The Ups and Downs of Love: Bridal Weight Changes

For most couples, the wedding is the highlight of their relationship and it is THE big event in many brides' lives. All their friends and relatives are invited and the wedding album will be viewed for years thereafter. It is no wonder that brides aspire to look especially beautiful on this day and they often believe (or are told) that losing weight is absolutely mandatory. But do brides actually succeed in this endeavor? And how lasting are wedding-related weight changes?

From the study of an Australian research team [1], 343 brides-to-be were asked about their weight and related information on average 11 months before their wedding. The brides were questioned again one month pre-wedding (available for 130 women) and six months post-wedding (available for 112 women). Around half of these women reported that they wanted to lose almost 10 kilos before their big day. The authors showed that 47% of the brides did actually lose weight up until one month prior to the wedding - but on average only 3 kg! The remaining, either gained weight of an average of 3 kilos (32%) or did not show any weight changes at all (21%).

For true love, your bridal weight should not matter. via Wikimedia Commons. 

Interestingly, those women who lost a lot of weight prior to the wedding had regained all of it (and more) 6 months after the wedding. The other two groups also gained weight, although significantly less compared to the women with pre-wedding weight loss. On average, women gained over 2 kg in the 6 months after their wedding day, which is probably not at all surprising. Wedding-related stress is reduced and the daily routines step in again, and with them the usual eating habits. Also, to some women the thought might occur that they have now “secured” a man, which might consequently diminish their motivation to work on their bodies.

All in all, one can say that pre-wedding weight loss is very short-lived. Therefore, dear brides and grooms: enjoy your wedding. For true love, a couple of kilos more or less should not matter anyway!

[1] Prichard et al. Body Image 2014

By Ann-Christin Ostwaldt, PhD Alumna Medical Neurosciences (AG Academic Neuroradiology)

April Fools' Day

Right, this article does not have much to do with the brain and nope, there are no serious PubMed articles on the effects of April fools' pranks on the central nervous system. However, considering that April is approaching, this might be of general interest.
April Fools' Day is not a national holiday. Still, traditionally, it is well known in most of the western world. Every year on the first of April, people play practical jokes on each other. People are sent on errands that do not exist or are made to believe ridiculous things. The joke is then revealed by shouting out “April fool!” (or “April, April” in Germany).

'Washing of the Lions' hoax from 1857Credit: http://bit.ly/1EQgssI

The origin of this tradition is unclear, but reports date back to the 17th century in Germany. The press and other media tend to report hoax stories on this day, and the stories are revealed as fake on the subsequent days. The BBC did a famous hoax on April 1, 1957, presenting a documentary on how spaghetti can be harvested from spaghetti trees. Hundreds of listeners then called them, inquiring about how to grow spaghetti trees themselves [1].
Google is also famous for its April fools' hoaxes. In 2005, they announced the marketing of the drink Google Gulp. They claimed that it analyzes the DNA of the drinker in real time and carefully adjusts neurotransmitters to enhance intelligence while using the Google search engine. How, you might ask? Well, according to Google this works through a patented technology that involves monoamine oxidase inhibition. It was offered in four flavors: Glutamate Grape, Sugar-Free Radical, Beta Carroty, and Sero-Tonic Water [2].
Easy to identify as a hoax for us scientists, don't you think? Of course, on other topics we might be just as susceptible to hoaxes as others. Maybe this year everybody reading the CNS Newsletter will be a little better prepared!

[1] http://goo.gl/YZ91EN
[2] http://goo.gl/0L8aUY

by Ann-Christin Ostwaldt, PhD Alumna (AG Fiebach)

This article originally appeared March 2015, Vol. 08, Issue 01, Humour

Imaging Language and Communication

Modern Imaging Techniques Reveal the Complexity of Language  

The classic brain areas associated with language – Broca’s and Wernicke’s area – have been identified from patients with brain lesions (see page 8). It is plausible that other regions, such as the auditory cortex for hearing and the visual cortex for reading, also play a role in communication. However, in recent years, imaging has contributed a great deal to a more network-like understanding of the representation of language and communication in the brain and demonstrated its complexity.

via Wikimedia Commons

Different Imaging Modalities 

Imaging studies with combined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) have shown that the arcuate fascicle directly connects Broca’s with Wernicke’s area [1]. This fiber bundle is thought to represent the dorsal pathway of language. It connects auditory cortices to parietal and frontal lobe networks, and seems to mediate between hearing sounds and articulation of words [2]. Furthermore, a second pathway exists and is represented by the extreme capsule [1]. This ventral stream projects from auditory cortices to the temporal lobe. It is thought to be the connection between hearing sound and understanding the meaning of spoken words [2].

Resting-state fMRI studies demonstrate that the language network is even more extended. MRI signals in Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas have a positive correlation with signals in neighbouring prefrontal, temporal, and parietal regions, but also with subcortical structures like the basal ganglia [3].

Studies on communication and language have also been performed using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). This technique allows subjects to communicate in a natural environment. NIRS has proven useful in examining the brain activity of infants to get an insight into how we learn to speak [4].

