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Flurie M, Kelly A, Olson IR, Reilly J. SymCog: An open-source toolkit for assessing human symbolic cognition. Behav Res Methods 2023; 55:807-823. [PMID: 35469089 PMCID: PMC9806920 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-022-01853-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/27/2022] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Symbol systems have a profound influence on human behavior, spanning countless modalities such as natural language, clothing styles, monetary systems, and gestural conventions (e.g., handshaking). Selective impairments in understanding and manipulating symbols are collectively known as asymbolia. Here we address open questions about the nature of asymbolia in the context of both historical and contemporary approaches to human symbolic cognition. We describe a tripartite perspective on symbolic cognition premised upon (1) mental representation of a concept, (2) a stored pool of symbols segregated from their respective referents, and (3) fast and accurate mapping between concepts and symbols. We present an open-source toolkit for assessing symbolic knowledge premised upon matching animated video depictions of abstract concepts to their corresponding verbal and nonverbal symbols. Animations include simple geometric shapes (e.g., filled circles, squares) moving in semantically meaningful ways. For example, a rectangle bending under the implied weight of a large square denotes "heaviness." We report normative data for matching words and images to these target animations. In a second norming study, participants rated target animations across a range of semantic dimensions (e.g., valence, dominance). In a third study, we normed a set of concepts familiar to American English speakers but lacking verbal labels (e.g., the feeling of a Sunday evening). We describe how these tools may be used to assess human symbolic processing and identify asymbolic deficits across the span of human development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maurice Flurie
- Eleanor M. Saffran Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
| | - Alexandra Kelly
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Ingrid R Olson
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Jamie Reilly
- Eleanor M. Saffran Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Tikhomirov G, Grigoryeva V. Apperceptive and associative visual object agnosia in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova 2022; 122:18-25. [DOI: 10.17116/jnevro202212208218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Bozkir E, Günlü O, Fuhl W, Schaefer RF, Kasneci E. Differential privacy for eye tracking with temporal correlations. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0255979. [PMID: 34403454 PMCID: PMC8370645 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255979] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2021] [Accepted: 07/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
New generation head-mounted displays, such as VR and AR glasses, are coming into the market with already integrated eye tracking and are expected to enable novel ways of human-computer interaction in numerous applications. However, since eye movement properties contain biometric information, privacy concerns have to be handled properly. Privacy-preservation techniques such as differential privacy mechanisms have recently been applied to eye movement data obtained from such displays. Standard differential privacy mechanisms; however, are vulnerable due to temporal correlations between the eye movement observations. In this work, we propose a novel transform-coding based differential privacy mechanism to further adapt it to the statistics of eye movement feature data and compare various low-complexity methods. We extend the Fourier perturbation algorithm, which is a differential privacy mechanism, and correct a scaling mistake in its proof. Furthermore, we illustrate significant reductions in sample correlations in addition to query sensitivities, which provide the best utility-privacy trade-off in the eye tracking literature. Our results provide significantly high privacy without any essential loss in classification accuracies while hiding personal identifiers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Efe Bozkir
- Chair of Human-Computer Interaction, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Onur Günlü
- Chair of Communications Engineering and Security, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Fuhl
- Chair of Human-Computer Interaction, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Rafael F. Schaefer
- Chair of Communications Engineering and Security, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany
| | - Enkelejda Kasneci
- Chair of Human-Computer Interaction, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Convergence of heteromodal lexical retrieval in the lateral prefrontal cortex. Sci Rep 2021; 11:6305. [PMID: 33737672 PMCID: PMC7973515 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-85802-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2020] [Accepted: 03/03/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Lexical retrieval requires selecting and retrieving the most appropriate word from the lexicon to express a desired concept. Few studies have probed lexical retrieval with tasks other than picture naming, and when non-picture naming lexical retrieval tasks have been applied, both convergent and divergent results emerged. The presence of a single construct for auditory and visual processes of lexical retrieval would influence cognitive rehabilitation strategies for patients with aphasia. In this study, we perform support vector regression lesion-symptom mapping using a brain tumor model to test the hypothesis that brain regions specifically involved in lexical retrieval from visual and auditory stimuli represent overlapping neural systems. We find that principal components analysis of language tasks revealed multicollinearity between picture naming, auditory naming, and a validated measure of word finding, implying the existence of redundant cognitive constructs. Nonparametric, multivariate lesion-symptom mapping across participants was used to model accuracies on each of the four language tasks. Lesions within overlapping clusters of 8,333 voxels and 21,512 voxels in the left lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) were predictive of impaired picture naming and auditory naming, respectively. These data indicate a convergence of heteromodal lexical retrieval within the PFC.
