1
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Jovanović V, Petrušić I, Savić A, Ković V. Processing of visual hapaxes in picture naming task: An event-related potential study. Int J Psychophysiol 2024; 203:112394. [PMID: 39053735 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2024.112394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2024] [Revised: 06/28/2024] [Accepted: 07/15/2024] [Indexed: 07/27/2024]
Abstract
Object recognition and visual categorization are typically swift and seemingly effortless tasks that involve numerous underlying processes. In our investigation, we utilized a picture naming task to explore the processing of rarely encountered objects (visual hapaxes) in comparison to common objects. Our aim was to determine the stage at which these rare objects are classified as unnamable. Contrary to our expectations and in contrast to some prior research on event-related potentials (ERPs) with novel and atypical objects, no differences between conditions were observed in the late time windows corresponding to the P300 or N400 components. However, distinctive patterns between hapaxes and common objects surfaced in three early time windows, corresponding to the posterior N1 and P2 waves, as well as a widespread N2 wave. According to the ERP data, the differentiation between hapaxes and common objects occurs within the first 380 ms of the processing line, involving only limited and indirect top-down influence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vojislav Jovanović
- University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Psychology, Laboratory for Neurocognition and Applied Cognition, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia.
| | - Igor Petrušić
- University of Belgrade, Faculty of Physical Chemistry, Laboratory for Advanced Analysis of Neuroimages, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Andrej Savić
- University of Belgrade, School of Electrical Engineering, Science and Research Centre, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Vanja Ković
- University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Psychology, Laboratory for Neurocognition and Applied Cognition, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
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2
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Siklos-Whillans J, Itier RJ. Effects of Inversion and Fixation Location on the Processing of Face and House Stimuli - A Mass Univariate Analysis. Brain Topogr 2024:10.1007/s10548-024-01068-w. [PMID: 39042323 DOI: 10.1007/s10548-024-01068-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2024] [Accepted: 07/05/2024] [Indexed: 07/24/2024]
Abstract
Most Event Related Potential studies investigating the time course of visual processing have focused mainly on the N170 component. Stimulus orientation affects the N170 amplitude for faces but not for objects, a finding interpreted as reflecting holistic/configural processing for faces and featural processing for objects. Furthermore, while recent studies suggest where on the face people fixate impacts the N170, fixation location effects have not been investigated in objects. A data-driven mass univariate analysis (all time points and electrodes) was used to investigate the time course of inversion and fixation location effects on the neural processing of faces and houses. Strong and widespread orientation effects were found for both faces and houses, from 100-350ms post-stimulus onset, including P1 and N170 components, and later, a finding arguing against a lack of holistic processing for houses. While no clear fixation effect was found for houses, fixation location strongly impacted face processing early, reflecting retinotopic mapping around the C2 and P1 components, and during the N170-P2 interval. Face inversion effects were also largest for nasion fixation around 120ms. The results support the view that facial feature integration (1) depends on which feature is being fixated and where the other features are situated in the visual field, (2) occurs maximally during the P1-N170 interval when fixation is on the nasion and (3) continues past 200ms, suggesting the N170 peak, where weak effects were found, might be an inflexion point between processes rather than the end of a feature integration into a whole process.
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Affiliation(s)
- James Siklos-Whillans
- Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Roxane J Itier
- Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada.
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3
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Carretié L, Fernández-Folgueiras U, Kessel D, Alba G, Veiga-Zarza E, Tapia M, Álvarez F. An extremely fast neural mechanism to detect emotional visual stimuli: A two-experiment study. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0299677. [PMID: 38905211 PMCID: PMC11192326 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2024] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Defining the brain mechanisms underlying initial emotional evaluation is a key but unexplored clue to understanding affective processing. Event-related potentials (ERPs), especially suited for investigating this issue, were recorded in two experiments (n = 36 and n = 35). We presented emotionally negative (spiders) and neutral (wheels) silhouettes homogenized regarding their visual parameters. In Experiment 1, stimuli appeared at fixation or in the periphery (200 trials per condition and location), the former eliciting a N40 (39 milliseconds) and a P80 (or C1: 80 milliseconds) component, and the latter only a P80. In Experiment 2, stimuli were presented only at fixation (500 trials per condition). Again, an N40 (45 milliseconds) was observed, followed by a P100 (or P1: 105 milliseconds). Analyses revealed significantly greater N40-C1P1 peak-to-peak amplitudes for spiders in both experiments, and ANCOVAs showed that these effects were not explained by C1P1 alone, but that processes underlying N40 significantly contributed. Source analyses pointed to V1 as an N40 focus (more clearly in Experiment 2). Sources for C1P1 included V1 (P80) and V2/LOC (P80 and P100). These results and their timing point to low-order structures (such as visual thalamic nuclei or superior colliculi) or the visual cortex itself, as candidates for initial evaluation structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Carretié
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Dominique Kessel
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Guzmán Alba
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Manuel Tapia
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Fátima Álvarez
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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4
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Pan WN, Zhao YW, Luo ZX, Chen Y, Cai YC. Attention modulates early visual processing: An association between subjective contrast perception and early C1 ERP component. Psychophysiology 2024; 61:e14507. [PMID: 38146152 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2023] [Revised: 11/26/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 12/27/2023]
Abstract
The question of whether spatial attention can modulate initial afferent activity in area V1, as measured by the earliest visual event-related potential (ERP) component "C1", is still the subject of debate. Because attention always enhances behavioral performance, previous research has focused on finding evidence of attention-related enhancements in visual neural responses. However, recent psychophysical studies revealed a complex picture of attention's influence on visual perception: attention amplifies the perceived contrast of low-contrast stimuli while dampening the perceived contrast of high-contrast stimuli. This evidence suggests that attention may not invariably augment visual neural responses but could instead exert inhibitory effects under certain circumstances. Whether this bi-directional modulation of attention also manifests in C1 and whether the modulation of C1 underpins the attentional influence on contrast perception remain unknown. To address these questions, we conducted two experiments (N = 67 in total) by employing a combination of behavioral and ERP methodologies. Our results did not unveil a uniform attentional enhancement or attenuation effect of C1 across all subjects. However, an intriguing correlation between the attentional effects of C1 and contrast appearance for high-contrast stimuli did emerge, revealing an association between attentional modulation of C1 and the attentional modulation of contrast appearance. This finding offers new insights into the relationship between attention, perceptual experience, and early visual neural processing, suggesting that the attentional effect on subjective visual perception could be mediated by the attentional modulation of the earliest visual cortical response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wang-Nan Pan
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yu-Wan Zhao
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Zi-Xi Luo
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yue Chen
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yong-Chun Cai
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
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5
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Itier RJ, Durston AJ. Mass-univariate analysis of scalp ERPs reveals large effects of gaze fixation location during face processing that only weakly interact with face emotional expression. Sci Rep 2023; 13:17022. [PMID: 37813928 PMCID: PMC10562468 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-44355-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 10/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Decoding others' facial expressions is critical for social functioning. To clarify the neural correlates of expression perception depending on where we look on the face, three combined gaze-contingent ERP experiments were analyzed using robust mass-univariate statistics. Regardless of task, fixation location impacted face processing from 50 to 350 ms, maximally around 120 ms, reflecting retinotopic mapping around C2 and P1 components. Fixation location also impacted majorly the N170-P2 interval while weak effects were seen at the face-sensitive N170 peak. Results question the widespread assumption that faces are processed holistically into an indecomposable perceptual whole around the N170. Rather, face processing is a complex and view-dependent process that continues well beyond the N170. Expression and fixation location interacted weakly during the P1-N170 interval, supporting a role for the mouth and left eye in fearful and happy expression decoding. Expression effects were weakest at the N170 peak but strongest around P2, especially for fear, reflecting task-independent affective processing. Results suggest N170 reflects a transition between processes rather than the maximum of a holistic face processing stage. Focus on this peak should be replaced by data-driven analyses of the epoch using robust statistics to fully unravel the early visual processing of faces and their affective content.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roxane J Itier
- Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada.
