1
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Higashi H. Dynamics of visual attention in exploration and exploitation for reward-guided adjustment tasks. Conscious Cogn 2024; 123:103724. [PMID: 38996747 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2024.103724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2024] [Revised: 06/24/2024] [Accepted: 06/26/2024] [Indexed: 07/14/2024]
Abstract
The learning process encompasses exploration and exploitation phases. While reinforcement learning models have revealed functional and neuroscientific distinctions between these phases, knowledge regarding how they affect visual attention while observing the external environment is limited. This study sought to elucidate the interplay between these learning phases and visual attention allocation using visual adjustment tasks combined with a two-armed bandit problem tailored to detect serial effects only when attention is dispersed across both arms. Per our findings, human participants exhibited a distinct serial effect only during the exploration phase, suggesting enhanced attention to the visual stimulus associated with the non-target arm. Remarkably, although rewards did not motivate attention dispersion in our task, during the exploration phase, individuals engaged in active observation and searched for targets to observe. This behavior highlights a unique information-seeking process in exploration that is distinct from exploitation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroshi Higashi
- Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
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2
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Taylor GJ, Nguyen AT, Evans NJ. Does allowing for changes of mind influence initial responses? Psychon Bull Rev 2024; 31:1142-1154. [PMID: 37884778 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-023-02371-6] [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] [Accepted: 08/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023]
Abstract
Evidence accumulation models (EAMs) have become the dominant theoretical framework for rapid decision-making, and while many theoretically distinct variants exist, comparisons have proved challenging due to strong mimicry in their predictions about choice response time data. One solution to reduce mimicry is constraining these models with double responses, which are a second response that is made after the initial response. However, instructing participants that they are allowed to change their mind could influence their strategy for initial responding, meaning that explicit double responding paradigms may not generalise to standard paradigms. Here, we provide a validation of explicit double responding paradigms, by assessing whether participants' initial decisions - as measured by diffusion model parameters - differ based on whether or not they were instructed that they could change their response after their initial response. Across three experiments, our results consistently indicate that allowing for changes of mind does not influence initial responses, with Bayesian analyses providing at least moderate evidence in favour of the null in all cases. Our findings suggest that explicit double responding paradigms should generalise to standard paradigms, validating the use of explicit double responding in future rapid decision-making studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grant J Taylor
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia
| | - Augustine T Nguyen
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia
- School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia
| | - Nathan J Evans
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia.
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
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3
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Ballard T, Evans NJ, Fisher G, Sewell DK. Using mixture modeling to examine differences in perceptual decision-making as a function of the time and method of participant recruitment. Behav Res Methods 2024; 56:2194-2212. [PMID: 37466756 PMCID: PMC10991063 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-023-02142-0] [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] [Accepted: 05/02/2023] [Indexed: 07/20/2023]
Abstract
We examine whether perceptual decision-making differs as a function of the time in the academic term and whether the participant is an undergraduate participating for course credit, a paid in-person participant, or a paid online participant recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk. We use a mixture modeling approach within an evidence accumulation framework that separates stimulus-driven responses from contaminant responses, allowing us to distinguish between performance when a participant is engaged in the task and the consistency in this task focus. We first report a survey showing cognitive psychologists expect performance and response caution to be lower among undergraduate participants recruited at the end of the academic term compared to those recruited near the start, and highest among paid in-person participants. The findings from two experiments using common paradigms revealed very little evidence of time-of-semester effects among course credit participants on accuracy, response time, efficiency of information processing (when engaged in the task), caution, and non-decision time, or consistency in task focus. However, paid in-person participants did tend to be more accurate than the other two groups. Groups showed similar effects of speed/accuracy emphasis on response caution and of discrimination difficulty on information processing efficiency, but the effect of speed/accuracy emphasis on information processing efficiency was less consistent among groups. We conclude that online crowdsourcing platforms can provide quality perceptual decision-making data, but recommend that mixture modeling be used to adequately account for data generated by processes other than the psychological phenomena under investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Gina Fisher
- The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia
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4
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Weber S, Christophel T, Görgen K, Soch J, Haynes J. Working memory signals in early visual cortex are present in weak and strong imagers. Hum Brain Mapp 2024; 45:e26590. [PMID: 38401134 PMCID: PMC10893972 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26590] [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: 09/18/2023] [Revised: 12/06/2023] [Accepted: 12/29/2023] [Indexed: 02/26/2024] Open
Abstract
It has been suggested that visual images are memorized across brief periods of time by vividly imagining them as if they were still there. In line with this, the contents of both working memory and visual imagery are known to be encoded already in early visual cortex. If these signals in early visual areas were indeed to reflect a combined imagery and memory code, one would predict them to be weaker for individuals with reduced visual imagery vividness. Here, we systematically investigated this question in two groups of participants. Strong and weak imagers were asked to remember images across brief delay periods. We were able to reliably reconstruct the memorized stimuli from early visual cortex during the delay. Importantly, in contrast to the prediction, the quality of reconstruction was equally accurate for both strong and weak imagers. The decodable information also closely reflected behavioral precision in both groups, suggesting it could contribute to behavioral performance, even in the extreme case of completely aphantasic individuals. Our data thus suggest that working memory signals in early visual cortex can be present even in the (near) absence of phenomenal imagery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Weber
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin and Berlin Center for Advanced NeuroimagingCharité ‐ Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of the Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt‐Universität zu BerlinBerlinGermany
- Research Training Group “Extrospection” and Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt‐Universität zu BerlinBerlinGermany
- Research Cluster of Excellence “Science of Intelligence”Technische Universität BerlinBerlinGermany
| | - Thomas Christophel
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin and Berlin Center for Advanced NeuroimagingCharité ‐ Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of the Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt‐Universität zu BerlinBerlinGermany
- Department of PsychologyHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinBerlinGermany
| | - Kai Görgen
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin and Berlin Center for Advanced NeuroimagingCharité ‐ Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of the Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt‐Universität zu BerlinBerlinGermany
- Research Cluster of Excellence “Science of Intelligence”Technische Universität BerlinBerlinGermany
| | - Joram Soch
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin and Berlin Center for Advanced NeuroimagingCharité ‐ Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of the Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt‐Universität zu BerlinBerlinGermany
- Institute of Psychology, Otto von Guericke University MagdeburgMagdeburgGermany
| | - John‐Dylan Haynes
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin and Berlin Center for Advanced NeuroimagingCharité ‐ Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of the Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt‐Universität zu BerlinBerlinGermany
- Research Training Group “Extrospection” and Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt‐Universität zu BerlinBerlinGermany
- Research Cluster of Excellence “Science of Intelligence”Technische Universität BerlinBerlinGermany
- Department of PsychologyHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinBerlinGermany
- Collaborative Research Center “Volition and Cognitive Control”Technische Universität DresdenDresdenGermany
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5
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Calder-Travis J, Bogacz R, Yeung N. Expressions for Bayesian confidence of drift diffusion observers in fluctuating stimuli tasks. JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICAL PSYCHOLOGY 2023; 117:102815. [PMID: 38188903 PMCID: PMC7615478 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmp.2023.102815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2024]
Abstract
We introduce a new approach to modelling decision confidence, with the aim of enabling computationally cheap predictions while taking into account, and thereby exploiting, trial-by-trial variability in stochastically fluctuating stimuli. Using the framework of the drift diffusion model of decision making, along with time-dependent thresholds and the idea of a Bayesian confidence readout, we derive expressions for the probability distribution over confidence reports. In line with current models of confidence, the derivations allow for the accumulation of "pipeline" evidence that has been received but not processed by the time of response, the effect of drift rate variability, and metacognitive noise. The expressions are valid for stimuli that change over the course of a trial with normally-distributed fluctuations in the evidence they provide. A number of approximations are made to arrive at the final expressions, and we test all approximations via simulation. The derived expressions contain only a small number of standard functions, and require evaluating only once per trial, making trial-by-trial modelling of confidence data in stochastically fluctuating stimuli tasks more feasible. We conclude by using the expressions to gain insight into the confidence of optimal observers, and empirically observed patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Rafal Bogacz
- MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Oxford, UK
| | - Nick Yeung
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK
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6
