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Garlichs A, Blank H. Prediction error processing and sharpening of expected information across the face-processing hierarchy. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3407. [PMID: 38649694 PMCID: PMC11035707 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47749-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024] Open
Abstract
The perception and neural processing of sensory information are strongly influenced by prior expectations. The integration of prior and sensory information can manifest through distinct underlying mechanisms: focusing on unexpected input, denoted as prediction error (PE) processing, or amplifying anticipated information via sharpened representation. In this study, we employed computational modeling using deep neural networks combined with representational similarity analyses of fMRI data to investigate these two processes during face perception. Participants were cued to see face images, some generated by morphing two faces, leading to ambiguity in face identity. We show that expected faces were identified faster and perception of ambiguous faces was shifted towards priors. Multivariate analyses uncovered evidence for PE processing across and beyond the face-processing hierarchy from the occipital face area (OFA), via the fusiform face area, to the anterior temporal lobe, and suggest sharpened representations in the OFA. Our findings support the proposition that the brain represents faces grounded in prior expectations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annika Garlichs
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246, Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Helen Blank
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246, Hamburg, Germany.
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2
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Kabulska Z, Zhuang T, Lingnau A. Overlapping representations of observed actions and action-related features. Hum Brain Mapp 2024; 45:e26605. [PMID: 38379447 PMCID: PMC10879913 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2023] [Revised: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 01/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024] Open
Abstract
The lateral occipitotemporal cortex (LOTC) has been shown to capture the representational structure of a smaller range of actions. In the current study, we carried out an fMRI experiment in which we presented human participants with images depicting 100 different actions and used representational similarity analysis (RSA) to determine which brain regions capture the semantic action space established using judgments of action similarity. Moreover, to determine the contribution of a wide range of action-related features to the neural representation of the semantic action space we constructed an action feature model on the basis of ratings of 44 different features. We found that the semantic action space model and the action feature model are best captured by overlapping activation patterns in bilateral LOTC and ventral occipitotemporal cortex (VOTC). An RSA on eight dimensions resulting from principal component analysis carried out on the action feature model revealed partly overlapping representations within bilateral LOTC, VOTC, and the parietal lobe. Our results suggest spatially overlapping representations of the semantic action space of a wide range of actions and the corresponding action-related features. Together, our results add to our understanding of the kind of representations along the LOTC that support action understanding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zuzanna Kabulska
- Faculty of Human Sciences, Institute of Psychology, Chair of Cognitive NeuroscienceUniversity of RegensburgRegensburgGermany
| | - Tonghe Zhuang
- Faculty of Human Sciences, Institute of Psychology, Chair of Cognitive NeuroscienceUniversity of RegensburgRegensburgGermany
| | - Angelika Lingnau
- Faculty of Human Sciences, Institute of Psychology, Chair of Cognitive NeuroscienceUniversity of RegensburgRegensburgGermany
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3
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Dębska AM, Wang J, Dzięgiel-Fivet GK, Chyl KM, Wójcik MP, Jednoróg KM, Booth JR. The development of orthography and phonology coupling in the ventral occipito-temporal cortex and its relation to reading. J Exp Psychol Gen 2024; 153:293-306. [PMID: 37917440 DOI: 10.1037/xge0001495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2023]
Abstract
The left ventral occipito-temporal (lvOT) cortex is considered to house the brain's representation of orthography (i.e., the spelling patterns of words). Because letter-sound coupling is crucial in reading, we investigated the engagement of the lvOT cortex in processing phonology (i.e., the sound patterns of words) as a function of reading acquisition. We tested 47 Polish children both at the beginning of formal literacy instruction and 2 years later. During functional magnetic resonance imaging, children performed auditory phonological tasks from small to large grain size levels (i.e., single phoneme, rhyme). We showed that orthographically relevant lvOT areas activated during small-grain size phonological tasks were skill-dependent, perhaps due to the relatively transparent mappings between orthography and phonology in Polish. We also studied activation pattern similarity between processing visual and auditory word stimuli in the lvOT. We found that a higher similarity level was observed in the anterior lvOT compared to the posterior lvOT after 2 years of schooling. This is consistent with models proposing a posterior-to-anterior shift in word processing during reading acquisition. We argue that the development of orthography-phonology coupling at the brain level reflects writing system-specific effects and a more universal pathway of the left vOT development in reading acquisition. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
- Agnieszka M Dębska
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences
| | - Jin Wang
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University
| | - Gabriela K Dzięgiel-Fivet
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences
| | - Katarzyna M Chyl
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences
| | - Marta P Wójcik
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences
| | - Katarzyna M Jednoróg
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences
| | - James R Booth
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University
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Triggiani AI, Lee SJ, Scheman K, Hallett M. Moving in response to an unseen visual stimulus. Clin Neurophysiol 2024; 158:92-102. [PMID: 38198875 PMCID: PMC10872446 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2023.12.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2023] [Revised: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Whether consciousness has a causal role in voluntary movements is not clear. Backward masking blocks a stimulus from becoming conscious, but it can trigger movement in a reaction time paradigm. We hypothesize that if backward masking is used in a choice reaction time paradigm, when the visible stimulus (S2) differs from the masked stimulus (S1), the movement will often differ from conscious intent. We did such a study employing electroencephalography (EEG) to explore the brain activity associated with this effect. METHODS Twenty healthy adults participated in a choice reaction time task with a backwardly masked stimulus and EEG. They moved right or left hand in response to the direction of an arrow. S2 was congruent or incongruent with S1. When incongruent, responses were frequently concordant with S1, with faster reaction time than when responding to S2 and thought to be a mistake. RESULTS We show that it is possible to trigger movements from the unperceived stimuli indicating consciousness is not causal since the movement was not in accord with intent. EEG showed information flow from occipital cortex to motor cortex. CONCLUSIONS Occipital activity was the same despite response, but the parietal and frontal EEG differed. When responding to S1, the motor cortex responded as soon as information arrived, and when responding to S2, the motor cortex responded with a delay allowing for other brain processing prior to movement initiation. While the exact time of conscious recognition of S2 is not clear, when there is a response to S1, the frontal cortex signals an "error", but this is apparently too late to veto the movement. SIGNIFICANCE While consciousness does not initiate the movement, it monitors the concordance of intent and result.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Ivano Triggiani
- Human Motor Control Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Sae-Jin Lee
- Human Motor Control Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Kaya Scheman
- Human Motor Control Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Mark Hallett
- Human Motor Control Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
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Gonzalez Alam TRJ, Cruz Arias J, Jefferies E, Smallwood J, Leemans A, Marino Davolos J. Ventral and dorsal aspects of the inferior frontal-occipital fasciculus support verbal semantic access and visually-guided behavioural control. Brain Struct Funct 2024; 229:207-221. [PMID: 38070006 PMCID: PMC10827863 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-023-02729-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2022] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2024]
Abstract
The Inferior Frontal Occipital Fasciculus (IFOF) is a major anterior-to-posterior white matter pathway in the ventral human brain that connects parietal, temporal and occipital regions to frontal cortex. It has been implicated in a range of functions, including language, semantics, inhibition and the control of action. The recent research shows that the IFOF can be sub-divided into a ventral and dorsal branch, but the functional relevance of this distinction, as well as any potential hemispheric differences, are poorly understood. Using DTI tractography, we investigated the involvement of dorsal and ventral subdivisions of the IFOF in the left and right hemisphere in a response inhibition task (Go/No-Go), where the decision to respond or to withhold a prepotent response was made on the basis of semantic or non-semantic aspects of visual inputs. The task also varied the presentation modality (whether concepts were presented as written words or images). The results showed that the integrity of both dorsal and ventral IFOF in the left hemisphere were associated with participants' inhibition performance when the signal to stop was meaningful and presented in the verbal modality. This effect was absent in the right hemisphere. The integrity of dorsal IFOF was also associated with participants' inhibition efficiency in difficult perceptually guided decisions. This pattern of results indicates that left dorsal IFOF is implicated in the domain-general control of visually-guided behaviour, while the left ventral branch might interface with the semantic system to support the control of action when the inhibitory signal is based on meaning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tirso R J Gonzalez Alam
- Department of Psychology and York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, York, UK.
- School of Psychology, Bangor University, Bangor, UK.
| | | | - Elizabeth Jefferies
- Department of Psychology and York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, York, UK
| | | | - Alexander Leemans
- Image Sciences Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
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Zhuang T, Kabulska Z, Lingnau A. The Representation of Observed Actions at the Subordinate, Basic, and Superordinate Level. J Neurosci 2023; 43:8219-8230. [PMID: 37798129 PMCID: PMC10697398 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0700-22.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2022] [Revised: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 09/06/2023] [Indexed: 10/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Actions can be planned and recognized at different hierarchical levels, ranging from very specific (e.g., to swim backstroke) to very broad (e.g., locomotion). Understanding the corresponding neural representation is an important prerequisite to reveal how our brain flexibly assigns meaning to the world around us. To address this question, we conducted an event-related fMRI study in male and female human participants in which we examined distinct representations of observed actions at the subordinate, basic and superordinate level. Using multiple regression representational similarity analysis (RSA) in predefined regions of interest, we found that the three different taxonomic levels were best captured by patterns of activations in bilateral lateral occipitotemporal cortex (LOTC), showing the highest similarity with the basic level model. A whole-brain multiple regression RSA revealed that information unique to the basic level was captured by patterns of activation in dorsal and ventral portions of the LOTC and in parietal regions. By contrast, the unique information for the subordinate level was limited to bilateral occipitotemporal cortex, while no single cluster was obtained that captured unique information for the superordinate level. The behaviorally established action space was best captured by patterns of activation in the LOTC and superior parietal cortex, and the corresponding neural patterns of activation showed the highest similarity with patterns of activation corresponding to the basic level model. Together, our results suggest that occipitotemporal cortex shows a preference for the basic level model, with flexible access across the subordinate and the basic level.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The human brain captures information at varying levels of abstraction. It is debated which brain regions host representations across different hierarchical levels, with some studies emphasizing parietal and premotor regions, while other studies highlight the role of the lateral occipitotemporal cortex (LOTC). To shed light on this debate, here we examined the representation of observed actions at the three taxonomic levels suggested by Rosch et al. (1976) Our results highlight the role of the LOTC, which hosts a shared representation across the subordinate and the basic level, with the highest similarity with the basic level model. These results shed new light on the hierarchical organization of observed actions and provide insights into the neural basis underlying the basic level advantage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tonghe Zhuang
- Faculty of Human Sciences, Institute of Psychology, Chair of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Zuzanna Kabulska
- Faculty of Human Sciences, Institute of Psychology, Chair of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Angelika Lingnau
- Faculty of Human Sciences, Institute of Psychology, Chair of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
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Narganes-Pineda C, Paz-Alonso PM, Marotta A, Lupiáñez J, Chica AB. Neural basis of social attention: common and distinct mechanisms for social and nonsocial orienting stimuli. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:11010-11024. [PMID: 37782936 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2023] [Revised: 08/22/2023] [Accepted: 08/24/2023] [Indexed: 10/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Social and nonsocial directional stimuli (such as gaze and arrows, respectively) share their ability to trigger attentional processes, although the issue of whether social stimuli generate other additional (and unique) attentional effects is still under debate. In this study, we used the spatial interference paradigm to explore, using functional magnetic resonance imaging, shared and dissociable brain activations produced by gaze and arrows. Results showed a common set of regions (right parieto-temporo-occipital) similarly involved in conflict resolution for gaze and arrows stimuli, which showed stronger co-activation for incongruent than congruent trials. The frontal eye field showed stronger functional connectivity with occipital regions for congruent as compared with incongruent trials, and this effect was enhanced for gaze as compared with arrow stimuli in the right hemisphere. Moreover, spatial interference produced by incongruent (as compared with congruent) arrows was associated with increased functional coupling between the right frontal eye field and a set of regions in the left hemisphere. This result was not observed for incongruent (as compared with congruent) gaze stimuli. The right frontal eye field also showed greater coupling with left temporo-occipital regions for those conditions in which larger conflict was observed (arrow incongruent vs. gaze incongruent trials, and gaze congruent vs. arrow congruent trials). These findings support the view that social and nonsocial stimuli share some attentional mechanisms, while at the same time highlighting other differential effects. Highlights Attentional orienting triggered by social (gaze) and nonsocial (arrow) cues is comparable. When social and nonsocial stimuli are used as targets, qualitatively different behavioral effects are observed. This study explores the neural bases of shared and dissociable neural mechanisms for social and nonsocial stimuli. Shared mechanisms were found in the functional coupling between right parieto-temporo-occipital regions. Dissociable mechanisms were found in the functional coupling between right frontal eye field and ipsilateral and contralateral occipito-temporal regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Narganes-Pineda
