Which aspects of our sensory environment enter conscious awareness does not only depend on physical features of the stimulus, but also critically on the so-called current brain state. Results from magnetoencephalography/EEG studies using nearthreshold stimuli have consistently pointed to reduced levels of α-(8-12 Hz) power in relevant sensory areas to predict whether a stimulus will be consciously perceived or not. These findings have been mainly interpreted in strictly "local" terms of enhanced excitability of neuronal ensembles in respective cortical regions. The present study aims to introduce a framework that complements this rather local perspective, by stating that the functional connectivity architecture before stimulation will predetermine information flow. Thus, information computed at a local level will be distributed throughout a network, thereby becoming consciously accessible. Data from a previously published experiment on conscious somatosensory near-threshold perception was reanalyzed focusing on the prestimulus period. Analysis of spectral power showed reduced α-power mainly in the contralateral S2 and middle frontal gyrus to precede hits, thus overall supporting the current literature. Furthermore, differences between hits and misses were obtained on global network (graph theoretical) features in the same interval. Most importantly, in accordance with our framework, we could show that the somatosensory cortex is "more efficiently" integrated into a distributed network in the prestimulus period. This finding means that when a relevant sensory stimulus impinges upon the system, it will encounter preestablished pathways for information flow. In this sense, prestimulus functional connectivity patterns form "windows" to conscious perception. alpha oscillations | graph theory | WIN2CON

Despite substantial research on attentional modulations of visual alpha activity, doubts remain as to the existence and functional relevance of auditory cortical alpha-band oscillations. It has been argued that auditory cortical alpha does not exist, cannot be measured noninvasively, or that it is dependent on visual alpha generators. This study aimed to address these remaining doubts concerning auditory cortical alpha. A magnetoencephalography study was conducted using a combined audiovisual spatial cueing paradigm. In each trial, a cue indicated the side (left or right) and the modality (auditory or visual) to attend, followed by a short lateralized auditory or visual stimulus. Participants were instructed to respond to the stimuli by a button press. Results show that auditory cortical alpha power is selectively modulated by the audiospatial, but not the visuospatial, attention task. These findings provide further evidence for a distinct auditory cortical alpha generator, which can be measured noninvasively.

Scientific research from the last two decades has provided a vast amount of evidence that brain oscillations reflect physiological activity enabling diverse cognitive processes. The goal of this review is to give a broad empirical and conceptual overview of how ongoing oscillatory activity may support attention processes. Keeping in mind that definitions of cognitive constructs like attention are prone to being blurry and ambiguous, the present review focuses mainly on the neural correlates of 'top-down' attention deployment. In particular, we will discuss modulations of (ongoing) oscillatory activity during spatial, temporal, selective, and internal attention. Across these seemingly distinct attentional domains, we will summarize studies showing the involvement of two oscillatory processes observed during attention deployment: power modulations mainly in the alpha band, and phase modulations in lower frequency bands. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Prediction and Attention.

Spatial neglect is a strong and negative predictor of general functional outcome after stroke, and its therapy remains a challenge. Whereas inhibitory non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) over the contralesional, intact hemisphere has generally been shown to ameliorate neglect on a group level, a conspicuous variability of the effects at the individual level is typically observed. We aimed to comprehensively assess the characteristics and determinants of the effects of inhibitory NIBS in neglect, identifying which patients would respond to this therapeutic approach and which not. To this end, we prospectively included sixty patients with a subacute right-hemispheric stroke. In thirty patients with spatial neglect, continuous Theta Burst Stimulation (cTBS) was applied over the left posterior parietal cortex (PPC) in a randomized clinical trial, either in 8 or 16 trains, or as sham stimulation. Thirty patients without neglect served as control group. Neglect severity was measured with a neuropsychological test battery and the Catherine Bergego Scale (CBS), at admission to and at discharge from inpatient neurorehabilitation, as well as at 3 months follow-up. General functional outcome was assessed by means of the Functional Independent Measurement (FIM) and the Lucerne ICF-based Multidisciplinary Observation Scale (LIMOS). The impact of clinical and demographic factors was evaluated, and the influence of lesion location and extension was assessed by means of voxel-based lesionsymptom mapping (VLSM). On a group level, both cTBS protocols (i.e., 8 and 16 trains) significantly reduced neglect severity in both the CBS and the neuropsychological tests, at discharge and 3 months later. Furthermore, cTBS significantly improved general functional outcome. On an individual level, hierarchical cluster and VLSM analyses revealed that the variability in the responses to cTBS is determined by the integrity of inter-hemispheric connections within the corpus callosum, in particular parieto-parietal connections. In cTBS responders, in whom neglect and general functional outcome were significantly improved, the corpus callosum was intact, whereas this was not the case in cTBS non-responders. Moreover, analyses based on the Proportional recovery rule and the Maugeri predictive stroke recovery model showed that the recovery ! ! 3! ! of neglect and of the activities of daily living (ADL) was accelerated only in cTBS responders. Furthermore, the level of ADL recovery of these neglect patients was brought close to the one of right-hemispheric control patients without neglect. Hence, in neglect patients with intact interhemispheric connectivity, cTBS over the contralesional PPC significantly improves and accelerates neglect recovery and, associated with it, general functional outcome.

