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Where and when matter in visual recognition. Atten Percept Psychophys 2023; 85:404-417. [PMID: 36333625 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-022-02607-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Our perceptual system processes only a selected subset of an incoming stream of stimuli due to sensory biases and limitations in spatial and temporal attention and working memory capacity. In this study, we investigated perceptual access to sensory information that was temporally predictable or unpredictable and spread across the visual field. In a visual recognition task, participants were presented with an array of different number of alphabetical stimuli that were followed by a probe with a delay. They had to indicate whether the probe was included in the stimulus-set or not. To test the impact of temporal attention, coloured cues that were displayed before the visual stimuli indicated the presentation onset of the stimulus-set. We found that temporal predictability of stimulus onset yields higher performance. In addition, recognition performance was biased across the visual field with higher performance for stimuli that were presented on the upper and right visual quadrants. Our findings demonstrate that recognition accuracy is enhanced by temporal cues and has an inherently asymmetric shape across the visual field.
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2
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Abstract
Redundancy masking is the reduction of the perceived number of items in repeating patterns. It shares a number of characteristics with crowding, the impairment of target identification in visual clutter. Crowding strongly depends on the location of the target in the visual field. For example, it is stronger in the upper compared to the lower visual field and is usually weakest on the horizontal meridian. This pattern of visual field asymmetries is common in spatial vision, as revealed by tasks measuring, for example, spatial resolution and contrast sensitivity. Here, to characterize redundancy masking and reveal its similarities to and differences from other spatial tasks, we investigated whether redundancy masking shows the same typical visual field asymmetries. Observers were presented with three to six radially arranged lines at 10° eccentricity at one of eight locations around fixation and were asked to report the number of lines. We found asymmetries that differed pronouncedly from those found in crowding. Redundancy masking did not differ between upper and lower visual fields. Importantly, redundancy masking was stronger on the horizontal meridian than on the vertical meridian, the opposite of what is usually found in crowding. These results show that redundancy masking diverges from crowding in regard to visual field asymmetries, suggesting different underlying mechanisms of redundancy masking and crowding. We suggest that the observed atypical visual field asymmetries in redundancy masking are due to the superior extraction of regularity and a more pronounced compression of visual space on the horizontal compared to the vertical meridian.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Daniel R Coates
- Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.,College of Optometry, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA.,
| | - Bilge Sayim
- Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.,Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives (SCALab), CNRS, UMR 9193, University of Lille, Lille, France.,
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3
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Cao HW, Chen C, Yan HM. Morpheme Transposition of Two-Character Chinese Words in Vertical Visual Fields. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLINGUISTIC RESEARCH 2021; 50:815-830. [PMID: 33394304 DOI: 10.1007/s10936-020-09748-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/09/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The present study explored the morpheme transposition process of two-character Chinese words in the upper and lower visual fields by adopting a dual-target rapid serial visual presentation paradigm. The results showed that the identification accuracy of canonical words was better in the lower visual field, whereas the accuracy of transposed words was almost identical in the upper and lower visual fields. Furthermore, there was no significant difference between canonical and transposed words at 0°, 2°, 4°, and 6° eccentricities in the upper visual field. However, the accuracy of canonical words was markedly higher than that of transposed words at 2°, 4°, and 6° eccentricities in the lower visual field. Finally, the character order errors mainly occurred at 0°eccentricity with a duration of 100 ms in vertical visual fields. These findings, taken together, indicated that the character transposition affected the lexical process of two-character Chinese words in the lower visual field but not in the upper visual field, and the character order of words was more likely to be reversed at 0° eccentricity and the initial stage of visual word processing in vertical reading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hong-Wen Cao
- Research Center for Language, Cognition and Language Application, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China.
- Centre for Studies of Translation, Interpreting and Cognition, University of Macau, Macao, China.
