How motivation and reward learning modulate selective attention

Scent-driven Selective Attention on Gambling Outcome: Implications for Responsible Gambling

Many casinos diffuse a pleasant ambient scent into their facilities as a customer experience management practice, but the ethics of this scenting process is questionable. Although the effect of a pleasant scent on cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses has been well-documented, its effect on attention during gambling has yet to be explored. Grounded in the tenets of the top-down control of attention and cross-modal correspondence between vision and olfaction, we conduct two eye-tracking experiments that involve different electronic casino games including video slots and live Cussec. The findings consistently show that pleasant ambient scent prolongs attention and induces more frequent attention to the win/loss areas on the video screen. The findings add to the implications related to responsible gambling by inspiring the stakeholders to consider the use of ambient scent in the gambling environment. Theoretically, the findings offer insights into scent as the catalyst that directs attention to goal-related information, while scent and goal do not need to be congruent in traits.

Disengagement of attention with spatial neglect: A systematic review of behavioral and anatomical findings

The present review examined the consequences of focal brain injury on spatial attention studied with cueing paradigms, with a particular focus on the disengagement deficit, which refers to the abnormal slowing of reactions following an ipsilesional cue. Our review supports the established notion that the disengagement deficit is a functional marker of spatial neglect and is particularly pronounced when elicited by peripheral cues. Recent research has revealed that this deficit critically depends on cues that have task-relevant characteristics or are associated with negative reinforcement. Attentional capture by task-relevant cues is contingent on damage to the right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) and is modulated by functional connections between the TPJ and the right insular cortex. Furthermore, damage to the dorsal premotor or prefrontal cortex (dPMC/dPFC) reduces the effect of task-relevant cues. These findings support an interactive model of the disengagement deficit, involving the right TPJ, the insula, and the dPMC/dPFC. These interconnected regions play a crucial role in regulating and adapting spatial attention to changing intrinsic values of stimuli in the environment.

Task-irrelevant valence-preferred colors boost visual search for a singleton-shape target

Some studies have suggested that emotion-associated features might influence attentional capture. However, demonstrating valence-dependent distractor interference has proven challenging, possibly due to the neglect of individuals' color-valence preferences in standard, averaged reaction-time (RT) measures. To address this, we investigated valence-driven attentional-capture using an association phase in which emotionally neutral vs. positive-feedback photographs were paired with two alternative target colors, red vs. green. This was followed by a test phase requiring participants to search for a pop-out shape target in the presence or absence of an emotion-associated color. In Experiments 1 and 2, this color could only appear in a distractor, while in Experiment 3, it appeared in the target. Analyzing the standard, averaged RT measures, we found no significant valence association or valence-modulated attentional capture. However, correlational analyses revealed a positive relationship between individual participants' color-valence preference during the association phase and their valence-based effect during the test phase. Moreover, most individuals favored red over green in the association phase, leading to marked color-related asymmetries in the average measures. Crucially, the presence of the valence-preferred color anywhere in the test display facilitated RTs. This effect persisted even when the color appeared in one of the distractors (Experiments 1 and 2), at variance with this distractor capturing attention. These findings suggest that task-irrelevant valence-preferred color signals were registered pre-attentively and boosted performance, likely by raising the general (non-spatial) alertness level. However, these signals were likely kept out of attentional-priority computation to prevent inadvertent attentional capture.

Atomoxetine and reward size equally improve task engagement and perceptual decisions but differently affect movement execution

Our ability to engage and perform daily activities relies on balancing the associated benefits and costs. Rewards, as benefits, act as powerful motivators that help us stay focused for longer durations. The noradrenergic (NA) system is thought to play a significant role in optimizing our performance. Yet, the interplay between reward and the NA system in shaping performance remains unclear, particularly when actions are driven by external incentives (reward). To explore this interaction, we tested four female rhesus monkeys performing a sustained Go/NoGo task under two reward sizes (low/high) and three pharmacological conditions (saline and two doses of atomoxetine, a NA reuptake inhibitor: ATX-0.5 mg/kg and ATX-1 mg/kg). We found that increasing either reward or NA levels equally enhanced the animal's engagement in the task compared to low reward saline; the animals also responded faster and more consistently under these circumstances. Notably, we identified differences between reward size and ATX. When combined with ATX, high reward further reduced the occurrence of false alarms (i.e., incorrect go trials on distractors), implying that it helped further suppress impulsive responses. In addition, ATX (but not reward size) consistently increased movement duration dose-dependently, while high reward did not affect movement duration but decreased its variability. We conclude that noradrenaline and reward modulate performance, but their effects are not identical, suggesting differential underlying mechanisms. Reward might energize/invigorate decisions and action, while ATX might help regulate energy expenditure, depending on the context, through the NA system.

From neural noise to co-adaptability: Rethinking the multifaceted architecture of motor variability

In the last decade, the source and the functional meaning of motor variability have attracted considerable attention in behavioral and brain sciences. This construct classically combined different levels of description, variable internal robustness or coherence, and multifaceted operational meanings. We provide here a comprehensive review of the literature with the primary aim of building a precise lexicon that goes beyond the generic and monolithic use of motor variability. In the pars destruens of the work, we model three domains of motor variability related to peculiar computational elements that influence fluctuations in motor outputs. Each domain is in turn characterized by multiple sub-domains. We begin with the domains of noise and differentiation. However, the main contribution of our model concerns the domain of adaptability, which refers to variation within the same exact motor representation. In particular, we use the terms learning and (social)fitting to specify the portions of motor variability that depend on our propensity to learn and on our largely constitutive propensity to be influenced by external factors. A particular focus is on motor variability in the context of the sub-domain named co-adaptability. Further groundbreaking challenges arise in the modeling of motor variability. Therefore, in a separate pars construens, we attempt to characterize these challenges, addressing both theoretical and experimental aspects as well as potential clinical implications for neurorehabilitation. All in all, our work suggests that motor variability is neither simply detrimental nor beneficial, and that studying its fluctuations can provide meaningful insights for future research.