- Department of Experimental Psychology and Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Campus de Cartuja S/N, 18071, Granada, Spain
| | - Pedro M Paz-Alonso
- BCBL, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain, and Language, Mikeletegi Pasealekua 69, 20009 Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain
- IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, 48013 Bilbo, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - Andrea Marotta
- Department of Experimental Psychology and Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Campus de Cartuja S/N, 18071, Granada, Spain
| | - Juan Lupiáñez
- Department of Experimental Psychology and Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Campus de Cartuja S/N, 18071, Granada, Spain
| | - Ana B Chica
- Department of Experimental Psychology and Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Campus de Cartuja S/N, 18071, Granada, Spain
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Li C, Ficco L, Trapp S, Rostalski SM, Korn L, Kovács G. The effect of context congruency on fMRI repetition suppression for objects. Neuropsychologia 2023; 188:108603. [PMID: 37270029 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2022] [Revised: 05/31/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
The recognition of objects is strongly facilitated when they are presented in the context of other objects (Biederman, 1972). Such contexts facilitate perception and induce expectations of context-congruent objects (Trapp and Bar, 2015). The neural mechanisms underlying these facilitatory effects of context on object processing, however, are not yet fully understood. In the present study, we investigate how context-induced expectations affect subsequent object processing. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging and measured repetition suppression as a proxy for prediction error processing. Participants viewed pairs of alternating or repeated object images which were preceded by context-congruent, context-incongruent or neutral cues. We found a stronger repetition suppression in congruent as compared to incongruent or neutral cues in the object sensitive lateral occipital cortex. Interestingly, this stronger effect was driven by enhanced responses to alternating stimulus pairs in the congruent contexts, rather than by suppressed responses to repeated stimulus pairs, which emphasizes the contribution of surprise-related response enhancement for the context modulation on RS when expectations are violated. In addition, in the congruent condition, we discovered significant functional connectivity between object-responsive and frontal cortical regions, as well as between object-responsive regions and the fusiform gyrus. Our findings indicate that prediction errors, reflected in enhanced brain responses to violated contextual expectations, underlie the facilitating effect of context during object perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenglin Li
- School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, China; Department of Biological Psychology and Cognitive Neurosciences, Institute of Psychology, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Germany
| | - Linda Ficco
- Department of General Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Germany; Department of Linguistics and Cultural Evolution, International Max Planck Research School for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Sabrina Trapp
- Macromedia University of Applied Sciences, Munich, Germany
| | - Sophie-Marie Rostalski
- Department of Biological Psychology and Cognitive Neurosciences, Institute of Psychology, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Germany
| | - Lukas Korn
- Department of Biological Psychology and Cognitive Neurosciences, Institute of Psychology, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Germany
| | - Gyula Kovács
- Department of Biological Psychology and Cognitive Neurosciences, Institute of Psychology, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Germany.
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9
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Ai H, Cui Y, Chen N. A "Bandwidth" in cortical representations of multiple faces. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:10028-10035. [PMID: 37522262 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2023] [Revised: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The human ability to process multiple items simultaneously can be constrained by the extent to which those items are represented by distinct neural populations. In the current study, we used fMRI to investigate the cortical representation of multiple faces. We found that the addition of a second face to occupy both visual hemifields led to an increased response, whereas a further addition of faces within the same visual hemifield resulted in a decreased response. This pattern was widely observed in the occipital visual cortex, the intraparietal sulcus, and extended to the posterior inferotemporal cortex. A parallel trend was found in a behavioral change-detection task, revealing a perceptual "bandwidth" of multiface processing. The sensitivity to face clutter gradually decreased along the ventral pathway, supporting the notion of a buildup of clutter-tolerance representation. These cortical response patterns to face clutters suggest that adding signals with nonoverlapping cortical representation enhanced perception, while adding signals that competed for representation resources impaired perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hailin Ai
- Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, Haidian District, Beijing, 100084, P. R. China
| | - Yuwei Cui
- Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, Haidian District, Beijing, 100084, P. R. China
| | - Nihong Chen
- Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, Haidian District, Beijing, 100084, P. R. China
- THU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Tsinghua University, Haidian District, Beijing, 100084, P. R. China
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10
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Tsunematsu T, Matsumoto S, Merkler M, Sakata S. Pontine Waves Accompanied by Short Hippocampal Sharp Wave-Ripples During Non-rapid Eye Movement Sleep. Sleep 2023; 46:zsad193. [PMID: 37478470 PMCID: PMC10485565 DOI: 10.1093/sleep/zsad193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2023] [Revised: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 07/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Ponto-geniculo-occipital or pontine (P) waves have long been recognized as an electrophysiological signature of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. However, P-waves can be observed not just during REM sleep, but also during non-REM (NREM) sleep. Recent studies have uncovered that P-waves are functionally coupled with hippocampal sharp wave ripples (SWRs) during NREM sleep. However, it remains unclear to what extent P-waves during NREM sleep share their characteristics with P-waves during REM sleep and how the functional coupling to P-waves modulates SWRs. Here, we address these issues by performing multiple types of electrophysiological recordings and fiber photometry in both sexes of mice. P-waves during NREM sleep share their waveform shapes and local neural ensemble dynamics at a short (~100 milliseconds) timescale with their REM sleep counterparts. However, the dynamics of mesopontine cholinergic neurons are distinct at a longer (~10 seconds) timescale: although P-waves are accompanied by cholinergic transients, the cholinergic tone gradually reduces before P-wave genesis during NREM sleep. While P-waves are coupled to hippocampal theta rhythms during REM sleep, P-waves during NREM sleep are accompanied by a rapid reduction in hippocampal ripple power. SWRs coupled with P-waves are short-lived and hippocampal neural firing is also reduced after P-waves. These results demonstrate that P-waves are part of coordinated sleep-related activity by functionally coupling with hippocampal ensembles in a state-dependent manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomomi Tsunematsu
- Department of Integrative Life Sciences, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
- Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-, Japan
| | - Sumire Matsumoto
- Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-, Japan
| | - Mirna Merkler
- Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK
| | - Shuzo Sakata
- Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK
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Wang F, Nguyen QTH, Kaneshiro B, Hasak L, Wang AM, Toomarian EY, Norcia AM, McCandliss BD. Lexical and sublexical cortical tuning for print revealed by Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials (SSVEPs) in early readers. Dev Sci 2023; 26:e13352. [PMID: 36413170 PMCID: PMC10881121 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2021] [Revised: 10/27/2022] [Accepted: 11/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
There are multiple levels of processing relevant to reading that vary in their visual, sublexical, and lexical orthographic processing demands. Segregating distinct cortical sources for each of these levels has been challenging in EEG studies of early readers. To address this challenge, we applied recent advances in analyzing high-density EEG using Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials (SSVEPs) via data-driven Reliable Components Analysis (RCA) in a group of early readers spanning from kindergarten to second grade. Three controlled stimulus contrasts-familiar words versus unfamiliar pseudofonts, familiar words versus pseudowords, and pseudowords versus nonwords-were used to isolate coarse print tuning, lexical processing, and sublexical orthography-related processing, respectively. First, three overlapping yet distinct neural sources-left vOT, dorsal parietal, and primary visual cortex were revealed underlying coarse print tuning. Second, we segregated distinct cortical sources for the other two levels of processing: lexical fine tuning over occipito-temporal/parietal regions; sublexical orthographic fine tuning over left occipital regions. Finally, exploratory group analyses based on children's reading fluency suggested that coarse print tuning emerges early even in children with limited reading knowledge, while sublexical and higher-level lexical processing emerge only in children with sufficient reading knowledge. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Cognitive processes underlying coarse print tuning, sublexical, and lexical fine tuning were examined in beginning readers. Three overlapping yet distinct neural sources-left ventral occipito-temporal (vOT), left temporo-parietal, and primary visual cortex-were revealed underlying coarse print tuning. Responses to sublexical orthographic fine tuning were found over left occipital regions, while responses to higher-level linguistic fine tuning were found over occipito-temporal/parietal regions. Exploratory group analyses suggested that coarse print tuning emerges in children with limited reading knowledge, while sublexical and higher-level linguistic fine tuning effects emerge in children with sufficient reading knowledge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fang Wang
- Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | | | - Blair Kaneshiro
- Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Lindsey Hasak
- Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Angie M. Wang
- Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Elizabeth Y. Toomarian
- Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
- Synapse School, Menlo Park, California, USA
| | - Anthony M. Norcia
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
- Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Bruce D. McCandliss
- Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
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Yan C, Ehinger BV, Pérez-Bellido A, Peelen MV, de Lange FP. Humans predict the forest, not the trees: statistical learning of spatiotemporal structure in visual scenes. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:8300-8311. [PMID: 37005064 PMCID: PMC7614728 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Revised: 03/11/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2023] [Indexed: 04/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The human brain is capable of using statistical regularities to predict future inputs. In the real world, such inputs typically comprise a collection of objects (e.g. a forest constitutes numerous trees). The present study aimed to investigate whether perceptual anticipation relies on lower-level or higher-level information. Specifically, we examined whether the human brain anticipates each object in a scene individually or anticipates the scene as a whole. To explore this issue, we first trained participants to associate co-occurring objects within fixed spatial arrangements. Meanwhile, participants implicitly learned temporal regularities between these displays. We then tested how spatial and temporal violations of the structure modulated behavior and neural activity in the visual system using fMRI. We found that participants only showed a behavioral advantage of temporal regularities when the displays conformed to their previously learned spatial structure, demonstrating that humans form configuration-specific temporal expectations instead of predicting individual objects. Similarly, we found suppression of neural responses for temporally expected compared with temporally unexpected objects in lateral occipital cortex only when the objects were embedded within expected configurations. Overall, our findings indicate that humans form expectations about object configurations, demonstrating the prioritization of higher-level over lower-level information in temporal expectation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chuyao Yan
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Kapittelweg 29, Nijmegen 6525 EN, The Netherlands
- School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210098, China
| | - Benedikt V Ehinger
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Kapittelweg 29, Nijmegen 6525 EN, The Netherlands
- Stuttgart Center for Simulation Science, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart 70049, Germany
| | - Alexis Pérez-Bellido
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Kapittelweg 29, Nijmegen 6525 EN, The Netherlands
- Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona 17108035, Spain
- Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona 17108035, Spain
| | - Marius V Peelen
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Kapittelweg 29, Nijmegen 6525 EN, The Netherlands
| | - Floris P de Lange
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Kapittelweg 29, Nijmegen 6525 EN, The Netherlands
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13
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Jones CM, Byland J, Dilks DD. The occipital place area represents visual information about walking, not crawling. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:7500-7505. [PMID: 36918999 PMCID: PMC10267618 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2022] [Revised: 02/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent work has shown that the occipital place area (OPA)-a scene-selective region in adult humans-supports "visually guided navigation" (i.e. moving about the local visual environment and avoiding boundaries/obstacles). But what is the precise role of OPA in visually guided navigation? Considering humans move about their local environments beginning with crawling followed by walking, 1 possibility is that OPA is involved in both modes of locomotion. Another possibility is that OPA is specialized for walking only, since walking and crawling are different kinds of locomotion. To test these possibilities, we measured the responses in OPA to first-person perspective videos from both "walking" and "crawling" perspectives as well as for 2 conditions by which humans do not navigate ("flying" and "scrambled"). We found that OPA responded more to walking videos than to any of the others, including crawling, and did not respond more to crawling videos than to flying or scrambled ones. These results (i) reveal that OPA represents visual information only from a walking (not crawling) perspective, (ii) suggest crawling is processed by a different neural system, and (iii) raise questions for how OPA develops; namely, OPA may have never supported crawling, which is consistent with the hypothesis that OPA undergoes protracted development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher M Jones
- Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States
| | - Joshua Byland
- Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States
| | - Daniel D Dilks
- Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States
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14