| | - Cheng Chen
- Foreign Language Department, Teaching Center for General Courses, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China
| | - Hong-Mei Yan
- Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
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4
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Starks MD, Shafer-Skelton A, Paradiso M, Martinez AM, Golomb JD. The influence of spatial location on same-different judgments of facial identity and expression. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 2020; 46:2020-78982-001. [PMID: 33090835 PMCID: PMC8641643 DOI: 10.1037/xhp0000872] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The "spatial congruency bias" is a behavioral phenomenon where 2 objects presented sequentially are more likely to be judged as being the same object if they are presented in the same location (Golomb, Kupitz, & Thiemann, 2014), suggesting that irrelevant spatial location information may be bound to object representations. Here, we examine whether the spatial congruency bias extends to higher-level object judgments of facial identity and expression. On each trial, 2 real-world faces were sequentially presented in variable screen locations, and subjects were asked to make same-different judgments on the facial expression (Experiments 1-2) or facial identity (Experiment 3) of the stimuli. We observed a robust spatial congruency bias for judgments of facial identity, yet a more fragile one for judgments of facial expression. Subjects were more likely to judge 2 faces as displaying the same expression if they were presented in the same location (compared to in different locations), but only when the faces shared the same identity. On the other hand, a spatial congruency bias was found when subjects made judgments on facial identity, even across faces displaying different facial expressions. These findings suggest a possible difference between the binding of facial identity and facial expression to spatial location. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Anna Shafer-Skelton
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego
| | | | - Aleix M. Martinez
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The Ohio State University
| | - Julie D. Golomb
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University
- Department of Neuroscience, The Ohio State University
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5
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Abstract
Readers can acquire useful information from only a narrow region of text around each fixation (the perceptual span), which extends asymmetrically in the direction of reading. Studies with bilingual readers have additionally shown that this asymmetry reverses with changes in horizontal reading direction. However, little is known about the perceptual span’s flexibility following orthogonal (vertical vs. horizontal) changes in reading direction, because of the scarcity of vertical writing systems and because changes in reading direction often are confounded with text orientation. Accordingly, we assessed effects in a language (Mongolian) that avoids this confound, in which text is conventionally read vertically but can also be read horizontally. Sentences were presented normally or in a gaze-contingent paradigm in which a restricted region of text was displayed normally around each fixation and other text was degraded. The perceptual span effects on reading rates were similar in both reading directions. These findings therefore provide a unique (nonconfounded) demonstration of perceptual span flexibility.
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6
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Carlei C, Kerzel D. Looking up improves performance in verbal tasks. Laterality 2019; 25:198-214. [PMID: 31340726 DOI: 10.1080/1357650x.2019.1646755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Earlier research suggested that gaze direction has an impact on cognitive processing. It is likely that horizontal gaze direction increases activation in specific areas of the contralateral cerebral hemisphere. Consistent with the lateralization of memory functions, we previously showed that shifting gaze to the left improves visuo-spatial short-term memory. In the current study, we investigated the effect of unilateral gaze on verbal processing. We expected better performance with gaze directed to the right because language is lateralized in the left hemisphere. Also, an advantage of gaze directed upward was expected because local processing and object recognition are facilitated in the upper visual field. Observers directed their gaze at one of the corners of the computer screen while they performed lexical decision, grammatical gender and semantic discrimination tasks. Contrary to expectations, we did not observe performance differences between gaze directed to the left or right, which is consistent with the inconsistent literature on horizontal asymmetries with verbal tasks. However, RTs were shorter when observers looked at words in the upper compared to the lower part of the screen, suggesting that looking upwards enhances verbal processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christophe Carlei
- Faculté de Psychologie et des Sciences de l'Éducation, Université de Genève, Genève, Switzerland
| | - Dirk Kerzel
- Faculté de Psychologie et des Sciences de l'Éducation, Université de Genève, Genève, Switzerland
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7
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Felisberti FM, Currie L. Asymmetries During Multiple Face Encoding: Increased Dwell Time and Number of Fixations in the Upper Visual Hemifield. Iperception 2019; 10:2041669519827974. [PMID: 30792835 PMCID: PMC6376514 DOI: 10.1177/2041669519827974] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2018] [Accepted: 01/08/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual field asymmetries in the encoding of groups of faces have rarely been investigated. Here, eye movements (percentage of dwell time [pDT] and number of fixations [nFix]) were recorded during the encoding of three groups of four faces tagged with cheating, cooperative, or neutral behaviours. Faces in each group were placed in the top left, top right, bottom left, or bottom right quadrants. Face recall was equally high in the three behavioural groups. Conversely, pDT and nFix were higher for faces in the upper hemifields. Most of the first saccades were made to the top left visual quadrant, which also commanded a higher pDT and nFix than the other quadrants. The findings are relevant to the understanding of visual field asymmetries in the processing of multiple faces, a common social scenario, and may be linked to reading habits in conjunction (or not) with cultural and environmental cues.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Liam Currie
- School of Behaviour and Social Sciences, Kingston
University, London, UK
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8
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Franceschini S, Mascheretti S, Bertoni S, Trezzi V, Andreola C, Gori S, Facoetti A. Sluggish dorsally-driven inhibition of return during orthographic processing in adults with dyslexia. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2018; 179:1-10. [PMID: 29453081 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2018.01.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2017] [Revised: 10/11/2017] [Accepted: 01/29/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Dyslexia (D) is a neurodevelopmental reading disorder characterized by phonological and orthographic deficits. Before phonological decoding, reading requires a specialized orthographic system for parallel letter processing that assigns letter identities to different spatial locations. The magnocellular-dorsal (MD) stream rapidly process the spatial location of visual stimuli controlling visuo-spatial attention. To investigate the visuo-spatial attention efficiency during orthographic processing, inhibition of return (IOR) was measured in adults with and without D in a lexical decision task. IOR is the delay in responding to stimuli displayed in a cued location after a long cue-target interval. Only adults with D did not showed IOR effect during letter-string recognition, despite the typical left-hemisphere specialization for word identification. A specific deficit in coherent-dot-motion perception confirmed an MD-stream disorder in adults with D. Our results suggest that adults with D might develop an efficient visual word form area, but a dorsal-attentional dysfunction impairs their reading fluency.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Franceschini
- Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padova 35131, Italy; Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini, Lecco 23842, Italy.
