1
|
Cisek P, Green AM. Toward a neuroscience of natural behavior. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2024; 86:102859. [PMID: 38583263 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2024.102859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2023] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
One of the most exciting new developments in systems neuroscience is the progress being made toward neurophysiological experiments that move beyond simplified laboratory settings and address the richness of natural behavior. This is enabled by technological advances such as wireless recording in freely moving animals, automated quantification of behavior, and new methods for analyzing large data sets. Beyond new empirical methods and data, however, there is also a need for new theories and concepts to interpret that data. Such theories need to address the particular challenges of natural behavior, which often differ significantly from the scenarios studied in traditional laboratory settings. Here, we discuss some strategies for developing such novel theories and concepts and some example hypotheses being proposed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Paul Cisek
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
| | - Andrea M Green
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Wilf M, Korakin A, Bahat Y, Koren O, Galor N, Dagan O, Wright WG, Friedman J, Plotnik M. Using virtual reality-based neurocognitive testing and eye tracking to study naturalistic cognitive-motor performance. Neuropsychologia 2024; 194:108744. [PMID: 38072162 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108744] [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: 03/22/2023] [Revised: 08/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2024]
Abstract
Natural human behavior arises from continuous interactions between the cognitive and motor domains. However, assessments of cognitive abilities are typically conducted using pen and paper tests, i.e., in isolation from "real life" cognitive-motor behavior and in artificial contexts. In the current study, we aimed to assess cognitive-motor task performance in a more naturalistic setting while recording multiple motor and eye tracking signals. Specifically, we aimed to (i) delineate the contribution of cognitive and motor components to overall task performance and (ii) probe for a link between cognitive-motor performance and pupil size. To that end, we used a virtual reality (VR) adaptation of a well-established neurocognitive test for executive functions, the 'Color Trails Test' (CTT). The VR-CTT involves performing 3D reaching movements to follow a trail of numbered targets. To tease apart the cognitive and motor components of task performance, we included two additional conditions: a condition where participants only used their eyes to perform the CTT task (using an eye tracking device), incurring reduced motor demands, and a condition where participants manually tracked visually-cued targets without numbers on them, incurring reduced cognitive demands. Our results from a group of 30 older adults (>65) showed that reducing cognitive demands shortened completion times more extensively than reducing motor demands. Conditions with higher cognitive demands had longer target search time, as well as decreased movement execution velocity and head-hand coordination. We found larger pupil sizes in the more cognitively demanding conditions, and an inverse correlation between pupil size and completion times across individuals in all task conditions. Lastly, we found a possible link between VR-CTT performance measures and clinical signatures of participants (fallers versus non-fallers). In summary, performance and pupil parameters were mainly dependent on task cognitive load, while maintaining systematic interindividual differences. We suggest that this paradigm opens the possibility for more detailed profiling of individual cognitive-motor performance capabilities in older adults and other at-risk populations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Meytal Wilf
- Center of Advanced Technologies in Rehabilitation, Sheba Medical Center, Israel; Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
| | - Alona Korakin
- Center of Advanced Technologies in Rehabilitation, Sheba Medical Center, Israel; Department of Physical Therapy, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Yotam Bahat
- Center of Advanced Technologies in Rehabilitation, Sheba Medical Center, Israel
| | - Or Koren
- Center of Advanced Technologies in Rehabilitation, Sheba Medical Center, Israel
| | - Noam Galor
- Center of Advanced Technologies in Rehabilitation, Sheba Medical Center, Israel
| | - Or Dagan
- Center of Advanced Technologies in Rehabilitation, Sheba Medical Center, Israel; St George's University of London Medical School, University of Nicosia Faculty of Medicine, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - W Geoffrey Wright
- Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Temple University, USA
| | - Jason Friedman
- Department of Physical Therapy, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Meir Plotnik
- Center of Advanced Technologies in Rehabilitation, Sheba Medical Center, Israel; Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Lustig A, Wilf M, Dudkiewicz I, Plotnik M. Higher cognitive load interferes with head-hand coordination: virtual reality-based study. Sci Rep 2023; 13:17632. [PMID: 37848473 PMCID: PMC10582046 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-43337-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2023] [Accepted: 09/21/2023] [Indexed: 10/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Daily life activities often involve decision-based reaching movements in different contexts and circumstances. These activities span a wide array of cognitive load types we face while executing motor functions. Here we use a virtual reality-based neurocognitive testing platform to assess cognitive-induced changes in motor behavior as reflected by modulations in head-hand coordination. Our paradigm is based on the Color Trails Test (CTT), which is designed to assess two types of cognitive functions: Trails A-sustained visual attention (SVA), and Trails B-divided attention (DA). The virtual reality CTT adaptation (VR-CTT) requires execution of large multi-directional hand movements and head rotations. We employed a cross-correlation analysis on hand and head kinematics data collected from 122 healthy participants (ages: 20-90 years; divided as follows: young, middle-aged, and older adults) who completed the VR-CTT. The level of spatial coherence of head-hand movements was found to be high (R ≥ 0.76) in both Trails A and B, in all age groups. However, assessing head-hand phase shifts revealed longer time lags (i.e., in which head leads hand) in Trails B versus Trails A, in all age groups. We conclude that allocating cognitive resources to DA task reduces head-hand synchrony as compared to SVA conditions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Adi Lustig
- Center of Advanced Technologies in Rehabilitation, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Meytal Wilf
- Center of Advanced Technologies in Rehabilitation, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Israel Dudkiewicz
- Division of Rehabilitation, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel
- Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Meir Plotnik
- Center of Advanced Technologies in Rehabilitation, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel.
