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Sanada M, Katayama J. Unpleasant emotion inhibits attentional focus toward a peripheral target in a visual search: an ERP study. Exp Brain Res 2024; 242:1399-1409. [PMID: 38568333 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-024-06796-w] [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: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 01/28/2024] [Indexed: 05/23/2024]
Abstract
Previous studies have found that emotional states affect the extent of attention, and the effect has been explained by adaptive views. If the adaptive explanations are true, emotion should modulate attentional focus toward a peripheral stimulus. The present study investigated if emotion affects the focus of attention toward a peripheral target in a visual search paradigm with event-related brain potential (ERP) measurement. In each trial of the experiment, participants performed a visual search task after an emotion (unpleasant, neutral, or pleasant) was induced by presenting an international affective picture system (IAPS) image. We measured N2pc, which is an ERP index reflecting attentional focus toward a peripheral target in a visual search, and compared the amplitudes among the emotion conditions. According to the adaptive view of emotional effects on cognition, this study hypothesized that unpleasant emotion would enhance the focus of attention, and pleasant emotion would inhibit it. These hypotheses predicted that N2pc amplitude would increase with unpleasant emotion and decrease with pleasant emotion. However, this study obtained inconsistent results; N2pc amplitude decreased in the unpleasant condition, and there was no significant effect of pleasant emotion on the ERP. The results suggest that unpleasant emotion inhibited the attentional focusing process. This is the first report to examine how emotion modulates the focus of attention toward a peripheral target in a visual search by using ERP. The findings contribute to understanding the relationship between emotion and cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Motoyuki Sanada
- Department of Psychological Science, Kwansei Gakuin University (KGU), Nishinomiya, Hyogo, 662-8501, Japan.
- Center for Applied Psychological Science (CAPS), Kwansei Gakuin University, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, 662-8501, Japan.
| | - Jun'ichi Katayama
- Department of Psychological Science, Kwansei Gakuin University (KGU), Nishinomiya, Hyogo, 662-8501, Japan
- Center for Applied Psychological Science (CAPS), Kwansei Gakuin University, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, 662-8501, Japan
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Dietze N, Poth CH. Phasic alerting in visual search tasks. Atten Percept Psychophys 2024; 86:707-716. [PMID: 38240893 PMCID: PMC11062964 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-024-02844-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
Many tasks require one to search for and find important objects in the visual environment. Visual search is strongly supported by cues indicating target objects to mechanisms of selective attention, which enable one to prioritise targets and ignore distractor objects. Besides selective attention, a major influence on performance across cognitive tasks is phasic alertness, a temporary increase of arousal induced by warning stimuli (alerting cues). Alerting cues provide no specific information on whose basis selective attention could be deployed, but have nevertheless been found to speed up perception and simple actions. It is still unclear, however, how alerting affects visual search. Therefore, in the present study, participants performed a visual search task with and without preceding visual alerting cues. Participants had to report the orientation of a target among several distractors. The target saliency was low in Experiment 1 and high in Experiment 2. In both experiments, we found that visual search was faster when a visual alerting cue was presented before the target display. Performance benefits occurred irrespective of how many distractors had been presented along with the target. Taken together, the findings reveal that visual alerting supports visual search independently of the complexity of the search process and the demands for selective attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niklas Dietze
- Department of Psychology, Neuro‑Cognitive Psychology and Center for Cognitive Interaction Technology, Bielefeld University, P.O. box 10 01 31, 33501, Bielefeld, Germany.
