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Prince JS, Alvarez GA, Konkle T. Contrastive learning explains the emergence and function of visual category-selective regions. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadl1776. [PMID: 39321304 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adl1776] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2024] [Indexed: 09/27/2024]
Abstract
Modular and distributed coding theories of category selectivity along the human ventral visual stream have long existed in tension. Here, we present a reconciling framework-contrastive coding-based on a series of analyses relating category selectivity within biological and artificial neural networks. We discover that, in models trained with contrastive self-supervised objectives over a rich natural image diet, category-selective tuning naturally emerges for faces, bodies, scenes, and words. Further, lesions of these model units lead to selective, dissociable recognition deficits, highlighting their distinct functional roles in information processing. Finally, these pre-identified units can predict neural responses in all corresponding face-, scene-, body-, and word-selective regions of human visual cortex, under a highly constrained sparse positive encoding procedure. The success of this single model indicates that brain-like functional specialization can emerge without category-specific learning pressures, as the system learns to untangle rich image content. Contrastive coding, therefore, provides a unifying account of object category emergence and representation in the human brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob S Prince
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - George A Alvarez
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Talia Konkle
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Kempner Institute for Biological and Artificial Intelligence, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
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2
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Zhu H, Ge Y, Bratch A, Yuille A, Kay K, Kersten D. Natural scenes reveal diverse representations of 2D and 3D body pose in the human brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2317707121. [PMID: 38830105 PMCID: PMC11181088 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2317707121] [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: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 04/25/2024] [Indexed: 06/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Human pose, defined as the spatial relationships between body parts, carries instrumental information supporting the understanding of motion and action of a person. A substantial body of previous work has identified cortical areas responsive to images of bodies and different body parts. However, the neural basis underlying the visual perception of body part relationships has received less attention. To broaden our understanding of body perception, we analyzed high-resolution fMRI responses to a wide range of poses from over 4,000 complex natural scenes. Using ground-truth annotations and an application of three-dimensional (3D) pose reconstruction algorithms, we compared similarity patterns of cortical activity with similarity patterns built from human pose models with different levels of depth availability and viewpoint dependency. Targeting the challenge of explaining variance in complex natural image responses with interpretable models, we achieved statistically significant correlations between pose models and cortical activity patterns (though performance levels are substantially lower than the noise ceiling). We found that the 3D view-independent pose model, compared with two-dimensional models, better captures the activation from distinct cortical areas, including the right posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS). These areas, together with other pose-selective regions in the LOTC, form a broader, distributed cortical network with greater view-tolerance in more anterior patches. We interpret these findings in light of the computational complexity of natural body images, the wide range of visual tasks supported by pose structures, and possible shared principles for view-invariant processing between articulated objects and ordinary, rigid objects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongru Zhu
- Department of Cognitive Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD21218
| | - Yijun Ge
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN55455
- Laboratory for Consciousness, Riken Center for Brain Science, Wako, Saitama3510198, Japan
| | - Alexander Bratch
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN55455
| | - Alan Yuille
- Department of Cognitive Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD21218
| | - Kendrick Kay
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN55455
| | - Daniel Kersten
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN55455
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3
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Mazurchuk S, Fernandino L, Tong JQ, Conant LL, Binder JR. The neural representation of body part concepts. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhae213. [PMID: 38863113 PMCID: PMC11166504 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae213] [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: 12/22/2023] [Revised: 04/26/2024] [Accepted: 04/27/2024] [Indexed: 06/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies provide evidence for a degree of category-related organization of conceptual knowledge in the brain. Some of this evidence indicates that body part concepts are distinctly represented from other categories; yet, the neural correlates and mechanisms underlying these dissociations are unclear. We expand on the limited prior data by measuring functional magnetic resonance imaging responses induced by body part words and performing a series of analyses investigating the cortical representation of this semantic category. Across voxel-level contrasts, pattern classification, representational similarity analysis, and vertex-wise encoding analyses, we find converging evidence that the posterior middle temporal gyrus, the supramarginal gyrus, and the ventral premotor cortex in the left hemisphere play important roles in the preferential representation of this category compared to other concrete objects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Mazurchuk
- Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, United States
- Department of Biophysics, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, United States
| | - Leonardo Fernandino
- Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, United States
| | - Jia-Qing Tong
- Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, United States
- Department of Biophysics, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, United States
| | - Lisa L Conant
- Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, United States
| | - Jeffrey R Binder
- Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, United States
- Department of Biophysics, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, United States
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4
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Ip K, Kusyk N, Stephen ID, Brooks KR. Did you skip leg day? The neural mechanisms of muscle perception for body parts. Cortex 2024; 171:75-89. [PMID: 37980724 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.10.006] [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: 05/01/2023] [Revised: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/21/2023]
Abstract
While the neural mechanisms underpinning the perception of muscularity are poorly understood, recent progress has been made using the psychophysical technique of visual adaptation. Prolonged visual exposure to high (low) muscularity bodies causes subsequently viewed bodies to appear less (more) muscular, revealing a recalibration of the neural populations encoding muscularity. Here, we use visual adaptation to further elucidate the tuning properties of the neural processes underpinning muscle perception for the upper and lower halves of the body. Participants manipulated the apparent muscularity of upper and lower bodies until they appeared 'normal', prior to and following exposure to a series of top/bottom halves of bodies that were either high or low in muscularity. In Experiment 1, participants were adapted to isolated own-gender body halves from one of four conditions; increased (muscularity) upper (body half), increased lower, decreased upper, or decreased lower. Despite the presence of muscle aftereffects when the body halves the participants viewed and manipulated were congruent, there was only weak evidence of muscle aftereffect transfer between the upper and lower halves of the body. Aftereffects were significantly weaker when body halves were incongruent, implying minimal overlap in the neural mechanisms encoding muscularity for body half. Experiment 2 examined the generalisability of Experiment 1's findings in a more ecologically valid context using whole-body stimuli, producing a similar pattern of results as Experiment 1, but with no evidence of cross-adaptation. Taken together, the findings are most consistent with muscle-encoding neural populations that are body-half selective. As visual adaptation has been implicated in cases of body size and shape misperception, the present study furthers our current understanding of how these perceptual inaccuracies, particularly those involving muscularity, are developed, maintained, and may potentially be treated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keefe Ip
- School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
| | - Nicole Kusyk
- School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Ian D Stephen
- NTU Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, England, UK
| | - Kevin R Brooks
- School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Perception and Action Research Centre (PARC), Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Lifespan Health & Wellbeing Research Centre, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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5
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Gatti D, Günther F, Rinaldi L. A Body Map Beyond Perceptual Experience. J Cogn 2024; 7:22. [PMID: 38312940 PMCID: PMC10836159 DOI: 10.5334/joc.347] [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: 11/06/2023] [Accepted: 01/17/2024] [Indexed: 02/06/2024] Open
Abstract
The human body is perhaps the most ubiquitous and salient visual stimulus that we encounter in our daily lives. Given the prevalence of images of human bodies in natural scene statistics, it is no surprise that our mental representations of the body are thought to strongly originate from visual experience. Yet, little is still known about high-level cognitive representations of the body. Here, we retrieved a body map from natural language, taking this as a window into high-level cognitive processes. We first extracted a matrix of distances between body parts from natural language data and employed this matrix to extrapolate a body map. To test the effectiveness of this high-level body map, we then conducted a series of experiments in which participants were asked to classify the distance between pairs of body parts, presented either as words or images. We found that the high-level body map was systematically activated when participants were making these distance judgments. Crucially, the linguistic map explained participants' performance over and above the visual body map, indicating that the former cannot be simply conceived as a by-product of perceptual experience. These findings, therefore, establish the existence of a behaviorally relevant, high-level representation of the human body.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniele Gatti
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Fritz Günther
- Institut für Psychologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Luca Rinaldi
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
- Cognitive Psychology Unit, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
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Zheng XY, Hebart MN, Grill F, Dolan RJ, Doeller CF, Cools R, Garvert MM. Parallel cognitive maps for multiple knowledge structures in the hippocampal formation. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhad485. [PMID: 38204296 PMCID: PMC10839836 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad485] [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: 07/28/2023] [Revised: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024] Open
Abstract
The hippocampal-entorhinal system uses cognitive maps to represent spatial knowledge and other types of relational information. However, objects can often be characterized by different types of relations simultaneously. How does the hippocampal formation handle the embedding of stimuli in multiple relational structures that differ vastly in their mode and timescale of acquisition? Does the hippocampal formation integrate different stimulus dimensions into one conjunctive map or is each dimension represented in a parallel map? Here, we reanalyzed human functional magnetic resonance imaging data from Garvert et al. (2017) that had previously revealed a map in the hippocampal formation coding for a newly learnt transition structure. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging adaptation analysis, we found that the degree of representational similarity in the bilateral hippocampus also decreased as a function of the semantic distance between presented objects. Importantly, while both map-like structures localized to the hippocampal formation, the semantic map was located in more posterior regions of the hippocampal formation than the transition structure and thus anatomically distinct. This finding supports the idea that the hippocampal-entorhinal system forms parallel cognitive maps that reflect the embedding of objects in diverse relational structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaochen Y Zheng
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, 6525 EN, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Martin N Hebart
- Max-Planck-Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Medicine, Justus Liebig University, 35390, Giessen, Germany
| | - Filip Grill
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, 6525 EN, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Radboud University Medical Center, Department of Neurology, 6525 GA, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Raymond J Dolan
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom
- Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, London WC1B 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Christian F Doeller
- Max-Planck-Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Centre for Neural Computation, The Egil and Pauline Braathen and Fred Kavli Centre for Cortical Microcircuits, Jebsen Centre for Alzheimer's Disease, NTNU, 7491, Trondheim, Norway
- Wilhelm Wundt Institute of Psychology, Leipzig University, 04109, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Roshan Cools
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, 6525 EN, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Radboud University Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, 6525 GA, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Mona M Garvert
- Max-Planck-Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Max Planck Research Group NeuroCode, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 14195, Berlin, Germany
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Berlin, Germany
- Faculty of Human Sciences, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
