1
|
Veillette JP, Gao F, Nusbaum HC. Cardiac afferent signals can facilitate visual dominance in binocular rivalry. eLife 2024; 13:RP95599. [PMID: 39356552 PMCID: PMC11446544 DOI: 10.7554/elife.95599] [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: 10/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Sensory signals from the body's visceral organs (e.g. the heart) can robustly influence the perception of exteroceptive sensations. This interoceptive-exteroceptive interaction has been argued to underlie self-awareness by situating one's perceptual awareness of exteroceptive stimuli in the context of one's internal state, but studies probing cardiac influences on visual awareness have yielded conflicting findings. In this study, we presented separate grating stimuli to each of subjects' eyes as in a classic binocular rivalry paradigm - measuring the duration for which each stimulus dominates in perception. However, we caused the gratings to 'pulse' at specific times relative to subjects' real-time electrocardiogram, manipulating whether pulses occurred during cardiac systole, when baroreceptors signal to the brain that the heart has contracted, or in diastole when baroreceptors are silent. The influential 'Baroreceptor Hypothesis' predicts the effect of baroreceptive input on visual perception should be uniformly suppressive. In contrast, we observed that dominance durations increased for systole-entrained stimuli, inconsistent with the Baroreceptor Hypothesis. Furthermore, we show that this cardiac-dependent rivalry effect is preserved in subjects who are at-chance discriminating between systole-entrained and diastole-presented stimuli in a separate interoceptive awareness task, suggesting that our results are not dependent on conscious access to heartbeat sensations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- John P Veillette
- Department of Psychology, University of ChicagoChicagoUnited States
| | - Fan Gao
- Department of Psychology, University of ChicagoChicagoUnited States
| | - Howard C Nusbaum
- Department of Psychology, University of ChicagoChicagoUnited States
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Orłowski P, Hobot J, Ruban A, Szczypiński J, Bola M. Naturalistic use of psychedelics does not modulate processing of self-related stimuli (but it might modulate attentional mechanisms): An event-related potentials study. Psychophysiology 2024; 61:e14583. [PMID: 38584307 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2024] [Revised: 03/22/2024] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
Classic psychedelics are able to profoundly alter the state of consciousness and lead to acute experiences of ego dissolution - the blurring of the distinction between representations of self and the external world. However, whether repeated use of psychedelics is associated with more prolonged and permanent modifications to the concept of self remains to be investigated. Therefore, we conducted a preregistered, cross-sectional study in which experienced psychedelics users (15 or more lifetime experiences with psychedelics; N = 56) were compared to nonusers (N = 57) in terms of neural reactivity to a Self-name (i.e., each participant's own name) stimulus, which is known to robustly activate a representation of self. Two control stimuli were additionally used: an Other-name stimulus, as a passive control condition in which no reaction was required, and a Target-name stimulus, to which participants provided a manual response and which thus constituted an active control condition. Analysis of the amplitude of the P300 ERP component evoked by the Self- or Target-names revealed no difference between the psychedelics users and nonusers. However, psychedelic users exhibited increased P300 amplitude during perception of Other-names. In addition, in comparison to nonusers, psychedelics users exhibited a smaller increase in P300 amplitude when processing the task-relevant Target-names (in relation to both Self- and Other-names). Therefore, our data suggests that regular naturalistic use of psychedelics may not be related to long-term changes in the representation of self, but it might potentially affect the allocation of attentional resources to task-relevant stimuli.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Paweł Orłowski
- Centre for Brain Research, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
- Doctoral School in the Social Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
| | - Justyna Hobot
- Consciousness Lab, Psychology Institute, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
| | - Anastasia Ruban
- Department of Psychology, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Jan Szczypiński
- Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Michał Bola
- Centre for Brain Research, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Doradzińska Ł, Bola M. Early Electrophysiological Correlates of Perceptual Consciousness Are Affected by Both Exogenous and Endogenous Attention. J Cogn Neurosci 2024; 36:1297-1324. [PMID: 38579265 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_02156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/07/2024]
Abstract
It has been proposed that visual awareness negativity (VAN), which is an early ERP component, constitutes a neural correlate of visual consciousness that is independent of perceptual and cognitive mechanisms. In the present study, we investigated whether VAN is indeed a specific marker of phenomenal awareness or rather reflects the involvement of attention. To this end, we reanalyzed data collected in a previously published EEG experiment in which awareness of visual stimuli and two aspects that define attentional involvement, namely, the inherent saliency and task relevance of a stimulus, were manipulated orthogonally. During the experimental procedure, participants (n = 41) were presented with images of faces that were backward-masked or unmasked, fearful or neutral, and defined as task-relevant targets or task-irrelevant distractors. Single-trial ERP analysis revealed that VAN was highly dependent on attentional manipulations in the early time window (140-200 msec), up to the point that the effect of awareness was not observed for attentionally irrelevant stimuli (i.e., neutral faces presented as distractors). In the late time window (200-350 msec), VAN was present in all attentional conditions, but its amplitude was significantly higher in response to fearful faces and task-relevant face images than in response to neutral ones and task-irrelevant ones, respectively. In conclusion, we demonstrate that the amplitude of VAN is highly dependent on both exogenous (stimulus saliency) and endogenous attention (task requirements). Our results challenge the view that VAN constitutes an attention-independent correlate of phenomenal awareness.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Łucja Doradzińska
- Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Michał Bola
- Centre for Brain Research, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Li Z, Chen Y, Yin S, Chen A. Self-referential information optimizes conflict adaptation. Mem Cognit 2024; 52:648-662. [PMID: 38261248 DOI: 10.3758/s13421-023-01490-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/05/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Self-referential information has been shown to optimize behavioral performance in various domains. The present study examined the role of self-referential information as a cue to enhance cognitive control and, more specifically, conflict adaptation. A revised color Stroop task was used with stimuli consisting of possessive pronouns and color words (e.g., "my green"). The results showed that self-referential information reduced conflict adaptation (the congruency sequence effect at trial level in Experiment 1, at block level in Experiment 2, and the list-wide proportion congruency effect at block level in Experiment 3). These findings suggest that self-referential information can act as a cue to optimize conflict adaptation. This study highlights the role of self-referential information in cognitive control adjustments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zhifang Li
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of Ministry of Education, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Yongqiang Chen
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of Ministry of Education, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Shouhang Yin
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China.
| | - Antao Chen
- School of Psychology, Center for Exercise and Brain Science, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, 200438, China.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Rubianes M, Drijvers L, Muñoz F, Jiménez-Ortega L, Almeida-Rivera T, Sánchez-García J, Fondevila S, Casado P, Martín-Loeches M. The Self-reference Effect Can Modulate Language Syntactic Processing Even Without Explicit Awareness: An Electroencephalography Study. J Cogn Neurosci 2024; 36:460-474. [PMID: 38165746 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_02104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2024]
Abstract
Although it is well established that self-related information can rapidly capture our attention and bias cognitive functioning, whether this self-bias can affect language processing remains largely unknown. In addition, there is an ongoing debate as to the functional independence of language processes, notably regarding the syntactic domain. Hence, this study investigated the influence of self-related content on syntactic speech processing. Participants listened to sentences that could contain morphosyntactic anomalies while the masked face identity (self, friend, or unknown faces) was presented for 16 msec preceding the critical word. The language-related ERP components (left anterior negativity [LAN] and P600) appeared for all identity conditions. However, the largest LAN effect followed by a reduced P600 effect was observed for self-faces, whereas a larger LAN with no reduction of the P600 was found for friend faces compared with unknown faces. These data suggest that both early and late syntactic processes can be modulated by self-related content. In addition, alpha power was more suppressed over the left inferior frontal gyrus only when self-faces appeared before the critical word. This may reflect higher semantic demands concomitant to early syntactic operations (around 150-550 msec). Our data also provide further evidence of self-specific response, as reflected by the N250 component. Collectively, our results suggest that identity-related information is rapidly decoded from facial stimuli and may impact core linguistic processes, supporting an interactive view of syntactic processing. This study provides evidence that the self-reference effect can be extended to syntactic processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Rubianes
- Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
- UCM-ISCIII Center for Human Evolution and Behavior, Madrid, Spain
| | - Linda Drijvers
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Francisco Muñoz
- Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
- UCM-ISCIII Center for Human Evolution and Behavior, Madrid, Spain
| | - Laura Jiménez-Ortega
- Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
- UCM-ISCIII Center for Human Evolution and Behavior, Madrid, Spain
| | | | | | - Sabela Fondevila
- Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
- UCM-ISCIII Center for Human Evolution and Behavior, Madrid, Spain
| | - Pilar Casado
- Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
- UCM-ISCIII Center for Human Evolution and Behavior, Madrid, Spain
| | - Manuel Martín-Loeches
- Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
- UCM-ISCIII Center for Human Evolution and Behavior, Madrid, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Żochowska A, Nowicka A. Subjectively salient faces differ from emotional faces: ERP evidence. Sci Rep 2024; 14:3634. [PMID: 38351111 PMCID: PMC10864357 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-54215-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024] Open
Abstract
The self-face is processed differently than emotional faces. A question arises whether other highly familiar and subjectively significant non-self faces (e.g. partner's face) are also differentiated from emotional faces. The aim of this event-related potential (ERP) study was to investigate the neural correlates of personally-relevant faces (the self and a close-other's) as well as emotionally positive (happy) and neutral faces. Participants were tasked with the simple detection of faces. Amplitudes of N170 were more negative in the right than in the left hemisphere and were not modulated by type of face. A similar pattern of N2 and P3 results for the self-face and close-other's face was observed: they were associated with decreased N2 and increased P3 relative to happy and neutral faces. However, the self-face was preferentially processed also when compared to a close-other's face as revealed by lower N2 and higher P3 amplitudes. Nonparametric cluster-based permutation tests showed an analogous pattern of results: significant clusters for the self-face compared with all other faces (close-other's, happy, neutral) and for close-other's face compared to happy and neutral faces. In summary, the self-face prioritization was observed, as indicated by significant differences between one's own face and all other faces. Crucially, both types of personally-relevant faces differed from happy faces. These findings point to the pivotal role of subjective evaluation of the saliency factor.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anna Żochowska
