1
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Sookprao P, Benjasupawan K, Phangwiwat T, Chatnuntawech I, Lertladaluck K, Gutchess A, Chunharas C, Itthipuripat S. Conflicting Sensory Information Sharpens the Neural Representations of Early Selective Visuospatial Attention. J Neurosci 2024; 44:e2012232024. [PMID: 38955488 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2012-23.2024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2023] [Revised: 06/19/2024] [Accepted: 06/25/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Adaptive behaviors require the ability to resolve conflicting information caused by the processing of incompatible sensory inputs. Prominent theories of attention have posited that early selective attention helps mitigate cognitive interference caused by conflicting sensory information by facilitating the processing of task-relevant sensory inputs and filtering out behaviorally irrelevant information. Surprisingly, many recent studies that investigated the role of early selective attention on conflict mitigation have failed to provide positive evidence. Here, we examined changes in the selectivity of early visuospatial attention in male and female human subjects performing an attention-cueing Eriksen flanker task, where they discriminated the shape of a visual target surrounded by congruent or incongruent distractors. We used the inverted encoding model to reconstruct spatial representations of visual selective attention from the topographical patterns of amplitude modulations in alpha band oscillations in scalp EEG (∼8-12 Hz). We found that the fidelity of the alpha-based spatial reconstruction was significantly higher in the incongruent compared with the congruent condition. Importantly, these conflict-related modulations in the reconstruction fidelity occurred at a much earlier time window than those of the lateralized posterior event-related potentials associated with target selection and distractor suppression processes, as well as conflict-related modulations in the frontocentral negative-going wave and midline-frontal theta oscillations (∼3-7 Hz), thought to track executive control functions. Taken together, our data suggest that conflict resolution is supported by the cascade of neural processes underlying early selective visuospatial attention and frontal executive functions that unfold over time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Panchalee Sookprao
- Neuroscience Center for Research and Innovation (NX), Learning Institute, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok 10140, Thailand
- Chula Neuroscience Center, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
- Cognitive Clinical and Computational Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
- SCG Digital Office, Bangkok 10800, Thailand
| | - Kanyarat Benjasupawan
- Neuroscience Center for Research and Innovation (NX), Learning Institute, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok 10140, Thailand
- Chula Neuroscience Center, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
- Cognitive Clinical and Computational Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
| | - Tanagrit Phangwiwat
- Neuroscience Center for Research and Innovation (NX), Learning Institute, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok 10140, Thailand
- Big Data Experience Center (BX), Department of Computer Engineering, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok 10600, Thailand
- Computer Engineering Department, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok 10140, Thailand
| | - Itthi Chatnuntawech
- National Nanotechnology Center, National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
| | - Kanda Lertladaluck
- Neuroscience Center for Research and Innovation (NX), Learning Institute, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok 10140, Thailand
| | - Angela Gutchess
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience Program, Volen National Center for Complex Systems, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02453
| | - Chaipat Chunharas
- Chula Neuroscience Center, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
- Cognitive Clinical and Computational Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
| | - Sirawaj Itthipuripat
- Neuroscience Center for Research and Innovation (NX), Learning Institute, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok 10140, Thailand
- Big Data Experience Center (BX), Department of Computer Engineering, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok 10600, Thailand
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2
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Zhao Y, Feng S, Dong L, Wu Z, Ning Y. Dysfunction of large-scale brain networks underlying cognitive impairments in shift work disorder. J Sleep Res 2024; 33:e14080. [PMID: 37888149 DOI: 10.1111/jsr.14080] [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: 05/25/2023] [Revised: 09/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023]
Abstract
It has been demonstrated that shift work can affect cognitive functions. Several neuroimaging studies have revealed altered brain function and structure for patients with shift work disorder (SWD). However, knowledge on the dysfunction of large-scale brain networks underlying cognitive impairments in shift work disorder is limited. This study aims to identify altered functional networks associated with cognitive declines in shift work disorder, and to assess their potential diagnostic value. Thirty-four patients with shift work disorder and 36 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited to perform the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) and resting-state functional scans. After surface-based preprocessing, we calculated within- and between-network functional connectivity (FC) using the Dosenbach atlas. Moreover, correlation analysis was done between altered functional connectivity of large-scale brain networks and scores of cognitive assessments in patients with shift work disorder. Finally, we established a classification model to provide features for patients with shift work disorder concerning the disrupted large-scale networks. Compared with healthy controls, increased functional connectivity within-networks across the seven brain networks, and between-networks involving ventral attention network (VAN)-subcortical network (SCN), SCN-frontoparietal network (FPN), and somatosensory network (SMN)-SCN were observed in shift work disorder. Decreased functional connectivity between brain networks was found in shift work disorder compared with healthy controls, including visual network (VN)-FPN, VN-default mode network (DMN), SMN-DMN, dorsal attention network (DAN)-DMN, VAN-DMN, and FPN-DMN. Furthermore, the altered functional connectivity of large-scale brain networks was significantly correlated with scores of immediate memory, visuospatial, and delayed memory in patients with shift work disorder, respectively. Abnormal functional connectivity of large-scale brain networks may play critical roles in cognitive dysfunction in shift work disorder. Our findings provide new evidence to interpret the underlying neural mechanisms of cognitive impairments in shift work disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Zhao
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & National Center for Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospitaldiscu, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Sitong Feng
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & National Center for Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospitaldiscu, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Linrui Dong
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & National Center for Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospitaldiscu, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Ziyao Wu
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & National Center for Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospitaldiscu, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Yanzhe Ning
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & National Center for Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospitaldiscu, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
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3
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Phangwiwat T, Phunchongharn P, Wongsawat Y, Chatnuntawech I, Wang S, Chunharas C, Sprague TC, Woodman GF, Itthipuripat S. Sustained attention operates via dissociable neural mechanisms across different eccentric locations. Sci Rep 2024; 14:11188. [PMID: 38755251 PMCID: PMC11099062 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-61171-7] [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: 11/05/2023] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024] Open
Abstract
In primates, foveal and peripheral vision have distinct neural architectures and functions. However, it has been debated if selective attention operates via the same or different neural mechanisms across eccentricities. We tested these alternative accounts by examining the effects of selective attention on the steady-state visually evoked potential (SSVEP) and the fronto-parietal signal measured via EEG from human subjects performing a sustained visuospatial attention task. With a negligible level of eye movements, both SSVEP and SND exhibited the heterogeneous patterns of attentional modulations across eccentricities. Specifically, the attentional modulations of these signals peaked at the parafoveal locations and such modulations wore off as visual stimuli appeared closer to the fovea or further away towards the periphery. However, with a relatively higher level of eye movements, the heterogeneous patterns of attentional modulations of these neural signals were less robust. These data demonstrate that the top-down influence of covert visuospatial attention on early sensory processing in human cortex depends on eccentricity and the level of saccadic responses. Taken together, the results suggest that sustained visuospatial attention operates differently across different eccentric locations, providing new understanding of how attention augments sensory representations regardless of where the attended stimulus appears.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanagrit Phangwiwat
- Neuroscience Center for Research and Innovation (NX), Learning Institute, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), Bangkok, 10140, Thailand
- Big Data Experience Center (BX), King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), Bangkok, 10600, Thailand
- Department of Computer Engineering, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), Bangkok, 10140, Thailand
| | - Phond Phunchongharn
- Big Data Experience Center (BX), King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), Bangkok, 10600, Thailand
- Department of Computer Engineering, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), Bangkok, 10140, Thailand
| | - Yodchanan Wongsawat
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, 73170, Thailand
| | - Itthi Chatnuntawech
- National Nanotechnology Center, National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathum Thani, 12120, Thailand
| | - Sisi Wang
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37235, USA
| | - Chaipat Chunharas
- Cognitive Clinical and Computational Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand
- Chula Neuroscience Center, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand
| | - Thomas C Sprague
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Geoffrey F Woodman
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37235, USA
| | - Sirawaj Itthipuripat
- Neuroscience Center for Research and Innovation (NX), Learning Institute, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), Bangkok, 10140, Thailand.
- Big Data Experience Center (BX), King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), Bangkok, 10600, Thailand.
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37235, USA.
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Li HH, Sprague TC, Yoo AH, Ma WJ, Curtis CE. Neural mechanisms of resource allocation in working memory. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.11.593695. [PMID: 38766258 PMCID: PMC11100829 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.11.593695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
To mitigate capacity limits of working memory, people allocate resources according to an item's relevance. However, the neural mechanisms supporting such a critical operation remain unknown. Here, we developed computational neuroimaging methods to decode and demix neural responses associated with multiple items in working memory with different priorities. In striate and extrastriate cortex, the gain of neural responses tracked the priority of memoranda. Higher-priority memoranda were decoded with smaller error and lower uncertainty. Moreover, these neural differences predicted behavioral differences in memory prioritization. Remarkably, trialwise variability in the magnitude of delay activity in frontal cortex predicted differences in decoded precision between low and high-priority items in visual cortex. These results suggest a model in which feedback signals broadcast from frontal cortex sculpt the gain of memory representations in visual cortex according to behavioral relevance, thus, identifying a neural mechanism for resource allocation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hsin-Hung Li
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43201, USA
- These authors contributed equally
| | - Thomas C Sprague
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
- These authors contributed equally
| | - Aspen H Yoo
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Wei Ji Ma
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Clayton E Curtis
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
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5
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Tünçok E, Carrasco M, Winawer J. Spatial attention alters visual cortical representation during target anticipation. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.02.583127. [PMID: 38496524 PMCID: PMC10942396 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.02.583127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
Attention enables us to efficiently and flexibly interact with the environment by prioritizing some image features in preparation for responding to a stimulus. Using a concurrent psychophysics- fMRI experiment, we investigated how covert spatial attention affects responses in human visual cortex prior to target onset, and how it affects subsequent behavioral performance. Performance improved at cued locations and worsened at uncued locations, relative to distributed attention, demonstrating a selective tradeoff in processing. Pre-target BOLD responses in cortical visual field maps changed in two ways: First, there was a stimulus-independent baseline shift, positive in map locations near the cued location and negative elsewhere, paralleling the behavioral results. Second, population receptive field centers shifted toward the attended location. Both effects increased in higher visual areas. Together, the results show that spatial attention has large effects on visual cortex prior to target appearance, altering neural response properties throughout and across multiple visual field maps.
