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Küçük KM, Wienke AS, Mathes B, Başar-Eroğlu C. Multistable perception elicits compensatory alpha activity in older adults. Front Aging Neurosci 2023; 15:1136124. [PMID: 37304078 PMCID: PMC10249475 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2023.1136124] [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: 01/02/2023] [Accepted: 05/08/2023] [Indexed: 06/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Multistable stimuli lead to the perception of two or more alternative perceptual experiences that spontaneously reverse from one to the other. This property allows researchers to study perceptual processes that endogenously generate and integrate perceptual information. These endogenous processes appear to be slowed down around the age of 55 where participants report significantly lower perceptual reversals. This study aimed to identify neural correlates of this aging effect during multistable perception utilizing a multistable version of the stroboscopic alternative motion paradigm (SAM: endogenous task) and a control condition (exogenous task). Specifically, age-related differences in perceptual destabilization and maintenance processes were examined through alpha responses. Electroencephalography (EEG) of 12 older and 12 young adults were recorded during SAM and control tasks. Alpha band activity (8-14 Hz) was obtained by wavelet-transformation of the EEG signal and analyzed for each experimental condition. Endogenous reversals induced gradual decrease in posterior alpha activity in young adults which is a replication of previous studies' findings. Alpha desynchronization was shifted to anterior areas and prevalent across the cortex except the occipital area for older adults. Alpha responses did not differ between the groups in the control condition. These findings point to recruitment of compensatory alpha networks for maintenance of endogenously generated percepts. Increased number of networks responsible for maintenance might have extended the neural satiation duration and led to decreased reversal rates in older adults.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Annika S. Wienke
- Bremen Initiative to Foster Early Childhood Development (BRISE), University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| | - Birgit Mathes
- Bremen Initiative to Foster Early Childhood Development (BRISE), University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
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Küçük KM, Mathes B, Schmiedt-Fehr C, Başar-Eroğlu C. Aging attenuated theta response during multistable perception. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14286. [PMID: 36912398 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14286] [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: 11/04/2021] [Revised: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 02/16/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2023]
Abstract
Multistable stimuli are physically unchanging, but elicit spontaneous perceptual reversals between multiple internally generated perceptual alternatives. Perceptual reversal rates seem to decrease in older adults; however, there is no literature on the electrophysiological correlates of this performance decrease. Here, we aimed to identify age-related changes in theta activity that relate to decreased reversal rates of older adults. Electroencephalography (EEG) of young (n = 15) and older adults (n = 15) was recorded during presentation of stroboscopic alternative motion (SAM) and a control stimulus. Time-frequency amplitudes were extracted in 4-8 Hz via Morlet wavelet convolution. Older adults had lower SAM reversals as well as decreased accuracy, increased reaction time (RT) and increased RT variability in the control task. In older adults, reversal-related frontal theta response was diminished, yet parietal theta was intact. In the parietal area, the relationship between theta response and reversal rates was robust, but in the frontal area, was dependent on age-related variance. Result indicated that, in older adults, top-down facilitation of perceptual reversals was impaired. This appears to result in a predominantly bottom-up resolution of perceptual multistability. Age-related degradation of sensory areas in this bottom-up-driven resolution process might have slowed reversals. This study presents the first electrophysiological correlates of age-related impairment in multistable perceptual integration.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Birgit Mathes
- Bremen Initiative to Foster Early Childhood Development (BRISE), University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
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Csizmadia P, Czigler I, Nagy B, Gaál ZA. Does Creativity Influence Visual Perception? - An Event-Related Potential Study With Younger and Older Adults. Front Psychol 2021; 12:742116. [PMID: 34733213 PMCID: PMC8558308 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.742116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2021] [Accepted: 09/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
We do not know enough about the cognitive background of creativity despite its significance. Using an active oddball paradigm with unambiguous and ambiguous portrait paintings as the standard stimuli, our aim was to examine whether: creativity in the figural domain influences the perception of visual stimuli; any stages of visual processing; or if healthy aging has an effect on these processes. We investigated event related potentials (ERPs) and applied ERP decoding analyses in four groups: younger less creative; younger creative; older less creative; and older creative adults. The early visual processing did not differ between creativity groups. In the later ERP stages the amplitude for the creative compared with the less creative groups was larger between 300 and 500 ms. The stimuli types were clearly distinguishable: within the 300–500 ms range the amplitude was larger for ambiguous rather than unambiguous paintings, but this difference in the traditional ERP analysis was only observable in the younger, not elderly groups, who also had this difference when using decoding analysis. Our results could not prove that visual creativity influences the early stage of perception, but showed creativity had an effect on stimulus processing in the 300–500 ms range, in indexing differences in top-down control, and having more flexible cognitive control in the younger creative group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petra Csizmadia
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.,Doctoral School of Psychology (Cognitive Science), Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary
| | - István Czigler
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Boglárka Nagy
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.,Doctoral School of Psychology (Cognitive Science), Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Zsófia Anna Gaál
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
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Weilnhammer V, Röd L, Eckert AL, Stuke H, Heinz A, Sterzer P. Psychotic Experiences in Schizophrenia and Sensitivity to Sensory Evidence. Schizophr Bull 2020; 46:927-936. [PMID: 32090246 PMCID: PMC7345814 DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbaa003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