| | - Amie J Durston
- Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada
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6
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Stange L, Ossandón JP, Röder B. Crossmodal visual predictions elicit spatially specific early visual cortex activity but later than real visual stimuli. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20220339. [PMID: 37545314 PMCID: PMC10404923 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2022] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 08/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have indicated that crossmodal visual predictions are instrumental in controlling early visual cortex activity. The exact time course and spatial precision of such crossmodal top-down influences on the visual cortex have been unknown. In the present study, participants were exposed to audiovisual combinations comprising one of two sounds and a Gabor patch either in the top left or in the bottom right visual field. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded to these frequent crossmodal combinations (standards) as well as to trials in which the visual stimulus was omitted (omissions) or the visual and auditory stimuli were recombined (deviants). Standards and deviants elicited an ERP between 50 and 100 ms of opposite polarity known as the C1 effect commonly associated with retinotopic processing in early visual cortex. By contrast, a C1 effect was not observed in omission trials. Spatially specific omission and mismatch effects (deviants minus standards) started only later with a latency of 230 ms and 170 ms, respectively. These results suggest that crossmodal visual predictions control visual cortex activity in a spatially specific manner. However, visual predictions do not modulate visual cortex activity with the same timing as visual stimulation activates these areas but rather seem to involve distinct neural mechanisms. This article is part of the theme issue 'Decision and control processes in multisensory perception'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liesa Stange
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, Hamburg University, Von-Melle-Park 11, Hamburg 20148, Germany
| | - José P. Ossandón
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, Hamburg University, Von-Melle-Park 11, Hamburg 20148, Germany
| | - Brigitte Röder
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, Hamburg University, Von-Melle-Park 11, Hamburg 20148, Germany
- LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad 500 034, India
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7
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Sarrias-Arrabal E, Martín-Clemente R, Galvao-Carmona A, Benítez-Lugo ML, Vázquez-Marrufo M. Effect of the side of presentation in the visual field on phase-locked and nonphase-locked alpha and gamma responses. Sci Rep 2022; 12:13200. [PMID: 35915098 PMCID: PMC9343444 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-15936-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2021] [Accepted: 07/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent studies have suggested that nonphase-locked activity can reveal cognitive mechanisms that cannot be observed in phase-locked activity. In fact, we describe a concomitant decrease in nonphase-locked alpha activity (desynchronization) when stimuli were processed (alpha phase-locked modulation). This desynchronization may represent a reduction in "background activity" in the visual cortex that facilitates stimulus processing. Alternatively, nonphase-locked gamma activity has been hypothesized to be an index of shifts in attentional focus. In this study, our main aim was to confirm these potential roles for nonphase-locked alpha and gamma activities with a lateralized Go/NoGo paradigm. The results showed that nonphase-locked alpha modulation is bilaterally represented in the scalp compared to the contralateral distribution of the phase-locked response. This finding suggests that the decrease in background activity is not limited to neural areas directly involved in the visual processing of stimuli. Additionally, gamma activity showed a higher desynchronization of nonphase-locked activity in the ipsilateral hemisphere, where the phase-locked activity reached the minimum amplitude. This finding suggests that the possible functions of nonphase-locked gamma activity extend beyond shifts in attentional focus and could represent an attentional filter reducing the gamma representation in the visual area irrelevant to the task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esteban Sarrias-Arrabal
- Lab B508 (Psychophysiology Unit), Experimental Psychology Department, Faculty of Psychology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
| | - Ruben Martín-Clemente
- Signal Processing and Communications Department, Higher Technical School of Engineering, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
| | | | - María Luisa Benítez-Lugo
- Physiotherapy Department, Faculty of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Chiropody, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
| | - Manuel Vázquez-Marrufo
- Lab B508 (Psychophysiology Unit), Experimental Psychology Department, Faculty of Psychology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
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8
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Carretié L, Fernández-Folgueiras U, Álvarez F, Cipriani GA, Tapia M, Kessel D. Fast Unconscious Processing of Emotional Stimuli in Early Stages of the Visual Cortex. Cereb Cortex 2022; 32:4331-4344. [DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2021] [Revised: 11/04/2021] [Accepted: 11/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Several cortical and subcortical brain areas have been reported to be sensitive to the emotional content of subliminal stimuli. However, the timing of these activations remains unclear. Our scope was to detect the earliest cortical traces of emotional unconscious processing of visual stimuli by recording event-related potentials (ERPs) from 43 participants. Subliminal spiders (emotional) and wheels (neutral), sharing similar low-level visual parameters, were presented at two different locations (fixation and periphery). The differential (peak-to-peak) amplitude from CP1 (77 ms from stimulus onset) to C2 (100 ms), two early visual ERP components originated in V1/V2 according to source localization analyses, was analyzed via Bayesian and traditional frequentist analyses. Spiders elicited greater CP1–C2 amplitudes than wheels when presented at fixation. This fast effect of subliminal stimulation—not reported previously to the best of our knowledge—has implications in several debates: 1) The amygdala cannot be mediating these effects, 2) latency of other evaluative structures recently proposed, such as the visual thalamus, is compatible with these results, 3) the absence of peripheral stimuli effects points to a relevant role of the parvocellular visual system in unconscious processing.