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Zhao YJ, Zhang X, Ku Y. Divergent roles of early visual cortex and inferior frontal junction in visual working memory. Brain Stimul 2024; 17:713-720. [PMID: 38839040 DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2024.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2024] [Revised: 05/31/2024] [Accepted: 06/02/2024] [Indexed: 06/07/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Recent studies indicate that both prefrontal and visual regions play critical roles in visual working memory (VWM), with prefrontal regions mainly associated with executive functions, and visual cortices linked to representations of memory contents. VWM involves the selective filtering of irrelevant information, yet the specific contributions of the prefrontal regions and visual cortex in this process remain unclear. OBJECTIVE To understand the dynamic causal roles of prefrontal and visual regions in VWM. METHODS The differentiation of VWM components was achieved using a computational model that incorporated a swap rate for non-target stimuli. Single-pulse magnetic transcranial stimulation (spTMS) was delivered to the early visual cortex (EVC) and the inferior frontal junction (IFJ) across different phases of an orientation recall task that with or without distractors. RESULTS Our results indicate that spTMS over the EVC and IFJ influences VWM particularly when distractors are present. VWM precision can be impacted by spTMS applied to either region during the early retention, while spTMS effect is especially prominent when EVC is stimulated during the late retention phase and when directed at the ipsilateral EVC. Conversely, the probability of accurately recalling the target exhibited comparable patterns when spTMS was administered to either the EVC or IFJ. CONCLUSIONS We highlight the "sensory recruitment" of VWM characterized by critical involvement of EVC particularly in the information-filtering process within VWM. The maintenance of memory content representations necessitates ongoing communication between the EVC and IFJ throughout the entirety of the VWM process in a dynamic pattern.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi-Jie Zhao
- Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Shanghai Pudong New Area Mental Health Center, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xinying Zhang
- School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China; Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Yixuan Ku
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China; Peng Cheng Laboratory, Shenzhen, China.
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Lin R, Meng X, Chen F, Li X, Jensen O, Theeuwes J, Wang B. Neural evidence for attentional capture by salient distractors. Nat Hum Behav 2024; 8:932-944. [PMID: 38538771 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01852-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/21/2024] [Indexed: 04/17/2024]
Abstract
Salient objects often capture our attention, serving as distractors and hindering our current goals. It remains unclear when and how salient distractors interact with our goals, and our knowledge on the neural mechanisms responsible for attentional capture is limited to a few brain regions recorded from non-human primates. Here we conducted a multivariate analysis on human intracranial signals covering most brain regions and successfully dissociated distractor-specific representations from target-arousal signals in the high-frequency (60-100 Hz) activity. We found that salient distractors were processed rapidly around 220 ms, while target-tuning attention was attenuated simultaneously, supporting initial capture by distractors. Notably, neuronal activity specific to the distractor representation was strongest in the superior and middle temporal gyrus, amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex, while there were smaller contributions from the parietal and frontal cortices. These results provide neural evidence for attentional capture by salient distractors engaging a much larger network than previously appreciated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rongqi Lin
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- Institute for Brain Research and Rehabilitation, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Xianghong Meng
- Department of Neurosurgery, Shenzhen University General Hospital, Shenzhen, China
| | - Fuyong Chen
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Hongkong Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, China
| | - Xinyu Li
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Ole Jensen
- Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Jan Theeuwes
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Benchi Wang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.
- Institute for Brain Research and Rehabilitation, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.
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DeYoe EA, Huddleston W, Greenberg AS. Are neuronal mechanisms of attention universal across human sensory and motor brain maps? Psychon Bull Rev 2024:10.3758/s13423-024-02495-3. [PMID: 38587756 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-024-02495-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/10/2024] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
One's experience of shifting attention from the color to the smell to the act of picking a flower seems like a unitary process applied, at will, to one modality after another. Yet, the unique and separable experiences of sight versus smell versus movement might suggest that the neural mechanisms of attention have been separately optimized to employ each modality to its greatest advantage. Moreover, addressing the issue of universality can be particularly difficult due to a paucity of existing cross-modal comparisons and a dearth of neurophysiological methods that can be applied equally well across disparate modalities. Here we outline some of the conceptual and methodological issues related to this problem and present an instructive example of an experimental approach that can be applied widely throughout the human brain to permit detailed, quantitative comparison of attentional mechanisms across modalities. The ultimate goal is to spur efforts across disciplines to provide a large and varied database of empirical observations that will either support the notion of a universal neural substrate for attention or more clearly identify the degree to which attentional mechanisms are specialized for each modality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edgar A DeYoe
- Department of Radiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Rd, Milwaukee, WI, 53226, USA.
- , Signal Mountain, USA.
| | - Wendy Huddleston
- School of Rehabilitation Sciences and Technology, College of Health Professions and Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, 3409 N. Downer Ave, Milwaukee, WI, 53211, USA
| | - Adam S Greenberg
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Medical College of Wisconsin and Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, 53226, USA
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9
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van Moorselaar D, Theeuwes J. Spatial transfer of object-based statistical learning. Atten Percept Psychophys 2024; 86:768-775. [PMID: 38316722 PMCID: PMC11063099 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-024-02852-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 02/07/2024]
Abstract
A large number of recent studies have demonstrated that efficient attentional selection depends to a large extent on the ability to extract regularities present in the environment. Through statistical learning, attentional selection is facilitated by directing attention to locations in space that were relevant in the past while suppressing locations that previously were distracting. The current study shows that we are not only able to learn to prioritize locations in space but also locations within objects independent of space. Participants learned that within a specific object, particular locations within the object were more likely to contain relevant information than other locations. The current results show that this learned prioritization was bound to the object as the learned bias to prioritize a specific location within the object stayed in place even when the object moved to a completely different location in space. We conclude that in addition to spatial attention prioritization of locations in space, it is also possible to learn to prioritize relevant locations within specific objects. The current findings have implications for the inferred spatial priority map of attentional weights as this map cannot be strictly retinotopically organized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dirk van Moorselaar
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
- Institute of Brain and Behaviour Amsterdam (iBBA), Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Jan Theeuwes
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Institute of Brain and Behaviour Amsterdam (iBBA), Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- William James Centre for Research, ISPA-Instituto Universitario, Lisbon, Portugal
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10
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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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11
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Teng C, Postle BR. Investigating the Roles of the Visual and Parietal Cortex in Representing Content versus Context in Visual Working Memory. eNeuro 2024; 11:ENEURO.0270-20.2024. [PMID: 38336475 PMCID: PMC10860598 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0270-20.2024] [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: 08/30/2023] [Revised: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Content-to-context binding is crucial for working memory performance. Using a dual-serial retrocueing (DSR) task on oriented gratings, Yu et al. (2020) found that content (orientation) of both prioritized and unprioritized memory items (PMI; UMI) was represented simultaneously in visual cortex, while their context (location) was represented in intraparietal sulcus (IPS), with a priority-based remapping of the representation of content and context of the UMI in each region, respectively. This registered report acquired fMRI of 24 healthy adults while they performed a DSR task with location as the to-be-reported content and orientation as the task-relevant context. We contrasted three accounts: domain-dependent, the engagement of visual and parietal regions depends on the feature domain (orientation vs location); functional, the engagement of these regions depends on their function (content vs context); and hybrid-a combination of the domain-dependent account and the additional stipulation that IPS encodes context regardless of domain. Delay-period activity in early visual cortex conformed most closely with functional predictions: robust priority-sensitive representation of stimulus location (content), but no evidence for the active representation of stimulus orientation (context). Delay-period activity in IPS, in contrast, conformed most closely to predictions of the hybrid account: active representation of content (location) and of prioritized context (orientation). Exploratory analyses further supported the hybrid account of IPS, revealing univariate sensitivity to variation in both content and context load, the latter in a manner that predicted individual differences in behavior. The representation of visual information in working memory is highly dependent on behavioral context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chunyue Teng
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison 53719, Wisconsin
- Lawrence University, Appleton 54911, Wisconsin
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12
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Thayer DD, Sprague TC. Feature-Specific Salience Maps in Human Cortex. J Neurosci 2023; 43:8785-8800. [PMID: 37907257 PMCID: PMC10727177 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1104-23.2023] [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: 06/12/2023] [Revised: 09/29/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 11/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Priority map theory is a leading framework for understanding how various aspects of stimulus displays and task demands guide visual attention. Per this theory, the visual system computes a priority map, which is a representation of visual space indexing the relative importance, or priority, of locations in the environment. Priority is computed based on both salience, defined based on image-computable properties; and relevance, defined by an individual's current goals, and is used to direct attention to the highest-priority locations for further processing. Computational theories suggest that priority maps identify salient locations based on individual feature dimensions (e.g., color, motion), which are integrated into an aggregate priority map. While widely accepted, a core assumption of this framework, the existence of independent feature dimension maps in visual cortex, remains untested. Here, we tested the hypothesis that retinotopic regions selective for specific feature dimensions (color or motion) in human cortex act as neural feature dimension maps, indexing salient locations based on their preferred feature. We used fMRI activation patterns to reconstruct spatial maps while male and female human participants viewed stimuli with salient regions defined by relative color or motion direction. Activation in reconstructed spatial maps was localized to the salient stimulus position in the display. Moreover, the strength of the stimulus representation was strongest in the ROI selective for the salience-defining feature. Together, these results suggest that feature-selective extrastriate visual regions highlight salient locations based on local feature contrast within their preferred feature dimensions, supporting their role as neural feature dimension maps.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Identifying salient information is important for navigating the world. For example, it is critical to detect a quickly approaching car when crossing the street. Leading models of computer vision and visual search rely on compartmentalized salience computations based on individual features; however, there has been no direct empirical demonstration identifying neural regions as responsible for performing these dissociable operations. Here, we provide evidence of a critical double dissociation that neural activation patterns from color-selective regions prioritize the location of color-defined salience while minimally representing motion-defined salience, whereas motion-selective regions show the complementary result. These findings reveal that specialized cortical regions act as neural "feature dimension maps" that are used to index salient locations based on specific features to guide attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel D Thayer
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106
| | - Thomas C Sprague
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106
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13
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Phangwiwat T, Punchongham P, Wongsawat Y, Chatnuntawech I, Wang S, Chunharas C, Sprague T, Woodman GF, Itthipuripat S. Sustained attention operates via dissociable neural mechanisms across different eccentric locations. RESEARCH SQUARE 2023:rs.3.rs-3562186. [PMID: 37986807 PMCID: PMC10659535 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3562186/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2023]
Abstract
In primates, foveal and peripheral vision have distinct neural architectures and functions. However, it has been debated if selective attention operates via the same or different neural mechanisms across eccentricities. We tested these alternative accounts by examining the effects of selective attention on the steady-state visually evoked potential (SSVEP) and the fronto-parietal signal measured via EEG from human subjects performing a sustained visuospatial attention task. With a negligible level of eye movements, both SSVEP and SND exhibited the heterogeneous patterns of attentional modulations across eccentricities. Specifically, the attentional modulations of these signals peaked at the parafoveal locations and such modulations wore off as visual stimuli appeared closer to the fovea or further away towards the periphery. However, with a relatively higher level of eye movements, the heterogeneous patterns of attentional modulations of these neural signals were less robust. These data demonstrate that the top-down influence of covert visuospatial attention on early sensory processing in human cortex depends on eccentricity and the level of saccadic responses. Taken together, the results suggest that sustained visuospatial attention operates differently across different eccentric locations, providing new understanding of how attention augments sensory representations regardless of where the attended stimulus appears.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanagrit Phangwiwat
- Department of Computer Engineering, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi
| | - Phond Punchongham
- Department of Computer Engineering, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi
| | - Yodchanan Wongsawat
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University
| | - Itthi Chatnuntawech
- National Nanotechnology Center, National Science and Technology Development Agency
| | - Sisi Wang
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
| | - Chaipat Chunharas
- Chula Neuroscience Center, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society
| | - Thomas Sprague
- Psychological and Brain Science, 251, University of California Santa Barbara
| | | | - Sirawaj Itthipuripat
- Neuroscience Center for Research and Innovation (NX), Learning Institute, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi
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14
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Hu Y, Yu Q. Spatiotemporal dynamics of self-generated imagery reveal a reverse cortical hierarchy from cue-induced imagery. Cell Rep 2023; 42:113242. [PMID: 37831604 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2023] [Revised: 08/25/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 10/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Visual imagery allows for the construction of rich internal experience in our mental world. However, it has remained poorly understood how imagery experience derives volitionally as opposed to being cue driven. Here, using electroencephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging, we systematically investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics of self-generated imagery by having participants volitionally imagining one of the orientations from a learned pool. We contrast self-generated imagery with cue-induced imagery, where participants imagined line orientations based on associative cues acquired previously. Our results reveal overlapping neural signatures of cue-induced and self-generated imagery. Yet, these neural signatures display substantially differential sensitivities to the two types of imagery: self-generated imagery is supported by an enhanced involvement of the anterior cortex in representing imagery contents. By contrast, cue-induced imagery is supported by enhanced imagery representations in the posterior visual cortex. These results jointly support a reverse cortical hierarchy in generating and maintaining imagery contents in self-generated versus externally cued imagery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiheng Hu
