Katarzyna Jednoróg

Piano training enables the study of the interplay between the auditory and motor domains in the acquisition of complex skill. Here, we uniquely combine longitudinal and cross‐sectional designs to show how the motor and auditory brain systems respond in novice pianists over a 6‐month training period. In the auditory domain, we found no differences in brain activation between novice pianists and a passive control group. In a specially designed piano task on an MRI‐compatible keyboard, we demonstrate that the time course of neuroplastic reorganization in the cortical and subcortical regions reflects the shift from spatial attention to automated movements, but depends on task demands related to bimanual coordination. Importantly, no single model of brain plasticity can fully explain the observed dynamic time courses of functional changes. Finally, we demonstrate that the increased activation in the dorsal premotor and parietal cortices in novice pianists compared to skilled musicians while performing the motor task vanishes within the first 6 months of training. These results present converging evidence that the dynamic musical‐training‐related plasticity is highly contextual, and underscore the importance of ecological designs in research on skill acquisition.

Climate change threatens human populations and ecosystems worldwide. Neuroscience research on this topic is emerging, but validated questionnaires, stimuli, and fMRI tasks remain scarce. Here, we present the CLIMATE BRAIN dataset, a multimodal collection of questionnaire, behavioral, and neuroimaging data from 160 young, healthy Polish individuals. Designed to advance research on climate emotions and pro-environmental behavior, the dataset includes individuals with moderate climate change concern. Participants read anger and hope-evoking stories about climate change and made pro-environmental decisions. The dataset includes data from (1) various questionnaire measures, including the Inventory of Climate Emotions (ICE); (2) a neuroimaging task for measuring emotional reactions to standardized Emotional Climate Change Stories (ECCS); and (3) a neuroimaging task based on Carbon Emission Task (CET) to measure climate action-taking. For technical validation, we provide image quality metrics and show the evidence for the effectiveness of the tasks consistent with prior studies. To our knowledge, the proposed multimodal dataset is currently the only publicly available resource specifically designed to investigate human brain responses to climate change.

The neural noise hypothesis of dyslexia posits an imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory (E/I) brain activity as an underlying mechanism of reading difficulties. This study provides the first direct test of this hypothesis using both electroencephalography (EEG) power spectrum measures in 120 Polish adolescents and young adults (60 with dyslexia, 60 controls) and glutamate (Glu) and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentrations from magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) at 7T MRI scanner in half of the sample. Our results, supported by Bayesian statistics, show no evidence of E/I balance differences between groups, challenging the hypothesis that cortical hyperexcitability underlies dyslexia. These findings suggest that alternative mechanisms must be explored and highlight the need for further research into the E/I balance and its role in neurodevelopmental disorders.

The neural noise hypothesis of dyslexia posits an imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory (E/I) brain activity as an underlying mechanism of reading difficulties. This study provides the first direct test of this hypothesis using both EEG power spectrum measures in 120 Polish adolescents and young adults (60 with dyslexia, 60 controls) and glutamate (Glu) and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentrations from magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) at 7T MRI scanner in half of the sample. Our results, supported by Bayesian statistics, show no evidence of E/I balance differences between groups, challenging the hypothesis that cortical hyperexcitability underlies dyslexia. These findings suggest alternative mechanisms must be explored and highlight the need for further research into the E/I balance and its role in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Climate change presents a fundamental threat to human populations and ecosystems across the globe. Neuroscience researchers have recently started developing ways to advance research on this topic. However, validated questionnaires, experimental stimuli, and fMRI tasks are still needed. Here we describe the CLIMATE BRAIN dataset, a multimodal collection of questionnaire, behavioural, and neuroimaging data related to climate change, acquired from 160 healthy individuals. In particular, it includes data from (1) various questionnaire measures, including the Inventory of Climate Emotions (ICE); (2) a neuroimaging task for measuring emotional reactions to standardized Emotional Climate Change Stories (ECCS); and (3) a neuroimaging task based on Carbon Emission Task (CET) to measure climate action-taking. For technical validation, we provide image quality metrics and show the evidence for the effectiveness of tasks consistent with prior studies. To our knowledge, the proposed dataset is currently the only publicly available resource specifically designed to investigate human brain responses to climate change.

This study investigated the neural basis of letter and speech sound (LS) integration in 53 typical readers (35 girls, all White) during the first 2 years of reading education (ages 7–9). Changes in both sensory (multisensory vs unisensory) and linguistic (congruent vs incongruent) aspects of LS integration were examined. The left superior temporal cortex and bilateral inferior frontal cortex showed increasing activation for multisensory over unisensory LS over time, driven by reduced activation to speech sounds. No changes were noted in the congruency effect. However, at age nine, heightened activation to incongruent over congruent LS pairs were observed, correlating with individual differences in reading development. This suggests that the incongruency effect evolves at varying rates depending on reading skills.