Perceptual inference depends on an optimal integration of current sensory evidence with prior beliefs about the environment. Alterations of this process have been related to the emergence of positive symptoms in schizophrenia. However, it has remained unclear whether delusions and hallucinations arise from an increased or decreased weighting of prior beliefs relative to sensory evidence. To investigate the relation of this prior-to-likelihood ratio to positive symptoms in schizophrenia, we devised a novel experimental paradigm which gradually manipulates perceptually ambiguous visual stimuli by disambiguating stimulus information. As a proxy for likelihood precision, we assessed the sensitivity of individual participants to sensory evidence. As a surrogate for the precision of prior beliefs in perceptual stability, we measured phase duration in ambiguity. Relative to healthy controls, patients with schizophrenia showed a stronger increment in congruent perceptual states for increasing levels of disambiguating stimulus evidence. Sensitivity to sensory evidence correlated positively with the individual patients' severity of perceptual anomalies and hallucinations. Moreover, the severity of such experiences correlated negatively with phase duration. Our results indicate that perceptual anomalies and hallucinations are associated with a shift of perceptual inference toward sensory evidence and away from prior beliefs. This reduced prior-to-likelihood ratio in sensory processing may contribute to the phenomenon of aberrant salience, which has been suggested to give rise to the false inferences underlying psychotic experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veith Weilnhammer
- Department of Psychiatry, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Lukas Röd
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Anna-Lena Eckert
- Department of Psychiatry, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Einstein Center for Neurosciences Berlin, Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Heiner Stuke
- Department of Psychiatry, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Andreas Heinz
- Department of Psychiatry, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Einstein Center for Neurosciences Berlin, Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Philipp Sterzer
- Department of Psychiatry, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Einstein Center for Neurosciences Berlin, Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Pastukhov A, Kastrup P, Abs IF, Carbon CC. Switch rates for orthogonally oriented kinetic-depth displays are correlated across observers. J Vis 2019; 19:1. [PMID: 31157826 DOI: 10.1167/19.6.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
When continuously viewing multistable displays, which are compatible with several comparably likely interpretations, perception perpetually switches between available alternatives. Prior studies typically report the lack of consistent individual switch rates across different displays. However, this comparison is based on an assumption that neural representations of physically identical displays are consistent across observers. Yet, given how different individuals are already at the level of the retina, it is likely that the difference in other relevant factors might mask the correlation. To address this issue, we compared switch rates in two kinetic-depth displays (KDE) that rotated around orthogonal axes (45° counterclockwise vs. 45° clockwise relative to the vertical). This ensured that dynamics of multistable perception was based on highly similar, but different and independent neural representations. We also included a Necker cube (NC) display as a control. We report that switch rates were correlated between two kinetic-depth effect displays, but not between either of the KDE and NC displays. This demonstrates that the usual lack of correlation may not be evidence for the lack of a shared pacesetter mechanism of multistable perception, but reflect other factors, such as differently modulated inputs to competing representations. In addition, we asked participants to speed-up or slow-down perceptual alternations and found that only the former ability was correlated across different displays. This indicates that these two types of volitional control may differ in their use of attentional resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Pastukhov
- Department of General Psychology and Methodology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany.,Forschungsgruppe EPÆG (Ergonomics, Psychological Æsthetics, Gestalt), Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany
| | - Philipp Kastrup
- Department of General Psychology and Methodology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany
| | - Isabel Friederike Abs
- Department of General Psychology and Methodology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany
| | - Claus-Christian Carbon
- Department of General Psychology and Methodology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany.,Forschungsgruppe EPÆG (Ergonomics, Psychological Æsthetics, Gestalt), Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany
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Taranu M, Wimmer MC, Ross J, Farkas D, van Ee R, Winkler I, Denham SL. Children's perception of visual and auditory ambiguity and its link to executive functions and creativity. J Exp Child Psychol 2019; 184:123-138. [PMID: 31029832 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2019.03.010] [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: 10/03/2018] [Revised: 03/25/2019] [Accepted: 03/26/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
The phenomenon of perceptual bistability provides insights into aspects of perceptual processing not normally accessible to everyday experience. However, most experiments have been conducted in adults, and it is not clear to what extent key aspects of perceptual switching change through development. The current research examined the ability of 6-, 8-, and 10-year-old children (N = 66) to switch between competing percepts of ambiguous visual and auditory stimuli and links between switching rate, executive functions, and creativity. The numbers of switches participants reported in two visual tasks (ambiguous figure and ambiguous structure from motion) and two auditory tasks (verbal transformation and auditory streaming) were measured in three 60-s blocks. In addition, inhibitory control was measured with a Stroop task, set shifting was measured with a verbal fluency task, and creativity was measured with a divergent thinking task. The numbers of perceptual switches increased in all four tasks from 6 to 10 years of age but differed across tasks in that they were higher in the verbal transformation and ambigous structure-from-motion tasks than in the ambigous figure and auditory streaming tasks for all age groups. Although perceptual switching rates differed across tasks, there were predictive relationships between switching rates in some tasks. However, little evidence for the influence of central processes on perceptual switching was found. Overall, the results support the notion that perceptual switching is largely modality and task specific and that this property is already evident when perceptual switching emerges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mihaela Taranu
- Cognition Institute and School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK
| | - Marina C Wimmer
- Cognition Institute and School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK.
| | - Josephine Ross
- Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Dundee, Nethergate, Dundee DD1 4HN, Scotland, UK
| | - Dávid Farkas
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre of Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Raymond van Ee
- Biophysics, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University, 6500 GL Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department of Brain and Cognition, Leuven University, 3000 BE Leuven, Belgium; Department of Brain, Behavior and Cognition, Philips Research, High Tech Campus, 5656 AE Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - István Winkler
- Department of Cognitive Science, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Susan L Denham
- Cognition Institute and School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK
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