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Chung WY, Darriba Á, Yeung N, Waszak F. Give it a second try? The influence of feedback and performance in the decision of reattempting. Cognition 2024; 248:105803. [PMID: 38703619 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2024.105803] [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: 09/11/2023] [Revised: 03/15/2024] [Accepted: 04/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/06/2024]
Abstract
Feedback evaluation can affect behavioural continuation or discontinuation, and is essential for cognitive and motor skill learning. One critical factor that influences feedback evaluation is participants' internal estimation of self-performance. Previous research has shown that two event-related potential components, the Feedback-Related Negativity (FRN) and the P3, are related to feedback evaluation. In the present study, we used a time estimation task and EEG recordings to test the influence of feedback and performance on participants' decisions, and the sensitivity of the FRN and P3 components to those factors. In the experiment, participants were asked to reproduce the total duration of an intermittently presented visual stimulus. Feedback was given after every response, and participants had then to decide whether to retry the same trial and try to earn reward points, or to move on to the next trial. Results showed that both performance and feedback influenced participants' decision on whether to retry the ongoing trial. In line with previous studies, the FRN showed larger amplitude in response to negative than to positive feedback. Moreover, our results were also in agreement with previous works showing the relationship between the amplitude of the FRN and the size of feedback-related prediction error (PE), and provide further insight in how PE size influences participants' decisions on whether or not to retry a task. Specifically, we found that the larger the FRN, the more likely participants were to base their decision on their performance - choosing to retry the current trial after good performance or to move on to the next trial after poor performance, regardless of the feedback received. Conversely, the smaller the FRN, the more likely participants were to base their decision on the feedback received.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wai Ying Chung
- Université Paris Cité, INCC UMR 8002, CNRS, F-75006 Paris, France.
| | - Álvaro Darriba
- Université Paris Cité, INCC UMR 8002, CNRS, F-75006 Paris, France
| | - Nick Yeung
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Anna Watts Building, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6GG, United Kingdom
| | - Florian Waszak
- Université Paris Cité, INCC UMR 8002, CNRS, F-75006 Paris, France
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2
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Ye M, Wang A, Liang H, Liu X. Late Positivity Correlates with Subjective Reports: Evidence from the Low-frequency and High-frequency Reporting Tasks. Neuroscience 2024; 546:143-156. [PMID: 38574798 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2024.03.034] [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: 09/06/2023] [Revised: 03/18/2024] [Accepted: 03/29/2024] [Indexed: 04/06/2024]
Abstract
Identifying the neural correlates of consciousness (NCCs) is an important way to understand the fundamental nature of consciousness. By recording event-related potentials (ERPs) using EEG, researchers have found three potential electrophysiological NCCs: early positive correlate of consciousness (enhanced P1), visual awareness negativity (VAN), and late positivity (LP). However, LP may reflect post-perceptual processing associated with subjective reports rather than consciousness per se. The present experiment investigated the relationship between LP and subjective reports. We adopted two subjective reporting tasks that differed in the requirement for subjective reports. In the low-frequency reporting task, participants needed to report whether they saw the target picture in 25% of trials, whereas in the high-frequency reporting task, participants needed to report whether they saw the target picture in each trial. Behavioral results showed that the hit rates were lower and false alarm rates were higher on reporting trials in low-frequency reporting tasks than on reporting trials in high-frequency reporting tasks. Unexpectedly, VAN was larger on reporting trials in the low-frequency reporting task than on reporting trials in the high-frequency reporting task. Importantly, our ERP results showed that LP was larger on reporting trials in the high-frequency reporting task than on reporting trials in the low-frequency reporting task. Thus, our findings indicated that when the frequency of reports was increased, the task relevance of the stimuli increased, which led to larger LP amplitudes. These findings suggest that LP correlates with subjective reports.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muwang Ye
- Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China; State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
| | - Anhui Wang
- Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
| | - Haiyang Liang
- Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
| | - Xiaowen Liu
- Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
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3
