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Sabo M, Wascher E, Schneider D. The neural basis of attentional selection in goal-directed memory retrieval. Sci Rep 2024; 14:20937. [PMID: 39251722 PMCID: PMC11385572 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-71691-x] [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: 04/26/2024] [Accepted: 08/30/2024] [Indexed: 09/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Goal-directed memory reactivation involves retrieving the most relevant information for the current behavioral goal. Previous research has linked this process to activations in the fronto-parietal network, but the underlying neurocognitive mechanism remains poorly understood. The current electroencephalogram (EEG) study explores attentional selection as a possible mechanism supporting goal-directed retrieval. We designed a long-term memory experiment containing three phases. First, participants learned associations between objects and two screen locations. In a following phase, we changed the relevance of some locations (selective cue condition) to simulate goal-directed retrieval. We also introduced a control condition, in which the original associations remained unchanged (neutral cue condition). Behavior performance measured during the final retrieval phase revealed faster and more confident responses in the selective vs. neutral condition. At the EEG level, we found significant differences in decoding accuracy, with above-chance effects in the selective cue condition but not in the neutral cue condition. Additionally, we observed a stronger posterior contralateral negativity and lateralized alpha power in the selective cue condition. Overall, these results suggest that attentional selection enhances task-relevant information accessibility, emphasizing its role in goal-directed memory retrieval.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melinda Sabo
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Ardeystraße 67, 44139, Dortmund, Germany.
| | - Edmund Wascher
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Ardeystraße 67, 44139, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Daniel Schneider
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Ardeystraße 67, 44139, Dortmund, Germany
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2
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Csikós N, Petro B, Kojouharova P, Gaál ZA, Czigler I. Automatic Change Detection in Interwoven Sequences: A Visual Mismatch Negativity Study. J Cogn Neurosci 2024; 36:534-550. [PMID: 38165736 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_02099] [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
In this study, we investigated whether the cognitive system, known to be able to register regular visual event sequences and the violation of these sequences automatically, had the capacity of processing two sequences simultaneously. To this end, we measured the visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) component of ERPs as interwoven event sequences simultaneously presented to the left and right side of the screen. One of the sequences consisted of geometric patterns (diamonds); the other, photographs of human faces. In successive cycles, parts of the stimuli vanished and then re-appeared (the OFF/ON method). The vanishing parts served as either standard (frequently vanishing parts) or infrequent (deviant) events, but these events were task-irrelevant. The 20 adult participants (age 21.40 ± 2.72 years) performed a visual tracking task, with the OFF/ON task being a passive oddball paradigm. According to the results, both OFF and ON events, and both diamond and face stimuli elicited the vMMN component, showing that the system underlying this activity is capable of processing two event sequences if the sequences consist of fairly different kind of objects as stimuli. The sLORETA analysis showed that the source of vMMN was more frequent contralaterally to the deviant event, and the sources comprised loci from ventral and dorsal structures, as well as some anterior loci.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nóra Csikós
- Research Centre for Natural Sciences, HUN-REN, Budapest, Hungary
- Budapest University of Technology and Economics
| | - Bela Petro
- Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest, Hungary
| | | | - Zsófia Anna Gaál
- Research Centre for Natural Sciences, HUN-REN, Budapest, Hungary
| | - István Czigler
- Research Centre for Natural Sciences, HUN-REN, Budapest, Hungary
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3
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Chen FW, Li CH, Kuo BC. Temporal expectation based on the duration variability modulates alpha oscillations during working memory retention. Neuroimage 2023; 265:119789. [PMID: 36481414 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119789] [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: 08/06/2022] [Revised: 11/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