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9
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Mohr KS, Carr N, Georgel R, Kelly SP. Modulation of the Earliest Component of the Human VEP by Spatial Attention: An Investigation of Task Demands. Cereb Cortex Commun 2021; 1:tgaa045. [PMID: 34296113 PMCID: PMC8152881 DOI: 10.1093/texcom/tgaa045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2020] [Revised: 07/29/2020] [Accepted: 07/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Spatial attention modulations of initial afferent activity in area V1, indexed by the first component “C1” of the human visual evoked potential, are rarely found. It has thus been suggested that early modulation is induced only by special task conditions, but what these conditions are remains unknown. Recent failed replications—findings of no C1 modulation using a certain task that had previously produced robust modulations—present a strong basis for examining this question. We ran 3 experiments, the first to more exactly replicate the stimulus and behavioral conditions of the original task, and the second and third to manipulate 2 key factors that differed in the failed replication studies: the provision of informative performance feedback, and the degree to which the probed stimulus features matched those facilitating target perception. Although there was an overall significant C1 modulation of 11%, individually, only experiments 1 and 2 showed reliable effects, underlining that the modulations do occur but not consistently. Better feedback induced greater P1, but not C1, modulations. Target-probe feature matching had an inconsistent influence on modulation patterns, with behavioral performance differences and signal-overlap analyses suggesting interference from extrastriate modulations as a potential cause.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kieran S Mohr
- Cognitive Neural Systems Lab, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and UCD Centre for Biomedical Engineering, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Niamh Carr
- Cognitive Neural Systems Lab, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and UCD Centre for Biomedical Engineering, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Rachel Georgel
- Cognitive Neural Systems Lab, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and UCD Centre for Biomedical Engineering, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Simon P Kelly
- Cognitive Neural Systems Lab, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and UCD Centre for Biomedical Engineering, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
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10
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Desjardins M, Drisdelle BL, Lefebvre C, Gagnon JF, De Beaumont L, Jolicoeur P. Interhemispheric differences in P1 and N1 amplitude in EEG and MEG differ across older individuals with a concussion compared with age-matched controls. Psychophysiology 2020; 58:e13751. [PMID: 33347633 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13751] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2019] [Revised: 10/27/2020] [Accepted: 11/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
We studied the effects of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in an aging population. We examined visual search with event-related potentials (ERPs) and event-related fields (ERF) for a lateral color singleton focusing on the P1 and N1 in each hemisphere. Forty participants (19 mTBI and 21 controls) aged 50 to 72 performed a visual search task, while we recorded their magnetoencephalogram (MEG) with simultaneous electroencephalogram (EEG). We compared visual ERPs and ERFs and associated cortical activity estimated using MEG source localization. Relative to matched controls, participants with an mTBI had a smaller P1 in the left hemisphere and a smaller N1 in the right hemisphere. Also, mTBI participants showed inversed activation patterns across the hemispheres during the N1 in MEG compared with controls. This is the first study to investigate the impact of mTBI on neuronal source activations during early visual processing in an aging population. Results showed that when aging individuals suffer from an mTBI, there are perturbations in the amplitude and hemispheric dominance patterns in the visual P1 and N1 responses that are visible for months to years following the injury. Our findings indicate that mTBI can lead to modifications of sensory and/or perceptual responses, suggesting possible adaptive functional reorganization following mTBI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martine Desjardins
- Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Montreal Sacred-Heart Hospital Research Centre, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Brandi Lee Drisdelle
- Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Birkbeck College, University of London, London, UK
| | | | - Jean-Francois Gagnon
- Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Montreal Sacred-Heart Hospital Research Centre, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Louis De Beaumont
- Montreal Sacred-Heart Hospital Research Centre, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Department of Surgery, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Pierre Jolicoeur
- Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Centre de recherche en neuropsychologie et cognition (CERNEC), Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
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11
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Sumner RL, Spriggs MJ, Muthukumaraswamy SD, Kirk IJ. The role of Hebbian learning in human perception: a methodological and theoretical review of the human Visual Long-Term Potentiation paradigm. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 115:220-237. [PMID: 32562886 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.03.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2019] [Revised: 03/02/2020] [Accepted: 03/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Long-term potentiation (LTP) is one of the most widely studied forms of neural plasticity, and is thought to be the principle mechanism underlying long-term memory and learning in the brain. Sensory paradigms utilising electroencephalography (EEG) and sensory stimulation to induce LTP have allowed translation from rodent and primate invasive research to non-invasive human investigations. This review focusses on visual sensory LTP induced using repetitive visual stimulation, resulting in changes in the visually evoked response recorded at the scalp with EEG. Across 15 years of use and replication in humans several major paradigm variants for eliciting visual LTP have emerged. The application of different paradigms, and the broad implementation of visual LTP across different populations combines to provide a rich and sensitive account of Hebbian LTP, and potentially non-Hebbian plasticity mechanisms. This review will conclude with a discussion of how these findings have advanced existing theories of perceptual learning by positioning Hebbian learning both alongside and within other major theories such as Predictive Coding and The Free Energy Principle.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Meg J Spriggs
- Centre for Psychedelic Research, Division of Brain Sciences, Centre for Psychiatry, Imperial College London, UK
| | | | - Ian J Kirk
- Brain Research, New Zealand; School of Psychology, University of Auckland, New Zealand
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12
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Alilović J, Timmermans B, Reteig LC, van Gaal S, Slagter HA. No Evidence that Predictions and Attention Modulate the First Feedforward Sweep of Cortical Information Processing. Cereb Cortex 2020; 29:2261-2278. [PMID: 30877784 PMCID: PMC6484894 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhz038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2018] [Revised: 01/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Predictive coding models propose that predictions (stimulus likelihood) reduce sensory signals as early as primary visual cortex (V1), and that attention (stimulus relevance) can modulate these effects. Indeed, both prediction and attention have been shown to modulate V1 activity, albeit with fMRI, which has low temporal resolution. This leaves it unclear whether these effects reflect a modulation of the first feedforward sweep of visual information processing and/or later, feedback-related activity. In two experiments, we used electroencephalography and orthogonally manipulated spatial predictions and attention to address this issue. Although clear top-down biases were found, as reflected in pre-stimulus alpha-band activity, we found no evidence for top-down effects on the earliest visual cortical processing stage (<80 ms post-stimulus), as indexed by the amplitude of the C1 event-related potential component and multivariate pattern analyses. These findings indicate that initial visual afferent activity may be impenetrable to top-down influences by spatial prediction and attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josipa Alilović
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Amsterdam Brain and Cognition, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Bart Timmermans
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Leon C Reteig
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Amsterdam Brain and Cognition, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Simon van Gaal
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Amsterdam Brain and Cognition, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Heleen A Slagter
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Amsterdam Brain and Cognition, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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13
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Caplette L, Ince RAA, Jerbi K, Gosselin F. Disentangling presentation and processing times in the brain. Neuroimage 2020; 218:116994. [PMID: 32474082 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2019] [Revised: 05/16/2020] [Accepted: 05/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual object recognition seems to occur almost instantaneously. However, not only does it require hundreds of milliseconds of processing, but our eyes also typically fixate the object for hundreds of milliseconds. Consequently, information reaching our eyes at different moments is processed in the brain together. Moreover, information received at different moments during fixation is likely to be processed differently, notably because different features might be selectively attended at different moments. Here, we introduce a novel reverse correlation paradigm that allows us to uncover with millisecond precision the processing time course of specific information received on the retina at specific moments. Using faces as stimuli, we observed that processing at several electrodes and latencies was different depending on the moment at which information was received. Some of these variations were caused by a disruption occurring 160-200 ms after the face onset, suggesting a role of the N170 ERP component in gating information processing; others hinted at temporal compression and integration mechanisms. Importantly, the observed differences were not explained by simple adaptation or repetition priming, they were modulated by the task, and they were correlated with differences in behavior. These results suggest that top-down routines of information sampling are applied to the continuous visual input, even within a single eye fixation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurent Caplette
- Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Qc, Canada.