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Dilek B, Yildirim E, Hanoglu L. Low frequency oscillations during hand laterality judgment task with and without personal perspectives: a preliminary study. Cogn Neurodyn 2023; 17:1447-1461. [PMID: 37974585 PMCID: PMC10640502 DOI: 10.1007/s11571-023-09974-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2023] [Revised: 04/05/2023] [Accepted: 04/20/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Sense of personal perspective is crucial for understanding in attentional mechanisms of the perception in "self" or "other's" body. In a hand laterality judgment (HLJ) task, perception of perspective can be assessed by arranging angular orientations and depths of images. A total of 11 healthy, right-handed participants (8 females, mean age: 38.36 years, education: 14 years) were included in the study. The purpose of this study was to investigate behavioural and cortical responses in low-frequency cortical rhythms during a HLJ task. A total of 80-visual hand stimuli were presented through the experiment. Hand visuals were categorized in the way of side (right vs. left) and perspective (1st vs. 3rd personal perspective). Both behavioural outcomes and brain oscillatory characteristics (i.e., frequency and amplitude) of the Electroencephalography were analysed. All reaction time and incorrect answers for 3rd person perspective were higher than the ones for 1st person perspective. Location effect was statistically significant in event-related theta responses confirming the dominant activity of theta frequency in spatial memory tasks on parietal and occipital areas. In addition, we found there were increasing in delta power and phase in hand visuals with 1st person perspective and increasing theta phase in hand visuals with 3rd person perspective (p < 0.05). Accordingly, a clear dissociation in the perception of perspectives in low-frequency bands was revealed. These different cortical strategy in the perception of hand visual with and without perspectives may be interpreted as delta activity may be related in self-body perception, whereas theta activity may be related in allocentric perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Burcu Dilek
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Occupational Therapy, Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey
- Institute of Health Sciences, Department of Neuroscience, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Ebru Yildirim
- Vocational School, Program of Electroneurophysiology, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey
- Research Institute for Health Sciences and Technologies (SABITA), Clinical Electrophysiology, Neuroimaging and Neuromodulation Laboratory, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Lutfu Hanoglu
- Research Institute for Health Sciences and Technologies (SABITA), Clinical Electrophysiology, Neuroimaging and Neuromodulation Laboratory, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey
- School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey
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8
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Wang Y, Tang L, Wang M, Li W, Wang X, Wang J, Chen Q, Yang Z, Li X, Li Z, Wu G, Zhang P, Wang Z. Alterations of interhemispheric functional homotopic connectivity and corpus callosum microstructure in bulimia nervosa. Quant Imaging Med Surg 2023; 13:7077-7091. [PMID: 37869275 PMCID: PMC10585539 DOI: 10.21037/qims-23-18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2023] [Accepted: 08/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/24/2023]
Abstract
Background Accumulating evidence indicates maladaptive neural information interactions between different brain regions underlie bulimia nervosa (BN). However, little is known about the alterations in interhemispheric communication of BN, which is facilitated by the corpus callosum (CC), the major commissural fiber connecting the two hemispheres. To shed light on the interhemispheric communications in BN, the present study aims to explore alterations of interhemispheric homotopic functional connectivity and the CC microstructure in BN. Methods Based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data collected from 42 BN patients and 38 healthy controls (HCs), the group differences of voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) index and CC white matter microstructure were compared. Then brain regions with significant group differences in VMHC were selected as seeds for subsequent functional connectivity (FC) analysis. Seed-based fiber tracking and correlation analysis were used to analyze the relationship between VMHC and CC changes. And correlation analysis was used to reveal the correlation between abnormal imaging variables and the clinical features of BN. Results Compared with HCs, the BN group showed decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) in middle part of CC (CCMid) and increased VMHC in bilateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and middle temporal gyrus (MTG) [false discovery rate (FDR) correction with a corrected threshold of P<0.05]. Subsequent FC analyses indicated increased FC between left OFC and right OFC, bilateral MTG, left middle occipital gyrus and right precuneus (PCUN); between right OFC and left cerebellum crus II and right PCUN; and between left MTG and right inferior temporal gyrus, right cerebellum lobule VI and right medial superior frontal gyrus (FDR correction with a corrected threshold of P<0.05). The VMHC values of OFC and MTG showed no correlations with FA values of the CCMid and the white fibers between the bilateral OFC and MTG were not through the CCMid. In addition, several regions with abnormal FC had a potential correlation trend with abnormal eating behaviors in BN patients (P<0.05, uncorrected). Conclusions Aberrant interhemispheric homotopic functional connectivity and CC microstructure were observed in BN, and they may be independent of each other. Regions with aberrant interhemispheric homotopic functional connectivity showed hyperconnectivity with regions related to reward processing, body shape perception, and self-reference.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiling Wang
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Lirong Tang
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Miao Wang
- Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China
| | - Weihua Li
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Xuemei Wang
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Jiani Wang
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Qian Chen
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Zhenghan Yang
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaohong Li
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Zhanjiang Li
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Guowei Wu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Peng Zhang
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Zhenchang Wang
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
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Ambroziak KB, Bofill MA, Azañón E, Longo MR. Perceptual aftereffects of adiposity transfer from hands to whole bodies. Exp Brain Res 2023; 241:2371-2379. [PMID: 37620437 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-023-06686-7] [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: 02/10/2023] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023]
Abstract
Adaptation aftereffects for features such as identity and gender have been shown to transfer between faces and bodies, and faces and body parts, i.e. hands. However, no studies have investigated transfer of adaptation aftereffects between whole bodies and body parts. The present study investigated whether visual adaptation aftereffects transfer between hands and whole bodies in the context of adiposity judgements (i.e. how thin or fat a body is). On each trial, participants had to decide whether the body they saw was thinner or fatter than average. Participants performed the task before and after exposure to a thin/fat hand. Consistent with body adaptation studies, after exposure to a slim hand participants judged subsequently presented bodies to be fatter than after adaptation to a fat hand. These results suggest that there may be links between visual representations of body adiposity for whole bodies and body parts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klaudia B Ambroziak
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX, UK.
| | - Marina Araujo Bofill
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX, UK
| | - Elena Azañón
- Institute of Psychology, Otto-Von-Guericke University, Universitätsplatz 2, 39016, Magdeburg, Germany
- Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106, Magdeburg, Germany
- Department of Behavioral Neurology, Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Brenneckestraße 6, 39118, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Matthew R Longo
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX, UK.
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10
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Pyasik M, Beccherle M, Faraoni F, Pezzetta R, Moro V. Effects of the social context on the neurophysiological correlates of observed error monitoring. Neuropsychologia 2023; 181:108503. [PMID: 36738886 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108503] [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: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Monitoring the motor performance of others, including the correctness of their actions, is crucial for the human behavior. However, while performance (and error) monitoring of the own actions has been studied extensively at the neurophysiological level, the corresponding studies on monitoring of others' errors are scarce, especially for ecological actions. Moreover, the role of the context of the observed action has not been sufficiently explored. To fill this gap, the present study investigated electroencephalographic (EEG) indices of error monitoring during observation of images of interrupted reach-to-grasp actions in social (an object held in another person's hand) and non-social (an object placed on a table) contexts. Analysis in time- and time-frequency domain showed that, at the level of conscious error awareness, there were no effects of the social context (observed error positivity was present for erroneous actions in both contexts). However, the effects of the context were present at the level of hand image processing: observing erroneous actions in the non-social context was related to larger occipito-temporal N1 and theta activity, while in the social context this pattern was reversed, i.e., larger N1 and theta activity were present for the correct actions. These results suggest that, in case of easily predictable ecological actions, action correctness is processed as early as at the level of hand image perception, since the hand posture conveys information about the action (e.g., motor intention). The social context of actions might make the correct actions more salient, possibly through the saliency of the correctly achieved common goal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Pyasik
- NPSY.Lab-VR, Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
| | | | - Federica Faraoni
- NPSY.Lab-VR, Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | | | - Valentina Moro
- NPSY.Lab-VR, Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
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11
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Bracci S, Op de Beeck HP. Understanding Human Object Vision: A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Representations. Annu Rev Psychol 2023; 74:113-135. [PMID: 36378917 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-psych-032720-041031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Objects are the core meaningful elements in our visual environment. Classic theories of object vision focus upon object recognition and are elegant and simple. Some of their proposals still stand, yet the simplicity is gone. Recent evolutions in behavioral paradigms, neuroscientific methods, and computational modeling have allowed vision scientists to uncover the complexity of the multidimensional representational space that underlies object vision. We review these findings and propose that the key to understanding this complexity is to relate object vision to the full repertoire of behavioral goals that underlie human behavior, running far beyond object recognition. There might be no such thing as core object recognition, and if it exists, then its importance is more limited than traditionally thought.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefania Bracci
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy;
| | - Hans P Op de Beeck
- Leuven Brain Institute, Research Unit Brain & Cognition, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium;
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12
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Action Observation Network Activity Related to Object-Directed and Socially-Directed Actions in Adolescents. J Neurosci 2023; 43:125-141. [PMID: 36347621 PMCID: PMC9838701 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1602-20.2022] [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: 07/07/2020] [Revised: 10/25/2022] [Accepted: 10/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The human action observation network (AON) encompasses brain areas consistently engaged when we observe other's actions. Although the core nodes of the AON are present from childhood, it is not known to what extent they are sensitive to different action features during development. Because social cognitive abilities continue to mature during adolescence, the AON response to socially-oriented actions, but not to object-related actions, may differ in adolescents and adults. To test this hypothesis, we scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) male and female typically-developing teenagers (n = 28; 13 females) and adults (n = 25; 14 females) while they passively watched videos of manual actions varying along two dimensions: sociality (i.e., directed toward another person or not) and transitivity (i.e., involving an object or not). We found that action observation recruited the same fronto-parietal and occipito-temporal regions in adults and adolescents. The modulation of voxel-wise activity according to the social or transitive nature of the action was similar in both groups of participants. Multivariate pattern analysis, however, revealed that decoding accuracies in intraparietal sulcus (IPS)/superior parietal lobe (SPL) for both sociality and transitivity were lower for adolescents compared with adults. In addition, in the lateral occipital temporal cortex (LOTC), generalization of decoding across the orthogonal dimension was lower for sociality only in adolescents. These findings indicate that the representation of the content of others' actions, and in particular their social dimension, in the adolescent AON is still not as robust as in adults.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The activity of the action observation network (AON) in the human brain is modulated according to the purpose of the observed action, in particular the extent to which it involves interaction with an object or with another person. How this conceptual representation of actions is implemented during development is largely unknown. Here, using multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA) of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, we discovered that, while the action observation network is in place in adolescence, the fine-grain organization of its posterior regions is less robust than in adults to decode the abstract social dimensions of an action. This finding highlights the late maturation of social processing in the human brain.