| | - Christian H Poth
- Department of Psychology, Neuro‑Cognitive Psychology and Center for Cognitive Interaction Technology, Bielefeld University, P.O. box 10 01 31, 33501, Bielefeld, Germany
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Bussu G, Portugal AM, Wilsson L, Kleberg JL, Falck-Ytter T. Manipulation of phasic arousal by auditory cues is associated with subsequent changes in visual orienting to faces in infancy. Sci Rep 2023; 13:22072. [PMID: 38086954 PMCID: PMC10716513 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-49373-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
This eye-tracking study investigated the effect of sound-induced arousal on social orienting under different auditory cue conditions in 5-month-old (n = 25; n = 13 males) and 10-month-old infants (n = 21; n = 14 males) participating in a spontaneous visual search task. Results showed: (1) larger pupil dilation discriminating between high and low volume (b = 0.02, p = 0.007), but not between social and non-social sounds (b = 0.004, p = 0.64); (2) faster visual orienting (b = - 0.09, p < 0.001) and better social orienting at older age (b = 0.94, p < 0.001); (3) a fast habituation effect on social orienting after high-volume sounds (χ2(2) = 7.39, p = 0.025); (4) a quadratic association between baseline pupil size and target selection (b = - 1.0, SE = 0.5, χ2(1) = 4.04, p = 0.045); (5) a positive linear association between pupil dilation and social orienting (b = 0.09, p = 0.039). Findings support adaptive gain theories of arousal, extending the link between phasic pupil dilation and task performance to spontaneous social orienting in infancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgia Bussu
- Development and Neurodiversity Lab, Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Von Kraemers Alle 1C, 754 32, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Ana Maria Portugal
- Development and Neurodiversity Lab, Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Von Kraemers Alle 1C, 754 32, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Lowe Wilsson
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Johan Lundin Kleberg
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Terje Falck-Ytter
- Development and Neurodiversity Lab, Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Von Kraemers Alle 1C, 754 32, Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
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Kristjánsson Á, Kristjánsson T. Attentional priming in Go No-Go search tasks. Vision Res 2023; 213:108313. [PMID: 37689007 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2023.108313] [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: 02/06/2023] [Revised: 07/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/17/2023] [Indexed: 09/11/2023]
Abstract
Go/No-Go responses in visual search yield different estimates of the operation of visual attention than more standard present versus absent tasks. Such minor methodological tweaks have a surprisingly large effect on measures that have, for the last half-century or so, formed the backbone of prominent theories of visual attention. Secondly, priming effects in visual search have a dominating influence on visual search, accounting for effects that have been attributed to top-down guidance in standard theories. Priming effects in visual search have, however, never been investigated for searches involving Go/No-Go present/absent decisions. Here, Go/No-Go tasks were used to assess visual search for an odd-one-out face, defined either by color or facial expression. The Go/No-Go responses for the color-based task were very fast for both present and absent trials and notably, they resulted in negative slopes of RT and set size. Interestingly "Go" responses were even faster for the target absent case. The "Go" responses were, on the other hand, much slower for expression and became higher with increased set-size, particularly for the target-absent response. Priming effects were considerable for the feature search, but for expression, the target absent priming was strong, but did not occur for target present trials, arguing that repetition priming for this search mainly reflects priming of context rather than target features. Overall, the results reinforce the point that Go/No-Go tasks are highly informative for theoretical accounts of visual attention and are shown here to cast a new light on attentional priming.
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Han T, Proctor RW. Testing the saliency-based account of phasic alertness. Psychon Bull Rev 2023; 30:1857-1865. [PMID: 37069423 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-023-02292-4] [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: 04/10/2023] [Indexed: 04/19/2023]
Abstract
As an essential component of the human attention system, the effect of phasic alertness refers to the change of performance with the presence of a preceding warning signal. Weinbach and Henik (Cognition, 133 (2), 414-419, 2014) argued that phasic alertness is an adaptive mechanism that diverts attention to salient events. This mechanism enhances selective attention when the critical event is more salient than others. When selective attention to less salient details is required, phasic alertness can lead to more interference from task-irrelevant information. The experiment on which this saliency-based account of phasic alertness is based has not been replicated. In two experiments, the present study attempted to replicate the alertness-related findings of Weinbach and Henik. Although we used a similar design, the results did not reveal evidence for an interaction between phasic alertness and response congruency in the global/local processing task. Our results do not support the saliency-based account of phasic alertness. We argue that more systematic investigation is needed for this phasic alertness account.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tianfang Han
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, 703 Third St., West Lafayette, IN, USA
| | - Robert W Proctor
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, 703 Third St., West Lafayette, IN, USA.
