Theory of mind in the wild: toward tackling the challenges of everyday mental state reasoning

A complete understanding of the cognitive systems underwriting theory of mind (ToM) abilities requires articulating how mental state representations are generated and processed in everyday situations. Individuals rarely announce their intentions prior to acting, and actions are often consistent with multiple mental states. In order for ToM to operate effectively in such situations, mental state representations should be generated in response to certain actions, even when those actions occur in the presence of mental state content derived from other aspects of the situation. Results from three experiments with preschool children and adults demonstrate that mental state information is indeed generated based on an approach action cue in situations that contain competing mental state information. Further, the frequency with which participants produced or endorsed explanations that include mental states about an approached object decreased when the competing mental state information about a different object was made explicit. This set of experiments provides some of the first steps toward identifying the observable action cues that are used to generate mental state representations in everyday situations and offers insight into how both young children and adults processes multiple mental state representations.

Visual attentional engagement deficits in children with specific language impairment and their role in real-time language processing

In order to become a proficient user of language, infants must detect temporal cues embedded within the noisy acoustic spectra of ongoing speech by efficient attentional engagement. According to the neuro-constructivist approach, a multi-sensory dysfunction of attentional engagement - hampering the temporal sampling of stimuli - might be responsible for language deficits typically shown in children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). In the present study, the efficiency of visual attentional engagement was investigated in 22 children with SLI and 22 typically developing (TD) children by measuring attentional masking (AM). AM refers to impaired identification of the first of two sequentially presented masked objects (O1 and O2) in which the O1-O2 interval was manipulated. Lexical and grammatical comprehension abilities were also tested in both groups. Children with SLI showed a sluggish engagement of temporal attention, and individual differences in AM accounted for a significant percentage of unique variance in grammatical performance. Our results suggest that an attentional engagement deficit - probably linked to a dysfunction of the right fronto-parietal attentional network - might be a contributing factor in these children's language impairments.

Assessing Counter-Terrorism field training with multiple behavioral measures

Development of behavioral pattern recognition and analysis skills is an essential element of Counter-Terrorism training, particularly in the field. Three classes of behavioral measures were collected in an assessment of skill acquisition during a US Joint Forces Command-sponsored course consisting of Combat Tracking and Combat Profiling segments. Measures included situational judgment tests, structured behavioral observation checklists, and qualitative assessments of the emergence of specific knowledge-skills-attitudes over the course of the training. The paper describes statistical evidence across the three types of measures that indicate that behavioral pattern recognition and analysis skills were successfully acquired by most students (a mix of Army and civilian law enforcement personnel) during the field training exercises. Implications for broader training of these critical skills are also discussed.

Mental additions and verbal-domain interference in children with developmental dyscalculia

This study examined the involvement of verbal and visuo-spatial domains in solving addition problems with carrying in a sample of children diagnosed with developmental dyscalculia (DD) divided into two groups: (i) those with DD alone and (ii) those with DD and dyslexia. Age and stage matched typically developing (TD) children were also studied. The addition problems were presented horizontally or vertically and associated with verbal or visuo-spatial information. Study results showed that DD children's performance on mental calculation tasks was more impaired when they tackled horizontally presented addition problems compared to vertically presented ones that are associated to verbal domain involvement. The performance pattern in the two DD groups was found to be similar. The theoretical, clinical and educational implications of these findings are discussed.

Associations of symptoms and subtypes of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder with visuospatial planning ability in youth

Little is known about which ADHD core symptom or subtype is most associated with visuospatial planning deficit. This issue was investigated in a sample of 408 youths with current DSM-IV diagnosis of ADHD, and 332 youths without lifetime ADHD, aged 8-17 years (mean age 12.02±2.24). All the participants and their mothers were interviewed using the Chinese Kiddie Epidemiologic version of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia to obtain information about ADHD symptoms and diagnosis and other psychiatric disorders. In addition to clinical assessments, the participants were assessed with the WISC-III and the Stocking of Cambridge task of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. Multi-level regression models were used for data analysis. The results showed that univariate analyses revealed that inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity were significantly associated with visuospatial planning, and the magnitude of such association was amplified with increased task difficulties. Only inattention independently predicted visuospatial planning in a model that included all three ADHD symptoms. After further controlling for comorbidity, age of assessment, treatment with methylphenidate, and Full-scale IQ, inattention was still independently associated with visuospatial planning indexed by mean moves needed to solve problems. In subtype comparison, participants with combined subtype and those with prominently inattentive subtype, rather than prominently hyperactivity/impulsivity subtype, had poorer visuospatial planning performance. Our findings indicate that inattention is independently associated with impaired visuospatial planning, and dimensional approach retains the important distinction among ADHD symptoms than subtype approach in understanding the neuropsychological functioning of ADHD.

Motor demands impact speed of information processing in autism spectrum disorders

The apparent contradiction between preserved or even enhanced perceptual processing speed on inspection time tasks in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and impaired performance on complex processing speed tasks that require motor output (e.g., Wechsler Processing Speed Index) has not yet been systematically investigated. This study investigates whether adding motor output demands to an inspection time task impairs ASD performance compared to that of typically developing control (TDC) children. The performance of children with ASD (n = 28; mean Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) = 115) and TDC (n = 25; mean FSIQ = 122) children was compared on processing speed tasks with increasing motor demand. Correlations were run between ASD task performance and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) Communication scores. Performance by the ASD and TDC groups on a simple perceptual processing speed task with minimal motor demand was equivalent, though it diverged (ASD worse than TDC) on 2 tasks with the same stimuli but increased motor output demands. ASD performance on the moderate but not the high speeded motor output demand task was negatively correlated with ADOS communication symptoms. These data address the apparent contradiction between preserved inspection time in the context of slowed "processing speed" in ASD. They show that processing speed is preserved when motor demands are minimized, but that increased motor output demands interfere with the ability to act on perceptual processing of simple stimuli. Reducing motor demands (e.g., through the use of computers) may increase the capacity of people with ASD to demonstrate good perceptual processing in a variety of educational, vocational, and social settings.

