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Huber-Huber C, Melcher D. Saccade execution increases the preview effect with faces: An EEG and eye-tracking coregistration study. Atten Percept Psychophys 2023:10.3758/s13414-023-02802-5. [PMID: 37917292 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-023-02802-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023]
Abstract
Under naturalistic viewing conditions, humans conduct about three to four saccadic eye movements per second. These dynamics imply that in real life, humans rarely see something completely new; there is usually a preview of the upcoming foveal input from extrafoveal regions of the visual field. In line with results from the field of reading research, we have shown with EEG and eye-tracking coregistration that an extrafoveal preview also affects postsaccadic visual object processing and facilitates discrimination. Here, we ask whether this preview effect in the fixation-locked N170, and in manual responses to the postsaccadic target face (tilt discrimination), requires saccade execution. Participants performed a gaze-contingent experiment in which extrafoveal face images could change their orientation during a saccade directed to them. In a control block, participants maintained stable gaze throughout the experiment and the extrafoveal face reappeared foveally after a simulated saccade latency. Compared with this no-saccade condition, the neural and the behavioral preview effects were much larger in the saccade condition. We also found shorter first fixation durations after an invalid preview, which is in contrast to reading studies. We interpret the increased preview effect under saccade execution as the result of the additional sensorimotor processes that come with gaze behavior compared with visual perception under stable fixation. In addition, our findings call into question whether EEG studies with fixed gaze capture key properties and dynamics of active, natural vision.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christoph Huber-Huber
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, 38068, Rovereto, Italy.
| | - David Melcher
- Center for Brain & Health, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Psychology Program, Division of Science, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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Weiss KL, Hawelka S, Hutzler F, Schuster S. Stronger functional connectivity during reading contextually predictable words in slow readers. Sci Rep 2023; 13:5989. [PMID: 37045976 PMCID: PMC10097649 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-33231-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2022] [Accepted: 04/10/2023] [Indexed: 04/14/2023] Open
Abstract
The effect of word predictability is well-documented in terms of local brain activation, but less is known about the functional connectivity among those regions associated with processing predictable words. Evidence from eye movement studies showed that the effect is much more pronounced in slow than in fast readers, suggesting that speed-impaired readers rely more on sentence context to compensate for their difficulties with visual word recognition. The present study aimed to investigate differences in functional connectivity of fast and slow readers within core regions associated with processing predictable words. We hypothesize a stronger synchronization between higher-order language areas, such as the left middle temporal (MTG) and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and the left occipito-temporal cortex (OTC) in slow readers. Our results show that slow readers exhibit more functional correlations among these connections; especially between the left IFG and OTC. We interpret our results in terms of the lexical quality hypothesis which postulates a stronger involvement of semantics on orthographic processing in (speed-)impaired readers.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Stefan Hawelka
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstr. 34, 5020, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Florian Hutzler
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstr. 34, 5020, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Sarah Schuster
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstr. 34, 5020, Salzburg, Austria.