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 3 Pasteur Street, 02-093, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Anna Nowicka
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 3 Pasteur Street, 02-093, Warsaw, Poland.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Marchetti G. The self and conscious experience. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1340943. [PMID: 38333065 PMCID: PMC10851942 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1340943] [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: 11/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024] Open
Abstract
The primary determinant of the self (S) is the conscious experience (CE) we have of it. Therefore, it does not come as a surprise that empirical research on S mainly resorts to the CE (or lack of CE) that subjects have of their S. What comes as a surprise is that empirical research on S does not tackle the problem of how CE contributes to building S. Empirical research investigates how S either biases the cognitive processing of stimuli or is altered through a wide range of means (meditation, hypnosis, etc.). In either case, even for different reasons, considerations of how CE contributes to building S are left unspecified in empirical research. This article analyzes these reasons and proposes a theoretical model of how CE contributes to building S. According to the proposed model, the phenomenal aspect of consciousness is produced by the modulation-engendered by attentional activity-of the energy level of the neural substrate (that is, the organ of attention) that underpins attentional activity. The phenomenal aspect of consciousness supplies the agent with a sense of S and informs the agent on how its S is affected by the agent's own operations. The phenomenal aspect of consciousness performs its functions through its five main dimensions: qualitative, quantitative, hedonic, temporal, and spatial. Each dimension of the phenomenal aspect of consciousness can be explained by a specific aspect of the modulation of the energy level of the organ of attention. Among other advantages, the model explains the various forms of S as outcomes resulting from the operations of a single mechanism and provides a unifying framework for empirical research on the neural underpinnings of S.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Marchetti
- Mind, Consciousness and Language Research Center, Alano di Piave, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Żochowska A, Wójcik MJ, Nowicka A. How far can the self be extended? Automatic attention capture is triggered not only by the self-face. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1279653. [PMID: 38023055 PMCID: PMC10655240 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1279653] [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: 08/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The preferential processing of self-related information is thought to be driven by its high level of familiarity. However, some behavioral studies have shown that people may exhibit a preference for initially unfamiliar stimuli that have been associated with themselves arbitrarily. One of the key questions that needs to be addressed concerns the role of early attention in the prioritization of newly acquired information associated with the self. Another question is whether both highly familiar as well as new information referring to a subjectively significant person (i.e. close-other) benefits from preferential attentional processing. We aimed to tackle both questions by investigating the neural mechanisms involved in processing extremely familiar stimuli, like one's own face or the face of a close-other, as well as stimuli (abstract shapes) that were newly linked to each person. We used a dot-probe paradigm that allowed us to investigate the early stages of attentional prioritization. Our analysis of the N2pc component unveiled that attention was automatically captured by the self-face, a shape associated with oneself, and the face of the close person. However, a shape associated with the close-other did not elicit the same attentional response, as the N2pc was absent. Thus, both the self-face and information referring to the extended self (self-assigned shape, close-other's face) benefit from preferential early and automatic attentional processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anna Żochowska
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Michał J. Wójcik
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Anna Nowicka
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Mioni G, Zangrossi A, Cipolletta S. Me, myself and you: How self-consciousness influences time perception. Atten Percept Psychophys 2023; 85:2626-2636. [PMID: 37563512 PMCID: PMC10600286 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-023-02767-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/16/2023] [Indexed: 08/12/2023]
Abstract
Several investigations have shown that the processing of self-relevant information differs from processing objective information. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of social stimuli on subjective time processing. Here, social stimuli are images of an unknown male and female person and an image of participants' self. Forty university students were tested with a time reproduction task in which they were asked to reproduce the duration of the stimulus previously presented. Images of others or themselves were used to mark the temporal intervals. Participants also performed questionnaires to evaluate the level of anxiety and depression as well as self-consciousness. A generalised linear mixed-effects model approach was adopted. Results showed that male participants with higher Private Self-Consciousness scores showed higher time perception accuracy than females. Also, female participants reported higher scores for the Public Self-Consciousness subscale than male participants. The findings are discussed in terms of social context models of how attention is solicited and arousal is generated by social stimuli, highlighting the effect of social context on subjective perception of time.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Giovanna Mioni
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia, 8, 35131, Padova, Italy.