Belief and sign, true and false: the unique of false belief reasoning

For a long time, a controversy has been proposed that whether the process of theory of mind is a result of domain-specific or domain-general changes (Wellman in The handbook of childhood cognitive development. Blackwell Publication, New Jersey, 2011). This event-related potential study explored the neural time course of domain-general and domain-specific components in belief reasoning. Fourteen participants completed location transfer false belief (FB), true belief (TB), false sign (FS) and true sign (TS) tasks, in which two pictures told a story related to a dog that ran from a green into a red box. In the TB and FB tasks, a boy saw or did not see the transfer of the dog, respectively. In the FS and TS tasks, an arrow that pointed to the green box either altered its direction to the red box or did not alter following the transfer of the dog. Participants then inferred where the boy thought of, or the arrow indicated the location of the dog. FB and TB reasoning elicited lower N2 amplitudes than FS and TS reasoning, which is associated with domain-general components, the detection, and classification. The late slow wave (LSW) for FB was more positive at frontal, central, and parietal sites than FS because of the domain-specific component involved in FB reasoning. However, the LSW was less positive for TB than for FB but did not differ from the TS condition, which implies that mental representation might not be involved in TB reasoning.

Supporting interruption management and multimodal interface design: three meta-analyses of task performance as a function of interrupting task modality

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to integrate empirical data showing the effects of interrupting task modality on the performance of an ongoing visual-manual task and the interrupting task itself. The goal is to support interruption management and the design of multimodal interfaces.

BACKGROUND

Multimodal interfaces have been proposed as a promising means to support interruption management.To ensure the effectiveness of this approach, their design needs to be based on an analysis of empirical data concerning the effectiveness of individual and redundant channels of information presentation.

METHOD

Three meta-analyses were conducted to contrast performance on an ongoing visual task and interrupting tasks as a function of interrupting task modality (auditory vs. tactile, auditory vs. visual, and single modality vs. redundant auditory-visual). In total, 68 studies were included and six moderator variables were considered.

RESULTS

The main findings from the meta-analyses are that response times are faster for tactile interrupting tasks in case of low-urgency messages.Accuracy is higher with tactile interrupting tasks for low-complexity signals but higher with auditory interrupting tasks for high-complexity signals. Redundant auditory-visual combinations are preferable for communication tasks during high workload and with a small visual angle of separation.

CONCLUSION

The three meta-analyses contribute to the knowledge base in multimodal information processing and design. They highlight the importance of moderator variables in predicting the effects of interruption task modality on ongoing and interrupting task performance.

APPLICATIONS

The findings from this research will help inform the design of multimodal interfaces in data-rich, event-driven domains.

Increased functional connectivity with puberty in the mentalising network involved in social emotion processing

This article is part of a Special Issue "Puberty and Adolescence". There is increasing evidence that puberty plays an important role in the structural and functional brain development seen in adolescence, but little is known of the pubertal influence on changes in functional connectivity. We explored how pubertal indicators (salivary concentrations of testosterone, oestradiol and DHEA; pubertal stage; menarcheal status) relate to functional connectivity between components of a mentalising network identified to be engaged in social emotion processing by our prior work, using psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis. Female adolescents aged 11 to 13years were scanned whilst silently reading scenarios designed to evoke either social emotions (guilt and embarrassment) or basic emotions (disgust and fear), of which only social compared to basic emotions require the representation of another person's mental states. Pubertal stage and menarcheal status were used to assign participants to pre/early or mid/late puberty groups. We found increased functional connectivity between the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) and the right posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) and right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) during social relative to basic emotion processing. Moreover, increasing oestradiol concentrations were associated with increased functional connectivity between the DMPFC and the right TPJ during social relative to basic emotion processing, independent of age. Our analysis of the PPI data by phenotypic pubertal status showed that more advanced puberty stage was associated with enhanced functional connectivity between the DMPFC and the left anterior temporal cortex (ATC) during social relative to basic emotion processing, also independent of age. Our results suggest increased functional maturation of the social brain network with the advancement of puberty in girls.

Meta-analysis of functional roles of DICCCOLs

DICCCOL (Dense Individualized and Common Connectivity-based Cortical Landmarks) is a recently published system composed of 358 cortical landmarks that possess consistent correspondences across individuals and populations. Meanwhile, each DICCCOL landmark is localized in an individual brain's unique morphological profile, and therefore the DICCCOL system offers a universal and individualized brain reference and localization framework. However, in current 358 diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)-derived DICCCOLs, only 95 of them have been functionally annotated via task-based or resting-state fMRI datasets and the functional roles of other DICCCOLs are unknown yet. This work aims to take the advantage of existing literature fMRI studies (1110 publications) reported and aggregated in the BrainMap database to examine the possible functional roles of 358 DICCCOLs via meta-analysis. Our experimental results demonstrate that a majority of 358 DICCCOLs can be functionally annotated by the BrainMap database, and many DICCCOLs have rich and diverse functional roles in multiple behavior domains. This study provides novel insights into the functional regularity and diversity of 358 DICCCOLs, and offers a starting point for future elucidation of fine-grained functional roles of cortical landmarks.