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Barbieri R, Töpfer FM, Soch J, Bogler C, Sprekeler H, Haynes JD. Encoding of continuous perceptual choices in human early visual cortex. Front Hum Neurosci 2023; 17:1277539. [PMID: 38021249 PMCID: PMC10679739 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1277539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2023] [Accepted: 10/25/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Research on the neural mechanisms of perceptual decision-making has typically focused on simple categorical choices, say between two alternative motion directions. Studies on such discrete alternatives have often suggested that choices are encoded either in a motor-based or in an abstract, categorical format in regions beyond sensory cortex. Methods In this study, we used motion stimuli that could vary anywhere between 0° and 360° to assess how the brain encodes choices for features that span the full sensory continuum. We employed a combination of neuroimaging and encoding models based on Gaussian process regression to assess how either stimuli or choices were encoded in brain responses. Results We found that single-voxel tuning patterns could be used to reconstruct the trial-by-trial physical direction of motion as well as the participants' continuous choices. Importantly, these continuous choice signals were primarily observed in early visual areas. The tuning properties in this region generalized between choice encoding and stimulus encoding, even for reports that reflected pure guessing. Discussion We found only little information related to the decision outcome in regions beyond visual cortex, such as parietal cortex, possibly because our task did not involve differential motor preparation. This could suggest that decisions for continuous stimuli take can place already in sensory brain regions, potentially using similar mechanisms to the sensory recruitment in visual working memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riccardo Barbieri
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience and Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, Department of Neurology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany
| | - Felix M. Töpfer
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience and Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, Department of Neurology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany
| | - Joram Soch
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience and Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, Department of Neurology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Carsten Bogler
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience and Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, Department of Neurology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany
| | - Henning Sprekeler
- Department for Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - John-Dylan Haynes
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience and Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, Department of Neurology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain and Institute of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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7
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Jeschke L, Mathias B, von Kriegstein K. Inhibitory TMS over Visual Area V5/MT Disrupts Visual Speech Recognition. J Neurosci 2023; 43:7690-7699. [PMID: 37848284 PMCID: PMC10634547 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0975-23.2023] [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: 05/22/2023] [Revised: 07/26/2023] [Accepted: 09/04/2023] [Indexed: 10/19/2023] Open
Abstract
During face-to-face communication, the perception and recognition of facial movements can facilitate individuals' understanding of what is said. Facial movements are a form of complex biological motion. Separate neural pathways are thought to processing (1) simple, nonbiological motion with an obligatory waypoint in the motion-sensitive visual middle temporal area (V5/MT); and (2) complex biological motion. Here, we present findings that challenge this dichotomy. Neuronavigated offline transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over V5/MT on 24 participants (17 females and 7 males) led to increased response times in the recognition of simple, nonbiological motion as well as visual speech recognition compared with TMS over the vertex, an active control region. TMS of area V5/MT also reduced practice effects on response times, that are typically observed in both visual speech and motion recognition tasks over time. Our findings provide the first indication that area V5/MT causally influences the recognition of visual speech.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT In everyday face-to-face communication, speech comprehension is often facilitated by viewing a speaker's facial movements. Several brain areas contribute to the recognition of visual speech. One area of interest is the motion-sensitive visual medial temporal area (V5/MT), which has been associated with the perception of simple, nonbiological motion such as moving dots, as well as more complex, biological motion such as visual speech. Here, we demonstrate using noninvasive brain stimulation that area V5/MT is causally relevant in recognizing visual speech. This finding provides new insights into the neural mechanisms that support the perception of human communication signals, which will help guide future research in typically developed individuals and populations with communication difficulties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Jeschke
- Chair of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany
| | - Brian Mathias
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB243FX, United Kingdom
| | - Katharina von Kriegstein
- Chair of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany
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8
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Moneta N, Garvert MM, Heekeren HR, Schuck NW. Task state representations in vmPFC mediate relevant and irrelevant value signals and their behavioral influence. Nat Commun 2023; 14:3156. [PMID: 37258534 PMCID: PMC10232498 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38709-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2021] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The ventromedial prefrontal-cortex (vmPFC) is known to contain expected value signals that inform our choices. But expected values even for the same stimulus can differ by task. In this study, we asked how the brain flexibly switches between such value representations in a task-dependent manner. Thirty-five participants alternated between tasks in which either stimulus color or motion predicted rewards. We show that multivariate vmPFC signals contain a rich representation that includes the current task state or context (motion/color), the associated expected value, and crucially, the irrelevant value of the alternative context. We also find that irrelevant value representations in vmPFC compete with relevant value signals, interact with task-state representations and relate to behavioral signs of value competition. Our results shed light on vmPFC's role in decision making, bridging between its role in mapping observations onto the task states of a mental map, and computing expected values for multiple states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nir Moneta
- Max Planck Research Group NeuroCode, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Berlin, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
- Einstein Center for Neurosciences Berlin, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Mona M Garvert
- Max Planck Research Group NeuroCode, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 14195, Berlin, Germany
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Berlin, 14195, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Hauke R Heekeren
- Einstein Center for Neurosciences Berlin, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195, Berlin, Germany
- Institute of Psychology, Universität Hamburg, 20146, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Nicolas W Schuck
- Max Planck Research Group NeuroCode, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Berlin, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
- Institute of Psychology, Universität Hamburg, 20146, Hamburg, Germany.
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9
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Yaghoubi KC, Kabbara S, Arian S, Kobaissi H, Peters MAK, Seitz AR. Comparing random dot motion in MATLAB vs. Inquisit Millisecond. Front Psychol 2022; 13:1035518. [PMID: 36562063 PMCID: PMC9763265 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1035518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Random Dot Motion (RDM) displays refer to clouds of independently moving dots that can be parametrically manipulated to provide a perception of the overall cloud moving coherently in a specified direction of motion. As a well-studied probe of motion perception, RDMs have been widely employed to understand underlying neural mechanisms of motion perception, perceptual decision-making, and perceptual learning, among other processes. Despite their wide use, RDM stimuli implementation is highly dependent on the parameters and the generation algorithm of the stimuli; both can greatly influence behavioral performance on RDM tasks. With the advent of the COVID pandemic and an increased need for more accessible platforms, we aimed to validate a novel RDM paradigm on Inquisit Millisecond, a platform for the online administration of cognitive and neuropsychological tests and assessments. We directly compared, in the same participants using the same display, a novel RDM paradigm on both Inquisit Millisecond and MATLAB with Psychtoolbox. We found that psychometric functions of Coherence largely match between Inquisit Millisecond and MATLAB, as do the effects of Duration. These data demonstrate that the Millisecond RDM provides data largely consistent with those previously found in laboratory-based systems, and the present findings can serve as a reference point for expected thresholds for when these procedures are used remotely on different platforms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimia C. Yaghoubi
- Perception and Learning Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, United States,*Correspondence: Kimia C. Yaghoubi,
| | - Sarah Kabbara
- Perception and Learning Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, United States
| | - Sara Arian
- Perception and Learning Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, United States
| | - Hadi Kobaissi
- Perception and Learning Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, United States
| | - Megan A. K. Peters
- Cognitive and Neural Computation Laboratory, Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States,Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Aaron R. Seitz
- Perception and Learning Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, United States
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10
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Rogge J, Jocham G, Ullsperger M. Motor cortical signals reflecting decision making and action preparation. Neuroimage 2022; 263:119667. [PMID: 36202156 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Revised: 09/13/2022] [Accepted: 10/03/2022] [Indexed: 10/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Decision making often requires accumulating evidence in favour of a particular option. When choices are expressed with a motor response, these actions are preceded by reductions in the power of oscillations in the alpha and beta range in motor cortices. For unimanual movements, these reductions are greater over the hemisphere contralateral to the response side. Such lateralizations are hypothesized to be an online index of the neural state of decisions as they develop over time of processing. In contrast, the lateralized readiness potential (LRP) is considered to selectively activate a response and appears shortly before the motor output. We investigated to what extent these neural signals reflect integration of decision evidence or more motor-related action preparation. Using two different experiments, we found that lateralization of alpha and beta power (APL and BPL, respectively) rapidly emerged after stimulus presentation, even when making an overt response was not yet possible. In contrast, we show that even after prolonged stimulus presentation, no LRP was present. Instead, the LRP emerged only after an imperative cue, prompting participants to indicate their choice. Furthermore, we could show that variations in sensory evidence strength modulate APL and BPL onset times, suggesting that integration of evidence is represented in these motor cortical signals. We conclude that APL and BPL reflect higher cognitive processes rather than pure action preparation, whereas LRP is more closely tied to motor performance. APL and BPL potentially encode decision information in motor areas serving the later preparation of overt decision output.