Statistical learning of target and distractor spatial probability shape a common attentional priority computation

Converging evidence recently put forward the notion that dedicated neurocognitive mechanisms do exist for the suppression of salient, but irrelevant distractors. Along this line, it is plausible to hypothesize that, in appropriate contexts, experience-dependent forms of attentional learning might selectively induce plastic changes within this dedicated circuitry, thus allowing an independent shaping of priorities at the service of attentional filtering. Conversely, previous work suggested that statistical learning (SL) of both target and distractor spatial probability distributions converge in adjusting only the overall attentional priority of locations: in fact, in the presence of an independent manipulation, either related to the target or to the distractor only, SL induces indirect effects (e.g., changes in filtering efficiency due to an uneven distribution of targets), suggesting that SL-induced plastic changes affect a shared neural substrate. Here we tested whether, when (conflicting) target- and distractor-related manipulations are concurrently applied to the very same locations, dedicated mechanisms might support the selective encoding of spatial priority in relation to the specific attentional operation involved. In three related experiments, human healthy participants discriminated the direction of a target arrow, while ignoring a salient distractor, if present; both target and distractor spatial probability distributions were concurrently manipulated in relation to each single location. Critically, the selection bias produced by the target-related SL was marginally reduced by an adverse distractor contingency, and the suppression bias generated by the distractor-related SL was erased, or even reversed, by an adverse target contingency. Our results suggest that even conflicting target- and distractor-related SL manipulations result in the adjustment of a unique spatial priority computation, likely because the process directly relies on direct plastic alterations of shared spatial priority map(s).

The Reward-Related Shift of Emotional Contagion from the Observer's Perspective Correlates to Their Intimacy with the Expresser

Although previous studies have found a bidirectional relationship between emotional contagion and reward, there is insufficient research to prove the effect of reward on the social function of emotional contagion. To explore this issue, the current study used electroencephalography (EEG) and the interactive way in which the expresser played games to help participants obtain reward outcomes. The results demonstrated a significant correlation between changes in emotional contagion and closeness, indicating that emotional contagion has a social regulatory function. Regarding the impact of reward outcomes, the results showed that compared to the context of a loss, in the context of a win, participants' closeness toward the expresser shifted to a more intimate level, their emotional contagion changed in a more positive direction, and the activity of the late positive component (LPC) of the event-related potentials (ERPs) changed to a greater extent. Significantly, the mediation results demonstrated the effect of reward and indicated that changes in the LPC elicited while experiencing the expressers' emotion predicted the subsequent shifts in closeness through alterations in emotional contagion of the anger emotion in the winning context and the happy emotion in the loss context. This study provides empirical evidence regarding the social function of emotional contagion and proves for the first time that the reward context plays a role in it.

Learning without contingencies: A loss of synergy between memory and reward circuits in schizophrenia

Motivational deficits in schizophrenia may interact with foundational cognitive processes including learning and memory to induce impaired cognitive proficiency. If such a loss of synergy exists, it is likely to be underpinned by a loss of synchrony between the brains learning and reward sub-networks. Moreover, this loss should be observed even during tasks devoid of explicit reward contingencies given that such tasks are better models of real world performance than those with artificial contingencies. Here we applied undirected functional connectivity (uFC) analyses to fMRI data acquired while participants engaged in an associative learning task without contingencies or feedback. uFC was estimated and inter-group differences (between schizophrenia patients and controls, n = 54 total, n = 28 patients) were assessed within and between reward (VTA and NAcc) and learning/memory (Basal Ganglia, DPFC, Hippocampus, Parahippocampus, Occipital Lobe) sub-networks. The task paradigm itself alternated between Encoding, Consolidation, and Retrieval conditions, and uFC differences were quantified for each of the conditions. Significantly reduced uFC dominated the connectivity profiles of patients across all conditions. More pertinent to our motivations, these reductions were observed within and across classes of sub-networks (reward-related and learning/memory related). We suggest that disrupted functional connectivity between reward and learning sub-networks may drive many of the performance deficits that characterize schizophrenia. Thus, cognitive deficits in schizophrenia may in fact be underpinned by a loss of synergy between reward-sensitivity and cognitive processes.

Reward History Modulates the Processing of Task-Irrelevant Emotional Faces in a Demanding Task

The aim of the current study was to examine how reward-associated emotional facial distractors could capture attentional resources in a demanding visual task using event-related potentials (ERPs). In the learning phase, a high- or low-reward probability was paired with angry, happy, or neutral faces. Then, in the test phase, participants performed a face-irrelevant task with no reward at stake, in which they needed to discriminate the length of two lines presented in the center of the screen while faces that were taken from the learning phase were used as distractors presented in the periphery. The behavioral results revealed no effect of distractor emotional valence since the emotional information was task-irrelevant. The ERP results in the test phase revealed a significant main effect of distractor emotional valence for the parieto-occipital P200 (170-230 ms); the mean amplitudes in both the angry- and happy-face conditions were more positive than the neutral-face condition. Moreover, we found that the high-reward association enhanced both the N170 (140-180 ms) and EPN (260-330 ms) relative to the low-reward association condition. Finally, the N2pc (270-320 ms) also exhibited enhanced neural activity in the high-reward condition compared to the low-reward condition. The absence of emotional effects indicated that task-irrelevant emotional facial stimuli did not impact behavioral or neural responses in this highly demanding task. However, reward-associated information was processed when attention was directed elsewhere, suggesting that the processing of reward-associated information worked more in an automatic way, irrespective of the top-down task demand.

Association between motivation and engagement with changes in cognition and symptoms after digital cognitive training in schizophrenia

BACKGROUND

Digital cognitive training can remediate cognitive deficits present in schizophrenia. However, limited motivation and engagement may impact adherence to training. Therefore, identifying factors that may enhance (facilitators) or decrease (barriers) engagement in digital cognitive training and possibly modulate its effects are of great clinical relevance.

METHODS

We measured cognition, symptom severity, motivation (semi-structured interview), and engagement (adapted Utrecht Work Engagement Scale - UWES) of 27 patients with schizophrenia after a 40-h digital cognitive training. The interview transcript quotes were coded and categorized into facilitators and barriers. Thereafter, we tested the association of motivation and engagement with changes in cognition and symptoms after training.

RESULTS

The facilitator 'good performance' and the barrier 'difficult exercise' were associated with larger gains in attention (p = 0.03) and reasoning and problem solving (p = 0.02), respectively. 'Poor performance' was associated with smaller gains in global cognition (p < 0.01), attention (p = 0.03), and working memory (p = 0.02). The facilitator 'welcoming setting' was associated with larger reductions in the negative (p = 0.01) and total (p = 0.01) symptoms measured by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. The UWES engagement scale was associated with different facilitators and barriers that emerged from the interview, an indication of consistency among both qualitative and quantitative assessments.

DISCUSSION

Using a mixed quantitative and qualitative research design, we showed associations between motivation and engagement and the response to digital cognitive training in schizophrenia. Facilitators and barriers were associated with engagement, gains in cognition, and reduced symptoms after the intervention, providing insights on how to increase engagement in the digital cognitive training delivered to subjects with schizophrenia.