| | - Robin A A Ince
- Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Karim Jerbi
- Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Qc, Canada
| | - Frédéric Gosselin
- Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Qc, Canada
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14
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Bogdanova OV, Bogdanov VB, Durand JB, Trotter Y, Cottereau BR. Dynamics of the straight-ahead preference in human visual cortex. Brain Struct Funct 2020; 225:173-186. [PMID: 31792695 PMCID: PMC6957552 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-019-01988-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2019] [Accepted: 11/14/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
The objects located straight-ahead of the body are preferentially processed by the visual system. They are more rapidly detected and evoke stronger BOLD responses in early visual areas than elements that are retinotopically identical but located at eccentric spatial positions. To characterize the dynamics of the underlying neural mechanisms, we recorded in 29 subjects the EEG responses to peripheral targets differing solely by their locations with respect to the body. Straight-ahead stimuli led to stronger responses than eccentric stimuli for several components whose latencies ranged between 70 and 350 ms after stimulus onset. The earliest effects were found at 70 ms for a component that originates from occipital areas, the contralateral P1. To determine whether the straight-ahead direction affects primary visual cortex responses, we performed an additional experiment (n = 29) specifically designed to generate two robust components, the C1 and C2, whose cortical origins are constrained within areas V1, V2 and V3. Our analyses confirmed all the results of the first experiment and also revealed that the C2 amplitude between 130 and 160 ms after stimulus onset was significantly stronger for straight-ahead stimuli. A frequency analysis of the pre-stimulus baseline revealed that gaze-driven alterations in the visual hemi-field containing the straight-ahead direction were associated with a decrease in alpha power in the contralateral hemisphere, suggesting the implication of specific neural modulations before stimulus onset. Altogether, our EEG data demonstrate that preferential responses to the straight-ahead direction can be detected in the visual cortex as early as about 70 ms after stimulus onset.
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Females are more proactive, males are more reactive: neural basis of the gender-related speed/accuracy trade-off in visuo-motor tasks. Brain Struct Funct 2019; 225:187-201. [DOI: 10.1007/s00429-019-01998-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2019] [Accepted: 11/26/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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16
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Center EG, Knight R, Fabiani M, Gratton G, Beck DM. Examining the role of feedback in TMS-induced visual suppression: A cautionary tale. Conscious Cogn 2019; 75:102805. [DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2019.102805] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2019] [Revised: 07/04/2019] [Accepted: 08/10/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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17
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Di Russo F, M B, V B, RL P, S P, F Q, D S. Normative event-related potentials from sensory and cognitive tasks reveal occipital and frontal activities prior and following visual events. Neuroimage 2019; 196:173-187. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.04.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2019] [Revised: 04/07/2019] [Accepted: 04/08/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
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18
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Pitts MA, Lutsyshyna LA, Hillyard SA. Reply to Montemayor and Haladjian. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 374:20190003. [DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Michael A. Pitts
- Psychology, Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock Boulevard, Portland, OR, USA
| | | | - Steven A. Hillyard
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diago, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
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19
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Berchicci M, Ten Brink AF, Quinzi F, Perri RL, Spinelli D, Di Russo F. Electrophysiological evidence of sustained spatial attention effects over anterior cortex: Possible contribution of the anterior insula. Psychophysiology 2019; 56:e13369. [DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2018] [Revised: 02/11/2019] [Accepted: 02/26/2019] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Marika Berchicci
- Department of Movement, Human, and Health Sciences University of Rome “Foro Italico” Rome Italy
| | - Antonia Francisca Ten Brink
- Center of Excellence for Rehabilitation Medicine, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus University Medical Center Utrecht, and De Hoogstraat Rehabilitation Utrecht the Netherlands
| | - Federico Quinzi
- Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia) Rome Italy
| | | | - Donatella Spinelli
- Department of Movement, Human, and Health Sciences University of Rome “Foro Italico” Rome Italy
| | - Francesco Di Russo
- Department of Movement, Human, and Health Sciences University of Rome “Foro Italico” Rome Italy
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Föcker J, Mortazavi M, Khoe W, Hillyard SA, Bavelier D. Neural Correlates of Enhanced Visual Attentional Control in Action Video Game Players: An Event-Related Potential Study. J Cogn Neurosci 2019; 31:377-389. [DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Action video game players (AVGPs) outperform non–action video game players (NAVGPs) on a range of perceptual and attentional tasks. Although several studies have reported neuroplastic changes within the frontoparietal networks of attention in AVGPs, little is known about possible changes in attentional modulation in low-level visual areas. To assess the contribution of these different levels of neural processing to the perceptual and attentional enhancements noted in AVGPs, visual event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 14 AVGPs and 14 NAVGPs during a target discrimination task that required participants to attend to rapid sequences of Gabor patches under either focused or divided attention conditions. AVGPs responded faster to target Gabors in the focused attention condition compared with the NAVGPs. Correspondingly, ERPs to standard Gabors revealed a more pronounced negativity in the time range of the parietally generated anterior N1 component in AVGPs compared with NAVGPs during focused attention. In addition, the P2 component of the visual ERP was more pronounced in AVGPs than in NAVGPs over the hemisphere contralateral to the stimulus position in response to standard Gabors. Contrary to predictions, however, attention-modulated occipital components generated in the low-level extrastriate visual pathways, including the P1 and posterior N1, showed no significant group differences. Thus, the main neural signature of enhanced perceptual and attentional control functions in AVGPs appears linked to an attention-dependent parietal process, indexed by the anterior N1 component, and possibly to more efficient higher-order perceptual processing, indexed by the P2 component.
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21
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Pitzalis S, Strappini F, Bultrini A, Di Russo F. Detailed spatiotemporal brain mapping of chromatic vision combining high-resolution VEP with fMRI and retinotopy. Hum Brain Mapp 2018. [PMID: 29536594 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Neuroimaging studies have identified so far, several color-sensitive visual areas in the human brain, and the temporal dynamics of these activities have been separately investigated using the visual-evoked potentials (VEPs). In the present study, we combined electrophysiological and neuroimaging methods to determine a detailed spatiotemporal profile of chromatic VEP and to localize its neural generators. The accuracy of the present co-registration study was obtained by combining standard fMRI data with retinotopic and motion mapping data at the individual level. We found a sequence of occipito activities more complex than that typically reported for chromatic VEPs, including feed-forward and reentrant feedback. Results showed that chromatic human perception arises by the combined activity of at the least five parieto-occipital areas including V1, LOC, V8/VO, and the motion-sensitive dorsal region MT+. However, the contribution of V1 and V8/VO seems dominant because the re-entrant activity in these areas was present more than once (twice in V8/VO and thrice in V1). This feedforward and feedback chromatic processing appears delayed compared with the luminance processing. Associating VEPs and neuroimaging measures, we showed for the first time a complex spatiotemporal pattern of activity, confirming that chromatic stimuli produce intricate interactions of many different brain dorsal and ventral areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina Pitzalis
- Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome "Foro Italico,", Rome, Italy.,Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Alessandro Bultrini
- Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome "Foro Italico,", Rome, Italy
| | - Francesco Di Russo
- Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome "Foro Italico,", Rome, Italy.,Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
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22