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Trajkovic J, Di Gregorio F, Thut G, Romei V. Transcranial magnetic stimulation effects support an oscillatory model of ERP genesis. Curr Biol 2024; 34:1048-1058.e4. [PMID: 38377998 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.01.069] [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: 05/26/2023] [Revised: 10/06/2023] [Accepted: 01/26/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024]
Abstract
Whether prestimulus oscillatory brain activity contributes to the generation of post-stimulus-evoked neural responses has long been debated, but findings remain inconclusive. We first investigated the hypothesized relationship via EEG recordings during a perceptual task with this correlational evidence causally probed subsequently by means of online rhythmic transcranial magnetic stimulation. Both approaches revealed a close link between prestimulus individual alpha frequency (IAF) and P1 latency, with faster IAF being related to shorter latencies, best explained via phase-reset mechanisms. Moreover, prestimulus alpha amplitude predicted P3 size, best explained via additive (correlational and causal evidence) and baseline shift mechanisms (correlational evidence), each with distinct prestimulus alpha contributors. Finally, in terms of performance, faster prestimulus IAF and shorter P1 latencies were both associated with higher task accuracy, while lower prestimulus alpha amplitudes and higher P3 amplitudes were associated with higher confidence ratings. Our results are in favor of the oscillatory model of ERP genesis and modulation, shedding new light on the mechanistic relationship between prestimulus oscillations and functionally relevant evoked components.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jelena Trajkovic
- Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Campus di Cesena, Cesena 47521, Italy; Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, 6229 ER Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Francesco Di Gregorio
- Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Campus di Cesena, Cesena 47521, Italy
| | - Gregor Thut
- Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, MVLS, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G128QB, UK
| | - Vincenzo Romei
- Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Campus di Cesena, Cesena 47521, Italy; Facultad de Lenguas y Educación, Universidad Antonio de Nebrija, Madrid 28015, Spain.
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4
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Siman-Tov Z, Lev M, Polat U. Probing the Bottleneck of Awareness Formed by Foveal Crowding: A Neurophysiological Study. Brain Sci 2024; 14:169. [PMID: 38391743 PMCID: PMC10886460 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14020169] [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: 01/05/2024] [Revised: 01/28/2024] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Crowding occurs when an easily identified isolated stimulus is surrounded by stimuli with similar properties, making it very difficult to identify. Crowding is suggested as a mechanism that creates a bottleneck in object recognition and awareness. Recently, we showed that brief presentation times at the fovea resulted in a significant crowding effect on target identification, impaired the target's color awareness, and resulted in a slower reaction time. However, when tagging the target with a red letter, the crowding effect is abolished. Crowding is widely considered a grouping; hence, it is pre-attentive. An event-related potential (ERP) study that investigated the spatial-temporal properties of crowding suggested the involvement of higher-level visual processing. Here, we investigated whether ERP's components may be affected by crowding and tagging, and whether the temporal advantage of ERP can be utilized to gain further information about the crowding mechanism. The participants reported target identification using our standard foveal crowing paradigm. It is assumed that crowding occurs due to a suppressive effect; thus, it can be probed by changes in perceptual (N1, ~160 ms) and attentive (P3 ~300-400 ms) components. We found a suppression effect (less negative ERP magnitude) in N1 under foveal crowding, which was recovered under tagging conditions. ERP's amplitude components (N1 and P3) and the behavioral proportion correct are highly correlated. These findings suggest that crowding is an early grouping mechanism that may be combined with later processing involving the segmentation mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ziv Siman-Tov
- School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel
| | - Maria Lev
- School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel
| | - Uri Polat
- School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel
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5
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Giustiniani J, Nicolier M, Diwoux A, Chabin T, Pazart L, Haffen E, Gabriel D. Impact of online poker gambling on behavioural and neurophysiological responses to a virtual gambling task. Addict Biol 2024; 29:e13373. [PMID: 38380791 PMCID: PMC10898831 DOI: 10.1111/adb.13373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2023] [Revised: 11/10/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024]
Abstract