Right Unilateral Spatial Neglect Improves with Intrinsic Motivation

Background. In the acute phase of stroke, it is well known that the incidence and severity of unilateral spatial neglect (USN) are more significant in the right hemisphere injuries. Still, the detection of USN in left hemisphere injuries has been increasing in recent years. This trend is because behavioral assessments have prevented the exclusion of patients who are difficult to assess for USN or apathy using conventional paper-and-pencil tests (e.g., aphasia). Right USN and post-stroke apathy share many common lesions. Therefore, clinical symptoms may overlap, but little validation considers this. Case Study. A man (62 years old) determined to have the right USN and apathy was treated for six weeks in 3 terms. In the first term (weeks 1 to 2), the patient was treated for the right USN by conventional therapy. In the second term (3–4 weeks), treatment for right USN and apathy by goal-directed therapy based on affinity behavior was implemented. In the third term (5–6 weeks), goal-directed therapy based on affinity behavior was discontinued, and treatment was returned to conventional therapy only. In the second term (goal-directed therapy based on affinity behavior), the improvement in patients' apathy (clinical assessment for spontaneity) was more significant than the effect size in the third term (conventional therapy). There were no significant differences in USN (catherine bergego scale) and intrinsic motivation (pittsburgh rehabilitation participation scale). However, the effect size in the second term tended to be larger than in the third term (conventional therapy). Clinical Rehabilitation Impact. This report aims to demonstrate the limitations of current treatment for cases determined to have both right USN and apathy. Second, to assess the extent to which this new intervention can complement the limitations of current treatment.

Mental control of uncertainty

Can you reduce uncertainty by thinking? Intuition suggests that this happens through the elusive process of attention: if we expend mental effort, we can increase the reliability of our sensory data. Models based on "rational inattention" formalize this idea in terms of a trade-off between the costs and benefits of attention. This paper surveys the origin of these models in economics, their connection to rate-distortion theory, and some of their recent applications to psychology and neuroscience. We also report new data from a numerosity judgment task in which we manipulate performance incentives. Consistent with rational inattention, people are able to improve performance on this task when incentivized, in part by increasing the reliability of their sensory data.

Task relevance and negative reward modulate the disengagement deficit of patients with spatial neglect

Though motivational value is a recognized trigger of approach and avoidance behavior, less is known about the potential of reward to capture attention. We here explored whether positive or negative reward modulates the characteristic deficit of patients with left spatial neglect to disengage attention from an ipsilesional distracter. We built our study on recent observations showing that the disengagement deficit is exaggerated for distracters with target-defining features, indicating that task-relevance captures attention. Patients with left neglect and matched healthy controls were asked to react to lateralized, colored targets preceded by a peripheral cue. Crucially, the cue either possessed the color of the target and was thus task-relevant, or was followed by a positive, negative, or neutral symbolic reward. Neglect patients only exhibited a disengagement deficit when cues were task-relevant or were followed by a negative reward. This finding indicates that attentional selection is driven by task-relevance and negative reward, possibly through interactions between limbic and attention networks.

Gains and Losses Affect Learning Differentially at Low and High Attentional Load

Prospective gains and losses influence cognitive processing, but it is unresolved how they modulate flexible learning in changing environments. The prospect of gains might enhance flexible learning through prioritized processing of reward-predicting stimuli, but it is unclear how far this learning benefit extends when task demands increase. Similarly, experiencing losses might facilitate learning when they trigger attentional reorienting away from loss-inducing stimuli, but losses may also impair learning by increasing motivational costs or when negative outcomes are overgeneralized. To clarify these divergent views, we tested how varying magnitudes of gains and losses affect the flexible learning of feature values in environments that varied attentional load by increasing the number of interfering object features. With this task design, we found that larger prospective gains improved learning efficacy and learning speed, but only when attentional load was low. In contrast, expecting losses impaired learning efficacy, and this impairment was larger at higher attentional load. These findings functionally dissociate the contributions of gains and losses on flexible learning, suggesting they operate via separate control mechanisms. One mechanism is triggered by experiencing loss and reduces the ability to reduce distractor interference, impairs assigning credit to specific loss-inducing features, and decreases efficient exploration during learning. The second mechanism is triggered by experiencing gains, which enhances prioritizing reward-predicting stimulus features as long as the interference of distracting features is limited. Taken together, these results support a rational theory of cognitive control during learning, suggesting that experiencing losses and experiencing distractor interference impose costs for learning.

Probabilistic Decision-Making in Children With Dyslexia

Background

Neurocognitive mechanisms underlying developmental dyslexia (dD) remain poorly characterized apart from phonological and/or visual processing deficits. Assuming such deficits, the process of learning complex tasks like reading requires the learner to make decisions (i.e., word pronunciation) based on uncertain information (e.g., aberrant phonological percepts)-a cognitive process known as probabilistic decision making, which has been linked to the striatum. We investigate (1) the relationship between dD and probabilistic decision-making and (2) the association between the volume of striatal structures and probabilistic decision-making in dD and typical readers.

Methods

Twenty four children diagnosed with dD underwent a comprehensive evaluation and MRI scanning (3T). Children with dD were compared to age-matched typical readers (n = 11) on a probabilistic, risk/reward fishing task that utilized a Bayesian cognitive model with game parameters of risk propensity (γ+) and behavioral consistency (β), as well as an overall adjusted score (average number of casts, excluding forced-fail trials). Volumes of striatal structures (caudate, putamen, and nucleus accumbens) were analyzed between groups and associated with game parameters.

Results

dD was associated with greater risk propensity and decreased behavioral consistency estimates compared to typical readers. Cognitive model parameters associated with timed pseudoword reading across groups. Risk propensity related to caudate volumes, particularly in the dD group.

Conclusion

Decision-making processes differentiate dD, associate with the caudate, and may impact learning mechanisms. This study suggests the need for further research into domain-general probabilistic decision-making in dD, neurocognitive mechanisms, and targeted interventions in dD.

The "Neurospeed" game: a fun tool to learn the neurological semiology

BACKGROUND

Neurological semiology is often considered by medical students as particularly difficult to learn. Finding alternative teaching methods may improve students' motivation and understanding of this field.

METHODS

We developed the "Neurospeed", a game to learn neurological syndromes. We assessed its efficiency on short-term learning of neurological syndromes in third-year medical students, through Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) before and after the game session. Students' satisfaction was evaluated by a satisfaction survey.