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11
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Töpfer FM, Barbieri R, Sexton CM, Wang X, Soch J, Bogler C, Haynes JD. Psychophysics and computational modeling of feature-continuous motion perception. J Vis 2022; 22:16. [DOI: 10.1167/jov.22.11.16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Felix M. Töpfer
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, and Department of Neurology, Berlin, Germany
| | - Riccardo Barbieri
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, and Department of Neurology, Berlin, Germany
| | - Charlie M. Sexton
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, and Department of Neurology, Berlin, Germany
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne Parkville, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Xinhao Wang
- Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin School of Mind and Brain and Institute of Psychology, Berlin, Germany
| | - Joram Soch
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, and Department of Neurology, Berlin, Germany
- Research Group Cognitive Geriatric Psychiatry, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Carsten Bogler
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, and Department of Neurology, Berlin, Germany
| | - John-Dylan Haynes
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, and Department of Neurology, Berlin, Germany
- Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin School of Mind and Brain and Institute of Psychology, Berlin, Germany
- Technische Universität Dresden, SFB 940 and Cognitive Control, 01069 Dresden, Germany
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12
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Burk DC, Sheinberg DL. Neurons in inferior temporal cortex are sensitive to motion trajectory during degraded object recognition. Cereb Cortex Commun 2022; 3:tgac034. [PMID: 36168516 PMCID: PMC9499820 DOI: 10.1093/texcom/tgac034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2022] [Revised: 08/03/2022] [Accepted: 08/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Our brains continuously acquire sensory information and make judgments even when visual information is limited. In some circumstances, an ambiguous object can be recognized from how it moves, such as an animal hopping or a plane flying overhead. Yet it remains unclear how movement is processed by brain areas involved in visual object recognition. Here we investigate whether inferior temporal (IT) cortex, an area known for its relevance in visual form processing, has access to motion information during recognition. We developed a matching task that required monkeys to recognize moving shapes with variable levels of shape degradation. Neural recordings in area IT showed that, surprisingly, some IT neurons responded stronger to degraded shapes than clear ones. Furthermore, neurons exhibited motion sensitivity at different times during the presentation of the blurry target. Population decoding analyses showed that motion patterns could be decoded from IT neuron pseudo-populations. Contrary to previous findings, these results suggest that neurons in IT can integrate visual motion and shape information, particularly when shape information is degraded, in a way that has been previously overlooked. Our results highlight the importance of using challenging multifeature recognition tasks to understand the role of area IT in naturalistic visual object recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana C Burk
- Department of Neuroscience, Brown University , Providence, RI 02912 , United States
| | - David L Sheinberg
- Department of Neuroscience, Brown University , Providence, RI 02912 , United States
- Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown University , Providence, RI 02912 , United States
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13
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Miletić S, Keuken MC, Mulder M, Trampel R, de Hollander G, Forstmann BU. 7T functional MRI finds no evidence for distinct functional subregions in the subthalamic nucleus during a speeded decision-making task. Cortex 2022; 155:162-188. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.06.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2021] [Revised: 03/18/2022] [Accepted: 06/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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14
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Liang G, Sloane JF, Donkin C, Newell BR. Adapting to the algorithm: how accuracy comparisons promote the use of a decision aid. Cogn Res Princ Implic 2022; 7:14. [PMID: 35133521 PMCID: PMC8825899 DOI: 10.1186/s41235-022-00364-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2021] [Accepted: 01/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
In three experiments, we sought to understand when and why people use an algorithm decision aid. Distinct from recent approaches, we explicitly enumerate the algorithm’s accuracy while also providing summary feedback and training that allowed participants to assess their own skills. Our results highlight that such direct performance comparisons between the algorithm and the individual encourages a strategy of selective reliance on the decision aid; individuals ignored the algorithm when the task was easier and relied on the algorithm when the task was harder. Our systematic investigation of summary feedback, training experience, and strategy hint manipulations shows that further opportunities to learn about the algorithm encourage not only increased reliance on the algorithm but also engagement in experimentation and verification of its recommendations. Together, our findings emphasize the decision-maker’s capacity to learn about the algorithm providing insights for how we can improve the use of decision aids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Garston Liang
- School of Psychology, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Kensington, NSW, 2052, Australia.
| | - Jennifer F Sloane
- School of Psychology, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Kensington, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Christopher Donkin
- School of Psychology, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Kensington, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Ben R Newell
- School of Psychology, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Kensington, NSW, 2052, Australia
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15
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The influence of uncertainty and validity of expectation on the perceptual decision of motion direction. ACTA PSYCHOLOGICA SINICA 2022. [DOI: 10.3724/sp.j.1041.2022.00595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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16
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Green ML, Pratte MS. Local motion pooling is continuous, global motion perception is discrete. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 2022; 48:52-63. [PMID: 35073143 PMCID: PMC9134036 DOI: 10.1037/xhp0000971] [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] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Perceiving the motion of an object is thought to involve two stages: Local motion energy is measured at each point in space, and these signals are then pooled across space to build coherent global motion. There are several theories of how local-to-global pooling occurs, but they all predict that global motion perception is a continuous process, such that increasing the strength of motion energy should gradually increase the precision of perceived motion directions. We test this prediction against the alternative that global motion perception is discrete: Motion is either perceived with high precision or fails to be perceived altogether. Data from human observers provides clear evidence that, whereas pooling local motion energy is continuous, the segmentation of local signals into coherent global motion patterns is a discrete process. This result adds motion perception to the growing list of processes that exhibit evidence of all-or-none visual awareness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
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17
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The cost of correcting for error during sensorimotor adaptation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2101717118. [PMID: 34580215 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2101717118] [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] [Accepted: 06/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Learning from error is often a slow process. In machine learning, the learning rate depends on a loss function that specifies a cost for error. Here, we hypothesized that during motor learning, error carries an implicit cost for the brain because the act of correcting for error consumes time and energy. Thus, if this implicit cost could be increased, it may robustly alter how the brain learns from error. To vary the implicit cost of error, we designed a task that combined saccade adaptation with motion discrimination: movement errors resulted in corrective saccades, but those corrections took time away from acquiring information in the discrimination task. We then modulated error cost using coherence of the discrimination task and found that when error cost was large, pupil diameter increased and the brain learned more from error. However, when error cost was small, the pupil constricted and the brain learned less from the same error. Thus, during sensorimotor adaptation, the act of correcting for error carries an implicit cost for the brain. Modulating this cost affects how much the brain learns from error.
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18
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Crüwell S, Evans NJ. Preregistration in diverse contexts: a preregistration template for the application of cognitive models. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:210155. [PMID: 34659776 PMCID: PMC8511762 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.210155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Accepted: 08/16/2021] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
In recent years, open science practices have become increasingly popular in psychology and related sciences. These practices aim to increase rigour and transparency in science as a potential response to the challenges posed by the replication crisis. Many of these reforms-including the increasingly used preregistration-have been designed for purely experimental work that tests straightforward hypotheses with standard inferential statistical analyses, such as assessing whether an experimental manipulation has an effect on a variable of interest. But psychology is a diverse field of research. The somewhat narrow focus of the prevalent discussions surrounding and templates for preregistration has led to debates on how appropriate these reforms are for areas of research with more diverse hypotheses and more intricate methods of analysis, such as cognitive modelling research within mathematical psychology. Our article attempts to bridge the gap between open science and mathematical psychology, focusing on the type of cognitive modelling that Crüwell et al. (Crüwell S, Stefan AM, Evans NJ. 2019 Robust standards in cognitive science. Comput. Brain Behav. 2, 255-265) labelled model application, where researchers apply a cognitive model as a measurement tool to test hypotheses about parameters of the cognitive model. Specifically, we (i) discuss several potential researcher degrees of freedom within model application, (ii) provide the first preregistration template for model application and (iii) provide an example of a preregistered model application using our preregistration template. More broadly, we hope that our discussions and concrete proposals constructively advance the mostly abstract current debate surrounding preregistration in cognitive modelling, and provide a guide for how preregistration templates may be developed in other diverse or intricate research contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophia Crüwell
- Meta-Research Innovation Center Berlin (METRIC-B), QUEST Center for Transforming Biomedical Research, Berlin Institute of Health, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Nathan J. Evans
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia
- School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia
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19
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Cloherty SL, Yates JL, Graf D, DeAngelis GC, Mitchell JF. Motion Perception in the Common Marmoset. Cereb Cortex 2021; 30:2658-2672. [PMID: 31828299 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhz267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2019] [Revised: 08/23/2019] [Accepted: 09/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual motion processing is a well-established model system for studying neural population codes in primates. The common marmoset, a small new world primate, offers unparalleled opportunities to probe these population codes in key motion processing areas, such as cortical areas MT and MST, because these areas are accessible for imaging and recording at the cortical surface. However, little is currently known about the perceptual abilities of the marmoset. Here, we introduce a paradigm for studying motion perception in the marmoset and compare their psychophysical performance with human observers. We trained two marmosets to perform a motion estimation task in which they provided an analog report of their perceived direction of motion with an eye movement to a ring that surrounded the motion stimulus. Marmosets and humans exhibited similar trade-offs in speed versus accuracy: errors were larger and reaction times were longer as the strength of the motion signal was reduced. Reverse correlation on the temporal fluctuations in motion direction revealed that both species exhibited short integration windows; however, marmosets had substantially less nondecision time than humans. Our results provide the first quantification of motion perception in the marmoset and demonstrate several advantages to using analog estimation tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaun L Cloherty
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, New York, NY 14627, USA.,Department of Physiology, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia
| | - Jacob L Yates
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, New York, NY 14627, USA
| | - Dina Graf
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, New York, NY 14627, USA
| | - Gregory C DeAngelis
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, New York, NY 14627, USA
| | - Jude F Mitchell
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, New York, NY 14627, USA
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20
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Think fast! The implications of emphasizing urgency in decision-making. Cognition 2021; 214:104704. [PMID: 33975126 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2020] [Revised: 03/10/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Evidence accumulation models (EAMs) have become the dominant explanation of how the decision-making process operates, proposing that decisions are the result of a process of evidence accumulation. The primary use of EAMs has been as "measurement tools" of the underlying decision-making process, where researchers apply EAMs to empirical data to estimate participants' task ability (i.e., the "drift rate"), response caution (i.e., the "decision threshold"), and the time taken for other processes (i.e., the "non-decision time"), making EAMs a powerful tool for discriminating between competing psychological theories. Recent studies have brought into question the mapping between the latent parameters of EAMs and the theoretical constructs that they are thought to represent, showing that emphasizing urgent responding - which intuitively should selectively influence decision threshold - may also influence drift rate and/or non-decision time. However, these findings have been mixed, leading to differences in opinion between experts in the field. The current study aims to provide a more conclusive answer to the implications of emphasizing urgent responding, providing a re-analysis of 6 data sets from previous studies using two different EAMs - the diffusion model and the linear ballistic accumulator (LBA) - with state-of-the-art methods for model selection based inference. The findings display clear evidence for a difference in conclusions between the two models, with the diffusion model suggesting that decision threshold and non-decision time decrease when urgency is emphasized, and the LBA suggesting that decision threshold and drift rate decrease when urgency is emphasized. Furthermore, although these models disagree regarding whether non-decision time or drift rate decrease under urgency emphasis, both show clear evidence that emphasizing urgency does not selectively influence decision threshold. These findings suggest that researchers should revise their assumptions about certain experimental manipulations, the specification of certain EAMs, or perhaps both.