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Kobayashi M, Ichikawa M. Emotional response evoked by viewing facial expression pictures leads to higher temporal resolution. Iperception 2023; 14:20416695231152144. [PMID: 36845026 PMCID: PMC9943968 DOI: 10.1177/20416695231152144] [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: 12/23/2021] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 02/12/2023] Open
Abstract
We examined the effects of emotional response, with different levels of valence and arousal, on the temporal resolution of visual processing by using photos of various facial expressions. As an index of the temporal resolution of visual processing, we measured the minimum lengths of the noticeable durations for desaturated photographs using the method of constant stimuli by switching colorful facial expression photographs to desaturated versions of the same photographs. Experiments 1 and 2 used facial photographs that evoke various degrees of arousal and valence. Those photographs were prepared not only in an upright orientation but also in an inverted orientation to reduce emotional response without changing the photographs' image properties. Results showed that the minimum duration to notice monochrome photographs for anger, fear, and joy was shorter than that for a neutral face when viewing upright face photographs but not when viewing inverted face photographs. For Experiment 3, we used facial expression photographs to evoke various degrees of arousal. Results showed that the temporal resolution of visual processing increased with the degree of arousal. These results suggest that the arousal of emotional responses evoked by viewing facial expressions might increase the temporal resolution of visual processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Misa Kobayashi
- Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan
- Japan Society for the Promotion
of Science, Chiyoda-ku, Japan
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Kolbeinsson Ö, Asutay E, Wallqvist J, Hesser H. Prior information can alter how sounds are perceived and emotionally regulated. Heliyon 2022; 8:e09793. [PMID: 35785226 PMCID: PMC9244733 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09793] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2021] [Revised: 03/30/2022] [Accepted: 06/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Hugo Hesser
- Linköping University, Sweden
- Örebro University, Sweden
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Kolbeinsson Ö, Asutay E, Enström M, Sand J, Hesser H. No sound is more distracting than the one you're trying not to hear: delayed costs of mental control of task-irrelevant neutral and emotional sounds. BMC Psychol 2022; 10:33. [PMID: 35189964 PMCID: PMC8862307 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-022-00751-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2021] [Accepted: 02/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Suppressing intrusive thoughts can result in a post-suppression rebound effect where the same thoughts become hyperaccessible. The current study aimed to investigate if similar so-called rebound effects could be observed when people attempted to mentally suppress awareness of nonsensical auditory stimuli. Based on previous research on thought suppression and mental control in other domains, we hypothesized that attempting to suppress awareness of a task-irrelevant sound while under cognitive load would impact evaluations of the sound on affective dimensions and loudness, and result in increased general vigilance, as evidenced by faster responding on subsequent tasks. Methods We performed two experiments where participants in a suppression condition were initially instructed to mentally suppress awareness of a sound while performing a mentally challenging task. Participants in a control condition performed the same task without receiving any instructions regarding the sound. In Experiment 1, the sound was affectively neutral, while in Experiment 2 participants were presented with an inherently aversive (tinnitus-like) sound. After this initial phase, participants performed tasks measuring vigilance and attention, and were also asked to give subjective ratings of the sounds on a number of affective dimensions and loudness. Results In Experiment 1, participants in the suppression condition showed faster response times on both a visual search task and an auditory spatial cueing task, as compared to participants in the control condition. Contrary to our predictions, participants in the suppression condition did not rate the distractor sound as louder than participants in the control condition, and there were no differences on affective dimensions. In Experiment 2, results revealed that participants in the suppression condition made more errors on a visual search task, specifically on trials where the previously suppressed sound was presented. In contrast to results from Experiment 1, participants in the suppression condition also rated the targeted sound as louder. Conclusions The findings provide preliminary support for a post-suppression rebound effect in the auditory domain and further suggest that this effect may be moderated by the emotional properties of the auditory stimulus.