An exploratory study of activity in veterans with Parkinson's disease

Movement disorder specialists have limited information on the specifics of how patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) spend their time. We deemed it important to examine the relationships among activity and daily energy expenditure (DEE), non-motor symptoms, and body mass index in veterans with PD who were outpatients at a Veterans Affairs medical center. In this exploratory study, we mailed demographic and activity questionnaires and gathered data on 100 patients. Activity was categorized into five domains and three intensity levels, and DEE was measured in kilocalories. Light activities accounted for 64.9% of DEE (9.1 h), moderate activities for 32.9% (2.1 h), and vigorous activities for 2.2% (0.1 h) of DEE. Television viewing comprised 10.6% (2.5 h) of the day. The effects of non-motor symptoms were significantly associated with more time spent on activities of daily life (ADL). Patients rated fatigue and pain as having the greatest impact on their daily activities. The overweight/obese group of PD patients expended more overall DEE (p = 0.044) and more DEE on social activities (p = 0.024) and light intensity activities (p = 0.021) than did the underweight/normal group. Leisure activities for both groups changed from active to passive. Veterans with PD primarily expended DEE on ADL, TV viewing, and light intensity activities. Television viewing time may have been under reported. Movement disorder specialists can be more proactive in referring patients to physical therapy and encouraging their participation in community exercise and support groups.

[A study of brain-computer interface paradigm based on mental arithmetic]

In the traditional P300 brain-computer interface (BCI) system, the electroencephalogram (EEG) signals can only provide limited information with a low signal-to-noise ratio. A BCI paradigm under visual stimulus was proposed in our study aiming to effectively activate the related brain areas and response signal while dealing with specific cognitive task (mental arithmetic task), so as to enhance the EEG signals. The result was compared with the traditional P300 counting task paradigm. Then the collected EEG data were preprocessed including extracting signal features with coherent averaging method, and analyzing the influences of different experimental paradigms on main components of event related potential (ERP). In the improved paradigm experiments the average increasing rate of P300 amplitude was 6. 83MV (73. 94%). The brain activity from 400ms was more active and lasted longer. Besides, unlike traditional counting task, mental arithmetic task appeared to have apparent activation at 650ms. The results showed that the improved paradigm could activate the related brain areas better and enhance the characteristics of signal. This provides a new system paradigm for BCI.

[Spectral, phase-synchronization, and graph theoretical EEG changes related to mental arithmetics]

During mental arithmetic operations working memory plays an important role, but there are only few studies in which an attempt was made to separate this effect from the process of arithmetics per se. In this study the effects of arithmetic on the EEG of young adults (14 participants, six of them women, mean age 21.57 years, SD: 2.62) was investigated during a subtraction task in the theta (4-8 Hz) frequency band. Besides the power density spectrum analysis phase synchrony based on recently developed graph theoretical methods were used and strength of local connections (cluster coefficient; C) and global interconnectedness of network (characteristic path length; L) were determined. Before the arithmetic task passive viewing (control situation) and a number recognition paradigms were used. During the arithmetic task compared to the control situation significantly increasing phase synchrony and C values were found. L was significantly shorter (F(2, 26) = 818.77, p < 0.0001) only during the arithmetic task: this fact and the former two results imply that the network topology shifted towards the "small world" direction. Our findings concerning regional differences confirm those reported earlier in the literature: compared to the control condition significant task-related increase was found in C values in the parietal areas [more explicitly in the left side, (F(1, 13) = 7.2020, p = 0.0188)], which probably corresponds to stronger local connections and more synchronized (sub)networks. During the task condition significantly increased 0 band power; (F(1, 13) = 7.9708, p = 0.01447 and decreased L values were found in the left frontal region compared to the right side (F(1, 13) = 6.0734, p = 0.0284), which can also be interpreted as an indicator of optimized network topology of information processing.

Different types of laughter modulate connectivity within distinct parts of the laughter perception network

Laughter is an ancient signal of social communication among humans and non-human primates. Laughter types with complex social functions (e.g., taunt and joy) presumably evolved from the unequivocal and reflex-like social bonding signal of tickling laughter already present in non-human primates. Here, we investigated the modulations of cerebral connectivity associated with different laughter types as well as the effects of attention shifts between implicit and explicit processing of social information conveyed by laughter using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Complex social laughter types and tickling laughter were found to modulate connectivity in two distinguishable but partially overlapping parts of the laughter perception network irrespective of task instructions. Connectivity changes, presumably related to the higher acoustic complexity of tickling laughter, occurred between areas in the prefrontal cortex and the auditory association cortex, potentially reflecting higher demands on acoustic analysis associated with increased information load on auditory attention, working memory, evaluation and response selection processes. In contrast, the higher degree of socio-relational information in complex social laughter types was linked to increases of connectivity between auditory association cortices, the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and brain areas associated with mentalizing as well as areas in the visual associative cortex. These modulations might reflect automatic analysis of acoustic features, attention direction to informative aspects of the laughter signal and the retention of those in working memory during evaluation processes. These processes may be associated with visual imagery supporting the formation of inferences on the intentions of our social counterparts. Here, the right dorsolateral precentral cortex appears as a network node potentially linking the functions of auditory and visual associative sensory cortices with those of the mentalizing-associated anterior mediofrontal cortex during the decoding of social information in laughter.

The levels of processing effect under nitrogen narcosis

Previous research has consistently demonstrated that inert gas (nitrogen) narcosis affects free recall but not recognition memory in the depth range of 30 to 50 meters of sea water (msw), possibly as a result of narcosis preventing processing when learned material is encoded. The aim of the current research was to test this hypothesis by applying a levels of processing approach to the measurement of free recall under narcosis. Experiment 1 investigated the effect of depth (0-2 msw vs. 37-39 msw) and level of processing (shallow vs. deep) on free recall memory performance in 67 divers. When age was included as a covariate, recall was significantly worse in deep water (i.e., under narcosis), compared to shallow water, and was significantly higher in the deep processing compared to shallow processing conditions in both depth conditions. Experiment 2 demonstrated that this effect was not simply due to the different underwater environments used for the depth conditions in Experiment 1. It was concluded memory performance can be altered by processing under narcosis and supports the contention that narcosis affects the encoding stage of memory as opposed to self-guided search (retrieval).