While maintaining information over a delay of time, working memory (WM) also allows individuals to prepare the mnemonic contents for prospective utilisation. However, it remains unclear whether the expectation of the time of WM test could modulate neural responses during the retention interval of WM and subsequent performance. Here, we investigated whether temporal expectations based on the variability of delay duration can modulate 9-13 Hz alpha oscillations during WM retention and whether the expectation-induced alpha activity was associated with WM performance. Participants performed a retro-cueing WM task with magnetoencephalography (MEG) (Experiment 1) and a standard WM task with electroencephalography (EEG) (Experiment 2). The expectation of the timing of the WM test was manipulated by the temporal structure of the tasks with small or large variability in the delay durations. We showed that alpha oscillations during retention interval and WM performance varied with duration variability in both of the MEG and EEG experiments. The novel finding was greater alpha-power attenuation over the left frontal and parietal regions during WM retention when the duration variability was small and the test onset was predictable, compared to when the duration variability was large and the test onset was less predictable. Importantly, we observed a positive relationship in variability difference between the response benefit and alpha-power attenuation in the left posterior parietal regions at both MEG-source and EEG-electrode levels. Finally, we confirmed the behavioural benefit when a condition with a fixed delay-duration was included in a behavioural experiment (Experiment 3). When conjoined, the delay duration enables individuals to anticipate when the relevant information would be put to work, and alpha oscillations track the anticipatory states during WM maintenance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fang-Wen Chen
- Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
| | - Chun-Hui Li
- Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
| | - Bo-Cheng Kuo
- Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
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4
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The Rejection Template of Working Memory Operates after Attention Capture. Behav Sci (Basel) 2022; 12:bs12110436. [DOI: 10.3390/bs12110436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Revised: 11/03/2022] [Accepted: 11/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Although scientists know that information stored in working memory guides visual attention, how this is accomplished is still under debate. Specifically, there is a dispute between the Biased Competition Model and Visual Attention Theory. The current study used two experiments to resolve this controversy based on previous research. Experiment 1 found that although inverse efficiency scores for High and Low numbers of memory distractors were both longer than the Baseline (no memory distractors), they did not significantly differ from each other. This indicated that memory might guide attention via a capture-then-global-inhibition process. Experiment 2 addressed the possibility that the findings resulted from the time needed to reject the interfering objects by requiring both memory-matching and memory-mismatching conditions to be rejected under a highlighted target. This result showed that the memory-matching condition resulted in longer search times than the memory-mismatching condition, indicating an attention-capture effect based on working memory. Together, the two experiments support the idea that when multiple memory-matching distractors in a search array first capture an individual’s attention, it then acts as a template that allows the individual to suppress all interfering items that containing memory information holds. This study supports the Biased Competition Model early on in visual search. However, the late stage of visual search supports the Visual Attention Theory. These advance our knowledge regarding the relationship between working memory content and attention.
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Zhang S, Zheng J, Mo L. The effect of the brightness metaphor on memory. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2021; 86:1751-1762. [PMID: 34689220 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-021-01611-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2021] [Accepted: 10/07/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Brightness-based metaphor effects on perception have been widely documented. For example, moral content makes perception brighter. But does moral content make a bright memory brighter? We tested the effect of the moral brightness metaphor on different cognitive processes (perception, working memory, and long-term memory), and extended evidence of the relationship between brightness and moral concepts to the relationship between brightness and positive concepts. Different samples of college students participated in five experiments. In all experiments, moral (immoral) and positive (negative) pictures of varying levels of brightness were presented, and then participants reconstructed the brightness of each picture using a keyboard to adjust the brightness of an picture. Together, the results of ANOVAs across experiments showed that the metaphorical effect of brightness played no role in perception or working memory, but there was a significant increase in brightness in long-term memory. These results support the non-unidirectionality of metaphor, and extend the conceptual metaphor theory and simulating sensorimotor metaphors theory by enhancing the effect of metaphor through the cognitive mechanism of long-term memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shijia Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, No. 55, West of Zhongshan Avenue, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jianhong Zheng
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Development and Education for Special Needs Children, Department of Psychology and Key Laboratory of Psychological Assessment and Rehabilitation for Exceptional Children, Lingnan Normal University, 29 Cunjin Road, Chikan District, Zhanjiang, 524000, Guangdong, China.
| | - Lei Mo
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China. .,School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, No. 55, West of Zhongshan Avenue, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, China.
