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Yang S, Dong H, Albitos PJ, Wang Y, Fang Y, Cao L, Wang J, Sun L, Zhang H. Low-frequency variability in theta activity modulates the attention-fluctuation across task and resting states. Neuropsychologia 2024; 193:108757. [PMID: 38103680 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108757] [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: 08/14/2023] [Revised: 11/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
Sustained attention is not constant but fluctuates influencing our task performance. Albeit intensive investigations, it remains unclear whether the attention-fluctuation during tasks is derived from its spontaneous fluctuation in the resting state. Here, we addressed this issue by investigating the attention-fluctuation in both task and resting states, through the EEG measurement of theta-variability. We found significant rest-task modulation of theta-variability, i.e., reduced theta-variability in the task state compared to the resting state. This task and rest modulation was manifested in the low-frequency of theta-variability (<0.1 Hz). Furthermore, the low-frequency theta-variability exhibited a significant rest-task correlation, however, only the low-frequency theta-variability in the task state but not in the resting state was correlated with the behavioral performance. These findings shed light on the low-frequency feature of attention-fluctuation, and advanced our understanding of sustained attention by suggesting that the theta-variability in low-frequencies was relevant to attention level in task state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiyou Yang
- Centre for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; Institute of Psychological Science, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairment, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; School of Psychology, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, Jilin, China
| | - Huimei Dong
- Centre for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; Institute of Psychological Science, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairment, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Princess Jane Albitos
- Centre for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; Institute of Psychological Science, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairment, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Yaoyao Wang
- Centre for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; Institute of Psychological Science, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairment, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Yantong Fang
- Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairment, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Longfei Cao
- Centre for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; Institute of Psychological Science, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairment, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Jinghua Wang
- Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairment, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; Department of Neurology the Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Li Sun
- Peking University Sixth Hospital, Institute of Mental Health, Beijing, China; NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), Beijing, China
| | - Hang Zhang
- Centre for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; Institute of Psychological Science, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairment, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
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Stolz C, Pickering AD, Mueller EM. Dissociable feedback valence effects on frontal midline theta during reward gain versus threat avoidance learning. Psychophysiology 2022; 60:e14235. [PMID: 36529988 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2022] [Revised: 10/17/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
While frontal midline theta (FMθ) has been associated with threat processing, with cognitive control in the context of anxiety, and with reinforcement learning, most reinforcement learning studies on FMθ have used reward rather than threat-related stimuli as reinforcer. Accordingly, the role of FMθ in threat-related reinforcement learning is largely unknown. Here, n = 23 human participants underwent one reward-, and one punishment-, based reversal learning task, which differed only with regard to the kind of reinforcers that feedback was tied to (i.e., monetary gain vs. loud noise burst, respectively). In addition to single-trial EEG, we assessed single-trial feedback expectations based on both a reinforcement learning computational model and trial-by-trial subjective feedback expectation ratings. While participants' performance and feedback expectations were comparable between the reward and punishment tasks, FMθ was more reliably amplified to negative vs. positive feedback in the reward vs. punishment task. Regressions with feedback valence, computationally derived, and self-reported expectations as predictors and FMθ as criterion further revealed that trial-by-trial variations in FMθ specifically relate to reward-related feedback-valence and not to threat-related feedback or to violated expectations/prediction errors. These findings suggest that FMθ as measured in reinforcement learning tasks may be less sensitive to the processing of events with direct relevance for fear and anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Stolz
- Department of Psychology University of Marburg Marburg Germany
- Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN) Magdeburg Germany
- Department of Psychology Goldsmiths, University of London London UK
| | | | - Erik M. Mueller
- Department of Psychology University of Marburg Marburg Germany
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Effects of passive heat stress and recovery on human cognitive function: An ERP study. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0254769. [PMID: 34283865 PMCID: PMC8291678 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254769] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2020] [Accepted: 07/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Using event-related potentials (ERPs), we investigated the effects of passive heat stress and recovery on the human cognitive function with Flanker tasks, involving congruent and incongruent stimuli. We hypothesized that modulation of the peak amplitude and latency of the P300 component in ERP waveforms would differ with task difficulty during passive heat stress and recovery. Subjects performed the Flanker tasks before (Pre), at the end of whole body heating (Heat: internal temperature increase of ~1.2°C from the pre-heat baseline), and after the internal temperature had returned to the pre-heat baseline (Recovery). The internal temperature was regulated by a tube-lined suit by perfusing 50°C water for heat stress and 25°C water for recovery immediately after the heat stress. Regardless of task difficulty, the reaction time (RT) was shortened during Heat rather than Pre and Recovery, and standard deviations of RT (i.e., response variability) were significantly smaller during Heat than Pre. However, the peak amplitudes of the P300 component in ERPs, which involved selective attention, expectancy, and memory updating, were significantly smaller during Heat than during Pre, suggesting the impairment of neural activity in cognitive function. Notably, the peak amplitudes of the P300 component were higher during Recovery than during Heat, indicating that the impaired neural activity had recovered after sufficient whole-body cooling. An indicator of the stimulus classification/evaluation time (peak latency of P300) and the RT were shortened during Heat stress, but such shortening was not noted after whole-body cooling. These results suggest that hyperthermia affects the human cognitive function, reflected by the peak amplitude and latency of the P300 component in ERPs during the Flanker tasks, but sufficient treatment such as whole-body cooling performed in this study can recover those functions.
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