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White PA. The perceptual timescape: Perceptual history on the sub-second scale. Cogn Psychol 2024; 149:101643. [PMID: 38452720 DOI: 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2024.101643] [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: 08/08/2023] [Revised: 02/27/2024] [Accepted: 02/28/2024] [Indexed: 03/09/2024]
Abstract
There is a high-capacity store of brief time span (∼1000 ms) which information enters from perceptual processing, often called iconic memory or sensory memory. It is proposed that a main function of this store is to hold recent perceptual information in a temporally segregated representation, named the perceptual timescape. The perceptual timescape is a continually active representation of change and continuity over time that endows the perceived present with a perceived history. This is accomplished primarily by two kinds of time marking information: time distance information, which marks all items of information in the perceptual timescape according to how far in the past they occurred, and ordinal temporal information, which organises items of information in terms of their temporal order. Added to that is information about connectivity of perceptual objects over time. These kinds of information connect individual items over a brief span of time so as to represent change, persistence, and continuity over time. It is argued that there is a one-way street of information flow from perceptual processing either to the perceived present or directly into the perceptual timescape, and thence to working memory. Consistent with that, the information structure of the perceptual timescape supports postdictive reinterpretations of recent perceptual information. Temporal integration on a time scale of hundreds of milliseconds takes place in perceptual processing and does not draw on information in the perceptual timescape, which is concerned with temporal segregation, not integration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter A White
- School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Tower Building, Park Place, Cardiff, Wales CF10 3YG, United Kingdom.
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2
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Szaszkó B, Stolte M, Bachmann L, Ansorge U. New Evidence for Retrospectively Cued Perception. Vision (Basel) 2024; 8:5. [PMID: 38391086 PMCID: PMC10885105 DOI: 10.3390/vision8010005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2023] [Revised: 02/02/2024] [Accepted: 02/03/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Past research suggests a continuity between perception and memory, as reflected in influences of orienting of spatial attention by cues presented after a visual target offset (post-target cues) on target perception. Conducting two experiments, we tested and confirmed this claim. Our study revealed an elevated reliance on post-target cues for target detection with diminishing target visibility, leading to better performance in validly versus invalidly cued trials, indicative of contrast gain. We demonstrated this post-target cueing impact on target perception without a postcue response prompt, meaning that our results truly reflected a continuity between perception and memory rather than a task-specific impact of having to memorize the target due to a response prompt. While previous studies found an improvement in accuracy through valid compared to invalid cues using liminal targets, in Experiment 1, we further showed an influence of attention on participants' response time by the post-target cues with cues presented away from a clearly visible target. This suggests that visual interactions at the target location provided no better explanation of post-target cueing effects. Our results generalize prior research with liminal targets and confirm the view of a perception-memory continuum so that visual target processing is not shielded against visuospatial orienting of attention elicited by events following the offset of the visual target.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bence Szaszkó
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria
| | - Moritz Stolte
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria
| | - Lea Bachmann
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria
| | - Ulrich Ansorge
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria
- Vienna Cognitive Science Hub, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
- Research Platform Mediatised Lifeworlds, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
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3
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Pratte MS, Green ML. Systematic differences in visual working memory performance are not caused by differences in working memory storage. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 2023; 49:335-349. [PMID: 36729486 PMCID: PMC10141665 DOI: 10.1037/xlm0001202] [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: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
People vary in their performance on visual working memory tasks, and these individual differences covary with a wide range of higher-level cognitive processes including fluid intelligence. Performance also varies across study displays, purportedly driven by both low- and higher-level processes. Understanding what causes these sources of systematic variability has been crucial for developing theories of working memory. However, here we find that all such variability in performance on a test of visual working memory can be accounted for by concurrent variability in visual iconic memory: A person with relatively high working memory capacity will have high iconic memory capacity, and a particularly easy working memory display will also be easy under iconic memory conditions. These results are supported by a nonparametric factor analysis and hierarchical Bayesian model comparison. In a second experiment the relationship between iconic and working memory holds even when they are measured with substantially different experimental paradigms, and a third experiment suggests that the relationship between tests of iconic and working memory is driven by mechanisms other than iconic or working memory storage, such as variation in perceptual or attentional processes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Marshall L. Green
- Department of Psychology, Mississippi State University
- School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology
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4
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Chiarella SG, Simione L, D'Angiò M, Raffone A, Di Pace E. The mechanisms of selective attention in phenomenal consciousness. Conscious Cogn 2023; 107:103446. [PMID: 36508897 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2022.103446] [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: 03/14/2022] [Revised: 10/15/2022] [Accepted: 11/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
In three experiments we investigated the effects of selective attention in iconic memory and fragile-visual short-term memory (VSTM), which have been related to phenomenal consciousness. We used a novel retro-cue paradigm with different delays (early vs late) and object priorities (high vs equal vs low), to investigate (a) attentional costs and benefits and the role of (b) bottom-up factors and (c) fragile-VSTM in feature-based attentional selection. Experiment 1 showed that attentional costs modulate visual maintenance at longer delays, while Experiment 2 showed that by reducing the time exposure of the memory array from 250 ms to 100 ms, as a bottom-up factor, participants were not able to select the objects based on their priorities. Finally, Experiment 3 showed that a pattern mask presented before the transfer in visual working memory, attenuates the overall performance while preserving the priority effect. The implications for phenomenal consciousness before conscious access are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Salvatore G Chiarella
- Sapienza University of Rome, Department of Psychology, Rome, Italy; Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies (ISTC), National Research Council (CNR), Rome, Italy.