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Sasin E, Fougnie D. Memory-driven capture occurs for individual features of an object. Sci Rep 2020; 10:19499. [PMID: 33177574 PMCID: PMC7658969 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-76431-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2020] [Accepted: 10/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Items held in working memory (WM) capture attention (memory-driven capture). People can selectively prioritize specific object features in WM. Here, we examined whether feature-specific prioritization within WM modulates memory-driven capture. In Experiment 1, after remembering the color and orientation of a triangle, participants were instructed, via retro-cue, whether the color, the orientation, or both features were relevant. To measure capture, we asked participants to execute a subsequent search task, and we compared performance in displays that did and did not contain the memory-matching feature. Color attracted attention only when it was relevant. No capture by orientation was found. In Experiment 2, we presented the retro-cue at one of the four locations of the search display to direct attention to specific objects. We found capture by color and this capture was larger when it was indicated as relevant. Crucially, orientation also attracted attention, but only when it was relevant. These findings provide evidence for reciprocal interaction between internal prioritization and external attention on the features level. Specifically, internal feature-specific prioritization modulates memory-driven capture but this capture also depends on the salience of the features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edyta Sasin
- Department of Psychology, New York University of Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
| | - Daryl Fougnie
- Department of Psychology, New York University of Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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Grieben R, Tekülve J, Zibner SKU, Lins J, Schneegans S, Schöner G. Scene memory and spatial inhibition in visual search : A neural dynamic process model and new experimental evidence. Atten Percept Psychophys 2020; 82:775-798. [PMID: 32048181 PMCID: PMC7246253 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-019-01898-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Any object-oriented action requires that the object be first brought into the attentional foreground, often through visual search. Outside the laboratory, this would always take place in the presence of a scene representation acquired from ongoing visual exploration. The interaction of scene memory with visual search is still not completely understood. Feature integration theory (FIT) has shaped both research on visual search, emphasizing the scaling of search times with set size when searches entail feature conjunctions, and research on visual working memory through the change detection paradigm. Despite its neural motivation, there is no consistently neural process account of FIT in both its dimensions. We propose such an account that integrates (1) visual exploration and the building of scene memory, (2) the attentional detection of visual transients and the extraction of search cues, and (3) visual search itself. The model uses dynamic field theory in which networks of neural dynamic populations supporting stable activation states are coupled to generate sequences of processing steps. The neural architecture accounts for basic findings in visual search and proposes a concrete mechanism for the integration of working memory into the search process. In a behavioral experiment, we address the long-standing question of whether both the overall speed and the efficiency of visual search can be improved by scene memory. We find both effects and provide model fits of the behavioral results. In a second experiment, we show that the increase in efficiency is fragile, and trace that fragility to the resetting of spatial working memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raul Grieben
- Institut für Neuroinformatik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany
| | - Jan Tekülve
- Institut für Neuroinformatik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany
| | - Stephan K. U. Zibner
- Institut für Neuroinformatik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany
| | - Jonas Lins
- Institut für Neuroinformatik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany
| | | | - Gregor Schöner
- Institut für Neuroinformatik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany
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Wen T, Duncan J, Mitchell DJ. The time-course of component processes of selective attention. Neuroimage 2019; 199:396-407. [PMID: 31150787 PMCID: PMC6693528 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.05.067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2019] [Revised: 05/09/2019] [Accepted: 05/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Attentional selection shapes human perception, enhancing relevant information, according to behavioral goals. While many studies have investigated individual neural signatures of attention, here we used multivariate decoding of electrophysiological brain responses (MEG/EEG) to track and compare multiple component processes of selective attention. Auditory cues instructed participants to select a particular visual target, embedded within a subsequent stream of displays. Combining single and multi-item displays with different types of distractors allowed multiple aspects of information content to be decoded, distinguishing distinct components of attention, as the selection process evolved. Although the task required comparison of items to an attentional "template" held in memory, signals consistent with such a template were largely undetectable throughout the preparatory period but re-emerged after presentation of a non-target choice display. Choice displays evoked strong neural representation of multiple target features, evolving over different timescales. We quantified five distinct processing operations with different time-courses. First, visual properties of the stimulus were strongly represented. Second, the candidate target was rapidly identified and localized in multi-item displays, providing the earliest evidence of modulation by behavioral relevance. Third, the identity of the target continued to be enhanced, relative to distractors. Fourth, only later was the behavioral significance of the target explicitly represented in single-item displays. Finally, if the target was not identified and search was to be resumed, then an attentional template was weakly reactivated. The observation that an item's behavioral relevance directs attention in multi-item displays prior to explicit representation of target/non-target status in single-item displays is consistent with two-stage models of attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanya Wen
- Medical Research Council, Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge, CB2 7EF, United Kingdom.
| | - John Duncan
- Medical Research Council, Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge, CB2 7EF, United Kingdom; Department of Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
| | - Daniel J Mitchell
- Medical Research Council, Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge, CB2 7EF, United Kingdom.
