Resting state brain activity incorporates different components, including the Default Mode Network and the Dorsal Attention Network, also known as task-negative network and task-positive network respectively. These two networks typically show an anticorrelated activity during both spontaneous oscillations and task execution. However modifications of this anticorrelated activity pattern with age and pathology are still unclear. The present study aimed to investigate differences in resting state Default Mode Network-Dorsal Attention Network functional anticorrelation among young adults, healthy elders and Mild Cognitive Impairment patients. We retrospectively enrolled in this study 27 healthy young adults (age range: 25-35 y.o.; mean age: 28,5), 26 healthy elders (age range: 61-72 y.o.; mean age: 65,1) and 17 MCI patients (age range 64-87 y.o.; mean age: 73,6). Mild Cognitive Impairment patients were selected following Petersen criteria. All participants underwent neuropsychological evaluation and resting state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Spontaneous anticorrelated activity between Default Mode Network and Dorsal Attention Network was observed in each group. This anticorrelation was significantly decreased with age in most Default Mode Network-Dorsal Attention Network connections (p < 0.001, False Discovery Rate corrected). Moreover, the anticorrelation between the posterior cingulate cortex node of the Default Mode Network and the right inferior parietal sulcus node of the Dorsal Attention Network was significantly decreased when comparing Mild Cognitive Impairment with normal elders (p < 0.001, False Discovery Rate corrected). The functional connectivity changes in patients were not related to significant differences in grey matter content. Our results suggest that a reduced anticorrelated activity between Default Mode Network and Dorsal Attention Network is part of the normal aging process and that Mild Cognitive Impairment status is associated with more evident inter-networks functional connectivity changes.

BackgroundThere is growing debate on the use of drugs that promote cognitive enhancement. Amphetamine-like drugs have been employed as cognitive enhancers, but they show important side effects and induce addiction. In this study, we investigated the use of modafinil which appears to have less side effects compared to other amphetamine-like drugs. We analyzed effects on cognitive performances and brain resting state network activity of 26 healthy young subjects.MethodologyA single dose (100 mg) of modafinil was administered in a double-blind and placebo-controlled study. Both groups were tested for neuropsychological performances with the Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices II set (APM) before and three hours after administration of drug or placebo. Resting state functional magnetic resonance (rs-FMRI) was also used, before and after three hours, to investigate changes in the activity of resting state brain networks. Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) was employed to evaluate differences in structural connectivity between the two groups. Protocol ID: Modrest_2011; NCT01684306; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01684306.Principal FindingsResults indicate that a single dose of modafinil improves cognitive performance as assessed by APM. Rs-fMRI showed that the drug produces a statistically significant increased activation of Frontal Parietal Control (FPC; p<0.04) and Dorsal Attention (DAN; p<0.04) networks. No modifications in structural connectivity were observed.Conclusions and SignificanceOverall, our findings support the notion that modafinil has cognitive enhancing properties and provide functional connectivity data to support these effects.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT01684306 http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01684306.

In 1895 in the Project for a Scientific Psychology, Freud tried to integrate psychology and neurology in order to develop a neuroscientific psychology. Since 1880, Freud made no distinction between psychology and physiology. His papers from the end of the 1880s to 1890 were very clear on this scientific overlap: as with many of his contemporaries, Freud thought about psychology essentially as the physiology of the brain. Years later he had to surrender, realizing a technological delay, not capable of pursuing its ambitious aim, and until that moment psychoanalysis would have to use its more suitable clinical method. Also, he seemed skeptical about phrenology drift, typical of that time, in which any psychological function needed to be located in its neuroanatomical area. He could not see the progresses of neuroscience and its fruitful dialogue with psychoanalysis, which occurred also thanks to the improvements in the field of neuroimaging, which has made possible a remarkable advance in the knowledge of the mind-brain system and a better observation of the psychoanalytical theories. After years of investigations, deriving from research and clinical work of the last century, the discovery of neural networks, together with the free energy principle, we are observing under a new light psychodynamic neuroscience in its exploration of the mind-brain system. In this manuscript, we summarize the important developments of psychodynamic neuroscience, with particular regard to the free energy principle, the resting state networks, especially the Default Mode Network in its link with the Self, emphasizing our view of a bridge between psychoanalysis and neuroscience. Finally, we suggest a discussion by approaching the concept of Alpha Function, proposed by the psychoanalyst Wilfred Ruprecht Bion, continuing the association with neuroscience.

PurposeResting-state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging studies revealed that the brain is organized into specialized networks constituted by regions that show a coherent fluctuation of spontaneous activity. Among these networks, the cingulate cortex appears to play a crucial role, particularly in the default mode network, the dorsal attention network and the salience network. In the present study, we mapped the functional connectivity (FC) pattern of different regions of the cingulate cortex: the anterior cingulate cortex, midcingulate cortex and posterior cingulate cortex/retro splenial cortex, which have been in turn divided into a total of 9 subregions. We compared FC patterns of the cingulate subregions in a sample of mild cognitive impairment patients and healthy elderly subjects.MethodsWe enrolled 19 healthy elders (age range: 61–72 y.o.) and 16 Mild cognitive impairment patients (age range 64–87 y.o.). All participants had comparable levels of education (8–10 years) and were neurologically examined to exclude visual and motor impairments, major medical conditions, psychiatric or neurological disorders and consumption of psychotropic drugs. The diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment was performed according to Petersen criteria. Subjects were evaluated with Mini-Mental State Examination, Frontal Assessment Battery, and prose memory (Babcock story) tests. In addition, with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, we investigated resting-state network activities.ResultsHealthy elderly, compared to mild cognitive impairment, showed significant increased level of FC for the ventral part of the anterior cingulate cortex in correspondence to the bilateral caudate and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Moreover, for the midcingulate cortex the healthy elderly group showed increased levels of FC in the somatomotor region, prefrontal cortex, and superior parietal lobule. Meanwhile, the mild cognitive impairment group showed an increased level of FC for the superior frontal gyrus, frontal eye field and orbitofrontal cortex compared to the healthy elderly group.ConclusionOur findings indicate that cognitive decline observed in mild cognitive impairment patients damages the global FC of the cingulate cortex, supporting the idea that abnormalities in resting-state activities of the cingulate cortex could be a useful additional tool in order to better understand the brain mechanisms of MCI.