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Bahadori M, Rasti J, Craig CM, Cesari P, Emadi Andani M. General tau theory as a model to evaluate audiovisual interplay in interceptive actions. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2023; 235:103897. [PMID: 37003021 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2023.103897] [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: 05/12/2022] [Revised: 02/24/2023] [Accepted: 03/21/2023] [Indexed: 04/03/2023] Open
Abstract
When interacting with the environment, sensory information is essential to guide movements. Picking up the appropriate sensory information (both visual and auditory) about the progression of an event is required to reach the right place at the right time. In this study, we aimed to see if general tau theory could explain the audiovisual guidance of movement in interceptive action (an interception task). The specific contributions of auditory and visual sensory information were tested by timing synchronous and asynchronous audiovisual interplays in successful interceptive trials. The performance was computed by using the tau-coupling model for information-movement guidance. Our findings revealed that while the auditory contribution to movement guidance did change across conditions, the visual contribution remained constant. In addition, when comparing the auditory and visual contributions, the results revealed a significant decrease in the auditory compared to the visual contribution in just one of the asynchronous conditions where the visual target was presented after the sound. This may be because more attention was drawn to the visual information, resulting in a decrease in the auditory guidance of movement. To summarize, our findings reveal how tau-coupling can be used to disentangle the relative contributions of the visual and auditory sensory modalities in movement planning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mehrdad Bahadori
- Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine, and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Javad Rasti
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Cathy M Craig
- School of Psychology, Ulster University, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
| | - Paola Cesari
- Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine, and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Mehran Emadi Andani
- Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine, and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
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Croce P, Tecchio F, Tamburro G, Fiedler P, Comani S, Zappasodi F. Brain electrical microstate features as biomarkers of a stable motor output. J Neural Eng 2022; 19. [PMID: 36195069 DOI: 10.1088/1741-2552/ac975b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 10/04/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Objective.The aim of the present study was to elucidate the brain dynamics underlying the maintenance of a constant force level exerted during a visually guided isometric contraction task by optimizing a predictive multivariate model based on global and spectral brain dynamics features.Approach.Electroencephalography (EEG) was acquired in 18 subjects who were asked to press a bulb and maintain a constant force level, indicated by a bar on a screen. For intervals of 500 ms, we calculated an index of force stability as well as indices of brain dynamics: microstate metrics (duration, occurrence, global explained variance, directional predominance) and EEG spectral amplitudes in the theta, low alpha, high alpha and beta bands. We optimized a multivariate regression model (partial least square (PLS)) where the microstate features and the spectral amplitudes were the input variables and the indexes of force stability were the output variables. The issues related to the collinearity among the input variables and to the generalizability of the model were addressed using PLS in a nested cross-validation approach.Main results.The optimized PLS regression model reached a good generalizability and succeeded to show the predictive value of microstates and spectral features in inferring the stability of the exerted force. Longer duration and higher occurrence of microstates, associated with visual and executive control networks, corresponded to better contraction performances, in agreement with the role played by the visual system and executive control network for visuo-motor integration.Significance.A combination of microstate metrics and brain rhythm amplitudes could be considered as biomarkers of a stable visually guided motor output not only at a group level, but also at an individual level. Our results may play an important role for a better understanding of the motor control in single trials or in real-time applications as well as in the study of motor control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierpaolo Croce
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University 'Gabriele d'Annunzio' of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.,Behavioral Imaging and Neural Dynamics Center, University 'Gabriele d'Annunzio' of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Franca Tecchio
- Laboratory of Electrophysiology for Translational NeuroScience (LET'S), ISTC-CNR, Rome, Italy.,Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Gabriella Tamburro
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University 'Gabriele d'Annunzio' of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.,Behavioral Imaging and Neural Dynamics Center, University 'Gabriele d'Annunzio' of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Patrique Fiedler
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Informatics, Technische Universität Ilmenau, 98693 Ilmenau, Germany
| | - Silvia Comani
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University 'Gabriele d'Annunzio' of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.,Behavioral Imaging and Neural Dynamics Center, University 'Gabriele d'Annunzio' of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Filippo Zappasodi
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University 'Gabriele d'Annunzio' of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.,Behavioral Imaging and Neural Dynamics Center, University 'Gabriele d'Annunzio' of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.,Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, University 'Gabriele d'Annunzio' of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
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Hüg MX, Bermejo F, Tommasini FC, Di Paolo EA. Effects of guided exploration on reaching measures of auditory peripersonal space. Front Psychol 2022; 13:983189. [PMID: 36337523 PMCID: PMC9632294 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.983189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2022] [Accepted: 09/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the recognized importance of bodily movements in spatial audition, few studies have integrated action-based protocols with spatial hearing in the peripersonal space. Recent work shows that tactile feedback and active exploration allow participants to improve performance in auditory distance perception tasks. However, the role of the different aspects involved in the learning phase, such as voluntary control of movement, proprioceptive cues, and the possibility of self-correcting errors, is still unclear. We study the effect of guided reaching exploration on perceptual learning of auditory distance in peripersonal space. We implemented a pretest-posttest experimental design in which blindfolded participants must reach for a sound source located in this region. They were divided into three groups that were differentiated by the intermediate training phase: Guided, an experimenter guides the participant’s arm to contact the sound source; Active, the participant freely explores the space until contacting the source; and Control, without tactile feedback. The effects of exploration feedback on auditory distance perception in the peripersonal space are heterogeneous. Both the Guided and Active groups change their performance. However, participants in the Guided group tended to overestimate distances more than those in the Active group. The response error of the Guided group corresponds to a generalized calibration criterion over the entire range of reachable distances. Whereas the Active group made different adjustments for proximal and distal positions. The results suggest that guided exploration can induce changes on the boundary of the auditory reachable space. We postulate that aspects of agency such as initiation, control, and monitoring of movement, assume different degrees of involvement in both guided and active tasks, reinforcing a non-binary approach to the question of activity-passivity in perceptual learning and supporting a complex view of the phenomena involved in action-based learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mercedes X. Hüg