A unique emotional processing profile of euthymic bipolar disorder? A critical review

OBJECTIVES

To undertake a critical review of the literature on emotional processing (EP) in bipolar patients in remission. This literature review focuses on a number of dimensions of EP including facial emotion recognition, emotional memory, affective theory of mind (ToM), affective attention and affective auditory information processing.

METHODS

A systematic search was conducted through PsychINFO and Medline databases to obtain relevant literature. Studies that include behavioural measures of EP were included.

RESULTS

The findings from this review demonstrate that bipolar disorder (BD) patients continue to exhibit some EP deficits during euthymic phases. A number of factors believed to contribute to such findings have been highlighted.

CONCLUSIONS

This review has shed light on some of the conflicting findings reported in the literature and thus offers a more comprehensive profile of euthymic bipolar patients' EP abilities. This information could enrich clinicians' therapeutic efforts to minimise relapse by attending to euthymic bipolar patients' specific emotional processing difficulties.

Metaphorical motion in mathematical reasoning: further evidence for pre-motor implementation of structure mapping in abstract domains

The theory of computation and category theory both employ arrow-based notations that suggest that the basic metaphor "state changes are like motions" plays a fundamental role in all mathematical reasoning involving formal manipulations. If this is correct, structure-mapping inferences implemented by the pre-motor action planning system can be expected to be involved in solving any mathematics problems not solvable by table lookups and number line manipulations alone. Available functional imaging studies of multi-digit arithmetic, algebra, geometry and calculus problem solving are consistent with this expectation.

Is the contextual effect weak in people with Williams syndrome? An investigation of information integration ability using pictures

Previous studies have shown that deficiencies in visuospatial perception and semantic processing in people with Williams syndrome (WS) are due to deficient central cohesiveness. Unlike previous studies that used abstract stimuli, this study used pictures to determine the relative ability of people with WS to integrate contextual information with the aim of exploring the nature of central coherence in people with WS. Participants were sequentially presented with a leading background picture followed by a single-item target picture and required to assess the congruence of the two pictures. The results showed that our participants with WS performed the same pattern as controls matched by chronological age (CA) and mental age (MA), demonstrating a contextual effect between congruent and incongruent conditions. Using concrete pictures, contextual integration was successfully induced in people with WS. There were differences between groups in response latencies and accuracy percentages, suggesting that contextual integration in information processing normally develops from childhood to adulthood, but is delayed in people with WS.

The development of product parity sensitivity in children with mathematics learning disability and in typical achievers

Parity helps us determine whether an arithmetic equation is true or false. The current research examines the development of sensitivity to parity cues in multiplication in typically achieving (TA) children (grades 2, 3, 4 and 6) and in children with mathematics learning disabilities (MLD, grades 6 and 8), via a verification task. In TA children the onset of parity sensitivity was observed at the beginning of 3rd grade, whereas in children with MLD it was documented only in 8th grade. These results suggest that children with MLD develop parity aspects of number sense, though later than TA children. To check the plausibility of equations, children used mainly the multiplication parity rule rather than familiarity with even products. Similar to observations in adults, parity sensitivity was largest for problems with two even operands, moderate for problems with one even and one odd operand, and smallest for problems with two odd operands.

Practice guidelines for postanesthetic care: an updated report by the American Society of Anesthesiologists Task Force on Postanesthetic Care

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text.

Comparing nouns and verbs in a lexical task

We analyzed the differential processing of nouns and verbs in a lexical decision task. Moderate and high-frequency nouns and verbs were compared. The characteristics of our material were specified at the formal level (number of letters and syllables, number of homographs, orthographic neighbors, frequency and age of acquisition), and at the semantic level (imagery, number and strength of associations, number of meanings, context dependency). A regression analysis indicated a classical frequency effect and a word-type effect, with latencies for verbs being slower than for nouns. The regression analysis did not permit the conclusion that semantic effects were involved (particularly imageability). Nevertheless, the semantic opposition between nouns as prototypical representations of objects, and verbs as prototypical representation of actions was not tested in this experiment and remains a good candidate explanation of the response time discrepancies between verbs and nouns.

Attention and the speed of information processing: posterior entry for unattended stimuli instead of prior entry for attended stimuli

Why are nearly simultaneous stimuli frequently perceived in reversed order? The origin of errors in temporal judgments is a question older than experimental psychology itself. One of the earliest suspects is attention. According to the concept of prior entry, attention accelerates attended stimuli; thus they have "prior entry" to perceptive processing stages, including consciousness. Although latency advantages for attended stimuli have been revealed in psychophysical studies many times, these measures (e.g. temporal order judgments, simultaneity judgments) cannot test the prior-entry hypothesis completely. Since they assess latency differences between an attended and an unattended stimulus, they cannot distinguish between faster processing of attended stimuli and slower processing of unattended stimuli. Therefore, we present a novel paradigm providing separate estimates for processing advantages respectively disadvantages of attended and unattended stimuli. We found that deceleration of unattended stimuli contributes more strongly to the prior-entry illusion than acceleration of attended stimuli. Thus, in the temporal domain, attention fulfills its selective function primarily by deceleration of unattended stimuli. That means it is actually posterior entry, not prior entry which accounts for the largest part of the effect.