- Institute of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Qing Yu
- Institute of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
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15
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Song X, Huang P, Chen X, Xu M, Ming D. The frontooccipital interaction mechanism of high-frequency acoustoelectric signal. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:10723-10735. [PMID: 37724433 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2023] [Revised: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 07/15/2023] [Indexed: 09/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Based on acoustoelectric effect, acoustoelectric brain imaging has been proposed, which is a high spatiotemporal resolution neural imaging method. At the focal spot, brain electrical activity is encoded by focused ultrasound, and corresponding high-frequency acoustoelectric signal is generated. Previous studies have revealed that acoustoelectric signal can also be detected in other non-focal brain regions. However, the processing mechanism of acoustoelectric signal between different brain regions remains sparse. Here, with acoustoelectric signal generated in the left primary visual cortex, we investigated the spatial distribution characteristics and temporal propagation characteristics of acoustoelectric signal in the transmission. We observed a strongest transmission strength within the frontal lobe, and the global temporal statistics indicated that the frontal lobe features in acoustoelectric signal transmission. Then, cross-frequency phase-amplitude coupling was used to investigate the coordinated activity in the AE signal band range between frontal and occipital lobes. The results showed that intra-structural cross-frequency coupling and cross-structural coupling co-occurred between these two lobes, and, accordingly, high-frequency brain activity in the frontal lobe was effectively coordinated by distant occipital lobe. This study revealed the frontooccipital long-range interaction mechanism of acoustoelectric signal, which is the foundation of improving the performance of acoustoelectric brain imaging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xizi Song
- Academy of Medical Engineering and Translation Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Peishan Huang
- Academy of Medical Engineering and Translation Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Xinrui Chen
- Academy of Medical Engineering and Translation Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Minpeng Xu
- Academy of Medical Engineering and Translation Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
- College of Precision Instruments and Optoelectronics Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Dong Ming
- Academy of Medical Engineering and Translation Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
- College of Precision Instruments and Optoelectronics Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
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16
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Li S, Zeng X, Shao Z, Yu Q. Neural Representations in Visual and Parietal Cortex Differentiate between Imagined, Perceived, and Illusory Experiences. J Neurosci 2023; 43:6508-6524. [PMID: 37582626 PMCID: PMC10513072 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0592-23.2023] [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: 03/30/2023] [Revised: 07/09/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 08/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Humans constantly receive massive amounts of information, both perceived from the external environment and imagined from the internal world. To function properly, the brain needs to correctly identify the origin of information being processed. Recent work has suggested common neural substrates for perception and imagery. However, it has remained unclear how the brain differentiates between external and internal experiences with shared neural codes. Here we tested this question in human participants (male and female) by systematically investigating the neural processes underlying the generation and maintenance of visual information from voluntary imagery, veridical perception, and illusion. The inclusion of illusion allowed us to differentiate between objective and subjective internality: while illusion has an objectively internal origin and can be viewed as involuntary imagery, it is also subjectively perceived as having an external origin like perception. Combining fMRI, eye-tracking, multivariate decoding, and encoding approaches, we observed superior orientation representations in parietal cortex during imagery compared with perception, and conversely in early visual cortex. This imagery dominance gradually developed along a posterior-to-anterior cortical hierarchy from early visual to parietal cortex, emerged in the early epoch of imagery and sustained into the delay epoch, and persisted across varied imagined contents. Moreover, representational strength of illusion was more comparable to imagery in early visual cortex, but more comparable to perception in parietal cortex, suggesting content-specific representations in parietal cortex differentiate between subjectively internal and external experiences, as opposed to early visual cortex. These findings together support a domain-general engagement of parietal cortex in internally generated experience.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT How does the brain differentiate between imagined and perceived experiences? Combining fMRI, eye-tracking, multivariate decoding, and encoding approaches, the current study revealed enhanced stimulus-specific representations in visual imagery originating from parietal cortex, supporting the subjective experience of imagery. This neural principle was further validated by evidence from visual illusion, wherein illusion resembled perception and imagery at different levels of cortical hierarchy. Our findings provide direct evidence for the critical role of parietal cortex as a domain-general region for content-specific imagery, and offer new insights into the neural mechanisms underlying the differentiation between subjectively internal and external experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siyi Li
- Institute of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
| | - Xuemei Zeng
- Institute of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
| | - Zhujun Shao
- Institute of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Qing Yu
- Institute of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
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17
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Jia K, Goebel R, Kourtzi Z. Ultra-High Field Imaging of Human Visual Cognition. Annu Rev Vis Sci 2023; 9:479-500. [PMID: 37137282 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-vision-111022-123830] [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: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the key methodology for mapping the functions of the human brain in a noninvasive manner, is limited by low temporal and spatial resolution. Recent advances in ultra-high field (UHF) fMRI provide a mesoscopic (i.e., submillimeter resolution) tool that allows us to probe laminar and columnar circuits, distinguish bottom-up versus top-down pathways, and map small subcortical areas. We review recent work demonstrating that UHF fMRI provides a robust methodology for imaging the brain across cortical depths and columns that provides insights into the brain's organization and functions at unprecedented spatial resolution, advancing our understanding of the fine-scale computations and interareal communication that support visual cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ke Jia
- Department of Neurobiology, Affiliated Mental Health Center & Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- Liangzhu Laboratory, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Science and Brain-machine Integration, State Key Laboratory of Brain-machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
- NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom;
| | - Rainer Goebel
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Zoe Kourtzi
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom;
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18
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Ouerfelli-Ethier J, Fournet R, Khan AZ, Pisella L. Spatial bias in anti-saccade endpoints following bilateral dorsal posterior parietal lesions. Eur J Neurosci 2023; 58:3488-3502. [PMID: 37501610 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.16102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2023] [Revised: 06/21/2023] [Accepted: 07/07/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
Anti-saccades are eye movements in which the saccade is executed in the opposite direction of a visual target and are often hypometric. Because the visual target and saccade goal are decoupled, it has been suggested that competition between the two locations occurs and needs to be resolved. It has been hypothesized that the hypometria of anti-saccades reflects this spatial competition by revealing a bias towards the visual target. To confirm that this hypometria is not simply due to reduced gain, we tested 10 healthy subjects on three different anti-saccade spatial configuration tasks: 90° away across hemifields, 90° away within the same hemifield and 180° away (classic, diagonally opposite). Specifically, we examined whether saccade endpoints showed evidence for the visual target location's interference with anti-saccade programming and execution processes. Among other neural substrates involved in anti-saccades production, the dorsal posterior parietal cortex (PPC) has been implicated in the spatial inhibition of contralateral visual target. To gain insight into the neural processes involved in spatial competition during anti-saccades, we also tested one patient with a bilateral dorsal PPC lesion. In all spatial configurations, we observed that anti-saccade endpoints demonstrated a spatial bias towards the visual target for all participants, likely due to an incomplete inhibition of the visual target location. This spatial bias was exacerbated in our patient, which suggests that the dorsal PPC contributes to the amalgamation of the two competing spatial representations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie Ouerfelli-Ethier
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon CRNL, Trajectoires, France
- School of Optometry, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Romain Fournet
- School of Optometry, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Aarlenne Z Khan
- School of Optometry, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Laure Pisella
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon CRNL, Trajectoires, France
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19
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Liao MR, Kim AJ, Anderson BA. Neural correlates of value-driven spatial orienting. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14321. [PMID: 37171022 PMCID: PMC10524674 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14321] [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: 07/06/2022] [Revised: 04/10/2023] [Accepted: 04/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Reward learning has been shown to habitually guide overt spatial attention to specific regions of a scene. However, the neural mechanisms that support this bias are unknown. In the present study, participants learned to orient themselves to a particular quadrant of a scene (a high-value quadrant) to maximize monetary gains. This learning was scene-specific, with the high-value quadrant varying across different scenes. During a subsequent test phase, participants were faster at identifying a target if it appeared in the high-value quadrant (valid), and initial saccades were more likely to be made to the high-value quadrant. fMRI analyses during the test phase revealed learning-dependent priority signals in the caudate tail, superior colliculus, frontal eye field, anterior cingulate cortex, and insula, paralleling findings concerning feature-based, value-driven attention. In addition, ventral regions typically associated with scene selection and spatial information processing, including the hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, and temporo-occipital cortex, were also implicated. Taken together, our findings offer new insights into the neural architecture subserving value-driven attention, both extending our understanding of nodes in the attention network previously implicated in feature-based, value-driven attention and identifying a ventral network of brain regions implicated in reward's influence on scene-dependent spatial orienting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming-Ray Liao
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Andy J Kim
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Brian A Anderson
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
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20
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Duncan DH, van Moorselaar D, Theeuwes J. Pinging the brain to reveal the hidden attentional priority map using encephalography. Nat Commun 2023; 14:4749. [PMID: 37550310 PMCID: PMC10406833 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40405-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2022] [Accepted: 07/27/2023] [Indexed: 08/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Attention has been usefully thought of as organized in priority maps - putative maps of space where attentional priority is weighted across spatial regions in a winner-take-all competition for attentional deployment. Recent work has highlighted the influence of past experiences on the weighting of spatial priority - called selection history. Aside from being distinct from more well-studied, top-down forms of attentional enhancement, little is known about the neural substrates of history-mediated attentional priority. Using a task known to induce statistical learning of target distributions, in an EEG study we demonstrate that this otherwise invisible, latent attentional priority map can be visualized during the intertrial period using a 'pinging' technique in conjunction with multivariate pattern analyses. Our findings not only offer a method of visualizing the history-mediated attentional priority map, but also shed light on the underlying mechanisms allowing our past experiences to influence future behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dock H Duncan
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
- Institute Brain and Behavior Amsterdam (iBBA), Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Dirk van Moorselaar
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Institute Brain and Behavior Amsterdam (iBBA), Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Jan Theeuwes
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Institute Brain and Behavior Amsterdam (iBBA), Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- William James Center for Research, ISPA-Instituto Universitario, Lisbon, Portugal
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21
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Ester EF, Nouri A. Internal selective attention is delayed by competition between endogenous and exogenous factors. iScience 2023; 26:107259. [PMID: 37519902 PMCID: PMC10371823 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107259] [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: 03/28/2023] [Revised: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023] Open
Abstract
External attention is mediated by competition between endogenous (goal-driven) and exogenous (stimulus-driven) factors, with the balance of competition determining which stimuli are selected. Occasionally, exogenous factors "win" this competition and drive the selection of task-irrelevant stimuli. Endogenous and exogenous selection mechanisms may also compete to control the selection of internal representations (e.g., those stored in working memory), but whether this competition is resolved in the same way as external attention is unknown. Here, we leveraged the high temporal resolution of human EEG to determine how competition between endogenous and exogenous factors influences the selection of internal representations. Unlike external attention, competition did not prompt the selection of task-irrelevant working memory content. Instead, it delayed the endogenous selection of task-relevant working memory content by several hundred milliseconds. Thus, competition between endogenous and exogenous factors influences internal selective attention, but in a different way than external selective attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward F. Ester
- Department of Psychology and Integrative Neuroscience Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Asal Nouri
- Center for Complex Systems & Brain Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL, USA
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22
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Liu J, Bayle DJ, Spagna A, Sitt JD, Bourgeois A, Lehongre K, Fernandez-Vidal S, Adam C, Lambrecq V, Navarro V, Seidel Malkinson T, Bartolomeo P. Fronto-parietal networks shape human conscious report through attention gain and reorienting. Commun Biol 2023; 6:730. [PMID: 37454150 PMCID: PMC10349830 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05108-2] [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: 04/28/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023] Open
Abstract
How do attention and consciousness interact in the human brain? Rival theories of consciousness disagree on the role of fronto-parietal attentional networks in conscious perception. We recorded neural activity from 727 intracerebral contacts in 13 epileptic patients, while they detected near-threshold targets preceded by attentional cues. Clustering revealed three neural patterns: first, attention-enhanced conscious report accompanied sustained right-hemisphere fronto-temporal activity in networks connected by the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) II-III, and late accumulation of activity (>300 ms post-target) in bilateral dorso-prefrontal and right-hemisphere orbitofrontal cortex (SLF I-III). Second, attentional reorienting affected conscious report through early, sustained activity in a right-hemisphere network (SLF III). Third, conscious report accompanied left-hemisphere dorsolateral-prefrontal activity. Task modeling with recurrent neural networks revealed multiple clusters matching the identified brain clusters, elucidating the causal relationship between clusters in conscious perception of near-threshold targets. Thus, distinct, hemisphere-asymmetric fronto-parietal networks support attentional gain and reorienting in shaping human conscious experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianghao Liu
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, CNRS, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France.