- Centro de Investigación y Transferencia en Acústica, CONICET, Universidad Tecnológica Nacional Facultad Regional Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
- *Correspondence: Mercedes X. Hüg,
| | - Fernando Bermejo
- Centro de Investigación y Transferencia en Acústica, CONICET, Universidad Tecnológica Nacional Facultad Regional Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Fabián C. Tommasini
- Centro de Investigación y Transferencia en Acústica, CONICET, Universidad Tecnológica Nacional Facultad Regional Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Ezequiel A. Di Paolo
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain
- IAS Research Center for Life, Mind and Society, University of the Basque Country, San Sebastián, Spain
- Department of Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
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Khayyer Z, Saberi Azad R, Torkzadeh Arani Z, Jafari Harandi R. Examining the effect of stress induction on auditory working memory performance for emotional and non-emotional stimuli in female students. Heliyon 2021; 7:e06876. [PMID: 33997406 PMCID: PMC8099744 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06876] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2020] [Revised: 07/26/2020] [Accepted: 04/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Theoretical frameworks have shown that stress might influence working memory in different ways. Previous research has investigated the effect of stress on female's working memory but there is lack of evidence regarding the impact of emotional aspects. Objectives This study examined the effect of stress induction on auditory working memory (AWM) performance among university students for emotional (positive and negative) and non-emotional (neutral) stimuli. Methods A sample of 102 female students at the Universities of Isfahan, Iran was selected using convenience sampling in 2018. Participants completed the demographic information sheets, then, they were randomly assigned into the experimental and control groups. The stress was induced by the Socially Evaluated Cold Pressor Test (SECPT). An n-back task was presented pre and post of stress induction, to evaluate the AWM performance (accuracy and reaction time). The research data were analyzed using mixed-model ANOVA. Results Both accuracy and reaction time (RT) scores were found to be enhanced for positive words in the experimental condition. However, accuracy and RT indices were found to be worsening for negative words in the experimental condition. Conclusions This study supports the idea that stress influences AWM performance depend on emotionally-valenced stimuli, which may help us to better understand the underlying mechanisms of memory processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zahra Khayyer
- Educational Sciences & Psychology Department, University of Isfahan, And Shahid Ashrafi Esfahani University, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Razieh Saberi Azad
- Human Sciences Department, Sepahan Institute of Higher Education, Isfahan, Iran
| | | | - Reza Jafari Harandi
- Educational Sciences Department, Literature and Human Sciences Faculty, University of Qom, Qom, Iran
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Abstract
In this article, we challenge the usefulness of "attention" as a unitary construct and/or neural system. We point out that the concept has too many meanings to justify a single term, and that "attention" is used to refer to both the explanandum (the set of phenomena in need of explanation) and the explanans (the set of processes doing the explaining). To illustrate these points, we focus our discussion on visual selective attention. It is argued that selectivity in processing has emerged through evolution as a design feature of a complex multi-channel sensorimotor system, which generates selective phenomena of "attention" as one of many by-products. Instead of the traditional analytic approach to attention, we suggest a synthetic approach that starts with well-understood mechanisms that do not need to be dedicated to attention, and yet account for the selectivity phenomena under investigation. We conclude that what would serve scientific progress best would be to drop the term "attention" as a label for a specific functional or neural system and instead focus on behaviorally relevant selection processes and the many systems that implement them.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernhard Hommel
- Institute of Psychology, Cognitive Psychology Unit and Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Craig S Chapman
- Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Paul Cisek
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Heather F Neyedli
- School of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Joo-Hyun Song
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Timothy N Welsh
- Centre for Motor Control, Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto, 55 Harbord Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 2W6, Canada.
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Zierul B, Tong J, Bruns P, Röder B. Reduced multisensory integration of self-initiated stimuli. Cognition 2018; 182:349-359. [PMID: 30389144 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2018.10.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2018] [Revised: 10/21/2018] [Accepted: 10/25/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The processing and perception of stimuli is altered when these stimuli are not passively presented but rather are actively triggered, or "self-initiated", by the participants. For unimodal stimuli, perceptual changes in stimulus timing and intensity have been demonstrated. Initial results have suggested that self-initiation may affect multisensory processing as well. The present study examined the effects of self-initiation on audiovisual integration in the ventriloquism effect (VE), that is, the mislocalization of auditory stimuli toward a spatially displaced visual stimulus. The effects of self-initiation on the VE were investigated with audiovisual stimuli that featured varying degrees of spatial and temporal separation. Stimuli were either triggered by the participants' button press or not, and stimulus onsets were either predictable or not. Arguing from the perspective of Bayesian causal inference models, we hypothesized self-initiation to increase the prior probability of two stimuli being integrated. Contrary to this intuitive assumption, less VE was observed when the stimuli were self-initiated by the participants than when they were externally generated. Since no effects of self-initiation on unimodal processing were observed, these effects must specifically pertain to multisensory processes. Finally, data were fit with a causal inference model, where self-initiation was associated with a reduction of the prior probability to integrate audiovisual stimuli. In conclusion, the presence of a self-initiated motor signal influences audiovisual integration, such that auditory localization is less biased by visual stimuli, which likely depends on top-down signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Björn Zierul
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, 20146 Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Jonathan Tong
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, 20146 Hamburg, Germany; Centre for Vision Research, Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada
| | - Patrick Bruns
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Brigitte Röder
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
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