RESULTS

Out of the 199 third-year medical students of the Faculty of Medicine Sorbonne Paris Nord, 180 attended the Neurospeed in December 2020, and 148 answered 20 Multiple Choice Questions before and after the game, with significant improvement of their score (p < 0.001). Most of the participants agreed that the game was playful, stimulating, and helpful to learn neurological semiology.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, our results show that the Neurospeed game is an interesting tool as a complement to traditional lectures. Further studies are necessary to compare the efficacy of different types of serious games on short-term and long-term learning of neurological semiology.

Reward-driven modulation of spatial attention in the human frontal eye-field

Attentional selection and the decision of where to make an eye-movement are driven by various factors such as the representation of salience, task goal, and stimulus relevance, as well as expectations or predictions based on past experience. Brain systems implicated in these processes recruit cortico-subcortical areas including the Frontal Eye-Field (FEF), parietal cortex, or superior colliculus. How these areas interact to govern attention remains elusive. Priority maps of space have been observed in several brain regions, but the neural substrates where different sources of information are combined and integrated to guide attentional selection has not been elucidated. We investigated here the neural mechanisms subserving how reward cues influence the voluntary deployment of attention, in conditions where stimulus-driven capture and task-related goals compete for attention selection. Using fMRI in a visual search task in n = 23 participants, we found a selective modulation of FEF by the reward value of distractors during attentional shifts, particularly after high-predictive cueing to invalid locations. Reward information also modulated FEF connectivity to superior colliculus, striatum, and visual cortex. We conclude that FEF may occupy a central position within brain circuits integrating different sources of top-down biases for the generation of spatial saliency maps and guidance of selective attention.

High Dream Recall Frequency Is Associated with an Increase of Both Bottom-Up and Top-Down Attentional Processes

Event-related potentials (ERPs) associated with the involuntary orientation of (bottom-up) attention toward an unexpected sound are of larger amplitude in high dream recallers (HR) than in low dream recallers (LR) during passive listening, suggesting different attentional functioning. We measured bottom-up and top-down attentional performance and their cerebral correlates in 18 HR (11 women, age = 22.7 years, dream recall frequency = 5.3 days with a dream recall per week) and 19 LR (10 women, age = 22.3, DRF = 0.2) using EEG and the Competitive Attention Task. Between-group differences were found in ERPs but not in behavior. The results show that HR present larger ERPs to distracting sounds than LR even during active listening, arguing for enhanced bottom-up processing of irrelevant sounds. HR also presented larger contingent negative variation during target expectancy and P3b to target sounds than LR, speaking for an enhanced recruitment of top-down attention. The attentional balance seems preserved in HR since their performances are not altered, but possibly at a higher resource cost. In HR, increased bottom-up processes would favor dream recall through awakening facilitation during sleep and enhanced top-down processes may foster dream recall through increased awareness and/or short-term memory stability of dream content.

Reward Rapidly Enhances Visual Perception

Rewards exert a deep influence on our cognition and behavior. Here, we used a paradigm in which reward information was provided at either encoding or retrieval of a brief, masked stimulus to show that reward can also rapidly modulate perceptual encoding of visual information. Experiment 1 (n = 30 adults) showed that participants' response accuracy was enhanced when a to-be-encoded grating signaled high reward relative to low reward, but only when the grating was presented very briefly and participants reported that they were not consciously aware of it. Experiment 2 (n = 29 adults) showed that there was no difference in participants' response accuracy when reward information was instead provided at the stage of retrieval, ruling out an explanation of the reward-modulation effect in terms of differences in motivated retrieval. Taken together, our findings provide behavioral evidence consistent with a rapid reward modulation of visual perception, which may not require consciousness.

Testing reward-cue attentional salience: Attainment and dynamic changes

A great wealth of studies has investigated the capacity of motivationally relevant stimuli to bias attention, suggesting that reward predicting cues are prioritized even when reward is no longer delivered and when attending to such stimuli is detrimental to reward achievement. Despite multiple procedures have been adopted to unveil the mechanisms whereby reward cues gain attentional salience, some open questions remain. Indeed, mechanisms different from motivation can be responsible for the capture of attention triggered by the reward cue. In addition, we note that at present only a few studies have sought to address whether the cue attractiveness dynamically follows changes in the associated reward value. Investigating how and to what extent the salience of the reward cue is updated when motivation changes, could help shedding light on how reward‐cues attain and maintain their capacity to attract attention, and therefore on apparent irrational attentive behaviors.

Emergence of Frequency-Dependent Motor Variability Within Supra-Second Auditory Cueing

Motor variability (MV) is an essential feature of the sensory motor system, and it plays an important role in sensory-motor learning. MV facilitates motor adaptation during auditory-motor synchronization (AMS). In AMS, individuals receive a series of similar auditory stimuli that come in a periodic manner at a fixed interval called an inter-stimulus interval (ISI). Peri-second ISI (1 second range) and supra-second ISI (>1 second) are differently processed, since these intervals involve different amount of cognitive resources. Supra-second ISI involves more top-down attention as compared to peri-second ISI. In this study we examined the effect of tone frequency (perceptual property of auditory stimuli) on predictive tapping and MV under peri-second and supra-second ranges. We examined the effect of tone frequency (a perceptual property of auditory stimuli) on predictive tapping and motor variability (MV) under short (peri-second) and long (supra-second) inter-stimulus intervals. Among 30 healthy participants (aged 18-35 years, M = 24.6 years), we randomly assigned equal numbers of these two inter-stimulus conditions to isochronous sound sequences. In their attempt to synchronize their motor responses with the tone, participants reproduced the ISI in their inter-tap intervals (ITIs). We analyzed their predictive tapping in terms of negative asynchrony (in which the tap occurs before the tone) and small positive asynchrony (0-100 ms), whereas we analyzed MV using the coefficient of variation (CV) of the ITI. We found that participants showed predictive tapping under short ISI, irrespective of the tone frequency. Moreover, their MV was unaffected by tone frequency. These findings imply that participants expressed MV in a predictive rather than reactive manner under short, but not long, ISI. Under long ISI, tone frequency had a significant effect on MV such that there was higher MV with the low-frequency than with the high-frequency tone. Thus, low-frequency tones are most suitable for auditory-motor learning in the supra-second range.

Vision as oculomotor reward: cognitive contributions to the dynamic control of saccadic eye movements

Humans and other primates are equipped with a foveated visual system. As a consequence, we reorient our fovea to objects and targets in the visual field that are conspicuous or that we consider relevant or worth looking at. These reorientations are achieved by means of saccadic eye movements. Where we saccade to depends on various low-level factors such as a targets' luminance but also crucially on high-level factors like the expected reward or a targets' relevance for perception and subsequent behavior. Here, we review recent findings how the control of saccadic eye movements is influenced by higher-level cognitive processes. We first describe the pathways by which cognitive contributions can influence the neural oculomotor circuit. Second, we summarize what saccade parameters reveal about cognitive mechanisms, particularly saccade latencies, saccade kinematics and changes in saccade gain. Finally, we review findings on what renders a saccade target valuable, as reflected in oculomotor behavior. We emphasize that foveal vision of the target after the saccade can constitute an internal reward for the visual system and that this is reflected in oculomotor dynamics that serve to quickly and accurately provide detailed foveal vision of relevant targets in the visual field.