| | - S Mascheretti
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini, Lecco 23842, Italy
| | - S Bertoni
- Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padova 35131, Italy
| | - V Trezzi
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini, Lecco 23842, Italy
| | - C Andreola
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini, Lecco 23842, Italy
| | - S Gori
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini, Lecco 23842, Italy; Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Bergamo 24129, Italy
| | - A Facoetti
- Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padova 35131, Italy; Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini, Lecco 23842, Italy
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9
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Thomas NA, Nicholls MER. Asymmetries in Distractibility: Left Distractors Improve Reaction Time Performance. Sci Rep 2018; 8:5157. [PMID: 29581447 PMCID: PMC5979947 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-23498-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2017] [Accepted: 03/14/2018] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Research using the irrelevant-distractor paradigm shows perceptual load influences distractibility, such that distractors are more likely to be processed and decrease reaction times during low perceptual load. In contrast, under high load, attentional resources are limited, and the likelihood of distractibility is decreased. We manipulated distractor placement to determine whether location differentially influenced distractibility. During low load, reaction times were increased equally for all distractor locations. Under high load, left distractors speeded reaction times significantly more than right distractors. We suggest two potential explanations: (1) the central focus of attention was sufficiently large to encapsulate both the distractor and the visual array during low perceptual load, leading to increased distraction—during high load, attention was split across the two visual stimuli, allowing the distractors and array to be processed independently; (2) superior executive control for stimuli in the left visual field allowed participants to ‘catch and release’ left distractors more efficiently, ultimately decreasing distraction and providing a performance benefit. Our findings represent an intriguing development in relation to visual asymmetries in distractibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole A Thomas
- College of Healthcare Sciences, James Cook University, Cairns, Australia. .,College of Education, Psychology, and Social Work, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia.
| | - Michael E R Nicholls
- College of Education, Psychology, and Social Work, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
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Simpson A, Thomas NA. Neuroticism, schizotypy, and scale anchors influence eye movement behaviour in the visual exploration of abstract art: An exploratory study. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2018; 183:85-98. [PMID: 29353738 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2017.12.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2016] [Revised: 11/17/2017] [Accepted: 12/22/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The same piece of artwork can attract both admiration and rejection from different people. One potential explanation for this effect is individual differences in perceptual biases, which influence the way in which we see different aspects of the same image. We explored the relationship between individual differences (i.e., personality) and eye movements for examinations of abstract art. Images were presented for 5000ms, after which participants judged aesthetic appeal and perceived value using visual analogue scales. Scale anchor labels (Looks Good/Looks Bad; $0/$5000) were counterbalanced between participants such that positive labels were on the left half of the time and on the right half of the time. Overall, more fixations occurred to the right and upper visual fields. Neuroticism significantly predicted the proportion of fixations to the left, whereas cognitive disorganisation negatively predicted the proportion of fixations to upper space. Participants found images more aesthetically pleasing and more valuable when positive anchors were on the left. Findings demonstrate that personality traits influence fixation patterns. Further, the positioning of positive anchor labels on the left leads to higher ratings of visual stimuli.
