TY - GEN
T1 - Community Analysis of Brain Functional Networks Reveals Systems-Level Integration in Olfactory Hedonic Perception
AU - Low, Jazreel
AU - Seet, Manuel
AU - Hamano, Junji
AU - Saba, Mariana
AU - Thakor, Nitish V.
AU - Dragomir, Andrei
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 IEEE.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Olfactory hedonic perception involves complex interplay among an ensemble of neurocognitive systems implicated in sensory, affective and reward processing. However, the mechanisms of these inter-system interactions have yet to be well-characterized. Here, we employ directed functional connectivity networks estimated from source-localized EEG to uncover how brain regions across the olfactory, emotion and reward systems integrate organically into cross-system communities. Using the integration coefficient, a graph theoretic measure, we quantified the effect of exposure to fragrance stimuli of different hedonic values (high vs low pleasantness levels) on inter-systems interactions. Our analysis focused on beta band activity (13-30 Hz), which is known to facilitate integration of cortical areas involved in sensory perception. Higher-pleasantness stimuli induced elevated integration for the reward system, but not for the emotion and olfactory systems. Furthermore, the nodes of reward system showed more outward connections to the emotion and olfactory systems than inward connections from the respective systems. These results suggest the centrality of the reward system - supported by beta oscillations - in actively coordinating multi-system interactivity to give rise to hedonic experiences during olfactory perception.
AB - Olfactory hedonic perception involves complex interplay among an ensemble of neurocognitive systems implicated in sensory, affective and reward processing. However, the mechanisms of these inter-system interactions have yet to be well-characterized. Here, we employ directed functional connectivity networks estimated from source-localized EEG to uncover how brain regions across the olfactory, emotion and reward systems integrate organically into cross-system communities. Using the integration coefficient, a graph theoretic measure, we quantified the effect of exposure to fragrance stimuli of different hedonic values (high vs low pleasantness levels) on inter-systems interactions. Our analysis focused on beta band activity (13-30 Hz), which is known to facilitate integration of cortical areas involved in sensory perception. Higher-pleasantness stimuli induced elevated integration for the reward system, but not for the emotion and olfactory systems. Furthermore, the nodes of reward system showed more outward connections to the emotion and olfactory systems than inward connections from the respective systems. These results suggest the centrality of the reward system - supported by beta oscillations - in actively coordinating multi-system interactivity to give rise to hedonic experiences during olfactory perception.
KW - Community detection
KW - EEG
KW - Integration
KW - Olfactory perception
KW - Reward system
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85122496887
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85122496887#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1109/EMBC46164.2021.9629919
DO - 10.1109/EMBC46164.2021.9629919
M3 - Conference contribution
C2 - 34892484
AN - SCOPUS:85122496887
T3 - Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS
SP - 5995
EP - 5998
BT - 43rd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBC 2021
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - 43rd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBC 2021
Y2 - 1 November 2021 through 5 November 2021
ER -