| | - Luca Simione
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies (ISTC), National Research Council (CNR), Rome, Italy
| | - Monia D'Angiò
- Sapienza University of Rome, Department of Psychology, Rome, Italy
| | - Antonino Raffone
- Sapienza University of Rome, Department of Psychology, Rome, Italy; ECONA, Interuniversity Center, Rome, Italy; School of Buddhist Studies, Philosophy, and Comparative Religions, Nalanda University, Rajgir, India
| | - Enrico Di Pace
- Sapienza University of Rome, Department of Psychology, Rome, Italy
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5
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Lu CI, Greenwald M, Lin YY, Bowyer SM. Music, Math, and Working Memory: Magnetoencephalography Mapping of Brain Activation in Musicians. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 16:866256. [PMID: 35652006 PMCID: PMC9150842 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.866256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 03/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Musical transposing is highly demanding of working memory, as it involves mentally converting notes from one musical key (i.e., pitch scale) to another key for singing or instrumental performance. Because musical transposing involves mental adjustment of notes up or down by a specific amount, it may share cognitive elements with arithmetical operations of addition and subtraction. We compared brain activity during high and low working memory load conditions of musical transposing versus math calculations in classically trained musicians. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was sensitive to differences of task and working memory load. Frontal-occipital connections were highly active during transposing, but not during math calculations. Right motor and premotor regions were highly active in the more difficult condition of the transposing task. Multiple frontal lobe regions were highly active across tasks, including the left medial frontal area during both transposing and calculation tasks but the right medial frontal area only during calculations. In the more difficult calculation condition, right temporal regions were highly active. In coherence analyses and neural synchrony analyses, several similarities were seen across calculation tasks; however, latency analyses were sensitive to differences in task complexity across the calculation tasks due to the high temporal resolution of MEG. MEG can be used to examine musical cognition and the neural consequences of music training. Further systematic study of brain activity during high versus low memory load conditions of music and other cognitive tasks is needed to illuminate the neural bases of enhanced working memory ability in musicians as compared to non-musicians.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ching-I Lu
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
- *Correspondence: Ching-I Lu,
| | - Margaret Greenwald
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
- Department of Neurology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
| | - Yung-Yang Lin
- Institute of Brain Science and Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
- Department of Critical Care Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
- Yung-Yang Lin,
| | - Susan M. Bowyer
- Department of Neurology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
- Department of Neurology, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI, United States
- Department of Physics, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, United States
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6
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De Lestrange-Anginieur E, Leung TW, Kee CS. Joint effect of defocus blur and spatial attention. Vision Res 2021; 185:88-97. [PMID: 33964585 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2021.04.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2020] [Revised: 04/04/2021] [Accepted: 04/05/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Defocus blur and spatial attention both act on our ability to see clearly over time. However, it is currently unknown how these two factors interact because studies on spatial resolution only focused on the separate effects of attention and defocus blurs. In this study, eleven participants performed a resolution acuity task along the diagonal 135˚/315˚ with horizontal, at 8˚ eccentricity for clear and blurred Landolt C images under various manipulations of covert endogenous attention. All the conditions were interleaved and viewed binocularly on a visual display. We observed that attention not just improves the resolution of clear stimuli, but also modulates the resolution of defocused stimuli for compensating the loss of resolution caused by retinal blur. Our results show, however, that as the degree of attention decreases, the differences between clear and blurred images largely diminish, thus limiting the benefit of an image quality enhancement. It also appeared that attention tends to enhance the resolution of clear targets more than blurred targets, suggesting potential variations in the gain of vision correction with the level of attention. This demonstrates that the interaction between spatial attention and defocus blur can play a role in the way we see things. In view of these findings, the development of adaptive interventions, which adjust the eye's defocus to attention, may hold promise.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - T W Leung
- School of Optometry, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
| | - C S Kee
- School of Optometry, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China; Interdisciplinary Division of Biomedical Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China
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7
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Differential impact of endogenous and exogenous attention on activity in human visual cortex. Sci Rep 2020; 10:21274. [PMID: 33277552 PMCID: PMC7718281 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-78172-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2020] [Accepted: 11/09/2020] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
How do endogenous (voluntary) and exogenous (involuntary) attention modulate activity in visual cortex? Using ROI-based fMRI analysis, we measured fMRI activity for valid and invalid trials (target at cued/un-cued location, respectively), pre- or post-cueing endogenous or exogenous attention, while participants performed the same orientation discrimination task. We found stronger modulation in contralateral than ipsilateral visual regions, and higher activity in valid- than invalid-trials. For endogenous attention, modulation of stimulus-evoked activity due to a pre-cue increased along the visual hierarchy, but was constant due to a post-cue. For exogenous attention, modulation of stimulus-evoked activity due to a pre-cue was constant along the visual hierarchy, but was not modulated due to a post-cue. These findings reveal that endogenous and exogenous attention distinctly modulate activity in visuo-occipital areas during orienting and reorienting; endogenous attention facilitates both the encoding and the readout of visual information whereas exogenous attention only facilitates the encoding of information.
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8
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Gmeindl L, Jefferies LN, Yantis S. Attention scaling modulates the effective capacity of visual sensory memory. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2020; 84:881-889. [PMID: 30368559 PMCID: PMC6486882 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-018-1114-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2018] [Accepted: 10/17/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Visual sensory memory (VSM) has a high capacity, but its contents are fleeting. Recent evidence that the breadth of attention strongly influences the efficiency of visual processing suggests that it might also modulate the effective capacity of VSM. We manipulated the breadth of attention with different cue sizes and used the partial-report technique to estimate the capacity of VSM. Whether attention was deployed voluntarily or captured by a salient cue, narrowly focused attention increased the effective capacity of VSM. This study reveals, for the first time, a direct influence of the breadth of attention on the effective capacity of VSM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leon Gmeindl
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St, Baltimore, MD, 21218-2686, USA.