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11
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Carlei C, Framorando D, Burra N, Kerzel D. Face processing is enhanced in the left and upper visual hemi-fields. VISUAL COGNITION 2017. [DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2017.1327466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Christophe Carlei
- Faculté de Psychologie et des Sciences de l’Éducation, Université de Genève, Genève, Switzerland
| | - David Framorando
- Faculté de Psychologie et des Sciences de l’Éducation, Université de Genève, Genève, Switzerland
| | - Nicolas Burra
- Faculté de Psychologie et des Sciences de l’Éducation, Université de Genève, Genève, Switzerland
| | - Dirk Kerzel
- Faculté de Psychologie et des Sciences de l’Éducation, Université de Genève, Genève, Switzerland
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12
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Williams RJ, Reutens DC, Hocking J. Influence of BOLD Contributions to Diffusion fMRI Activation of the Visual Cortex. Front Neurosci 2016; 10:279. [PMID: 27445654 PMCID: PMC4923189 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2016.00279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2016] [Accepted: 06/06/2016] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Reliance on the hemodynamic response as a surrogate marker of neural activity imposes an intrinsic limit on the spatial specificity of functional MRI. An alternative approach based on diffusion-weighted functional MRI (DfMRI) has been reported as a contrast less reliant on hemodynamic effects, however current evidence suggests that both hemodynamic and unique neural sources contribute to the diffusion signal. Here we compare activation patterns obtained with the standard blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast to DfMRI in order to gain a deeper understanding of how the BOLD proportion contributes to the observable diffusion signal. Both individual and group-level activation patterns obtained with DfMRI and BOLD to a visual field stimulation paradigm were analyzed. At the individual level, the DfMRI contrast showed a strong, positive relationship between the volumes of cortex activated in response to quadrant- and hemi-field visual stimulation. This was not observed in the corresponding BOLD experiment. Overall, the DfMRI response indicated less between-subject variability, with random effects analyses demonstrating higher statistical values at the peak voxel for DfMRI. Furthermore, the spatial extent of the activation was more restricted to the primary visual region for DfMRI than BOLD. However, the diffusion signal was sensitive to the hemodynamic response in a manner dependent on experimental manipulation. It was also limited by its low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), demonstrating lower sensitivity than BOLD. Together these findings both support DfMRI as a contrast that bears a closer spatial relationship to the underlying neural activity than BOLD, and raise important caveats regarding its utilization. Models explaining the DfMRI signal change need to consider the dynamic vascular contributions that may vary with neural activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca J Williams
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute and Department of Radiology, University of CalgaryCalgary, AB, Canada; Centre for Advanced Imaging, The University of QueenslandSt. Lucia, QLD, Australia; Queensland Brain Institute, The University of QueenslandSt. Lucia, QLD, Australia; Centre for Clinical Research, The University of QueenslandBrisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - David C Reutens
- Centre for Advanced Imaging, The University of Queensland St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Julia Hocking
- School of Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology Kelvin Grove, QLD, Australia
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14
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Couth S, Gowen E, Poliakoff E. Investigating the spatial and temporal modulation of visuotactile interactions in older adults. Exp Brain Res 2015; 234:1233-48. [DOI: 10.1007/s00221-015-4431-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2015] [Accepted: 08/24/2015] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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15
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Carlei C, Kerzel D. The effect of gaze direction on the different components of visuo-spatial short-term memory. Laterality 2015; 20:738-54. [PMID: 26084927 DOI: 10.1080/1357650x.2015.1047380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Cerebral asymmetries and cortical regions associated with the upper and lower visual field were investigated using shifts of gaze. Earlier research suggests that gaze shifts to the left or right increase activation of specific areas of the contralateral hemisphere. We asked whether looking at one quadrant of the visual field facilitates the recall in various visuo-spatial tasks. The different components of visuo-spatial memory were investigated by probing memory for a stimulus matrix in each quadrant of the screen. First, memory for visual images or patterns was probed with a matrix of squares that was simultaneously presented and had to be reconstructed by mouse click. Better memory performance was found in the upper left quadrant compared to the three other quadrants indicating that both laterality and elevation are important. Second, positional memory was probed by subsequently presenting squares which prevented the formation of a visual image. Again, we found that gaze to the upper left facilitated performance. Third, memory for object-location binding was probed by asking observers to associate objects to particular locations. Higher performance was found with gaze directed to the lower quadrants irrespective of lateralization, confirming that only some components of visual short-term memory have shared neural substrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christophe Carlei
- a Faculté de Psychologie et des Sciences de l'Éducation, Université de Genève, Genève , Switzerland
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16
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Quek GL, Finkbeiner M. Gaining the upper hand: evidence of vertical asymmetry in sex-categorisation of human hands. Adv Cogn Psychol 2014; 10:131-43. [PMID: 25674193 PMCID: PMC4313869 DOI: 10.5709/acp-0164-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2014] [Accepted: 12/09/2014] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual perception is characterised by asymmetries arising from the brain's preferential response to particular stimulus types at different retinal locations. Where the lower visual field (LVF) holds an advantage over the upper visual field (UVF) for many tasks (e.g., hue discrimination, contrast sensitivity, motion processing), face-perception appears best supported at above-fixation locations (Quek & Finkbeiner, 2014a). This finding is consistent with Previc's (1990) suggestion that vision in the UVF has become specialised for object recognition processes often required in "extrapersonal" space. Outside of faces, however, there have been very few investigations of vertical asymmetry effects for higher-level objects. Our aim in the present study was, thus, to determine whether the UVF advantage reported for face-perception would extend to a nonface object - human hands. Participants classified the sex of hand images presented above or below central fixation by reaching out to touch a left or right response panel. On each trial, a briefly presented spatial cue captured the participant's spatial attention to either the location where the hand was about to appear (valid cue) or the opposite location (invalid cue). We observed that cue validity only modulated the efficiency of the sex-categorisation response for targets in the LVLVF and not the UVF, just as we have reported previously for face-sex categorisation (Quek & Finkbeiner, 2014a). Taken together, the data from these studies provide some empirical support for Previc's (1990) speculation that object recognition processes may enjoy an advantage in the upper-hemifield.