- Dassault Systèmes, Vélizy-Villacoublay, France.
| | | | - Alfredo Spagna
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, CNRS, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University in the City of New York, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | - Jacobo D Sitt
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, CNRS, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Alexia Bourgeois
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neurorehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, 1206, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Katia Lehongre
- CENIR - Centre de Neuro-Imagerie de Recherche, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Sara Fernandez-Vidal
- CENIR - Centre de Neuro-Imagerie de Recherche, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Claude Adam
- Epilepsy Unit, AP-HP, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Virginie Lambrecq
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, CNRS, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France
- Epilepsy Unit, AP-HP, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, 75013, Paris, France
- Clinical Neurophysiology Department, AP-HP, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Vincent Navarro
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, CNRS, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France
- Epilepsy Unit, AP-HP, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, 75013, Paris, France
- Clinical Neurophysiology Department, AP-HP, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Tal Seidel Malkinson
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, CNRS, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France.
- CNRS, CRAN, Université de Lorraine, F-54000, Nancy, France.
| | - Paolo Bartolomeo
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, CNRS, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France.
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23
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Chen J, Golomb JD. Dynamic neural reconstructions of attended object location and features using EEG. J Neurophysiol 2023; 130:139-154. [PMID: 37283457 PMCID: PMC10393364 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00180.2022] [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: 04/26/2022] [Revised: 05/10/2023] [Accepted: 06/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Attention allows us to select relevant and ignore irrelevant information from our complex environments. What happens when attention shifts from one item to another? To answer this question, it is critical to have tools that accurately recover neural representations of both feature and location information with high temporal resolution. In the present study, we used human electroencephalography (EEG) and machine learning to explore how neural representations of object features and locations update across dynamic shifts of attention. We demonstrate that EEG can be used to create simultaneous time courses of neural representations of attended features (time point-by-time point inverted encoding model reconstructions) and attended location (time point-by-time point decoding) during both stable periods and across dynamic shifts of attention. Each trial presented two oriented gratings that flickered at the same frequency but had different orientations; participants were cued to attend one of them and on half of trials received a shift cue midtrial. We trained models on a stable period from Hold attention trials and then reconstructed/decoded the attended orientation/location at each time point on Shift attention trials. Our results showed that both feature reconstruction and location decoding dynamically track the shift of attention and that there may be time points during the shifting of attention when 1) feature and location representations become uncoupled and 2) both the previously attended and currently attended orientations are represented with roughly equal strength. The results offer insight into our understanding of attentional shifts, and the noninvasive techniques developed in the present study lend themselves well to a wide variety of future applications.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We used human EEG and machine learning to reconstruct neural response profiles during dynamic shifts of attention. Specifically, we demonstrated that we could simultaneously read out both location and feature information from an attended item in a multistimulus display. Moreover, we examined how that readout evolves over time during the dynamic process of attentional shifts. These results provide insight into our understanding of attention, and this technique carries substantial potential for versatile extensions and applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiageng Chen
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States
| | - Julie D Golomb
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States
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24
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Li AY, Yuan JY, Pun C, Barense MD. The effect of memory load on object reconstruction: Insights from an online mouse-tracking task. Atten Percept Psychophys 2023; 85:1612-1630. [PMID: 36600154 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-022-02650-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/20/2022] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Why can't we remember everything that we experience? Previous work in the domain of object memory has suggested that our ability to resolve interference between relevant and irrelevant object features may limit how much we can remember at any given moment. Here, we developed an online mouse-tracking task to study how memory load influences object reconstruction, testing participants synchronously over virtual conference calls. We first tested up to 18 participants concurrently, replicating memory findings from a condition where participants were tested individually. Next, we examined how memory load influenced mouse trajectories as participants reconstructed target objects. We found interference between the contents of working memory and what was perceived during object reconstruction, an effect that interacted with visual similarity and memory load. Furthermore, we found interference from previously studied but currently irrelevant objects, providing evidence of object-to-location binding errors. At the greatest memory load, participants were nearly three times more likely to move their mouse cursor over previously studied nontarget objects, an effect observed primarily during object reconstruction rather than in the period before the final response. As evidence of the dynamic interplay between working memory and perception, these results show that object reconstruction behavior may be altered by (i) interference between what is represented in mind and what is currently being viewed, and (ii) interference from previously studied but currently irrelevant information. Finally, we discuss how mouse tracking can provide a rich characterization of participant behavior at millisecond temporal resolution, enormously increasing power in cognitive psychology experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aedan Y Li
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 3G3, Canada.
| | - James Y Yuan
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 3G3, Canada.
| | - Carson Pun
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 3G3, Canada
| | - Morgan D Barense
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 3G3, Canada
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25
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Yan C, Christophel TB, Allefeld C, Haynes JD. Categorical working memory codes in human visual cortex. Neuroimage 2023; 274:120149. [PMID: 37191658 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120149] [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: 07/28/2022] [Revised: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 04/29/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Working memory contents are represented in neural activity patterns across multiple regions of the cortical hierarchy. A division of labor has been proposed where more anterior regions harbor increasingly abstract and categorical representations while the most detailed representations are held in primary sensory cortices. Here, using fMRI and multivariate encoding modeling, we demonstrate that for color stimuli categorical codes are already present at the level of extrastriate visual cortex (V4 and VO1), even when subjects are neither implicitly nor explicitly encouraged to categorize the stimuli. Importantly, this categorical coding was observed during working memory, but not during perception. Thus, visual working memory is likely to rely at least in part on categorical representations. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Working memory is the representational basis for human cognition. Recent work has demonstrated that numerous regions across the human brain can represent the contents of working memory. We use fMRI brain scanning and machine learning methods to demonstrate that different regions can represent the same content differently during working memory. Reading out the neural codes used to store working memory contents, we show that already in sensory cortex, areas V4 and VO1 represent color in a categorical format rather than a purely sensory fashion. Thereby, we provide a better understanding of how different regions of the brain might serve working memory and cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chang Yan
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience and Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging and Clinic for Neurology, Charité Universitätsmedizin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Philippstraße 13, Haus 6, 10115, Germany
| | - Thomas B Christophel
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience and Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging and Clinic for Neurology, Charité Universitätsmedizin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Philippstraße 13, Haus 6, 10115, Germany; Department of Psychology, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Rudower Chaussee 18, Berlin, 12489, Germany.