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Yeh LC, Yeh YY, Kuo BC. Spatially Specific Attention Mechanisms Are Sensitive to Competition during Visual Search. J Cogn Neurosci 2019; 31:1248-1259. [DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Extensive studies have focused on selection mechanisms during visual search. One important influence on these mechanisms is the perceptual characteristics of the stimuli. We investigated the impact of perceptual similarity between targets and nontargets (T-N similarity) in a visual search task using EEG. Participants searched for a predefined target letter among five nontargets. The T-N similarity was manipulated with three levels: high, middle, and low. We tested for the influences of T-N similarity on an ERP (e.g., N2pc) and alpha oscillations. We observed a significant N2pc effect across all levels of similarity. The N2pc amplitude was reduced and occurred later for high similarity relative to low and middle similarities. We also showed that the N2pc amplitude was inversely correlated with the RTs across all similarities. Importantly, we found a significant alpha phase adjustment about the same time as the N2pc for high similarity; by contrast, no such effect was observed for middle and low similarities. Finally, we showed a positive correlation between the phase-locking value and the N2pc—the stronger the alpha phase-locking value, the larger the N2pc, when the T-N similarity was high. In conclusion, our results provide novel evidence for multiple competitive mechanisms during visual search.
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The ebb and flow of attention: Between-subject variation in intrinsic connectivity and cognition associated with the dynamics of ongoing experience. Neuroimage 2018; 185:286-299. [PMID: 30266263 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.09.069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2018] [Revised: 08/14/2018] [Accepted: 09/24/2018] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Cognition is dynamic, allowing us the flexibility to shift focus from different aspects of the environment, or between internally- and externally-oriented trains of thought. Although we understand how individuals switch attention across different tasks, the neurocognitive processes that underpin the dynamics of less constrained elements of cognition are less well understood. To explore this issue, we developed a paradigm in which participants intermittently responded to external events across two conditions that systematically vary in their need for updating working memory based on information in the external environment. This paradigm distinguishes the influences on cognition that emerge because of demands placed by the task (sustained) from changes that result from the time elapsed since the last task response (transient). We used experience sampling to identify dynamic changes in ongoing cognition in this paradigm, and related between subject variation in these measures to variations in the intrinsic organisation of large-scale brain networks. We found systems important for attention were involved in the regulation of off-task thought. Coupling between the ventral attention network and regions of primary motor cortex was stronger for individuals who were able to regulate off-task thought in line with the demands of the task. This pattern of coupling was linked to greater task-related thought when environmental demands were high and elevated off-task thought when demands were low. In contrast, the coupling of the dorsal attention network with a region of lateral visual cortex was stronger for individuals for whom off-task thoughts transiently increased with the time since responding to the external world . This pattern is consistent with a role for this system in the time-limited top-down biasing of visual processing to increase behavioural efficiency. Unlike the attention networks, coupling between regions of the default mode network and dorsal occipital cortex was weaker for individuals for whom the level of detail decreased with the passage of time when the external task did not require continuous monitoring of external information. These data provide novel evidence for how neural systems vary across subjects and may underpin individual variation in the dynamics of thought, linking attention systems to the maintenance of task-relevant information, and the default mode network to supporting experiences with vivid detail.
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Functional interplay of top-down attention with affective codes during visual short-term memory maintenance. Cortex 2018; 103:55-70. [PMID: 29554542 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2018.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2017] [Revised: 10/21/2017] [Accepted: 02/07/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Visual short-term memory (VSTM) allows individuals to briefly maintain information over time for guiding behaviours. Because the contents of VSTM can be neutral or emotional, top-down influence in VSTM may vary with the affective codes of maintained representations. Here we investigated the neural mechanisms underlying the functional interplay of top-down attention with affective codes in VSTM using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants were instructed to remember both threatening and neutral objects in a cued VSTM task. Retrospective cues (retro-cues) were presented to direct attention to the hemifield of a threatening object (i.e., cue-to-threat) or a neutral object (i.e., cue-to-neutral) during VSTM maintenance. We showed stronger activity in the ventral occipitotemporal cortex and amygdala for attending threatening relative to neutral representations. Using multivoxel pattern analysis, we found better classification performance for cue-to-threat versus cue-to-neutral objects in early visual areas and in the amygdala. Importantly, retro-cues modulated the strength of functional connectivity between the frontoparietal and early visual areas. Activity in the frontoparietal areas became strongly correlated with the activity in V3a-V4 coding the threatening representations instructed to be relevant for the task. Together, these findings provide the first demonstration of top-down modulation of activation patterns in early visual areas and functional connectivity between the frontoparietal network and early visual areas for regulating threatening representations during VSTM maintenance.