Processing pathways in mental arithmetic--evidence from probabilistic fiber tracking

Numerical cognition is a case of multi-modular and distributed cerebral processing. So far neither the anatomo-functional connections between the cortex areas involved nor their integration into established frameworks such as the differentiation between dorsal and ventral processing streams have been specified. The current study addressed this issue combining a re-analysis of previously published fMRI data with probabilistic fiber tracking data from an independent sample. We aimed at differentiating neural correlates and connectivity for relatively easy and more difficult addition problems in healthy adults and their association with either rather verbally mediated fact retrieval or magnitude manipulations, respectively. The present data suggest that magnitude- and fact retrieval-related processing seem to be subserved by two largely separate networks, both of them comprising dorsal and ventral connections. Importantly, these networks not only differ in localization of activation but also in the connections between the cortical areas involved. However, it has to be noted that even though seemingly distinct anatomically, these networks operate as a functionally integrated circuit for mental calculation as revealed by a parametric analysis of brain activation.

Transprocessing: neurobiologic mechanisms of change during psychotherapy-a proposal based on a case report

This article proposes transprocessing (as in "transduction" and "processing") as a term to denote mechanisms by which the brain processes information in psychotherapy and develops solutions that have a lasting, curative effect. The case of a woman with a history of posttraumatic conversions, who recovered after long-term psychotherapy, is presented as the basis for a discussion on psychotherapeutic changes of the brain. Psychological healing and change, in general, is seen here as a result of a large variety of neurobiologic processes that reframe complex or multimodal memories. Through transprocessing, multimodal memories are deconstructed along the different axes of the brain tissue and restored through memory mechanisms at the synaptic, cellular level. Transprocessing requires a sustained interplay between the extended projections of the "language brain" and the repeated, alternating activation and deactivation of the midline structures associated with the self, to form pathways through long-term therapeutic experiences. We propose three separate stages of transprocessing by which new implicit and explicit memories of the therapeutic narrative are internalized into a first-person experience. Those stages are 1) evaluation, 2) acquisition, and 3) contextualization.

Fuzzy-TLX: using fuzzy integrals for evaluating human mental workload with NASA-Task Load indeX in laboratory and field studies

The aim of this study was to assess mental workload in which various load sources must be integrated to derive reliable workload estimates. We report a new algorithm for computing weights from qualitative fuzzy integrals and apply it to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration -Task Load indeX (NASA-TLX) subscales in order to replace the standard pair-wise weighting technique (PWT). In this paper, two empirical studies were reported: (1) In a laboratory experiment, age- and task-related variables were investigated in 53 male volunteers and (2) In a field study, task- and job-related variables were studied on aircrews during 48 commercial flights. The results found in this study were as follows: (i) in the experimental setting, fuzzy estimates were highly correlated with classical (using PWT) estimates; (ii) in real work conditions, replacing PWT by automated fuzzy treatments simplified the NASA-TLX completion; (iii) the algorithm for computing fuzzy estimates provides a new classification procedure sensitive to various variables of work environments and (iv) subjective and objective measures can be used for the fuzzy aggregation of NASA-TLX subscales.

PRACTITIONER SUMMARY

NASA-TLX, a classical tool for mental workload assessment, is based on a weighted sum of ratings from six subscales. A new algorithm, which impacts on input data collection and computes weights and indexes from qualitative fuzzy integrals, is evaluated through laboratory and field studies. Pros and cons are discussed.

Majority influence in children and other animals

We here review existing evidence for majority influences in children under the age of ten years and comparable studies with animals ranging from fish to apes. Throughout the review, we structure the discussion surrounding majority influences by differentiating the behaviour of individuals in the presence of a majority and the underlying mechanisms and motivations. Most of the relevant research to date in both developmental psychology and comparative psychology has focused on the behavioural outcomes, where a multitude of mechanisms could be at play. We further propose that interpreting cross-species differences in behavioural patterns is difficult without considering the psychology of the individual. Some attempts at this have been made both in developmental psychology and comparative psychology. We propose that physiological measures should be used to subsidize behavioural studies in an attempt to understand the composition of mechanisms and motivations underlying majority influence. We synthesize the relevant evidence on human brain function in order to provide a framework for future investigation in this area. In addition to streamlining future research efforts, we aim to create a conceptual platform for productive exchanges across the related disciplines of developmental and comparative psychology.

Integrative deficits in depression and in negative mood states as a result of fronto-parietal network dysfunctions

Depression is a disorder characterized not only by persistent negative mood, lack of motivation and a "ruminative" style of thinking, but also by specific deficits in cognitive functioning. These deficits are especially pronounced when integration of information is required. Previous research on linear syllogisms points to a clear pattern of cognitive disturbances present in people suffering from depressive disorders, as well as in people with elevated negative mood. Such disturbances are characterized by deficits in the integration of piecemeal information into coherent mental representations. In this review, I present evidence which suggests that the dysfunction of specific brain areas plays a crucial role in creating reasoning and information integration problems among people with depression and with heightened negative mood. As the increasingly prevalent systems neuroscience approach is spreading into the study of mental disorders, it is important to understand how and which brain networks are involved in creating certain symptoms of depression. Two large brain networks are of particular interest when considering depression: the default mode network (DMN) and the fronto-parietal (executive) network (FNP). The DMN network shows abnormally high activity in the depressed population, whereas FNP circuit activity is diminished. Disturbances within the FNP network seem to be strongly associated with cognitive problems in depression, especially those concerning executive functions. The dysfunctions within the fronto-parietal network are most probably connected to ineffective transmission of information between prefrontal and parietal regions, and also to an imbalance between FNP and DMN circuits. Inefficiency of this crucial circuits functioning may be a more general mechanism leading to problems with flexible cognition and executive functions, and could be the cause of more typical symptoms of depression like persistent rumination.