| | - Carsten Allefeld
- Department of Psychology, City, University of London, London EC1V 0HB, United Kingdom
| | - John-Dylan Haynes
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience and Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging and Clinic for Neurology, Charité Universitätsmedizin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Philippstraße 13, Haus 6, 10115, Germany; Department of Psychology, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Rudower Chaussee 18, Berlin, 12489, Germany; Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt Universität, Berlin, Luisenstraße 56, Haus 1, Berlin, 10099, Germany; Cluster of Excellence NeuroCure, Charité Universitätsmedizin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, Hufelandweg 14, Berlin, 10117, Germany; SFB 940 Volition and Cognitive Control, Technische Universität Dresden, Zellescher Weg 17, 01069 Dresden, Germany
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26
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Fulvio JM, Yu Q, Postle BR. Strategic control of location and ordinal context in visual working memory. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:8821-8834. [PMID: 37164767 PMCID: PMC10321086 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Revised: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 04/22/2023] [Indexed: 05/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Working memory (WM) requires encoding stimulus identity and context (e.g. where or when stimuli were encountered). To explore the neural bases of the strategic control of context binding in WM, we acquired fMRI while subjects performed delayed recognition of 3 orientation patches presented serially and at different locations. The recognition probe was an orientation patch with a superimposed digit, and pretrial instructions directed subjects to respond according to its location ("location-relevant"), to the ordinal position corresponding to its digit ("order-relevant"), or to just its orientation (relative to all three samples; "context-irrelevant"). Delay period signal in PPC was greater for context-relevant than for "context-irrelevant" trials, and multivariate decoding revealed strong sensitivity to context binding requirements (relevant vs. "irrelevant") and to context domain ("location-" vs. "order-relevant") in both occipital cortex and PPC. At recognition, multivariate inverted encoding modeling revealed markedly different patterns in these 2 regions, suggesting different context-processing functions. In occipital cortex, an active representation of the location of each of the 3 samples was reinstated regardless of the trial type. The pattern in PPC, by contrast, suggested a trial type-dependent filtering of sample information. These results indicate that PPC exerts strategic control over the representation of stimulus context in visual WM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacqueline M Fulvio
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1202 West Johnson St. Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Qing Yu
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 6001 Research Park Blvd, Madison, WI 53719, USA
- Institute of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 320 Yue Yang Road Shanghai, 200031 P.R.China
| | - Bradley R Postle
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1202 West Johnson St. Madison, WI 53706, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 6001 Research Park Blvd, Madison, WI 53719, USA
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27
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Cheng ZJ, Yang L, Zhang WH, Zhang RY. Representational Geometries Reveal Differential Effects of Response Correlations on Population Codes in Neurophysiology and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. J Neurosci 2023; 43:4498-4512. [PMID: 37188515 PMCID: PMC10278677 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2228-22.2023] [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: 12/05/2022] [Revised: 04/05/2023] [Accepted: 05/06/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Two sensory neurons usually display trial-by-trial spike-count correlations given the repeated representations of a stimulus. The effects of such response correlations on population-level sensory coding have been the focal contention in computational neuroscience over the past few years. In the meantime, multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) has become the leading analysis approach in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), but the effects of response correlations among voxel populations remain underexplored. Here, instead of conventional MVPA analysis, we calculate linear Fisher information of population responses in human visual cortex (five males, one female) and hypothetically remove response correlations between voxels. We found that voxelwise response correlations generally enhance stimulus information, a result standing in stark contrast to the detrimental effects of response correlations reported in empirical neurophysiological studies. By voxel-encoding modeling, we further show that these two seemingly opposite effects actually can coexist within the primate visual system. Furthermore, we use principal component analysis to decompose stimulus information in population responses onto different principal dimensions in a high-dimensional representational space. Interestingly, response correlations simultaneously reduce and enhance information on higher- and lower-variance principal dimensions, respectively. The relative strength of the two antagonistic effects within the same computational framework produces the apparent discrepancy in the effects of response correlations in neuronal and voxel populations. Our results suggest that multivariate fMRI data contain rich statistical structures that are directly related to sensory information representation, and the general computational framework to analyze neuronal and voxel population responses can be applied in many types of neural measurements.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Despite the vast research interest in the effect of spike-count noise correlations on population codes in neurophysiology, it remains unclear how the response correlations between voxels influence MVPA in human imaging. We used an information-theoretic approach and showed that unlike the detrimental effects of response correlations reported in neurophysiology, voxelwise response correlations generally improve sensory coding. We conducted a series of in-depth analyses and demonstrated that neuronal and voxel response correlations can coexist within the visual system and share some common computational mechanisms. These results shed new light on how the population codes of sensory information can be evaluated via different neural measurements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zi-Jian Cheng
- Shanghai Mental Health Center, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China
- Institute of Psychology and Behavioral Science, Antai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China
| | - Lingxiao Yang
- School of Computer Science and Engineering, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan
| | - Wen-Hao Zhang
- Lyda Hill Department of Bioinformatics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390
- O'Donnell Brain Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390
| | - Ru-Yuan Zhang
- Shanghai Mental Health Center, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China
- Institute of Psychology and Behavioral Science, Antai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
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28
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Rahmati M, Curtis CE, Sreenivasan KK. Mnemonic representations in human lateral geniculate nucleus. Front Behav Neurosci 2023; 17:1094226. [PMID: 37234404 PMCID: PMC10206025 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1094226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2022] [Accepted: 04/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
There is a growing appreciation for the role of the thalamus in high-level cognition. Motivated by findings that internal cognitive state drives activity in feedback layers of primary visual cortex (V1) that target the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), we investigated the role of LGN in working memory (WM). Specifically, we leveraged model-based neuroimaging approaches to test the hypothesis that human LGN encodes information about spatial locations temporarily encoded in WM. First, we localized and derived a detailed topographic organization in LGN that accords well with previous findings in humans and non-human primates. Next, we used models constructed on the spatial preferences of LGN populations in order to reconstruct spatial locations stored in WM as subjects performed modified memory-guided saccade tasks. We found that population LGN activity faithfully encoded the spatial locations held in memory in all subjects. Importantly, our tasks and models allowed us to dissociate the locations of retinal stimulation and the motor metrics of memory-guided saccades from the maintained spatial locations, thus confirming that human LGN represents true WM information. These findings add LGN to the growing list of subcortical regions involved in WM, and suggest a key pathway by which memories may influence incoming processing at the earliest levels of the visual hierarchy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masih Rahmati
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, United States
- Division of Science and Mathematics, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Clayton E. Curtis
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, United States
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Kartik K. Sreenivasan
- Division of Science and Mathematics, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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29
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Graumann M, Wallenwein LA, Cichy RM. Independent spatiotemporal effects of spatial attention and background clutter on human object location representations. Neuroimage 2023; 272:120053. [PMID: 36966853 PMCID: PMC10112276 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2022] [Revised: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 03/23/2023] [Indexed: 04/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Spatial attention helps us to efficiently localize objects in cluttered environments. However, the processing stage at which spatial attention modulates object location representations remains unclear. Here we investigated this question identifying processing stages in time and space in an EEG and fMRI experiment respectively. As both object location representations and attentional effects have been shown to depend on the background on which objects appear, we included object background as an experimental factor. During the experiments, human participants viewed images of objects appearing in different locations on blank or cluttered backgrounds while either performing a task on fixation or on the periphery to direct their covert spatial attention away or towards the objects. We used multivariate classification to assess object location information. Consistent across the EEG and fMRI experiment, we show that spatial attention modulated location representations during late processing stages (>150 ms, in middle and high ventral visual stream areas) independent of background condition. Our results clarify the processing stage at which attention modulates object location representations in the ventral visual stream and show that attentional modulation is a cognitive process separate from recurrent processes related to the processing of objects on cluttered backgrounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monika Graumann
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Faculty of Philosophy, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Lara A Wallenwein
- Department of Psychology, Universität Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Radoslaw M Cichy
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Faculty of Philosophy, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany; Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, 10115 Berlin, Germany
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30
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Coccaro A, Di Bono MG, Maffei A, Orefice C, Lievore R, Mammarella I, Liotti M. Resting State Dynamic Reconfiguration of Spatial Attention Cortical Networks and Visuospatial Functioning in Non-Verbal Learning Disability (NVLD): A HD-EEG Investigation. Brain Sci 2023; 13:brainsci13050731. [PMID: 37239203 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13050731] [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: 03/18/2023] [Revised: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Nonverbal learning disability (NVLD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in visuospatial processing but spared verbal competencies. Neurocognitive markers may provide confirmatory evidence for characterizing NVLD as a separate neurodevelopmental disorder. Visuospatial performance and high-density electroencephalography (EEG) were measured in 16 NLVD and in 16 typically developing (TD) children. Cortical source modeling was applied to assess resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) in spatial attention networks (dorsal (DAN) and ventral attention networks (VAN)) implicated in visuospatial abilities. A machine-learning approach was applied to investigate whether group membership could be predicted from rs-FC maps and if these connectivity patterns were predictive of visuospatial performance. Graph theoretical measures were applied to nodes inside each network. EEG rs-FC maps in the gamma and beta band differentiated children with and without NVLD, with increased but more diffuse and less efficient functional connections bilaterally in the NVLD group. While rs-FC of the left DAN in the gamma range predicted visuospatial scores for TD children, in the NVLD group rs-FC of the right DAN in the delta range predicted impaired visuospatial performance, confirming that NVLD is a disorder with a predominant dysfunction in right hemisphere connectivity patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ambra Coccaro
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padova, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Via Orus 2/B, 35129 Padova, Italy
| | - Maria Grazia Di Bono
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Antonio Maffei
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padova, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Via Orus 2/B, 35129 Padova, Italy
| | - Camilla Orefice
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Rachele Lievore
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Irene Mammarella
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Mario Liotti
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padova, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Via Orus 2/B, 35129 Padova, Italy
- Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A1S6, Canada
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31
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Bedini M, Olivetti E, Avesani P, Baldauf D. Accurate localization and coactivation profiles of the frontal eye field and inferior frontal junction: an ALE and MACM fMRI meta-analysis. Brain Struct Funct 2023; 228:997-1017. [PMID: 37093304 PMCID: PMC10147761 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-023-02641-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 04/08/2023] [Indexed: 04/25/2023]
Abstract
The frontal eye field (FEF) and the inferior frontal junction (IFJ) are prefrontal structures involved in mediating multiple aspects of goal-driven behavior. Despite being recognized as prominent nodes of the networks underlying spatial attention and oculomotor control, and working memory and cognitive control, respectively, the limited quantitative evidence on their precise localization has considerably impeded the detailed understanding of their structure and connectivity. In this study, we performed an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) fMRI meta-analysis by selecting studies that employed standard paradigms to accurately infer the localization of these regions in stereotaxic space. For the FEF, we found the highest spatial convergence of activations for prosaccade and antisaccade paradigms at the junction of the precentral sulcus and superior frontal sulcus. For the IFJ, we found consistent activations across oddball/attention, working memory, task-switching and Stroop paradigms at the junction of the inferior precentral sulcus and inferior frontal sulcus. We related these clusters to previous meta-analyses, sulcal/gyral neuroanatomy, and a comprehensive brain parcellation, highlighting important differences compared to their results and taxonomy. Finally, we leveraged the ALE peak coordinates as seeds to perform a meta-analytic connectivity modeling (MACM) analysis, which revealed systematic coactivation patterns spanning the frontal, parietal, and temporal cortices. We decoded the behavioral domains associated with these coactivations, suggesting that these may allow FEF and IFJ to support their specialized roles in flexible behavior. Our study provides the meta-analytic groundwork for investigating the relationship between functional specialization and connectivity of two crucial control structures of the prefrontal cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Bedini
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Via delle Regole 101, 38123, Trento, Italy.
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, McGill Hall 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0109, USA.
| | - Emanuele Olivetti
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Via delle Regole 101, 38123, Trento, Italy
- NILab, Bruno Kessler Foundation (FBK), Via delle Regole 101, 38123, Trento, Italy
| | - Paolo Avesani
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Via delle Regole 101, 38123, Trento, Italy
- NILab, Bruno Kessler Foundation (FBK), Via delle Regole 101, 38123, Trento, Italy
| | - Daniel Baldauf
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Via delle Regole 101, 38123, Trento, Italy
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32
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Chapman AF, Chunharas C, Störmer VS. Feature-based attention warps the perception of visual features. Sci Rep 2023; 13:6487. [PMID: 37081047 PMCID: PMC10119379 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-33488-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2022] [Accepted: 04/13/2023] [Indexed: 04/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Selective attention improves sensory processing of relevant information but can also impact the quality of perception. For example, attention increases visual discrimination performance and at the same time boosts apparent stimulus contrast of attended relative to unattended stimuli. Can attention also lead to perceptual distortions of visual representations? Optimal tuning accounts of attention suggest that processing is biased towards "off-tuned" features to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio in favor of the target, especially when targets and distractors are confusable. Here, we tested whether such tuning gives rise to phenomenological changes of visual features. We instructed participants to select a color among other colors in a visual search display and subsequently asked them to judge the appearance of the target color in a 2-alternative forced choice task. Participants consistently judged the target color to appear more dissimilar from the distractor color in feature space. Critically, the magnitude of these perceptual biases varied systematically with the similarity between target and distractor colors during search, indicating that attentional tuning quickly adapts to current task demands. In control experiments we rule out possible non-attentional explanations such as color contrast or memory effects. Overall, our results demonstrate that selective attention warps the representational geometry of color space, resulting in profound perceptual changes across large swaths of feature space. Broadly, these results indicate that efficient attentional selection can come at a perceptual cost by distorting our sensory experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angus F Chapman
- Department of Psychology, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92092, USA.