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Kuo BC, Li CH, Lin SH, Hu SH, Yeh YY. Top-down modulation of alpha power and pattern similarity for threatening representations in visual short-term memory. Neuropsychologia 2017; 106:21-30. [PMID: 28887064 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2017] [Revised: 09/01/2017] [Accepted: 09/01/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Recent studies have shown that top-down attention biases task-relevant representations in visual short-term memory (VSTM). Accumulating evidence has also revealed the modulatory effects of emotional arousal on attentional processing. However, it remains unclear how top-down attention interacts with emotional memoranda in VSTM. In this study, we investigated the mechanisms of alpha oscillations and their spatiotemporal characteristics that underlie top-down attention to threatening representations during VSTM maintenance with electroencephalography. Participants were instructed to remember a threatening object and a neutral object in a cued variant delayed response task. Retrospective cues (retro-cues) were presented to direct attention to the hemifield of a threatening object (i.e., cue-to-threat trials) or a neutral object (i.e., cue-to-neutral trials) during a retention interval prior to the probe test. We found a significant retro-cue-related alpha lateralisation over posterior regions during VSTM maintenance. The novel finding was that the magnitude of alpha lateralisation was greater for cue-to-threat objects compared to cue-to-neutral ones. These results indicated that directing attention towards threatening representations compared to neutral representations could result in greater regulation of alpha activity contralateral to the cued hemifield. Importantly, we estimated the spatiotemporal pattern similarity in alpha activity and found significantly higher similarity indexes for the posterior regions relative to the anterior regions and for the cue-to-threat objects relative to cue-to-neutral objects over the posterior regions. Together, our findings provided the oscillatory evidence of greater top-down modulations of alpha lateralisation and spatiotemporal pattern similarity for attending to threatening representations in VSTM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo-Cheng Kuo
- Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taiwan.
| | - Chun-Hui Li
- Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taiwan; Research Center for Information Technology Innovation, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
| | - Szu-Hung Lin
- Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
| | - Sheng-Hung Hu
- Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
| | - Yei-Yu Yeh
- Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taiwan.
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de Vries IEJ, van Driel J, Olivers CNL. Posterior α EEG Dynamics Dissociate Current from Future Goals in Working Memory-Guided Visual Search. J Neurosci 2017; 37:1591-1603. [PMID: 28069918 PMCID: PMC5299573 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2945-16.2016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2016] [Revised: 12/05/2016] [Accepted: 12/30/2016] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Current models of visual search assume that search is guided by an active visual working memory representation of what we are currently looking for. This attentional template for currently relevant stimuli can be dissociated from accessory memory representations that are only needed prospectively, for a future task, and that should be prevented from guiding current attention. However, it remains unclear what electrophysiological mechanisms dissociate currently relevant (serving upcoming selection) from prospectively relevant memories (serving future selection). We measured EEG of 20 human subjects while they performed two consecutive visual search tasks. Before the search tasks, a cue instructed observers which item to look for first (current template) and which second (prospective template). During the delay leading up to the first search display, we found clear suppression of α band (8-14 Hz) activity in regions contralateral to remembered items, comprising both local power and interregional phase synchronization within a posterior parietal network. Importantly, these lateralization effects were stronger when the memory item was currently relevant (i.e., for the first search) compared with when it was prospectively relevant (i.e., for the second search), consistent with current templates being prioritized over future templates. In contrast, event-related potential analysis revealed that the contralateral delay activity was similar for all conditions, suggesting no difference in storage. Together, these findings support the idea that posterior α oscillations represent a state of increased processing or excitability in task-relevant cortical regions, and reflect enhanced cortical prioritization of memory representations that serve as a current selection filter.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Our days are filled with looking for relevant objects while ignoring irrelevant visual information. Such visual search activity is thought to be driven by current goals activated in working memory. However, working memory not only serves current goals, but also future goals, with differential impact upon visual selection. Little is known about how the brain differentiates between current and future goals. Here we show, for the first time, that modulations of brain oscillations in the EEG α frequency band in posterior cortex can dissociate current from future search goals in working memory. Moreover, the dynamics of these oscillations uncover how we flexibly switch focus between memory representations. Together, we reveal how the brain assigns priority for selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ingmar E J de Vries
- Institute of Brain and Behavior Amsterdam and Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Joram van Driel
- Institute of Brain and Behavior Amsterdam and Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Christian N L Olivers
- Institute of Brain and Behavior Amsterdam and Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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