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Eijk L, Rasenberg M, Arnese F, Blokpoel M, Dingemanse M, Doeller CF, Ernestus M, Holler J, Milivojevic B, Özyürek A, Pouw W, van Rooij I, Schriefers H, Toni I, Trujillo J, Bögels S. The CABB dataset: A multimodal corpus of communicative interactions for behavioural and neural analyses. Neuroimage 2022; 264:119734. [PMID: 36343884 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119734] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Revised: 10/07/2022] [Accepted: 11/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
We present a dataset of behavioural and fMRI observations acquired in the context of humans involved in multimodal referential communication. The dataset contains audio/video and motion-tracking recordings of face-to-face, task-based communicative interactions in Dutch, as well as behavioural and neural correlates of participants' representations of dialogue referents. Seventy-one pairs of unacquainted participants performed two interleaved interactional tasks in which they described and located 16 novel geometrical objects (i.e., Fribbles) yielding spontaneous interactions of about one hour. We share high-quality video (from three cameras), audio (from head-mounted microphones), and motion-tracking (Kinect) data, as well as speech transcripts of the interactions. Before and after engaging in the face-to-face communicative interactions, participants' individual representations of the 16 Fribbles were estimated. Behaviourally, participants provided a written description (one to three words) for each Fribble and positioned them along 29 independent conceptual dimensions (e.g., rounded, human, audible). Neurally, fMRI signal evoked by each Fribble was measured during a one-back working-memory task. To enable functional hyperalignment across participants, the dataset also includes fMRI measurements obtained during visual presentation of eight animated movies (35 min total). We present analyses for the various types of data demonstrating their quality and consistency with earlier research. Besides high-resolution multimodal interactional data, this dataset includes different correlates of communicative referents, obtained before and after face-to-face dialogue, allowing for novel investigations into the relation between communicative behaviours and the representational space shared by communicators. This unique combination of data can be used for research in neuroscience, psychology, linguistics, and beyond.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lotte Eijk
- Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Marlou Rasenberg
- Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Flavia Arnese
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, P.O.Box 9010, Nijmegen, Gelderland 6500, the Netherlands
| | - Mark Blokpoel
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, P.O.Box 9010, Nijmegen, Gelderland 6500, the Netherlands
| | - Mark Dingemanse
- Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Christian F Doeller
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Centre for Neural Computation, The Egil and Pauline Braathen and Fred Kavli Centre for Cortical Microcircuits, Jebsen Centre for Alzheimer's Disease, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway; Wilhelm Wundt Institute of Psychology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Mirjam Ernestus
- Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Judith Holler
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, P.O.Box 9010, Nijmegen, Gelderland 6500, the Netherlands; Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Branka Milivojevic
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, P.O.Box 9010, Nijmegen, Gelderland 6500, the Netherlands
| | - Asli Özyürek
- Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, P.O.Box 9010, Nijmegen, Gelderland 6500, the Netherlands
| | - Wim Pouw
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, P.O.Box 9010, Nijmegen, Gelderland 6500, the Netherlands; Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Iris van Rooij
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, P.O.Box 9010, Nijmegen, Gelderland 6500, the Netherlands; Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science, and Semiotics, and the Interacting Minds Centre at Aarhus University, Denmark
| | - Herbert Schriefers
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, P.O.Box 9010, Nijmegen, Gelderland 6500, the Netherlands
| | - Ivan Toni
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, P.O.Box 9010, Nijmegen, Gelderland 6500, the Netherlands
| | - James Trujillo
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, P.O.Box 9010, Nijmegen, Gelderland 6500, the Netherlands; Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Sara Bögels
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, P.O.Box 9010, Nijmegen, Gelderland 6500, the Netherlands; Department of Cognition and Communication, Tilburg University, the Netherlands.
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14
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Abstract
Visual representations of bodies, in addition to those of faces, contribute to the recognition of con- and heterospecifics, to action recognition, and to nonverbal communication. Despite its importance, the neural basis of the visual analysis of bodies has been less studied than that of faces. In this article, I review what is known about the neural processing of bodies, focusing on the macaque temporal visual cortex. Early single-unit recording work suggested that the temporal visual cortex contains representations of body parts and bodies, with the dorsal bank of the superior temporal sulcus representing bodily actions. Subsequent functional magnetic resonance imaging studies in both humans and monkeys showed several temporal cortical regions that are strongly activated by bodies. Single-unit recordings in the macaque body patches suggest that these represent mainly body shape features. More anterior patches show a greater viewpoint-tolerant selectivity for body features, which may reflect a processing principle shared with other object categories, including faces. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Vision Science, Volume 8 is September 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rufin Vogels
- Laboratorium voor Neuro- en Psychofysiologie, KU Leuven, Belgium; .,Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Belgium
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15
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You Y, Novak LR, Clancy KJ, Li W. Pattern differentiation and tuning shift in human sensory cortex underlie long-term threat memory. Curr Biol 2022; 32:2067-2075.e4. [PMID: 35325599 PMCID: PMC9090975 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.02.076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2021] [Revised: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The amygdala-prefrontal-cortex circuit has long occupied the center of the threat system,1 but new evidence has rapidly amassed to implicate threat processing outside this canonical circuit.2-4 Through nonhuman research, the sensory cortex has emerged as a critical substrate for long-term threat memory,5-9 underpinned by sensory cortical pattern separation/completion10,11 and tuning shift.12,13 In humans, research has begun to associate the human sensory cortex with long-term threat memory,14,15 but the lack of mechanistic insights obscures a direct linkage. Toward that end, we assessed human olfactory threat conditioning and long-term (9 days) threat memory, combining affective appraisal, olfactory psychophysics, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) over a linear odor-morphing continuum (five levels of binary mixtures of the conditioned stimuli/CS+ and CS- odors). Affective ratings and olfactory perceptual discrimination confirmed (explicit) affective and perceptual learning and memory via conditioning. fMRI representational similarity analysis (RSA) and voxel-based tuning analysis further revealed associative plasticity in the human olfactory (piriform) cortex, including immediate and lasting pattern differentiation between CS and neighboring non-CS and a late onset, lasting tuning shift toward the CS. The two plastic processes were especially salient and lasting in anxious individuals, among whom they were further correlated. These findings thus support an evolutionarily conserved sensory cortical system of long-term threat representation, which can underpin threat perception and memory. Importantly, hyperfunctioning of this sensory mnemonic system of threat in anxiety further implicates a hitherto underappreciated sensory mechanism of anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuqi You
- Department of Psychology, Florida State University, 1107 W. Call St., Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA.
| | - Lucas R Novak
- Department of Psychology, Florida State University, 1107 W. Call St., Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA
| | - Kevin J Clancy
- Department of Psychology, Florida State University, 1107 W. Call St., Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA
| | - Wen Li
- Department of Psychology, Florida State University, 1107 W. Call St., Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA.
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16
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Caggiano P, Grossi G, De Mattia LC, vanVelzen J, Cocchini G. Objects with motor valence affect the visual processing of human body parts: Evidence from behavioural and ERP studies. Cortex 2022; 153:194-206. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.04.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2021] [Revised: 01/06/2022] [Accepted: 04/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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17
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Features and Extra-Striate Body Area Representations of Diagnostic Body Parts in Anger and Fear Perception. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12040466. [PMID: 35447997 PMCID: PMC9028525 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12040466] [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: 02/27/2022] [Revised: 03/19/2022] [Accepted: 03/29/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Social species perceive emotion via extracting diagnostic features of body movements. Although extensive studies have contributed to knowledge on how the entire body is used as context for decoding bodily expression, we know little about whether specific body parts (e.g., arms and legs) transmit enough information for body understanding. In this study, we performed behavioral experiments using the Bubbles paradigm on static body images to directly explore diagnostic body parts for categorizing angry, fearful and neutral expressions. Results showed that subjects recognized emotional bodies through diagnostic features from the torso with arms. We then conducted a follow-up functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment on body part images to examine whether diagnostic parts modulated body-related brain activity and corresponding neural representations. We found greater activations of the extra-striate body area (EBA) in response to both anger and fear than neutral for the torso and arms. Representational similarity analysis showed that neural patterns of the EBA distinguished different bodily expressions. Furthermore, the torso with arms and whole body had higher similarities in EBA representations relative to the legs and whole body, and to the head and whole body. Taken together, these results indicate that diagnostic body parts (i.e., torso with arms) can communicate bodily expression in a detectable manner.