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, 64 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.
| | - Chaipat Chunharas
- Cognitive Clinical and Computational Neuroscience Lab, KCMH Chula Neuroscience Center, Thai Red Cross Society, Department of Internal Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand
| | - Viola S Störmer
- Department of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
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33
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Mo C, Lu J, Shi C, Fang F. Neural representations of competing stimuli along the dorsal and ventral visual pathways during binocular rivalry. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:2734-2747. [PMID: 35689650 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2022] [Revised: 05/07/2022] [Accepted: 05/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Binocular rivalry arises when two discrepant stimuli are simultaneously presented to different eyes, during which observers consciously experience vivid perceptual alternations without physical changes in visual inputs. Neural dynamics tracking such perceptual alternations have been identified at both early and late visual areas, leading to the fundamental debate concerning the primary neural substrate underlying binocular rivalry. One promising hypothesis that might reconcile these seemingly paradoxical findings is a gradual shift from interocular competition between monocular neurons to pattern competition among binocular neurons. Here, we examined this hypothesis by investigating how neural representations of rivalrous stimuli evolved along the visual pathway. We found that representations of the dominant and the suppressed stimuli initially co-existed in V1, which were enhanced and attenuated respectively in extrastriate visual areas. Notably, neural activity in V4 was dictated by the representation of the dominant stimulus, while the representation of the suppressed stimulus was only partially inhibited in dorsal areas V3A and MT+. Our findings revealed a progressive transition from the co-existing representations of the rivalrous inputs to the dictatorial representation of the dominant stimulus in the ventral pathway, and advocated different cortical evolutionary patterns of visual representations between the dorsal and the ventral pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ce Mo
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, Guangdong, China
| | - Junshi Lu
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100087, China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing 100087, China
| | - Chao Shi
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100087, China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing 100087, China
| | - Fang Fang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100087, China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing 100087, China
- Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100087, China
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34
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Expectation violations enhance neuronal encoding of sensory information in mouse primary visual cortex. Nat Commun 2023; 14:1196. [PMID: 36864037 PMCID: PMC9981605 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36608-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2021] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 03/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The response of cortical neurons to sensory stimuli is shaped both by past events (adaptation) and the expectation of future events (prediction). Here we employed a visual stimulus paradigm with different levels of predictability to characterise how expectation influences orientation selectivity in the primary visual cortex (V1) of male mice. We recorded neuronal activity using two-photon calcium imaging (GCaMP6f) while animals viewed sequences of grating stimuli which either varied randomly in their orientations or rotated predictably with occasional transitions to an unexpected orientation. For single neurons and the population, there was significant enhancement in the gain of orientation-selective responses to unexpected gratings. This gain-enhancement for unexpected stimuli was prominent in both awake and anaesthetised mice. We implemented a computational model to demonstrate how trial-to-trial variability in neuronal responses were best characterised when adaptation and expectation effects were combined.
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35
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Levin EJ, Brissenden JA, Fengler A, Badre D. Predicted utility modulates working memory fidelity in the brain. Cortex 2023; 160:115-133. [PMID: 36841093 PMCID: PMC10023440 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.09.018] [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: 03/10/2021] [Revised: 06/15/2022] [Accepted: 09/10/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
The predicted utility of information stored in working memory (WM) is hypothesized to influence the strategic allocation of WM resources. Prior work has shown that when information is prioritized, it is remembered with greater precision relative to other remembered items. However, these paradigms often complicate interpretation of the effects of predicted utility on item fidelity due to a concurrent memory load. Likewise, no fMRI studies have examined whether the predicted utility of an item modulates fidelity in the neural representation of items during the memory delay without a concurrent load. In the current study, we used fMRI to investigate whether predicted utility influences fidelity of WM representations in the brain. Using a generative model multivoxel analysis approach to estimate the quality of remembered representations across predicted utility conditions, we observed that items with greater predicted utility are maintained in memory with greater fidelity, even when they are the only item being maintained. Further, we found that this pattern follows a parametric relationship where more predicted utility corresponded to greater fidelity. These precision differences could not be accounted for based on a redistribution of resources among already-remembered items. Rather, we interpret these results in terms of a gating mechanism that allows for pre-allocation of resources based on predicted value alone. This evidence supports a theoretical distinction between resource allocation that occurs as a result of load and resource pre-allocation that occurs as a result of predicted utility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily J Levin
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, USA; University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, USA.
| | - James A Brissenden
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Alexander Fengler
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, USA; Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, USA
| | - David Badre
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, USA; Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, USA
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Zhao C, Kong Y, Li D, Huang J, Kong L, Li X, Jensen O, Song Y. Suppression of distracting inputs by visual-spatial cues is driven by anticipatory alpha activity. PLoS Biol 2023; 21:e3002014. [PMID: 36888690 PMCID: PMC10027229 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2022] [Revised: 03/20/2023] [Accepted: 01/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/09/2023] Open
Abstract
A growing body of research demonstrates that distracting inputs can be proactively suppressed via spatial cues, nonspatial cues, or experience, which are governed by more than one top-down mechanism of attention. However, how the neural mechanisms underlying spatial distractor cues guide proactive suppression of distracting inputs remains unresolved. Here, we recorded electroencephalography signals from 110 participants in 3 experiments to identify the role of alpha activity in proactive distractor suppression induced by spatial cues and its influence on subsequent distractor inhibition. Behaviorally, we found novel changes in the spatial proximity of the distractor: Cueing distractors far away from the target improves search performance for the target, while cueing distractors close to the target hampers performance. Crucially, we found dynamic characteristics of spatial representation for distractor suppression during anticipation. This result was further verified by alpha power increased relatively contralateral to the cued distractor. At both the between- and within-subjects levels, we found that these activities further predicted the decrement of the subsequent PD component, which was indicative of reduced distractor interference. Moreover, anticipatory alpha activity and its link with the subsequent PD component were specific to the high predictive validity of distractor cue. Together, our results reveal the underlying neural mechanisms by which cueing the spatial distractor may contribute to reduced distractor interference. These results also provide evidence supporting the role of alpha activity as gating by proactive suppression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenguang Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning &IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Center for Cognition and Neuroergonomics, State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, China
- School of Systems Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- International Academic Center of Complex Systems, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, China
| | - Yuanjun Kong
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning &IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Dongwei Li
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning &IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Jing Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning &IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Center for Cognition and Neuroergonomics, State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, China
| | - Lujiao Kong
- School of Journalism and Communication, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaoli Li
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning &IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Center for Cognition and Neuroergonomics, State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, China
| | - Ole Jensen
- Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Yan Song
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning &IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
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37
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Soyuhos O, Baldauf D. Functional connectivity fingerprints of the frontal eye field and inferior frontal junction suggest spatial versus nonspatial processing in the prefrontal cortex. Eur J Neurosci 2023; 57:1114-1140. [PMID: 36789470 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15936] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2022] [Revised: 01/28/2023] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2023]
Abstract
Neuroimaging evidence suggests that the frontal eye field (FEF) and inferior frontal junction (IFJ) govern the encoding of spatial and nonspatial (such as feature- or object-based) representations, respectively, both during visual attention and working memory tasks. However, it is still unclear whether such contrasting functional segregation is also reflected in their underlying functional connectivity patterns. Here, we hypothesized that FEF has predominant functional coupling with spatiotopically organized regions in the dorsal ('where') visual stream whereas IFJ has predominant functional connectivity with the ventral ('what') visual stream. We applied seed-based functional connectivity analyses to temporally high-resolving resting-state magnetoencephalography (MEG) recordings. We parcellated the brain according to the multimodal Glasser atlas and tested, for various frequency bands, whether the spontaneous activity of each parcel in the ventral and dorsal visual pathway has predominant functional connectivity with FEF or IFJ. The results show that FEF has a robust power correlation with the dorsal visual pathway in beta and gamma bands. In contrast, anterior IFJ (IFJa) has a strong power coupling with the ventral visual stream in delta, beta and gamma oscillations. Moreover, while FEF is phase-coupled with the superior parietal lobe in the beta band, IFJa is phase-coupled with the middle and inferior temporal cortex in delta and gamma oscillations. We argue that these intrinsic connectivity fingerprints are congruent with each brain region's function. Therefore, we conclude that FEF and IFJ have dissociable connectivity patterns that fit their respective functional roles in spatial versus nonspatial top-down attention and working memory control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Orhan Soyuhos
- Centre for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Trento, Italy.,Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, California, USA
| | - Daniel Baldauf
- Centre for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
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38
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Liu Y, Zeng Z, Huang S, Shang P, Lv Z, Wang Y, Luo J, Chen J, Shi J, Huang Q, Xie H, Chen Z. Brain Activation During Working Memory Task in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment Patients and Its Association with Memory and Attention. J Alzheimers Dis 2023; 91:863-875. [PMID: 36502326 DOI: 10.3233/jad-220815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) is regarded as a transitional state of Alzheimer's disease, with working memory (WM) impairment. OBJECTIVE To investigate the brain activity in aMCI patients during WM tasks with the functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) technique, as well as explore the association between brain activity and cognitive function in multiple domains. METHODS This study is a case-control study of 54 aMCI patients and 33 cognitively healthy elderly (NC). All participants underwent neuropsychological assessments. fNIRS was applied to examine the brain activation during the WM task. Multivariable linear regression analysis was applied to evaluate associations between brain activation and cognitive function in multiple domains. RESULTS Compared to NC subjects, aMCI patients had lower activation in the bilateral prefrontal, parietal, and occipital cortex during the WM task. Additionally, activation in the left prefrontal, bilateral parietal, and occipital cortex during the encoding and maintenance phase was positively associated with memory function. During memory retrieval, higher activity in the left prefrontal, parietal, and occipital cortex were correlated with higher memory scores. Besides, a positive association also formed between attention function and the activation in the left prefrontal, parietal, and occipital cortex during the WM task. CONCLUSION These findings demonstrated that reduced activation in the prefrontal, parietal and occipital cortex during WM might reflect the risk of cognitive impairment, especially memory and attention function in aMCI patients. Given the brain activation visualization, fNIRS may be a convenient and alternative tool for screening the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yajing Liu
- Department of Critical Care Medicine, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.,Department of Neurology, First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, Guangdong, China
| | - Zhenhua Zeng
- Department of Critical Care Medicine, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Shuyun Huang
- Department of Neurology, First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, Guangdong, China
| | - Pan Shang
- Department of Neurology, First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, Guangdong, China
| | - Zeping Lv
- National Research Center for Rehabilitation Technical Aids, Rehabilitation Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Yukai Wang
- Department of Neurology, First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, Guangdong, China
| | - Jiali Luo
- Department of Neurology, First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, Guangdong, China
| | - Jinjuan Chen
- Department of Neurology, First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, Guangdong, China
| | - Jian Shi
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, China
| | - Qiaobing Huang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Shock and Microcirculation, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Baiyun District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Haiqun Xie
- Department of Neurology, First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, Guangdong, China
| | - Zhongqing Chen
- Department of Critical Care Medicine, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
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Narhi-Martinez W, Dube B, Golomb JD. Attention as a multi-level system of weights and balances. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2023; 14:e1633. [PMID: 36317275 PMCID: PMC9840663 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2022] [Revised: 10/07/2022] [Accepted: 10/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
This opinion piece is part of a collection on the topic: "What is attention?" Despite the word's place in the common vernacular, a satisfying definition for "attention" remains elusive. Part of the challenge is there exist many different types of attention, which may or may not share common mechanisms. Here we review this literature and offer an intuitive definition that draws from aspects of prior theories and models of attention but is broad enough to recognize the various types of attention and modalities it acts upon: attention as a multi-level system of weights and balances. While the specific mechanism(s) governing the weighting/balancing may vary across levels, the fundamental role of attention is to dynamically weigh and balance all signals-both externally-generated and internally-generated-such that the highest weighted signals are selected and enhanced. Top-down, bottom-up, and experience-driven factors dynamically impact this balancing, and competition occurs both within and across multiple levels of processing. This idea of a multi-level system of weights and balances is intended to incorporate both external and internal attention and capture their myriad of constantly interacting processes. We review key findings and open questions related to external attention guidance, internal attention and working memory, and broader attentional control (e.g., ongoing competition between external stimuli and internal thoughts) within the framework of this analogy. We also speculate about the implications of failures of attention in terms of weights and balances, ranging from momentary one-off errors to clinical disorders, as well as attentional development and degradation across the lifespan. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Attention Neuroscience > Cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Blaire Dube
- The Ohio State University, Department of Psychology
| | - Julie D. Golomb
- Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Julie Golomb, Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210.
