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Gresch D, Boettcher SEP, van Ede F, Nobre AC. Shifting attention between perception and working memory. Cognition 2024; 245:105731. [PMID: 38278040 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2024.105731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2023] [Revised: 11/02/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 01/28/2024]
Abstract
Most everyday tasks require shifting the focus of attention between sensory signals in the external environment and internal contents in working memory. To date, shifts of attention have been investigated within each domain, but shifts between the external and internal domain remain poorly understood. We developed a combined perception and working-memory task to investigate and compare the consequences of shifting spatial attention within and between domains in the service of a common orientation-reproduction task. Participants were sequentially cued to attend to items either in working memory or to an upcoming sensory stimulation. Stay trials provided a baseline condition, while shift trials required participants to shift their attention to another item within the same or different domain. Validating our experimental approach, we found evidence that participants shifted attention effectively in either domain (Experiment 1). In addition, we observed greater costs when transitioning attention between as compared to within domains (Experiments 1, 2). Strikingly, these costs persisted even when participants were given more time to complete the attentional shift (Experiment 2). Biases in fixational gaze behaviour tracked attentional orienting in both domains, but revealed no latency or magnitude difference for within- versus between-domain shifts (Experiment 1). Collectively, the results from Experiments 1 and 2 suggest that shifting between attentional domains might be regulated by a unique control function. Our results break new ground for exploring the ubiquitous act of shifting attention between perception and working memory to guide adaptive behaviour in everyday cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Gresch
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
| | - Sage E P Boettcher
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
| | - Freek van Ede
- Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Anna C Nobre
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
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Loughrey DG, Jordan C, Ibanez A, Parra MA, Lawlor BA, Reilly RB. Age-related hearing loss associated with differences in the neural correlates of feature binding in visual working memory. Neurobiol Aging 2023; 132:233-245. [PMID: 37866083 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2023.09.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2023] [Revised: 08/09/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 10/24/2023]
Abstract
The underlying neural mechanisms underpinning the association between age-related hearing loss (ARHL) and dementia remain unclear. A limitation has been the lack of functional neuroimaging studies in ARHL cohorts to help clarify this relationship. In the present study, we investigated the neural correlates of feature binding in visual working memory with ARHL (controls = 14, mild HL = 21, and moderate or greater HL = 23). Participants completed a visual change detection task assessing feature binding while their neural activity was synchronously recorded via high-density electroencephalography. There was no difference in accuracy scores for ARHL groups compared to controls. There was increased electrophysiological activity in those with ARHL, particularly in components indexing the earlier stages of visual cognitive processing. This activity was more pronounced with more severe ARHL and was associated with maintained feature binding. Source space (sLORETA) analyses indicated greater activity in networks modulated by frontoparietal and temporal regions. Our results demonstrate there may be increased involvement of neurocognitive control networks to maintain lower-order neurocognitive processing disrupted by ARHL.
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Affiliation(s)
- David G Loughrey
- Global Brain Health Institute, Trinity College, The University of Dublin, Ireland; Global Brain Health Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College, The University of Dublin, Ireland.
| | - Catherine Jordan
- Global Brain Health Institute, Trinity College, The University of Dublin, Ireland; Global Brain Health Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Agustin Ibanez
- Global Brain Health Institute, Trinity College, The University of Dublin, Ireland; Global Brain Health Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Cognitive Neuroscience Center, University of San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Mario A Parra
- School of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK
| | - Brian A Lawlor
- Global Brain Health Institute, Trinity College, The University of Dublin, Ireland; Global Brain Health Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Richard B Reilly
- Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College, The University of Dublin, Ireland; Trinity Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Trinity College, The University of Dublin, Ireland; School of Engineering, Trinity College, The University of Dublin, Ireland; School of Medicine, Trinity College, The University of Dublin, Ireland
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Eqlimi E, Bockstael A, Schönwiesner M, Talsma D, Botteldooren D. Time course of EEG complexity reflects attentional engagement during listening to speech in noise. Eur J Neurosci 2023; 58:4043-4069. [PMID: 37814423 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.16159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2023] [Revised: 08/31/2023] [Accepted: 09/13/2023] [Indexed: 10/11/2023]
Abstract
