ximena; Aspe-Sanchez, Mauricio; Carvajal-Paredes, Patricio; Marquez-Rodriguez, Victor; Martinez-Molina, Maria Paz; Roman, Claudio; Soto-Fernandez, Patricio; Valdebenito-Oyarzo, Gabriela; Manterola, Carla; Uribe-San-Martin, Reinaldo; Silva, Claudio; Henriquez-Ch, Rodrigo; Aboitiz, Francisco; Polania, Rafael; Guevara, Pamela; Munoz-Venturelli, Paula; Soto-Icaza, Patricia; Billeke, Pablo
    Patients recovering from COVID-19 commonly exhibit cognitive and brain alterations, yet the specific neuropathological mechanisms and risk factors underlying these alterations remain elusive. Given the significant global incidence of COVID-19, identifying factors that can distinguish individuals at risk of developing brain alterations is crucial for prioritizing follow-up care. Here, we report findings from a sample of patients consisting of 73 adults with a mild to moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection without signs of respiratory failure and 27 with infections attributed to other agents and no history of COVID-19. The participants underwent cognitive screening, a decision-making task, and MRI evaluations. We assessed for the presence of anosmia and the requirement for hospitalization. Groups did not differ in age or cognitive performance. Patients who presented with anosmia exhibited more impulsive alternative changes after a shift in probabilities (r = - 0.26, p = 0.001), while patients who required hospitalization showed more perseverative choices (r = 0.25, p = 0.003). Anosmia correlated with brain measures, including decreased functional activity during the decision-making task, thinning of cortical thickness in parietal regions, and loss of white matter integrity. Hence, anosmia could be a factor to be considered when identifying at-risk populations for follow-up.