Online poker gambling (OPG) involves various executive control processes and emotion regulation. In this context, we hypothesized that online poker players, accustomed to handling virtual cards, would show high performance on computerized decision-making tasks such as the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Using press advertisements, we recruited a non-gambler group (NG; n = 20) and an OPG group (n = 22). All participants performed the IGT while their cerebral activity was recorded by electroencephalography. Compared with the OPG group, the NG group showed significantly better progression in the IGT in the last trials. Recording of brain activity revealed the appearance of a temporal map between 150 and 175 ms specific to the gain condition in both groups. A second map was observed at 215-295 ms specifically in the NG group, and the generators were identified in the occipital regions. This activity is indicative of a high level of visual awareness; thus, it reflects additional processing of visual information, which can be assumed to be induced by the lower exposure of the NGs to online card games. We hypothesize that the absence of this activity in the OPG group might be due to their online habituation to virtual environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie Giustiniani
- UMR INSERM 1322LINCUniversité de Franche‐ComtéBesançonFrance
- Département clinique de psychiatrieCentre hospitalier universitaire de BesançonBesançonFrance
- Centre hospitalier Universitaire de BesançonBesançonFrance
| | - Magali Nicolier
- UMR INSERM 1322LINCUniversité de Franche‐ComtéBesançonFrance
- Département clinique de psychiatrieCentre hospitalier universitaire de BesançonBesançonFrance
- Centre hospitalier Universitaire de BesançonBesançonFrance
- Neuraxess département de neuroimagerie et neurostimulationUniversité de Franche ComtéBesançonFrance
| | - Audrey Diwoux
- Neuraxess département de neuroimagerie et neurostimulationUniversité de Franche ComtéBesançonFrance
| | - Thibaut Chabin
- Département clinique de psychiatrieCentre hospitalier universitaire de BesançonBesançonFrance
- Neuraxess département de neuroimagerie et neurostimulationUniversité de Franche ComtéBesançonFrance
| | - Lionel Pazart
- UMR INSERM 1322LINCUniversité de Franche‐ComtéBesançonFrance
- Centre hospitalier Universitaire de BesançonBesançonFrance
| | - Emmanuel Haffen
- UMR INSERM 1322LINCUniversité de Franche‐ComtéBesançonFrance
- Département clinique de psychiatrieCentre hospitalier universitaire de BesançonBesançonFrance
- Centre hospitalier Universitaire de BesançonBesançonFrance
- FondaMental FondationCréteilFrance
| | - Damien Gabriel
- UMR INSERM 1322LINCUniversité de Franche‐ComtéBesançonFrance
- Centre hospitalier Universitaire de BesançonBesançonFrance
- Neuraxess département de neuroimagerie et neurostimulationUniversité de Franche ComtéBesançonFrance
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6
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Jia W, Li S, Qian S, Wang M, Bao W, Zhao J, Cheong KH, Xie N. The intuitive decision preference and EEG features based on commonality heuristic. Comput Biol Med 2023; 160:106845. [PMID: 37120985 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2023.106845] [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: 01/03/2023] [Revised: 03/10/2023] [Accepted: 03/30/2023] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
People tend to make intuitive decisions based on certain heuristics. We have observed that there is an intuitive heuristic that tends to prioritize the most common features as the selection result. In order to study the influence of cognitive limitation and context induction on the intuitive thinking of common items, a questionnaire experiment with multidisciplinary features and similarity associations is designed. The experimental results reveal the existence of three classes of subjects. The behavioral features of Class I subjects show that cognitive limitations and task context fail to induce intuitive decision-making based on common items; instead, they rely heavily on rational analysis. The behavioral features of Class II subjects show a mixture of intuitive decision-making and rational analysis, with priority given to rational analysis. The behavioral features of Class III subjects indicate that the induction of the task context reinforces the reliance on intuitive decision-making. The electroencephalogram (EEG) feature responses (mainly in the β and γ bands) of the three classes of subjects reflect their respective decision-making thinking characteristics. The event-related potential (ERP) results demonstrate that Class III subjects induce a late positive P600 component with a significantly higher average wave amplitude than the other two classes, which may be related to the "oh yes" behavior for the common item intuitive decision method.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wanying Jia
- Department of Management Science and Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, Anhui, Maanshan 243002, China
| | - Songjie Li
- Department of Management Science and Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, Anhui, Maanshan 243002, China
| | - Shao Qian
- Department of Management Science and Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, Anhui, Maanshan 243002, China
| | - Meng Wang
- Department of Business, Anhui University of Technology, Anhui Maanshan 243002, China
| | - Wei Bao
- Department of Management Science and Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, Anhui, Maanshan 243002, China
| | - Jie Zhao
- Science, Mathematics and Technology Cluster, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), 8 Somapah Road, Singapore 487372, Singapore
| | - Kang Hao Cheong
- Science, Mathematics and Technology Cluster, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), 8 Somapah Road, Singapore 487372, Singapore.