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21
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Beyond Reading Modulation: Temporo-Parietal tDCS Alters Visuo-Spatial Attention and Motion Perception in Dyslexia. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11020263. [PMID: 33669651 PMCID: PMC7922381 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11020263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2020] [Revised: 02/13/2021] [Accepted: 02/16/2021] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental disorder with an atypical activation of posterior left-hemisphere brain reading networks (i.e., temporo-occipital and temporo-parietal regions) and multiple neuropsychological deficits. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a tool for manipulating neural activity and, in turn, neurocognitive processes. While studies have demonstrated the significant effects of tDCS on reading, neurocognitive changes beyond reading modulation have been poorly investigated. The present study aimed at examining whether tDCS on temporo-parietal regions affected not only reading, but also phonological skills, visuo-spatial working memory, visuo-spatial attention, and motion perception in a polarity-dependent way. In a within-subjects design, ten children and adolescents with dyslexia performed reading and neuropsychological tasks after 20 min of exposure to Left Anodal/Right Cathodal (LA/RC) and Right Anodal/Left Cathodal (RA/LC) tDCS. LA/RC tDCS compared to RA/LC tDCS improved text accuracy, word recognition speed, motion perception, and modified attentional focusing in our group of children and adolescents with dyslexia. Changes in text reading accuracy and word recognition speed—after LA/RC tDCS compared to RA/LC—were related to changes in motion perception and in visuo-spatial working memory, respectively. Our findings demonstrated that reading and domain-general neurocognitive functions in a group of children and adolescents with dyslexia change following tDCS and that they are polarity-dependent.
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22
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Nobre AP, Nikolaev AR, Gauer G, van Leeuwen C, Wagemans J. Effects of Temporal Expectations on the Perception of Motion Gestalts. J Cogn Neurosci 2021; 33:853-871. [PMID: 33544060 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Gestalt psychology has traditionally ignored the role of attention in perception, leading to the view that autonomous processes create perceptual configurations that are then attended. More recent research, however, has shown that spatial attention influences a form of Gestalt perception: the coherence of random-dot kinematograms (RDKs). Using ERPs, we investigated whether temporal expectations exert analogous attentional effects on the perception of coherence level in RDKs. Participants were presented fixed-length sequences of RDKs and reported the coherence level of a target RDK. The target was indicated immediately after its appearance by a postcue. Target expectancy increased as the sequence progressed until target presentation; afterward, remaining RDKs were perceived without target expectancy. Expectancy influenced the amplitudes of ERP components P1 and N2. Crucially, expectancy interacted with coherence level at N2, but not at P1. Specifically, P1 amplitudes decreased linearly as a function of RDK coherence irrespective of expectancy, whereas N2 exhibited a quadratic dependence on coherence: larger amplitudes for RDKs with intermediate coherence levels, and only when they were expected. These results suggest that expectancy at early processing stages is an unspecific, general readiness for perception. At later stages, expectancy becomes stimulus specific and nonlinearly related to Gestalt coherence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre P Nobre
- Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.,Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
| | | | - Gustavo Gauer
- Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
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23
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Wu X, Rothwell AC, Spering M, Montagnini A. Expectations about motion direction affect perception and anticipatory smooth pursuit differently. J Neurophysiol 2021; 125:977-991. [PMID: 33534656 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00630.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Smooth pursuit eye movements and visual motion perception rely on the integration of current sensory signals with past experience. Experience shapes our expectation of current visual events and can drive eye movement responses made in anticipation of a target, such as anticipatory pursuit. Previous research revealed consistent effects of expectation on anticipatory pursuit-eye movements follow the expected target direction or speed-and contrasting effects on motion perception, but most studies considered either eye movement or perceptual responses. The current study directly compared effects of direction expectation on perception and anticipatory pursuit within the same direction discrimination task to investigate whether both types of responses are affected similarly or differently. Observers (n = 10) viewed high-coherence random-dot kinematograms (RDKs) moving rightward and leftward with a probability of 50%, 70%, or 90% in a given block of trials to build up an expectation of motion direction. They were asked to judge motion direction of interleaved low-coherence RDKs (0%-15%). Perceptual judgements were compared with changes in anticipatory pursuit eye movements as a function of probability. Results show that anticipatory pursuit velocity scaled with probability and followed direction expectation (attraction bias), whereas perceptual judgments were biased opposite to direction expectation (repulsion bias). Control experiments suggest that the repulsion bias in perception was not caused by retinal slip induced by anticipatory pursuit, or by motion adaptation. We conclude that direction expectation can be processed differently for perception and anticipatory pursuit.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We show that expectations about motion direction that are based on long-term trial history affect perception and anticipatory pursuit differently. Whereas anticipatory pursuit direction was coherent with the expected motion direction (attraction bias), perception was biased opposite to the expected direction (repulsion bias). These opposite biases potentially reveal different ways in which perception and action utilize prior information and support the idea of different information processing for perception and pursuit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiuyun Wu
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.,Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Austin C Rothwell
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Miriam Spering
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.,Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.,Djavad Mowafaghian Center for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.,Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Anna Montagnini
- Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, INT, Inst Neurosci Timone, Marseille, France
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24
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Bellocchi S, Leclercq V. Exploring the Moderation Effect of Educational Stage on Visual Magnocellular Functioning Linked to Reading: A Study in French Primary School Children. CHILDREN (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2021; 8:68. [PMID: 33494184 PMCID: PMC7909790 DOI: 10.3390/children8020068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2020] [Revised: 01/13/2021] [Accepted: 01/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Many studies have investigated the visual magnocellular system functioning in dyslexia. However, very little is known on the relationship between the visual magnocellular system functioning and reading abilities in typical developing readers. In this study, we aimed at studying this relationship and more specifically the moderation effect of educational stage on this link. We thus tested 82 French typical developing readers (40 beginning readers-Grade 1 and 42 advanced readers-Grade 5) with reading tests and a coherent dot motion task measuring the visual magnocellular functioning. Results indicate positive correlations between visual magnocellular functioning and reading for beginning readers but not for advanced readers. Moreover, moderation analyses confirm that reading proficiency moderates the relationship between magnocellular system functioning and reading outcomes. We concluded that the relationship between visual magnocellular pathway functioning and reading abilities in typical developing readers could depend on reading proficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stéphanie Bellocchi
- Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, Université Montpellier, EPSYLON EA 4556, F34000 Montpellier, France
| | - Virginie Leclercq
- Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, Université Montpellier, EPSYLON EA 4556, F34000 Montpellier, France
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25
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Battaglini L, Mena F, Casco C. Improving motion detection via anodal transcranial direct current stimulation. Restor Neurol Neurosci 2020; 38:395-405. [PMID: 33016896 DOI: 10.3233/rnn-201050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND To study motion perception, a stimulus consisting of a field of small, moving dots is often used. Generally, some of the dots coherently move in the same direction (signal) while the rest move randomly (noise). A percept of global coherent motion (CM) results when many different local motion signals are combined. CM computation is a complex process that requires the integrity of the middle-temporal area (MT/V5) and there is evidence that increasing the number of dots presented in the stimulus makes such computation more efficient. OBJECTIVE In this study, we explored whether anodal direct current stimulation (tDCS) over MT/V5 would increase individual performance in a CM task at a low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR, i.e. low percentage of coherent dots) and with a target consisting of a large number of moving dots (high dot numerosity, e.g. >250 dots) with respect to low dot numerosity (<60 dots), indicating that tDCS favour the integration of local motion signal into a single global percept (global motion). METHOD Participants were asked to perform a CM detection task (two-interval forced-choice, 2IFC) while they received anodal, cathodal, or sham stimulation on three different days. RESULTS Our findings showed no effect of cathodal tDCS with respect to the sham condition. Instead, anodal tDCS improves performance, but mostly when dot numerosity is high (>400 dots) to promote efficient global motion processing. CONCLUSIONS The present study suggests that tDCS may be used under appropriate stimulus conditions (low SNR and high dot numerosity) to boost the global motion processing efficiency, and may be useful to empower clinical protocols to treat visual deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Battaglini