| | - Andrea Zangrossi
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia, 8, 35131, Padova, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Sabrina Cipolletta
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia, 8, 35131, Padova, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Akimoto Y, Miyake K. Examination of distraction and discomfort caused by using glare monitors: a simultaneous electroencephalography and eye-tracking study. PeerJ 2023; 11:e15992. [PMID: 37727695 PMCID: PMC10506577 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.15992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 09/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, remote work and education and digital display use have become more prevalent. However, compared with printed material, digital displays cause more eye fatigue and may decrease task performance. For instance, the reflections on the monitor can cause discomfort or distraction, particularly when glare monitors are used with black backgrounds. Methods This study simultaneously uses electroencephalography (EEG) and an eye-tracker to measure the possible negative effects of using a glare monitor on the illegibility of sentences. Results The experiment results showed no difference in reading time and subjective illegibility rating between glare and non-glare monitors. However, with glare monitors, eye fixation when reading lasted longer. Further, EEG beta (15-20 Hz) power variations suggested that the participants were less engaged in the reading task when a glare monitor was used with a black background. Conclusions These results indicate that the negative effects of using a glare monitor are subtle but certainly present. They also show that physiological measures such as EEG and eye tracking can assess the subtle effects in an objective manner, even if behavioral measures such as subjective illegibility ratings or reading time may not show the differences.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yoritaka Akimoto
- Department of Information and Management Systems Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, Nagaoka, Japan
| | - Keito Miyake
- Department of Information and Management Systems Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, Nagaoka, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Kotlewska I, Panek B, Nowicka A, Asanowicz D. Posterior theta activity reveals an early signal of self-face recognition. Sci Rep 2023; 13:13823. [PMID: 37620563 PMCID: PMC10449829 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-41071-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Self-related visual information, especially one's own face and name, are processed in a specific, prioritized way. However, the spatio-temporal brain dynamics of self-prioritization have remained elusive. Moreover, it has been unclear whether this prioritization is an effect of enhancement and amplification, or rather a facilitating automatization of processing self-referential information. In this EEG study, 25 married women (who changed their surnames after marriage, so that their past and present surnames could be used as stimuli) performed a detection task with faces and names from five categories: self, self from the past, friend, famous, and unknown person. The aim was to determine the temporal and spatial characteristics of early electrophysiological markers of self-referential processing. We report results of event-related component (ERP) and time-frequency analyses. In the ERPs, the earliest self-relevance effect was displayed only 300 ms after stimulus onset in the midfrontal N2, and later in the parietal P3b, independently of the stimulus type. No self-relevance effect was found on the N170 component. However, local theta power at the occipito-temporal (visual) areas and inter-regional theta phase coherence between the visual and midfrontal areas showed that self-relevance differentiation of faces began already about 100-300 ms after stimulus onset. No such early effects were found for names. The results are discussed in terms of the time-course, functional localization, stimulus-specificity, and automatization of self-prioritization.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ilona Kotlewska
- Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Ingardena 6, 30-060, Krakow, Poland.