| | - Lisa N Jefferies
- School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, 4222, Australia
| | - Steven Yantis
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St, Baltimore, MD, 21218-2686, USA
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9
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Tripathy SP, Öǧmen H. Sensory Memory Is Allocated Exclusively to the Current Event-Segment. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1435. [PMID: 30245646 PMCID: PMC6137426 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2017] [Accepted: 07/23/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The Atkinson-Shiffrin modal model forms the foundation of our understanding of human memory. It consists of three stores (Sensory Memory (SM), also called iconic memory, Short-Term Memory (STM), and Long-Term Memory (LTM)), each tuned to a different time-scale. Since its inception, the STM and LTM components of the modal model have undergone significant modifications, while SM has remained largely unchanged, representing a large capacity system funneling information into STM. In the laboratory, visual memory is usually tested by presenting a brief static stimulus and, after a delay, asking observers to report some aspect of the stimulus. However, under ecological viewing conditions, our visual system receives a continuous stream of inputs, which is segmented into distinct spatio-temporal segments, called events. Events are further segmented into event-segments. Here we show that SM is not an unspecific general funnel to STM but is allocated exclusively to the current event-segment. We used a Multiple-Object Tracking (MOT) paradigm in which observers were presented with disks moving in different directions, along bi-linear trajectories, i.e., linear trajectories, with a single deviation in direction at the mid-point of each trajectory. The synchronized deviation of all of the trajectories produced an event stimulus consisting of two event-segments. Observers reported the pre-deviation or the post-deviation directions of the trajectories. By analyzing observers' responses in partial- and full-report conditions, we investigated the involvement of SM for the two event-segments. The hallmarks of SM hold only for the current event segment. As the large capacity SM stores only items involved in the current event-segment, the need for event-tagging in SM is eliminated, speeding up processing in active vision. By characterizing how memory systems are interfaced with ecological events, this new model extends the Atkinson-Shiffrin model by specifying how events are stored in the first stage of multi-store memory systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Srimant P Tripathy
- School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Bradford, Bradford, United Kingdom
| | - Haluk Öǧmen
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Denver, Denver, CO, United States
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10
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Wang L, Most SB. The cost of seeing the meaning: Conceptual processing of distractors triggers localized target suppression. VISUAL COGNITION 2017. [DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2017.1321076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Lingling Wang
- Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Steven B. Most
- School of Psychology, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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11
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Awadh FHR, Phénix T, Antzaka A, Lallier M, Carreiras M, Valdois S. Cross-Language Modulation of Visual Attention Span: An Arabic-French-Spanish Comparison in Skilled Adult Readers. Front Psychol 2016; 7:307. [PMID: 27014125 PMCID: PMC4779959 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2015] [Accepted: 02/17/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
In delineating the amount of orthographic information that can be processed in parallel during a single fixation, the visual attention (VA) span acts as a key component of the reading system. Previous studies focused on the contribution of VA span to normal and pathological reading in monolingual and bilingual children from different European languages, without direct cross-language comparison. In the current paper, we explored modulations of VA span abilities in three languages –French, Spanish, and Arabic– that differ in transparency, reading direction and writing systems. The participants were skilled adult readers who were native speakers of French, Spanish or Arabic. They were administered tasks of global and partial letter report, single letter identification and text reading. Their VA span abilities were assessed using tasks that require the processing of briefly presented five consonant strings (e.g., R S H F T). All five consonants had to be reported in global report but a single cued letter in partial report. Results showed that VA span was reduced in Arabic readers as compared to French or Spanish readers who otherwise show a similar high performance in the two report tasks. The analysis of VA span response patterns in global report showed a left-right asymmetry in all three languages. A leftward letter advantage was found in French and Spanish but a rightward advantage in Arabic. The response patterns were symmetric in partial report, regardless of the language. Last, a significant relationship was found between VA span abilities and reading speed but only for French. The overall findings suggest that the size of VA span, the shape of VA span response patterns and the VA Span-reading relationship are modulated by language-specific features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faris H R Awadh
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Al Qadisiya UniversityAl Diwaniyah, Iraq; LPNC, Laboratoire de Psychologie et NeuroCognition, Université de Grenoble-AlpesGrenoble, France
| | - Thierry Phénix
- LPNC, Laboratoire de Psychologie et NeuroCognition, Université de Grenoble-Alpes Grenoble, France
| | - Alexia Antzaka
- BCBL, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language San Sebastian, Spain
| | - Marie Lallier
- BCBL, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language San Sebastian, Spain
| | - Manuel Carreiras
- BCBL, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language San Sebastian, Spain
| | - Sylviane Valdois
- LPNC, Laboratoire de Psychologie et NeuroCognition, Université de Grenoble-AlpesGrenoble, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, LPNC, UMR 5105Grenoble, France
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12
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Miller R, Weckesser LJ, Smolka MN, Kirschbaum C, Plessow F. Hydrocortisone accelerates the decay of iconic memory traces: on the modulation of executive and stimulus-driven constituents of sensory information maintenance. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2015; 53:148-58. [PMID: 25618593 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.12.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2014] [Revised: 12/02/2014] [Accepted: 12/24/2014] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
A substantial amount of research documents the impact of glucocorticoids on higher-order cognitive functioning. By contrast, surprisingly little is known about the susceptibility of basic sensory processes to glucocorticoid exposure given that the glucocorticoid receptor density in the human visual cortex exceeds those observed in prefrontal and most hippocampal brain regions. As executive tasks also rely on these sensory processes, the present study investigates the impact of glucocorticoid exposure on different performance parameters characterizing the maintenance and transfer of sensory information from iconic memory (IM; the sensory buffer of the visual system) to working memory (WM). Using a crossover factorial design, we administered one out of three doses of hydrocortisone (0.06, 0.12, or 0.24mg/kg bodyweight) and a placebo to 18 healthy young men. Thereafter participants performed a partial report task, which was used to assess their individual ability to process sensory information. Blood samples were concurrently drawn to determine free and total cortisol concentrations. The compiled pharmacokinetic and psychophysical data demonstrates that free cortisol specifically accelerated the decay of sensory information (r=0.46) without significantly affecting the selective information transfer from IM to WM or the capacity limit of WM. Specifically, nonparametric regression revealed a sigmoid dose-response relationship between free cortisol levels during the testing period and the IM decay rates. Our findings highlight that glucocorticoid exposure may not only impact on the recruitment of top-down control for an active maintenance of sensory information, but alter their passive (stimulus-driven) maintenance thereby changing the availability of information prior to subsequent executive processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Miller
- Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
| | - Lisa J Weckesser
- Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Michael N Smolka
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuroimaging Center, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Clemens Kirschbaum
- Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Franziska Plessow
- Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany; Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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13
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Mack A, Erol M, Clarke J. Iconic memory is not a case of attention-free awareness. Conscious Cogn 2015; 33:291-9. [PMID: 25681698 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2014.12.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2014] [Revised: 12/17/2014] [Accepted: 12/18/2014] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Whether or not awareness entails attention is a much debated question. Since iconic memory has been generally assumed to be attention-free, it has been considered an important piece of evidence that it does not (Koch & Tsuchiya, 2007). Therefore the question of the role of attention in iconic memory matters. Recent evidence (Persuh, Genzer, & Melara, 2012), suggests that iconic memory does depend on attention. Because of the centrality of iconic memory to this debate, we looked again at the role of attention in iconic memory using a standard whole versus partial report task of letters in a 3×2 matrix. We manipulated attention to the array by coupling it with a second task that was either easy or hard and by manipulating the probability of which task was to be performed on any given trial. When attention was maximally diverted from the matrix, participants were able to report less than a single item, confirming the prior results and supporting the conclusion that iconic memory entails attention. It is not an instance of attention-free awareness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arien Mack
- New School for Social Research, United States.