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40
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Perception and memory have distinct spatial tuning properties in human visual cortex. Nat Commun 2022; 13:5864. [PMID: 36257949 PMCID: PMC9579130 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33161-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2020] [Accepted: 09/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Reactivation of earlier perceptual activity is thought to underlie long-term memory recall. Despite evidence for this view, it is unclear whether mnemonic activity exhibits the same tuning properties as feedforward perceptual activity. Here, we leverage population receptive field models to parameterize fMRI activity in human visual cortex during spatial memory retrieval. Though retinotopic organization is present during both perception and memory, large systematic differences in tuning are also evident. Whereas there is a three-fold decline in spatial precision from early to late visual areas during perception, this pattern is not observed during memory retrieval. This difference cannot be explained by reduced signal-to-noise or poor performance on memory trials. Instead, by simulating top-down activity in a network model of cortex, we demonstrate that this property is well explained by the hierarchical structure of the visual system. Together, modeling and empirical results suggest that computational constraints imposed by visual system architecture limit the fidelity of memory reactivation in sensory cortex. Neural activity from perception is thought to be reactivated during memory recall. Here, the authors show that memory reactivation in visual cortex exhibits different tuning properties from those observed during perception.
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41
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Pupil size as a robust marker of attentional bias toward nicotine-related stimuli in smokers. Psychon Bull Rev 2022; 30:596-607. [PMID: 36229711 PMCID: PMC9559544 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-022-02192-z] [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] [Accepted: 09/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
Spatial attention can be magnetically attracted by behaviorally salient stimuli. This phenomenon occasionally conflicts with behavioral goals, leading to maladaptive consequences, as in the case of addiction, in which attentional biases have been described and linked with clinically meaningful variables, such as craving level or dependence intensity. Here, we sought to probe the markers of attentional priority in smokers through eye-tracking measures, by leveraging the established link between eye movements and spatial attention. We were particularly interested in potential markers related to pupil size, because pupil diameter reflects a range of autonomic, affective, and cognitive/attentional reactions to behaviorally significant stimuli and is a robust marker of appetitive and aversive learning. We found that changes in pupil size to nicotine-related visual stimuli could reliably predict, in cross-validated logistic regression, the smoking status of young smokers (showing pupil constriction) better than more traditional proxy measures. The possibility that pupil constriction may reflect a bias toward central vision, for example, attentional capture, is discussed in terms of sensory tuning with respect to nicotine-related stimuli. Pupil size was more sensitive at lower nicotine dependence levels, and at increased abstinence time (though these two variables were collinear). We conclude that pupillometry can provide a robust marker for attentional priority computation and useful indications regarding motivational states and individual attitudes toward conditioned stimuli.
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42
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Kurki I, Hyvärinen A, Henriksson L. Dynamics of retinotopic spatial attention revealed by multifocal MEG. Neuroimage 2022; 263:119643. [PMID: 36150606 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119643] [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: 06/23/2022] [Revised: 09/16/2022] [Accepted: 09/20/2022] [Indexed: 10/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual focal attention is both fast and spatially localized, making it challenging to investigate using human neuroimaging paradigms. Here, we used a new multivariate multifocal mapping method with magnetoencephalography (MEG) to study how focal attention in visual space changes stimulus-evoked responses across the visual field. The observer's task was to detect a color change in the target location, or at the central fixation. Simultaneously, 24 regions in visual space were stimulated in parallel using an orthogonal, multifocal mapping stimulus sequence. First, we used univariate analysis to estimate stimulus-evoked responses in each channel. Then we applied multivariate pattern analysis to look for attentional effects on the responses. We found that attention to a target location causes two spatially and temporally separate effects. Initially, attentional modulation is brief, observed at around 60-130 ms post stimulus, and modulates responses not only at the target location but also in adjacent regions. A later modulation was observed from around 200 ms, which was specific to the location of the attentional target. The results support the idea that focal attention employs several processing stages and suggest that early attentional modulation is less spatially specific than late.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilmari Kurki
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Aapo Hyvärinen
- Department of Computer Science, University of Helsinki, Finland
| | - Linda Henriksson
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Finland; MEG Core and Aalto Behavioral Laboratory, Aalto NeuroImaging, Aalto University, Finland.
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43
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Zhou Y, Curtis CE, Sreenivasan KK, Fougnie D. Common Neural Mechanisms Control Attention and Working Memory. J Neurosci 2022; 42:7110-7120. [PMID: 35927036 PMCID: PMC9480871 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0443-22.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2022] [Revised: 07/10/2022] [Accepted: 07/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Although previous studies point to qualitative similarities between working memory (WM) and attention, the degree to which these two constructs rely on shared neural mechanisms remains unknown. Focusing on one such potentially shared mechanism, we tested the hypothesis that selecting an item within WM utilizes similar neural mechanisms as selecting a visible item via a shift of attention. We used fMRI and machine learning to decode both the selection among items visually available and the selection among items stored in WM in human subjects (both sexes). Patterns of activity in visual, parietal, and to a lesser extent frontal cortex predicted the locations of the selected items. Critically, these patterns were strikingly interchangeable; classifiers trained on data during attentional selection predicted selection from WM, and classifiers trained on data during selection from memory predicted attentional selection. Using models of voxel receptive fields, we visualized topographic population activity that revealed gain enhancements at the locations of the externally and internally selected items. Our results suggest that selecting among perceived items and selecting among items in WM share a common mechanism. This common mechanism, analogous to a shift of spatial attention, controls the relative gains of neural populations that encode behaviorally relevant information.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT How we allocate our attention to external stimuli that we see and to internal representations of stimuli stored in memory might rely on a common mechanism. Supporting this hypothesis, we demonstrated that not only could patterns of human brain activity predict which items were selected during perception and memory, but that these patterns were interchangeable during external and internal selection. Additionally, this generalized selection mechanism operates by changes in the gains of the neural populations both encoding attended sensory representations and storing relevant memory representations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Zhou
- Program in Psychology, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 129188
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York 10003
| | - Clayton E Curtis
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York 10003
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York 10003
| | - Kartik K Sreenivasan
- Program in Psychology, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 129188
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York 10003
- Program in Biology, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 129188
| | - Daryl Fougnie
- Program in Psychology, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 129188
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York 10003
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Graves KN, Sherman BE, Huberdeau D, Damisah E, Quraishi IH, Turk-Browne NB. Remembering the pattern: A longitudinal case study on statistical learning in spatial navigation and memory consolidation. Neuropsychologia 2022; 174:108341. [PMID: 35961387 PMCID: PMC9578695 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108341] [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: 09/21/2021] [Revised: 07/10/2022] [Accepted: 07/24/2022] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
Abstract
Distinct brain systems are thought to support statistical learning over different timescales. Regularities encountered during online perceptual experience can be acquired rapidly by the hippocampus. Further processing during offline consolidation can establish these regularities gradually in cortical regions, including the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). These mechanisms of statistical learning may be critical during spatial navigation, for which knowledge of the structure of an environment can facilitate future behavior. Rapid acquisition and prolonged retention of regularities have been investigated in isolation, but how they interact in the context of spatial navigation is unknown. We had the rare opportunity to study the brain systems underlying both rapid and gradual timescales of statistical learning using intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) longitudinally in the same patient over a period of three weeks. As hypothesized, spatial patterns were represented in the hippocampus but not mPFC for up to one week after statistical learning and then represented in the mPFC but not hippocampus two and three weeks after statistical learning. Taken together, these findings suggest that the hippocampus may contribute to the initial extraction of regularities prior to cortical consolidation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn N Graves
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, 2 Hillhouse Ave., New Haven, CT, 06520, USA.
| | - Brynn E Sherman
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, 2 Hillhouse Ave., New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - David Huberdeau
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, 2 Hillhouse Ave., New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - Eyiyemisi Damisah
- Department of Neurosurgery, Yale University, 333 Cedar St., New Haven, CT, 06510, USA
| | - Imran H Quraishi
- Department of Neurology, Yale University, 800 Howard Ave., New Haven, CT, 06519, USA
| | - Nicholas B Turk-Browne
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, 2 Hillhouse Ave., New Haven, CT, 06520, USA; Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, 100 College St, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA
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45
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Foster JJ, Ling S. Feature-Based Attention Multiplicatively Scales the fMRI-BOLD Contrast-Response Function. J Neurosci 2022; 42:6894-6906. [PMID: 35868860 PMCID: PMC9464014 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0513-22.2022] [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: 03/09/2022] [Revised: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 07/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
fMRI plays a key role in the study of attention. However, there remains a puzzling discrepancy between attention effects measured with fMRI and with electrophysiological methods. While electrophysiological studies find that attention increases sensory gain, amplifying stimulus-evoked neural responses by multiplicatively scaling the contrast-response function (CRF), fMRI appears to be insensitive to these multiplicative effects. Instead, fMRI studies typically find that attention produces an additive baseline shift in the BOLD signal. These findings suggest that attentional effects measured with fMRI reflect top-down inputs to visual cortex, rather than the modulation of sensory gain. If true, this drastically limits what fMRI can tell us about how attention improves sensory coding. Here, we examined whether fMRI is sensitive to multiplicative effects of attention using a feature-based attention paradigm designed to preclude any possible additive effects. We measured BOLD activity evoked by a probe stimulus in one visual hemifield while participants (6 male, 6 female) attended to the probe orientation (attended condition), or to an orthogonal orientation (unattended condition), in the other hemifield. To measure CRFs in visual areas V1-V3, we parametrically varied the contrast of the probe stimulus. In all three areas, feature-based attention increased contrast gain, improving sensitivity by shifting CRFs toward lower contrasts. In V2 and V3, we also found an increase in response gain, an increase in the responsivity of the CRF, that was greatest at inner eccentricities. These results provide clear evidence that the fMRI-BOLD signal is sensitive to multiplicative effects of attention.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT fMRI plays a central role in the study of attention because it allows researchers to precisely and noninvasively characterize the effects of attention throughout the brain. Electrophysiological studies have shown that attention increases sensory gain, amplifying stimulus-evoked neural responses. However, a growing body of work suggests that the BOLD signal that is measured with fMRI is not sensitive to these multiplicative effects of attention, calling into question what we can learn from fMRI about how attention improves sensory codes. Here, using a feature-based attention paradigm, we provide evidence that the BOLD signal can pick up multiplicative effects of attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua J Foster
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215
| | - Sam Ling
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215
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Attractive serial dependence overcomes repulsive neuronal adaptation. PLoS Biol 2022; 20:e3001711. [PMID: 36067148 PMCID: PMC9447932 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001711] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2021] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Sensory responses and behavior are strongly shaped by stimulus history. For example, perceptual reports are sometimes biased toward previously viewed stimuli (serial dependence). While behavioral studies have pointed to both perceptual and postperceptual origins of this phenomenon, neural data that could elucidate where these biases emerge is limited. We recorded functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) responses while human participants (male and female) performed a delayed orientation discrimination task. While behavioral reports were attracted to the previous stimulus, response patterns in visual cortex were repelled. We reconciled these opposing neural and behavioral biases using a model where both sensory encoding and readout are shaped by stimulus history. First, neural adaptation reduces redundancy at encoding and leads to the repulsive biases that we observed in visual cortex. Second, our modeling work suggest that serial dependence is induced by readout mechanisms that account for adaptation in visual cortex. According to this account, the visual system can simultaneously improve efficiency via adaptation while still optimizing behavior based on the temporal structure of natural stimuli. The coding principals of early sensory regions are in constant flux due to adaptation, but how does the brain interpret these labile signals from early sensory areas? This study finds that a visual illusion known as serial dependence can be explained by a model where readout of these early areas also changes dynamically; the model is supported by neuroimaging and behavioral data.