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.,Neuro.Vis.U.S. Laboratory, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Federica Mena
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Clara Casco
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.,Neuro.Vis.U.S. Laboratory, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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26
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Guterstam A, Graziano MSA. Implied motion as a possible mechanism for encoding other people's attention. Prog Neurobiol 2020; 190:101797. [PMID: 32217129 DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2020.101797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2019] [Revised: 02/05/2020] [Accepted: 03/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Recent evidence suggests that the human brain automatically constructs a rich model of other people's attention, beyond registering low-level cues such as someone else's gaze direction. This model is not a physically accurate representation of attention, but instead appears to contain simplifying and physically incoherent features. For example, without explicitly realizing it, people treat the attentive gaze of others as though it exerts a gentle force pushing on objects. Here we specify another aspect of that implicit model of attention. People treat the attentive gaze of an agent as though it were travelling through space, with an implied motion encoded literally enough that it causes a perceptual motion adaptation effect. This implicit model of other people's attention may facilitate the process of keeping track of who is attending to what, which is essential for reading and predicting the minds and behavior of social agents. This implicit model of attention may also have shaped culturally widespread ideas about mind and spirit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arvid Guterstam
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, United States.
| | - Michael S A Graziano
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, United States
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27
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Evans NJ, Dutilh G, Wagenmakers EJ, van der Maas HLJ. Double responding: A new constraint for models of speeded decision making. Cogn Psychol 2020; 121:101292. [PMID: 32217348 DOI: 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2020.101292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2019] [Revised: 02/05/2020] [Accepted: 02/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Evidence accumulation models (EAMs) have become the dominant models of speeded decision making, which are able to decompose choices and response times into cognitive parameters that drive the decision process. Several models within the EAM framework contain fundamentally different ideas of how the decision making process operates, though previous assessments have found that these models display a high level of mimicry, which has hindered the ability of researchers to contrast these different theoretical viewpoints. Our study introduces a neglected phenomenon that we term "double responding", which can help to further constrain these models. We show that double responding produces several interesting benchmarks, and that the predictions of different EAMs can be distinguished in standard experiment paradigms when they are constrained to account for the choice response time distributions and double responding behaviour in unison. Our findings suggest that lateral inhibition (e.g., the leaky-competing accumulator) provides models with a universal ability to make accurate predictions for these data. Furthermore, only models containing feed-forward inhibition (e.g., the diffusion model) performed poorly under both of our proposed extensions of the standard EAM framework to double responding, suggesting a general inability of feed-forward inhibition to accurately predict these data. We believe that our study provides an important step forward in further constraining models of speeded decision making, though additional research on double responding is required before broad conclusions are made about which models provide the best explanation of the underlying decision-making process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan J Evans
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Gilles Dutilh
- Department of Clinical Research, University of Basel Hospital, Switzerland
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28
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Abstract
Decision-making involves a tradeoff between pressures for caution and urgency. Previous research has investigated how well humans optimize this tradeoff, and mostly concluded that people adopt a sub-optimal strategy that over-emphasizes caution. This emphasis reduces how many decisions can be made in a fixed time, which reduces the “reward rate”. However, the strategy that is optimal depends critically on the timing properties of the experiment design: the slower the rate of decision opportunities, the more cautious the optimal strategy. Previous studies have almost uniformly adopted very fast designs, which favor very urgent decision-making. This raises the possibility that previous findings—that humans adopt strategies that are too cautious—could either be ascribed to human caution, or to the experiments’ design. To test this, we used a slowed-down decision-making task in which the optimal strategy was quite cautious. With this task, and in contrast to previous findings, the average strategy adopted across participants was very close to optimal, with about equally many participants adopting too-cautious as too-urgent strategies. Our findings suggest that task design can play a role in inferences about optimality, and that previous conclusions regarding human sub-optimality are conditional on the task settings. This limits claims about human optimality that can be supported by the available evidence.
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29
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Visual Motion and Form Integration in the Behaving Ferret. eNeuro 2019; 6:ENEURO.0228-19.2019. [PMID: 31371456 PMCID: PMC6709227 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0228-19.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2019] [Revised: 07/10/2019] [Accepted: 07/14/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Ferrets have become a standard animal model for the development of early visual stages. Less is known about higher-level vision in ferrets, both during development and in adulthood. Here, as a step towards establishing higher-level vision research in ferrets, we used behavioral experiments to test the motion and form integration capacity of adult ferrets. Motion integration was assessed by training ferrets to discriminate random dot kinematograms (RDK) based on their direction. Task difficulty was varied systematically by changing RDK coherence levels, which allowed the measurement of motion integration thresholds. Form integration was measured analogously by training ferrets to discriminate linear Glass patterns of varying coherence levels based on their orientation. In all experiments, ferrets proved to be good psychophysical subjects that performed tasks reliably. Crucially, the behavioral data showed clear evidence of perceptual motion and form integration. In the monkey, motion and form integration are usually associated with processes occurring in higher-level visual areas. In a second set of experiments, we therefore tested whether PSS, a higher-level motion area in the ferret, could similarly support motion integration behavior in this species. To this end, we measured responses of PSS neurons to RDK of different coherence levels. Indeed, neurometric functions for PSS were in good agreement with the behaviorally derived psychometric functions. In conclusion, our experiments demonstrate that ferrets are well suited for higher-level vision research.
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30
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Ventral midbrain stimulation induces perceptual learning and cortical plasticity in primates. Nat Commun 2019; 10:3591. [PMID: 31399570 PMCID: PMC6689065 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11527-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2019] [Accepted: 07/15/2019] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
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).
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31
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Abstract
A computer joystick is an efficient and cost-effective response device for recording continuous movements in psychological experiments. Movement trajectories and other measures from continuous responses have expanded the insights gained from discrete responses (e.g., button presses) by providing unique information about how cognitive processes unfold over time. However, few studies have evaluated the validity of joystick responses with reference to conventional key presses, and how response modality can affect cognitive processes. Here we systematically compared human participants' behavioral performance of perceptual decision-making when they responded with either joystick movements or key presses in a four-alternative motion discrimination task. We found evidence that the response modality did not affect raw behavioral measures, including decision accuracy and mean response time, at the group level. Furthermore, to compare the underlying decision processes between the two response modalities, we fitted a drift-diffusion model of decision-making to individual participants' behavioral data. Bayesian analyses of the model parameters showed no evidence that switching from key presses to continuous joystick movements modulated the decision-making process. These results supported continuous joystick actions as a valid apparatus for continuous movements, although we highlight the need for caution when conducting experiments with continuous movement responses.