| | - Bartłomiej Panek
- Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Ingardena 6, 30-060, Krakow, Poland
| | - Anna Nowicka
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Pasteura 3, 02-093, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Dariusz Asanowicz
- Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Ingardena 6, 30-060, Krakow, Poland
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Xiang S, Zhao M, Yu L, Liu N. A common self-advantage across the implicit and explicit levels for self-body recognition. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1099151. [PMID: 37637928 PMCID: PMC10452875 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1099151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2022] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Although self-bias has been extensively studied and confirmed in various self-related stimuli, it remains controversial whether self-body can induce recognition advantage at the explicit level. After careful examination of previous experiments related to self-body processing, we proposed that participant strategies may influence explicit task outcomes. Methods To test our hypothesis, we designed a novel explicit task. For comparison, we also conducted classic explicit and implicit tasks. Results With the newly designed explicit task, we found clear and robust evidence of self-hand recognition advantage at the explicit level. Moreover, we found that there was a strong link between self-advantage found in the classic implicit task and the newly designed explicit task, indicating that the self-advantage processing by these two pathways may be linked. Discussion These findings provide new insights into the long-standing inconsistencies in previous studies and open a new avenue for studying self-bias using self-body stimuli.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sijia Xiang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Minghui Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Lunhao Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Ning Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, Hefei, China
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Molnar-Szakacs I, Uddin LQ. Laterality and hemispheric specialization of self-face recognition. Neuropsychologia 2023; 186:108586. [PMID: 37236528 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Revised: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 05/14/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Inspired by the pioneering work of Eran Zaidel beginning in the early 1970's on the role of the two cerebral hemispheres of the human brain in self-related cognition, we review research on self-face recognition from a laterality perspective. The self-face is an important proxy of the self, and self-face recognition has been used as an indicator of self-awareness more broadly. Over the last half century, behavioral and neurological data, along with over two decades of neuroimaging research evidence have accumulated on this topic, generally concluding a right-hemisphere dominance for self-face recognition. In this review, we briefly revisit the pioneering roots of this work by Sperry, Zaidel & Zaidel, and focus on the important body of neuroimaging literature on self-face recognition it has inspired. We conclude with a brief discussion of current models of self-related processing and future directions for research in this area.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Lucina Q Uddin
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Ayase I, Mori M, Kato T. Eye size recognition of self and others among people with self-face dissatisfaction. Iperception 2023; 14:20416695221148039. [PMID: 36756147 PMCID: PMC9900673 DOI: 10.1177/20416695221148039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2022] [Accepted: 12/11/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have shown that individuals visually recognize their eye size as larger than the actual. However, it is unclear whether this cognitive tendency occurs in people with high self-face dissatisfaction. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether the cognitive size of one's own and others' eyes differs according to the degree of self-face dissatisfaction. Participants comprised 32 college students (5 males, 27 females; age: 21.3 ± 2.11) who completed the Face Dissatisfaction Scale (FDS) and a face recognition memory task. The task was to choose whether their or their friends' eyes in the face photos with changed eye size were larger or smaller than their actual eye size. The cognitively equivalent eye size to the actual one was estimated from a psychophysical function. We conducted a correlation analysis of the total scores on the FDS and the point of subjective equality (PSE) of eye size. We found a high negative correlation between the FDS and the PSE of own eye size. There was also a high positive correlation between the FDS and the PSE for all others' faces. Thus, high self-face dissatisfaction is differentially associated with cognitive distortions of the face, depending on whether it is self or other.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Izumi Ayase
- Izumi Ayase, Graduate School of Media and
Governance, Keio University, Endo 5322, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 252-0882, Japan.
| | - Masaki Mori
- Faculty of Environment and Information Studies,
Keio
University, Japan
| | - Takaaki Kato
- Faculty of Environment and Information
Studies, Keio University,
Japan
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Chen T, Li Y, Feng C, Feng W. Spatial attentional biases toward height-related words in young males with physical stature dissatisfaction. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14163. [PMID: 35965305 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14163] [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: 10/24/2021] [Revised: 05/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/29/2022] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
By recording event-related potentials (ERPs) during a dot-probe task, the present study examined the neural dynamics of attentional bias toward height-related words among height dissatisfied males. Sixty male participants screened by Negative Physical Self Scale-Stature Concerns subscale (NPS-S) were assigned into a high height dissatisfaction (HHD) group and a low height dissatisfaction (LHD) group. The results showed that tall-related versus neutral words elicited larger N2pc for both HHD and LHD groups, whereas short-related versus neutral words elicited larger N2pc only for the HHD group. Additionally, an evident Pd was elicited by tall-related words for the HHD group, but not for the LHD group. Taken together, these findings revealed attentional biases toward height-related information for HHD individuals on a neural level. Specifically, HHD individuals showed an enhanced spatial attention oriented toward both tall-related and short-related words, and then, the allocated attention to the tall-related words was terminated by an active suppression mechanism.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tingji Chen
- Department of Psychology, School of Education, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
| | - Yishuang Li
- Wuzhong Changqiao Middle School, Suzhou, China
| | - Chengzhi Feng
- Department of Psychology, School of Education, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
| | - Wenfeng Feng
- Department of Psychology, School of Education, Soochow University, Suzhou, China.,Research Center for Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Sui J, He X, Golubickis M, Svensson SL, Neil Macrae C. Electrophysiological correlates of self-prioritization. Conscious Cogn 2023; 108:103475. [PMID: 36709725 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2023.103475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2022] [Revised: 01/06/2023] [Accepted: 01/19/2023] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Personally relevant stimuli exert a powerful influence on social cognition. What is not yet fully understood, however, is how early in the processing stream self-relevance influences decisional operations. Here we used a shape-label matching task in conjunction with electroencephalography and computational modeling to explore this issue. A theoretically important pattern of results was observed. First, a standard self-prioritization effect emerged indicating that responses to self-related items were faster and more accurate than responses to other-related stimuli. Second, a hierarchical drift diffusion model analysis revealed that this effect was underpinned by the enhanced uptake of evidence from self-related stimuli. Third, self-other discrimination during matching trials was observed at both early posterior N1 and late centro-parietal P3 components. Fourth, whereas the N1 was associated with the rate of information accumulation during decisional processing, P3 activity was linked with the evidential requirements of response selection. These findings elucidate the electrophysiological correlates of self-prioritization.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jie Sui
- School of Psychology, King's College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK.