The amygdala is known to play an important role in the response to facial expressions that convey fear. However, it remains unclear whether the amygdala's response to fear reflects its role in the interpretation of danger and threat, or whether it is to some extent activated by all facial expressions of emotion. Previous attempts to address this issue using neuroimaging have been confounded by differences in the use of control stimuli across studies. Here, we address this issue using a block design functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm, in which we compared the response to face images posing expressions of fear, anger, happiness, disgust and sadness with a range of control conditions. The responses in the amygdala to different facial expressions were compared with the responses to a non-face condition (buildings), to mildly happy faces and to neutral faces. Results showed that only fear and anger elicited significantly greater responses compared with the control conditions involving faces. Overall, these findings are consistent with the role of the amygdala in processing threat, rather than in the processing of all facial expressions of emotion, and demonstrate the critical importance of the choice of comparison condition to the pattern of results.

An ever-increasing number of studies are pointing to the importance of network properties of the brain for understanding behavior such as conscious perception. However, with regards to the influence of prestimulus brain states on perception, this network perspective has rarely been taken. Our recent framework predicts that brain regions crucial for a conscious percept are coupled prior to stimulus arrival, forming pre-established pathways of information flow and influencing perceptual awareness. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG) and graph theoretical measures, we investigated auditory conscious perception in a near-threshold (NT) task and found strong support for this framework. Relevant auditory regions showed an increased prestimulus interhemispheric connectivity. The left auditory cortex was characterized by a hub-like behavior and an enhanced integration into the brain functional network prior to perceptual awareness. Right auditory regions were decoupled from non-auditory regions, presumably forming an integrated information processing unit with the left auditory cortex. In addition, we show for the first time for the auditory modality that local excitability, measured by decreased alpha power in the auditory cortex, increases prior to conscious percepts. Importantly, we were able to show that connectivity states seem to be largely independent from local excitability states in the context of a NT paradigm.

Extensive evidence indicates that women outperform men in episodic memory tasks. Furthermore, women are known to evaluate emotional stimuli as more arousing than men. Because emotional arousal typically increases episodic memory formation, the females' memory advantage might be more pronounced for emotionally arousing information than for neutral information. Here, we report behavioral data from 3398 subjects, who performed picture rating and memory tasks, and corresponding fMRI data from up to 696 subjects. We were interested in the interaction between sex and valence category on emotional appraisal, memory performances, and fMRI activity. The behavioral results showed that females evaluate in particular negative (p Ͻ 10 ). Importantly, females' memory advantage during free recall was absent in a recognition setting. We identified activation differences in fMRI, which corresponded to the females' stronger appraisal of especially negative pictures, but no activation differences that reflected the interaction effect in the free recall memory task. In conclusion, females' valence-category-specific memory advantage is only observed in a free recall, but not a recognition setting and does not depend on females' higher emotional appraisal.

A modular synthesis for chiral and nonsymmetrical salalen ligands (i.e., mono-reduced salens), carrying an imine and an amine functionality has been developed. The ligands can be assembled in situ by Schiff base formation of an N-(2-hydroxybenzyl)diamine with a salicylic aldehyde, thus allowing rapid and easy variation/optimization of the ligand structure. Aiming at optimal activity and enantioselectivity in the titanium-catalyzed asymmetric epoxidation of non-functionalized olefins, a positional scanning of the two ligand halves was carried out. High epoxide yields were achieved, and up to 98 % ee. The composition of the titanium complex catalysts was determined by high resolution mass spectrometry and X-ray crystallography for one selected example.