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Leshinskaya A, Bajaj M, Thompson-Schill SL. Novel objects with causal event schemas elicit selective responses in tool- and hand-selective lateral occipitotemporal cortex. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:5557-5573. [PMID: 36469589 PMCID: PMC10152094 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2021] [Revised: 10/10/2022] [Accepted: 10/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Tool-selective lateral occipitotemporal cortex (LOTC) responds preferentially to images of tools (hammers, brushes) relative to non-tool objects (clocks, shoes). What drives these responses? Unlike other objects, tools exert effects on their surroundings. We tested whether LOTC responses are influenced by event schemas that denote different temporal relations. Participants learned about novel objects embedded in different event sequences. Causer objects moved prior to the appearance of an environmental event (e.g. stars), while Reactor objects moved after an event. Visual features and motor association were controlled. During functional magnetic resonance imaging, participants viewed still images of the objects. We localized tool-selective LOTC and non-tool-selective parahippocampal cortex (PHC) by contrasting neural responses to images of familiar tools and non-tools. We found that LOTC responded more to Causers than Reactors, while PHC did not. We also measured responses to images of hands, which elicit overlapping responses with tools. Across inferior temporal cortex, voxels' tool and hand selectivity positively predicted a preferential response to Causers. We conclude that an event schema typical of tools is sufficient to drive LOTC and that category-preferential responses across the temporal lobe may reflect relational event structures typical of those domains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Leshinskaya
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, 425 S. University Ave, Stephen A Levin Building, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States
- Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, 1544 Newton Court, Room 209, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Mira Bajaj
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, 425 S. University Ave, Stephen A Levin Building, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States
- The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 733 N Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States
| | - Sharon L Thompson-Schill
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, 425 S. University Ave, Stephen A Levin Building, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States
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15
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Fang M, Aglinskas A, Li Y, Anzellotti S. Angular Gyrus Responses Show Joint Statistical Dependence with Brain Regions Selective for Different Categories. J Neurosci 2023; 43:2756-2766. [PMID: 36894316 PMCID: PMC10089240 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1283-22.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2022] [Revised: 02/13/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 03/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Category selectivity is a fundamental principle of organization of perceptual brain regions. Human occipitotemporal cortex is subdivided into areas that respond preferentially to faces, bodies, artifacts, and scenes. However, observers need to combine information about objects from different categories to form a coherent understanding of the world. How is this multicategory information encoded in the brain? Studying the multivariate interactions between brain regions of male and female human subjects with fMRI and artificial neural networks, we found that the angular gyrus shows joint statistical dependence with multiple category-selective regions. Adjacent regions show effects for the combination of scenes and each other category, suggesting that scenes provide a context to combine information about the world. Additional analyses revealed a cortical map of areas that encode information across different subsets of categories, indicating that multicategory information is not encoded in a single centralized location, but in multiple distinct brain regions.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Many cognitive tasks require combining information about entities from different categories. However, visual information about different categorical objects is processed by separate, specialized brain regions. How is the joint representation from multiple category-selective regions implemented in the brain? Using fMRI movie data and state-of-the-art multivariate statistical dependence based on artificial neural networks, we identified the angular gyrus encoding responses across face-, body-, artifact-, and scene-selective regions. Further, we showed a cortical map of areas that encode information across different subsets of categories. These findings suggest that multicategory information is not encoded in a single centralized location, but at multiple cortical sites which might contribute to distinct cognitive functions, offering insights to understand integration in a variety of domains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengting Fang
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts 02467
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
| | - Aidas Aglinskas
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts 02467
| | - Yichen Li
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
| | - Stefano Anzellotti
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts 02467
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16
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Zhang Y, Lemarchand R, Asyraff A, Hoffman P. Representation of motion concepts in occipitotemporal cortex: fMRI activation, decoding and connectivity analyses. Neuroimage 2022; 259:119450. [PMID: 35798252 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2021] [Revised: 06/15/2022] [Accepted: 07/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Embodied theories of semantic cognition predict that brain regions involved in motion perception are engaged when people comprehend motion concepts expressed in language. Left lateral occipitotemporal cortex (LOTC) is implicated in both motion perception and motion concept processing but prior studies have produced mixed findings on which parts of this region are engaged by motion language. We scanned participants performing semantic judgements about sentences describing motion events and static events. We performed univariate analyses, multivariate pattern analyses (MVPA) and psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analyses to investigate the effect of motion on activity and connectivity in different parts of LOTC. In multivariate analyses that decoded whether a sentence described motion or not, the middle and posterior parts of LOTC showed above-chance level performance, with performance exceeding that of other brain regions. Univariate ROI analyses found the middle part of LOTC was more active for motion events than static ones. Finally, PPI analyses found that when processing motion events, the middle and posterior parts of LOTC (overlapping with motion perception regions), increased their connectivity with cognitive control regions. Taken together, these results indicate that the more posterior parts of LOTC, including motion perception cortex, respond differently to motion vs. static events. These findings are consistent with embodiment accounts of semantic processing, and suggest that understanding verbal descriptions of motion engages areas of the occipitotemporal cortex involved in perceiving motion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yueyang Zhang
- School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK
| | - Rafael Lemarchand
- School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK
| | - Aliff Asyraff
- School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK
| | - Paul Hoffman
- School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK.
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17
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Choi JS, Choi MH. A study on brain neuronal activation based on the load in upper limb exercise (STROBE). Medicine (Baltimore) 2022; 101:e30761. [PMID: 36197190 PMCID: PMC9509160 DOI: 10.1097/md.0000000000030761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
This study aimed to determine the level of brain activation in separate regions, including the lobes, cerebellum, and limbic system, depending on the weight of an object during elbow flexion and extension exercise using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The study was conducted on ten male undergraduates (22.4 ± 1.2 years). The functional images of the brain were obtained using the 3T MRI. The participants performed upper limb flexion and extension exercise at a constant speed and as the weight of the object for lifting was varied (0 g and 1000 g). The experiment consisted of four blocks that constituted 8 minutes. Each block was designed to comprise a rest phase (1 minute) and a lifting phase (1 minute). The results showed that, in the parietal lobe, the activation was higher for the 0 g-motion condition than for the 1000 g-motion condition; however, in the occipital lobe, cerebellum, sub-lobar, and limbic system, the activation was higher for the 1000 g-motion condition than for the 0 g-motion condition. The brain region for the perception of object weight was identified as the ventral area (occipital, temporal, and frontal lobe), and the activation of the ventral pathway is suggested to have increased as the object came into vision and as its shape, size, and weight were perceived. For holding an object in hand, compared to not holding it, the exercise load was greater for controlling the motion to maintain the posture (arm angle at 90°), controlling the speed to repeat the motion at a constant speed, and producing an accurate posing. Therefore, to maintain such varied conditions, the activation level increased in the regions associated with control and regulation through the motion coordination from vision to arm movements (control of muscles). A characteristic reduced activation was observed in the regions associated with visuo-vestibular interaction and voluntary movement when the exercise involved lifting a 1000-g object compared to the exercise without object lifting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jin-Seung Choi
- Biomedical Engineering, Research Institute of Biomedical Engineering, School of ICT Convergence Engineering, College of Science and Technology, Konkuk University, Chungju, South Korea
| | - Mi-Hyun Choi
- Biomedical Engineering, Research Institute of Biomedical Engineering, School of ICT Convergence Engineering, College of Science and Technology, Konkuk University, Chungju, South Korea
- *Correspondence: Mi-Hyun Choi, Biomedical Engineering, Research Institute of Biomedical Engineering, School of ICT Convergence Engineering, College of Science and Technology, Konkuk University, 268 Chungwon-daero, Chungju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, 27478, South Korea (e-mail: )
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18
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Salagnon M, Cremona S, Joliot M, d’Errico F, Mellet E. Neural correlates of perceiving and interpreting engraved prehistoric patterns as human production: Effect of archaeological expertise. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0271732. [PMID: 35921273 PMCID: PMC9348741 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 07/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
It has been suggested that engraved abstract patterns dating from the Middle and Lower Palaeolithic served as means of representation and communication. Identifying the brain regions involved in visual processing of these engravings can provide insights into their function. In this study, brain activity was measured during perception of the earliest known Palaeolithic engraved patterns and compared to natural patterns mimicking human-made engravings. Participants were asked to categorise marks as being intentionally made by humans or due to natural processes (e.g. erosion, root etching). To simulate the putative familiarity of our ancestors with the marks, the responses of expert archaeologists and control participants were compared, allowing characterisation of the effect of previous knowledge on both behaviour and brain activity in perception of the marks. Besides a set of regions common to both groups and involved in visual analysis and decision-making, the experts exhibited greater activity in the inferior part of the lateral occipital cortex, ventral occipitotemporal cortex, and medial thalamic regions. These results are consistent with those reported in visual expertise studies, and confirm the importance of the integrative visual areas in the perception of the earliest abstract engravings. The attribution of a natural rather than human origin to the marks elicited greater activity in the salience network in both groups, reflecting the uncertainty and ambiguity in the perception of, and decision-making for, natural patterns. The activation of the salience network might also be related to the process at work in the attribution of an intention to the marks. The primary visual area was not specifically involved in the visual processing of engravings, which argued against its central role in the emergence of engraving production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathilde Salagnon
- CNRS, CEA, IMN, GIN, UMR 5293, Université Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - Sandrine Cremona
- CNRS, CEA, IMN, GIN, UMR 5293, Université Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - Marc Joliot
- CNRS, CEA, IMN, GIN, UMR 5293, Université Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - Francesco d’Errico
- PACEA UMR 5199, CNRS, Université Bordeaux, Pessac, France
- SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Emmanuel Mellet
- CNRS, CEA, IMN, GIN, UMR 5293, Université Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
- * E-mail:
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19
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Gagl B, Richlan F, Ludersdorfer P, Sassenhagen J, Eisenhauer S, Gregorova K, Fiebach CJ. The lexical categorization model: A computational model of left ventral occipito-temporal cortex activation in visual word recognition. PLoS Comput Biol 2022; 18:e1009995. [PMID: 35679333 PMCID: PMC9182256 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2021] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
To characterize the functional role of the left-ventral occipito-temporal cortex (lvOT) during reading in a quantitatively explicit and testable manner, we propose the lexical categorization model (LCM). The LCM assumes that lvOT optimizes linguistic processing by allowing fast meaning access when words are familiar and filtering out orthographic strings without meaning. The LCM successfully simulates benchmark results from functional brain imaging described in the literature. In a second evaluation, we empirically demonstrate that quantitative LCM simulations predict lvOT activation better than alternative models across three functional magnetic resonance imaging studies. We found that word-likeness, assumed as input into a lexical categorization process, is represented posteriorly to lvOT, whereas a dichotomous word/non-word output of the LCM could be localized to the downstream frontal brain regions. Finally, training the process of lexical categorization resulted in more efficient reading. In sum, we propose that word recognition in the ventral visual stream involves word-likeness extraction followed by lexical categorization before one can access word meaning. Visual word recognition is a critical process for reading and relies on the human brain’s left ventral occipito-temporal (lvOT) regions. However, the lvOTs specific function in visual word recognition is not yet clear. We propose that these occipito-temporal brain systems are critical for lexical categorization, i.e., the process of determining whether an orthographic percept is a known word or not, so that further lexical and semantic processing can be restricted to those percepts that are part of our "mental lexicon". We demonstrate that a computational model implementing this process, the lexical categorization model, can explain seemingly contradictory benchmark results from the published literature. We further use functional magnetic resonance imaging to show that the lexical categorization model successfully predicts brain activation in the left ventral occipito-temporal cortex elicited during a word recognition task. It does so better than alternative models proposed so far. Finally, we provide causal evidence supporting this model by empirically demonstrating that training the process of lexical categorization improves reading performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Gagl
- Department of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Center for Individual Development and Adaptive Education of Children at Risk (IDeA), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Department of Linguistics, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- * E-mail:
| | - Fabio Richlan
- Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Philipp Ludersdorfer
- Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Jona Sassenhagen
- Department of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Susanne Eisenhauer
- Department of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Klara Gregorova
- Department of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Universitätsklinikum Würzburg, Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Christian J. Fiebach
- Department of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Center for Individual Development and Adaptive Education of Children at Risk (IDeA), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Brain Imaging Center, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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20