Fear of Missing Out Predicts Distraction by Social Reward Signals Displayed on a Smartphone in Difficult Driving Situations

Smartphones are particularly likely to elicit driver distraction with obvious negative repercussions on road safety. Recent selective attention models lead to expect that smartphones might be very effective in capturing attention due to their social reward history. Hence, individual differences in terms of Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) – i.e., of the apprehension of missing out on socially rewarding experiences – should play an important role in driver distraction. This factor has already been associated with self-reported estimations of greater attention paid to smartphones while driving, but the potential link between FoMO and smartphone-induced distraction has never been tested empirically. Therefore, we conducted a preliminary study to investigate whether FoMO would modulate attentional capture by reward distractors displayed on a smartphone. First, participants performed a classical visual search task in which neutral stimuli (colored circles) were associated with high or low social reward outcomes. Then, they had to detect a pedestrian or a roe deer in driving scenes with various levels of fog density. The social reward stimuli were displayed as distractors on the screen of a smartphone embedded in the pictures. The results showed a significant three-way interaction between FoMO, social reward distraction, and task difficulty. More precisely, under attention-demanding conditions (i.e., high-fog density), individual FoMO scores predicted attentional capture by social reward distractors, with longer reaction times (RTs) for high rather than low social reward distractors. These results highlight the importance to consider reward history and FoMO when investigating smartphone-based distraction. Limitations are discussed, notably regarding our sample characteristics (i.e., mainly young females) that might hamper the generalization of our findings to the overall population. Future research directions are provided.

Cannabinoid Modulation of Dopamine Release During Motivation, Periodic Reinforcement, Exploratory Behavior, Habit Formation, and Attention

Motivational and attentional processes energize action sequences to facilitate evolutionary competition and promote behavioral fitness. Decades of neuropharmacology, electrophysiology and electrochemistry research indicate that the mesocorticolimbic DA pathway modulates both motivation and attention. More recently, it was realized that mesocorticolimbic DA function is tightly regulated by the brain's endocannabinoid system and greatly influenced by exogenous cannabinoids-which have been harnessed by humanity for medicinal, ritualistic, and recreational uses for 12,000 years. Exogenous cannabinoids, like the primary psychoactive component of cannabis, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, produce their effects by acting at binding sites for naturally occurring endocannabinoids. The brain's endocannabinoid system consists of two G-protein coupled receptors, endogenous lipid ligands for these receptor targets, and several synthetic and metabolic enzymes involved in their production and degradation. Emerging evidence indicates that the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol is necessary to observe concurrent increases in DA release and motivated behavior. And the historical pharmacology literature indicates a role for cannabinoid signaling in both motivational and attentional processes. While both types of behaviors have been scrutinized under manipulation by either DA or cannabinoid agents, there is considerably less insight into prospective interactions between these two important signaling systems. This review attempts to summate the relevance of cannabinoid modulation of DA release during operant tasks designed to investigate either motivational or attentional control of behavior. We first describe how cannabinoids influence DA release and goal-directed action under a variety of reinforcement contingencies. Then we consider the role that endocannabinoids might play in switching an animal's motivation from a goal-directed action to the search for an alternative outcome, in addition to the formation of long-term habits. Finally, dissociable features of attentional behavior using both the 5-choice serial reaction time task and the attentional set-shifting task are discussed along with their distinct influences by DA and cannabinoids. We end with discussing potential targets for further research regarding DA-cannabinoid interactions within key substrates involved in motivation and attention.

Value Associations Modulate Visual Attention and Response Selection

Every day, we are confronted with a vast amount of information that all competes for our attention. Some of this information might be associated with rewards (e.g., gambling) or losses (e.g., insurances). To what extent such information, even if irrelevant for our current task, not only attracts attention but also affects our actions is still a topic under examination. To address this issue, we applied a new experimental paradigm that combines visual search and a spatial compatibility task. Although colored stimuli did not modulate the spatial compatibility effect more than gray stimuli, we found clear evidence that reward and loss associations attenuated this effect, presumably by affecting attention and response selection. Moreover, there are hints that differences in these associations are also reflected in a modulation of the spatial compatibility effect. We discuss theoretical implications of our results with respect to the influences of color, reward, and loss association on selective attention and response selection.

Reward history modulates perceptual load effects

The reward history of a stimulus can yield strong attentional selection biases. Indeed, attentional capture can be triggered by previously rewarded items which are neither salient nor relevant for the ongoing task, even when selection is clearly counter-productive to actually obtain the reward outcome. Therefore, value-driven attentional capture (VDAC) has been argued to be an automatic attention mechanism. Our study aimed at putting the VDAC automaticity directly to the test. For this purpose, the Load Theory offers a comprehensive framework where distraction is observed under low but not high perceptual load condition. Nevertheless, if VDAC is indeed automatic, distraction by reward-stimuli should be observed on both perceptual load conditions. We used a feature vs. conjunction discrimination of a go/no-go cue to manipulate perceptual load. As expected, our results revealed that perceptual load decreased interference produced by low-reward distractor. However, this effect was not significant for high-reward distractor, giving support to VDAC automaticity. We discussed our results in light of the Load Theory literature and we strongly encourage to consider reward history along with perceptual load in determining attentional capture.

The role of the vestibular system in value attribution to positive and negative reinforcers

Somatic inputs originating from bioregulatory processes can guide cognition and behavior. One such bodily signal, mostly overlooked so far, is represented by visuo-vestibular coupling and its alteration, which in extreme cases may result in motion sickness. We argued that the inherently perturbed interoceptive state that follows can be a powerful determinant of human motivated behavior, resulting in a blunted response to appetitive stimuli and an exaggerated response to noxious ones. We sought to assess such differential impact of visuo-vestibular mismatches on value through a task involving conflict monitoring. We therefore administered to 42 healthy participants a modified version of the Flankers task, in which distractors (arrows, pointing in either a congruent or incongruent direction) signaled the availability of monetary incentives (gains, losses, or neutral trials). While performing the task, participants received either galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS), or sham stimulation. We have found impaired behavioral performances when value, which was attached to task-irrelevant information, was at stake. Gains and losses, interestingly, dissociated, and only the latter caused enhanced interference costs in the task, suggesting that negative incentives may be more effective in capturing human attention than positive ones. Finally, we have found some weak evidence for GVS to further increase the processing of losses, as suggested by even larger interference costs in this condition. Results were, however, overall ambiguous, and suggest that much more research is needed to better understand the link between the vestibular system and motivation.