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Affiliation(s)
- Genevieve L Quek
- Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney Perception in Action Research Centre (PARC), Macquarie University, Sydney ARCRC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders (CCD)
| | - Matthew Finkbeiner
- Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney Perception in Action Research Centre (PARC), Macquarie University, Sydney ARCRC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders (CCD)
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17
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Gaze direction affects visuo-spatial short-term memory. Brain Cogn 2014; 90:63-8. [PMID: 24998909 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2014.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2013] [Revised: 05/08/2014] [Accepted: 06/10/2014] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Hemispheric asymmetries were investigated by changing the horizontal position of stimuli that had to be remembered in a visuo-spatial short-term memory task. Observers looked at matrices containing a variable number of filled squares on the left or right side of the screen center. At stimulus offset, participants reproduced the positions of the filled squares in an empty response matrix. Stimulus and response matrices were presented in the same quadrant. We observed that memory performance was better when the matrices were shown on the left side of the screen. We distinguished between recall strategies that relied on visual or non-visual (verbal) cues and found that the effect of gaze position occurred more reliably in participants using visual recall strategies. Overall, the results show that there is a solid enhancement of visuo-spatial short-term memory when observers look to the left. In contrast, vertical position had no influence on performance. We suggest that unilateral gaze to the left activates centers in the right hemisphere contributing to visuo-spatial memory.
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18
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Felisberti FM, McDermott MR. Spatial location in brief, free-viewing face encoding modulates contextual face recognition. Iperception 2013; 4:352-60. [PMID: 24349694 PMCID: PMC3859552 DOI: 10.1068/i0582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2013] [Revised: 07/02/2013] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
The effect of the spatial location of faces in the visual field during brief, free-viewing encoding in subsequent face recognition is not known. This study addressed this question by tagging three groups of faces with cheating, cooperating or neutral behaviours and presenting them for encoding in two visual hemifields (upper vs. lower or left vs. right). Participants then had to indicate if a centrally presented face had been seen before or not. Head and eye movements were free in all phases. Findings showed that the overall recognition of cooperators was significantly better than cheaters, and it was better for faces encoded in the upper hemifield than in the lower hemifield, both in terms of a higher d′ and faster reaction time (RT). The d′ for any given behaviour in the left and right hemifields was similar. The RT in the left hemifield did not vary with tagged behaviour, whereas the RT in the right hemifield was longer for cheaters than for cooperators. The results showed that memory biases in contextual face recognition were modulated by the spatial location of briefly encoded faces and are discussed in terms of scanning reading habits, top-left bias in lighting preference and peripersonal space.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fatima M Felisberti
- Department of Psychology, Kingston University London, Penrhyn Road, London, UK; e-mail:
| | - Mark R McDermott
- School of Psychology, University of East London, Stratford Campus, Water Lane, London, UK; e-mail:
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19
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Ross ED, Shayya L, Champlain A, Monnot M, Prodan CI. Decoding facial blends of emotion: visual field, attentional and hemispheric biases. Brain Cogn 2013; 83:252-61. [PMID: 24091036 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2013.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2012] [Revised: 07/23/2013] [Accepted: 09/02/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Most clinical research assumes that modulation of facial expressions is lateralized predominantly across the right-left hemiface. However, social psychological research suggests that facial expressions are organized predominantly across the upper-lower face. Because humans learn to cognitively control facial expression for social purposes, the lower face may display a false emotion, typically a smile, to enable approach behavior. In contrast, the upper face may leak a person's true feeling state by producing a brief facial blend of emotion, i.e. a different emotion on the upper versus lower face. Previous studies from our laboratory have shown that upper facial emotions are processed preferentially by the right hemisphere under conditions of directed attention if facial blends of emotion are presented tachistoscopically to the mid left and right visual fields. This paper explores how facial blends are processed within the four visual quadrants. The results, combined with our previous research, demonstrate that lower more so than upper facial emotions are perceived best when presented to the viewer's left and right visual fields just above the horizontal axis. Upper facial emotions are perceived best when presented to the viewer's left visual field just above the horizontal axis under conditions of directed attention. Thus, by gazing at a person's left ear, which also avoids the social stigma of eye-to-eye contact, one's ability to decode facial expressions should be enhanced.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elliott D Ross
- Department of Neurology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and the VA Medical Center 127, 921 NE 13th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA.