Auditory distractions are recognized to considerably challenge the quality of information encoding during speech comprehension. This study explores electroencephalography (EEG) microstate dynamics in ecologically valid, noisy settings, aiming to uncover how these auditory distractions influence the process of information encoding during speech comprehension. We examined three listening scenarios: (1) speech perception with background noise (LA), (2) focused attention on the background noise (BA), and (3) intentional disregard of the background noise (BUA). Our findings showed that microstate complexity and unpredictability increased when attention was directed towards speech compared with tasks without speech (LA > BA & BUA). Notably, the time elapsed between the recurrence of microstates increased significantly in LA compared with both BA and BUA. This suggests that coping with background noise during speech comprehension demands more sustained cognitive effort. Additionally, a two-stage time course for both microstate complexity and alpha-to-theta power ratio was observed. Specifically, in the early epochs, a lower level was observed, which gradually increased and eventually reached a steady level in the later epochs. The findings suggest that the initial stage is primarily driven by sensory processes and information gathering, while the second stage involves higher level cognitive engagement, including mnemonic binding and memory encoding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ehsan Eqlimi
- WAVES Research Group, Department of Information Technology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Annelies Bockstael
- WAVES Research Group, Department of Information Technology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | | | - Durk Talsma
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Dick Botteldooren
- WAVES Research Group, Department of Information Technology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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Servais A, Hurter C, Barbeau EJ. Attentional switch to memory: An early and critical phase of the cognitive cascade allowing autobiographical memory retrieval. Psychon Bull Rev 2023; 30:1707-1721. [PMID: 37118526 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-023-02270-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 04/30/2023]
Abstract
Remembering and mentally reliving yesterday's lunch is a typical example of episodic autobiographical memory retrieval. In the present review, we reappraised the complex cascade of cognitive processes involved in memory retrieval, by highlighting one particular phase that has received little interest so far: attentional switch to memory (ASM). As attention cannot be simultaneously directed toward external stimuli and internal memories, there has to be an attentional switch from the external to the internal world in order to initiate memory retrieval. We formulated hypotheses and developed hypothetical models of both the cognitive and brain processes that accompany ASM. We suggest that gaze aversion could serve as an objective temporal marker of the point at which people switch their attention to memory, and highlight several fields (neuropsychology, neuroscience, social cognition, comparative psychology) in which ASM markers could be essential. Our review thus provides a new framework for understanding the early stages of autobiographical memory retrieval.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anaïs Servais
- CerCo, CNRS UMR5549-Université de Toulouse, CHU Purpan, Pavillon Baudot, 31052, Toulouse, France.
- ENAC, 7, avenue Edouard Belin, 31055, Toulouse, France.
| | | | - Emmanuel J Barbeau
- CerCo, CNRS UMR5549-Université de Toulouse, CHU Purpan, Pavillon Baudot, 31052, Toulouse, France
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Schindler S, Busch N, Bruchmann M, Wolf MI, Straube T. Early ERP functions are indexed by lateralized effects to peripherally presented emotional faces and scrambles. Psychophysiology 2021; 59:e13959. [PMID: 34687461 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2021] [Revised: 07/12/2021] [Accepted: 10/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
A large body of research suggests that early event-related potentials (ERPs), such as the P1 and N1, are potentiated by attention and represent stimulus amplification. However, recent accounts suggest that the P1 is associated with inhibiting the irrelevant visual field evidenced by a pronounced ipsilateral P1 during sustained attention to peripherally presented stimuli. The current EEG study further investigated this issue to reveal how lateralized ERP findings are modulated by face and emotional information. Therefore, participants were asked to fixate the center of the screen and pay sustained attention either to the right or left visual field, where angry or neutral faces or their Fourier phase-scrambled versions were presented. We found a bilateral P1 to all stimuli with relatively increased, but delayed, ipsilateral P1 amplitudes to faces but not to scrambles. Explorative independent component analyses dissociated an earlier lateralized larger contralateral P1 from a later bilateral P1. By contrast, the N170 showed a contralateral enhancement to all stimuli, which was most pronounced for neutral faces attended in the left hemifield. Finally, increased contralateral alpha power was found for both attended hemifields but was not significantly related to poststimulus ERPs. These results provide evidence against a general inhibitory role of the P1 but suggest stimulus-specific relative enhancements of the ipsilateral P1 for the irrelevant visual hemifield. The lateralized N170, however, is associated with stimulus amplification as a function of facial features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Schindler
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Münster, Germany.,Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Münster, Germany
| | - Niko Busch
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Münster, Germany.,Institute of Psychology, University of Muenster, Münster, Germany
| | - Maximilian Bruchmann
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Münster, Germany.,Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Münster, Germany
| | - Maren-Isabel Wolf
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Münster, Germany
| | - Thomas Straube
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Münster, Germany.,Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Münster, Germany
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