| | - Muge Erol
- New School for Social Research, United States
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14
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Stevenson RJ, Mahmut M. Evidence that phenomenal olfactory content exceeds what can later be accessed. Conscious Cogn 2014; 30:210-9. [DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2014.09.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2014] [Revised: 09/07/2014] [Accepted: 09/22/2014] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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15
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Abstract
Human vision briefly retains a trace of a stimulus after it disappears. This trace—iconic memory—is often believed to be a surrogate for the original stimulus, a representational structure that can be used as if the original stimulus were still present. To investigate its nature, a flicker-search paradigm was developed that relied upon a full scan (rather than partial report) of its contents. Results show that for visual search it can indeed act as a surrogate, with little cost for alternating between visible and iconic representations. However, the duration over which it can be used depends on the type of task: some tasks can use iconic memory for at least 240 ms, others for only about 190 ms, while others for no more than about 120 ms. The existence of these different limits suggests that iconic memory may have multiple layers, each corresponding to a particular level of the visual hierarchy. In this view, the inability to use a layer of iconic memory may reflect an inability to maintain feedback connections to the corresponding representation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ronald A Rensink
- Department of Psychology and Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada
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16
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Action video game playing is associated with improved visual sensitivity, but not alterations in visual sensory memory. Atten Percept Psychophys 2014; 75:1161-7. [PMID: 23709062 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-013-0472-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Action video game playing has been experimentally linked to a number of perceptual and cognitive improvements. These benefits are captured through a wide range of psychometric tasks and have led to the proposition that action video game experience may promote the ability to extract statistical evidence from sensory stimuli. Such an advantage could arise from a number of possible mechanisms: improvements in visual sensitivity, enhancements in the capacity or duration for which information is retained in visual memory, or higher-level strategic use of information for decision making. The present study measured the capacity and time course of visual sensory memory using a partial report performance task as a means to distinguish between these three possible mechanisms. Sensitivity measures and parameter estimates that describe sensory memory capacity and the rate of memory decay were compared between individuals who reported high evels and low levels of action video game experience. Our results revealed a uniform increase in partial report accuracy at all stimulus-to-cue delays for action video game players but no difference in the rate or time course of the memory decay. The present findings suggest that action video game playing may be related to enhancements in the initial sensitivity to visual stimuli, but not to a greater retention of information in iconic memory buffers.
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17
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Effects of brief time delays on matching-to-sample abilities in capuchin monkeys (Sapajus spp.). Behav Brain Res 2014; 271:240-8. [PMID: 24861708 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2014.05.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2013] [Revised: 05/09/2014] [Accepted: 05/15/2014] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Traditionally, studies of delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) tasks in nonhuman species have focused on the assessment of the limits of the retrieval of information stored in short- and long-term memory systems. However, it is still unclear if visual recognition in these tasks is affected by very brief delay intervals, which are typically used to study rapidly decaying types of visual memory. This study aimed at evaluating if tufted capuchin monkeys' ability to recognise visual stimuli in a DMTS task is affected by (i) the disappearance of the sample stimulus and (ii) the introduction of delay intervals (0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0s) between the disappearance of the sample and the presentation of the comparison stimuli. The results demonstrated that the simple disappearance of the sample and the introduction of a delay of 0.5s did not affect capuchins' performance either in terms of accuracy or response time. A delay interval of 1.0s produced a significant increase in response time but still did not affect recognition accuracy. By contrast, delays of 2.0 and 3.0s determined a significant increase in response time and a reduction in recognition accuracy. These findings indicate the existence in capuchin monkeys of processes enabling a very accurate retention of stimulus features within time frames comparable to those reported for humans' sensory memory (0.5-1.0s). The extent to which such processes can be considered analogous to the sensory memory processes observed in human visual cognition is discussed.
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Shimi A, Nobre AC, Astle D, Scerif G. Orienting attention within visual short-term memory: development and mechanisms. Child Dev 2013; 85:578-92. [PMID: 23937596 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
How does developing attentional control operate within visual short-term memory (VSTM)? Seven-year-olds, 11-year-olds, and adults (total n = 205) were asked to report whether probe items were part of preceding visual arrays. In Experiment 1, central or peripheral cues oriented attention to the location of to-be-probed items either prior to encoding or during maintenance. Cues improved memory regardless of their position, but younger children benefited less from cues presented during maintenance, and these benefits related to VSTM span over and above basic memory in uncued trials. In Experiment 2, cues of low validity eliminated benefits, suggesting that even the youngest children use cues voluntarily, rather than automatically. These findings elucidate the close coupling between developing visuospatial attentional control and VSTM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian C. Ruff
- Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research (SNS Lab); Department of Economics, University of Zurich; Zurich Switzerland
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Bergmann HC, Kiemeneij A, Fernández G, Kessels RPC. Early and late stages of working-memory maintenance contribute differentially to long-term memory formation. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2013; 143:181-90. [PMID: 23584559 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2013.02.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2011] [Revised: 02/18/2013] [Accepted: 02/25/2013] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The present paper investigated the role of early and late stages of working-memory maintenance, which have been suggested to differentially contribute to long-term memory formation. In experiment 1, we administered a delayed-match-to-sample task, requiring participants to remember line drawings of non-sense three-dimensional stimuli. In the delay phase, participants were either presented with a fixation cross (for 2 or 9s) or with one of two different interference tasks, varying in visual overlap with the target. The interference task was presented 1.5, 4.5 or 7.5s after target offset. Early interfering and early probing disproportionately affected performance on an unexpected subsequent recognition-memory task compared to later interference or probing. This was not modulated by the type of interference task. In Experiment 2, we examined whether the formation of a holistic internal code of the target may be a gradual process. An analogous delayed-match-to-sample task was administered, with interference after 0.5, 2.5 or 4.5s after target offset. The early and middle interference condition similarly disproportionately affected performance compared to later interference. Hence, the present results support the view of a functional dissociation between early and late stages of working-memory maintenance and that early working-memory processes contribute particularly to long-term memory formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heiko C Bergmann
- Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
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21
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Barban F, Daniele Zannino G, Macaluso E, Caltagirone C, Carlesimo GA. Letters persistence after physical offset: Visual word form area and left planum temporale. An fMRI study. Hum Brain Mapp 2013; 34:1282-92. [DOI: 10.1002/hbm.21509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2011] [Revised: 09/13/2011] [Accepted: 10/11/2011] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Barban
- Clinical and Behavioural Neurology Laboratory, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
- Neuroimaging Laboratory, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Gian Daniele Zannino
- Clinical and Behavioural Neurology Laboratory, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Carlo Caltagirone
- Clinical and Behavioural Neurology Laboratory, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
- Institute of Neurology, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Italy
| | - Giovanni A. Carlesimo
- Clinical and Behavioural Neurology Laboratory, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
- Institute of Neurology, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Italy
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22
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Sergent C, Wyart V, Babo-Rebelo M, Cohen L, Naccache L, Tallon-Baudry C. Cueing attention after the stimulus is gone can retrospectively trigger conscious perception. Curr Biol 2012; 23:150-5. [PMID: 23246406 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.11.047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2012] [Revised: 10/12/2012] [Accepted: 11/23/2012] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Is our perceptual experience of a stimulus entirely determined during the early buildup of the sensory representation, within 100 to 150 ms following stimulation? Or can later influences, such as sensory reactivation, still determine whether we become conscious of a stimulus? Late visual reactivation can be experimentally induced by postcueing attention after visual stimulus offset. In a contrary approach from previous work on postcued attention and visual short-term memory, which used multiple item displays, we tested the influence of postcued attention on perception, using a single visual stimulus (Gabor patch) at threshold contrast. We showed that attracting attention to the stimulus location 100 to 400 ms after presentation still drastically improved the viewers' objective capacity to detect its presence and to discriminate its orientation, along with drastic increase in subjective visibility. This retroperception effect demonstrates that postcued attention can retrospectively trigger the conscious perception of a stimulus that would otherwise have escaped consciousness. It was known that poststimulus events could either suppress consciousness, as in masking, or alter conscious content, as in the flash-lag illusion. Our results show that conscious perception can also be triggered by an external event several hundred ms after stimulus offset, underlining unsuspected temporal flexibility in conscious perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire Sergent
- Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception, UMR 8158, CNRS/Université Paris Descartes, 75006 Paris, France.