| | - Xun He
- Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, Poole, England, UK
| | - Marius Golubickis
- School of Psychology, King's College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
| | - Saga L Svensson
- School of Psychology, King's College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
| | - C Neil Macrae
- School of Psychology, King's College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Qiu Z, Zhang J, Pegna AJ. Neural processing of lateralised task-irrelevant fearful faces under different awareness conditions. Conscious Cogn 2023; 107:103449. [PMID: 36455416 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2022.103449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2022] [Revised: 11/13/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The neural fate of task-irrelevant emotional faces under different awareness conditions is poorly understood. Here, we examined the electrophysiological activity during an experiment where the location of target information (contrast-induced line) was manipulated orthogonally to the location of task-irrelevant fearful faces, under subliminal or supraliminal viewing conditions. We found that only target lines elicited an N2-posterior-contralateral (N2pc), indexing spatial attention shifting, in the supraliminal condition. No N2pc was found for the targets in the subliminal condition or for task-irrelevant fearful faces in either conditions. However, the mere presence of a fearful face enhanced early neural activity between 200 and 300 ms only in the subliminal condition. Additionally, the presence of a target line, but not a fearful face, enhanced the P3. Our results suggest that the N2pc is dependent on visual awareness and task-relevancy of the information and that laterally-presented task-irrelevant fearful expressions can be processed without awareness during early visual processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zeguo Qiu
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia.
| | - Jun Zhang
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
| | - Alan J Pegna
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Monéger J, Chatard A, Selimbegović L. The defeated self: Evidence that entrapment moderates first name priming effects on failure-thought accessibility. SELF AND IDENTITY 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/15298868.2022.2099454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jean Monéger
- Department of psychology, University of Poitiers, Poitiers, France
- Research Center on Cognition and Learning, CNRS, Poitiers, France
| | - Armand Chatard
- Department of psychology, University of Poitiers, Poitiers, France
- Research Center on Cognition and Learning, CNRS, Poitiers, France
- Clinical Research Unit, Centre Hospitalier Laborit, Poitiers, France
| | - Leila Selimbegović
- Department of psychology, University of Poitiers, Poitiers, France
- Research Center on Cognition and Learning, CNRS, Poitiers, France
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
The Effects of Spatial Attention Focus and Visual Awareness on the Processing of Fearful Faces: An ERP Study. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12070823. [PMID: 35884630 PMCID: PMC9313043 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12070823] [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: 05/19/2022] [Revised: 06/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous research on the relationship between attention and emotion processing have focused essentially on consciously-viewed, supraliminal stimuli, while the attention-emotion interplay remains unexplored in situations where visual awareness is restricted. Here, we presented participants with face pairs in a backward masking paradigm and examined the electrophysiological activity in response to fearful and neutral expressions under different conditions of attention (spatially attended vs. unattended) and stimulus visibility (subliminal vs. supraliminal). We found an enhanced N2 (visual awareness negativity -VAN-) and an enhanced P3 for supraliminal compared to subliminal faces. The VAN, indexing the early perceptual awareness, was enhanced when the faces were spatially attended compared to when they were unattended, showing that the VAN does not require spatial attention focus but can be enhanced by it. Fearful relative to neutral expressions enhanced the early neural activity (N2) regardless of spatial attention but only in the supraliminal viewing condition. However, fear-related enhancements on later neural activity (P3) were found when stimuli were both attended and presented supraliminally. These findings suggest that visual awareness is needed for emotion processing during both early and late stages. Spatial attention is required for emotion processing at the later stage but not at the early stage.