| | - Nenggang Xie
- Department of Management Science and Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, Anhui, Maanshan 243002, China; Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Multidisciplinary Management and Control of Complex Systems, Anhui, Maanshan 243002, China.
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7
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Gusso MM, Christison-Lagay KL, Zuckerman D, Chandrasekaran G, Kronemer SI, Ding JZ, Freedman NC, Nohama P, Blumenfeld H. More than a feeling: Scalp EEG and eye signals in conscious tactile perception. Conscious Cogn 2022; 105:103411. [PMID: 36156359 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2022.103411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2022] [Revised: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the neural basis of consciousness is a fundamental goal of neuroscience, and sensory perception is often used as a proxy for consciousness in empirical studies. However, most studies rely on reported perception of visual stimuli. Here we present behavior, high density scalp EEG and eye metric recordings collected simultaneously during a novel tactile threshold perception task. We found significant N80, N140 and P300 event related potentials in perceived trials and in perceived versus not perceived trials. Significance was limited to a P100 and P300 in not perceived trials. We also found an increase in pupil diameter and blink rate and a decrease in microsaccade rate following perceived relative to not perceived tactile stimuli. These findings support the use of eye metrics as a measure of physiological arousal associated with conscious perception. Eye metrics may also represent a novel path toward the creation of tactile no-report tasks in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariana M Gusso
- Departments of Neurology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Tecnologia em Saúde, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná, R. Imaculada Conceição, 1155, Prado Velho, Curitiba, Paraná 80215-901, Brazil
| | - Kate L Christison-Lagay
- Departments of Neurology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - David Zuckerman
- Departments of Neurology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Ganesh Chandrasekaran
- Departments of Neurology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Sharif I Kronemer
- Departments of Neurology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Departments of Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Julia Z Ding
- Departments of Neurology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Noah C Freedman
- Departments of Neurology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Percy Nohama
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Tecnologia em Saúde, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná, R. Imaculada Conceição, 1155, Prado Velho, Curitiba, Paraná 80215-901, Brazil
| | - Hal Blumenfeld
- Departments of Neurology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Departments of Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Departments of Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Departments of Neurosurgery, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
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8
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Ehret G, Romand R. Awareness and consciousness in humans and animals – neural and behavioral correlates in an evolutionary perspective. Front Syst Neurosci 2022; 16:941534. [PMID: 35910003 PMCID: PMC9331465 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2022.941534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2022] [Accepted: 06/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Awareness or consciousness in the context of stimulus perception can directly be assessed in well controlled test situations with humans via the persons’ reports about their subjective experiences with the stimuli. Since we have no direct access to subjective experiences in animals, their possible awareness or consciousness in stimulus perception tasks has often been inferred from behavior and cognitive abilities previously observed in aware and conscious humans. Here, we analyze published human data primarily on event-related potentials and brain-wave generation during perception and responding to sensory stimuli and extract neural markers (mainly latencies of evoked-potential peaks and of gamma-wave occurrence) indicating that a person became aware or conscious of the perceived stimulus. These neural correlates of consciousness were then applied to sets of corresponding data from various animals including several species of mammals, and one species each of birds, fish, cephalopods, and insects. We found that the neural markers from studies in humans could also successfully be applied to the mammal and bird data suggesting that species in these animal groups can become subjectively aware of and conscious about perceived stimuli. Fish, cephalopod and insect data remained inconclusive. In an evolutionary perspective we have to consider that both awareness of and consciousness about perceived stimuli appear as evolved, attention-dependent options added to the ongoing neural activities of stimulus processing and action generation. Since gamma-wave generation for functional coupling of brain areas in aware/conscious states is energetically highly cost-intensive, it remains to be shown which animal species under which conditions of lifestyle and ecological niche may achieve significant advantages in reproductive fitness by drawing upon these options. Hence, we started our discussion about awareness and consciousness in animals with the question in how far these expressions of brain activity are necessary attributes for perceiving stimuli and responding in an adaptive way.