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Sander MC, Lindenberger U, Werkle-Bergner M. Lifespan age differences in working memory: a two-component framework. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2012; 36:2007-33. [PMID: 22771333 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2012.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 91] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2011] [Revised: 05/29/2012] [Accepted: 06/12/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
We suggest that working memory (WM) performance can be conceptualized as the interplay of low-level feature binding processes and top-down control, relating to posterior and frontal brain regions and their interaction in a distributed neural network. We propose that due to age-differential trajectories of posterior and frontal brain regions top-down control processes are not fully mature until young adulthood and show marked decline with advancing age, whereas binding processes are relatively mature in children, but show senescent decline in older adults. A review of the literature spanning from middle childhood to old age shows that binding and top-down control processes undergo profound changes across the lifespan. We illustrate commonalities and dissimilarities between children, younger adults, and older adults reflecting the change in the two components' relative contribution to visual WM performance across the lifespan using results from our own lab. We conclude that an integrated account of visual WM lifespan changes combining research from behavioral neuroscience and cognitive psychology of child development as well as aging research opens avenues to advance our understanding of cognition in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Myriam C Sander
- Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Center for Lifespan Psychology, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
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24
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Neural correlates of temporal integration in face recognition: An fMRI study. Neuroimage 2012; 61:1287-99. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.02.073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2011] [Revised: 02/14/2012] [Accepted: 02/25/2012] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
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Persuh M, Genzer B, Melara RD. Iconic memory requires attention. Front Hum Neurosci 2012; 6:126. [PMID: 22586389 PMCID: PMC3345872 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2012] [Accepted: 04/19/2012] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Two experiments investigated whether attention plays a role in iconic memory, employing either a change detection paradigm (Experiment 1) or a partial-report paradigm (Experiment 2). In each experiment, attention was taxed during initial display presentation, focusing the manipulation on consolidation of information into iconic memory, prior to transfer into working memory. Observers were able to maintain high levels of performance (accuracy of change detection or categorization) even when concurrently performing an easy visual search task (low load). However, when the concurrent search was made difficult (high load), observers' performance dropped to almost chance levels, while search accuracy held at single-task levels. The effects of attentional load remained the same across paradigms. The results suggest that, without attention, participants consolidate in iconic memory only gross representations of the visual scene, information too impoverished for successful detection of perceptual change or categorization of features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marjan Persuh
- Program in Cognitive Neuroscience, City College, City University of New York NY, USA
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26
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Bor D, Seth AK. Consciousness and the prefrontal parietal network: insights from attention, working memory, and chunking. Front Psychol 2012; 3:63. [PMID: 22416238 PMCID: PMC3298966 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2011] [Accepted: 02/18/2012] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Consciousness has of late become a “hot topic” in neuroscience. Empirical work has centered on identifying potential neural correlates of consciousness (NCCs), with a converging view that the prefrontal parietal network (PPN) is closely associated with this process. Theoretical work has primarily sought to explain how informational properties of this cortical network could account for phenomenal properties of consciousness. However, both empirical and theoretical research has given less focus to the psychological features that may account for the NCCs. The PPN has also been heavily linked with cognitive processes, such as attention. We describe how this literature is under-appreciated in consciousness science, in part due to the increasingly entrenched assumption of a strong dissociation between attention and consciousness. We argue instead that there is more common ground between attention and consciousness than is usually emphasized: although objects can under certain circumstances be attended to in the absence of conscious access, attention as a content selection and boosting mechanism is an important and necessary aspect of consciousness. Like attention, working memory and executive control involve the interlinking of multiple mental objects and have also been closely associated with the PPN. We propose that this set of cognitive functions, in concert with attention, make up the core psychological components of consciousness. One related process, chunking, exploits logical or mnemonic redundancies in a dataset so that it can be recoded and a given task optimized. Chunking has been shown to activate PPN particularly robustly, even compared with other cognitively demanding tasks, such as working memory or mental arithmetic. It is therefore possible that chunking, as a tool to detect useful patterns within an integrated set of intensely processed (attended) information, has a central role to play in consciousness. Following on from this, we suggest that a key evolutionary purpose of consciousness may be to provide innovative solutions to complex or novel problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Bor
- Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex Brighton, UK
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27
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Bachmann T. Attention as a process of selection, perception as a process of representation, and phenomenal experience as the resulting process of perception being modulated by a dedicated consciousness mechanism. Front Psychol 2011; 2:387. [PMID: 22232612 PMCID: PMC3247680 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00387] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2011] [Accepted: 12/08/2011] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Equivalence of attention and consciousness is disputed and necessity of attentional effects for conscious experience has become questioned. However, the conceptual landscape and interpretations of empirical evidence as related to this issue have remained controversial. Here I present some conceptual distinctions and research strategies potentially useful for moving forward when tackling this issue. Specifically, it is argued that we should carefully differentiate between pre-conscious processes and the processes resulting in phenomenal experience, move the emphasis from studying the effects of attention on the modality-specific and feature-specific perception to studying attentional effects on panmodal universal attributes of whatever conscious experience may be the case, and acknowledge that there is a specialized mechanism for leading to conscious experience of the pre-consciously represented contents autonomous from the mechanisms of perception, attention, memory, and cognitive control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Talis Bachmann
- Department of Psychology and Institute of Law, University of TartuTartu, Estonia