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Bethell EJ, Khan W, Hussain A. A deep transfer learning model for head pose estimation in rhesus macaques during cognitive tasks: towards a nonrestraint noninvasive 3Rs approach. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2022.105708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
|
5
|
Sajad A, Sadeh M, Crawford JD. Spatiotemporal transformations for gaze control. Physiol Rep 2020; 8:e14533. [PMID: 32812395 PMCID: PMC7435051 DOI: 10.14814/phy2.14533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2020] [Revised: 06/30/2020] [Accepted: 07/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Sensorimotor transformations require spatiotemporal coordination of signals, that is, through both time and space. For example, the gaze control system employs signals that are time-locked to various sensorimotor events, but the spatial content of these signals is difficult to assess during ordinary gaze shifts. In this review, we describe the various models and methods that have been devised to test this question, and their limitations. We then describe a new method that can (a) simultaneously test between all of these models during natural, head-unrestrained conditions, and (b) track the evolving spatial continuum from target (T) to future gaze coding (G, including errors) through time. We then summarize some applications of this technique, comparing spatiotemporal coding in the primate frontal eye field (FEF) and superior colliculus (SC). The results confirm that these areas preferentially encode eye-centered, effector-independent parameters, and show-for the first time in ordinary gaze shifts-a spatial transformation between visual and motor responses from T to G coding. We introduce a new set of spatial models (T-G continuum) that revealed task-dependent timing of this transformation: progressive during a memory delay between vision and action, and almost immediate without such a delay. We synthesize the results from our studies and supplement it with previous knowledge of anatomy and physiology to propose a conceptual model where cumulative transformation noise is realized as inaccuracies in gaze behavior. We conclude that the spatiotemporal transformation for gaze is both local (observed within and across neurons in a given area) and distributed (with common signals shared across remote but interconnected structures).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Amirsaman Sajad
- Centre for Vision ResearchYork UniversityTorontoONCanada
- Psychology DepartmentVanderbilt UniversityNashvilleTNUSA
| | - Morteza Sadeh
- Centre for Vision ResearchYork UniversityTorontoONCanada
- Department of NeurosurgeryUniversity of Illinois at ChicagoChicagoILUSA
| | - John Douglas Crawford
- Centre for Vision ResearchYork UniversityTorontoONCanada
- Vision: Science to Applications Program (VISTA)Neuroscience Graduate Diploma ProgramDepartments of Psychology, Biology, Kinesiology & Health SciencesYork UniversityTorontoONCanada
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Hadjidimitrakis K. Coupling of head and hand movements during eye-head-hand coordination: there is more to reaching than meets eye. J Neurophysiol 2020; 123:1579-1582. [PMID: 32233904 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00099.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Does arm reaching affect eye-head shifts? Does the head alter eye-hand coordinated movements? Sensorimotor research has focused on either eye-head or eye-hand coordination, with only occasional works studying all these effectors together. Arora et al. (Arora HK, Bharmauria V, Yan X, Sun S, Wang H, Crawford JD. J Neurophysiol 122: 1946-1961, 2019) examined eye-head-hand coordination for the first time in nonhuman primates and provide evidence suggesting that head and hand movements are more coupled than traditionally considered.
Collapse
|