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Affiliation(s)
- Günter Ehret
- Institute of Neurobiology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
- *Correspondence: Günter Ehret,
| | - Raymond Romand
- Faculty of Medicine, Institute de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), University of Strasbourg and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Strasbourg, France
- Raymond Romand,
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9
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Canonical finger-numeral configurations facilitate the processing of Arabic numerals in adults: An Event-Related Potential study. Neuropsychologia 2022; 170:108214. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2021] [Revised: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 03/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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10
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Whyte CJ, Hohwy J, Smith R. An active inference model of conscious access: How cognitive action selection reconciles the results of report and no-report paradigms. CURRENT RESEARCH IN NEUROBIOLOGY 2022; 3:100036. [PMID: 36304590 PMCID: PMC9593308 DOI: 10.1016/j.crneur.2022.100036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2022] [Revised: 03/08/2022] [Accepted: 03/18/2022] [Indexed: 10/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Cognitive theories of consciousness, such as global workspace theory and higher-order theories, posit that frontoparietal circuits play a crucial role in conscious access. However, recent studies using no-report paradigms have posed a challenge to cognitive theories by demonstrating conscious accessibility in the apparent absence of prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation. To address this challenge, this paper presents a computational model of conscious access, based upon active inference, that treats working memory gating as a cognitive action. We simulate a visual masking task and show that late P3b-like event-related potentials (ERPs), and increased PFC activity, are induced by the working memory demands of self-report generation. When reporting demands are removed, these late ERPs vanish and PFC activity is reduced. These results therefore reproduce, and potentially explain, results from no-report paradigms. However, even without reporting demands, our model shows that simulated PFC activity on visible stimulus trials still crosses the threshold for reportability - maintaining the link between PFC and conscious access. Therefore, our simulations show that evidence provided by no-report paradigms does not necessarily contradict cognitive theories of consciousness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher J. Whyte
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Corresponding author. MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, 15 Chaucer Rd, Cambridge, CB2 7EF, UK.
| | - Jakob Hohwy
- Centre for Consciousness & Contemplative Studies, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Ryan Smith
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA
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11
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Kern L, Niedeggen M. ERP signatures of auditory awareness in cross-modal distractor-induced deafness. Conscious Cogn 2021; 96:103241. [PMID: 34823076 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2021.103241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2021] [Revised: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 11/05/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Previous research showed that dual-task processes such as the attentional blink are not always transferable from unimodal to cross-modal settings. This study investigated whether such a transfer can be stated for a distractor-induced impairment of target detection established in vision (distractor-induced blindness, DIB) and recently observed in the auditory modality (distractor-induced deafness, DID). A cross-modal DID effect was confirmed: The detection of an auditory target indicated by a visual cue was impaired if multiple auditory distractors preceded the target. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were used to identify psychophysiological correlates of target detection. A frontal negativity about 200 ms succeeded by a sustained, widespread negativity was associated with auditory target awareness. In contrast to unimodal findings, P3 amplitude was not enhanced for hits. The results support the notion that early frontal attentional processes are linked to auditory awareness, whereas the P3 does not seem to be a reliable indicator of target access.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lea Kern
- Freie Universität Berlin, Department of Education and Psychology, Division General Psychology and Neuropsychology, Habelschwerdter Allee 45, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Michael Niedeggen
- Freie Universität Berlin, Department of Education and Psychology, Division General Psychology and Neuropsychology, Habelschwerdter Allee 45, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
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12
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Electrophysiological evidence for internalized representations of canonical finger-number gestures and their facilitating effects on adults' math verification performance. Sci Rep 2021; 11:11776. [PMID: 34083708 PMCID: PMC8175394 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-91303-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2020] [Accepted: 05/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Fingers facilitate number learning and arithmetic processing in early childhood. The current study investigated whether images of early-learned, culturally-typical (canonical), finger montring patterns presenting smaller (2,3,4) or larger (7,8,9) quantities still facilitate adults' performance and neural processing in a math verification task. Twenty-eight adults verified solutions to simple addition problems that were shown in the form of canonical or non-canonical finger-number montring patterns while measuring Event Related Potentials (ERPs). Results showed more accurate and faster sum verification when sum solutions were shown by canonical (versus non-canonical) finger patterns. Canonical finger montring patterns 2-4 led to faster responses independent of whether they presented correct or incorrect sum solutions and elicited an enhanced early right-parietal P2p response, whereas canonical configurations 7-9 only facilitated performance in correct sum solution trials without evoking P2p effects. The later central-parietal P3 was enhanced to all canonical finger patterns irrespective of numerical range. These combined results provide behavioral and brain evidence for canonical cardinal finger patterns still having facilitating effects on adults' number processing. They further suggest that finger montring configurations of numbers 2-4 have stronger internalized associations with other magnitude representations, possibly established through their mediating role in the developmental phase in which children acquire the numerical meaning of the first four number symbols.