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Hohaia W, Saurels BW, Johnston A, Yarrow K, Arnold DH. Occipital alpha-band brain waves when the eyes are closed are shaped by ongoing visual processes. Sci Rep 2022; 12:1194. [PMID: 35075196 PMCID: PMC8786963 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-05289-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
One of the seminal findings of cognitive neuroscience is that the power of occipital alpha-band (~ 10 Hz) brain waves is increased when peoples' eyes are closed, rather than open. This has encouraged the view that alpha oscillations are a default dynamic, to which the visual brain returns in the absence of input. Accordingly, we might be unable to increase the power of alpha oscillations when the eyes are closed, above the level that would normally ensue when people close their eyes. Here we report counter evidence. We used electroencephalography (EEG) to record brain activity when people had their eyes open and closed, both before and after they had adapted to radial motion. The increase in alpha power when people closed their eyes was increased by prior adaptation to a broad range of radial motion speeds. This effect was greatest for 10 Hz motion, but robust for other frequencies (and especially 7.5 Hz). This discredits a persistent entrainment of activity at the adaptation frequency as an explanation for our findings. Our data show that the power of occipital alpha-band brain waves can be increased by motion sensitive visual processes that persist when the eyes are closed. Consequently, we suggest that the power of these brain waves is, at least in part, an index of the degree to which visual brain activity is being subjected to inhibition. This is increased when people close their eyes, but can be even further increased by pre-adaptation to radial motion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wiremu Hohaia
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Blake W Saurels
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Alan Johnston
- School of Psychology, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Kielan Yarrow
- School of Psychology, City University London, London, UK
| | - Derek H Arnold
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
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21
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Hannagan T, Agrawal A, Cohen L, Dehaene S. Emergence of a compositional neural code for written words: Recycling of a convolutional neural network for reading. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:e2104779118. [PMID: 34750255 PMCID: PMC8609650 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2104779118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The visual word form area (VWFA) is a region of human inferotemporal cortex that emerges at a fixed location in the occipitotemporal cortex during reading acquisition and systematically responds to written words in literate individuals. According to the neuronal recycling hypothesis, this region arises through the repurposing, for letter recognition, of a subpart of the ventral visual pathway initially involved in face and object recognition. Furthermore, according to the biased connectivity hypothesis, its reproducible localization is due to preexisting connections from this subregion to areas involved in spoken-language processing. Here, we evaluate those hypotheses in an explicit computational model. We trained a deep convolutional neural network of the ventral visual pathway, first to categorize pictures and then to recognize written words invariantly for case, font, and size. We show that the model can account for many properties of the VWFA, particularly when a subset of units possesses a biased connectivity to word output units. The network develops a sparse, invariant representation of written words, based on a restricted set of reading-selective units. Their activation mimics several properties of the VWFA, and their lesioning causes a reading-specific deficit. The model predicts that, in literate brains, written words are encoded by a compositional neural code with neurons tuned either to individual letters and their ordinal position relative to word start or word ending or to pairs of letters (bigrams).
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Affiliation(s)
- T Hannagan
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, INSERM, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin, Gif-Sur-Yvette 91191, France
- Collège de France, Université Paris Sciences Lettres 75005 Paris, France
| | - A Agrawal
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, INSERM, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin, Gif-Sur-Yvette 91191, France
- Collège de France, Université Paris Sciences Lettres 75005 Paris, France
| | - L Cohen
- Sorbonne Université, INSERM U1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinièr, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris 75013, France
- Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, Fédération de Neurologie, Paris F-75013, France
| | - S Dehaene
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, INSERM, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin, Gif-Sur-Yvette 91191, France;
- Collège de France, Université Paris Sciences Lettres 75005 Paris, France
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22
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Mocz V, Vaziri-Pashkam M, Chun MM, Xu Y. Predicting Identity-Preserving Object Transformations across the Human Ventral Visual Stream. J Neurosci 2021; 41:7403-7419. [PMID: 34253629 PMCID: PMC8412993 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2137-20.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2020] [Revised: 06/25/2021] [Accepted: 07/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In everyday life, we have no trouble categorizing objects varying in position, size, and orientation. Previous fMRI research shows that higher-level object processing regions in the human lateral occipital cortex may link object responses from different affine states (i.e., size and viewpoint) through a general linear mapping function capable of predicting responses to novel objects. In this study, we extended this approach to examine the mapping for both Euclidean (e.g., position and size) and non-Euclidean (e.g., image statistics and spatial frequency) transformations across the human ventral visual processing hierarchy, including areas V1, V2, V3, V4, ventral occipitotemporal cortex, and lateral occipitotemporal cortex. The predicted pattern generated from a linear mapping function could capture a significant amount of the changes associated with the transformations throughout the ventral visual stream. The derived linear mapping functions were not category independent as performance was better for the categories included than those not included in training and better between two similar versus two dissimilar categories in both lower and higher visual regions. Consistent with object representations being stronger in higher than in lower visual regions, pattern selectivity and object category representational structure were somewhat better preserved in the predicted patterns in higher than in lower visual regions. There were no notable differences between Euclidean and non-Euclidean transformations. These findings demonstrate a near-orthogonal representation of object identity and these nonidentity features throughout the human ventral visual processing pathway with these nonidentity features largely untangled from the identity features early in visual processing.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Presently we still do not fully understand how object identity and nonidentity (e.g., position, size) information are simultaneously represented in the primate ventral visual system to form invariant representations. Previous work suggests that the human lateral occipital cortex may be linking different affine states of object representations through general linear mapping functions. Here, we show that across the entire human ventral processing pathway, we could link object responses in different states of nonidentity transformations through linear mapping functions for both Euclidean and non-Euclidean transformations. These mapping functions are not identity independent, suggesting that object identity and nonidentity features are represented in a near rather than a completely orthogonal manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Viola Mocz
- Visual Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520
| | - Maryam Vaziri-Pashkam
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892
| | - Marvin M Chun
- Visual Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520
- Department of Neuroscience, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520
| | - Yaoda Xu
- Visual Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520
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23
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Ritchie JB, Zeman AA, Bosmans J, Sun S, Verhaegen K, Op de Beeck HP. Untangling the Animacy Organization of Occipitotemporal Cortex. J Neurosci 2021; 41:7103-7119. [PMID: 34230104 PMCID: PMC8372013 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2628-20.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2020] [Revised: 04/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Some of the most impressive functional specializations in the human brain are found in the occipitotemporal cortex (OTC), where several areas exhibit selectivity for a small number of visual categories, such as faces and bodies, and spatially cluster based on stimulus animacy. Previous studies suggest this animacy organization reflects the representation of an intuitive taxonomic hierarchy, distinct from the presence of face- and body-selective areas in OTC. Using human functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated the independent contribution of these two factors-the face-body division and taxonomic hierarchy-in accounting for the animacy organization of OTC and whether they might also be reflected in the architecture of several deep neural networks that have not been explicitly trained to differentiate taxonomic relations. We found that graded visual selectivity, based on animal resemblance to human faces and bodies, masquerades as an apparent animacy continuum, which suggests that taxonomy is not a separate factor underlying the organization of the ventral visual pathway.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Portions of the visual cortex are specialized to determine whether types of objects are animate in the sense of being capable of self-movement. Two factors have been proposed as accounting for this animacy organization: representations of faces and bodies and an intuitive taxonomic continuum of humans and animals. We performed an experiment to assess the independent contribution of both of these factors. We found that graded visual representations, based on animal resemblance to human faces and bodies, masquerade as an apparent animacy continuum, suggesting that taxonomy is not a separate factor underlying the organization of areas in the visual cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Brendan Ritchie
- Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Department of Brain and Cognition, Leuven Brain Institute, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Astrid A Zeman
- Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Department of Brain and Cognition, Leuven Brain Institute, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Joyce Bosmans
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Shuo Sun
- Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Department of Brain and Cognition, Leuven Brain Institute, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Kirsten Verhaegen
- Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Department of Brain and Cognition, Leuven Brain Institute, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Hans P Op de Beeck
- Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Department of Brain and Cognition, Leuven Brain Institute, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
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24
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Rawls E, White R, Kane S, Stevens CE, Zabelina DL. Parametric Cortical Representations of Complexity and Preference for Artistic and Computer-Generated Fractal Patterns Revealed by Single-Trial EEG Power Spectral Analysis. Neuroimage 2021; 236:118092. [PMID: 33895307 PMCID: PMC8287964 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2021] [Revised: 04/12/2021] [Accepted: 04/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Fractals are self-similar patterns that repeat at different scales, the complexity of which are expressed as a fractional Euclidean dimension D between 0 (a point) and 2 (a filled plane). The drip paintings of American painter Jackson Pollock (JP) are fractal in nature, and Pollock's most illustrious works are of the high-D (~1.7) category. This would imply that people prefer more complex fractal patterns, but some research has instead suggested people prefer lower-D fractals. Furthermore, research has suggested that parietal and frontal brain activity tracks the complexity of fractal patterns, but previous research has artificially binned fractals depending on fractal dimension, rather than treating fractal dimension as a parametrically varying value. We used white layers extracted from JP artwork as stimuli, and constructed statistically matched 2-dimensional random Cantor sets as control stimuli. We recorded the electroencephalogram (EEG) while participants viewed the JP and matched random Cantor fractal patterns. Participants then rated their subjective preference for each pattern. We used a single-trial analysis to construct within-subject models relating subjective preference to fractal dimension D, as well as relating D and subjective preference to single-trial EEG power spectra. Results indicated that participants preferred higher-D images for both JP and Cantor stimuli. Power spectral analysis showed that, for artistic fractal images, parietal alpha and beta power parametrically tracked complexity of fractal patterns, while for matched mathematical fractals, parietal power tracked complexity of patterns over a range of frequencies, but most prominently in alpha band. Furthermore, parietal alpha power parametrically tracked aesthetic preference for both artistic and matched Cantor patterns. Overall, our results suggest that perception of complexity for artistic and computer-generated fractal images is reflected in parietal-occipital alpha and beta activity, and neural substrates of preference for complex stimuli are reflected in parietal alpha band activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric Rawls
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota Health.
| | - Rebecca White
- Department of Psychology, University of New Hampshire
| | - Stephanie Kane
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Arkansas
| | - Carl E Stevens
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Arkansas
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de Haas B, Sereno MI, Schwarzkopf DS. Inferior Occipital Gyrus Is Organized along Common Gradients of Spatial and Face-Part Selectivity. J Neurosci 2021; 41:5511-5521. [PMID: 34016715 PMCID: PMC8221599 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2415-20.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2020] [Revised: 04/02/2021] [Accepted: 04/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The ventral visual stream of the human brain is subdivided into patches with categorical stimulus preferences, like faces or scenes. However, the functional organization within these areas is less clear. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging and vertex-wise tuning models to independently probe spatial and face-part preferences in the inferior occipital gyrus (IOG) of healthy adult males and females. The majority of responses were well explained by Gaussian population tuning curves for both retinotopic location and the preferred relative position within a face. Parameter maps revealed a common gradient of spatial and face-part selectivity, with the width of tuning curves drastically increasing from posterior to anterior IOG. Tuning peaks clustered more idiosyncratically but were also correlated across maps of visual and face space. Preferences for the upper visual field went along with significantly increased coverage of the upper half of the face, matching recently discovered biases in human perception. Our findings reveal a broad range of neural face-part selectivity in IOG, ranging from narrow to "holistic." IOG is functionally organized along this gradient, which in turn is correlated with retinotopy.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Brain imaging has revealed a lot about the large-scale organization of the human brain and visual system. For example, occipital cortex contains map-like representations of the visual field, while neurons in ventral areas cluster into patches with categorical preferences, like faces or scenes. Much less is known about the functional organization within these areas. Here, we focused on a well established face-preferring area-the inferior occipital gyrus (IOG). A novel neuroimaging paradigm allowed us to map the retinotopic and face-part tuning of many recording sites in IOG independently. We found a steep posterior-anterior gradient of decreasing face-part selectivity, which correlated with retinotopy. This suggests the functional role of ventral areas is not uniform and may follow retinotopic "protomaps."