Reward history impacts attentional orienting and inhibitory control on untrained tasks

It has been robustly shown that stimuli with reward history receive attentional priority. However, the majority of this research tests reward history effects on attentional bias using similar tasks for both the reward learning phase and the unrewarded testing phase, which limits our understanding of how the effects of reward history generalize beyond the trained tasks and mental sets. Across two new experiments, the current study addresses these issues by first associating reward with a stimulus in a visual search paradigm, and then testing value-driven effects of that stimulus in untrained and unrewarded tasks, including a cueing paradigm, a go/no-go task, and a delay discounting task. Results of Experiment 1 demonstrate that history of reward association in a visual search task generalizes to value-driven attentional bias in a different attention paradigm (i.e., cueing), indicating these effects are indeed attributable to imbued value that can transfer to other tasks beyond that in which the reward was trained. The results of Experiment 2 demonstrate that in addition to eliciting attentional orienting on untrained tasks, reward history can lead to better inhibitory control in the go/no-go task. We find no evidence for reward history effects in the delay discounting task. Together, these experiments demonstrate that when the reward association task is in the attention domain, reward history modulates attentional priority, and this effect generalizes to untrained and unrewarded tasks that utilize both spatial and nonspatial attention.

Attraction to similar options: The Gestalt law of proximity is related to the attraction effect

Previous studies have suggested that there are common mechanisms between perceptual and value-based processes. For instance, both perceptual and value-based choices are highly influenced by the context in which the choices are made. However, the mechanisms which allow context to influence our choice process as well as the extent of the similarity between the perceptual and preferential processes are still unclear. In this study, we examine a within-subject relation between the attraction effect, which is a well-known effect of context on preferential choice, and the Gestalt law of proximity. Then, we aim to use this link to better understand the mechanisms underlying the attraction effect. We conducted one study followed by an additional pre-registered replication study, where subjects performed a Gestalt-psychophysical task and a decoy task. Comparing the behavioral sensitivity of each subject in both tasks, we found that the more susceptible a subject is to the proximity law, the more she displayed the attraction effect. These results demonstrate a within-subject relation between a perceptual phenomenon (proximity law) and a value-based bias (attraction effect) which further strengthens the notion of common rules between perceptual and value-based processing. Moreover, this suggests that the mechanism underlying the attraction effect is related to grouping by proximity with attention as a mediator.

Spatial suppression due to statistical learning tracks the estimated spatial probability

People are sensitive to regularities in the environment. Recent studies employing the additional singleton paradigm showed that a singleton distractor that appeared more often in one specific location than in all other locations may lead to attentional suppression of high-probability distractor locations. This in turn effectively reduced the attentional capture effect by the salient distractor singleton. However, in basically all of these previous studies, the probability that the salient distractor was presented at this specific location was relatively high (i.e., 65%; or a ratio of 13:1 between high- and low-probability locations). The question we addressed here was whether participants still can learn the regularities in the display even when these regularities are quite subtle. We systematically manipulated the ratio of the distractor appearing at the high- and low-probability location from 2:1 to 8:1. We asked the question whether the suppression effect would depend on the probabilities of the distractor appearing in the high-probability location. The results showed that the suppression of the high-probability location was linearly related to the high-low-probability ratio. In other words, the more evidence that a distractor appears more often at a particular location, the stronger the suppression. This indicates that the distribution of attention is optimally adapted to the statistical regularities present in the display.

Atypical Value-Driven Selective Attention in Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Importance

Enhanced selective attention toward nonsocial objects and impaired attention to social stimuli constitute key clinical features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Yet, the mechanisms associated with atypical selective attention in ASD are poorly understood, which limits the development of more effective interventions. In typically developing individuals, selective attention to social and nonsocial stimuli is associated with the informational value of the stimuli, which is typically learned over the course of repeated interactions with the stimuli.

Objective

To examine value learning (VL) of social and nonsocial stimuli and its association with selective attention in preschoolers with and without ASD.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This case-control study compared children with ASD vs children with developmental delay (DD) and children with typical development (TD) recruited between March 3, 2017, and June 13, 2018, at a university-based research laboratory. Participants were preschoolers with ASD, DD, or TD.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Procedure consisted of an eye-tracking gaze-contingent VL task involving social (faces) and nonsocial (fractals) stimuli and consisting of baseline, training, and choice test phases. Outcome measures were preferential attention to stimuli reinforced (high value) vs not reinforced (low value) during training. The hypotheses were stated before data collection.

Results

Included were 115 preschoolers with ASD (n = 48; mean [SD] age, 38.30 [15.55] months; 37 [77%] boys), DD (n = 31; mean [SD] age, 45.73 [19.49] months; 19 [61%] boys), or TD (n = 36; mean [SD] age, 36.53 [12.39] months; 22 [61%] boys). The groups did not differ in sex distribution; participants with ASD or TD had similar chronological age; and participants with ASD or DD had similar verbal IQ and nonverbal IQ. After training, the ASD group showed preference for the high-value nonsocial stimuli (mean proportion, 0.61 [95% CI, 0.56-0.65]; P < .001) but not for the high-value social stimuli (mean proportion, 0.51 [95% CI, 0.46-0.56]; P = .58). In contrast, the DD and TD groups demonstrated preference for the high-value social stimuli (DD mean proportion, 0.59 [95% CI, 0.54-0.64]; P = .001 and TD mean proportion, 0.57 [95% CI, 0.53-0.61]; P = .002) but not for the high-value nonsocial stimuli (DD mean proportion, 0.52 [95% CI, 0.44-0.59]; P = .64 and TD mean proportion, 0.50 [95% CI, 0.44-0.57]; P = .91). Controlling for age and nonverbal IQ, autism severity was positively correlated with enhanced learning in the nonsocial domain (r = 0.22; P = .03) and with poorer learning in the social domain (r = -0.26; P = .01).

Conclusions and Relevance

Increased attention to objects in preschoolers with ASD may be associated with enhanced VL in the nonsocial domain. When paired with poor VL in the social domain, enhanced value-driven attention to objects may play a formative role in the emergence of autism symptoms by altering attentional priorities and thus learning opportunities in affected children.