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Zurawska Vel Grajewska B, Sim EJ, Hoenig K, Herrnberger B, Kiefer M. Mechanisms underlying flexible adaptation of cognitive control: behavioral and neuroimaging evidence in a flanker task. Brain Res 2011; 1421:52-65. [PMID: 21981803 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2011.09.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2011] [Accepted: 09/10/2011] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Cognitive control can be adapted flexibly according to the conflict level in a given situation. In the Eriksen flanker task, interference evoked by flankers is larger in conditions with a higher, rather than a lower proportion of compatible trials. Such compatibility ratio effects also occur for stimuli presented at two spatial locations suggesting that different cognitive control settings can be simultaneously maintained. However, the conditions and the neural correlates of this flexible adaptation of cognitive control are only poorly understood. In the present study, we further elucidated the mechanisms underlying the simultaneous maintenance of two cognitive control settings. In behavioral experiments, stimuli were presented centrally above and below fixation and hence processed by both hemispheres or lateralized to stimulate hemispheres differentially. The different compatibility ratio at two stimulus locations had a differential influence on the flanker effect in both experiments. In an fMRI experiment, blocks with an identical compatibility ratio at two central spatial locations elicited stronger activity in a network of prefrontal and parietal brain areas, which are known to be involved in conflict resolution and cognitive control, as compared with blocks with a different compatibility ratio at the same spatial locations. This demonstrates that the simultaneous maintenance of two conflicting control settings vs. one single setting does not recruit additional neural circuits suggesting the involvement of one single cognitive control system. Instead a crosstalk between multiple control settings renders adaptation of cognitive control more efficient when only one uniform rather than two different control settings has to be simultaneously maintained.
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Abstract
Organisms with complex visual systems rarely respond to just the sum of all visual stimuli impinging on their eyes. Often, they restrict their responses to stimuli in a temporarily selected region of the visual field (selective visual attention). Here, we investigate visual attention in the fly Drosophila during tethered flight at a torque meter. Flies can actively shift their attention; however, their attention can be guided to a certain location by external cues. Using visual cues, we can direct the attention of the fly to one or the other of the two visual half-fields. The cue can precede the test stimulus by several seconds and may also be spatially separated from the test by at least 20° and yet attract attention. This kind of external guidance of attention is found only in the lower visual field.
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Extrastriate cortical activity reflects segmentation of motion into independent sources. Neuropsychologia 2010; 48:2699-708. [PMID: 20478319 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.05.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2010] [Revised: 04/02/2010] [Accepted: 05/09/2010] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Identical local image motion signals can arise from countless object motions in the world. In order to resolve this ambiguity, the visual system must somehow integrate motion signals arising from different locations along an object's contour. Difficulties arise, however, because image contours can derive from multiple objects and from occlusion. Thus, correctly integrating respective objects' motion signals presupposes the specification of what counts as an object. Depending on how this form analysis problem is solved, dramatically different object motion percepts can be constructed from the same set of local image motions. Here we apply fMRI to investigate the mechanisms underlying the segmentation and integration of motion signals that are critical to motion perception in general. We hold the number of image objects constant, but vary whether these objects are perceived to move independently or not. We find that BOLD signal in V3v, V4v, V3A, V3B and MT varies with the number of distinct sources of motion information in the visual scene. These data support the hypothesis that these areas integrate form and motion information in order to segment motion into independent sources (i.e. objects) thereby overcoming ambiguities that arise at the earliest stages of motion processing.
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Hsieh PJ, Tse PU. BOLD signal in both ipsilateral and contralateral retinotopic cortex modulates with perceptual fading. PLoS One 2010; 5:e9638. [PMID: 20300177 PMCID: PMC2836375 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0009638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2009] [Accepted: 02/18/2010] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
UNLABELLED Under conditions of visual fixation, perceptual fading occurs when a stationary object, though present in the world and continually casting light upon the retina, vanishes from visual consciousness. The neural correlates of the consciousness of such an object will presumably modulate in activity with the onset and cessation of perceptual fading. METHOD In order to localize the neural correlates of perceptual fading, a green disk that had been individually set to be equiluminant with the orange background, was presented in one of the four visual quadrants; Subjects indicated with a button press whether or not the disk was subjectively visible as it perceptually faded in and out. RESULTS Blood oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal in V1 and ventral retinotopic areas V2v and V3v decreases when the disk subjectively disappears, and increases when it subjectively reappears. This effect occurs in early visual areas both ipsilaterally and contralaterally to the fading figure. That is, it occurs regardless of whether the fading stimulus is presented inside or outside of the corresponding portion of visual field. In addition, we find that the microsaccade rate rises before and after perceptual transitions from not seeing to seeing the disk, and decreases before perceptual transitions from seeing to not seeing the disk. These BOLD signal changes could be driven by a global process that operates across contralateral and ipsilateral visual cortex or by a confounding factor, such as microsaccade rate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Po-Jang Hsieh
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, United States of America.