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18
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One object, two networks? Assessing the relationship between the face and body-selective regions in the primate visual system. Brain Struct Funct 2021; 227:1423-1438. [PMID: 34792643 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-021-02420-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2021] [Accepted: 10/22/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Faces and bodies are often treated as distinct categories that are processed separately by face- and body-selective brain regions in the primate visual system. These regions occupy distinct regions of visual cortex and are often thought to constitute independent functional networks. Yet faces and bodies are part of the same object and their presence inevitably covary in naturalistic settings. Here, we re-evaluate both the evidence supporting the independent processing of faces and bodies and the organizational principles that have been invoked to explain this distinction. We outline four hypotheses ranging from completely separate networks to a single network supporting the perception of whole people or animals. The current evidence, especially in humans, is compatible with all of these hypotheses, making it presently unclear how the representation of faces and bodies is organized in the cortex.
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19
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Wurm MF, Caramazza A. Two 'what' pathways for action and object recognition. Trends Cogn Sci 2021; 26:103-116. [PMID: 34702661 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Revised: 09/03/2021] [Accepted: 10/01/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
The ventral visual stream is conceived as a pathway for object recognition. However, we also recognize the actions an object can be involved in. Here, we show that action recognition critically depends on a pathway in lateral occipitotemporal cortex, partially overlapping and topographically aligned with object representations that are precursors for action recognition. By contrast, object features that are more relevant for object recognition, such as color and texture, are typically found in ventral occipitotemporal cortex. We argue that occipitotemporal cortex contains similarly organized lateral and ventral 'what' pathways for action and object recognition, respectively. This account explains a number of observed phenomena, such as the duplication of object domains and the specific representational profiles in lateral and ventral cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moritz F Wurm
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences - CIMeC, University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, 38068 Rovereto, Italy.
| | - Alfonso Caramazza
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences - CIMeC, University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, 38068 Rovereto, Italy; Department of Psychology, Harvard University, 33 Kirkland St, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
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20
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Conson M, Di Rosa A, Polito F, Zappullo I, Baiano C, Trojano L. "Mind the thumb": Judging hand laterality is anchored on the thumb position. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2021; 219:103388. [PMID: 34392012 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2021.103388] [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: 09/07/2020] [Revised: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 08/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
People can decide whether the image of a hand represents a left or a right one. The laterality judgment mainly implies mentally imaging own hand movement (motor simulation) if the stimulus represents a palm, or analysing visual cues, as hand asymmetry, if the stimulus reproduces a dorsum. Here, by capitalizing on evidence underscoring the key role of thumb-palm complex in motor dexterity of human hand, we hypothesise that activation of motor or visual processes when judging hand laterality is due to the different relevance of palm-thumb and dorsum-thumb combinations to hand action. To test this thumb-anchored strategy, in a laterality judgment experiment, we concurrently manipulated the thumb position (flexed or extended) with respect to palm and dorsum, and the human likeness of the hand shape (influencing the salience of the thumb with respect to the hand shape). The main results demonstrated that viewing the flexed thumb from palm or dorsum elicited motor simulation, while viewing the extended thumb activated motor simulation when combined with palm but not dorsum. The present data highlight the pivotal role of the thumb in hand laterality judgments, consistent with its key role in human in-hand manipulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Massimiliano Conson
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy.
| | - Alessandro Di Rosa
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy
| | - Francesco Polito
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy
| | - Isa Zappullo
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy
| | - Chiara Baiano
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy
| | - Luigi Trojano
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy
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21
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Okamoto Y, Kitada R, Tanabe HC, Sasaki AT, Kochiyama T, Yahata N, Sadato N. The extrastriate body area is involved in reciprocal imitation of hand gestures, vocalizations, and facial expressions: A univariate and multivariate fMRI study. Soc Neurosci 2021; 16:448-465. [PMID: 34133907 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2021.1944908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
The extrastriate body area (EBA) in the lateral occipito-temporal cortex has an important role in reciprocal interaction, as it detects congruence between self and other's hand actions. However, it is unclear whether the EBA can detect congruence regardless of the type of action. In the present study, we examined the neural substrate underlying congruence detection of three types of actions: hand gestures, vocalizations, and facial expressions. A univariate analysis revealed a congruency effect, especially for imitating action, for all three types of actions in the EBA. A multi-voxel pattern analysis classifier in the EBA was able to distinguish between initiating interaction from responding to interaction in all experiments. Correspondingly, the congruency effect in the EBA revealed by univariate analysis was stronger for responding to than for initiating interaction. These findings suggest that the EBA might contribute to detect congruence regardless of the body part used (i.e. face or hand) and the type of action (i.e. gestural or vocal). Moreover, initiating and responding to interaction might be processed differently within the EBA. This study highlights the role of the EBA in comparing between self and other's actions beyond hand actions.Running head: Function of EBA in reciprocal imitation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuko Okamoto
- Waseda Institute for Advanced Study (WIAS), Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Ryo Kitada
- Division of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.,Faculty of Intercultural Studies, Kobe University, Hyogo, Japan
| | - Hiroki C Tanabe
- Department of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences, Graduate School of Informatics, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
| | - Akihiro T Sasaki
- RIKEN Compass to Healthy Life Research Complex Program, Hyogo, Japan
| | | | - Noriaki Yahata
- Institute for Quantum Life Science, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, Chiba, Japan
| | - Norihiro Sadato
- Department of Cerebral Research, Division of Cerebral Integration, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Aichi, Japan
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22
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Xu J, Dong H, Li N, Wang Z, Guo F, Wei J, Dang J. Weighted RSA: An Improved Framework on the Perception of Audio-visual Affective Speech in Left Insula and Superior Temporal Gyrus. Neuroscience 2021; 469:46-58. [PMID: 34119576 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2021.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2021] [Revised: 05/16/2021] [Accepted: 06/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Being able to accurately perceive the emotion expressed by the facial or verbal expression from others is critical to successful social interaction. However, only few studies examined the multimodal interactions on speech emotion, and there is no consistence in studies on the speech emotion perception. It remains unclear, how the speech emotion of different valence is perceived on the multimodal stimuli by our human brain. In this paper, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study with an event-related design, using dynamic facial expressions and emotional speech stimuli to express different emotions, in order to explore the perception mechanism of speech emotion in audio-visual modality. The representational similarity analysis (RSA), whole-brain searchlight analysis, and conjunction analysis of emotion were used to interpret the representation of speech emotion in different aspects. Significantly, a weighted RSA approach was creatively proposed to evaluate the contribution of each candidate model to the best fitted model and provided a supplement to RSA. The results of weighted RSA indicated that the fitted models were superior to all candidate models and the weights could be used to explain the representation of ROIs. The bilateral amygdala has been shown to be associated with the processing of both positive and negative emotions except neutral emotion. It is indicated that the left posterior insula and the left anterior superior temporal gyrus (STG) play important roles in the perception of multimodal speech emotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junhai Xu
- College of Intelligence and Computing, Tianjin Key Lab of Cognitive Computing and Application, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
| | - Haibin Dong
- College of Intelligence and Computing, Tianjin Key Lab of Cognitive Computing and Application, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China; State Grid Tianjin Electric Power Company, China
| | - Na Li
- College of Intelligence and Computing, Tianjin Key Lab of Cognitive Computing and Application, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
| | - Zeyu Wang
- College of Intelligence and Computing, Tianjin Key Lab of Cognitive Computing and Application, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
| | - Fei Guo
- School of Computer Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.
| | - Jianguo Wei
- College of Intelligence and Computing, Tianjin Key Lab of Cognitive Computing and Application, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.
| | - Jianwu Dang
- College of Intelligence and Computing, Tianjin Key Lab of Cognitive Computing and Application, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China; School of Information Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Japan
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23
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Bratch A, Chen Y, Engel SA, Kersten DJ. Visual adaptation selective for individual limbs reveals hierarchical human body representation. J Vis 2021; 21:18. [PMID: 34007989 PMCID: PMC8142707 DOI: 10.1167/jov.21.5.18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2020] [Accepted: 02/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The spatial relationships between body parts are a rich source of information for person perception, with even simple pairs of parts providing highly valuable information. Computation of these relationships would benefit from a hierarchical representation, where body parts are represented individually. We hypothesized that the human visual system makes use of such representations. To test this hypothesis, we used adaptation to determine whether observers were sensitive to changes in the length of one body part relative to another. Observers viewed forearm/upper arm pairs where the forearm had been either lengthened or shortened, judging the perceived length of the forearm. Observers then adapted to a variety of different stimuli (e.g., arms, objects, etc.) in different orientations and visual field locations. We found that following adaptation to distorted limbs, but not non-limb objects, observers experienced a shift in perceived forearm length. Furthermore, this effect partially transferred across different orientations and visual field locations. Taken together, these results suggest the effect arises in high level mechanisms specialized for specific body parts, providing evidence for a representation of bodies based on parts and their relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Bratch
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Yixiong Chen
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Stephen A Engel
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Daniel J Kersten
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
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24
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Expert Tool Users Show Increased Differentiation between Visual Representations of Hands and Tools. J Neurosci 2021; 41:2980-2989. [PMID: 33563728 PMCID: PMC8018880 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2489-20.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2020] [Revised: 12/20/2020] [Accepted: 12/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The idea that when we use a tool we incorporate it into the neural representation of our body (embodiment) has been a major inspiration for philosophy, science, and engineering. While theoretically appealing, there is little direct evidence for tool embodiment at the neural level. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in male and female human subjects, we investigated whether expert tool users (London litter pickers: n = 7) represent their expert tool more like a hand (neural embodiment) or less like a hand (neural differentiation), as compared with a group of tool novices (n = 12). During fMRI scans, participants viewed first-person videos depicting grasps performed by either a hand, litter picker, or a non-expert grasping tool. Using representational similarity analysis (RSA), differences in the representational structure of hands and tools were measured within occipitotemporal cortex (OTC). Contrary to the neural embodiment theory, we find that the experts group represent their own tool less like a hand (not more) relative to novices. Using a case-study approach, we further replicated this effect, independently, in five of the seven individual expert litter pickers, as compared with the novices. An exploratory analysis in left parietal cortex, a region implicated in visuomotor representations of hands and tools, also indicated that experts do not visually represent their tool more similar to hands, compared with novices. Together, our findings suggest that extensive tool use leads to an increased neural differentiation between visual representations of hands and tools. This evidence provides an important alternative framework to the prominent tool embodiment theory.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT It is commonly thought that tool use leads to the assimilation of the tool into the neural representation of the body, a process referred to as embodiment. Here, we demonstrate that expert tool users (London litter pickers) neurally represent their own tool less like a hand (not more), compared with novices. Our findings advance our current understanding for how experience shapes functional organization in high-order visual cortex. Further, this evidence provides an alternative framework to the prominent tool embodiment theory, suggesting instead that experience with tools leads to more distinct, separable hand and tool representations.