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Chaumillon R, Blouin J, Guillaume A. Interhemispheric Transfer Time Asymmetry of Visual Information Depends on Eye Dominance: An Electrophysiological Study. Front Neurosci 2018; 12:72. [PMID: 29515351 PMCID: PMC5826321 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2018.00072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2017] [Accepted: 01/29/2018] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The interhemispheric transfer of information is a fundamental process in the human brain. When a visual stimulus appears eccentrically in one visual-hemifield, it will first activate the contralateral hemisphere but also the ipsilateral one with a slight delay due to the interhemispheric transfer. This interhemispheric transfer of visual information is believed to be faster from the right to the left hemisphere in right-handers. Such an asymmetry is considered as a relevant fact in the context of the lateralization of the human brain. We show here using current source density (CSD) analyses of visually evoked potential (VEP) that, in right-handers and, to a lesser extent in left-handers, this asymmetry is in fact dependent on the sighting eye dominance, the tendency we have to prefer one eye for monocular tasks. Indeed, in right-handers, a faster interhemispheric transfer of visual information from the right to left hemisphere was observed only in participants with a right dominant eye (DE). Right-handers with a left DE showed the opposite pattern, with a faster transfer from the left to the right hemisphere. In left-handers, albeit a smaller number of participants has been tested and hence confirmation is required, only those with a right DE showed an asymmetrical interhemispheric transfer with a faster transfer from the right to the left hemisphere. As a whole these results demonstrate that eye dominance is a fundamental determinant of asymmetries in interhemispheric transfer of visual information and suggest that it is an important factor of brain lateralization.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Alain Guillaume
- Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, LNC, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives, Marseille, France
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23
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Abstract
In a discussion paper (Slotnick, this issue), I conducted a selective review of spatial attention studies to compare experimental parameters and determine whether particular stimulus, task, or analysis conditions were more likely to produce significant attentional modulation of the event-related potential (ERP) C1 component. It was concluded that to maximize C1 attention effects, stimuli should be in the upper visual field, there should be distractors, conditions should be high perceptual or attentional load, there should be exogenous cuing, and effects should be measured at midline parietal-occipital electrodes POz, Pz, and CPz. Commentaries were received by Fu (this issue), Qu and Ding (this issue), Zani and Proverbio (this issue), Pitts and Hillyard (this issue), Di Russo (this issue), and Mohr and Kelly (this issue). Comments included additional ideas to amplify C1 attention effects, support for some conclusions, and challenges to some conclusions. The challenges led to a more in depth analysis of many issues pertaining to C1 attention effects including optimal electrode and stimulus locations, null V1 source localization attention effects, whether all significant C1 attention effects can be discounted, and the number of studies with null versus significant C1 attention effects. Analysis of the studies that survived critical analysis, which included several that observed significant C1 attention effects, led to the same conclusions as Slotnick (this issue). Lines of future research include replicating studies that have observed C1 attention effects using identical experimental parameters and systematically manipulating parameters to determine the impact of each parameter on C1 spatial attention effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott D Slotnick
- a Department of Psychology , Boston College , Chestnut Hill , MA , USA
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24
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Slotnick SD. The experimental parameters that affect attentional modulation of the ERP C1 component. Cogn Neurosci 2017; 9:53-62. [DOI: 10.1080/17588928.2017.1369021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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25
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Hemispheric asymmetries in the transition from action preparation to execution. Neuroimage 2017; 148:390-402. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.01.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2016] [Revised: 01/03/2017] [Accepted: 01/05/2017] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
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26
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Benazet M, Thénault F, Whittingstall K, Bernier PM. Attenuation of visual reafferent signals in the parietal cortex during voluntary movement. J Neurophysiol 2016; 116:1831-1839. [PMID: 27466131 PMCID: PMC5144698 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00231.2016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2016] [Accepted: 07/24/2016] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
It is well established that the cortical processing of somatosensory and auditory signals is attenuated when they result from self-generated actions compared with external events. This phenomenon is thought to result from an efference copy of motor commands used to predict the sensory consequences of an action through a forward model. The present work examined whether attenuation also takes place for visual reafferent signals from the moving limb during voluntary reaching movements. To address this issue, EEG activity was recorded in a condition in which visual feedback of the hand was provided in real time and compared with a condition in which it was presented with a 150-ms delay, thus creating a mismatch between the predicted and actual visual consequences of the movement. Results revealed that the amplitude of the N1 component of the visual event-related potential evoked by hand visual feedback over the parietal cortex was significantly smaller when presented in real time compared with when it was delayed. These data suggest that the cortical processing of visual reafferent signals is attenuated when they are correctly predicted, likely as a result of a forward model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc Benazet
- Département de Kinanthropologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
| | - François Thénault
- Département de Kinanthropologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
| | - Kevin Whittingstall
- Département de Médecine Nucléaire et de Radiobiologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada; and
- Département de Radiologie Diagnostique, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
| | - Pierre-Michel Bernier
- Département de Kinanthropologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada;
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27
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Gilaie-Dotan S. Visual motion serves but is not under the purview of the dorsal pathway. Neuropsychologia 2016; 89:378-392. [PMID: 27444880 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.07.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2016] [Revised: 06/14/2016] [Accepted: 07/17/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Visual motion processing is often attributed to the dorsal visual pathway despite visual motion's involvement in almost all visual functions. Furthermore, some visual motion tasks critically depend on the structural integrity of regions outside the dorsal pathway. Here, based on numerous studies, I propose that visual motion signals are swiftly transmitted via multiple non-hierarchical routes to primary motion-dedicated processing regions (MT/V5 and MST) that are not part of the dorsal pathway, and then propagated to a multiplicity of brain areas according to task demands, reaching these regions earlier than the dorsal/ventral hierarchical flow. This not only places MT/V5 at the same or even earlier visual processing stage as that of V1, but can also elucidate many findings with implications to visual awareness. While the integrity of the non-hierarchical motion pathway is necessary for all visual motion perception, it is insufficient on its own, and the transfer of visual motion signals to additional brain areas is crucial to allow the different motion perception tasks (e.g. optic flow, visuo-vestibular balance, movement observation, dynamic form detection and perception, and even reading). I argue that this lateral visual motion pathway can be distinguished from the dorsal pathway not only based on faster response latencies and distinct anatomical connections, but also based on its full field representation. I also distinguish between this primary lateral visual motion pathway sensitive to all motion in the visual field, and a much less investigated optic flow sensitive medial processing pathway (from V1 to V6 and V6A) that appears to be part of the dorsal pathway. Multiple additional predictions are provided that allow testing this proposal and distinguishing between the visual pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sharon Gilaie-Dotan
- UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, London WC1N 3AR, UK; Visual Science and Optometry, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
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28
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Capilla A, Melcón M, Kessel D, Calderón R, Pazo-Álvarez P, Carretié L. Retinotopic mapping of visual event-related potentials. Biol Psychol 2016; 118:114-125. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2016.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2016] [Revised: 05/05/2016] [Accepted: 05/24/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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29