Study of behavior: science or pseudoscience (with comments of Bogdan Dreher, Giacomo Rizzolatti and Charles Gross)

The manuscript printed below has been written by Professor Jerzy Konorski around 1970, a few years before his death in 1973. The manuscript has not been published before. It was recently discovered in Konorski's papers deposed in the Library of the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology. In his critical review Konorski debates advantages and shortcomings of the physiological approach of Pavlov and purely behavioristic approaches advocated by Hull and Skinner. He supports close cooperation o behaviorists with neurophysiologists and neuroanatomists, with focus on the investigation of the neural mechanisms underlying behavior. Konorski's ideas concerning the integration of the study of behavior and neurophysiology anticipated contemporary path of neuroscience. Indeed, his approach, which at that time appeared somewhat controversial, is universally accepted by contemporary neuroscientists. By contrast, physiological theories of higher mental functions formulated by Pavlov as well as deliberately anti-physiological approaches of Skinner and Hull have all but disappeared from serious scientific discourse. However, the same problems such as strongly promoted self-importance of some branches of neuroscience, the lack of inter-communication between different branches and resulting lack of integrating ideas appear to emerge anew in each new generation of scientists. (Editors of Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis).

Noninvasive transcranial direct current stimulation over the left prefrontal cortex facilitates cognitive flexibility in tool use

Recent neuroscience evidence suggests that some higher-order tasks might benefit from a reduction in sensory filtering associated with low levels of cognitive control. Guided by neuroimaging findings, we hypothesized that cathodal (inhibitory) transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) will facilitate performance in a flexible use generation task. Participants saw pictures of artifacts and generated aloud either the object’s common use or an uncommon use for it, while receiving cathodal tDCS (1.5 mA) either over left or right PFC, or sham stimulation. A forward digit span task served as a negative control for potential general effects of stimulation. Analysis of voice-onset reaction times and number of responses generated showed significant facilitative effects of left PFC stimulation for the uncommon, but not the common use generation task and no effects of stimulation on the control task. The results support the hypothesis that certain tasks may benefit from a state of diminished cognitive control.

Intrusions in trauma and psychosis: information processing and phenomenology

BACKGROUND

Intrusions are common symptoms of both post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and schizophrenia. It has been suggested that an information processing style characterized by weak trait contextual integration renders psychotic individuals vulnerable to intrusive experiences. This 'contextual integration hypothesis' was tested in individuals reporting anomalous experiences in the absence of a need for care.

METHOD

Twenty-six low schizotypes and 23 individuals reporting anomalous experiences were shown a traumatic film with and without a concurrent visuospatial task (VST). Participants rated post-traumatic intrusions for frequency and form, and completed self-report measures of information processing style. It was predicted that, because of their weaker trait contextual integration, the anomalous experiences (AE) group would (1) exhibit more intrusions following exposure to the trauma film, (2) display intrusions characterized by more PTSD qualities and (3) show a greater reduction of intrusions with the concurrent VST.

RESULTS

As predicted, the AE group reported a lower level of trait contextual integration and more intrusions than the low schizotypes, both immediately after watching the film and during the following 7 days. Their post-traumatic intrusive memories were more PTSD-like (more intrusive, vivid and associated with emotion). The VST had no effect on the number of intrusions in either group.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings provide some support for the proposal that weak trait contextual integration underlies the development of intrusions within both PTSD and psychosis.

Item memory, context memory and the hippocampus: fMRI evidence

Dual-process models of recognition memory distinguish between the retrieval of qualitative information about a prior event (recollection), and judgments of prior occurrence based on an acontextual sense of familiarity. fMRI studies investigating the neural correlates of memory encoding and retrieval conducted within the dual-process framework have frequently reported findings consistent with the view that the hippocampus selectively supports recollection, and has little or no role in familiarity-based recognition. An alternative interpretation of these findings has been proposed, however, in which it is argued that the hippocampus supports the encoding and retrieval of 'strong' memories, regardless of whether the memories are recollection- or familiarity-based. Here, we describe the findings of eight fMRI studies from our laboratory: one study of source memory encoding, four studies of the retrieval of contextual information, and three studies of continuous recognition. Together, the findings support the proposal that hippocampal activity co-varies with the amount of contextual information about a study episode that is encoded or retrieved, and not with the strength of an undifferentiated memory signal.

Information structure influences depth of syntactic processing: event-related potential evidence for the Chomsky illusion

Information structure facilitates communication between interlocutors by highlighting relevant information. It has previously been shown that information structure modulates the depth of semantic processing. Here we used event-related potentials to investigate whether information structure can modulate the depth of syntactic processing. In question-answer pairs, subtle (number agreement) or salient (phrase structure) syntactic violations were placed either in focus or out of focus through information structure marking. P600 effects to these violations reflect the depth of syntactic processing. For subtle violations, a P600 effect was observed in the focus condition, but not in the non-focus condition. For salient violations, comparable P600 effects were found in both conditions. These results indicate that information structure can modulate the depth of syntactic processing, but that this effect depends on the salience of the information. When subtle violations are not in focus, they are processed less elaborately. We label this phenomenon the Chomsky illusion.

Attention, learning, and the value of information

Despite many studies on selective attention, fundamental questions remain about its nature and neural mechanisms. Here I draw from the animal and machine learning fields that describe attention as a mechanism for active learning and uncertainty reduction and explore the implications of this view for understanding visual attention and eye movement control. I propose that a closer integration of these different views has the potential greatly to expand our understanding of oculomotor control and our ability to use this system as a window into high level but poorly understood cognitive functions, including the capacity for curiosity and exploration and for inferring internal models of the external world.

Discovering relations between mind, brain, and mental disorders using topic mapping

Neuroimaging research has largely focused on the identification of associations between brain activation and specific mental functions. Here we show that data mining techniques applied to a large database of neuroimaging results can be used to identify the conceptual structure of mental functions and their mapping to brain systems. This analysis confirms many current ideas regarding the neural organization of cognition, but also provides some new insights into the roles of particular brain systems in mental function. We further show that the same methods can be used to identify the relations between mental disorders. Finally, we show that these two approaches can be combined to empirically identify novel relations between mental disorders and mental functions via their common involvement of particular brain networks. This approach has the potential to discover novel endophenotypes for neuropsychiatric disorders and to better characterize the structure of these disorders and the relations between them.

