A neuroergonomics approach to driver's cooperation with Lane Departure Warning Systems

Lane Departure Warning Systems (LDWS) are automation that warn drivers in case of immediate lane departure. While LDWS are associated with increased road safety, little is known about the neural aspects of the cooperation between an LDWS and the driver behind the wheel. The present study addresses this issue by combining fMRI and driving simulation for experienced and novice drivers. The results reveal brain areas activated immediately after warning: it involves areas linked to the alertness network (midbrain, thalamus, anterior cingulate cortex), to motor actions and planning (motor and premotor cortexes; BA4/6 -cerebellum) and to attentional redirection (superior frontal cortex; BA10). There were no differences between experienced and novice drivers in this network of cerebral areas. However, prior driving experience mediates the number of lane departures. The results allow for refining a model of cooperation proposed earlier in the literature, by adding a cerebral dimension.

Visual and steering behaviours during lane departures: a longitudinal study of interactions between lane departure warning system, driving task and driving experience

Lane Departure Warning Systems (LDWS) generate a warning in case of imminent lane departure. LDWS have proven to be effective and associated human-machine cooperation modelled. In this study, LDWS acceptance and its impact on visual and steering behaviour have been investigated over 6 weeks for novice and experienced drivers. Unprovoked lane departures were analysed along three driving tasks gradually more demanding. These observations were compared to a baseline condition without automation. The number of lane departures and their duration were dramatically reduced by LDWS, and a narrower visual spread of search during lane departure events was recorded. The findings confirmed LDWS effectiveness and suggested that these benefits are supported by visuo-attentional guidance. No specific influence of driving experience on LDWS was found, suggesting that similar cognitive processes are engaged with or without driving experience. Drivers' acceptance of LDWS lowered after automation use, but LDWS effectiveness remained stable during prolonged use.Practitioner summary: Lane Departure Warning Systems (LDWS) have been designed to prevent lane departure crashes. Here, LDWS assessment over a 6-week period showed a major drop in the number of lane departure events increasing over time. LDWS effectiveness is supported by the guidance of drivers' visual attention during lane departure events.

Comparison of Experienced and Novice Drivers' Visual and Driving Behaviors during Warned or Unwarned Near-Forward Collisions

Forward collision warning systems (FCWSs) monitor the road ahead and warn drivers when the time to collision reaches a certain threshold. Using a driving simulator, this study compared the effects of FCWSs between novice drivers (unlicensed drivers) and experienced drivers (holding a driving license for at least four years) on near-collision events, as well as visual and driving behaviors. The experimental drives lasted about six hours spread over six consecutive weeks. Visual behaviors (e.g., mean number of fixations) and driving behaviors (e.g., braking reaction times) were collected during unprovoked near-collision events occurring during a car-following task, with (FCWS group) or without FCWS (No Automation group). FCWS presence reduced the number of near-collision events drastically and enhanced visual behaviors during those events. Unexpectedly, brake reaction times were observed to be significantly longer with FCWS, suggesting a cognitive cost associated with the warning process. Still, the FCWS showed a slight safety benefit for novice drivers attributed to the assistance provided for the situation analysis. Outside the warning events, FCWS presence also impacted car-following behaviors. Drivers took an extra safety margin, possibly to prevent incidental triggering of warnings. The data enlighten the nature of the cognitive processes associated with FCWSs. Altogether, the findings support the general efficiency of FCWSs observed through a massive reduction in the number of near-collision events and point toward the need for further investigations.

Involvement of the posterior tool processing network during explicit retrieval of action tool and semantic tool knowledge: an fMRI study

Our ability to understand how to interact with familiar objects is supported by conceptual tool knowledge. Conceptual tool knowledge includes action tool and semantic tool knowledge which are supported by the ventro-dorsal and the ventral pathways, respectively. This apparent functional segregation has been recently called into question. In a block-design fMRI study, 35 participants were asked to complete manipulation, function, and association judgment tasks about pairs of familiar objects. Our results showed that lateral occipitotemporal cortex in the ventral pathway was more sensitive to manipulation and function judgment tasks compared with association judgment tasks. Functional connectivity analyses revealed distinct coupling patterns between inferior parietal lobule, lateral occipitotemporal cortex, and fusiform gyrus. Taken together, these data indicate that action tool and semantic tool knowledge are both supported by ventral and ventro-dorsal pathways. Moreover, the explicit retrieval of these representations is supported by the functional coupling of common and distinct brain regions of the posterior tool processing network varying according to the kind of relations to be retrieved.