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin de Haas
- Department of Psychology, Justus Liebig Universität, 35394 Giessen, Germany
- Experimental Psychology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Martin I Sereno
- Experimental Psychology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
- SDSU Imaging Center, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182
| | - D Samuel Schwarzkopf
- Experimental Psychology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
- School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Auckland, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
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26
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Welbourne LE, Jonnalagadda A, Giesbrecht B, Eckstein MP. The transverse occipital sulcus and intraparietal sulcus show neural selectivity to object-scene size relationships. Commun Biol 2021; 4:768. [PMID: 34158579 PMCID: PMC8219818 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02294-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2020] [Accepted: 05/26/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
To optimize visual search, humans attend to objects with the expected size of the sought target relative to its surrounding scene (object-scene scale consistency). We investigate how the human brain responds to variations in object-scene scale consistency. We use functional magnetic resonance imaging and a voxel-wise feature encoding model to estimate tuning to different object/scene properties. We find that regions involved in scene processing (transverse occipital sulcus) and spatial attention (intraparietal sulcus) have the strongest responsiveness and selectivity to object-scene scale consistency: reduced activity to mis-scaled objects (either unusually smaller or larger). The findings show how and where the brain incorporates object-scene size relationships in the processing of scenes. The response properties of these brain areas might explain why during visual search humans often miss objects that are salient but at atypical sizes relative to the surrounding scene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren E Welbourne
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA.
- Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA.
- York NeuroImaging Centre, Department of Psychology, University of York, York, UK.
| | - Aditya Jonnalagadda
- Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
| | - Barry Giesbrecht
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
- Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
- Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Dynamical Neuroscience, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
| | - Miguel P Eckstein
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA.
- Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA.
- Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA.
- Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Dynamical Neuroscience, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA.
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27
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Walbrin J, Almeida J. High-Level Representations in Human Occipito-Temporal Cortex Are Indexed by Distal Connectivity. J Neurosci 2021; 41:4678-4685. [PMID: 33849949 PMCID: PMC8260247 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2857-20.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2020] [Revised: 03/09/2021] [Accepted: 03/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Human object recognition is dependent on occipito-temporal cortex (OTC), but a complete understanding of the complex functional architecture of this area must account for how it is connected to the wider brain. Converging functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence shows that univariate responses to different categories of information (e.g., faces, bodies, and nonhuman objects) are strongly related to, and potentially shaped by, functional and structural connectivity to the wider brain. However, to date, there have been no systematic attempts to determine how distal connectivity and complex local high-level responses in occipito-temporal cortex (i.e., multivoxel response patterns) are related. Here, we show that distal functional connectivity is related to, and can reliably index, high-level representations for several visual categories (i.e., tools, faces, and places) within occipito-temporal cortex; that is, voxel sets that are strongly connected to distal brain areas show higher pattern discriminability than less well-connected sets do. We further show that in several cases, pattern discriminability is higher in sets of well-connected voxels than sets defined by local activation (e.g., strong amplitude responses to faces in fusiform face area). Together, these findings demonstrate the important relationship between the complex functional organization of occipito-temporal cortex and wider brain connectivity.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Human object recognition relies strongly on OTC, yet responses in this broad area are often considered in relative isolation to the rest of the brain. We employ a novel connectivity-guided voxel selection approach with functional magnetic resonance imaging data to show higher sensitivity to information (i.e., higher multivoxel pattern discriminability) in voxel sets that share strong connectivity to distal brain areas, relative to (1) voxel sets that are less strongly connected, and in several cases, (2) voxel sets that are defined by strong local response amplitude. These findings underscore the importance of distal contributions to local processing in OTC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jon Walbrin
- Proaction Laboratory, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3004-531 Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Jorge Almeida
- Proaction Laboratory, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3004-531 Coimbra, Portugal
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28
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Gebrehiwot AN, Kato T, Nakazawa K. Inducing lateralized phosphenes over the occipital lobe using transcranial magnetic stimulation to navigate a virtual environment. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0249996. [PMID: 33852643 PMCID: PMC8046218 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0249996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2020] [Accepted: 03/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Electrical stimulation involving visual areas of the brain produces artificial light percepts called phosphenes. These visual percepts have been extensively investigated in previous studies involving intracortical microsimulation (ICMS) and serve as the basis for developing a visual prosthesis for the blind. Although advances have been achieved, many challenges still remain with implementing a functional ICMS for visual rehabilitation purposes. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the primary occipital lobe offers an alternative method to produce phosphenes non-invasively. A main challenge facing blind individuals involves navigation. Within the scientific community, methods to evaluate the ability of a visual prosthesis to facilitate in navigation has been neglected. In this study, we investigate the effectiveness of evoking lateralized phosphenes to navigate a computer simulated virtual environment. More importantly, we demonstrate how virtual environments along with the development of a visual prosthesis share a mutual relationship benefiting both patients and researchers. Using two TMS devices, a pair of 40mm figure-of-eight coils were placed over each occipital hemisphere resulting in lateralized phosphene perception. Participants were tasked with making a series of left and right turns using peripheral devices depending on the visual hemifield in which a phosphene is present. If a participant was able to accurately perceive all ten phosphenes, the simulated target is able to advance and fully exit the virtual environment. Our findings demonstrate that participants can interpret lateralized phosphenes while highlighting the integration of computer based virtual environments to evaluate the capability of a visual prosthesis during navigation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Tatsuya Kato
- Department of Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kimitaka Nakazawa
- Department of Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- * E-mail:
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29
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Veniero D, Gross J, Morand S, Duecker F, Sack AT, Thut G. Top-down control of visual cortex by the frontal eye fields through oscillatory realignment. Nat Commun 2021; 12:1757. [PMID: 33741947 PMCID: PMC7979788 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21979-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2018] [Accepted: 02/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Voluntary allocation of visual attention is controlled by top-down signals generated within the Frontal Eye Fields (FEFs) that can change the excitability of lower-level visual areas. However, the mechanism through which this control is achieved remains elusive. Here, we emulated the generation of an attentional signal using single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation to activate the FEFs and tracked its consequences over the visual cortex. First, we documented changes to brain oscillations using electroencephalography and found evidence for a phase reset over occipital sites at beta frequency. We then probed for perceptual consequences of this top-down triggered phase reset and assessed its anatomical specificity. We show that FEF activation leads to cyclic modulation of visual perception and extrastriate but not primary visual cortex excitability, again at beta frequency. We conclude that top-down signals originating in FEF causally shape visual cortex activity and perception through mechanisms of oscillatory realignment.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Joachim Gross
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | | | - Felix Duecker
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Alexander T Sack
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Gregor Thut
- Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
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30
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Bloomfield PM, Green H, Gant N. Cerebral haemodynamics during simulated driving: Changes in workload are detectable with functional near infrared spectroscopy. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0248533. [PMID: 33711078 PMCID: PMC7954296 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2020] [Accepted: 02/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Motor vehicle operation is a complicated task and substantial cognitive resources are required for safe driving. Experimental paradigms examining cognitive workload using driving simulators often introduce secondary tasks, such as mathematical exercises, or utilise simulated in-vehicle information systems. The effects of manipulating the demands of the primary driving task have not been examined in detail using advanced neuroimaging techniques. This study used a manipulation of the simulated driving environment to test the impact of increased driving complexity on brain activity. Fifteen participants drove in two scenarios reflecting common driving environments differing in the amount of vehicular traffic, frequency of intersections, number of buildings, and speed limit restrictions. Functional near infrared spectroscopy was used to quantify changes in cortical activity; fifty-five optodes were placed over the prefrontal and occipital cortices, commonly assessed areas during driving. Compared to baseline, both scenarios increased oxyhaemoglobin in the bilateral prefrontal cortex and cerebral blood volume in the right prefrontal cortex (all p ≤ 0.05). Deoxyhaemoglobin decreased at the bilateral aspects of the prefrontal cortex but overall tended to increase in the medial aspect during both scenarios (both p ≤ 0.05). Cerebral oxygen exchange significantly declined at the lateral aspects of the prefrontal cortex, with a small but significant increase seen in the medial aspect (both p < 0.05). There were no significant differences for oxyhaemoglobin, deoxyhaemoglobin, or cerebral blood volume (all p > 0.05). This study demonstrates that functional near infrared spectroscopy is capable of detecting changes in cortical activity elicited by simulated driving tasks but may be less sensitive to variations in driving workload aggregated over a longer duration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter M. Bloomfield
- Department of Exercise Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Hayden Green
- Department of Exercise Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Nicholas Gant
- Department of Exercise Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
- Centre for Brain Research, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
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31
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Abstract
The human visual system is organized as a hierarchy of maps that share the topography of the retina. Known retinotopic maps have been identified using simple visual stimuli under strict fixation, conditions different from everyday vision which is active, dynamic, and complex. This means that it remains unknown how much of the brain is truly visually organized. Here I demonstrate widespread stable visual organization beyond the traditional visual system, in default-mode network and hippocampus. Detailed topographic connectivity with primary visual cortex during movie-watching, resting-state, and retinotopic-mapping experiments revealed that visual-spatial representations throughout the brain are warped by cognitive state. Specifically, traditionally visual regions alternate with default-mode network and hippocampus in preferentially representing the center of the visual field. This visual role of default-mode network and hippocampus would allow these regions to interface between abstract memories and concrete sensory impressions. Together, these results indicate that visual-spatial organization is a fundamental coding principle that structures the communication between distant brain regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomas Knapen
- Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences, Meibergdreef 75, 1105 BK Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
- Cognitive Psychology, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Van der Boechorststraat 7, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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32
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Rosenke M, van Hoof R, van den Hurk J, Grill-Spector K, Goebel R. A Probabilistic Functional Atlas of Human Occipito-Temporal Visual Cortex. Cereb Cortex 2021; 31:603-619. [PMID: 32968767 PMCID: PMC7727347 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2020] [Revised: 07/01/2020] [Accepted: 07/30/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Human visual cortex contains many retinotopic and category-specific regions. These brain regions have been the focus of a large body of functional magnetic resonance imaging research, significantly expanding our understanding of visual processing. As studying these regions requires accurate localization of their cortical location, researchers perform functional localizer scans to identify these regions in each individual. However, it is not always possible to conduct these localizer scans. Here, we developed and validated a functional region of interest (ROI) atlas of early visual and category-selective regions in human ventral and lateral occipito-temporal cortex. Results show that for the majority of functionally defined ROIs, cortex-based alignment results in lower between-subject variability compared to nonlinear volumetric alignment. Furthermore, we demonstrate that 1) the atlas accurately predicts the location of an independent dataset of ventral temporal cortex ROIs and other atlases of place selectivity, motion selectivity, and retinotopy. Next, 2) we show that the majority of voxel within our atlas is responding mostly to the labeled category in a left-out subject cross-validation, demonstrating the utility of this atlas. The functional atlas is publicly available (download.brainvoyager.com/data/visfAtlas.zip) and can help identify the location of these regions in healthy subjects as well as populations (e.g., blind people, infants) in which functional localizers cannot be run.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mona Rosenke
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Rick van Hoof
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, 6229 EV, The Netherlands
| | - Job van den Hurk
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, 6229 EV, The Netherlands
- Scannexus MRI Center, Maastricht, 6229 EV, The Netherlands
| | - Kalanit Grill-Spector
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, 94305 CA, USA
| | - Rainer Goebel
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, 6229 EV, The Netherlands
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33
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Zhigalov A, Jensen O. Alpha oscillations do not implement gain control in early visual cortex but rather gating in parieto-occipital regions. Hum Brain Mapp 2020; 41:5176-5186. [PMID: 32822098 PMCID: PMC7670647 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2020] [Revised: 07/10/2020] [Accepted: 08/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Spatial attention provides a mechanism for, respectively, enhancing relevant and suppressing irrelevant information. While it is well established that attention modulates oscillations in the alpha band, it remains unclear if alpha oscillations are involved in directly modulating the neuronal excitability associated with the allocation of spatial attention. In this study, in humans, we utilized a novel broadband frequency (60-70 Hz) tagging paradigm to quantify neuronal excitability in relation to alpha oscillations in a spatial attention paradigm. We used magnetoencephalography to characterize ongoing brain activity as it allows for localizing the sources of both the alpha and frequency tagging responses. We found that attentional modulation of alpha power and the frequency tagging response are uncorrelated over trials. Importantly, the neuronal sources of the tagging response were localized in early visual cortex (V1) whereas the sources of the alpha activity were identified around parieto-occipital sulcus. Moreover, we found that attention did not modulate the latency of the frequency tagged responses. Our findings point to alpha band oscillations serving a downstream gating role rather than implementing gain control of excitability in early visual regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Zhigalov
- Centre for Human Brain Health, School of PsychologyUniversity of BirminghamBirminghamUK
| | - Ole Jensen
- Centre for Human Brain Health, School of PsychologyUniversity of BirminghamBirminghamUK
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Wittfoth D, Pfeiffer A, Bohne M, Lanfermann H, Wittfoth M. Emotion regulation through bifocal processing of fear inducing and disgust inducing stimuli. BMC Neurosci 2020; 21:47. [PMID: 33225884 PMCID: PMC7681990 DOI: 10.1186/s12868-020-00597-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2019] [Accepted: 10/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND We present first-time evidence for the immediate neural and behavioral effects of bifocal emotional processing via visualized tapping for two different types of negative emotions (fear and disgust) in a sample of healthy participants. RESULTS Independent of stimulus type, neural activation in the amygdala is increased during regulation, while activation in the ventral anterior cingulate cortex is decreased. Behavioral responses, as well as lateral and medial occipital regions and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex show differential regulatory effects with respect to stimulus type. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that emotion regulation through bifocal processing has a neural and behavioral signature that is distinct from previously investigated emotion regulation strategies. They support theoretical models of facilitated access to and processing of emotions during bifocal processing and suggest differential neural and behavioral effects for various types of negative emotions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dina Wittfoth
- Institut für Diagnostische und Interventionelle Neuroradiologie, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany.