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Lee B, Kaneoke Y, Kakigi R, Sakai Y. Human brain response to visual stimulus between lower/upper visual fields and cerebral hemispheres. Int J Psychophysiol 2009; 74:81-7. [PMID: 19643151 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2009.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2009] [Revised: 06/30/2009] [Accepted: 07/16/2009] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
We studied the human brain response to visual stimulation in which a square area was randomly presented in upper and lower visual fields (VFs). Seven normal volunteers carried out a contrast-based visual search task. Magnetic responses were detected in the bilateral parietal regions at 200-250 ms after stimulus onset. We compared the response latencies and strengths of the essential single sensor and root mean square (RMS) of the regions. The former evaluates the strength of neural activity with relatively high spatial resolution, while the latter evaluates the global neural activity. The single sensor and RMS latencies for the lower left VF were significantly longer than that for the upper left (paired t-test, P<0.05). The strengths did not differ between the upper and lower left VFs. There was no significant difference in latency or strength between the upper right and lower right VFs. These findings suggest that only left VF has different response properties in the upper versus lower VF, and that both local and global extrastriate activities are responsible for this anisotropy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bumsuk Lee
- Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health Sciences, Gunma University, Maebashi 371-8514, Japan.
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Santos A, Rondan C, Mancini J, Deruelle C. Behavioural indexes of callosal functioning in Williams syndrome. J Neuropsychol 2009; 1:189-200. [PMID: 19331017 DOI: 10.1348/174866407x202328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Williams syndrome (WS) is a neurogenetic disorder that stems from a microdeletion on chromosome 7. Recent anatomical studies have found evidence for corpus callosum abnormalities in WS. However, to date, the impact of these structural differences on callosal functionality remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to investigate interhemispheric communication and hemispheric asymmetry in individuals with WS relative to mental age-matched controls. This was assessed using bilateral and unilateral presentations of visual stimuli in a picture-naming task. Results found both groups to exhibit a bilateral field advantage and a left visual advantage on unilateral presentations. However, while a significant performance increase with age was found for controls, no such correlation was found for individuals with WS. Taken together, these findings suggest that despite some evidence for an atypical developmental pathway in WS, both interhemispheric communication and hemispheric asymmetry are functionally intact in this population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreia Santos
- Mediterranean Institute of Cognitive Neurosciences, CNRS, Marseille, France.
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Caplovitz GP, Barroso DJ, Hsieh PJ, Tse PU. fMRI reveals that non-local processing in ventral retinotopic cortex underlies perceptual grouping by temporal synchrony. Hum Brain Mapp 2008; 29:651-61. [PMID: 17598165 PMCID: PMC6871124 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.20429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
UNLABELLED When spatially separated objects appear and disappear in a synchronous manner, they perceptually group into a single global object that itself appears and disappears. We employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify brain regions involved in this type of perceptual grouping. Subjects viewed four chromatically-defined disks (one per visual quadrant) that flashed on and off. We contrasted %BOLD signal changes between blocks of synchronously flashing disks (Grouping) with blocks of asynchronously flashing disks (no-Grouping). RESULTS A region of interest analysis revealed %BOLD signal change in the Grouping condition was significantly greater than in the no-Grouping condition within retinotopic areas V2, V3, and V4v. Within a single quadrant of the visual field, the spatio-temporal information present in the image was identical across the two stimulus conditions. As such, the two conditions could not be distinguished from each other on the basis of the rate or pattern of flashing within a single visual quadrant. The observed results must therefore arise through nonlocal interactions between or within these retinotopic areas, or arise from outside these retinotopic areas. Furthermore, when V2 and V3 were split into ventral and dorsal sub-ROIs, ventral retinotopic areas V2v and V3v preferentially differentiated between the two conditions whereas the corresponding dorsal areas V2d and V3d did not. In contrast, within hMT+, %BOLD signal was significantly greater in the no-Grouping condition. CONCLUSION Nonlocal processing within, between, or to ventral retinotopic cortex at least as early as V2v, and including V3v, and V4v, underlies perceptual grouping via temporal synchrony.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gideon P Caplovitz
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Moore Hall, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, USA.
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Coolican J, Eskes GA, McMullen PA, Lecky E. Perceptual biases in processing facial identity and emotion. Brain Cogn 2008; 66:176-87. [PMID: 17720290 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2007.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2005] [Revised: 05/30/2007] [Accepted: 07/09/2007] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Normal observers demonstrate a bias to process the left sides of faces during perceptual judgments about identity or emotion. This effect suggests a right cerebral hemisphere processing bias. To test the role of the right hemisphere and the involvement of configural processing underlying this effect, young and older control observers and patients with right hemisphere damage completed two chimeric faces tasks (emotion judgment and face identity matching) with both upright and inverted faces. For control observers, the emotion judgment task elicited a strong left-sided perceptual bias that was reduced in young controls and eliminated in older controls by face inversion. Right hemisphere damage reversed the bias, suggesting the right hemisphere was dominant for this task, but that the left hemisphere could be flexibly recruited when right hemisphere mechanisms are not available or dominant. In contrast, face identity judgments were associated most clearly with a vertical bias favouring the uppermost stimuli that was eliminated by face inversion and right hemisphere lesions. The results suggest these tasks involve different neurocognitive mechanisms. The role of the right hemisphere and ventral cortical stream involvement with configural processes in face processing is discussed.