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13
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Perez P, Valente M, Hermann B, Sitt J, Faugeras F, Demeret S, Rohaut B, Naccache L. Auditory Event-Related "Global Effect" Predicts Recovery of Overt Consciousness. Front Neurol 2021; 11:588233. [PMID: 33488494 PMCID: PMC7819971 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2020.588233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2020] [Accepted: 12/03/2020] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective: To explore whether the presence of an event-related potential (ERP) "global effect" (GE+)-that corresponds to a correlate of conscious processing in the local-global auditory task-predicts behaviorally overt consciousness recovery in a large cohort of patients suffering from disorders of consciousness (DOC). Methods: We conducted a prospective study on all DOC patients evaluated during the 2009-2018 period. Behavioral examination included Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) scores and bedside high-density EEG recordings. Consciousness recovery was evaluated at 6 months by a structured phone interview. The predictive value of a GE+ was calculated both on survivors and on all patients. Results: A total of 236 patients with a documented outcome and technically valid EEG recordings could be included. Among them, 66 patients had a GE+ status (28%). Presence of GE+ predicted behaviorally overt consciousness recovery in survivors with high specificity (Sp = 84%) and high positive predictive value (PPV = 80%) but with low sensitivity (Se = 35%) and low negative predictive value (NPV = 42%). Positive likelihood ratio (LR+) of GE+ was superior to LR+ of initial clinical status and of ERP effect indexing unconscious auditory processing [local effect (LE)]. Interpretation: Our results demonstrate that the presence of a bedside ERP GE+ is highly predictive of behaviorally overt consciousness recovery in DOC patients, regardless of the delay, of behavioral status, and of the etiology of brain dysfunction. However, the absence of this effect is not a reliable predictor of negative outcome. This study provides Class III evidence that the presence of an ERP "global effect" predicts consciousness recovery in DOC patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pauline Perez
- PICNIC Lab Team, INSERM, U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Faculté de Médecine de Sorbonne Université, UMR S 1127, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, ICM, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France
| | - Mélanie Valente
- PICNIC Lab Team, INSERM, U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Faculté de Médecine de Sorbonne Université, UMR S 1127, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, ICM, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France.,Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP), Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Paris, France
| | - Bertrand Hermann
- PICNIC Lab Team, INSERM, U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Faculté de Médecine de Sorbonne Université, UMR S 1127, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, ICM, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France
| | - Jacobo Sitt
- PICNIC Lab Team, INSERM, U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Faculté de Médecine de Sorbonne Université, UMR S 1127, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, ICM, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France
| | - Frédéric Faugeras
- Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP), Hôpital Henri-Mondor, Department of Neurology, Créteil, France
| | - Sophie Demeret
- Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP), Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Department of Neurology, Paris, France
| | - Benjamin Rohaut
- PICNIC Lab Team, INSERM, U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Faculté de Médecine de Sorbonne Université, UMR S 1127, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, ICM, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France.,Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP), Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Department of Neurology, Paris, France.,Faculté de Médecine Pitié-Salpêtrière, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
| | - Lionel Naccache
- PICNIC Lab Team, INSERM, U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Faculté de Médecine de Sorbonne Université, UMR S 1127, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, ICM, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France.,Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP), Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Department of Neurology, Paris, France.,Faculté de Médecine Pitié-Salpêtrière, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