Collapse
|
20
|
Spatial attention shifting to fearful faces depends on visual awareness in attentional blink: An ERP study. Neuropsychologia 2022; 172:108283. [PMID: 35661782 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2022] [Revised: 05/07/2022] [Accepted: 05/29/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
It remains unclear to date whether spatial attention towards emotional faces is contingent on, or independent of visual awareness. To investigate this question, a bilateral attentional blink paradigm was used in which lateralised fearful faces were presented at various levels of detectability. Twenty-six healthy participants were presented with two rapid serial streams of human faces, while they attempted to detect a pair of target faces (T2) displayed in close or distant succession of a first target pair (T1). Spatial attention shifting to the T2 fearful faces, indexed by the N2-posterior-contralateral component, was dependent on visual awareness and its magnitude covaried with the visual awareness negativity, a neural marker of awareness at the perceptual level. Additionally, information consolidation in working memory, indexed by the sustained posterior contralateral negativity, positively correlated with the level of visual awareness and spatial attention shifting. These findings demonstrate that spatial attention shifting to fearful faces depends on visual awareness, and these early processes are closely linked to information maintenance in working memory.
Collapse
|
21
|
Rutkowska N, Doradzińska Ł, Bola M. Attentional Prioritization of Complex, Naturalistic Stimuli Maintained in Working-Memory-A Dot-Probe Event-Related Potentials Study. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 16:838338. [PMID: 35571999 PMCID: PMC9101940 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.838338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 03/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent studies suggest that a stimulus actively maintained in working memory (WM) automatically captures visual attention when subsequently perceived. Such a WM-based guidance effect has been consistently observed for stimuli defined by simple features, such as color or orientation, but studies using more complex stimuli provided inconclusive results. Therefore, we investigated whether the WM-based guidance effect occurs also for naturalistic stimuli, whose identity is defined by multiple features and relations among them, specifically for faces and houses. The experiment consisted of multiple blocks in which participants (N = 28) either memorized or merely saw (WM or exposure condition, respectively) a template stimulus and then performed several dot-probe trials, with pairs of stimuli (template and control) presented laterally as distractors and followed by a target-asterisk. Analysis of reaction-times (RT) in the dot-probe task shows that memorized stimuli were prioritized by attention and points toward attention-hold, rather than capture, as a mechanism of attentional prioritization. Consistent with this interpretation, memorized items did not evoke a lateralized N2pc ERP component, thought to indicate attention shifts. However, in an exploratory ERP analysis we found evidence for a very early (100-200 ms post-stimulus) prioritization specific to the memorized faces, which is in line with the sensory recruitment theory of WM. In conclusion, our data provide evidence that complex stimuli are prioritized by attention when maintained in WM, and that the mechanism of such prioritization is based on a prolonged hold of spatial attention.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Michał Bola
- Laboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
The temporal dynamics of attention: Thinking about oneself comes at a cost in sub-clinical depression but not in healthy participants. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-022-02994-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
|
23
|
Self-related objects increase alertness and orient attention through top-down saliency. Atten Percept Psychophys 2022; 84:408-417. [PMID: 35106681 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-021-02429-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Attention is influenced by information about relationships between ourselves and the objects around us. Self-related objects can either facilitate or disrupt task performance, creating a challenge for identifying the precise nature of the influence of self-relatedness on attention. To address this challenge, we measured different components of attention (alertness and orienting) in the presence of self-related objects using a revised attention network task (ANT). In a self-association task, participants first learned colour-person associations and then carried out a colour-person matching task. This was followed by the ANT, in which these coloured boxes associated with self or friend were displayed as peripheral cues; participants had to judge the direction of an arrow flanked by congruent (low-conflict) or incongruent (high-conflict) distractors presented within one coloured box. The results showed faster and more accurate responses to targets appearing within the self-colour than friend-colour cues in the association task. In the ANT, the analysis of alertness revealed that self-related cues facilitated task performance compared with friend-related cues. The analysis of orienting demonstrated that relative to friend cues, self-cues hampered task performance in invalid trials. Critically, the effects of self-cues on both orienting and alertness were observed only in high conflict situations. These results indicated that self-related objects are powerful cues that enhance attention intensity, which either facilitates task performance when the upcoming target falls within their location or disrupts performance when the target falls outside their location. The data suggest that attentional functions can be tuned by self-saliency in high-demand contexts.