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Russell LL, Greaves CV, Convery RS, Nicholas J, Warren JD, Kaski D, Rohrer JD. Novel instructionless eye tracking tasks identify emotion recognition deficits in frontotemporal dementia. ALZHEIMERS RESEARCH & THERAPY 2021; 13:39. [PMID: 33557926 PMCID: PMC7871635 DOI: 10.1186/s13195-021-00775-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2020] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Background Current tasks measuring social cognition are usually ‘pen and paper’ tasks, have ceiling effects and include complicated test instructions that may be difficult to understand for those with cognitive impairment. We therefore aimed to develop a set of simple, instructionless, quantitative, tasks of emotion recognition using the methodology of eye tracking, with the subsequent aim of assessing their utility in individuals with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). Methods Using the Eyelink 1000 Plus eye tracker, 18 bvFTD and 22 controls completed tasks of simple and complex emotion recognition that involved viewing four images (one target face (simple) or pair of eyes (complex) and the others non-target) followed by a target emotion word and lastly the original four images alongside the emotion word. A dwell time change score was then calculated as the main outcome measure by subtracting the percentage dwell time for the target image before the emotion word appeared away from the percentage dwell time for the target image after the emotion word appeared. All participants also underwent a standard cognitive battery and volumetric T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Results Analysis using a mixed effects model showed that the average (standard deviation) mean dwell time change score in the target interest area was 35 (27)% for the control group compared with only 4 (18)% for the bvFTD group (p < 0.05) for the simple emotion recognition task, and 15 (26)% for the control group compared with only 2 (18)% for the bvFTD group (p < 0.05) for the complex emotion recognition task. Worse performance in the bvFTD group correlated with atrophy in the right ventromedial prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortices, brain regions previously implicated in social cognition. Conclusions In summary, eye tracking is a viable tool for assessing social cognition in individuals with bvFTD, being well-tolerated and able to overcome some of the problems associated with standard psychometric tasks. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13195-021-00775-x.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucy L Russell
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK.
| | - Caroline V Greaves
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Rhian S Convery
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Jennifer Nicholas
- Department of Medical Statistics, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Jason D Warren
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Diego Kaski
- Centre for Vestibular and Behavioural Neurosciences, Department of Clinical and Motor Neurosciences, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Jonathan D Rohrer
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
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Flurie M, Ungrady M, Reilly J. Evaluating a Maintenance-Based Treatment Approach to Preventing Lexical Dropout in Progressive Anomia. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2020; 63:4082-4095. [PMID: 33181044 PMCID: PMC8608146 DOI: 10.1044/2020_jslhr-20-00059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2020] [Revised: 05/26/2020] [Accepted: 08/28/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Purpose Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) and the amnestic variant of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are neurodegenerative conditions characterized by a profound loss of functional communication abilities. Communicative impairment in AD and PPA is especially apparent in the domain of naming common objects and familiar faces. We evaluated the effectiveness of a language intervention targeting maintenance of an individualized core vocabulary in a longitudinal cohort of older adults experiencing either PPA or AD. Method PPA (n = 9) and AD (n = 1) patients were administered a semantically based language treatment for up to 2 years. Patients repeatedly named and generated semantic features for a personalized lexicon consisting of 100 words. We evaluated naming accuracy and off-line neuropsychological measures at four successive timepoints. Naming accuracy was assessed in patients (n = 7) who completed at least three recurrent evaluations. Off-line neuropsychological performance was assessed across timepoints in all patients. Results Patients demonstrated relative preservation of naming trained words relative to a steep decline for untrained (control) words. The greatest decrements were observed for naming people relative to objects. Conclusion These results suggest that consistent training of a finite set of words can protect a core lexicon composed of crucial target concepts (e.g., a spouse's name). We discuss potential benefits and clinical implications of maintenance-based approaches to promoting language functioning in the context of neurodegeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maurice Flurie