| | - Antonia Pfeiffer
- Institut für Diagnostische und Interventionelle Neuroradiologie, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - Michael Bohne
- Fortbildungsinstitut für PEP, Tiedgestrasse 5, Hannover, Germany
| | - Heinrich Lanfermann
- Institut für Diagnostische und Interventionelle Neuroradiologie, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - Matthias Wittfoth
- Institut für Diagnostische und Interventionelle Neuroradiologie, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany
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Ossandón JP, König P, Heed T. No Evidence for a Role of Spatially Modulated α-Band Activity in Tactile Remapping and Short-Latency, Overt Orienting Behavior. J Neurosci 2020; 40:9088-9102. [PMID: 33087476 PMCID: PMC7672998 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0581-19.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2019] [Revised: 07/20/2020] [Accepted: 08/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Oscillatory α-band activity is commonly associated with spatial attention and multisensory prioritization. It has also been suggested to reflect the automatic transformation of tactile stimuli from a skin-based, somatotopic reference frame into an external one. Previous research has not convincingly separated these two possible roles of α-band activity. Previous experimental paradigms have used artificially long delays between tactile stimuli and behavioral responses to aid relating oscillatory activity to these different events. However, this strategy potentially blurs the temporal relationship of α-band activity relative to behavioral indicators of tactile-spatial transformations. Here, we assessed α-band modulation with massive univariate deconvolution, an analysis approach that disentangles brain signals overlapping in time and space. Thirty-one male and female human participants performed a delay-free, visual search task in which saccade behavior was unrestricted. A tactile cue to uncrossed or crossed hands was either informative or uninformative about visual target location. α-Band suppression following tactile stimulation was lateralized relative to the stimulated hand over central-parietal electrodes but relative to its external location over parieto-occipital electrodes. α-Band suppression reflected external touch location only after informative cues, suggesting that posterior α-band lateralization does not index automatic tactile transformation. Moreover, α-band suppression occurred at the time of, or after, the production of the saccades guided by tactile stimulation. These findings challenge the idea that α-band activity is directly involved in tactile-spatial transformation and suggest instead that it reflects delayed, supramodal processes related to attentional reorienting.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Localizing a touch in space requires integrating somatosensory information about skin location and proprioceptive or visual information about posture. The automatic remapping between skin-based tactile information to a location in external space has been proposed to rely on the modulation of oscillatory brain activity in the α-band range, across the multiple cortical areas that are involved in tactile, multisensory, and spatial processing. We report two findings that are inconsistent with this view. First, α-band activity reflected the remapped stimulus location only when touch was task relevant. Second, α-band modulation occurred too late to account for spatially directed behavioral responses and, thus, only after remapping must have taken place. These characteristics contradict the idea that α-band directly reflects automatic tactile remapping processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- José P Ossandón
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg 20146, Germany
| | - Peter König
- Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück 49069, Germany
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, Center of Experimental Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg 20251, Germany
| | - Tobias Heed
- Biopsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Movement Science, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld 33615, Germany
- Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld 33615, Germany
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Hansen HA, Li J, Saygin ZM. Adults vs. neonates: Differentiation of functional connectivity between the basolateral amygdala and occipitotemporal cortex. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0237204. [PMID: 33075046 PMCID: PMC7571669 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0237204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2020] [Accepted: 10/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The amygdala, a subcortical structure known for social and emotional processing, consists of multiple subnuclei with unique functions and connectivity patterns. Tracer studies in adult macaques have shown that the basolateral subnuclei differentially connect to parts of visual cortex, with stronger connections to anterior regions and weaker connections to posterior regions; infant macaques show robust connectivity even with posterior visual regions. Do these developmental differences also exist in the human amygdala, and are there specific functional regions that undergo the most pronounced developmental changes in their connections with the amygdala? To address these questions, we explored the functional connectivity (from resting-state fMRI data) of the basolateral amygdala to occipitotemporal cortex in human neonates scanned within one week of life and compared the connectivity patterns to those observed in young adults. Specifically, we calculated amygdala connectivity to anterior-posterior gradients of the anatomically-defined occipitotemporal cortex, and also to putative occipitotemporal functional parcels, including primary and high-level visual and auditory cortices (V1, A1, face, scene, object, body, high-level auditory regions). Results showed a decreasing gradient of functional connectivity to the occipitotemporal cortex in adults-similar to the gradient seen in macaque tracer studies-but no such gradient was observed in neonates. Further, adults had stronger connections to high-level functional regions associated with face, body, and object processing, and weaker connections to primary sensory regions (i.e., A1, V1), whereas neonates showed the same amount of connectivity to primary and high-level sensory regions. Overall, these results show that functional connectivity between the amygdala and occipitotemporal cortex is not yet differentiated in neonates, suggesting a role of maturation and experience in shaping these connections later in life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather A. Hansen
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America
| | - Jin Li
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America
| | - Zeynep M. Saygin
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America
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Yu Q, Panichello MF, Cai Y, Postle BR, Buschman TJ. Delay-period activity in frontal, parietal, and occipital cortex tracks noise and biases in visual working memory. PLoS Biol 2020; 18:e3000854. [PMID: 32898172 PMCID: PMC7500688 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2020] [Revised: 09/18/2020] [Accepted: 08/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Working memory is imprecise, and these imprecisions can be explained by the combined influences of random diffusive error and systematic drift toward a set of stable states ("attractors"). However, the neural correlates of diffusion and drift remain unknown. Here, we investigated how delay-period activity in frontal and parietal cortex, which is known to correlate with the decline in behavioral memory precision observed with increasing memory load, might relate to diffusion and drift. We analyzed data from an existing experiment in which subjects performed delayed recall for line orientation, at different loads, during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning. To quantify the influence of drift and diffusion, we modeled subjects' behavior using a discrete attractor model and calculated within-subject correlation between frontal and parietal delay-period activity and whole-trial estimates of drift and diffusion. We found that although increases in frontal and parietal activity were associated with increases in both diffusion and drift, diffusion explained the most variance in frontal and parietal delay-period activity. In comparison, a subsequent whole-brain regression analysis showed that drift, rather than diffusion, explained the most variance in delay-period activity in lateral occipital cortex. These results are consistent with a model of the differential recruitment of general frontoparietal mechanisms in response to diffusive noise and of stimulus-specific biases in occipital cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qing Yu
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
- Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
| | - Matthew F. Panichello
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, United States of America
| | - Ying Cai
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China
| | - Bradley R. Postle
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Timothy J. Buschman
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, United States of America
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, United States of America
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Roelke A, Vorstius C, Radach R, Hofmann MJ. Fixation-related NIRS indexes retinotopic occipital processing of parafoveal preview during natural reading. Neuroimage 2020; 215:116823. [PMID: 32289457 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116823] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2019] [Revised: 03/23/2020] [Accepted: 03/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
While word frequency and predictability effects have been examined extensively, any evidence on interactive effects as well as parafoveal influences during whole sentence reading remains inconsistent and elusive. Novel neuroimaging methods utilize eye movement data to account for the hemodynamic responses of very short events such as fixations during natural reading. In this study, we used the rapid sampling frequency of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to investigate neural responses in the occipital and orbitofrontal cortex to word frequency and predictability. We observed increased activation in the right ventral occipital cortex when the fixated word N was of low frequency, which we attribute to an enhanced cost during saccade planning. Importantly, unpredictable (in contrast to predictable) low frequency words increased the activity in the left dorsal occipital cortex at the fixation of the preceding word N-1, presumably due to an upcoming breach of top-down modulated expectation. Opposite to studies that utilized a serial presentation of words (e.g. Hofmann et al., 2014), we did not find such an interaction in the orbitofrontal cortex, implying that top-down timing of cognitive subprocesses is not required during natural reading. We discuss the implications of an interactive parafoveal-on-foveal effect for current models of eye movements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andre Roelke
- General and Biological Psychology, University of Wuppertal, Max-Horkheimer-Str. 20, D-42119, Wuppertal, Germany.
