Layer-dependent activity in the human superior colliculus during working memory

Abstract

We examined the superior colliculus (SC) with ultra-high resolution 7-Tesla fMRI during an N-back working memory task. We observed both increased BOLD signal intensity and functional connectivity that followed a layer-dependent pattern predicted from anatomical connections between SC and other brain structures important for visual processing, motor control, and executive function. Our results highlight a role for the human SC in cognitive functions that are usually associated with the cerebral cortex.

Stressor-evoked brain activity, cardiovascular reactivity, and subclinical atherosclerosis in midlife adults

“…These areas are part of what has been termed a 'visceral control network', which is proposed to be involved in mediating psychological stress appraisals and simultaneously controlling cardiovascular physiology, with alterations in this network being linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease 9 . These brain systems have also been recently described as belonging to an interoceptive-allostatic brain network for regulating peripheral physiology by predictive or anticipatory processes 66,67 . Along similar lines, our results appear to provide evidence for a pathway whereby increased brain activity in systems encompassed by these networks associates with larger rises in stressor-evoked systolic blood pressure and preclinical atherosclerosis across people.…”