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Liuzzi AG, Meersmans K, Storms G, De Deyne S, Dupont P, Vandenberghe R. Independency of Coding for Affective Similarities and for Word Co-occurrences in Temporal Perisylvian Neocortex. NEUROBIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE (CAMBRIDGE, MASS.) 2023; 4:257-279. [PMID: 37229512 PMCID: PMC10205158 DOI: 10.1162/nol_a_00095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Word valence is one of the principal dimensions in the organization of word meaning. Co-occurrence-based similarities calculated by predictive natural language processing models are relatively poor at representing affective content, but very powerful in their own way. Here, we determined how these two canonical but distinct ways of representing word meaning relate to each other in the human brain both functionally and neuroanatomically. We re-analysed an fMRI study of word valence. A co-occurrence-based model was used and the correlation with the similarity of brain activity patterns was compared to that of affective similarities. The correlation between affective and co-occurrence-based similarities was low (r = 0.065), confirming that affect was captured poorly by co-occurrence modelling. In a whole-brain representational similarity analysis, word embedding similarities correlated significantly with the similarity between activity patterns in a region confined to the superior temporal sulcus to the left, and to a lesser degree to the right. Affective word similarities correlated with the similarity in activity patterns in this same region, confirming previous findings. The affective similarity effect extended more widely beyond the superior temporal cortex than the effect of co-occurrence-based similarities did. The effect of co-occurrence-based similarities remained unaltered after partialling out the effect of affective similarities (and vice versa). To conclude, different aspects of word meaning, derived from affective judgements or from word co-occurrences, are represented in superior temporal language cortex in a neuroanatomically overlapping but functionally independent manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonietta Gabriella Liuzzi
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Karen Meersmans
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Gerrit Storms
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Simon De Deyne
- Computational Cognitive Science Lab, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Patrick Dupont
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Rik Vandenberghe
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Neurology Department, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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Antúnez M, Milligan S, Hernández-Cabrera JA, Barber HA, Schotter ER. Semantic parafoveal processing in natural reading: Insight from fixation-related potentials & eye movements. Psychophysiology 2021; 59:e13986. [PMID: 34942021 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2021] [Revised: 10/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Prior research suggests that we may access the meaning of parafoveal words during reading. We explored how semantic-plausibility parafoveal processing takes place in natural reading through the co-registration of eye movements (EM) and fixation-related potentials (FRPs), using the boundary paradigm. We replicated previous evidence of semantic parafoveal processing from highly controlled reading situations, extending their findings to more ecologically valid reading scenarios. Additionally, and exploring the time-course of plausibility preview effects, we found distinct but complementary evidence from EM and FRPs measures. FRPs measures, showing a different trend than EM evidence, revealed that plausibility preview effects may be long-lasting. We highlight the importance of a co-registration set-up in ecologically valid scenarios to disentangle the mechanisms related to semantic-plausibility parafoveal processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martín Antúnez
- Cognitive Psychology Department, Universidad de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
| | - Sara Milligan
- Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA
| | | | - Horacio A Barber
- Cognitive Psychology Department, Universidad de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.,Institute for Biomedical Technologies (ITB), Universidad de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.,Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), San Sebastián, Spain
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Huber-Huber C, Buonocore A, Melcher D. The extrafoveal preview paradigm as a measure of predictive, active sampling in visual perception. J Vis 2021; 21:12. [PMID: 34283203 PMCID: PMC8300052 DOI: 10.1167/jov.21.7.12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2020] [Accepted: 05/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
A key feature of visual processing in humans is the use of saccadic eye movements to look around the environment. Saccades are typically used to bring relevant information, which is glimpsed with extrafoveal vision, into the high-resolution fovea for further processing. With the exception of some unusual circumstances, such as the first fixation when walking into a room, our saccades are mainly guided based on this extrafoveal preview. In contrast, the majority of experimental studies in vision science have investigated "passive" behavioral and neural responses to suddenly appearing and often temporally or spatially unpredictable stimuli. As reviewed here, a growing number of studies have investigated visual processing of objects under more natural viewing conditions in which observers move their eyes to a stationary stimulus, visible previously in extrafoveal vision, during each trial. These studies demonstrate that the extrafoveal preview has a profound influence on visual processing of objects, both for behavior and neural activity. Starting from the preview effect in reading research we follow subsequent developments in vision research more generally and finally argue that taking such evidence seriously leads to a reconceptualization of the nature of human visual perception that incorporates the strong influence of prediction and action on sensory processing. We review theoretical perspectives on visual perception under naturalistic viewing conditions, including theories of active vision, active sensing, and sampling. Although the extrafoveal preview paradigm has already provided useful information about the timing of, and potential mechanisms for, the close interaction of the oculomotor and visual systems while reading and in natural scenes, the findings thus far also raise many new questions for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christoph Huber-Huber
- Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, The Netherlands
- CIMeC, University of Trento, Italy
| | - Antimo Buonocore
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Tübingen University, Tübingen, BW, Germany
- Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Tübingen University, Tübingen, BW, Germany
| | - David Melcher
- CIMeC, University of Trento, Italy
- Division of Science, New York University Abu Dhabi, UAE
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Context in language comprehension. PSYCHOLOGY OF LEARNING AND MOTIVATION 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.plm.2021.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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