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Henderson L, Barca L, Ellis AW. Interhemispheric cooperation and non-cooperation during word recognition: evidence for callosal transfer dysfunction in dyslexic adults. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2007; 103:276-91. [PMID: 17544495 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2007.04.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2006] [Revised: 04/25/2007] [Accepted: 04/27/2007] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Participants report briefly-presented words more accurately when two copies are presented, one in the left visual field (LVF) and another in the right visual field (RVF), than when only a single copy is presented. This effect is known as the 'redundant bilateral advantage' and has been interpreted as evidence for interhemispheric cooperation. We investigated the redundant bilateral advantage in dyslexic adults and matched controls as a means of assessing communication between the hemispheres in dyslexia. Consistent with previous research, normal adult readers in Experiment 1 showed significantly higher accuracy on a word report task when identical word stimuli were presented bilaterally, compared to unilateral RVF or LVF presentation. Dyslexics, however, did not show the bilateral advantage. In Experiment 2, words were presented above fixation, below fixation or in both positions. In this experiment both dyslexics and controls benefited from the redundant presentation. Experiment 3 combined whole words in one visual field with word fragments in the other visual field (the initial and final letters separated by spaces). Controls showed a bilateral advantage but dyslexics did not. In Experiments 1 and 3, the dyslexics showed significantly lower accuracy for LVF trials than controls, but the groups did not differ for RVF trials. The findings suggest that dyslexics have a problem of interhemispheric integration and not a general problem of processing two lexical inputs simultaneously.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Henderson
- Department of Psychology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK.
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Girard TA, Martius DLMA, Cheyne JA. Mental representation of space: Insights from an oblique distribution of hallucinations. Neuropsychologia 2007; 45:1257-69. [PMID: 17113114 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2006] [Revised: 10/10/2006] [Accepted: 10/13/2006] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Three-dimensional spatial distributions of hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations associated with sleep paralysis were used to investigate the internal representation of space. Left-right asymmetries in human preferences and abilities are well established. Parallel effects are also observed as lower-upper asymmetries. These parallels could reflect common underlying mechanisms or additive effects of independently evolved horizontal and vertical asymmetries. This study adds to the growing literature on multidimensional spatial biases in a context free from the influence of task-related factors. We present evidence of an oblique bias in the projection of both sensory and motor hallucinations toward lower-left and especially upper-right external space exceeding that accounted for by an additive model of separate horizontal and vertical biases. These observations are consistent with theories regarding a systematic functional relation of hemispheric with ventral and dorsal cerebral organization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Todd A Girard
- Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3 Canada.
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Abstract
Although both the cerebral laterality of processing visual information and human drawing skill have long been sources of investigation, there is not much empirical work combining the two. In this study, an attempt was made to explore if known different specialisations of the two cerebral hemispheres could help in predicting qualities of drawings produced by each hand. For this purpose, an amateur artist who is able to draw with either the left or the right hand produced a series of realistic drawings of 3D objects. Then 28 participants rated the drawings for several predetermined perceptual and aesthetic properties. The participants judged drawings made with the left hand as superior to those made with the right hand. Given that the right hemisphere controls the left hand, we suggest that this hand might also benefit from the more direct access to lateralised areas that are involved in the processing aspects of visual information and spatial properties (e.g., depth and shading). These perceptual processes may thus play an important role in the ability to draw realistic depictions of objects.
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Previc FH, Declerck C, de Brabander B. Why your "head is in the clouds" during thinking: the relationship between cognition and upper space. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2005; 118:7-24. [PMID: 15627407 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2004.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Higher-order cognition in humans has not generally been viewed as closely entwined with the brain mechanisms mediating more basic perceptual-motor interactions in 3-D space. However, recent findings suggest that perceptual and oculomotor mechanisms that are biased toward the upper field (which disproportionately represents radially distant space) are activated during complex mental operations, ranging from semantic processing to mental arithmetic and memory search. The particularly close affinity with upward conjugate eye deviations--further confirmed in a study of 24 schoolchildren who responded to various mental questions and demands--suggests that active, abstract thinking in humans may have expropriated the focal-extrapersonal brain systems involved in saccadic exploration of the distant environment in other primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fred H Previc
- Northrop Grumman Information Technology, 4241 Woodcock Dr. Ste B100, San Antonio, TX 78228, USA.
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