| | - Christian Vorstius
- General and Biological Psychology, University of Wuppertal, Max-Horkheimer-Str. 20, D-42119, Wuppertal, Germany
| | - Ralph Radach
- General and Biological Psychology, University of Wuppertal, Max-Horkheimer-Str. 20, D-42119, Wuppertal, Germany
| | - Markus J Hofmann
- General and Biological Psychology, University of Wuppertal, Max-Horkheimer-Str. 20, D-42119, Wuppertal, Germany
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Raffin E, Harquel S, Passera B, Chauvin A, Bougerol T, David O. Probing regional cortical excitability via input-output properties using transcranial magnetic stimulation and electroencephalography coupling. Hum Brain Mapp 2020; 41:2741-2761. [PMID: 32379389 PMCID: PMC7294059 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24975] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2019] [Revised: 02/04/2020] [Accepted: 02/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The modular organization of the cortex refers to subsets of highly interconnected nodes, sharing specific cytoarchitectural and dynamical properties. These properties condition the level of excitability of local pools of neurons. In this study, we described TMS evoked potentials (TEP) input-output properties to provide new insights into regional cortical excitability. We combined robotized TMS with EEG to disentangle region-specific TEP from threshold to saturation and describe their oscillatory contents. Twenty-two young healthy participants received robotized TMS pulses over the right primary motor cortex (M1), the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the right superior occipital lobe (SOL) at five stimulation intensities (40, 60, 80, 100, and 120% resting motor threshold) and one short-interval intracortical inhibition condition during EEG recordings. Ten additional subjects underwent the same experiment with a realistic sham TMS procedure. The results revealed interregional differences in the TEPs input-output functions as well as in the responses to paired-pulse conditioning protocols, when considering early local components (<80 ms). Each intensity in the three regions was associated with complex patterns of oscillatory activities. The quality of the regression of TEPs over stimulation intensity was used to derive a new readout for cortical excitability and dynamical properties, revealing lower excitability in the DLPFC, followed by SOL and M1. The realistic sham experiment confirmed that these early local components were not contaminated by multisensory stimulations. This study provides an entirely new analytic framework to characterize input-output relations throughout the cortex, paving the way to a more accurate definition of local cortical excitability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Estelle Raffin
- University of Grenoble Alpes, Inserm, U1216, Grenoble Institut NeurosciencesGrenobleFrance
- Defitech Chair of Clinical Neuroengineering, Center for Neuroprosthetics (CNP) and Brain Mind Institute (BMI), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL)GenevaSwitzerland
- Defitech Chair of Clinical Neuroengineering, Center for Neuroprosthetics (CNP) and Brain Mind Institute (BMI), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL Valais), Clinique Romande de RéadaptationSionSwitzerland
| | - Sylvain Harquel
- CNRS, UMR5105, Laboratoire Psychologie et NeuroCognition, LPNCUniversity of Grenoble AlpesGrenobleFrance
- University of Grenoble‐Alpes, CNRS, CHU Grenoble Alpes, INSERM, CNRS, IRMaGeGrenobleFrance
| | - Brice Passera
- University of Grenoble Alpes, Inserm, U1216, Grenoble Institut NeurosciencesGrenobleFrance
- CNRS, UMR5105, Laboratoire Psychologie et NeuroCognition, LPNCUniversity of Grenoble AlpesGrenobleFrance
| | - Alan Chauvin
- CNRS, UMR5105, Laboratoire Psychologie et NeuroCognition, LPNCUniversity of Grenoble AlpesGrenobleFrance
- University of Grenoble‐Alpes, CNRS, CHU Grenoble Alpes, INSERM, CNRS, IRMaGeGrenobleFrance
| | - Thierry Bougerol
- University of Grenoble Alpes, Inserm, U1216, Grenoble Institut NeurosciencesGrenobleFrance
- CNRS, UMR5105, Laboratoire Psychologie et NeuroCognition, LPNCUniversity of Grenoble AlpesGrenobleFrance
| | - Olivier David
- University of Grenoble Alpes, Inserm, U1216, Grenoble Institut NeurosciencesGrenobleFrance
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Jacques C, Jonas J, Maillard L, Colnat-Coulbois S, Rossion B, Koessler L. Fast periodic visual stimulation to highlight the relationship between human intracerebral recordings and scalp electroencephalography. Hum Brain Mapp 2020; 41:2373-2388. [PMID: 32237021 PMCID: PMC7268031 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24952] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2019] [Revised: 01/23/2020] [Accepted: 02/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite being of primary importance for fundamental research and clinical studies, the relationship between local neural population activity and scalp electroencephalography (EEG) in humans remains largely unknown. Here we report simultaneous scalp and intracerebral EEG responses to face stimuli in a unique epileptic patient implanted with 27 intracerebral recording contacts in the right occipitotemporal cortex. The patient was shown images of faces appearing at a frequency of 6 Hz, which elicits neural responses at this exact frequency. Response quantification at this frequency allowed to objectively relate the neural activity measured inside and outside the brain. The patient exhibited typical 6 Hz responses on the scalp at the right occipitotemporal sites. Moreover, there was a clear spatial correspondence between these scalp responses and intracerebral signals in the right lateral inferior occipital gyrus, both in amplitude and in phase. Nevertheless, the signal measured on the scalp and inside the brain at nearby locations showed a 10-fold difference in amplitude due to electrical insulation from the head. To further quantify the relationship between the scalp and intracerebral recordings, we used an approach correlating time-varying signals at the stimulation frequency across scalp and intracerebral channels. This analysis revealed a focused and right-lateralized correspondence between the scalp and intracerebral recordings that were specific to the face stimulation is more broadly distributed in various control situations. These results demonstrate the interest of a frequency tagging approach in characterizing the electrical propagation from brain sources to scalp EEG sensors and in identifying the cortical sources of brain functions from these recordings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Corentin Jacques
- Psychological Sciences Research Institute and Institute of Neuroscience, Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
- Center for Developmental Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, KULeuven, Belgium
| | - Jacques Jonas
- Université de Lorraine, CNRS, CRAN, F-54000, Nancy, France
- Université de Lorraine, CHRU-Nancy, Service de Neurologie, F-54000, Nancy, France
| | - Louis Maillard
- Université de Lorraine, CNRS, CRAN, F-54000, Nancy, France
- Université de Lorraine, CHRU-Nancy, Service de Neurologie, F-54000, Nancy, France
| | - Sophie Colnat-Coulbois
- Université de Lorraine, CNRS, CRAN, F-54000, Nancy, France
- Université de Lorraine, CHRU-Nancy, Service de Neurochirurgie, F-54000, Nancy, France
| | - Bruno Rossion
- Psychological Sciences Research Institute and Institute of Neuroscience, Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
- Université de Lorraine, CNRS, CRAN, F-54000, Nancy, France
- Université de Lorraine, CHRU-Nancy, Service de Neurologie, F-54000, Nancy, France
| | - Laurent Koessler
- Université de Lorraine, CNRS, CRAN, F-54000, Nancy, France
- Université de Lorraine, CHRU-Nancy, Service de Neurologie, F-54000, Nancy, France
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Kilpatrick L, Pribic T, Ciccantelli B, Malagelada C, Livovsky DM, Accarino A, Pareto D, Azpiroz F, Mayer EA. Sex Differences and Commonalities in the Impact of a Palatable Meal on Thalamic and Insular Connectivity. Nutrients 2020; 12:E1627. [PMID: 32492812 PMCID: PMC7352462 DOI: 10.3390/nu12061627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2020] [Revised: 05/20/2020] [Accepted: 05/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The neural mechanisms underlying subjective responses to meal ingestion remain incompletely understood. We previously showed in healthy men an increase in thalamocortical, and a decrease in insular-cortical connectivity in response to a palatable meal. As sex is increasingly recognized as an important biological variable, we aimed to evaluate sex differences and commonalities in the impact of a well-liked meal on thalamic and anterior insular connectivity in healthy individuals. Participants (20 women and 20 age-matched men) underwent resting-state magnetic resonance imaging (rsMRI) before and after ingesting a palatable meal. In general, the insula showed extensive postprandial reductions in connectivity with sensorimotor and prefrontal cortices, while the thalamus showed increases in connectivity with insular, frontal, and occipital cortices, in both women and men. However, reductions in insular connectivity were more prominent in men, and were related to changes in meal-related sensations (satiety and digestive well-being) in men only. In contrast, increases in thalamic connectivity were more prominent in women, and were related to changes in satiety and digestive well-being in women only. These results suggest that brain imaging may provide objective and sex-specific biomarkers of the subjective feelings associated with meal ingestion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Kilpatrick
- Division of Digestive Diseases, G Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; (L.K.); (E.A.M.)
| | - Teodora Pribic
- Digestive System Research Unit, University Hospital Vall d’Hebron, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (Ciberehd), Departament de Medicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Spain; (T.P.); (B.C.); (C.M.); (A.A.)
| | - Barbara Ciccantelli
- Digestive System Research Unit, University Hospital Vall d’Hebron, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (Ciberehd), Departament de Medicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Spain; (T.P.); (B.C.); (C.M.); (A.A.)
| | - Carolina Malagelada
- Digestive System Research Unit, University Hospital Vall d’Hebron, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (Ciberehd), Departament de Medicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Spain; (T.P.); (B.C.); (C.M.); (A.A.)
| | - Dan M. Livovsky
- Digestive Diseases Institute, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Hebrew University, 9103102 Jerusalem, Israel;
| | - Anna Accarino
- Digestive System Research Unit, University Hospital Vall d’Hebron, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (Ciberehd), Departament de Medicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Spain; (T.P.); (B.C.); (C.M.); (A.A.)
| | - Deborah Pareto
- Radiology Department, University Hospital Vall d’Hebron, 08035 Barcelona, Spain;
| | - Fernando Azpiroz
- Digestive System Research Unit, University Hospital Vall d’Hebron, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (Ciberehd), Departament de Medicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Spain; (T.P.); (B.C.); (C.M.); (A.A.)
| | - Emeran A. Mayer
- Division of Digestive Diseases, G Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; (L.K.); (E.A.M.)
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Abstract
We read jubmled wrods effortlessly, but the neural correlates of this remarkable ability remain poorly understood. We hypothesized that viewing a jumbled word activates a visual representation that is compared to known words. To test this hypothesis, we devised a purely visual model in which neurons tuned to letter shape respond to longer strings in a compositional manner by linearly summing letter responses. We found that dissimilarities between letter strings in this model can explain human performance on visual search, and responses to jumbled words in word reading tasks. Brain imaging revealed that viewing a string activates this letter-based code in the lateral occipital (LO) region and that subsequent comparisons to stored words are consistent with activations of the visual word form area (VWFA). Thus, a compositional neural code potentially contributes to efficient reading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aakash Agrawal
- Centre for BioSystems Science & Engineering, Indian Institute of ScienceBangaloreIndia
| | - KVS Hari
- Department of Electrical Communication Engineering, Indian Institute of ScienceBangaloreIndia
| | - SP Arun
- Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of ScienceBangaloreIndia
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Ouellette DJ, Van Staalduinen E, Hussaini SH, Govindarajan ST, Stefancin P, Hsu DL, Duong TQ. Functional, anatomical and diffusion tensor MRI study of radiology expertise. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0231900. [PMID: 32339188 PMCID: PMC7185578 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0231900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2019] [Accepted: 04/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Repeated practice to acquire expertise could result in the structural and functional changes in relevant brain circuits as a result of long-term potentiation, neurogenesis, glial genesis, and remodeling. PURPOSE The goal of this study is to use task fMRI to study the brain of expert radiologists performing a diagnosis task where a series of medical images were presented during fMRI acquisition for 12s and participants were asked to choose a diagnosis. Structural and diffusion-tensor MRI were also acquired. METHODS Radiologists (N = 12, 11M, 38.2±10.3 years old) and non-radiologists (N = 17, 15M, 30.6±5.5 years old) were recruited with informed consent. Medical images were presented for 12 s and three multiple choices were displayed and the participants were asked to choose a diagnosis. fMRI, structural and diffusion-tensor MRI were acquired. fMRI analysis used FSL to determine differences in fMRI responses between groups. Voxel-wise analysis was performed to determine if subcortical volume, cortical thickness and fractional anisotropy differed between groups. Correction for multiple comparisons used false discovery rate. RESULTS Radiologists showed overall lower task-related brain activation than non-radiologists. Radiologists showed significantly lower activation in the left lateral occipital cortex, left superior parietal lobule, occipital pole, right superior frontal and precentral gyri, lingual gyrus, and the left intraparietal sulcus (p<0.05). There were no significant differences between groups in cortical thickness, subcortical volume and fractional anisotropy (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS Radiologists and non-radiologists had no significant difference in structural metrics. However, in diagnosis tasks, radiologists showed markedly lower task-related brain activations overall as well as a number of high-order visual and non-visual brain regions than non-radiologists. Some brain circuits appear to be uniquely associated with differential-diagnosis paradigm expertise that are not involved in simpler object-recognition cases. Improved understanding of the brain circuitry involved in acquisition of expertise might be used to design optimal training paradigms.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J. Ouellette
- Biomedical Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
| | - Eric Van Staalduinen
- Radiology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
| | - Syed H. Hussaini
- Radiology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
| | | | - Patricia Stefancin
- Radiology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
| | - Dan-Ling Hsu
- Radiology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
| | - Timothy Q. Duong
- Radiology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Wu Z, Luo Y, Gao Y, Han Y, Wu K, Li X. The Role of Frontal and Occipital Cortices in Processing Sustained Visual Attention in Young Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study. Neurosci Bull 2020; 36:659-663. [PMID: 32279194 DOI: 10.1007/s12264-020-00492-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2019] [Accepted: 01/09/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Ziyan Wu
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, 07102, USA
| | - Yuyang Luo
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, 07102, USA
| | - Yu Gao
- Department of Psychology, Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, 10004, USA
| | - Ying Han
- Department of Neurology, XuanWu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100053, China
- Beijing Institute of Geriatrics, XuanWu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100053, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Beijing, 100053, China
- Center of Alzheimer's Disease, Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, 100069, China
| | - Kai Wu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510003, China.