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28
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Kuo BC, Rotshtein P, Yeh YY. Attentional modulation of perceptual comparison for feature binding. Brain Cogn 2011; 77:335-44. [PMID: 22055622 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2011.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2011] [Revised: 08/22/2011] [Accepted: 10/10/2011] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Bo-Cheng Kuo
- Department of Psychology and Research Center for Mind, Brain & Learning, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan
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29
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Broadway JM, Hilimire MR, Corballis PM. Orienting to external versus internal regions of space: consequences of attending in advance versus after the fact. Psychophysiology 2011; 49:357-68. [PMID: 22091588 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2011.01307.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2011] [Accepted: 09/02/2011] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
We examined effects of knowing where to attend to-be-remembered information in advance versus after the fact. Participants performed a visuospatial short-term memory task with orienting cues that appeared before or after a memory display and reported whether a probe item had appeared on the cued side. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded for cues, memory displays, and probes. Performance was better in precued versus postcued conditions. ERPs to orienting cues and memory displays were lateralized in relation to the direction of attention in precued but not postcued conditions. ERPs to recognition probes were lateralized, but this was similar between pre- and postcued conditions. Results suggest that we can orient visuospatial attention outwardly to external events and inwardly to remembered events alike, but knowing where to attend information in advance gives a bigger boost to brain and behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- James M Broadway
- Department of Psychology,Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA30332, USA.
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30
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Thurgood C, Whitfield TA, Patterson J. Towards a visual recognition threshold: New instrument shows humans identify animals with only 1ms of visual exposure. Vision Res 2011; 51:1966-71. [DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2011.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2010] [Revised: 05/17/2011] [Accepted: 07/06/2011] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Sergent C, Ruff CC, Barbot A, Driver J, Rees G. Top–Down Modulation of Human Early Visual Cortex after Stimulus Offset Supports Successful Postcued Report. J Cogn Neurosci 2011; 23:1921-34. [DOI: 10.1162/jocn.2010.21553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Modulations of sensory processing in early visual areas are thought to play an important role in conscious perception. To date, most empirical studies focused on effects occurring before or during visual presentation. By contrast, several emerging theories postulate that sensory processing and conscious visual perception may also crucially depend on late top–down influences, potentially arising after a visual display. To provide a direct test of this, we performed an fMRI study using a postcued report procedure. The ability to report a target at a specific spatial location in a visual display can be enhanced behaviorally by symbolic auditory postcues presented shortly after that display. Here we showed that such auditory postcues can enhance target-specific signals in early human visual cortex (V1 and V2). For postcues presented 200 msec after stimulus termination, this target-specific enhancement in visual cortex was specifically associated with correct conscious report. The strength of this modulation predicted individual levels of performance in behavior. By contrast, although later postcues presented 1000 msec after stimulus termination had some impact on activity in early visual cortex, this modulation no longer related to conscious report. These results demonstrate that within a critical time window of a few hundred milliseconds after a visual stimulus has disappeared, successful conscious report of that stimulus still relates to the strength of top–down modulation in early visual cortex. We suggest that, within this critical time window, sensory representation of a visual stimulus is still under construction and so can still be flexibly influenced by top–down modulatory processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire Sergent
- 1University College London, UK
- 2UPCM-INSERM-CNRS, Paris CRICM, France
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33
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Astle D, Nobre A, Scerif G. Attentional control constrains visual short-term memory: insights from developmental and individual differences. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2011; 65:277-94. [PMID: 20680889 PMCID: PMC4152725 DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2010.492622] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
The mechanisms by which attentional control biases mnemonic representations have attracted much interest but remain poorly understood. As attention and memory develop gradually over childhood and variably across individuals, assessing how participants of different ages and ability attend to mnemonic contents can elucidate their interplay. In Experiment 1, 7-year-olds, 10-year-olds, and adults were asked to report whether a probe item had been part of a previously presented four-item array. The initial array could either be uncued, be preceded ("precued"), or followed ("retrocued") by a spatial cue orienting attention to one of the potential item locations. Performance across groups was significantly improved by both cue types, and individual differences in children's retrospective attentional control predicted their visual short-term and working memory span, whereas their basic ability to remember in the absence of cues did not. Experiment 2 imposed a variable delay between the array and the subsequent orienting cue. Cueing benefits were greater in adults than in 10-year-olds, but they persisted even when cues followed the array by nearly 3 seconds, suggesting that orienting operated on durable short-term representations for both age groups. The findings indicate that there are substantial developmental and individual differences in the ability to control attention to memory and that in turn these differences constrain visual short-term memory capacity.
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Affiliation(s)
- D.E. Astle
- Department of Experimental Psychology University of Oxford
| | - A.C. Nobre
- Department of Experimental Psychology University of Oxford
| | - G. Scerif
- Department of Experimental Psychology University of Oxford
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34
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Abstract
Images that are presented with targets of an unrelated detection task are better remembered than images that are presented with distractors (the attentional boost effect). The likelihood that any of three mechanisms, attentional cuing, prediction-based reinforcement learning, and perceptual grouping, underlies this effect depends in part on how it is modulated by the relative timing of the target and image. Three experiments demonstrated that targets and images must overlap in time for the enhancement to occur; targets that appear 100 ms before or 100 ms after the image without temporally overlapping with it do not enhance memory of the image. However, targets and images need not be synchronized. A fourth experiment showed that temporal overlap of the image and target is not sufficient, as detecting targets did not enhance the processing of task-irrelevant images. These experiments challenge several simple accounts of the attentional boost effect based on attentional cuing, reinforcement learning, and perceptual grouping.
