Ali Rahimpour Jounghani

All Publications

• Neuromonitoring-guided working memory intervention in children with ADHD. iScience Rahimpour Jounghani, A., Gozdas, E., Dacorro, L., Avelar-Pereira, B., Reitmaier, S., Fingerhut, H., Hong, D. S., Elliott, G., Hardan, A. Y., Hinshaw, S. P., Hosseini, S. M. 2024; 27 (11): 111087

  Abstract

  We proposed a personalized intervention that integrates computerized working memory (WM) training with real-time functional neuromonitoring and neurofeedback (NFB) to enhance frontoparietal activity and improve cognitive and clinical outcomes in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The study involved 77 children with ADHD aged 7-11 years, who were assigned to either 12 sessions of NFB or treatment-as-usual (i.e., received standard clinical care) groups. Real-time neuromonitoring with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and fMRI measured frontoparietal activity during n-back task at baseline and post-intervention. Thirty-six participants (21 NFB, 15 treatment-as-usual) completed the study. Significant improvements in NFB group were observed in frontoparietal brain activity and WM performance (primary outcomes). NFB group also showed improvements in Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF-2) WM t-scores and Conners 3 ADHD index scores (secondary outcomes) compared to treatment-as-usual group. These findings suggest that neuromonitoring-guided NFB effectively enhances cognitive and clinical outcomes in children with ADHD by targeting brain mechanisms underlying WM deficits.

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.isci.2024.111087

  View details for PubMedID 39493886

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC11530911

• Investigating the role of auditory cues in modulating motor timing: insights from EEG and deep learning. Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) Jounghani, A. R., Backer, K. C., Vahid, A., Comstock, D. C., Zamani, J., Hosseini, H., Balasubramaniam, R., Bortfeld, H. 2024; 34 (10)

  Abstract

  Research on action-based timing has shed light on the temporal dynamics of sensorimotor coordination. This study investigates the neural mechanisms underlying action-based timing, particularly during finger-tapping tasks involving synchronized and syncopated patterns. Twelve healthy participants completed a continuation task, alternating between tapping in time with an auditory metronome (pacing) and continuing without it (continuation). Electroencephalography data were collected to explore how neural activity changes across these coordination modes and phases. We applied deep learning methods to classify single-trial electroencephalography data and predict behavioral timing conditions. Results showed significant classification accuracy for distinguishing between pacing and continuation phases, particularly during the presence of auditory cues, emphasizing the role of auditory input in motor timing. However, when auditory components were removed from the electroencephalography data, the differentiation between phases became inconclusive. Mean accuracy asynchrony, a measure of timing error, emerged as a superior predictor of performance variability compared to inter-response interval. These findings highlight the importance of auditory cues in modulating motor timing behaviors and present the challenges of isolating motor activation in the absence of auditory stimuli. Our study offers new insights into the neural dynamics of motor timing and demonstrates the utility of deep learning in analyzing single-trial electroencephalography data.

  View details for DOI 10.1093/cercor/bhae427

  View details for PubMedID 39475113

• Cortical neurite microstructural correlates of time perception in healthy older adults. Heliyon Kim, T., Rahimpour Jounghani, A., Gozdas, E., Hosseini, S. M. 2024; 10 (12): e32534

  Abstract

  The human experience is significantly impacted by timing as it structures how information is processed. Nevertheless, the neurological foundation of time perception remains largely unresolved. Understanding cortical microstructure related to timing is crucial for gaining insight into healthy aging and recognizing structural alterations that are typical of neurodegenerative diseases associated with age. Given the importance, this study aimed to determine the brain regions that are accountable for predicting time perception in older adults using microstructural measures of the brain. In this study, elderly healthy adults performed the Time-Wall Estimation task to measure time perception through average error time. We used support vector regression (SVR) analyses to predict the average error time using cortical neurite microstructures derived from orientation dispersion and density imaging based on multi-shell diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI). We found significant correlations between observed and predicted average error times for neurite arborization (ODI) and free water (FISO). Neurite arborization and free water properties in specific regions in the medial and lateral prefrontal, superior parietal, and medial and lateral temporal lobes were among the most significant predictors of timing ability in older adults. Further, our results revealed that greater branching along with lower free water in cortical structures result in shorter average error times. Future studies should assess whether these same networks are contributing to time perception in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and whether degeneration of these networks contribute to early diagnosis or detection of dementia.

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e32534

  View details for PubMedID 38975207

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC11225759

• Multiple levels of contextual influence on action-based timing behavior and cortical activation. Scientific reports Rahimpour Jounghani, A., Lanka, P., Pollonini, L., Proksch, S., Balasubramaniam, R., Bortfeld, H. 2023; 13 (1): 7154

  Abstract

  Procedures used to elicit both behavioral and neurophysiological data to address a particular cognitive question can impact the nature of the data collected. We used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to assess performance of a modified finger tapping task in which participants performed synchronized or syncopated tapping relative to a metronomic tone. Both versions of the tapping task included a pacing phase (tapping with the tone) followed by a continuation phase (tapping without the tone). Both behavioral and brain-based findings revealed two distinct timing mechanisms underlying the two forms of tapping. Here we investigate the impact of an additional-and extremely subtle-manipulation of the study's experimental design. We measured responses in 23 healthy adults as they performed the two versions of the finger-tapping tasks either blocked by tapping type or alternating from one to the other type during the course of the experiment. As in our previous study, behavioral tapping indices and cortical hemodynamics were monitored, allowing us to compare results across the two study designs. Consistent with previous findings, results reflected distinct, context-dependent parameters of the tapping. Moreover, our results demonstrated a significant impact of study design on rhythmic entrainment in the presence/absence of auditory stimuli. Tapping accuracy and hemodynamic responsivity collectively indicate that the block design context is preferable for studying action-based timing behavior.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41598-023-33780-1