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Kern L, Niedeggen M. Distractor-induced deafness: The effect of multiple auditory distractors on conscious target processing. Cortex 2020; 134:181-194. [PMID: 33279811 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.10.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2020] [Revised: 05/12/2020] [Accepted: 10/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Conscious access to a target stimulus embedded in a rapid serial visual presentation can be impaired by the preceding presentation of multiple task-irrelevant distractors. While this phenomenon - labeled distractor-induced blindness (DIB) - is established in vision, it is unknown whether a similar effect can be observed in the auditory modality. Considering the differences in the processing of visual and auditory stimuli, modality-specific effects in the inhibitory mechanisms triggered by distractors can be expected. First, we aimed to find evidence for a distractor-induced deafness (DID) for auditory targets in a behavioral experiment. The target was defined by a transient increase in amplitude in a continuous sinusoidal tone, which was to be detected if accompanied or preceded by a deviant tone (cue). Both events were embedded in separate streams in a binaural rapid serial auditory presentation. Distractors preceded the cue and shared the target's features. As previously observed for DIB, a failure to detect the auditory target critically relied on the presentation of multiple distractor episodes. This DID effect was followed up in a subsequent event-related brain potentials (ERP) study to identify the signature of target detection. In contrast to missed targets, hits were characterized by a larger frontal negativity and by a more pronounced centro-parietal P3b wave. Whereas the latter process was also observed in the visual domain, indicating a post-perceptual updating process, the frontal negativity was exclusively observed for auditory DID. This modality-specific process might signal that early attentional control processes support conscious access to relevant auditory events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lea Kern
- FU Berlin, Department of Education and Psychology, Division General Psychology and Neuropsychology, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Michael Niedeggen
- FU Berlin, Department of Education and Psychology, Division General Psychology and Neuropsychology, Berlin, Germany.
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15
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Mazzi C, Mazzeo G, Savazzi S. Late Positivity Does Not Meet the Criteria to be Considered a Proper Neural Correlate of Perceptual Awareness. Front Syst Neurosci 2020; 14:36. [PMID: 32733211 PMCID: PMC7358964 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2020.00036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2019] [Accepted: 05/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Contrastive analysis has been widely employed in the search for the electrophysiological neural correlates of consciousness. However, despite its clear logic, it has been argued that it may not succeed in isolating neural processes solely involved in the emergence of perceptual awareness. In fact, data from contrastive analysis would be contaminated by potential confounding factors reflecting distinct, though related, processes either preceding or following the conscious perception. At present, the ERP components representing the proper correlates of perceptual awareness still remain to be identified among those correlating with awareness (i.e., Visual Awareness Negativity, VAN and Late Positivity, LP). In order to dissociate visual awareness from post-perceptual confounds specifically related to decision making, we manipulated the response criterion, which affects how a percept is translated into a decision. In particular, while performing an orientation discrimination task, participants were asked to shift their response criterion across sessions. As a consequence, the resulting modulation should concern the ERP component(s) not exclusively reflecting mechanisms regulating the subjective conscious experience itself but rather the processes accompanying it. Electrophysiological results showed that N1 and P3 were sensitive to the response criterion adopted by participants. Additionally, the more the participants shifted their response criterion, the bigger the ERP modulation was; this was consequently indicative of the critical role of these components in the decision-making processes regardless of awareness level. When considering data independently from the response criterion, the aware vs. unaware contrast showed that both VAN and LP were significant. Crucially, the LP component was also modulated by the interaction of awareness and response criterion, while VAN results to be unaffected. In agreement with previous literature, these findings provide evidence supporting the hypothesis that VAN tracks the emergence of visual awareness by encoding the conscious percept, whereas LP reflects the contribution from post-perceptual processes related to response requirements. This excludes a direct functional role of this later component in giving rise to perceptual awareness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Mazzi
- Perception and Awareness (PandA) Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Gaetano Mazzeo
- Perception and Awareness (PandA) Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Silvia Savazzi
- Perception and Awareness (PandA) Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