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25
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Levine SM, Schwarzbach JV. Individualizing Representational Similarity Analysis. Front Psychiatry 2021; 12:729457. [PMID: 34707520 PMCID: PMC8542717 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.729457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2021] [Accepted: 09/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Representational similarity analysis (RSA) is a popular multivariate analysis technique in cognitive neuroscience that uses functional neuroimaging to investigate the informational content encoded in brain activity. As RSA is increasingly being used to investigate more clinically-geared questions, the focus of such translational studies turns toward the importance of individual differences and their optimization within the experimental design. In this perspective, we focus on two design aspects: applying individual vs. averaged behavioral dissimilarity matrices to multiple participants' neuroimaging data and ensuring the congruency between tasks when measuring behavioral and neural representational spaces. Incorporating these methods permits the detection of individual differences in representational spaces and yields a better-defined transfer of information from representational spaces onto multivoxel patterns. Such design adaptations are prerequisites for optimal translation of RSA to the field of precision psychiatry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seth M Levine
- Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Jens V Schwarzbach
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
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26
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Conson M, Polito F, Di Rosa A, Trojano L, Cordasco G, Esposito A, Turi M. 'Not only faces': specialized visual representation of human hands revealed by adaptation. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2020; 7:200948. [PMID: 33489261 PMCID: PMC7813241 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.200948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2020] [Accepted: 11/20/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Classical neurophysiological studies demonstrated that the monkey brain is equipped with neurons selectively representing the visual shape of the primate hand. Neuroimaging in humans provided data suggesting that a similar representation can be found in humans. Here, we investigated the selectivity of hand representation in humans by means of the visual adaptation technique. Results showed that participants' judgement of human-likeness of a visual probe representing a human hand was specifically reduced by a visual adaptation procedure when using a human hand adaptor but not when using an anthropoid robotic hand or a non-primate animal paw adaptor. Instead, human-likeness of the anthropoid robotic hand was affected by both human and robotic adaptors. No effect was found when using a non-primate animal paw as adaptor or probe. These results support the existence of specific neural mechanisms encoding human hand in the human's visual system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Massimiliano Conson
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy
| | - Francesco Polito
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy
| | - Alessandro Di Rosa
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy
| | - Luigi Trojano
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy
| | - Gennaro Cordasco
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy
| | - Anna Esposito
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy
| | - Marco Turi
- Stella Maris Mediterraneo Foundation, Chiaromonte, Potenza, Italy
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27
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Kim D, Livne T, Metcalf NV, Corbetta M, Shulman GL. Spontaneously emerging patterns in human visual cortex and their functional connectivity are linked to the patterns evoked by visual stimuli. J Neurophysiol 2020; 124:1343-1363. [PMID: 32965156 PMCID: PMC8356777 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00630.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2019] [Revised: 08/18/2020] [Accepted: 08/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The function of spontaneous brain activity is an important issue in neuroscience. Here we test the hypothesis that patterns of spontaneous activity code representational patterns evoked by stimuli. We compared in human visual cortex multivertex patterns of spontaneous activity to patterns evoked by ecological visual stimuli (faces, bodies, scenes) and low-level visual features (e.g., phase-scrambled faces). Specifically, we identified regions that preferred particular stimulus categories during localizer scans (e.g., extrastriate body area for bodies), measured multivertex patterns for each category during event-related task scans, and then correlated over vertices these stimulus-evoked patterns to the pattern measured on each frame of resting-state scans. The mean correlation coefficient was essentially zero for all regions/stimulus categories, indicating that resting multivertex patterns were not biased toward particular stimulus-evoked patterns. However, the spread of correlation coefficients between stimulus-evoked and resting patterns, positive and negative, was significantly greater for the preferred stimulus category of an ROI. The relationship between spontaneous and stimulus-evoked multivertex patterns also governed the temporal correlation or functional connectivity of patterns of spontaneous activity between individual regions (pattern-based functional connectivity). Resting multivertex patterns related to an object category fluctuated preferentially between ROIs preferring the same category, and fluctuations of the pattern for a category (e.g., body) within its preferred ROIs were largely uncorrelated with fluctuations of the pattern for a disparate category (e.g., scene) within its preferred ROIs. These results support the proposal that spontaneous multivertex activity patterns are linked to stimulus-evoked patterns, consistent with a representational function for spontaneous activity.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Spontaneous brain activity was once thought to reflect only noise, but evidence of strong spatiotemporal regularities has motivated a search for functional explanations. Here we show that the spatial pattern of spontaneous activity in human high-level and early visual cortex is related to the spatial patterns evoked by stimuli. Moreover, these patterns partly govern spontaneous spatiotemporal interactions between regions, so-called functional connectivity. These results support the hypothesis that spontaneous activity serves a representational function.
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Affiliation(s)
- DoHyun Kim
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Tomer Livne
- Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institution of Science, Rehovot, Israel
- Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Nicholas V Metcalf
- Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Maurizio Corbetta
- Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
- Department of Radiology Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
- Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM), Padova, Italy
| | - Gordon L Shulman
- Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
- Department of Radiology Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
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28
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Brand J, Piccirelli M, Hepp-Reymond MC, Eng K, Michels L. Brain Activation During Visually Guided Finger Movements. Front Hum Neurosci 2020; 14:309. [PMID: 32922274 PMCID: PMC7456884 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.00309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2020] [Accepted: 07/13/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Computer interaction via visually guided hand movements often employs either abstract cursor-based feedback or virtual hand (VH) representations of varying degrees of realism. The effect of changing this visual feedback in virtual reality settings is currently unknown. In this study, 19 healthy right-handed adults performed index finger movements (“action”) and observed movements (“observation”) with four different types of visual feedback: a simple circular cursor (CU), a point light (PL) pattern indicating finger joint positions, a shadow cartoon hand (SH) and a realistic VH. Finger movements were recorded using a data glove, and eye-tracking was recorded optically. We measured brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Both action and observation conditions showed stronger fMRI signal responses in the occipitotemporal cortex compared to baseline. The action conditions additionally elicited elevated bilateral activations in motor, somatosensory, parietal, and cerebellar regions. For both conditions, feedback of a hand with a moving finger (SH, VH) led to higher activations than CU or PL feedback, specifically in early visual regions and the occipitotemporal cortex. Our results show the stronger recruitment of a network of cortical regions during visually guided finger movements with human hand feedback when compared to a visually incomplete hand and abstract feedback. This information could have implications for the design of visually guided tasks involving human body parts in both research and application or training-related paradigms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannes Brand
- Institute of Neuroinformatics, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Neuroscience Center Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Marco Piccirelli
- Department of Neuroradiology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Klinisches Neurozentrum, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Marie-Claude Hepp-Reymond
- Institute of Neuroinformatics, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Neuroscience Center Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Kynan Eng
- Institute of Neuroinformatics, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Neuroscience Center Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Lars Michels
- Department of Neuroradiology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Klinisches Neurozentrum, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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29
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Poyo Solanas M, Vaessen M, de Gelder B. Computation-Based Feature Representation of Body Expressions in the Human Brain. Cereb Cortex 2020; 30:6376-6390. [DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2020] [Revised: 06/04/2020] [Accepted: 06/26/2020] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Humans and other primate species are experts at recognizing body expressions. To understand the underlying perceptual mechanisms, we computed postural and kinematic features from affective whole-body movement videos and related them to brain processes. Using representational similarity and multivoxel pattern analyses, we showed systematic relations between computation-based body features and brain activity. Our results revealed that postural rather than kinematic features reflect the affective category of the body movements. The feature limb contraction showed a central contribution in fearful body expression perception, differentially represented in action observation, motor preparation, and affect coding regions, including the amygdala. The posterior superior temporal sulcus differentiated fearful from other affective categories using limb contraction rather than kinematics. The extrastriate body area and fusiform body area also showed greater tuning to postural features. The discovery of midlevel body feature encoding in the brain moves affective neuroscience beyond research on high-level emotion representations and provides insights in the perceptual features that possibly drive automatic emotion perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta Poyo Solanas
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Limburg 6200 MD, The Netherlands
| | - Maarten Vaessen
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Limburg 6200 MD, The Netherlands
| | - Beatrice de Gelder
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Limburg 6200 MD, The Netherlands
- Department of Computer Science, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
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30
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The “Inferior Temporal Numeral Area” distinguishes numerals from other character categories during passive viewing: A representational similarity analysis. Neuroimage 2020; 214:116716. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116716] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2019] [Revised: 02/26/2020] [Accepted: 03/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
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31