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Saevarsson S, Halsband U, Kristjansson A. Designing rehabilitation programs for neglect: could 2 be more than 1+1? APPLIED NEUROPSYCHOLOGY 2011; 18:95-106. [PMID: 21660761 PMCID: PMC4544767 DOI: 10.1080/09084282.2010.547774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Unilateral neglect is a multimodal neuropsychological disorder that has puzzled scientists for a long time. Many interventions have been developed, but only a handful has proven to be effective. This review examines whether applying different therapeutic techniques in combination will increase therapeutic benefits. Studies were reviewed where therapies are applied sequentially or in combination with other techniques. The results indicate that combining different interventions leads to increased general improvement compared with other noncombined designs, even when the number of treatment sessions is not constant. Practical and theoretical aspects of different treatments are discussed. The combined approach to treatment may have direct relevance to disorders other than neglect. This report introduces a new classification scheme for different interventions with the aim of facilitating more focused therapy. Finally, suggestions are made as to what the focus of future studies of neglect therapy should be and how therapeutic benefits might be maximized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Styrmir Saevarsson
- Department of Psychology, Neuropsychology, University of Freiburg, Germany.
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36
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Houtkamp R, Braun J. Cortical response to task-relevant stimuli presented outside the primary focus of attention. J Cogn Neurosci 2011; 22:1980-92. [PMID: 19702464 DOI: 10.1162/jocn.2009.21327] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Visual attention selectively enhances the neural response to a task-relevant item. But what happens when an item outside the primary focus of attention is also relevant to the task at hand? In a dual-task fMRI experiment, we studied the responses in retinotopically organized visual cortex in such a situation. Observers performed an attention-demanding task in the fovea while another, unmasked stimulus appeared in the visual periphery. With respect to this latter stimulus, observers attempted to perform either a less or a more attentionally demanding task. Both tasks increased the BOLD response to the peripheral stimulus. Behaviorally, however, only the less demanding task was performed well, whereas the demanding task was carried out near chance. What could explain the discrepancy between BOLD response and behavioral performance? A control experiment revealed that the report of the less demanding feature was severely disturbed by a mask. Moreover, the visual attributes queried by the demanding task had a significantly shorter iconic memory persistence. We conclude that, in the dual-task situation, the focus of attention initially remains with the foveal task, but subsequently shifts to the former location of the peripheral stimulus. Such a belated shift to a peripheral iconic memory (futile in one case, informative in the other) would reconcile the similar BOLD response with the disparate behavioral performance. In summary, our results show that an enhanced BOLD response is consistently associated with attentional modulation, but not with behavioral performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roos Houtkamp
- Otto-von-Guericke Universität, Department of Cognitive Biology, Magdeburg, Germany.
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37
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Kuo BC, Yeh YY, Chen AJW, D'Esposito M. Functional connectivity during top-down modulation of visual short-term memory representations. Neuropsychologia 2011; 49:1589-96. [PMID: 21241721 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.12.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2010] [Revised: 12/21/2010] [Accepted: 12/30/2010] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Recent evidence has revealed that short-lived internal representations held in visual short-term memory (VSTM) can be modulated by top-down control via retrospective attention which impacts subsequent behavioral performance. However, the functional inter-regional interactions underlying these top-down modulatory effects are not fully characterized. Here we used event-related functional magnetic imaging to investigate whether the strength of functional connectivity between the frontal cortex and posterior visual areas varies with the efficacy of top-down modulation of memory traces. Top-down modulation was manipulated by the timing of retro-cuing (early or late) in a VSTM task. Univariate analyses revealed that more effective top-down modulation (early cueing vs. late cueing) increased activity in early visual areas. Importantly, coherency analyses revealed that top-down modulation produced stronger functional connectivity between frontal and posterior occipital regions. Also, participants with stronger functional connectivity exhibit better memory performance. These results suggest that augmented functional connectivity between frontal and posterior visual areas strengthens the VSTM representations of importance to behavioral goals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo-Cheng Kuo
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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38
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Miller R, Rammsayer TH, Schweizer K, Troche SJ. Decay of iconic memory traces is related to psychometric intelligence: A fixed-links modeling approach. LEARNING AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/j.lindif.2010.08.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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39
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Blaser E, Kaldy Z. Infants get five stars on iconic memory tests: a partial-report test of 6-month-old infants' iconic memory capacity. Psychol Sci 2010; 21:1643-5. [PMID: 20923928 PMCID: PMC4578158 DOI: 10.1177/0956797610385358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Erik Blaser
- Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125, USA.
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Saevarsson S, Kristjansson A, Halsband U. Strength in numbers: combining neck vibration and prism adaptation produces additive therapeutic effects in unilateral neglect. Neuropsychol Rehabil 2010; 20:704-24. [PMID: 20503132 PMCID: PMC3129649 DOI: 10.1080/09602011003737087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Unilateral neglect is a multifaceted disorder. Many authors have, for this reason, speculated that the best treatment for neglect will involve combinations of different therapeutic techniques. Two well-known interventions, neck vibration (NV) and prism adaptation (PA), have often been considered to be among the most effective treatments for neglect. Here, two experiments were performed to explore possible additive benefits when these interventions are used in combination to treat chronic neglect. Both experimental groups received NV for 20 minutes, while the second group received simultaneous PA. The effects of treatment were measured with a time-restricted and feedback-based visual search task, which has previously been found to abolish the beneficial effects of PA, and with standard neglect tests. Baseline and intervention measures were performed on separate days. Findings for both groups indicated improved visual search following intervention, but the patients that underwent the combined intervention (NVPA) showed clear improvements on visual search paper and pencil neglect tests unlike the NV-only group. Overall, our results suggest that PA strengthens the effects of NV and that feedback-based tasks do not abolish the beneficial effects of PA, when NV is applied simultaneously. The results support the view that the most effective treatment for neglect will involve the combination of different treatments.