Collapse
|
24
|
Żochowska A, Jakuszyk P, Nowicka MM, Nowicka A. Are covered faces eye-catching for us? The impact of masks on attentional processing of self and other faces during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cortex 2022; 149:173-187. [PMID: 35257944 PMCID: PMC8830153 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.01.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2021] [Revised: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 01/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been confronted with faces covered by surgical-like masks. This raises a question about how our brains process this kind of visual information. Thus, the aims of the current study were twofold: (1) to investigate the role of attention in the processing of different types of faces with masks, and (2) to test whether such partial information about faces is treated similarly to fully visible faces. Participants were tasked with the simple detection of self-, close-other's, and unknown faces with and without a mask; this task relies on attentional processes. Event-related potential (ERP) findings revealed a similar impact of surgical-like masks for all faces: the amplitudes of early (P100) and late (P300, LPP) attention-related components were higher for faces with masks than for fully visible faces. Amplitudes of N170 were similar for covered and fully visible faces, and sources of brain activity were located in the fusiform gyri in both cases. Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) revealed that irrespective of whether the algorithm was trained to discriminate three types of faces either with or without masks, it was able to effectively discriminate faces that were not presented in the training phase.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anna Żochowska
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Paweł Jakuszyk
- Laboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Maria M Nowicka
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Anna Nowicka
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Cygan HB, Nowicka MM, Nowicka A. Impaired attentional bias toward one's own face in autism spectrum disorder: ERP evidence. Autism Res 2021; 15:241-253. [PMID: 34851047 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2021] [Revised: 11/16/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Converging lines of evidence seem to indicate reduced self-referential processing in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, processing of one's own face has rarely been investigated in the context of ASD. Thus, the aim of the present study was to elucidate the role of attentional biases in the processing of self- and other faces in ASD. To achieve this goal we presented participants with images of their own face, the face of a close-other, and famous and unknown faces in a Stroop-like paradigm. Participants (22 with ASD, 22 typically developing [TD]) were instructed to indicate the color of presented faces while EEG was recorded. Our event-related potential results clearly showed that self-face was associated with larger P3 amplitudes than all other faces in the TD group, thus indicating a strong attentional bias toward one's own face. In the ASD group, P3 to the self-face and the close-other's face did not differ, suggesting similar attentional biases in both cases. In line with these P3 findings, nonparametric cluster-based permutation tests showed an analogous pattern of results: significant clusters for the self-face compared with all other faces in the TD group, and no significant cluster in the ASD group. Overall, our findings revealed impaired attentional bias to one's own face and diminished self versus other differentiation in individuals with ASD. The similar neural underpinnings of the self-face and other faces supports previous findings indicating reduced self-prioritization among individuals with ASD.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hanna B Cygan
- Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Bioimaging Research Center, World Hearing Center, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Maria M Nowicka
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Anna Nowicka
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Bola M, Doradzińska Ł. Perceptual Awareness Negativity-Does It Reflect Awareness or Attention? Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:742513. [PMID: 34720911 PMCID: PMC8551355 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.742513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2021] [Accepted: 09/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Michał Bola
- Laboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Łucja Doradzińska
- Laboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
Abstract
The self-face advantage has been demonstrated not only at the supraliminal level, but also at the subliminal level. However, it remains unclear whether subliminal self-face processing involves the same neural networks as those for supraliminal self-face processing. Here, we show that the ventral tegmental area, a center of the dopamine reward pathway, exhibited greater activation to subliminal presentations of the self-face than those of the others’ faces, whereas subliminal presentations of the others’ faces induced activation in the amygdala, which generally responds to unfamiliar information. This self-other difference in brain response was consistently observed even when the facial configuration was modified without changing the shape of the facial parts. The present findings suggest that the dopamine reward pathway is involved in automatic self-advantage in face processing, and the subliminal self-other facial discrimination does not depend on information of the precise facial configuration.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chisa Ota
- Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
| | - Tamami Nakano
- Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.,Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.,Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Jublie A, Kumar D. Early Capture of Attention by Self-Face: Investigation Using a Temporal Order Judgment Task. Iperception 2021; 12:20416695211032993. [PMID: 34377429 PMCID: PMC8327255 DOI: 10.1177/20416695211032993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 06/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Earlier work on self-face processing has reported a bias in the processing of self-face result in faster response to self-face in comparison to other familiar and unfamiliar faces (termed as self-face advantage or SFA). Even though most studies agree that the SFA occurs due to an attentional bias, there is little agreement regarding the stage at which it occurs. While a large number of studies show self-face influencing processing later at disengagement stage, early event-related potential components show differential activity for the self-face suggesting that SFA occurs early. We address this contradiction using a cueless temporal order judgment task that allows us to investigate early perceptual processing, while bias due to top-down expectation is controlled. A greater shift in point of subjective simultaneity for self-face would indicate a greater processing advantage at early perceptual stage. With help of two experiments, we show an early perceptual advantage for self-face, compared to both a friend's face and an unfamiliar face (Experiment 1). This advantage is present even when the effect of criterion shift is minimized (Experiment 2). Interestingly, the magnitude of advantage is similar for self-friend and self-unfamiliar pair. The evidence from the two experiments suggests early capture of attention as a likely reason for the SFA, which is present for the self-face but not for other familiar faces.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aditi Jublie
- Department of Cognitive Science, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, India
| | - Devpriya Kumar
- Department of Cognitive Science, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, India
| |
Collapse
|