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Tarhan L, Konkle T. Sociality and interaction envelope organize visual action representations. Nat Commun 2020; 11:3002. [PMID: 32532982 PMCID: PMC7293348 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16846-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2019] [Accepted: 05/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans observe a wide range of actions in their surroundings. How is the visual cortex organized to process this diverse input? Using functional neuroimaging, we measured brain responses while participants viewed short videos of everyday actions, then probed the structure in these responses using voxel-wise encoding modeling. Responses are well fit by feature spaces that capture the body parts involved in an action and the action’s targets (i.e. whether the action was directed at an object, another person, the actor, and space). Clustering analyses reveal five large-scale networks that summarize the voxel tuning: one related to social aspects of an action, and four related to the scale of the interaction envelope, ranging from fine-scale manipulations directed at objects, to large-scale whole-body movements directed at distant locations. We propose that these networks reveal the major representational joints in how actions are processed by visual regions of the brain. How is action perception organized in the brain? Here, the authors report evidence for five networks tuned to actions’ social content and the scale of their effect on the world and propose that sociality and interaction envelope are organizing dimensions of visual action representation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leyla Tarhan
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, 33 Kirkland St., Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
| | - Talia Konkle
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, 33 Kirkland St., Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
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32
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Maimon-Mor RO, Makin TR. Is an artificial limb embodied as a hand? Brain decoding in prosthetic limb users. PLoS Biol 2020; 18:e3000729. [PMID: 32511238 PMCID: PMC7302856 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2019] [Revised: 06/18/2020] [Accepted: 05/20/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The potential ability of the human brain to represent an artificial limb as a body part (embodiment) has been inspiring engineers, clinicians, and scientists as a means to optimise human-machine interfaces. Using functional MRI (fMRI), we studied whether neural embodiment actually occurs in prosthesis users' occipitotemporal cortex (OTC). Compared with controls, different prostheses types were visually represented more similarly to each other, relative to hands and tools, indicating the emergence of a dissociated prosthesis categorisation. Greater daily life prosthesis usage correlated positively with greater prosthesis categorisation. Moreover, when comparing prosthesis users' representation of their own prosthesis to controls' representation of a similar looking prosthesis, prosthesis users represented their own prosthesis more dissimilarly to hands, challenging current views of visual prosthesis embodiment. Our results reveal a use-dependent neural correlate for wearable technology adoption, demonstrating adaptive use-related plasticity within the OTC. Because these neural correlates were independent of the prostheses' appearance and control, our findings offer new opportunities for prosthesis design by lifting restrictions imposed by the embodiment theory for artificial limbs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roni O. Maimon-Mor
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- WIN Centre, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Tamar R. Makin
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- WIN Centre, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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33
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Okamoto Y, Kitada R, Kochiyama T, Naruse H, Makita K, Miyahara M, Okazawa H, Kosaka H. Visual Body Part Representation in the Lateral Occipitotemporal Cortex in Children/Adolescents and Adults. Cereb Cortex Commun 2020; 1:tgaa007. [PMID: 34296088 PMCID: PMC8152859 DOI: 10.1093/texcom/tgaa007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2020] [Revised: 02/25/2020] [Accepted: 03/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The lateral occipitotemporal cortex (LOTC) that responds to human bodies and body parts has been implicated in social development and neurodevelopmental disorders like autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Neuroimaging studies using a representational similarity analysis (RSA) revealed that body representation in the LOTC of typically developing (TD) adults is categorized into 3 clusters: action effector body parts, noneffector body parts, and face parts. However, its organization of younger people (i.e., children and adolescents) and its association with individual traits remain unclear. In this functional MRI study, TD adults and children/adolescents observed photographs of hands, feet, arms, legs, chests, waists, upper/lower faces, the whole body, and chairs. The univariate analysis showed that fewer child/adolescent participants showed left LOTC activation in response to whole-body images (relative to those of chairs) than adult participants. Contrastingly, the RSA on both age groups revealed a comparable body representation with 3 clusters of body parts in the bilateral LOTC. Hence, this result indicates that, although response to whole-body images can differ, LOTC body part representations for children/ adolescents and adults are highly similar. Furthermore, sensory atypicality is associated with spatial LOTC organization, suggesting the importance of this region for understanding individual difference, which is frequently observed in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuko Okamoto
- Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, Seika-cho, Sorakugun, Kyoto 619-0288, Japan.,Brain Activity Imaging Center, ATR-Promotions, Seika-cho, Sorakugun, Kyoto 619-0288, Japan
| | - Ryo Kitada
- School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 48 Nanyang Avenue, HSS-04-13, Singapore 639818
| | - Takanori Kochiyama
- Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, Seika-cho, Sorakugun, Kyoto 619-0288, Japan.,Brain Activity Imaging Center, ATR-Promotions, Seika-cho, Sorakugun, Kyoto 619-0288, Japan
| | - Hiroaki Naruse
- Division of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, University of Fukui Hospital, Eiheiji-cho, Yoshida-gun, Fukui 910-1193, Japan
| | - Kai Makita
- Research Center for Child Mental Development, University of Fukui, Eiheiji-cho, Yoshida-gun, Fukui 910-1193, Japan
| | - Motohide Miyahara
- Department of Clinical Psychological Science, School of Medicine, Hirosaki University, 1 Bunkyo-cho, Hirosaki, Aomori, 036-8560, Japan
| | - Hidehiko Okazawa
- Biomedical Imaging Research Center, University of Fukui, Eiheiji-cho, Yoshida-gun, Fukui, 910-1193 Japan
| | - Hirotaka Kosaka
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Eiheiji-cho, Yoshida-gun, Fukui 910-1193, Japan
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34
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Behrmann M, Plaut DC. Hemispheric Organization for Visual Object Recognition: A Theoretical Account and Empirical Evidence. Perception 2020; 49:373-404. [PMID: 31980013 PMCID: PMC9944149 DOI: 10.1177/0301006619899049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Despite the similarity in structure, the hemispheres of the human brain have somewhat different functions. A traditional view of hemispheric organization asserts that there are independent and largely lateralized domain-specific regions in ventral occipitotemporal (VOTC), specialized for the recognition of distinct classes of objects. Here, we offer an alternative account of the organization of the hemispheres, with a specific focus on face and word recognition. This alternative account relies on three computational principles: distributed representations and knowledge, cooperation and competition between representations, and topography and proximity. The crux is that visual recognition results from a network of regions with graded functional specialization that is distributed across both hemispheres. Specifically, the claim is that face recognition, which is acquired relatively early in life, is processed by VOTC regions in both hemispheres. Once literacy is acquired, word recognition, which is co-lateralized with language areas, primarily engages the left VOTC and, consequently, face recognition is primarily, albeit not exclusively, mediated by the right VOTC. We review psychological and neural evidence from a range of studies conducted with normal and brain-damaged adults and children and consider findings which challenge this account. Last, we offer suggestions for future investigations whose findings may further refine this account.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marlene Behrmann
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - David C. Plaut
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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35
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Holler DE, Fabbri S, Snow JC. Object responses are highly malleable, rather than invariant, with changes in object appearance. Sci Rep 2020; 10:4654. [PMID: 32170123 PMCID: PMC7070005 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-61447-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2020] [Accepted: 02/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Theoretical frameworks of human vision argue that object responses remain stable, or 'invariant', despite changes in viewing conditions that can alter object appearance but not identity. Here, in a major departure from previous approaches that have relied on two-dimensional (2-D) images to study object processing, we demonstrate that changes in an object's appearance, but not its identity, can lead to striking shifts in behavioral responses to objects. We used inverse multidimensional scaling (MDS) to measure the extent to which arrangements of objects in a sorting task were similar or different when the stimuli were displayed as scaled 2-D images, three-dimensional (3-D) augmented reality (AR) projections, or real-world solids. We were especially interested in whether sorting behavior in each display format was based on conceptual (e.g., typical location) versus physical object characteristics. We found that 2-D images of objects were arranged according to conceptual (typical location), but not physical, properties. AR projections, conversely, were arranged primarily according to physical properties such as real-world size, elongation and weight, but not conceptual properties. Real-world solid objects, unlike both 2-D and 3-D images, were arranged using multidimensional criteria that incorporated both conceptual and physical object characteristics. Our results suggest that object responses can be strikingly malleable, rather than invariant, with changes in the visual characteristics of the stimulus. The findings raise important questions about limits of invariance in object processing, and underscore the importance of studying responses to richer stimuli that more closely resemble those we encounter in real-world environments.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sara Fabbri
- Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, USA.,Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
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36
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Collective memory shapes the organization of individual memories in the medial prefrontal cortex. Nat Hum Behav 2019; 4:189-200. [PMID: 31844272 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-019-0779-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2018] [Accepted: 10/30/2019] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
It has long been hypothesized that individual recollection fits collective memory. To look for a collective schema, we analysed the content of 30 years of media coverage of World War II on French national television. We recorded human brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging as participants recalled World War II displays at the Caen Memorial Museum following an initial tour. We focused on the medial prefrontal cortex, a key region for social cognition and memory schemas. The organization of individual memories captured using the distribution of the functional magnetic resonance imaging signal in the dorsal part of the medial prefrontal cortex was more accurately predicted by the structure of the collective schema than by various control models of contextual or semantic memory. Collective memory, which exists outside and beyond individuals, can also organize individual memories and constitutes a common mental model that connects people's memories across time and space.