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Distinguishing the Neural Correlates of Perceptual Awareness and Postperceptual Processing. J Neurosci 2020; 40:4925-4935. [PMID: 32409620 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0120-20.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2020] [Revised: 04/10/2020] [Accepted: 05/06/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
To identify the neural correlates of perceptual awareness, researchers often compare the differences in neural activation between conditions in which an observer is or is not aware of a stimulus. While intuitive, this approach often contains a critical limitation: to link brain activity with perceptual awareness, observers traditionally report the contents of their perceptual experience. However, relying on observers' reports is problematic because it is difficult to know whether the neural responses being measured are associated with conscious perception or with postperceptual processes involved in the reporting task (e.g., working memory, decision-making). To address this issue, we combined a standard visual masking paradigm with a recently developed "no-report" paradigm in male/female human participants. In the visual masking paradigm, observers saw images of animals and objects that were visible or invisible, depending on their proximity to masks. Meanwhile, on half of the trials, observers reported the contents of their perceptual experience (i.e., report condition), while on the other half of trials they refrained from reporting about their experiences (i.e., no-report condition). We used electroencephalography to examine how visibility interacts with reporting by measuring the P3b event-related potential, one of the proposed canonical "signatures" of conscious processing. Overall, we found a robust P3b in the report condition, but no P3b whatsoever in the no-report condition. This finding suggests that the P3b itself is not a neural signature of conscious processing and highlights the importance of carefully distinguishing the neural correlates of perceptual awareness from postperceptual processing.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT What are the neural signatures that differentiate conscious and unconscious processing in the brain? Perhaps the most well established candidate signature is the P3b event-related potential, a late slow wave that appears when observers are aware of a stimulus, but disappears when a stimulus fails to reach awareness. Here, however, we found that the P3b does not track what observers are perceiving, but instead tracks what observers are reporting. When observers are aware of simple visual stimuli, the P3b is nowhere to be found unless observers are reporting the contents of their experience. These results challenge the well established notion of the P3b as a neural marker of awareness and highlight the need for new approaches to the neuroscience of consciousness.
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Förster J, Koivisto M, Revonsuo A. ERP and MEG correlates of visual consciousness: The second decade. Conscious Cogn 2020; 80:102917. [PMID: 32193077 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2020.102917] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2019] [Revised: 02/14/2020] [Accepted: 03/07/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
The first decade of event-related potential (ERP) research had established that the most consistent correlates of the onset of visual consciousness are the early visual awareness negativity (VAN), a posterior negative component in the N2 time range, and the late positivity (LP), an anterior positive component in the P3 time range. Two earlier extensive reviews ten years ago had concluded that VAN is the earliest and most reliable correlate of visual phenomenal consciousness, whereas LP probably reflects later processes associated with reflective/access consciousness. This article provides an update to those earlier reviews. ERP and MEG studies that have appeared since 2010 and directly compared ERPs between aware and unaware conditions are reviewed, and important new developments in the field are discussed. The result corroborates VAN as the earliest and most consistent signature of visual phenomenal consciousness, and casts further doubt on LP as an ERP correlate of phenomenal consciousness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jona Förster
- Division of Cognitive Neuroscience and Philosophy, University of Skövde, Sweden.
| | - Mika Koivisto
- Department of Psychology, University of Turku, Finland; Turku Brain and Mind Centre, University of Turku, Finland
| | - Antti Revonsuo
- Division of Cognitive Neuroscience and Philosophy, University of Skövde, Sweden; Department of Psychology, University of Turku, Finland; Turku Brain and Mind Centre, University of Turku, Finland
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Cebolla AM, Cheron G. Understanding Neural Oscillations in the Human Brain: From Movement to Consciousness and Vice Versa. Front Psychol 2019; 10:1930. [PMID: 31507490 PMCID: PMC6718699 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2019] [Accepted: 08/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Ana Maria Cebolla
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Guy Cheron
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
- Laboratory of Electrophysiology, Université de Mons-Hainaut, Mons, Belgium
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