- Eleanor M. Saffran Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Molly Ungrady
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Jamie Reilly
- Eleanor M. Saffran Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
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Popal H, Quimby M, Hochberg D, Dickerson BC, Collins JA. Altered functional connectivity of cortical networks in semantic variant Primary Progressive Aphasia. Neuroimage Clin 2020; 28:102494. [PMID: 33395985 PMCID: PMC7708956 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2020.102494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2020] [Revised: 10/01/2020] [Accepted: 11/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
As their illness progresses, patients with the semantic variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia (svPPA) frequently exhibit peculiar behaviors indicative of altered visual attention or an increased interest in artistic endeavors. In the present study, we examined changes within and between large-scale functional brain networks that may explain this altered visual behavior. We first examined the connectivity of the visual association network, the dorsal attention network, and the default mode network in healthy young adults (n = 89) to understand the typical architecture of these networks in the healthy brain. We then compared the large-scale functional connectivity of these networks in a group of svPPA patients (n = 12) to a group of age-matched cognitively normal controls (n = 30). Our results showed that the between-network connectivity of the dorsal attention and visual association networks was elevated in svPPA patients relative to controls. We further showed that this heightened between-network connectivity was associated with a decrease in the within-network connectivity of the default mode network, possibly due to progressive degeneration of the anterior temporal lobes in svPPA. These results suggest that focal neurodegeneration can lead to the reorganization of large-scale cognitive networks beyond the primarily affected network(s), possibly contributing to cognitive or behavioral changes that are commonly present as part of the clinical phenotype of svPPA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haroon Popal
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Megan Quimby
- Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Daisy Hochberg
- Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Bradford C Dickerson
- Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Jessica A Collins
- Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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Reilly J, Flurie M, Ungrady MB. Eyetracking during picture naming predicts future vocabulary dropout in progressive anomia. Neuropsychol Rehabil 2020; 32:560-578. [PMID: 33115336 PMCID: PMC8079545 DOI: 10.1080/09602011.2020.1835676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
The dynamic and unpredictable nature of expressive vocabulary dropout in progressive anomia presents a challenge for language intervention. We evaluated whether eye gaze patterns during naming could predict anomia for the same items in the near future. We tracked naming accuracy and gaze patterns as patients with semantic (n = 7) or logopenic (n = 2) variants of Primary Progressive Aphasia or amnestic Alzheimer's Disease (n = 1), named photographs of people and objects. Patients were tested three or more times spaced roughly evenly over an average duration of 19.1 months. Target words named accurately at baseline were retrospectively coded as either known (i.e., consistently named) or vulnerable (i.e., inaccurately or inconsistently named) based on naming accuracy over the study interval. We extracted gaze data corresponding to successful naming attempts and implemented logistic mixed effects models to determine whether common gaze measures could predict each word's naming status as known or vulnerable. More visual fixations and greater visual fixation dispersion predicted later anomia. These findings suggest that eye tracking may yield a biomarker of the robustness of particular target words to future expressive vocabulary dropout. We discuss the potential utility of this finding for optimizing treatment for progressive anomia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamie Reilly
- Eleanor M. Saffran Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.,Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.,Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Maurice Flurie
- Eleanor M. Saffran Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.,Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Molly B Ungrady
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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