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47
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Cho YT, Moujaes F, Schleifer CH, Starc M, Ji JL, Santamauro N, Adkinson B, Kolobaric A, Flynn M, Krystal JH, Murray JD, Repovs G, Anticevic A. Reward and loss incentives improve spatial working memory by shaping trial-by-trial posterior frontoparietal signals. Neuroimage 2022; 254:119139. [PMID: 35346841 PMCID: PMC9264479 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2021] [Revised: 03/15/2022] [Accepted: 03/22/2022] [Indexed: 10/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Integrating motivational signals with cognition is critical for goal-directed activities. The mechanisms that link neural changes with motivated working memory continue to be understood. Here, we tested how externally cued and non-cued (internally represented) reward and loss impact spatial working memory precision and neural circuits in human subjects using fMRI. We translated the classic delayed-response spatial working memory paradigm from non-human primate studies to take advantage of a continuous numeric measure of working memory precision, and the wealth of translational neuroscience yielded by these studies. Our results demonstrated that both cued and non-cued reward and loss improved spatial working memory precision. Visual association regions of the posterior prefrontal and parietal cortices, specifically the precentral sulcus (PCS) and intraparietal sulcus (IPS), had increased BOLD signal during incentivized spatial working memory. A subset of these regions had trial-by-trial increases in BOLD signal that were associated with better working memory precision, suggesting that these regions may be critical for linking neural signals with motivated working memory. In contrast, regions straddling executive networks, including areas in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior parietal cortex and cerebellum displayed decreased BOLD signal during incentivized working memory. While reward and loss similarly impacted working memory processes, they dissociated during feedback when money won or avoided in loss was given based on working memory performance. During feedback, the trial-by-trial amount and valence of reward/loss received was dissociated amongst regions such as the ventral striatum, habenula and periaqueductal gray. Overall, this work suggests motivated spatial working memory is supported by complex sensory processes, and that the IPS and PCS in the posterior frontoparietal cortices may be key regions for integrating motivational signals with spatial working memory precision.
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Affiliation(s)
- Youngsun T Cho
- Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA; Yale University, Child Study Center, 230 South Frontage Road, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA; Connecticut Mental Health Center, Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit, 34 Park Street, 3rd floor, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA; Yale University, Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University Neuroscience Program, P.O. Box 208074, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA.
| | - Flora Moujaes
- Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Charles H Schleifer
- Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | | | - Jie Lisa Ji
- Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Nicole Santamauro
- Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Brendan Adkinson
- Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Antonija Kolobaric
- Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Morgan Flynn
- Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - John H Krystal
- Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA; Yale University, NIAAA Center for Translational Neuroscience of Alcoholism, 34 Park Street, 3rd floor, New Haven, CT 06519 USA
| | - John D Murray
- Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA; Yale University, Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University Neuroscience Program, P.O. Box 208074, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA; Yale University, Department of Physics, 217 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Grega Repovs
- University of Ljubljana, Department of Psychology
| | - Alan Anticevic
- Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA; Connecticut Mental Health Center, Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit, 34 Park Street, 3rd floor, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA; Yale University, Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University Neuroscience Program, P.O. Box 208074, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA; University of Zagreb, University Psychiatric Hospital Vrapce; Yale University, Department of Psychology, Box 208205, New Haven, CT, 06520-8205, USA; Yale University, NIAAA Center for Translational Neuroscience of Alcoholism, 34 Park Street, 3rd floor, New Haven, CT 06519 USA.
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48
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Yoo K, Rosenberg MD, Kwon YH, Lin Q, Avery EW, Sheinost D, Constable RT, Chun MM. A brain-based general measure of attention. Nat Hum Behav 2022; 6:782-795. [PMID: 35241793 PMCID: PMC9232838 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-022-01301-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2021] [Accepted: 01/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Attention is central to many aspects of cognition, but there is no singular neural measure of a person's overall attentional functioning across tasks. Here, using original data from 92 participants performing three different attention-demanding tasks during functional magnetic resonance imaging, we constructed a suite of whole-brain models that can predict a profile of multiple attentional components (sustained attention, divided attention and tracking, and working memory capacity) for novel individuals. Multiple brain regions across the salience, subcortical and frontoparietal networks drove accurate predictions, supporting a common (general) attention factor across tasks, distinguished from task-specific ones. Furthermore, connectome-to-connectome transformation modelling generated an individual's task-related connectomes from rest functional magnetic resonance imaging, substantially improving predictive power. Finally, combining the connectome transformation and general attention factor, we built a standardized measure that shows superior generalization across four independent datasets (total N = 495) of various attentional measures, suggesting broad utility for research and clinical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kwangsun Yoo
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
| | - Monica D Rosenberg
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA,Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Young Hye Kwon
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Qi Lin
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Emily W Avery
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Dustin Sheinost
- Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - R Todd Constable
- Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA,Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA,Department of Neurosurgery, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Marvin M Chun
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. .,Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. .,Department of Neuroscience, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. .,Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
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49
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van Es MWJ, Marshall TR, Spaak E, Jensen O, Schoffelen J. Phasic modulation of visual representations during sustained attention. Eur J Neurosci 2022; 55:3191-3208. [PMID: 33319447 PMCID: PMC9543919 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2020] [Revised: 12/09/2020] [Accepted: 12/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Sustained attention has long been thought to benefit perception in a continuous fashion, but recent evidence suggests that it affects perception in a discrete, rhythmic way. Periodic fluctuations in behavioral performance over time, and modulations of behavioral performance by the phase of spontaneous oscillatory brain activity point to an attentional sampling rate in the theta or alpha frequency range. We investigated whether such discrete sampling by attention is reflected in periodic fluctuations in the decodability of visual stimulus orientation from magnetoencephalographic (MEG) brain signals. In this exploratory study, human subjects attended one of the two grating stimuli, while MEG was being recorded. We assessed the strength of the visual representation of the attended stimulus using a support vector machine (SVM) to decode the orientation of the grating (clockwise vs. counterclockwise) from the MEG signal. We tested whether decoder performance depended on the theta/alpha phase of local brain activity. While the phase of ongoing activity in the visual cortex did not modulate decoding performance, theta/alpha phase of activity in the frontal eye fields and parietal cortex, contralateral to the attended stimulus did modulate decoding performance. These findings suggest that phasic modulations of visual stimulus representations in the brain are caused by frequency-specific top-down activity in the frontoparietal attention network, though the behavioral relevance of these effects could not be established.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mats W. J. van Es
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviourRadboud University NijmegenNijmegenThe Netherlands
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative NeuroimagingUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
| | - Tom R. Marshall
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviourRadboud University NijmegenNijmegenThe Netherlands
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative NeuroimagingUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
| | - Eelke Spaak
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviourRadboud University NijmegenNijmegenThe Netherlands
| | - Ole Jensen
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviourRadboud University NijmegenNijmegenThe Netherlands
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of BirminghamBirminghamUK
| | - Jan‐Mathijs Schoffelen
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviourRadboud University NijmegenNijmegenThe Netherlands
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50
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Pietrelli M, Samaha J, Postle BR. Spectral Distribution Dynamics across Different Attentional Priority States. J Neurosci 2022; 42:4026-4041. [PMID: 35387871 PMCID: PMC9097778 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2318-21.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2021] [Revised: 03/31/2022] [Accepted: 04/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Anticipatory covert spatial attention improves performance on tests of visual detection and discrimination, and shifts are accompanied by decreases and increases of α band power at electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes corresponding to the attended and unattended location, respectively. Although the increase at the unattended location is often interpreted as an active mechanism (e.g., inhibiting processing at the unattended location), most experiments cannot rule out the alternative possibility that it is a secondary consequence of selection elsewhere. To adjudicate between these accounts, we designed a Posner-style visual cueing task in which male and female human participants made orientation judgments of targets appearing at one of four locations: up, down, right, or left. Critically, trials were blocked such that within a block the locations along one meridian alternated in status between attended and unattended, and targets never appeared at the other two, making them irrelevant. Analyses of the concurrently measured EEG signal were conducted on "traditional" narrowband α (8-14 Hz), as well as on two components resulting from the decomposition of this signal: "periodic" α; and the slope of the aperiodic 1/f-like component. Although data from right-left blocks replicated the familiar pattern of lateralized asymmetry in narrowband α power, with neither α signal could we find evidence for any difference in the time course at unattended versus irrelevant locations, an outcome consistent with the secondary-consequence interpretation of attention-related dynamics in the α band. Additionally, 1/f slope was shallower at attended and unattended locations, relative to irrelevant, suggesting a tonic adjustment of physiological state.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Visual spatial attention, the prioritization of one location in the visual field, is critical for guiding behavior in cluttered environments. Although influential theories posit an important role for α band oscillations in the inhibition of processing at unattended locations, we used a novel procedure to find evidence for an alternative interpretation: selection of one location may simply result in a return to physiological baseline at all others. In addition to determining one way that attention does not work (important for future progress in this field), we also discovered novel evidence for one way that it does work: by modifying the tonic physiological state (indexed by an aperiodic component of the electroencephalography (EEG)] at locations where spatial selection is likely to occur.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mattia Pietrelli
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53719
| | - Jason Samaha
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064
| | - Bradley R Postle
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53719
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
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