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32
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Ballard T, Sewell DK, Cosgrove D, Neal A. Information Processing Under Reward Versus Under Punishment. Psychol Sci 2019; 30:757-764. [PMID: 30939248 DOI: 10.1177/0956797619835462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Much is known about the effects of reward and punishment on behavior, yet little research has considered how these incentives influence the information-processing dynamics that underlie decision making. We fitted the linear ballistic accumulator to data from a perceptual-judgment task to examine the impacts of reward- and punishment-based incentives on three distinct components of information processing: the quality of the information processed, the quantity of that information, and the decision threshold. The threat of punishment lowered the average quality and quantity of information processed, compared with the prospect of reward or no performance incentive at all. The threat of punishment also induced less cautious decision making by lowering people's decision thresholds relative to the prospect of reward. These findings suggest that information-processing dynamics are determined not only by objective properties of the decision environment but also by the higher order goals of the system.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Andrew Neal
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland
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33
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Meier K, Giaschi D. The Effect of Stimulus Area on Global Motion Thresholds in Children and Adults. Vision (Basel) 2019; 3:vision3010010. [PMID: 31735811 PMCID: PMC6802761 DOI: 10.3390/vision3010010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2019] [Revised: 02/27/2019] [Accepted: 03/08/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Performance on random-dot global motion tasks may reach adult-like levels before 4 or as late as 16 years of age, depending on the specific parameters used to create the stimuli. Later maturation has been found for slower speeds, smaller spatial displacements, and sparser dot arrays. This protracted development on global motion tasks may depend on limitations specific to spatial aspects of a motion stimulus rather than to motion mechanisms per se. The current study investigated the impact of varying stimulus area (9, 36, and 81 deg2) on the global motion coherence thresholds of children 4–6 years old and adults for three signal dot displacements (∆x = 1, 5, and 30 arcmin). We aimed to determine whether children could achieve mature performance for the smallest displacements, a condition previously found to show late maturation, when a larger stimulus area was used. Coherence thresholds were higher in children compared to adults in the 1 and 5 arcmin displacement conditions, as reported previously, and this did not change as a function of stimulus area. However, both children and adults performed better with a larger stimulus area in the 30 arcmin displacement condition only. This suggests that immature spatial integration, as measured by stimulus area, cannot account for immaturities in global motion perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberly Meier
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Guthrie Hall Box 351525, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
- Correspondence:
| | - Deborah Giaschi
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia, Rm E300E, 4480 Oak Street, Vancouver, BC V6H 3V4, Canada
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34
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Evans NJ, Hawkins GE. When humans behave like monkeys: Feedback delays and extensive practice increase the efficiency of speeded decisions. Cognition 2019; 184:11-18. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2018.11.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2018] [Revised: 11/21/2018] [Accepted: 11/30/2018] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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35
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Knowles JP, Evans NJ, Burke D. Some Evidence for an Association Between Early Life Adversity and Decision Urgency. Front Psychol 2019; 10:243. [PMID: 30804859 PMCID: PMC6377396 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2018] [Accepted: 01/24/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The relationship between early life adversity and adult outcomes is traditionally investigated relative to risk and protective factors (e.g., resilience, cognitive appraisal), and poor self-control or decision-making. However, life history theory suggests this relationship may be adaptive-underpinned by mechanisms that use early environmental cues to alter the developmental trajectory toward more short-term strategies. These short-term strategies have some theoretical overlap with the most common process models of decision-making-evidence accumulation models-which model decision urgency as a decision threshold. The current study examined the relationship between decision urgency (through the linear ballistic accumulator) and early life adversity. A mixture of analysis methods, including a joint model analysis designed to explicitly account for uncertainty in estimated decision urgency values, revealed weak-to-strong evidence in favor of a relationship between decision urgency and early life adversity, suggesting a possible effect of life history strategy on even the most basic decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johanne P. Knowles
- School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia
| | - Nathan J. Evans
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Darren Burke
- School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia
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36
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Bruns P, Watanabe T. Perceptual learning of task-irrelevant features depends on the sensory context. Sci Rep 2019; 9:1666. [PMID: 30733577 PMCID: PMC6367344 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-38586-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2018] [Accepted: 12/27/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The brain has evolved to extract behaviourally meaningful information from the environment. For example, it has been shown that visual perceptual learning (VPL) can occur for task-irrelevant stimulus features when those features are consistently paired with internal or external reinforcement signals. It is, however, unclear whether or not task-irrelevant VPL is influenced by stimulus features that are unrelated to reinforcement in a given sensory context. To address this question, we exposed participants to task-irrelevant and subliminal coherent motion stimuli in the background while they performed a central character identification task. A specific motion direction was consistently paired with the task-targets, while two other directions occurred only with distractors and, thus, were unrelated to reinforcement. We found that the magnitude of VPL of the target-paired direction was significantly greater when the distractor-paired directions were close to the target-paired direction, compared to when they were farther. Thus, even very weak signals that are both subliminal and unrelated to reinforcement are processed and exert an influence on VPL. This finding suggests that the outcome of VPL depends on the sensory context in which learning takes place and calls for a refinement of VPL theories to incorporate exposure-based influences on learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Bruns
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic & Psychological Sciences, Brown University, 190 Thayer Street, Providence, RI, 02912, USA. .,Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Von-Melle-Park 11, 20146, Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Takeo Watanabe
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic & Psychological Sciences, Brown University, 190 Thayer Street, Providence, RI, 02912, USA
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37
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Colizoli O, de Gee JW, Urai AE, Donner TH. Task-evoked pupil responses reflect internal belief states. Sci Rep 2018; 8:13702. [PMID: 30209335 PMCID: PMC6135755 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-31985-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2018] [Accepted: 08/30/2018] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Perceptual decisions about the state of the environment are often made in the face of uncertain evidence. Internal uncertainty signals are considered important regulators of learning and decision-making. A growing body of work has implicated the brain's arousal systems in uncertainty signaling. Here, we found that two specific computational variables, postulated by recent theoretical work, evoke boosts of arousal at different times during a perceptual decision: decision confidence (the observer's internally estimated probability that a choice was correct given the evidence) before feedback, and prediction errors (deviations from expected reward) after feedback. We monitored pupil diameter, a peripheral marker of central arousal state, while subjects performed a challenging perceptual choice task with a delayed monetary reward. We quantified evoked pupil responses during decision formation and after reward-linked feedback. During both intervals, decision difficulty and accuracy had interacting effects on pupil responses. Pupil responses negatively scaled with decision confidence prior to feedback and scaled with uncertainty-dependent prediction errors after feedback. This pattern of pupil responses during both intervals was in line with a model using the observer's graded belief about choice accuracy to anticipate rewards and compute prediction errors. We conclude that pupil-linked arousal systems are modulated by internal belief states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olympia Colizoli
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Jan Willem de Gee
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Anne E Urai
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Tobias H Donner
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
- Amsterdam Brain & Cognition, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
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38
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Chaplin TA, Allitt BJ, Hagan MA, Rosa MGP, Rajan R, Lui LL. Auditory motion does not modulate spiking activity in the middle temporal and medial superior temporal visual areas. Eur J Neurosci 2018; 48:2013-2029. [PMID: 30019438 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2018] [Revised: 06/27/2018] [Accepted: 07/07/2018] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
The integration of multiple sensory modalities is a key aspect of brain function, allowing animals to take advantage of concurrent sources of information to make more accurate perceptual judgments. For many years, multisensory integration in the cerebral cortex was deemed to occur only in high-level "polysensory" association areas. However, more recent studies have suggested that cross-modal stimulation can also influence neural activity in areas traditionally considered to be unimodal. In particular, several human neuroimaging studies have reported that extrastriate areas involved in visual motion perception are also activated by auditory motion, and may integrate audiovisual motion cues. However, the exact nature and extent of the effects of auditory motion on the visual cortex have not been studied at the single neuron level. We recorded the spiking activity of neurons in the middle temporal (MT) and medial superior temporal (MST) areas of anesthetized marmoset monkeys upon presentation of unimodal stimuli (moving auditory or visual patterns), as well as bimodal stimuli (concurrent audiovisual motion). Despite robust, direction selective responses to visual motion, none of the sampled neurons responded to auditory motion stimuli. Moreover, concurrent moving auditory stimuli had no significant effect on the ability of single MT and MST neurons, or populations of simultaneously recorded neurons, to discriminate the direction of motion of visual stimuli (moving random dot patterns with varying levels of motion noise). Our findings do not support the hypothesis that direct interactions between MT, MST and areas low in the hierarchy of auditory areas underlie audiovisual motion integration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tristan A Chaplin
- Neuroscience Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.,ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Monash University Node, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Benjamin J Allitt
- Neuroscience Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Maureen A Hagan
- Neuroscience Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.,ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Monash University Node, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Marcello G P Rosa
- Neuroscience Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.,ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Monash University Node, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Ramesh Rajan
- Neuroscience Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.,ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Monash University Node, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Leo L Lui
- Neuroscience Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.,ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Monash University Node, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
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39
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Neuronal Correlations in MT and MST Impair Population Decoding of Opposite Directions of Random Dot Motion. eNeuro 2018; 5:eN-NWR-0336-18. [PMID: 30637327 PMCID: PMC6327941 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0336-18.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2018] [Revised: 10/04/2018] [Accepted: 11/21/2018] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
The study of neuronal responses to random-dot motion patterns has provided some of the most valuable insights into how the activity of neurons is related to perception. In the opposite directions of motion paradigm, the motion signal strength is decreased by manipulating the coherence of random dot patterns to examine how well the activity of single neurons represents the direction of motion. To extend this paradigm to populations of neurons, studies have used modelling based on data from pairs of neurons, but several important questions require further investigation with larger neuronal datasets. We recorded neuronal populations in the middle temporal (MT) and medial superior temporal (MST) areas of anaesthetized marmosets with electrode arrays, while varying the coherence of random dot patterns in two opposite directions of motion (left and right). Using the spike rates of simultaneously recorded neurons, we decoded the direction of motion at each level of coherence with linear classifiers. We found that the presence of correlations had a detrimental effect to decoding performance, but that learning the correlation structure produced better decoding performance compared to decoders that ignored the correlation structure. We also found that reducing motion coherence increased neuronal correlations, but decoders did not need to be optimized for each coherence level. Finally, we showed that decoder weights depend of left-right selectivity at 100% coherence, rather than the preferred direction. These results have implications for understanding how the information encoded by populations of neurons is affected by correlations in spiking activity.