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37
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Wang L, Baumgartner F, Kaule FR, Hanke M, Pollmann S. Individual face- and house-related eye movement patterns distinctively activate FFA and PPA. Nat Commun 2019; 10:5532. [PMID: 31797874 PMCID: PMC6892816 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-13541-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2019] [Accepted: 11/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigated if the fusiform face area (FFA) and the parahippocampal place area (PPA) contain a representation of fixation sequences that are typically used when looking at faces or houses. Here, we instructed observers to follow a dot presented on a uniform background. The dot’s movements represented gaze paths acquired separately from observers looking at face or house pictures. Even when gaze dispersion differences were controlled, face- and house-associated gaze patterns could be discriminated by fMRI multivariate pattern analysis in FFA and PPA, more so for the current observer’s own gazes than for another observer’s gaze. The discrimination of the observer’s own gaze patterns was not observed in early visual areas (V1 – V4) or superior parietal lobule and frontal eye fields. These findings indicate a link between perception and action—the complex gaze patterns that are used to explore faces and houses—in the FFA and PPA. The fusiform face area and parahippocampal place area respond to face and scene stimuli respectively. Here, the authors show using fMRI that these brain areas are also preferentially activated by eye movements associated with looking at faces and scenes even when no images are shown.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lihui Wang
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany.,Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Magdeburg, Germany.,Institute of Psychology and Behavioral Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Florian Baumgartner
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Falko R Kaule
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Michael Hanke
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain & Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany.,Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Stefan Pollmann
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany. .,Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Magdeburg, Germany. .,Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition and School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China.
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38
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Lateral occipitotemporal cortex encodes perceptual components of social actions rather than abstract representations of sociality. Neuroimage 2019; 202:116153. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2019] [Revised: 07/25/2019] [Accepted: 08/31/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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39
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Popal H, Wang Y, Olson IR. A Guide to Representational Similarity Analysis for Social Neuroscience. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2019; 14:1243-1253. [PMID: 31989169 PMCID: PMC7057283 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsz099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2019] [Revised: 10/13/2019] [Accepted: 10/22/2019] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Representational similarity analysis (RSA) is a computational technique that uses pairwise comparisons of stimuli to reveal their representation in higher-order space. In the context of neuroimaging, mass-univariate analyses and other multivariate analyses can provide information on what and where information is represented but have limitations in their ability to address how information is represented. Social neuroscience is a field that can particularly benefit from incorporating RSA techniques to explore hypotheses regarding the representation of multidimensional data, how representations can predict behavior, how representations differ between groups and how multimodal data can be compared to inform theories. The goal of this paper is to provide a practical as well as theoretical guide to implementing RSA in social neuroscience studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haroon Popal
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
| | | | - Ingrid R Olson
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
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40
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The Effects of Attentional Focus on Brain Function During a Gross Motor Task. J Sport Rehabil 2019; 29:441-447. [PMID: 31629324 DOI: 10.1123/jsr.2018-0026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2018] [Revised: 01/23/2019] [Accepted: 02/06/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
CONTEXT Although the beneficial effects of using an external focus of attention are well documented in attainment and performance of movement execution, neural mechanisms underlying external focus' benefits are mostly unknown. OBJECTIVE To assess brain function during a lower-extremity gross motor movement while manipulating an internal and external focus of attention. DESIGN Cross-over study. SETTING Neuroimaging center Participants: A total of 10 healthy subjects (5 males and 5 females) Intervention: Participants completed external and internal focus of attention unilateral left 45° knee extension/flexion movements at a rate of 1.2 Hz laying supine in a magnetic resonance imaging scanner for 4 blocks of 30 seconds interspersed with 30-second rest blocks. During the internal condition, participants were instructed to "squeeze their quadriceps." During the external condition, participants were instructed to "focus on a target" positioned above their tibia. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES T1 brain structural imaging was performed for registration of the functional data. For each condition, 3T functional magnetic resonance imaging blood oxygenation level dependent data representing 90 whole-brain volumes were acquired. RESULTS During the external relative to internal condition, increased activation was detected in the right occipital pole, cuneal cortex, anterior portion of the lingual gyrus, and intracalcarine cortex (Zmax = 4.5-6.2, P < .001). During the internal relative to external condition, increased activation was detected in the left primary motor cortex, left supplementary motor cortex, and cerebellum (Zmax = 3.4-3.5, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS Current results suggest that an external focus directed toward a visual target produces more brain activity in regions associated with vision and ventral streaming pathways, whereas an internal focus manipulated through instruction increases activation in brain regions that are responsible for motor control. Results from this study serve as baseline information for future prevention and rehabilitation investigations of how manipulating focus of attention can constructively affect neuroplasticity during training and rehabilitation.
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Abnormal structural brain network and hemisphere-specific changes in bulimia nervosa. Transl Psychiatry 2019; 9:206. [PMID: 31455767 PMCID: PMC6712015 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-019-0543-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2018] [Revised: 06/25/2019] [Accepted: 07/17/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Bulimia nervosa (BN) is characterized by episodic binge eating and purging behaviors. Disrupted neural processes of self-regulation, taste-rewarding, and body image has been associated with the pathogenesis of BN. However, the structural basis for these behavioral and functional deficits remains largely unknown. We employed diffusion tensor imaging and graph theory approaches (including the nodal properties and network-based statistics (NBS)) to characterize the whole-brain structural network of 48 BN and 44 healthy women. For nodal measures of strength, local efficiency, and betweenness centrality, BN patients displayed abnormal increases in multiple left-lateralized nodes within the mesocorticolimbic reward circuitry (including the orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate, insular, medial temporal, and subcortical areas), lateral temporal-occipital cortex, and precuneus, while reduced global efficiency was observed in the right-lateralized nodes within the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, mesocorticolimbic circuitry, somatosensory and visuospatial system. Several mesocorticolimbic nodes significantly correlated with BN symptoms. At a network level, we found increased left-lateralized connections primarily within the orbitofrontal cortex and its connections to mesocorticolimbic and lateral temporal-occipital areas, but reduced right-lateralized connections across the inferior frontal gyrus and insula, as well as their connections to the lateral temporal cortex. This study revealed BN-related changes in white-matter connections across the prefrontal control, mesocorticolimbic reward, somatosensory and visuospatial systems. The hemispheric-specific change could be an important aspect of the pathophysiology of BN. By characterizing whole-brain structural network changes of BN, our study provides novel evidence for understanding the behavioral and functional deficits of the disorder.
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Hamada H, Matsuzawa D, Sutoh C, Hirano Y, Chakraborty S, Ito H, Tsuji H, Obata T, Shimizu E. Comparison of brain activity between motor imagery and mental rotation of the hand tasks: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Brain Imaging Behav 2019; 12:1596-1606. [PMID: 29368208 PMCID: PMC6302056 DOI: 10.1007/s11682-017-9821-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Motor imagery (MI) has been considered effective in learning and practicing movements in many fields. However, when evaluating the effectiveness of this technique, the examiner has no way of assessing the participant’s motor imagery process. As an alternative, we have been exploring a mental body-part rotation task, in which the examiner can estimate the participant’s motivation and ability to sustain attention through the scored results. In this study, we aimed to investigate the possible application of a mental rotation (MRot) task and used fMRI to compare the brain activity during the MRot task with that during an MI task in healthy volunteers. Increased blood oxygenation level-dependent signals were observed bilaterally in the premotor areas and supplementary motor area during performance of both MI and MRot tasks. Our findings suggest that MRot could be an alternative to MI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroyuki Hamada
- Department of Cognitive Behavioral Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan.,Department of Molecular Imaging and Theranostics, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, QST, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan
| | - Daisuke Matsuzawa
- Department of Cognitive Behavioral Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan.,Department of Molecular Imaging and Theranostics, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, QST, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan.,Research Center for Child Mental Development, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan
| | - Chihiro Sutoh
- Department of Cognitive Behavioral Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan.,Department of Molecular Imaging and Theranostics, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, QST, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan
| | - Yoshiyuki Hirano
- Department of Molecular Imaging and Theranostics, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, QST, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan.,Research Center for Child Mental Development, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan
| | - Sudesna Chakraborty
- Research Center for Child Mental Development, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Ito
- Department of Molecular Imaging and Theranostics, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, QST, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Tsuji
- National Institute of Radiological Sciences, QST, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan
| | - Takayuki Obata
- Department of Molecular Imaging and Theranostics, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, QST, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan. .,Research Center for Child Mental Development, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan. .,Research Center for Charged Particle Therapy, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan.
| | - Eiji Shimizu
- Department of Cognitive Behavioral Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan.,Department of Molecular Imaging and Theranostics, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, QST, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan.,Research Center for Child Mental Development, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan
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Distinct roles of temporal and frontoparietal cortex in representing actions across vision and language. Nat Commun 2019; 10:289. [PMID: 30655531 PMCID: PMC6336825 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-08084-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2018] [Accepted: 12/08/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Both temporal and frontoparietal brain areas are associated with the representation of knowledge about the world, in particular about actions. However, what these brain regions represent and precisely how they differ remains unknown. Here, we reveal distinct functional profiles of lateral temporal and frontoparietal cortex using fMRI-based MVPA. Frontoparietal areas encode representations of observed actions and corresponding written sentences in an overlapping way, but these representations do not generalize across stimulus type. By contrast, only left lateral posterior temporal cortex (LPTC) encodes action representations that generalize across observed action scenes and written descriptions. The representational organization of stimulus-general action information in LPTC can be predicted from models that describe basic agent-patient relations (object- and person-directedness) and the general semantic similarity between actions. Our results suggest that LPTC encodes general, conceptual aspects of actions whereas frontoparietal representations appear to be tied to specific stimulus types. Temporal and frontoparietal brain areas both encode representations of actions, but whether they do so in different ways is unclear. Here, the authors show that only lateral posterior temporal cortex (LPTC) encodes representations that generalize across directly observed action scenes and written descriptions.