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Bordia T, Zahr NM. The Inferior Colliculus in Alcoholism and Beyond. Front Syst Neurosci 2020; 14:606345. [PMID: 33362482 PMCID: PMC7759542 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2020.606345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2020] [Accepted: 11/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Post-mortem neuropathological and in vivo neuroimaging methods have demonstrated the vulnerability of the inferior colliculus to the sequelae of thiamine deficiency as occurs in Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome (WKS). A rich literature in animal models ranging from mice to monkeys-including our neuroimaging studies in rats-has shown involvement of the inferior colliculi in the neural response to thiamine depletion, frequently accomplished with pyrithiamine, an inhibitor of thiamine metabolism. In uncomplicated alcoholism (i.e., absent diagnosable neurological concomitants), the literature citing involvement of the inferior colliculus is scarce, has nearly all been accomplished in preclinical models, and is predominately discussed in the context of ethanol withdrawal. Our recent work using novel, voxel-based analysis of structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has demonstrated significant, persistent shrinkage of the inferior colliculus using acute and chronic ethanol exposure paradigms in two strains of rats. We speculate that these consistent findings should be considered from the perspective of the inferior colliculi having a relatively high CNS metabolic rate. As such, they are especially vulnerable to hypoxic injury and may be provide a common anatomical link among a variety of disparate insults. An argument will be made that the inferior colliculi have functions, possibly related to auditory gating, necessary for awareness of the external environment. Multimodal imaging including diffusion methods to provide more accurate in vivo visualization and quantification of the inferior colliculi may clarify the roles of brain stem nuclei such as the inferior colliculi in alcoholism and other neuropathologies marked by altered metabolism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanuja Bordia
- Neuroscience Program, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA, United States
| | - Natalie M. Zahr
- Neuroscience Program, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA, United States
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States
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Alarm Tones, Voice Warnings, and Musical Treatments: A Systematic Review of Auditory Countermeasures for Sleep Inertia in Abrupt and Casual Awakenings. Clocks Sleep 2020; 2:416-433. [PMID: 33118526 PMCID: PMC7711682 DOI: 10.3390/clockssleep2040031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2020] [Revised: 10/12/2020] [Accepted: 10/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Sleep inertia is a measurable decline in cognition some people experience upon and following awakening. However, a systematic review of the current up to date evidence of audio as a countermeasure has yet to be reported. Thus, to amend this gap in knowledge, the authors conducted this systematic review beginning with searches in three primary databases for studies published between the inception date of each journal and the year 2020. Search terms contained “Sleep Inertia” paired with: “Sound”; “Noise”; “Music”; “Alarm”; “Alarm Tone”; “Alarm Sound”; “Alarm Noise”; “Alarm Music”; “Alarm Clock”; “Fire Alarm”, and “Smoke Alarm”. From 341 study results, twelve were identified for inclusion against a priori conditions. A structured narrative synthesis approach generated three key auditory stimulus themes-(i) Noise, (ii) Emergency tone sequences; Voice Alarms and Hybrids, and (iii) Music. Across themes, participants have been assessed in two situational categories: emergency, and non-emergency awakenings. The results indicate that for children awakening in emergency conditions, a low pitch alarm or voice warnings appear to be more effective in counteracting the effects of sleep inertia than alarms with higher frequencies. For adults abruptly awakened, there is insufficient evidence to support firm conclusions regarding alarm types and voice signals. Positive results have been found in non-emergency awakenings for musical treatments in adults who preferred popular music, and alarms with melodic qualities. The results observed reflect the potential for sound, voice, and musical treatments to counteract sleep inertia post-awakening, and emphasize the requirements for further research in this domain.
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Abstract
The influence of arousal on visual attention was examined in 6.5-month-old infants (N = 42) in the context of a visual search task. Phasic increases in arousal were induced with brief sounds and measured with pupil dilation. Evidence was found for an inverted U-shaped relation between pupil dilation amplitude and visual orienting, with highest likelihood of a target fixation at intermediate levels of arousal. Effects were similar for facial stimuli and simple objects. Together, these results contribute to our understanding of the relation between arousal and attention in infancy. The study also demonstrates that infants have a bias to orient to human eyes, even when presented in isolation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Terje Falck‐Ytter
- Uppsala University
- Karolinska Institutet
- Swedish Collegium for Advanced Studies (SCAS)
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Bottom-up and top-down modulation of multisensory integration. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2018; 52:115-122. [PMID: 29778970 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2018.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2018] [Accepted: 05/03/2018] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Sensory perception in the real world requires proper integration of different modality inputs. Process of multisensory integration is not uniform. It varies from individual to individual and changes at different behavioral states of the animal. What factors affect multisensory integration? How does the mammalian brain reconstruct a multisensory world at different states? Here, we summarize recent findings on bottom-up and top-down factors that can modulate sensory processing and multisensory integration. We discuss cortical circuits that are responsible for modulation of multisensory processing based on recent rodent studies. We suggest that multisensory information is not a simple, fixed signal in the brain. Multisensory processing is dynamically modulated in the mammalian brain and leads to a unique and subjective experience of perception.
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