- Guangzhou Huiai Hospital, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510370, China.
- Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for Diagnosis and Rehabilitation of Dementia, Guangzhou, 510500, China.
| | - Xiaobo Li
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, 07102, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, 07102, USA.
- Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for Diagnosis and Rehabilitation of Dementia, Guangzhou, 510500, China.
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Abstract
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a form of brain stimulation technique that modulates neuronal excitability changes in targeted cerebral areas through a constant low current. The existing studies mainly concentrated in tDCS effects on motor cortex. The number of tDCS studies targeting visual area is sparse. And parameters of tDCS on the visual cortex are not well optimized yet. Therefore, this study explored the effect of anodal occipital tDCS in eyes-open resting state to disclose possible modulation to spontaneous brain activity by electroencephalography (EEG). Fifteen healthy subjects were involved in this study. Each subject endured sham and anodal tDCS in turn. 2 mA tDCS was applied over 21 min with Oz-Cz montage. Amplitudes of spontaneous brain activities were evaluated for each experimental condition. Compared with pre-stimulation and sham tDCS, anodal tDCS caused an obvious increment in parieto-occipital alpha activity. These results demonstrated electrophysiological changes in EEG oscillations induced by anodal occipital tDCS, and would help to improve the understanding of modulation of tDCS-induced visual cortex excitability changes in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guoya Dong
- State Key Laboratory of Reliability and Intelligence of Electrical Equipment, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300132, China
| | - Yu Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Reliability and Intelligence of Electrical Equipment, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300132, China
| | - Xiaogang Chen
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin 300192, China.
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Antov MI, Plog E, Bierwirth P, Keil A, Stockhorst U. Visuocortical tuning to a threat-related feature persists after extinction and consolidation of conditioned fear. Sci Rep 2020; 10:3926. [PMID: 32127551 PMCID: PMC7054355 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-60597-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2019] [Accepted: 02/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Neurons in the visual cortex sharpen their orientation tuning as humans learn aversive contingencies. A stimulus orientation (CS+) that reliably predicts an aversive noise (unconditioned stimulus: US) is selectively enhanced in lower-tier visual cortex, while similar unpaired orientations (CS-) are inhibited. Here, we examine in male volunteers how sharpened visual processing is affected by fear extinction learning (where no US is presented), and how fear and extinction memory undergo consolidation one day after the original learning episode. Using steady-state visually evoked potentials from electroencephalography in a fear generalization task, we found that extinction learning prompted rapid changes in orientation tuning: Both conditioned visuocortical and skin conductance responses to the CS+ were strongly reduced. Next-day re-testing (delayed recall) revealed a brief but precise return-of-tuning to the CS+ in visual cortex accompanied by a brief, more generalized return-of-fear in skin conductance. Explorative analyses also showed persistent tuning to the threat cue in higher visual areas, 24 h after successful extinction, outlasting peripheral responding. Together, experience-based changes in the sensitivity of visual neurons show response patterns consistent with memory consolidation and spontaneous recovery, the hallmarks of long-term neural plasticity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin I Antov
- Institute of Psychology, Experimental Psychology II and Biological Psychology, University of Osnabrück, D-49074, Osnabrück, Germany.
| | - Elena Plog
- Institute of Psychology, Experimental Psychology II and Biological Psychology, University of Osnabrück, D-49074, Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Philipp Bierwirth
- Institute of Psychology, Experimental Psychology II and Biological Psychology, University of Osnabrück, D-49074, Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Andreas Keil
- Department of Psychology and Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 32611, USA
| | - Ursula Stockhorst
- Institute of Psychology, Experimental Psychology II and Biological Psychology, University of Osnabrück, D-49074, Osnabrück, Germany
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Abstract
Recent findings have shown that full-term infants engage in top-down sensory prediction, and these predictions are impaired as a result of premature birth. Here, we use an associative learning model to uncover the neuroanatomical origins and computational nature of this top-down signal. Infants were exposed to a probabilistic audiovisual association. We find that both groups (full term, preterm) have a comparable stimulus-related response in sensory and frontal lobes and track prediction error in their frontal lobes. However, preterm infants differ from their full-term peers in weaker tracking of prediction error in sensory regions. We infer that top-down signals from the frontal lobe to the sensory regions carry information about prediction error. Using computational learning models and comparing neuroimaging results from full-term and preterm infants, we have uncovered the computational content of top-down signals in young infants when they are engaged in a probabilistic associative learning.
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48
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Zhang X, Yang S, Jiang M. Rapid implicit extraction of abstract orthographic patterns of Chinese characters during reading. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0229590. [PMID: 32084247 PMCID: PMC7034908 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0229590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2019] [Accepted: 02/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Orthographic processing is crucial in reading. For the Chinese language, sub-lexical processing has already taken place at radical level. Previous literature reported early position-specific radical representations and later position-general radical representations, implying a possible separating process of abstract position information irrespective of radicals per se from radical representations during orthographic processing. However, it remains largely unclear whether the abstract pattern of spatial arrangement of radicals can be rapidly extracted, and if so, whether this extraction takes place at the visual cortex, the very first processing center. As the visual cortex is documented to actively participate in orthographic processing, it may also play a role in the possible extraction of abstract orthographic patterns of Chinese characters. Hence, we hypothesize that abstract orthographic patterns of Chinese characters are covertly extracted at the visual cortex during reading. In this study, we investigated whether the visual cortex could rapidly extract abstract structural patterns of Chinese characters, using the event-related potential (ERP) technique. We adopted an active oddball paradigm with two types of deviant stimuli different only in one feature, structural or tonal, from standard stimuli; in each of the two sessions, subjects focused conscious attention on one feature and neglected the other. We observed that the ERPs recorded at occipital electrodes responded differentially to standard and structural deviant stimuli in both sessions, especially within the time range of the occipital P200 component. Then, we extracted three source waves arising from different levels of the visual cortex. Early response differences (from 88 to 456 ms after stimulus onset) were observed between the source waves, probably arising from left primary/secondary and bilateral associative visual cortices, in response to standard and deviant stimuli that violated abstract structural patterns, whether subjects focused their attention on the character structure or not. This suggests rapid extraction of abstract structural patterns of Chinese characters in the visual cortex, no matter the abstract structural pattern was explicit or implicit to subjects. Note that the source waves arising from right primary/secondary visual cortices in response to standard and structural deviant stimuli did not differ at all, indicating that this extraction of the abstract structural pattern of Chinese characters was left-lateralized. Besides, no difference was observed between source waves originating from any level of the visual cortex to standard and deviant stimuli that violated abstract tonal patterns, until 768 ms when a late effect related to conscious detection of targets occurred at higher levels of the visual cortex. Note that at late stages (later than 698 ms after stimulus onset), responses arising from bilateral associative visual cortices to standard and target stimuli differed for both sessions, no matter the structural or tonal feature was attended to. Our findings support the primitive intelligence of visual cortex to rapidly extract abstract orthographic patterns of Chinese characters that might be engaged in further lexical processing. Our findings also suggest that this rapid extraction can take place implicitly during reading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaochen Zhang
- Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Siqin Yang
- Center for Psychology and Cognitive Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
- Lab of Computational Linguistics, School of Humanities, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Minghu Jiang
- Center for Psychology and Cognitive Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
- Lab of Computational Linguistics, School of Humanities, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
- * E-mail:
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Farmer H, Hewstone M, Spiegler O, Morse H, Saifullah A, Pan X, Fell B, Charlesford J, Terbeck S. Positive intergroup contact modulates fusiform gyrus activity to black and white faces. Sci Rep 2020; 10:2700. [PMID: 32060333 PMCID: PMC7021708 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-59633-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2019] [Accepted: 01/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
In this study, we investigated the effect of intergroup contact on processing of own- and other-race faces using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Previous studies have shown a neural own-race effect with greater BOLD response to own race compared to other race faces. In our study, white participants completed a social-categorization task and an individuation task while viewing the faces of both black and white strangers after having answered questions about their previous experiences with black people. We found that positive contact modulated BOLD activity in the right fusiform gyrus (rFG) and left inferior occipital gyrus (lIOC), regions associated with face processing. Within these regions, higher positive contact was associated with higher activity when processing black, compared to white faces during the social categorisation task. We also found that in both regions a greater amount of individuating experience with black people was associated with greater activation for black vs. white faces in the individuation task. Quantity of contact, implicit racial bias and negatively valenced contact showed no effects. Our findings suggest that positive contact and individuating experience directly modulate processing of out-group faces in the visual cortex, and illustrate that contact quality rather than mere familiarity is an important factor in reducing the own race face effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Farmer
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL, Alexandra House, 17 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AZ, UK
| | - M Hewstone
- School of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 6GG, UK
- School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia
| | - O Spiegler
- School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia
| | - H Morse
- School of Psychology, Plymouth University, Portland Square, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK
| | - A Saifullah
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL, Alexandra House, 17 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AZ, UK
| | - X Pan
- School of Computer Science, Goldsmiths, University of London, New Cross, London, SE14 6NW, UK
| | - B Fell
- School of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 6GG, UK
| | - J Charlesford
- School of Psychology, Plymouth University, Portland Square, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK
| | - S Terbeck
- School of Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Byron Street Campus, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK.
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50
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Liu X, Wu Q, Ying K, Li A, Sun Y, Mei L. Functional laterality of the anterior and posterior occipitotemporal cortex is affected by language experience and processing strategy, respectively. Neuropsychologia 2020; 137:107301. [PMID: 31821831 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2018] [Revised: 12/03/2019] [Accepted: 12/06/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Both language experience and processing strategy have been found to affect functional lateralization of the ventral occipitotemporal cortex (vOT). In this study, we adopted a factorial design to investigate the effects of language experience and processing strategy on functional lateralization of different vOT subregions in the processing of familiar (Chinese characters) and unfamiliar characters (Korean Hangul characters) in logographic writings. The processing strategy was manipulated by using part- and whole-based judgement tasks to induce part- and whole-based processing, respectively. The results showed that language experience enhanced neural responses in the anterior and middle vOT subregions, whereas part-based processing enhanced neural activations in the middle and posterior vOT subregions. More importantly, increased neural activations in the left hemisphere induced by language experience and part-based processing resulted in left laterality of the anterior and posterior vOT subregions, respectively, in the processing of logographic characters. These results suggested that functional lateralization of the anterior and posterior vOT subregions were respectively affected by language experience and processing strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyu Liu
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Qiulan Wu
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Kangli Ying
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Aqian Li
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yue Sun
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Leilei Mei
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.
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