One of the major challenges of neuroscience research is to integrate the results of the large number of published research studies in order to better understand how psychological functions are mapped onto brain systems. In this research, we take advantage of a large database of neuroimaging studies, along with text mining methods, to extract information about the topics that are found in the brain imaging literature and their mapping onto reported brain activation data. We also show that this method can be used to identify new relations between psychological functions and mental disorders, through their shared brain activity patterns. This work provides a new way to discover the underlying structure that relates brain function and mental processes.

Cortical thickness, mental absorption and meditative practice: possible implications for disorders of attention

Mental training techniques rooted in meditation are associated with attention improvement, increased activation and cortical thickening of attention/executive-related brain areas. Interestingly, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with behavioural deficits, hypo-activation and cortical thinning of similar networks. This study assessed the relationship between prior meditative training, attentional absorption, and cortical thickness. Grey matter thickness was measured in 18 meditators and 18 controls. Subjective reports of attentional absorption were modestly higher in meditators and across the entire sample correlated positively with cortical thickness in several regions corresponding to cingulo-fronto-parietal attention networks. Within these regions the meditation group had greater cortical thickness which was positively related to the extent of prior training. Evidence suggesting that meditative practice activates these cortical areas, improves attention and may ameliorate symptoms of ADHD by targeting vulnerable brain regions is discussed.

Factors distinguishing skilled and less skilled deaf readers: evidence from four orthographies

This study aims to enhance understanding of the factors underlying variance in the reading comprehension skills of prelingually deaf individuals. Participants were 213 sixth through tenth graders with prelingual deafness recruited from four orthographic backgrounds (Hebrew, Arabic, English, and German) and allocated to three distinct reading profiles (levels). A sentence comprehension test manipulating the semantic plausibility of sentences and a word processing experiment requiring rapid determination of the semantic relationship between two real words or between a real word and a pseudohomophonic letter string were used to determine the factors distinguishing skilled from less skilled deaf readers. Findings point to deficits in structural (syntactic) knowledge and deficient knowledge structures, rather than differences in phonological processing skills, as making that distinction. Moreover, the acquisition of such knowledge seems to be modified by particularities of the read orthography.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of processing nonsymbolic number: an event-related potential source localization study

Coordinated studies with adults, infants, and nonhuman animals provide evidence for two distinct systems of nonverbal number representation. The "parallel individuation" (PI) system selects and retains information about one to three individual entities and the "numerical magnitude" system establishes representations of the approximate cardinal value of a group. Recent event-related potential (ERP) work has demonstrated that these systems reliably evoke functionally and temporally distinct patterns of brain response that correspond to established behavioral signatures. However, relatively little is known about the neural generators of these ERP signatures. To address this question, we targeted known ERP signatures of these systems, by contrasting processing of small versus large nonsymbolic numbers, and used a source localization algorithm (LORETA) to identify their cortical origins. Early processing of small numbers, showing the signature effects of PI on the N1 (∼150 ms), was localized primarily to extrastriate visual regions. In contrast, qualitatively and temporally distinct processing of large numbers, showing the signatures of approximate number representation on the mid-latency P2p (∼200-250 ms), was localized primarily to right intraparietal regions. In comparison, mid-latency small number processing was localized to the right temporal-parietal junction and left-lateralized intraparietal regions. These results add spatial information to the emerging ERP literature documenting the process by which we represent number. Furthermore, these results substantiate recent claims that early attentional processes determine whether a collection of objects will be represented through PI or as an approximate numerical magnitude by providing evidence that downstream processing diverges to distinct cortical regions.

Theta oscillations are sensitive to both early and late conflict processing stages: effects of alcohol intoxication

Prior neuroimaging evidence indicates that decision conflict activates medial and lateral prefrontal and parietal cortices. Theoretical accounts of cognitive control highlight anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) as a central node in this network. However, a better understanding of the relative primacy and functional contributions of these areas to decision conflict requires insight into the neural dynamics of successive processing stages including conflict detection, response selection and execution. Moderate alcohol intoxication impairs cognitive control as it interferes with the ability to inhibit dominant, prepotent responses when they are no longer correct. To examine the effects of moderate intoxication on successive processing stages during cognitive control, spatio-temporal changes in total event-related theta power were measured during Stroop-induced conflict. Healthy social drinkers served as their own controls by participating in both alcohol (0.6 g/kg ethanol for men, 0.55 g/kg women) and placebo conditions in a counterbalanced design. Anatomically-constrained magnetoencephalography (aMEG) approach was applied to complex power spectra for theta (4-7 Hz) frequencies. The principal generator of event-related theta power to conflict was estimated to ACC, with contributions from fronto-parietal areas. The ACC was uniquely sensitive to conflict during both early conflict detection, and later response selection and execution stages. Alcohol attenuated theta power to conflict across successive processing stages, suggesting that alcohol-induced deficits in cognitive control may result from theta suppression in the executive network. Slower RTs were associated with attenuated theta power estimated to ACC, indicating that alcohol impairs motor preparation and execution subserved by the ACC. In addition to their relevance for the currently prevailing accounts of cognitive control, our results suggest that alcohol-induced impairment of top-down strategic processing underlies poor self-control and inability to refrain from drinking.

