Altered cortical and subcortical connectivity due to infrasound administered near the hearing threshold - Evidence from fMRI
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Altered cortical and subcortical connectivity due to infrasound administered near the hearing threshold - Evidence from fMRI. / Weichenberger, Markus; Bauer, Martin; Kühler, Robert; Hensel, Johannes; Forlim, Caroline Garcia; Ihlenfeld, Albrecht; Ittermann, Bernd; Gallinat, Jürgen; Koch, Christian; Kühn, Simone.
In: PLOS ONE, Vol. 12, No. 4, 2017, p. e0174420.Research output: SCORING: Contribution to journal › SCORING: Journal article › Research › peer-review
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T1 - Altered cortical and subcortical connectivity due to infrasound administered near the hearing threshold - Evidence from fMRI
AU - Weichenberger, Markus
AU - Bauer, Martin
AU - Kühler, Robert
AU - Hensel, Johannes
AU - Forlim, Caroline Garcia
AU - Ihlenfeld, Albrecht
AU - Ittermann, Bernd
AU - Gallinat, Jürgen
AU - Koch, Christian
AU - Kühn, Simone
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - In the present study, the brain's response towards near- and supra-threshold infrasound (IS) stimulation (sound frequency < 20 Hz) was investigated under resting-state fMRI conditions. The study involved two consecutive sessions. In the first session, 14 healthy participants underwent a hearing threshold-as well as a categorical loudness scaling measurement in which the individual loudness perception for IS was assessed across different sound pressure levels (SPL). In the second session, these participants underwent three resting-state acquisitions, one without auditory stimulation (no-tone), one with a monaurally presented 12-Hz IS tone (near-threshold) and one with a similar tone above the individual hearing threshold corresponding to a 'medium loud' hearing sensation (supra-threshold). Data analysis mainly focused on local connectivity measures by means of regional homogeneity (ReHo), but also involved independent component analysis (ICA) to investigate inter-regional connectivity. ReHo analysis revealed significantly higher local connectivity in right superior temporal gyrus (STG) adjacent to primary auditory cortex, in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and, when allowing smaller cluster sizes, also in the right amygdala (rAmyg) during the near-threshold, compared to both the supra-threshold and the no-tone condition. Additional independent component analysis (ICA) revealed large-scale changes of functional connectivity, reflected in a stronger activation of the right amygdala (rAmyg) in the opposite contrast (no-tone > near-threshold) as well as the right superior frontal gyrus (rSFG) during the near-threshold condition. In summary, this study is the first to demonstrate that infrasound near the hearing threshold may induce changes of neural activity across several brain regions, some of which are known to be involved in auditory processing, while others are regarded as keyplayers in emotional and autonomic control. These findings thus allow us to speculate on how continuous exposure to (sub-)liminal IS could exert a pathogenic influence on the organism, yet further (especially longitudinal) studies are required in order to substantialize these findings.
AB - In the present study, the brain's response towards near- and supra-threshold infrasound (IS) stimulation (sound frequency < 20 Hz) was investigated under resting-state fMRI conditions. The study involved two consecutive sessions. In the first session, 14 healthy participants underwent a hearing threshold-as well as a categorical loudness scaling measurement in which the individual loudness perception for IS was assessed across different sound pressure levels (SPL). In the second session, these participants underwent three resting-state acquisitions, one without auditory stimulation (no-tone), one with a monaurally presented 12-Hz IS tone (near-threshold) and one with a similar tone above the individual hearing threshold corresponding to a 'medium loud' hearing sensation (supra-threshold). Data analysis mainly focused on local connectivity measures by means of regional homogeneity (ReHo), but also involved independent component analysis (ICA) to investigate inter-regional connectivity. ReHo analysis revealed significantly higher local connectivity in right superior temporal gyrus (STG) adjacent to primary auditory cortex, in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and, when allowing smaller cluster sizes, also in the right amygdala (rAmyg) during the near-threshold, compared to both the supra-threshold and the no-tone condition. Additional independent component analysis (ICA) revealed large-scale changes of functional connectivity, reflected in a stronger activation of the right amygdala (rAmyg) in the opposite contrast (no-tone > near-threshold) as well as the right superior frontal gyrus (rSFG) during the near-threshold condition. In summary, this study is the first to demonstrate that infrasound near the hearing threshold may induce changes of neural activity across several brain regions, some of which are known to be involved in auditory processing, while others are regarded as keyplayers in emotional and autonomic control. These findings thus allow us to speculate on how continuous exposure to (sub-)liminal IS could exert a pathogenic influence on the organism, yet further (especially longitudinal) studies are required in order to substantialize these findings.
KW - Acoustic Stimulation
KW - Adolescent
KW - Adult
KW - Auditory Cortex
KW - Auditory Threshold
KW - Brain Mapping
KW - Female
KW - Gyrus Cinguli
KW - Humans
KW - Loudness Perception
KW - Magnetic Resonance Imaging
KW - Male
KW - Young Adult
KW - Journal Article
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0174420
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0174420
M3 - SCORING: Journal article
C2 - 28403175
VL - 12
SP - e0174420
JO - PLOS ONE
JF - PLOS ONE
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 4
ER -