Fatigue in inflammatory rheumatic disorders: pathophysiological mechanisms

Today, inflammatory rheumatic disorders are effectively treated, but many patients still suffer from residual fatigue. This work presents pathophysiological mechanisms of fatigue. First, cytokines can interfere with neurotransmitter release at the preterminal ending. Second, a long-term increase in serum concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines increase the uptake and breakdown of monoamines (serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine). Third, chronic inflammation can also decrease monoaminergic neurotransmission via oxidative stress (oxidation of tetrahydrobiopterin [BH4]). Fourth, proinflammatory cytokines increase the level of enzyme indoleamine-2, 3-dioxygenase activity and shunt tryptophan away from the serotonin pathway. Fifth, oxidative stress stimulates astrocytes to inhibit excitatory amino acid transporters. Sixth, astrocytes produce kynurenic acid that acts as an antagonist on the α7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptor to inhibit dopamine release. Jointly, these actions result in increased glutamatergic and decreased monoaminergic neurotransmission. The above-described pathophysiological mechanisms negatively affect brain functioning in areas that are involved in fatigue.

Attentional Orienting by Non-informative Cue Is Shaped via Reinforcement Learning

It has been demonstrated that a reward-associated stimulus feature captures attention involuntarily. The present study tested whether spatial attentional orienting is biased via reinforcement learning. Participants were to identify a target stimulus presented in one of two placeholders, preceded by a non-informative arrow cue at the center of the display. Importantly, reward was available when the target occurred at a location cued by a reward cue, defined as a specific color (experiments 1 and 3) or a color-direction combination (experiment 2). The attentional bias of the reward cue was significantly increased as trials progressed, resulting in a greater cue-validity effect for the reward cue than the no-reward cue. This attentional bias was still evident even when controlling for the possibility that the incentive salience of the reward cue color modulates the cue-validity effect (experiment 2) or when the reward was withdrawn after reinforcement learning (experiment 3). However, it disappeared when the reward was provided regardless of cue validity (experiment 4), implying that the reinforcement contingency between reward and attentional orienting is a critical determinant of reinforcement learning-based spatial attentional modulation. Our findings highlight that a spatial attentional bias is shaped by value via reinforcement learning.

Reward sensitivity predicts dopaminergic response in spatial neglect

It has recently been revealed that spatial neglect can be modulated by motivational factors including anticipated monetary reward. A number of dopaminergic agents have been evaluated as treatments for neglect, but the results have been mixed, with no clear anatomical or cognitive predictors of dopaminergic responsiveness. Given that the effects of incentive motivation are mediated by dopaminergic pathways that are variably damaged in stroke, we tested the hypothesis that the modulatory influences of reward and dopaminergic drugs on neglect are themselves related. We employed a single-dose, double-blind, crossover design to compare the effects of Co-careldopa and placebo on a modified visual cancellation task in patients with neglect secondary to right hemisphere stroke. Whilst confirming that reward improved visual search in this group, we showed that dopaminergic stimulation only enhances visual search in the absence of reward. When patients were divided into REWARD-RESPONDERs and REWARD-NON-RESPONDERs, we found an interaction, such that only REWARD-NON-RESPONDERs showed a positive response to reward after receiving Co-careldopa, whereas REWARD-RESPONDERs were not influenced by drug. At a neuroanatomical level, responsiveness to incentive motivation was most associated with intact dorsal striatum. These findings suggest that dopaminergic modulation of neglect follows an 'inverted U' function, is dependent on integrity of the reward system, and can be measured as a behavioural response to anticipated reward.

Ventral midbrain stimulation induces perceptual learning and cortical plasticity in primates

Practice improves perception and enhances neural representations of trained visual stimuli, a phenomenon known as visual perceptual learning (VPL). While attention to task-relevant stimuli plays an important role in such learning, Pavlovian stimulus-reinforcer associations are sufficient to drive VPL, even subconsciously. It has been proposed that reinforcement facilitates perceptual learning through the activation of neuromodulatory centers, but this has not been directly confirmed in primates. Here, we paired task-irrelevant visual stimuli with microstimulation of a dopaminergic center, the ventral tegmental area (VTA), in macaques. Pairing VTA microstimulation with a task-irrelevant visual stimulus increased fMRI activity and improved classification of fMRI activity patterns selectively for the microstimulation-paired stimulus. Moreover, pairing VTA microstimulation with a task-irrelevant visual stimulus improved the subject’s capacity to discriminate that stimulus. This is the first causal demonstration of the role of neuromodulatory centers in VPL in primates.

Practice can improve the perception of stimuli used to achieve a task (perceptual learning). Here, the authors show in monkeys that perceptual learning can be produced even for irrelevant stimuli if the stimuli are paired with stimulation of a dopaminergic centre, the ventral tegmental area (VTA).

Measuring attention to reward as an individual trait: the value-driven attention questionnaire (VDAQ)

Reward history is a powerful determinant of what we pay attention to. This influence of reward on attention varies substantially across individuals, being related to a variety of personality variables and clinical conditions. Currently, the ability to measure and quantify attention-to-reward is restricted to the use of psychophysical laboratory tasks, which limits research into the construct in a variety of ways. In the present study, we introduce a questionnaire designed to provide a brief and accessible means of assessing attention-to-reward. Scores on the questionnaire correlate with other measures known to be related to attention-to-reward and predict performance on multiple laboratory tasks measuring the construct. In demonstrating this relationship, we also provide evidence that attention-to-reward as measured in the lab, an automatic and implicit bias in information processing, is related to overt behaviors and motivations in everyday life as assessed via the questionnaire. Variation in scores on the questionnaire is additionally associated with a distinct biomarker in brain connectivity, and the questionnaire exhibits acceptable test-retest reliability. Overall, the Value-Driven Attention Questionnaire (VDAQ) provides a useful proxy-measure of attention-to-reward that is much more accessible than typical laboratory assessments.

The "Neurological Hat Game": A fun way to learn the neurological semiology

INTRODUCTION

In-class courses are deserted by medical students who tend to find it more beneficial to study in books and through online material. New interactive teaching methods, such as serious games increase both performance and motivation. We developed and assessed a new teaching method for neurological semiology using the "Hat Game" as a basis.

METHODS

In this game, two teams of second-year medical students are playing against one another. The game is played with a deck of cards. A neurological symptom or sign is written on each card. Each team gets a predefined period of time to guess as many words as possible. One member is the clue-giver and the others are the guessers. There are three rounds: during the first round, the clue-giver uses any descriptive term he wants and as many as he wants to make his team guess the maximum number of words within the allocated time. During the second round, the clue-giver can only choose one clue-word and, during the third round, he mimes the symptom or sign. The team that has guessed the most cards wins the game. To assess the efficacy of this learning procedure, multiple choices questions (MCQs) were asked before and after the game. Exam results of second-year students on their final university Neurology exam were analyzed. A satisfaction survey was proposed to all participating students.