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Grasso PA, Benassi M, Làdavas E, Bertini C. Audio-visual multisensory training enhances visual processing of motion stimuli in healthy participants: an electrophysiological study. Eur J Neurosci 2016; 44:2748-2758. [PMID: 26921844 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.13221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2015] [Revised: 01/29/2016] [Accepted: 02/19/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Evidence from electrophysiological and imaging studies suggests that audio-visual (AV) stimuli presented in spatial coincidence enhance activity in the subcortical colliculo-dorsal extrastriate pathway. To test whether repetitive AV stimulation might specifically activate this neural circuit underlying multisensory integrative processes, electroencephalographic data were recorded before and after 2 h of AV training, during the execution of two lateralized visual tasks: a motion discrimination task, relying on activity in the colliculo-dorsal MT pathway, and an orientation discrimination task, relying on activity in the striate and early ventral extrastriate cortices. During training, participants were asked to detect and perform a saccade towards AV stimuli that were disproportionally allocated to one hemifield (the trained hemifield). Half of the participants underwent a training in which AV stimuli were presented in spatial coincidence, while the remaining half underwent a training in which AV stimuli were presented in spatial disparity (32°). Participants who received AV training with stimuli in spatial coincidence had a post-training enhancement of the anterior N1 component in the motion discrimination task, but only in response to stimuli presented in the trained hemifield. However, no effect was found in the orientation discrimination task. In contrast, participants who received AV training with stimuli in spatial disparity showed no effects on either task. The observed N1 enhancement might reflect enhanced discrimination for motion stimuli, probably due to increased activity in the colliculo-dorsal MT pathway induced by multisensory training.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paolo A Grasso
- Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 5, Bologna, 40127, Italy.,CsrNC, Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Viale Europa 980, Cesena 47521, Italy
| | - Mariagrazia Benassi
- Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 5, Bologna, 40127, Italy
| | - Elisabetta Làdavas
- Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 5, Bologna, 40127, Italy.,CsrNC, Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Viale Europa 980, Cesena 47521, Italy
| | - Caterina Bertini
- Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 5, Bologna, 40127, Italy.,CsrNC, Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Viale Europa 980, Cesena 47521, Italy
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30
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Kybartaite-Ziliene A, Gelzinis A, Krisciukaitis A. A method for reconstruction of visually evoked potentials from limited amount of sweeps. BIOMED ENG-BIOMED TE 2016; 61:579-586. [DOI: 10.1515/bmt-2015-0088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2015] [Accepted: 11/09/2015] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
AbstractVisually evoked potentials (VEPs) are signals evoked by a visual stimulus. They consist of brief discrete deflections embedded in background electroencephalographic (EEG) activity, which often has larger amplitude. Background EEG cancelation is a major part of VEPs analysis algorithms often realized by coherent averaging or other methods requiring large minimal amount of registered sweeps. In some cases, especially for pediatric patients, or in poor patient compliance cases, long procedure duration and fatigue might cause impaired attention and non-steady target fixation, affecting the quality of recorded VEPs. The possibility to reconstruct VEPs in every single sweep from limited size ensembles opens new diagnostic possibilities and shortens the registration procedure improving its quality. A proposed method is based on truncated expansion (Karhunen-Loève transform) of VEP signals applying generalized universal basis functions (eigenvectors of covariation matrix) calculated from learning set of sweeps, i.e. an ensemble of collected typical recordings. It realizes the possibility to reconstruct a signal from every single sweep even in limited size ensembles of registered sweeps. Application of adaptively time-shifted basis functions enables optimal reconstruction of the signal with latency shift or jitter.
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31
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Abstract
Although the visual system has been extensively investigated, an integrated account of the spatiotemporal dynamics of long-range signal propagation along the human visual pathways is not completely known or validated. In this work, we used dynamic causal modeling approach to provide insights into the underlying neural circuit dynamics of pattern reversal visual-evoked potentials extracted from concurrent EEG-fMRI data. A recurrent forward-backward connectivity model, consisting of multiple interacting brain regions identified by EEG source localization aided by fMRI spatial priors, best accounted for the data dynamics. Sources were first identified in the thalamic area, primary visual cortex, as well as higher cortical areas along the ventral and dorsal visual processing streams. Consistent with hierarchical early visual processing, the model disclosed and quantified the neural temporal dynamics across the identified activity sources. This signal propagation is dominated by a feedforward process, but we also found weaker effective feedback connectivity. Using effective connectivity analysis, the optimal dynamic causal modeling revealed enhanced connectivity along the dorsal pathway but slightly suppressed connectivity along the ventral pathway. A bias was also found in favor of the right hemisphere consistent with functional attentional asymmetry. This study validates, for the first time, the long-range signal propagation timing in the human visual pathways. A similar modeling approach can potentially be used to understand other cognitive processes and dysfunctions in signal propagation in neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. Significance statement: An integrated account of long-range visual signal propagation in the human brain is currently incomplete. Using computational neural modeling on our acquired concurrent EEG-fMRI data under a visual evoked task, we found not only a substantial forward propagation toward "higher-order" brain regions but also a weaker backward propagation. Asymmetry in our model's long-range connectivity accounted for the various observed activity biases. Importantly, the model disclosed the timing of signal propagation across these connectivity pathways and validates, for the first time, long-range signal propagation in the human visual system. A similar modeling approach could be used to identify neural pathways for other cognitive processes and their dysfunctions in brain disorders.
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32
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Neural correlates for task-relevant facilitation of visual inputs during visually-guided hand movements. Neuroimage 2015; 121:39-50. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.07.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2015] [Revised: 06/26/2015] [Accepted: 07/12/2015] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
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33
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Lasaponara S, Dragone A, Lecce F, Di Russo F, Doricchi F. The "serendipitous brain": Low expectancy and timing uncertainty of conscious events improve awareness of unconscious ones (evidence from the Attentional Blink). Cortex 2015; 71:15-33. [PMID: 26142182 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.05.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2014] [Revised: 01/16/2015] [Accepted: 05/11/2015] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
To anticipate upcoming sensory events, the brain picks-up and exploits statistical regularities in the sensory environment. However, it is untested whether cumulated predictive knowledge about consciously seen stimuli improves the access to awareness of stimuli that usually go unseen. To explore this issue, we exploited the Attentional Blink (AB) effect, where conscious processing of a first visual target (T1) hinders detection of early following targets (T2). We report that timing uncertainty and low expectancy about the occurrence of consciously seen T2s presented outside the AB period, improve detection of early and otherwise often unseen T2s presented inside the AB. Recording of high-resolution Event Related Potentials (ERPs) and the study of their intracranial sources showed that the brain achieves this improvement by initially amplifying and extending the pre-conscious storage of T2s' traces signalled by the N2 wave originating in the extra-striate cortex. This enhancement in the N2 wave is followed by specific changes in the latency and amplitude of later components in the P3 wave (P3a and P3b), signalling access of the sensory trace to the network of parietal and frontal areas modulating conscious processing. These findings show that the interaction between conscious and unconscious processing changes adaptively as a function of the probabilistic properties of the sensory environment and that the combination of an active attentional state with loose probabilistic and temporal expectancies on forthcoming conscious events favors the emergence to awareness of otherwise unnoticed visual events. This likely provides an insight on the attentional conditions that predispose an active observer to unexpected "serendipitous" findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Lasaponara
- Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università "La Sapienza", Roma, Italy; Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, Roma, Italy
| | - Alessio Dragone
- Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università "La Sapienza", Roma, Italy; Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, Roma, Italy
| | - Francesca Lecce
- Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, Roma, Italy; Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, UK
| | - Francesco Di Russo
- Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, Roma, Italy; Dipartimento di Scienze Motorie, Umane e della Salute, Università "Foro Italico", Roma, Italy
| | - Fabrizio Doricchi
- Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università "La Sapienza", Roma, Italy; Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, Roma, Italy.