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40
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Evans NJ, Hawkins GE, Boehm U, Wagenmakers EJ, Brown SD. The computations that support simple decision-making: A comparison between the diffusion and urgency-gating models. Sci Rep 2017; 7:16433. [PMID: 29180789 PMCID: PMC5703954 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-16694-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2016] [Accepted: 11/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigate a question relevant to the psychology and neuroscience of perceptual decision-making: whether decisions are based on steadily accumulating evidence, or only on the most recent evidence. We report an empirical comparison between two of the most prominent examples of these theoretical positions, the diffusion model and the urgency-gating model, via model-based qualitative and quantitative comparisons. Our findings support the predictions of the diffusion model over the urgency-gating model, and therefore, the notion that evidence accumulates without much decay. Gross qualitative patterns and fine structural details of the data are inconsistent with the notion that decisions are based only on the most recent evidence. More generally, we discuss some strengths and weaknesses of scientific methods that investigate quantitative models by distilling the formal models to qualitative predictions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan J Evans
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA.
| | - Guy E Hawkins
- School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia
| | - Udo Boehm
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | | | - Scott D Brown
- School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia
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41
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Chen N, Lu J, Shao H, Weng X, Fang F. Neural mechanisms of motion perceptual learning in noise. Hum Brain Mapp 2017; 38:6029-6042. [PMID: 28901676 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23808] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2017] [Revised: 08/31/2017] [Accepted: 09/01/2017] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Practice improves our perceptual ability. However, the neural mechanisms underlying this experience-dependent plasticity in adult brain remain unclear. Here, we studied the long-term neural correlates of motion perceptual learning. Subjects' behavioral performance and BOLD signals were tracked before, immediately after, and 2 weeks after practicing a motion direction discrimination task in noise over six daily sessions. Parallel to the specificity and persistency of the behavioral learning effect, we found that training sharpened the cortical tuning in MT, and enhanced the connectivity strength from MT to the intraparietal sulcus (IPS, a motion decision-making area). In addition, the decoding accuracy for the trained motion direction was improved in IPS 2 weeks after training. The dual changes in the sensory and the high-level cortical areas suggest that learning refines the neural representation of the trained stimulus and facilitates the information transmission in the decision process. Our findings are consistent with the functional specialization in the visual cortex, and provide empirical evidence to the reweighting theory of perceptual learning at a large spatial scale. Hum Brain Mapp 38:6029-6042, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nihong Chen
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People's Republic of China.,Key Laboratory of Machine Perception (Ministry of Education), Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People's Republic of China.,Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People's Republic of China.,IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People's Republic of China.,Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089-1061
| | - Junshi Lu
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People's Republic of China.,Key Laboratory of Machine Perception (Ministry of Education), Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People's Republic of China.,Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People's Republic of China.,IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People's Republic of China
| | - Hanyu Shao
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Xuchu Weng
- Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 311121, People's Republic of China
| | - Fang Fang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People's Republic of China.,Key Laboratory of Machine Perception (Ministry of Education), Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People's Republic of China.,Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People's Republic of China.,IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People's Republic of China
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42
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Anodal and cathodal electrical stimulation over V5 improves motion perception by signal enhancement and noise reduction. Brain Stimul 2017; 10:773-779. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2017.04.128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2017] [Revised: 04/17/2017] [Accepted: 04/24/2017] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
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43
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Chaplin TA, Allitt BJ, Hagan MA, Price NSC, Rajan R, Rosa MGP, Lui LL. Sensitivity of neurons in the middle temporal area of marmoset monkeys to random dot motion. J Neurophysiol 2017. [PMID: 28637812 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00065.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Neurons in the middle temporal area (MT) of the primate cerebral cortex respond to moving visual stimuli. The sensitivity of MT neurons to motion signals can be characterized by using random-dot stimuli, in which the strength of the motion signal is manipulated by adding different levels of noise (elements that move in random directions). In macaques, this has allowed the calculation of "neurometric" thresholds. We characterized the responses of MT neurons in sufentanil/nitrous oxide-anesthetized marmoset monkeys, a species that has attracted considerable recent interest as an animal model for vision research. We found that MT neurons show a wide range of neurometric thresholds and that the responses of the most sensitive neurons could account for the behavioral performance of macaques and humans. We also investigated factors that contributed to the wide range of observed thresholds. The difference in firing rate between responses to motion in the preferred and null directions was the most effective predictor of neurometric threshold, whereas the direction tuning bandwidth had no correlation with the threshold. We also showed that it is possible to obtain reliable estimates of neurometric thresholds using stimuli that were not highly optimized for each neuron, as is often necessary when recording from large populations of neurons with different receptive field concurrently, as was the case in this study. These results demonstrate that marmoset MT shows an essential physiological similarity to macaque MT and suggest that its neurons are capable of representing motion signals that allow for comparable motion-in-noise judgments.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We report the activity of neurons in marmoset MT in response to random-dot motion stimuli of varying coherence. The information carried by individual MT neurons was comparable to that of the macaque, and the maximum firing rates were a strong predictor of sensitivity. Our study provides key information regarding the neural basis of motion perception in the marmoset, a small primate species that is becoming increasingly popular as an experimental model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tristan A Chaplin
- Neuroscience Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia; and.,ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Monash University Node, Victoria, Australia
| | - Benjamin J Allitt
- Neuroscience Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia; and
| | - Maureen A Hagan
- Neuroscience Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia; and.,ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Monash University Node, Victoria, Australia
| | - Nicholas S C Price
- Neuroscience Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia; and.,ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Monash University Node, Victoria, Australia
| | - Ramesh Rajan
- Neuroscience Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia; and.,ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Monash University Node, Victoria, Australia
| | - Marcello G P Rosa
- Neuroscience Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia; and.,ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Monash University Node, Victoria, Australia
| | - Leo L Lui
- Neuroscience Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia; and .,ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Monash University Node, Victoria, Australia
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44
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Fard PR, Park H, Warkentin A, Kiebel SJ, Bitzer S. A Bayesian Reformulation of the Extended Drift-Diffusion Model in Perceptual Decision Making. Front Comput Neurosci 2017; 11:29. [PMID: 28553219 PMCID: PMC5425616 DOI: 10.3389/fncom.2017.00029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2016] [Accepted: 04/07/2017] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Perceptual decision making can be described as a process of accumulating evidence to a bound which has been formalized within drift-diffusion models (DDMs). Recently, an equivalent Bayesian model has been proposed. In contrast to standard DDMs, this Bayesian model directly links information in the stimulus to the decision process. Here, we extend this Bayesian model further and allow inter-trial variability of two parameters following the extended version of the DDM. We derive parameter distributions for the Bayesian model and show that they lead to predictions that are qualitatively equivalent to those made by the extended drift-diffusion model (eDDM). Further, we demonstrate the usefulness of the extended Bayesian model (eBM) for the analysis of concrete behavioral data. Specifically, using Bayesian model selection, we find evidence that including additional inter-trial parameter variability provides for a better model, when the model is constrained by trial-wise stimulus features. This result is remarkable because it was derived using just 200 trials per condition, which is typically thought to be insufficient for identifying variability parameters in DDMs. In sum, we present a Bayesian analysis, which provides for a novel and promising analysis of perceptual decision making experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pouyan R Fard
- Department of Psychology, Technische Universität DresdenDresden, Germany
| | - Hame Park
- Department of Psychology, Technische Universität DresdenDresden, Germany
| | | | - Stefan J Kiebel
- Department of Psychology, Technische Universität DresdenDresden, Germany
| | - Sebastian Bitzer
- Department of Psychology, Technische Universität DresdenDresden, Germany
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45
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Chakraborty A, Anstice NS, Jacobs RJ, Paudel N, LaGasse LL, Lester BM, McKinlay CJD, Harding JE, Wouldes TA, Thompson B. Global motion perception is related to motor function in 4.5-year-old children born at risk of abnormal development. Vision Res 2017; 135:16-25. [PMID: 28435122 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2017.04.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2016] [Revised: 03/28/2017] [Accepted: 04/01/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Global motion perception is often used as an index of dorsal visual stream function in neurodevelopmental studies. However, the relationship between global motion perception and visuomotor control, a primary function of the dorsal stream, is unclear. We measured global motion perception (motion coherence threshold; MCT) and performance on standardized measures of motor function in 606 4.5-year-old children born at risk of abnormal neurodevelopment. Visual acuity, stereoacuity and verbal IQ were also assessed. After adjustment for verbal IQ or both visual acuity and stereoacuity, MCT was modestly, but significantly, associated with all components of motor function with the exception of fine motor scores. In a separate analysis, stereoacuity, but not visual acuity, was significantly associated with both gross and fine motor scores. These results indicate that the development of motion perception and stereoacuity are associated with motor function in pre-school children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arijit Chakraborty
- School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Auckland, New Zealand; School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Waterloo, Canada
| | - Nicola S Anstice
- School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Robert J Jacobs
- School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Nabin Paudel
- School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Linda L LaGasse
- Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University, USA
| | - Barry M Lester
- Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University, USA
| | - Christopher J D McKinlay
- Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, New Zealand; Department of Paediatrics: Child and Youth Health, University of Auckland, New Zealand
| | | | - Trecia A Wouldes
- Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Benjamin Thompson
- School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Auckland, New Zealand; School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Waterloo, Canada.