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Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Over the Left Posterior Middle Temporal Gyrus Reduces Wrist Velocity During Emblematic Hand Gesture Imitation. Brain Topogr 2018; 32:332-341. [PMID: 30411178 PMCID: PMC6373290 DOI: 10.1007/s10548-018-0684-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2018] [Accepted: 10/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Results from neuropsychological studies, and neuroimaging and behavioural experiments with healthy individuals, suggest that the imitation of meaningful and meaningless actions may be reliant on different processing routes. The left posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG) is one area that might be important for the recognition and imitation of meaningful actions. We studied the role of the left pMTG in imitation using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and two-person motion-tracking. Participants imitated meaningless and emblematic meaningful hand and finger gestures performed by a confederate actor whilst both individuals were motion-tracked. rTMS was applied during action observation (before imitation) over the left pMTG or a vertex control site. Since meaningless action imitation has been previously associated with a greater wrist velocity and longer correction period at the end of the movement, we hypothesised that stimulation over the left pMTG would increase wrist velocity and extend the correction period of meaningful actions (i.e., due to interference with action recognition). We also hypothesised that imitator accuracy (actor-imitator correspondence) would be reduced following stimulation over the left pMTG. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found that stimulation over the pMTG, but not the vertex, during action observation reduced wrist velocity when participants later imitated meaningful, but not meaningless, hand gestures. These results provide causal evidence for a role of the left pMTG in the imitation of meaningful gestures, and may also be in keeping with proposals that left posterior temporal regions play a role in the production of postural components of gesture.
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45
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Stone KD, Keizer A, Dijkerman HC. The influence of vision, touch, and proprioception on body representation of the lower limbs. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2018; 185:22-32. [PMID: 29407242 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2018.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2016] [Revised: 09/27/2017] [Accepted: 01/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Numerous studies have shown that the representation of the hand is distorted. When participants are asked to localize unseen points on the hand (e.g. the knuckle), it is perceived to be wider and shorter than its physical dimensions. Similar distortions occur when people are asked to judge the distance between two tactile points on the hand; estimates made in the longitudinal direction are perceived as significantly shorter than those made in the transverse direction. Yet, when asked to visually compare the shape and size of one's own hand to a template hand, individuals are accurate at estimating the size of their own hands. Thus, it seems that body representations are, at least in part, a function of the most prominent underlying sensory modality used to perceive the body part. Yet, it remains unknown if the representations of other body parts are similarly distorted. The lower limbs, for example, are structurally and functionally very different from the hands, yet their representation(s) are seldom studied. What does the body representation for the leg look like? And is leg representation dependent on which sense is probed when making judgments about its shape and size? In the current study, we investigated what the representation of the leg looks like in visually-, tactually-, and proprioceptively-guided tasks. Results revealed that the leg, like the hand, is distorted in a highly systematic manner. Distortions seem to rely, at least partly, on sensory input. This is the first study, to our knowledge, to systematically investigate leg representation in healthy individuals.
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Yang X, Xu J, Cao L, Li X, Wang P, Wang B, Liu B. Linear Representation of Emotions in Whole Persons by Combining Facial and Bodily Expressions in the Extrastriate Body Area. Front Hum Neurosci 2018; 11:653. [PMID: 29375348 PMCID: PMC5767685 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2017] [Accepted: 12/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Our human brain can rapidly and effortlessly perceive a person’s emotional state by integrating the isolated emotional faces and bodies into a whole. Behavioral studies have suggested that the human brain encodes whole persons in a holistic rather than part-based manner. Neuroimaging studies have also shown that body-selective areas prefer whole persons to the sum of their parts. The body-selective areas played a crucial role in representing the relationships between emotions expressed by different parts. However, it remains unclear in which regions the perception of whole persons is represented by a combination of faces and bodies, and to what extent the combination can be influenced by the whole person’s emotions. In the present study, functional magnetic resonance imaging data were collected when participants performed an emotion distinction task. Multi-voxel pattern analysis was conducted to examine how the whole person-evoked responses were associated with the face- and body-evoked responses in several specific brain areas. We found that in the extrastriate body area (EBA), the whole person patterns were most closely correlated with weighted sums of face and body patterns, using different weights for happy expressions but equal weights for angry and fearful ones. These results were unique for the EBA. Our findings tentatively support the idea that the whole person patterns are represented in a part-based manner in the EBA, and modulated by emotions. These data will further our understanding of the neural mechanism underlying perceiving emotional persons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoli Yang
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cognitive Computing and Applications, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
| | - Junhai Xu
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cognitive Computing and Applications, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
| | - Linjing Cao
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cognitive Computing and Applications, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
| | - Xianglin Li
- Medical Imaging Research Institute, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China
| | - Peiyuan Wang
- Department of Radiology, Yantai Affiliated Hospital of Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China
| | - Bin Wang
- Medical Imaging Research Institute, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China
| | - Baolin Liu
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cognitive Computing and Applications, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.,Research State Key Laboratory of Intelligent Technology and Systems, National Laboratory for Information Science and Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
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Moreau Q, Pavone EF, Aglioti SM, Candidi M. Theta synchronization over occipito-temporal cortices during visual perception of body parts. Eur J Neurosci 2017; 48:2826-2835. [PMID: 29178557 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.13782] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2017] [Revised: 11/21/2017] [Accepted: 11/21/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Categorical clustering in the visual system is thought to have evolved as a function of intrinsic (intra-areal) and extrinsic (interareal) connectivity and experience. In the visual system, the extrastriate body area (EBA), an occipito-temporal region, responds to full body and body part images under the organizational principle of their functional/semantic meaning. Although frequency-specific modulations of neural activity associated with perceptive and cognitive functions are increasingly attracting the interest of neurophysiologists and cognitive neuroscientists, perceiving single body parts with different functional meaning and full body images induces time-frequency modulations over occipito-temporal electrodes are yet to be described. Here, we studied this issue by measuring EEG in participants who passively observed fingers, hands, arms and faceless full body images with four control plant stimuli, each bearing hierarchical analogy with the body stimuli. We confirmed that occipito-temporal electrodes (compatible with the location of EBA) show a larger event-related potential (ERP, N190) for body-related images. Furthermore, we identified a body part-specific (i.e. selective for hands and arms) theta event-related synchronization increase under the same electrodes. This frequency modulation associated with the perception of body effectors over occipito-temporal cortices is in line with recent findings of categorical organization of neural responses to human effectors in the visual system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quentin Moreau
- SCNLab, Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Enea F Pavone
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.,BrainTrends ltd Applied Neuroscience, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore M Aglioti
- SCNLab, Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Matteo Candidi
- SCNLab, Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
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48
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Reader AT, Candidi M. Does apraxia support spatial and kinematic or mirror neuron approaches to social interaction? A commentary on Binder et al. (2017). Cortex 2017; 111:324-326. [PMID: 29167022 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.10.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2017] [Revised: 08/22/2017] [Accepted: 10/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Arran T Reader
- Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK.
| | - Matteo Candidi
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy; IRCCS, Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
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49
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Bracci S, Ritchie JB, de Beeck HO. On the partnership between neural representations of object categories and visual features in the ventral visual pathway. Neuropsychologia 2017; 105:153-164. [PMID: 28619529 PMCID: PMC5680697 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2016] [Revised: 06/04/2017] [Accepted: 06/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
A dominant view in the cognitive neuroscience of object vision is that regions of the ventral visual pathway exhibit some degree of category selectivity. However, recent findings obtained with multivariate pattern analyses (MVPA) suggest that apparent category selectivity in these regions is dependent on more basic visual features of stimuli. In which case a rethinking of the function and organization of the ventral pathway may be in order. We suggest that addressing this issue of functional specificity requires clear coding hypotheses, about object category and visual features, which make contrasting predictions about neuroimaging results in ventral pathway regions. One way to differentiate between categorical and featural coding hypotheses is to test for residual categorical effects: effects of category selectivity that cannot be accounted for by visual features of stimuli. A strong method for testing these effects, we argue, is to make object category and target visual features orthogonal in stimulus design. Recent studies that adopt this approach support a feature-based categorical coding hypothesis according to which regions of the ventral stream do indeed code for object category, but in a format at least partially based on the visual features of stimuli.
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50
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Lacey S, Stilla R, Deshpande G, Zhao S, Stephens C, McCormick K, Kemmerer D, Sathian K. Engagement of the left extrastriate body area during body-part metaphor comprehension. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2017; 166:1-18. [PMID: 27951437 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2016.11.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2016] [Revised: 09/13/2016] [Accepted: 11/17/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Grounded cognition explanations of metaphor comprehension predict activation of sensorimotor cortices relevant to the metaphor's source domain. We tested this prediction for body-part metaphors using functional magnetic resonance imaging while participants heard sentences containing metaphorical or literal references to body parts, and comparable control sentences. Localizer scans identified body-part-specific motor, somatosensory and visual cortical regions. Both subject- and item-wise analyses showed that, relative to control sentences, metaphorical but not literal sentences evoked limb metaphor-specific activity in the left extrastriate body area (EBA), paralleling the EBA's known visual limb-selectivity. The EBA focus exhibited resting-state functional connectivity with ipsilateral semantic processing regions. In some of these regions, the strength of resting-state connectivity correlated with individual preference for verbal processing. Effective connectivity analyses showed that, during metaphor comprehension, activity in some semantic regions drove that in the EBA. These results provide converging evidence for grounding of metaphor processing in domain-specific sensorimotor cortical activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Lacey
- Department of Neurology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Randall Stilla
- Department of Neurology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Gopikrishna Deshpande
- AU MRI Research Center, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA; Department of Psychology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA; Alabama Advanced Imaging Consortium, Auburn University & University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Sinan Zhao
- AU MRI Research Center, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
| | | | - Kelly McCormick
- Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - David Kemmerer
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA; Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
| | - K Sathian
- Department of Neurology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Rehabilitation R&D Center for Visual and Neurocognitive Rehabilitation, Atlanta VAMC, Decatur, GA, USA.
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