It seems that with every fMRI, PET or NIRS study conducted on the subject, it is proven further that the language network is more extended and complex than previously thought.

Clinical Applications 

This more detailed knowledge of the extent of the language network also has direct clinical applications. Brain surgeries on tumor or epilepsy patients need to avoid areas that can affect the ability of the patients to speak. The Wada test, which “switches off” one cerebral hemisphere with barbiturates, was formally the gold standard to determine the dominant hemisphere for language production. Modern imaging methods, like fMRI or navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS) can map the individual brain areas involved in language much more precisely and in much more detail. Therefore, these methods are increasingly being used for preoperative planning [5,6] and are considered an adequate replacement for the Wada test [7].
Furthermore, imaging studies are a great tool to help us understand how functional recovery takes place after stroke or surgery, and to what extend other structures can take over functions essential for communication [1]. This further adds to understanding of the language network.

Social Aspects of Communication 
Not only have the structural components of the language network been analyzed with imaging, the social aspects of communication have also taken center stage in recent years.
A study conducted with simultaneous MRI scanning of close female friends showed that neuronal coupling happens during live verbal communication about autobiographical events. The time course of neural activity in language areas was coupled with the time course of neural activity in the friends’ auditory cortex, representing very basic reciprocal mechanisms of social interaction [8]. So-called hyperscanning – the parallel scanning of two subjects who can interact during the session – is a great way to study brain activation during live social interaction.
However, in a social context it is not only the literal meaning of words and sentences that have to be processed, but also the intended meaning of the speaker. This is especially true for metaphors and sarcasm. Differences in brain activations during communication with metaphors and sarcasm have been investigated with fMRI. Interestingly, brain activation related to metaphors was found in the head of the caudate. Sarcasm elicited activation in the left amygdala, which probably represents the processing of the speaker's emotional status [9].
All in all, imaging has given us much insight into the complexity of the language network and its use in social context. To know how the brains of healthy participants function during communication is important to understand conditions such as autism or schizophrenia and has great clinical implications in rehabilitation and surgical planning.

[1] Saur and Hartwigsen, Arch Phys Med Rehab, 2012   

[2] Friederici and Gierhan, Curr Opin Neurobiol, 2013

[3] Tomasi and Volkow, Mol Psychiatry, 2012

[4] Rossi et al, Brain & Language, 2012

[5] Mahvash et al, Clin Neurol Neurosurg, 2014

[6] Picht et al, Neurosurgery, 2013

[7] Papanicolaou et al, Epilepsia, 2014

[8] Spiegelhalder et al, Behav Brain Res, 2014
[9] Uchiyama et al, Cortex, 2012

by Ann-Christin Ostwaldt, PhD Student, AG Fiebach
this article originally appeared 2014 in CNS Volume 7, Issue 4, Communication and Social Media 

Through Rose-Colored Glasses

People who fall in love tend to adopt curious and nerve-racking behaviors: they think and talk about nothing else but their lover and seem unable to concentrate on simple daily tasks. It is as if they see the whole world through rose-colored glasses.

Photo: D Sharon Pruitt

For a neuroscientist, this sounds a lot like impaired cognitive control. It has even been suggested that these behaviors resemble those of patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder [1]. How unsurprising then, that groups of neuroscientists set out to examine this more closely! The group of van Steenbergen et al. [2] studied the effect of passionate love on cognition in 43 students (23 girls, 20 boys) who had recently become involved in a romantic relationship. To test how 'in love' the participants were, the Passionate Love Scale was used (yes, such a scale really exists). For assessment of cognitive control, the flanker task and a Stroop task were performed – both tests measure the ability to filter out distracting and irrelevant information and therefore require cognitive control. Before taking the tests, the participants were asked to imagine romantic events with their lovers and listened to love-related music to elicit a “romantic” mood.

Reduced Cognitive Control in Lovers

The authors were able to show that higher scores on the Passionate Love Scale were associated with an increase in the interference effect on the two cognitive tasks. This effect was independent of gender and not influenced by self-reported affect. Thus, the study showed that cognitive control really is impaired on a measurable level in the initial phase of passionate love. In other words: The rose-colored glasses are real!

Reduced cognitive control has been associated with increased impulsivity in some models and can also be observed to a similar extent in addicts [3]. So from a neuroscientific perspective, passionate lovers in the early phase of their relationship seem to resemble high-impulsivity addicts with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Luckily, for us, this does not last forever. When a passionate relationship evolves into a more committed long-term relationship, cognitive control becomes increasingly important and is eventually reestablished [4].

[1] Tallis et al, Psychologist, 2005

[2] van Steenbergen et al, Motiv Emot, 2013

[3] Burkett & Young, Psychopharmacology, 2012

[4] Pronk et al, J Pers Soc Psychol, 2010

By Ann-Christin Ostwaldt, PhD Student Medical Neurosciences (AG Academic Neuroradiology)

This article originally appeared June 2014 volume 7, issue 02, The Neuroscience of Love