  View details for PubMedID 37130838

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC10154340

• Where and when matter in visual recognition. Attention, perception & psychophysics Ghafari, T., Jounghani, A. R., Esteky, H. 2023; 85 (2): 404-417

  Abstract

  Our perceptual system processes only a selected subset of an incoming stream of stimuli due to sensory biases and limitations in spatial and temporal attention and working memory capacity. In this study, we investigated perceptual access to sensory information that was temporally predictable or unpredictable and spread across the visual field. In a visual recognition task, participants were presented with an array of different number of alphabetical stimuli that were followed by a probe with a delay. They had to indicate whether the probe was included in the stimulus-set or not. To test the impact of temporal attention, coloured cues that were displayed before the visual stimuli indicated the presentation onset of the stimulus-set. We found that temporal predictability of stimulus onset yields higher performance. In addition, recognition performance was biased across the visual field with higher performance for stimuli that were presented on the upper and right visual quadrants. Our findings demonstrate that recognition accuracy is enhanced by temporal cues and has an inherently asymmetric shape across the visual field.

  View details for DOI 10.3758/s13414-022-02607-y

  View details for PubMedID 36333625

  View details for PubMedCentralID 8378846

• Localizing confined epileptic foci in patients with an unclear focus or presumed multifocality using a component-based EEG-fMRI method. Cognitive neurodynamics Ebrahimzadeh, E., Shams, M., Rahimpour Jounghani, A., Fayaz, F., Mirbagheri, M., Hakimi, N., Rajabion, L., Soltanian-Zadeh, H. 2021; 15 (2): 207-222

  Abstract

  Precise localization of epileptic foci is an unavoidable prerequisite in epilepsy surgery. Simultaneous EEG-fMRI recording has recently created new horizons to locate foci in patients with epilepsy and, in comparison with single-modality methods, has yielded more promising results although it is still subject to limitations such as lack of access to information between interictal events. This study assesses its potential added value in the presurgical evaluation of patients with complex source localization. Adult candidates considered ineligible for surgery on account of an unclear focus and/or presumed multifocality on the basis of EEG underwent EEG-fMRI. Adopting a component-based approach, this study attempts to identify the neural behavior of the epileptic generators and detect the components-of-interest which will later be used as input in the GLM model, substituting the classical linear regressor. Twenty-eight sets interictal epileptiform discharges (IED) from nine patients were analyzed. In eight patients, at least one BOLD response was significant, positive and topographically related to the IEDs. These patients were rejected for surgery because of an unclear focus in four, presumed multifocality in three, and a combination of the two conditions in two. Component-based EEG-fMRI improved localization in five out of six patients with unclear foci. In patients with presumed multifocality, component-based EEG-fMRI advocated one of the foci in five patients and confirmed multifocality in one of the patients. In seven patients, component-based EEG-fMRI opened new prospects for surgery and in two of these patients, intracranial EEG supported the EEG-fMRI results. In these complex cases, component-based EEG-fMRI either improved source localization or corroborated a negative decision regarding surgical candidacy. As supported by the statistical findings, the developed EEG-fMRI method leads to a more realistic estimation of localization compared to the conventional EEG-fMRI approach, making it a tool of high value in pre-surgical evaluation of patients with refractory epilepsy. To ensure proper implementation, we have included guidelines for the application of component-based EEG-fMRI in clinical practice.

  View details for DOI 10.1007/s11571-020-09614-5

  View details for PubMedID 33854640

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC7969677

• Tracking differential activation of primary and supplementary motor cortex across timing tasks: An fNIRS validation study. Journal of neuroscience methods Rahimpour, A., Pollonini, L., Comstock, D., Balasubramaniam, R., Bortfeld, H. 2020; 341: 108790

  Abstract

  Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) provides an alternative to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for assessing changes in cortical hemodynamics. To establish the utility of fNIRS for measuring differential recruitment of the motor network during the production of timing-based actions, we measured cortical hemodynamic responses in 10 healthy adults while they performed two versions of a finger-tapping task. The task, used in an earlier fMRI study (Jantzen et al., 2004), was designed to track the neural basis of different timing behaviors. Participants paced their tapping to a metronomic tone, then continued tapping at the established pace without the tone. Initial tapping was either synchronous or syncopated relative to the tone. This produced a 2 × 2 design: synchronous or syncopated tapping and pacing the tapping with or continuing without a tone. Accuracy of the timing of tapping was tracked while cortical hemodynamics were monitored using fNIRS. Hemodynamic responses were computed by canonical statistical analysis across trials in each of the four conditions. Task-induced brain activation resulted in significant increases in oxygenated hemoglobin concentration (oxy-Hb) in a broad region in and around the motor cortex. Overall, syncopated tapping was harder behaviorally and produced more cortical activation than synchronous tapping. Thus, we observed significant changes in oxy-Hb in direct relation to the complexity of the task.

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2020.108790

  View details for PubMedID 32442439

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC7359891