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Hulme OJ, Whiteley L, Shipp S. Spatially distributed encoding of covert attentional shifts in human thalamus. J Neurophysiol 2010; 104:3644-56. [PMID: 20844113 PMCID: PMC3007633 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00303.2010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Spatial attention modulates signal processing within visual nuclei of the thalamus—but do other nuclei govern the locus of attention in top-down mode? We examined functional MRI (fMRI) data from three subjects performing a task requiring covert attention to 1 of 16 positions in a circular array. Target position was cued after stimulus offset, requiring subjects to perform target detection from iconic visual memory. We found positionally specific responses at multiple thalamic sites, with individual voxels activating at more than one direction of attentional shift. Voxel clusters at anatomically equivalent sites across subjects revealed a broad range of directional tuning at each site, with little sign of contralateral bias. By reference to a thalamic atlas, we identified the nuclear correspondence of the four most reliably activated sites across subjects: mediodorsal/central-intralaminar (oculomotor thalamus), caudal intralaminar/parafascicular, suprageniculate/limitans, and medial pulvinar/lateral posterior. Hence, the cortical network generating a top-down control signal for relocating attention acts in concert with a spatially selective thalamic apparatus—the set of active nuclei mirroring the thalamic territory of cortical “eye-field” areas, thus supporting theories which propose the visuomotor origins of covert attentional selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oliver J Hulme
- Department of Vision Science, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, 11-43 Bath Street, London EC1V 9EL, UK
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Disruption of spatial memory in visual search in the left visual field in patients with hemispatial neglect. Vision Res 2010; 50:1426-35. [DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2010.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2009] [Revised: 02/02/2010] [Accepted: 03/01/2010] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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LI BY, XU BH, CUI XY, SHENG F, LEI JY. The Role of Iconic Memory in Visual Search under Dynamic Condition. ACTA PSYCHOLOGICA SINICA 2010. [DOI: 10.3724/sp.j.1041.2010.00485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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44
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Where perception meets memory: A review of repetition priming in visual search tasks. Atten Percept Psychophys 2010; 72:5-18. [DOI: 10.3758/app.72.1.5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 259] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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45
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Cattaneo Z, Vecchi T, Pascual-Leone A, Silvanto J. Contrasting early visual cortical activation states causally involved in visual imagery and short-term memory. Eur J Neurosci 2009; 30:1393-400. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2009.06911.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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46
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47
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Zylberberg A, Dehaene S, Mindlin GB, Sigman M. Neurophysiological bases of exponential sensory decay and top-down memory retrieval: a model. Front Comput Neurosci 2009; 3:4. [PMID: 19325713 PMCID: PMC2659975 DOI: 10.3389/neuro.10.004.2009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2008] [Accepted: 02/17/2009] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Behavioral observations suggest that multiple sensory elements can be maintained for a short time, forming a perceptual buffer which fades after a few hundred milliseconds. Only a subset of this perceptual buffer can be accessed under top-down control and broadcasted to working memory and consciousness. In turn, single-cell studies in awake-behaving monkeys have identified two distinct waves of response to a sensory stimulus: a first transient response largely determined by stimulus properties and a second wave dependent on behavioral relevance, context and learning. Here we propose a simple biophysical scheme which bridges these observations and establishes concrete predictions for neurophsyiological experiments in which the temporal interval between stimulus presentation and top-down allocation is controlled experimentally. Inspired in single-cell observations, the model involves a first transient response and a second stage of amplification and retrieval, which are implemented biophysically by distinct operational modes of the same circuit, regulated by external currents. We explicitly investigated the neuronal dynamics, the memory trace of a presented stimulus and the probability of correct retrieval, when these two stages were bracketed by a temporal gap. The model predicts correctly the dependence of performance with response times in interference experiments suggesting that sensory buffering does not require a specific dedicated mechanism and establishing a direct link between biophysical manipulations and behavioral observations leading to concrete predictions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ariel Zylberberg
- Physics Department, University of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Saevarsson S, Kristjánsson A, Hildebrandt H, Halsband U. Prism adaptation improves visual search in hemispatial neglect. Neuropsychologia 2008; 47:717-25. [PMID: 19100755 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.11.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2008] [Revised: 10/26/2008] [Accepted: 11/23/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Visuomotor prism adaptation has been found to induce a lateral bias of spatial attention in chronic hemispatial neglect patients. Here, two experiments were conducted to explore the effects of 10 degrees prism adaptation on visual search tasks and standard visual inattention tests. Baselines and intervention effects were measured on separate days for all patients. The first experiment explored whether prism adaptation affects performance on a time restricted visual search task (maximum 3500ms presentation followed by visual and auditory feedback). No positive effects of prism adaptation were found on accuracy in visual search nor on traditional neglect tests. These results accord well with previous studies showing that increased cognitive load can lead to prism de-adaptation or unchanged performance following prism adaptation. Response times in visual search became faster following intervention but this was not the case for the standard neglect tests. In the second experiment, the same single-featured search task was used, but the participants had unlimited search time and received no feedback on their response. This time, the patients showed accuracy improvements in visual search and all four on regular neglect tests. Therapeutic effects lasted for at least 90-120min. Response times on all tasks became faster after prism adaptation. The results are consistent with studies showing effects of prism adaptation on neuropsychological neglect tests and other attentional tasks that are not speeded or time restricted, where feedback is not provided, or are performed following non-feedback-based tasks. The current findings show that prism adaptation improves visual search in neglect and that these beneficial effects can disappear with feedback.
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Affiliation(s)
- Styrmir Saevarsson
- Department of Psychology, Neuropsychology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
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Priming in visual search: Separating the effects of target repetition, distractor repetition and role-reversal. Vision Res 2008; 48:1217-32. [DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2008.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 96] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2007] [Revised: 01/12/2008] [Accepted: 02/14/2008] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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50
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Kristjánsson Á, Sigurdardottir HM. On the Benefits of Transient Attention across the Visual Field. Perception 2008; 37:747-64. [DOI: 10.1068/p5922] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
There are well-known differences in resolution and performance across the visual field with performance generally better for the lower than the upper visual hemifield. Here we attempted to assess how transient attention summoned by a peripheral precue affects performance across the visual field. Four different attentional precueing tasks were used, varying in difficulty and attentional load. When a single discrimination target was presented (experiments 1 and 2), precues that summon transient attention had very little, if any, effect upon performance. However, when the target was presented among distractors (experiments 3 and 4), the precue had a substantial effect upon discrimination performance. The results showed that asymmetries in visual resolution between the upper and lower hemifields become more pronounced with increasing eccentricity. Furthermore, when the observers performed a precued acuity task with distractors, involving the judgment of the relative position of a small disk within a larger one, there was an asymmetry in the transient attentional effect on discrimination performance; the benefits of transient attention were larger in the upper than in the lower hemifield. Areas in the visual field where visual performance is generally worse thus appear to receive the largest attentional boost when needed. Possible ecological explanations for this are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Árni Kristjánsson
- Department of Psychology, University of Iceland, Oddi v. Sturlugötu, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
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