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34
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Ding Y, Martinez A, Qu Z, Hillyard SA. Earliest stages of visual cortical processing are not modified by attentional load. Hum Brain Mapp 2014; 35:3008-24. [PMID: 25050422 PMCID: PMC6868971 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.22381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2013] [Revised: 06/18/2013] [Accepted: 07/19/2013] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
This study investigated the effects of attentional load on neural responses to attended and irrelevant visual stimuli by recording high-density event-related potentials (ERPs) from the scalp in normal adult subjects. Peripheral (upper and lower visual field) and central stimuli were presented in random order at a rapid rate while subjects responded to targets among the central stimuli. Color detection and color-orientation conjunction search tasks were used as the low- and high-load tasks, respectively. Behavioral results showed significant load effects on both accuracy and reaction time for target detections. ERP results revealed no significant load effect on the initial C1 component (60-100 ms) evoked by either central-relevant or peripheral-irrelevant stimuli. Source analysis with dipole modeling confirmed previous reports that the C1 includes the initial evoked response in primary visual cortex. Source analyses indicated that high attentional load enhanced the early (70-140 ms) neural response to central-relevant stimuli in ventral-lateral extrastriate cortex, whereas load effects on peripheral-irrelevant stimulus processing started at 110 ms and were localized to more dorsal and anterior extrastriate cortical areas. These results provide evidence that the earliest stages of visual cortical processing are not modified by attentional load and show that attentional load affects the processing of task relevant and irrelevant stimuli in different ways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yulong Ding
- Department of PsychologySun Yat‐Sen UniversityGuangzhouChina
- Department of NeurosciencesUniversity of CaliforniaSan Diego, La JollaCalifornia
- State Key laboratory of Brain and Cognition Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of SciencesChina
| | - Antigona Martinez
- Department of NeurosciencesUniversity of CaliforniaSan Diego, La JollaCalifornia
- Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric ResearchOrangeburgNew York
| | - Zhe Qu
- Department of PsychologySun Yat‐Sen UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Steven A. Hillyard
- Department of NeurosciencesUniversity of CaliforniaSan Diego, La JollaCalifornia
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35
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Gonçalves NR, Whelan R, Foxe JJ, Lalor EC. Towards obtaining spatiotemporally precise responses to continuous sensory stimuli in humans: a general linear modeling approach to EEG. Neuroimage 2014; 97:196-205. [PMID: 24736185 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.04.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2013] [Revised: 03/05/2014] [Accepted: 04/02/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Noninvasive investigation of human sensory processing with high temporal resolution typically involves repeatedly presenting discrete stimuli and extracting an average event-related response from scalp recorded neuroelectric or neuromagnetic signals. While this approach is and has been extremely useful, it suffers from two drawbacks: a lack of naturalness in terms of the stimulus and a lack of precision in terms of the cortical response generators. Here we show that a linear modeling approach that exploits functional specialization in sensory systems can be used to rapidly obtain spatiotemporally precise responses to complex sensory stimuli using electroencephalography (EEG). We demonstrate the method by example through the controlled modulation of the contrast and coherent motion of visual stimuli. Regressing the data against these modulation signals produces spatially focal, highly temporally resolved response measures that are suggestive of specific activation of visual areas V1 and V6, respectively, based on their onset latency, their topographic distribution and the estimated location of their sources. We discuss our approach by comparing it with fMRI/MRI informed source analysis methods and, in doing so, we provide novel information on the timing of coherent motion processing in human V6. Generalizing such an approach has the potential to facilitate the rapid, inexpensive spatiotemporal localization of higher perceptual functions in behaving humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nuno R Gonçalves
- Trinity Centre for Bioengineering and School of Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland; Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Robert Whelan
- School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - John J Foxe
- Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland; The Sheryl and Daniel R. Tishman Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center, Departments of Pediatrics and Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Rose F. Kennedy Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, 1225 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
| | - Edmund C Lalor
- Trinity Centre for Bioengineering and School of Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland; Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.
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36
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Elvsåshagen T, Moberget T, Bøen E, Hol PK, Malt UF, Andersson S, Westlye LT. The surface area of early visual cortex predicts the amplitude of the visual evoked potential. Brain Struct Funct 2014; 220:1229-36. [DOI: 10.1007/s00429-013-0703-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2013] [Accepted: 12/30/2013] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
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37
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Kelly SP, Schroeder CE, Lalor EC. What does polarity inversion of extrastriate activity tell us about striate contributions to the early VEP? A comment on Ales et al. (2010). Neuroimage 2013; 76:442-5. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.03.081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2011] [Revised: 03/24/2012] [Accepted: 03/27/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022] Open
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38
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Gaudreault PO, Gagnon JF, Montplaisir J, Vendette M, Postuma RB, Gagnon K, Gosselin N. Abnormal occipital event-related potentials in Parkinson's disease with concomitant REM sleep behavior disorder. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 2013; 19:212-7. [DOI: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2012.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2012] [Revised: 10/01/2012] [Accepted: 10/05/2012] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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39
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Pitzalis S, Fattori P, Galletti C. The functional role of the medial motion area V6. Front Behav Neurosci 2013; 6:91. [PMID: 23335889 PMCID: PMC3546310 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2012.00091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2012] [Accepted: 12/19/2012] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In macaque, several visual areas are devoted to analyze motion in the visual field, and V6 is one of these areas. In macaque, area V6 occupies the ventral part of the anterior bank of the parieto-occipital sulcus (POs), is retinotopically-organized and contains a point-to-point representation of the retinal surface. V6 is a motion sensitive area that largely represents the peripheral part of the visual field and whose cells are very sensitive to translational motion. Based on the fact that macaque V6 contains many real-motion cells, it has been suggested that V6 is involved in object-motion recognition. Recently, area V6 has been recognized also in the human brain by neuroimaging and electrophysiological methods. Like macaque V6, human V6 is located in the POs, is retinotopically organized, and represents the entire contralateral hemifield up to the far periphery. Human V6, like macaque V6, is a motion area that responds to unidirectional motion. It has a strong preference for coherent motion and a recent combined VEPs/fMRI work has shown that area V6 is even one of the most early stations coding the motion coherence. Human V6 is highly sensitive to flow field and is also able to distinguish between different 3D flow fields being selective to translational egomotion. This suggests that this area processes visual egomotion signals to extract information about the relative distance of objects, likely in order to act on them, or to avoid them. The view that V6 is involved in the estimation of egomotion has been tested also in other recent fMRI studies. Thus, taken together, human and macaque data suggest that V6 is involved in both object and self-motion recognition. Specifically, V6 could be involved in "subtracting out" self-motion signals across the whole visual field and in providing information about moving objects, particularly during self-motion in a complex and dynamically unstable environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina Pitzalis
- Department of Education in Sport and Human Movement, University of Rome "Foro Italico" Rome, Italy ; Laboratory of Neuropsychology, Santa Lucia Foundation Rome, Italy
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40
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Pitzalis S, Bozzacchi C, Bultrini A, Fattori P, Galletti C, Di Russo F. Parallel motion signals to the medial and lateral motion areas V6 and MT+. Neuroimage 2012. [PMID: 23186916 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.11.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022] Open
Abstract
MT+ and V6 are key motion areas of the dorsal visual stream in both macaque and human brains. In the present study, we combined electrophysiological and neuroimaging methods (including retinotopic brain mapping) to find the electrophysiological correlates of V6 and to define its temporal relationship with the activity observed in MT+. We also determined the spatio-temporal profile of the motion coherency effect on visual evoked potentials (VEPs), and localized its neural generators. We found that area V6 participates in the very early phase of the coherent motion processing and that its electroencephalographic activity is almost simultaneous with that of MT+. We also found a late second activity in V6 that we interpret as a re-entrant feedback from extrastriate visual areas (e.g. area V3A). Three main cortical sources were differently modulated by the motion coherence: while V6 and MT+ showed a preference for the coherent motion, area V3A preferred the random condition. The response timing of these cortical sources indicates that motion signals flow in parallel from the occipital pole to the medial and lateral motion areas V6 and MT+, suggesting the view of a differential functional role.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina Pitzalis
- Dept. of Education for Motor Activity and Sport, University of Roma Foro Italico, Roma, Italy
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41
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Hansen BC, Johnson AP, Ellemberg D. Different spatial frequency bands selectively signal for natural image statistics in the early visual system. J Neurophysiol 2012; 108:2160-72. [PMID: 22832562 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00288.2012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Early visual evoked potentials (VEPs) measured in humans have recently been observed to be modulated by the image statistics of natural scene imagery. Specifically, the early VEP is dominated by a strong positivity when participants view minimally complex natural scene imagery, with the magnitude of that component being modulated by luminance contrast differences across spatial frequency (i.e., the slope of the amplitude spectrum). For scenes high in structural complexity, the early VEP is dominated by a prominent negativity that exhibits little dependency on luminance contrast. However, since natural scene imagery is broad band in terms of spatial frequency, it is not known whether the above-mentioned modulation results from a complex interaction within or between the early neural processes tuned to different bands of spatial frequency. Here, we sought to address this question by measuring early VEPs (specifically, the C1, P1, and N1 components) while human participants viewed natural scene imagery that was filtered to contain specific bands of spatial frequency information. The results show that the C1 component is largely unmodulated by the luminance statistics of natural scene imagery (being only measurable when such stimuli were made to contain high spatial frequencies). The P1 and N1, on the other hand, were observed to exhibit strong spatial frequency-dependent modulation to the luminance statistics of natural scene imagery. The results therefore suggest that the dependency of early VEPs on natural image statistics results from an interaction between the early neural processes tuned to different bands of spatial frequency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruce C Hansen
- Dept. of Psychology, Neuroscience Program, Colgate Univ., Hamilton, NY 13346, USA.