RESULTS

Among 373 students, 121 volunteers (32.4%) were enrolled in the "Neurology Hat Game" and 112 attended the game. One hundred and seven of the 112 students completed the MCQs with a significant improvement in their responses after the game (P<0.001). The 112 students who completed the satisfaction self-administered questionnaire were very satisfied with this funny new teaching method.

CONCLUSIONS

Teaching neurological semiology via the "Hat Game" is an interesting method because it is student-centered, playful and complementary to the lecturer-centered courses. A randomized controlled study would be necessary to confirm these preliminary results.

Cortical neural modulation by previous trial outcome differentiates fast- from slow-learning rats on a visuomotor directional choice task

To better understand the neural cortical underpinnings that explain behavioral differences in learning rate, we recorded single-unit activity in primary motor (M1) and secondary motor (M2) areas while rats learned to perform a directional (left or right) operant visuomotor association task. Analysis of neural activity during the early portion of the cue period showed that neural modulation in the motor cortex was most strongly associated with two task factors: the previous trial outcome (success or error) and the current trial's directional choice (left or right). Furthermore, the fast learners, defined as those who had steeper learning curves and required fewer learning sessions to reach criterion performance, encoded the previous trial outcome factor more strongly than the directional choice factor. Conversely, the slow learners encoded directional choice more strongly than previous trial outcome. These differences in task factor encoding were observed in both the percentage of neurons and the neural modulation depth. These results suggest that fast learning is accompanied by a stronger component of previous trial outcome in the modulation representation present in motor cortex, which therefore may be a contributing factor to behavioral differences in learning rate. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We chronically recorded neural activity as rats learned a visuomotor directional choice task from a naive state. Learning rates varied. Single-unit neural modulation of two motor areas revealed that the fast learners encoded previous trial outcome more strongly than directional choice, whereas the reverse was true for slow learners. This finding provides novel evidence that rat learning rate is strongly correlated with the strength of neural modulation by previous trial outcome in motor cortex.

Influence of reward learning on visual attention and eye movements in a naturalistic environment: A virtual reality study

Rewards constitute crucial signals that motivate approach behavior and facilitate the perceptual processing of objects associated with favorable outcomes in past encounters. Reward-related influences on perception and attention have been reliably observed in studies where a reward is paired with a unidimensional low-level visual feature, such as the color or orientation of a line in visual search tasks. However, our environment is drastically different and composed of multidimensional and changing visual features, encountered in complex and dynamic scenes. Here, we designed an immersive virtual reality (VR) experiment using a 4-frame CAVE system to investigate the impact of rewards on attentional orienting and gaze patterns in a naturalistic and ecological environment. Forty-one healthy participants explored a virtual forest and responded to targets appearing on either the left or right side of their path. To test for reward-induced biases in spatial orienting, targets on one side were associated with high reward, whereas those on the opposite side were paired with a low reward. Eye-movements recording showed that left-side high rewards led to subsequent increase of eye gaze fixations towards this side of the path, but no such asymmetry was found after exposure to right-sided high rewards. A milder spatial bias was also observed after left-side high rewards during subsequent exploration of a virtual castle yard, but not during route turn choices along the forest path. Our results indicate that reward-related influences on attention and behavior may be better learned in left than right space, in line with a right hemisphere dominance, and could generalize to another environment to some extent, but not to spatial choices in another decision task, suggesting some domain- or context-specificity. This proof-of-concept study also outlines the advantages and the possible drawbacks of the use of the 3D CAVE immersive platform for VR in neuroscience.

Value-driven attentional capture in neglect

OBJECTIVE

Recent studies suggest that motivational cues such as rewards may be a powerful determinant of attentional selection, both in healthy subjects and in brain-damaged patients suffering from neglect. However, the exact brain mechanisms underlying these effects and their relation to other well-known attentional systems are still poorly known.

METHODS

We designed a visual search paradigm to examine how value-based attentional priority could modulate spatial orienting in patients with pathological biases due to neglect after right hemispheric stroke. Targets were preceded by exogenous valid or invalid spatial cues, in the presence or absence of distractors that were associated with high reward values subsequent to an initial reinforcement training phase.

RESULTS

We found that the learned reward value of distractors interfered with spatial reorienting toward the left (neglected) side when neglect patients were invalidly cued to the right side. Moreover, the presence of reward-associated distractors in the contralesional field interfered most with the detection of task-relevant targets on the same side, and this interference was exaggerated with more severe neglect. Voxelwise anatomical lesion analysis indicated that damage to the right angular gyrus, as well as lateral occipital and inferior temporal areas of the right hemisphere, were associated with stronger value-driven attentional effects.

CONCLUSIONS

Visual stimuli previously associated with rewards receive higher attentional priority during visual search despite pathological spatial biases due to neglect, and thus interfere with orienting to contralesional targets, presumably by competing with top-down mechanisms controlling exogenous spatial attention. Reward signals may bias neural activity evoked by visual stimuli, independent of conscious control, through a common priority map integrating several different attentional influences. These results do not only provide novel insights to link spatial orienting and motivational signals within current models of attention, but also open new perspectives that may usefully be exploited for neurological rehabilitation strategies in patients suffering from attentional deficits and neglect.

Cross-modal integration during value-driven attentional capture

A growing body of evidence suggests that reward may be a powerful determinant of attentional selection. To date, the study of value-based attentional capture has been mainly focused on the visual sensory modality. It is yet unknown how reward information is communicated and integrated across the different senses in order to resolve between competing choices during selective attention. Our study investigated the interference produced by an auditory reward-associated distractor when a semantically-related visual target was concurrently presented. We measured both manual and saccadic response times towards a target image (drum or trumpet), while an irrelevant sound (congruent or incongruent instrument) was heard. Each sound was previously associated with either a high or a low reward. We found that manual responses were slowed by a high-reward auditory distractor when sound and image were semantically congruent. A similar effect was observed for saccadic responses, but only for participants aware of the past reward contingencies. Auditory events associated with reward value were thus capable of involuntarily capturing attention in the visual modality. This reward effect can mitigate cross-modal semantic integration and appears to be differentially modulated by awareness for saccadic vs. manual responses. Together, our results extend previous work on value-driven attentional biases in perception by showing that these may operate across sensory modalities and override cross-modal integration for semantically-related stimuli. This study sheds new light on the potential implication of brain regions underlying value-driven attention across sensory modalities.