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46
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Meier K, Giaschi D. Effect of spatial and temporal stimulus parameters on the maturation of global motion perception. Vision Res 2017; 135:1-9. [PMID: 28414023 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2017.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2017] [Revised: 03/31/2017] [Accepted: 04/11/2017] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
There are discrepancies with respect to the age at which adult-like performance is reached on tasks assessing global motion perception. This is in part because performance in children depends on stimulus parameters. We recently showed that five-year-olds demonstrated adult-like performance over a range of speeds when the speed ratio was comprised of longer spatial and temporal displacements; but displayed immature performance when the speed ratio was comprised of shorter displacements. The goal of the current study was to assess the effect of these global motion stimulus parameters across a broader age range in order to estimate the age at which mature performance is reached. Motion coherence thresholds were assessed in 182 children and adults aged 7-30years. Dot displacement (Δx) was 1, 5, or 30min of arc; frame duration (Δt) was 17 or 50ms. This created a total of six conditions. Consistent with our previous results, coherence thresholds in the youngest children assessed were adult-like at the two conditions with the largest Δx. Maturity was reached around age 12 for the medium Δx, and by age 16 for the smallest Δx. Performance did not appear to be affected by Δt. This late maturation may reflect a long developmental period for cortical networks underlying global motion perception. These findings resolve many of the discrepancies across previous studies, and should be considered when using global motion tasks to assess children with atypical development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberly Meier
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z4, Canada.
| | - Deborah Giaschi
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia, Rm E300E, 4480 Oak Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6H 3V4, Canada.
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47
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de Gee JW, Colizoli O, Kloosterman NA, Knapen T, Nieuwenhuis S, Donner TH. Dynamic modulation of decision biases by brainstem arousal systems. eLife 2017; 6. [PMID: 28383284 PMCID: PMC5409827 DOI: 10.7554/elife.23232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 142] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2016] [Accepted: 03/17/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Decision-makers often arrive at different choices when faced with repeated presentations of the same evidence. Variability of behavior is commonly attributed to noise in the brain's decision-making machinery. We hypothesized that phasic responses of brainstem arousal systems are a significant source of this variability. We tracked pupil responses (a proxy of phasic arousal) during sensory-motor decisions in humans, across different sensory modalities and task protocols. Large pupil responses generally predicted a reduction in decision bias. Using fMRI, we showed that the pupil-linked bias reduction was (i) accompanied by a modulation of choice-encoding pattern signals in parietal and prefrontal cortex and (ii) predicted by phasic, pupil-linked responses of a number of neuromodulatory brainstem centers involved in the control of cortical arousal state, including the noradrenergic locus coeruleus. We conclude that phasic arousal suppresses decision bias on a trial-by-trial basis, thus accounting for a significant component of the variability of choice behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Willem de Gee
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.,Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Olympia Colizoli
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.,Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Amsterdam Brain & Cognition, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Niels A Kloosterman
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Amsterdam Brain & Cognition, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| | - Tomas Knapen
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | | | - Tobias H Donner
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.,Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Amsterdam Brain & Cognition, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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48
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Ludwig CJH, Evens DR. Information foraging for perceptual decisions. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 2017; 43:245-264. [PMID: 27819455 PMCID: PMC5279461 DOI: 10.1037/xhp0000299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [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: 01/27/2016] [Revised: 07/06/2016] [Accepted: 07/11/2016] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
We tested an information foraging framework to characterize the mechanisms that drive active (visual) sampling behavior in decision problems that involve multiple sources of information. Experiments 1 through 3 involved participants making an absolute judgment about the direction of motion of a single random dot motion pattern. In Experiment 4, participants made a relative comparison between 2 motion patterns that could only be sampled sequentially. Our results show that: (a) Information (about noisy motion information) grows to an asymptotic level that depends on the quality of the information source; (b) The limited growth is attributable to unequal weighting of the incoming sensory evidence, with early samples being weighted more heavily; (c) Little information is lost once a new source of information is being sampled; and (d) The point at which the observer switches from 1 source to another is governed by online monitoring of his or her degree of (un)certainty about the sampled source. These findings demonstrate that the sampling strategy in perceptual decision-making is under some direct control by ongoing cognitive processing. More specifically, participants are able to track a measure of (un)certainty and use this information to guide their sampling behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Affiliation(s)
| | - David R Evens
- School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol
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49
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Treviño M, De la Torre-Valdovinos B, Manjarrez E. Noise Improves Visual Motion Discrimination via a Stochastic Resonance-Like Phenomenon. Front Hum Neurosci 2016; 10:572. [PMID: 27932960 PMCID: PMC5120109 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2016] [Accepted: 10/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The stochastic resonance (SR) is a phenomenon in which adding a moderate amount of noise can improve the signal-to-noise ratio and performance of non-linear systems. SR occurs in all sensory modalities including the visual system in which noise can enhance contrast detection sensitivity and the perception of ambiguous figures embedded in static scenes. Here, we explored how adding background white pixel-noise to a random dot motion (RDM) stimulus produced changes in visual motion discrimination in healthy human adults. We found that, although the average reaction times (RTs) remained constant, an intermediate level of noise improved the subjects’ ability to discriminate motion direction in the RDM task. The psychophysical responses followed an inverted U-like function of the input noise, whereas the incorrect responses with short RTs did not exhibit such modulation by external noise. Moreover, by applying stimulus and noisy signals to different eyes, we found that the SR phenomenon occurred presumably in the primary visual cortex, where these two signals first converge. Our results suggest that a SR-like phenomenon mediates the improvement of visual motion perception in the RDM task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mario Treviño
- Instituto de Neurociencias, Universidad de Guadalajara Guadalajara, México
| | | | - Elias Manjarrez
- Instituto de Fisiología, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla Puebla, México
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50
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Mather G, Battaglini L, Campana G. TMS reveals flexible use of form and motion cues in biological motion perception. Neuropsychologia 2016; 84:193-7. [PMID: 26916969 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.02.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2015] [Revised: 02/01/2016] [Accepted: 02/21/2016] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
The perception of human movement is a key component of daily social interactions. Although extrastriate area MT+/V5 is closely associated with motion processing, its role in the processing of sparse 'biological motion' displays is still unclear. We developed two closed matched psychophysical tasks to assess simple coherent motion perception and biological motion perception, and measured changes in performance caused by application of TMS over MT+/V5. Performance of the simple motion discrimination task was significantly depressed by TMS stimulation, and highly correlated within observers in TMS conditions, but there was no significant decrement in performance of the biological motion task, despite low intra-observer correlations across TMS conditions. We conclude that extrastriate area MT+/V5 is an obligatory waypoint in the neural processing of simple coherent motion, but is not obligatory for the processing of biological motion. Results are consistent with a dual neural processing route for biological motion processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- George Mather
- School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln LN2 1NB, UK
| | - Luca Battaglini
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Gianluca Campana
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padova, Italy; Human Inspired Technology Research Centre, University of Padova, Via Luzzati 4, 35122 Padova, Italy
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