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42
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Di Russo F, Bozzacchi C, Matano A, Spinelli D. Hemispheric differences in VEPs to lateralised stimuli are a marker of recovery from neglect. Cortex 2012; 49:931-9. [PMID: 22664139 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2012.04.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2011] [Revised: 04/01/2012] [Accepted: 04/23/2012] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Visual-evoked potentials (VEPs) were recorded in seventeen patients with unilateral lesions of the right hemisphere (RH) and visuospatial neglect. Hemispheric differences were detected for VEP components in the time window from 130 to 280 msec; this result replicates data from a previous study using a larger group of patients (Di Russo et al., 2008). Three patients were tested twice; their hemispheric differences, i.e., the differences in latency and amplitude of VEPs to ipsilesional and contralesional stimuli, were evaluated at the beginning and end of visuospatial rehabilitation training for neglect. The hemispheric differences were limited to components anterior N1 (N1a), posterior N1 (N1p) and P2 (not C1 and P1) and showed a significant decrease after training; amelioration at the behavioural level was also observed. Fourteen patients were tested only once, at different steps of their training. For the overall group, we determined the correlation between VEP hemispheric differences and the number of sessions attended by the patients at the time of VEP recording. The correlation was negative, the higher the number of sessions, the lower the hemispheric asymmetry, and high, ranging from .45 to .64, for both the latency and amplitude of the N1p and P2 components, and for the amplitude of the N1a component. The correlation between VEP hemispheric differences and time from onset (TFO) of the pathological event was not significant. Overall, the hemispheric differences between specific components of the VEP responses to lateralised stimuli appear to be a good marker of recovery from neglect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Di Russo
- Department of Education in Sports and Human Movement, University of Rome, Foro Italico, Rome, Italy.
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Pitzalis S, Strappini F, De Gasperis M, Bultrini A, Di Russo F. Spatio-temporal brain mapping of motion-onset VEPs combined with fMRI and retinotopic maps. PLoS One 2012; 7:e35771. [PMID: 22558222 PMCID: PMC3338463 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0035771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2011] [Accepted: 03/26/2012] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuroimaging studies have identified several motion-sensitive visual areas in the human brain, but the time course of their activation cannot be measured with these techniques. In the present study, we combined electrophysiological and neuroimaging methods (including retinotopic brain mapping) to determine the spatio-temporal profile of motion-onset visual evoked potentials for slow and fast motion stimuli and to localize its neural generators. We found that cortical activity initiates in the primary visual area (V1) for slow stimuli, peaking 100 ms after the onset of motion. Subsequently, activity in the mid-temporal motion-sensitive areas, MT+, peaked at 120 ms, followed by peaks in activity in the more dorsal area, V3A, at 160 ms and the lateral occipital complex at 180 ms. Approximately 250 ms after stimulus onset, activity fast motion stimuli was predominant in area V6 along the parieto-occipital sulcus. Finally, at 350 ms (100 ms after the motion offset) brain activity was visible again in area V1. For fast motion stimuli, the spatio-temporal brain pattern was similar, except that the first activity was detected at 70 ms in area MT+. Comparing functional magnetic resonance data for slow vs. fast motion, we found signs of slow-fast motion stimulus topography along the posterior brain in at least three cortical regions (MT+, V3A and LOR).
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina Pitzalis
- Department of Education Sciences for Motor Activity and Sport, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, Rome, Italy
- Neuropsychology Center, Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Marco De Gasperis
- Department of Education Sciences for Motor Activity and Sport, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, Rome, Italy
| | - Alessandro Bultrini
- Department of Education Sciences for Motor Activity and Sport, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, Rome, Italy
| | - Francesco Di Russo
- Department of Education Sciences for Motor Activity and Sport, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, Rome, Italy
- Neuropsychology Center, Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
- * E-mail:
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Mishra J, Martínez A, Schroeder CE, Hillyard SA. Spatial attention boosts short-latency neural responses in human visual cortex. Neuroimage 2011; 59:1968-78. [PMID: 21983181 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.09.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2011] [Revised: 08/08/2011] [Accepted: 09/12/2011] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
In a previous study of visual-spatial attention, Martinez et al. (2007) replicated the well-known finding that stimuli at attended locations elicit enlarged early components in the averaged event-related potential (ERP), which were localized to extrastriate visual cortex. The mechanisms that underlie these attention-related ERP modulations in the latency range of 80-200 ms, however, remain unclear. The main question is whether attention produces increased ERP amplitudes in time-domain averages by augmenting stimulus-triggered neural activity, or alternatively, by increasing the phase-locking of ongoing EEG oscillations to the attended stimuli. We compared these alternative mechanisms using Morlet wavelet decompositions of event-related EEG changes. By analyzing single-trial spectral amplitudes in the theta (4-8 Hz) and alpha (8-12 Hz) bands, which were the dominant frequencies of the early ERP components, it was found that stimuli at attended locations elicited enhanced neural responses in the theta band in the P1 (88-120 ms) and N1 (148-184 ms) latency ranges that were additive with the ongoing EEG. In the alpha band there was evidence for both increased additive neural activity and increased phase-synchronization of the EEG following attended stimuli, but systematic correlations between pre- and post-stimulus alpha activity were more consistent with an additive mechanism. These findings provide the strongest evidence to date in humans that short-latency neural activity elicited by stimuli within the spotlight of spatial attention is boosted or amplified at early stages of processing in extrastriate visual cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jyoti Mishra
- Department of Neurology and Physiology, Keck Center for Integrative Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, United States
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