How the Bayesians got their beliefs (and what those beliefs actually are): comment on Bowers and Davis (2012)

Bowers and Davis (2012) criticize Bayesian modelers for telling "just so" stories about cognition and neuroscience. Their criticisms are weakened by not giving an accurate characterization of the motivation behind Bayesian modeling or the ways in which Bayesian models are used and by not evaluating this theoretical framework against specific alternatives. We address these points by clarifying our beliefs about the goals and status of Bayesian models and by identifying what we view as the unique merits of the Bayesian approach.

[Experimental investigation of the effects of representations and perspectives for the comprehension of line graphs]

The comprehension of graphs is achieved through interaction between bottom-up and top-down processing. This study experimentally investigated the interaction between the graph representations determining bottom-up processing and the reader's perspective relating to top-down processing. Different representations on graphs generated from an identical data set elicited different interpretations of the graphs. We call this the "representation effect" on graph comprehension. In Experiment 1, we confirmed the characteristic of the bottom-up process of graph comprehension by using a set of line graphs which were identical in perceptual characteristics. In Experiments 2A and 2B, the participants were given a perspective for reading the graphs, and then they interpreted the graphs. The results showed that this perspective affected their comprehension of the graphs. Previous studies have shown that top-down processing may not be compatible with bottom-up processing in graph comprehension. However, our result indicated that top-down processing controlled by a perspective for reading the graph was not inconsistent with bottom-up processing, and therefore does not violate bottom-up processing.

Individual alpha neurofeedback training effect on short term memory

Memory performance has been reported to be associated with electroencephalogram (EEG) alpha activity. This study aimed to improve short term memory performance by individual alpha neurofeedback training (NFT). With appropriate protocol designed for NFT, the experimental results showed that the participants were able to learn to increase the relative amplitude in individual alpha band during NFT and short term memory performance was significantly enhanced by 20 sessions of NFT. More importantly, further analysis revealed that the improvement of short term memory was positively correlated with the increase of the relative amplitude in the individual upper alpha band during training. In addition, effective strategies for individual alpha training varied among individuals and the most successful mental strategies were related to positive thinking.

Information processing in decision-making systems

Decisions result from an interaction between multiple functional systems acting in parallel to process information in very different ways, each with strengths and weaknesses. In this review, the authors address three action-selection components of decision-making: The Pavlovian system releases an action from a limited repertoire of potential actions, such as approaching learned stimuli. Like the Pavlovian system, the habit system is computationally fast but, unlike the Pavlovian system permits arbitrary stimulus-action pairings. These associations are a "forward'' mechanism; when a situation is recognized, the action is released. In contrast, the deliberative system is flexible but takes time to process. The deliberative system uses knowledge of the causal structure of the world to search into the future, planning actions to maximize expected rewards. Deliberation depends on the ability to imagine future possibilities, including novel situations, and it allows decisions to be taken without having previously experienced the options. Various anatomical structures have been identified that carry out the information processing of each of these systems: hippocampus constitutes a map of the world that can be used for searching/imagining the future; dorsal striatal neurons represent situation-action associations; and ventral striatum maintains value representations for all three systems. Each system presents vulnerabilities to pathologies that can manifest as psychiatric disorders. Understanding these systems and their relation to neuroanatomy opens up a deeper way to treat the structural problems underlying various disorders.

Intersession consistency of single-trial classification of the prefrontal response to mental arithmetic and the no-control state by NIRS

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been recently investigated for use in noninvasive brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies. Previous studies have demonstrated the ability to classify patterns of neural activation associated with different mental tasks (e.g., mental arithmetic) using NIRS signals. Though these studies represent an important step towards the realization of an NIRS-BCI, there is a paucity of literature regarding the consistency of these responses, and the ability to classify them on a single-trial basis, over multiple sessions. This is important when moving out of an experimental context toward a practical system, where performance must be maintained over longer periods. When considering response consistency across sessions, two questions arise: 1) can the hemodynamic response to the activation task be distinguished from a baseline (or other task) condition, consistently across sessions, and if so, 2) are the spatiotemporal characteristics of the response which best distinguish it from the baseline (or other task) condition consistent across sessions. The answers will have implications for the viability of an NIRS-BCI system, and the design strategies (especially in terms of classifier training protocols) adopted. In this study, we investigated the consistency of classification of a mental arithmetic task and a no-control condition over five experimental sessions. Mixed model linear regression on intrasession classification accuracies indicate that the task and baseline states remain differentiable across multiple sessions, with no significant decrease in accuracy (p = 0.67). Intersession analysis, however, revealed inconsistencies in spatiotemporal response characteristics. Based on these results, we investigated several different practical classifier training protocols, including scenarios in which the training and test data come from 1) different sessions, 2) the same session, and 3) a combination of both. Results indicate that when selecting optimal classifier training protocols for NIRS-BCI, a compromise between accuracy and convenience (e.g., in terms of duration/frequency of training data collection) must be considered.

Fluid reasoning deficits in children with ADHD: evidence from fMRI

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is associated with deficits in fluid reasoning, which may be related to self-regulation of cognition and behavior, and requires intact attention, working memory, and inhibition skills. No functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have directly examined fluid reasoning in ADHD which is surprising given that studies demonstrate a consistent network of brain regions involved in fluid reasoning that are also implicated in the pathogenesis of ADHD. Twenty-two right-handed, non-medicated children (12 ADHD, 10 controls) ages 8-12 years completed a fluid reasoning task during which fMRI data were collected. The primary comparison of interest was activation during the fluid reasoning compared to the control condition. Behavioral data showed that children with ADHD tended to be less accurate with faster reaction times in the fluid reasoning condition compared to controls, and were significantly less accurate in the control condition. Controls activated more than participants with ADHD in the right intraparietal sulcus and the left lateral cerebellum in the fluid reasoning condition. Results showed hypoactivation in ADHD in regions critical for fluid reasoning. These results add to the literature suggesting a role for parietal and cerebellar regions in cognition and ADHD.