The cortical thickness of the area PF of the left inferior parietal cortex mediates technical-reasoning skills

Most recent research highlights how a specific form of causal understanding, namely technical reasoning, may support the increasing complexity of tools and techniques developed by humans over generations, i.e., the cumulative technological culture (CTC). Thus, investigating the neurocognitive foundations of technical reasoning is essential to comprehend the emergence of CTC in our lineage. Whereas functional neuroimaging evidence started to highlight the critical role of the area PF of the left inferior parietal cortex (IPC) in technical reasoning, no studies explored the links between the structural characteristics of such a brain region and technical reasoning skills. Therefore, in this study, we assessed participants’ technical-reasoning performance by using two ad-hoc psycho-technical tests; then, we extracted from participants’ 3 T T1-weighted magnetic-resonance brain images the cortical thickness (i.e., a volume-related measure which is associated with cognitive performance as reflecting the size, density, and arrangement of cells in a brain region) of all the IPC regions for both hemispheres. We found that the cortical thickness of the left area PF predicts participants’ technical-reasoning performance. Crucially, we reported no correlations between technical reasoning and the other IPC regions, possibly suggesting the specificity of the left area PF in generating technical knowledge. We discuss these findings from an evolutionary perspective, by speculating about how the evolution of parietal lobes may have supported the emergence of technical reasoning in our lineage.

Impact of Intrinsic Cognitive Skills and Metacognitive Beliefs on Tool Use Performance

Cognitive tools (e.g., calculators) provide all users with the same potential. Yet when people use such cognitive tools, interindividual variations are observed. Previous findings have indicated that 2 main factors could explain these variations: intrinsic cognitive skills (i.e., the “non–tool use” cognitive skills associated with the task targeted) and metacognitive beliefs about one's performance with tool use. In this study we sought to reproduce these findings and to investigate in more detail the nature of the relationships (i.e., linear vs. exponential) between tool use performance and intrinsic cognitive skills. In Experiment 1, 200 participants completed 2 cognitive tasks (calculation and geography) in 2 conditions (non–tool use vs. tool use). In Experiment 2, 70 participants performed a geography task in 2 conditions (non–tool use vs. tool use) and estimated their performance in each condition before completing the task. Results indicated that intrinsic cognitive skills and, to a lesser extent, metacognitive beliefs improved tool use performance: The higher the intrinsic cognitive skills and the higher participants estimated their tool use performance, the higher this tool use performance was. The nature of the relationship between tool use performance and intrinsic cognitive skills appeared to be linear rather than exponential. These findings extend previous research showing a strong impact of intrinsic cognitive skills on the performance associated with the use of cognitive tools or external aids.

Pantomime of tool use: looking beyond apraxia

Pantomime has a long tradition in clinical neuropsychology of apraxia. It has been much more used by researchers and clinicians to assess tool-use disorders than real tool use. Nevertheless, it remains incompletely understood and has given rise to controversies, such as the involvement of the left inferior parietal lobe or the nature of the underlying cognitive processes. The present article offers a comprehensive framework, with the aim of specifying the neural and cognitive bases of pantomime. To do so, we conducted a series of meta-analyses of brain-lesion, neuroimaging and behavioural studies about pantomime and other related tasks (i.e. real tool use, imitation of meaningless postures and semantic knowledge). The first key finding is that the area PF (Area PF complex) within the left inferior parietal lobe is crucially involved in both pantomime and real tool use as well as in the kinematics component of pantomime. The second key finding is the absence of a well-defined neural substrate for the posture component of pantomime (both grip errors and body-part-as-tool responses). The third key finding is the role played by the intraparietal sulcus in both pantomime and imitation of meaningless postures. The fourth key finding is that the left angular gyrus seems to be critical in the production of motor actions directed towards the body. The fifth key finding is that performance on pantomime is strongly correlated with the severity of semantic deficits. Taken together, these findings invite us to offer a neurocognitive model of pantomime, which provides an integrated alternative to the two hypotheses that dominate the field: The gesture-engram hypothesis and the communicative hypothesis. More specifically, this model assumes that technical reasoning (notably the left area PF), the motor-control system (notably the intraparietal sulcus), body structural description (notably the left angular gyrus), semantic knowledge (notably the polar temporal lobes) and potentially theory of mind (notably the middle prefrontal cortex) work in concert to produce pantomime. The original features of this model open new avenues for understanding the neurocognitive bases of pantomime, emphasizing that pantomime is a communicative task that nevertheless originates in specific tool-use (not motor-related) cognitive processes.

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Technical reasoning bolsters cumulative technological culture through convergent transformations

Understanding the evolution of human technology is key to solving the mystery of our origins. Current theories propose that technology evolved through the accumulation of modifications that were mostly transmitted between individuals by blind copying and the selective retention of advantageous variations. An alternative account is that high-fidelity transmission in the context of cumulative technological culture is supported by technical reasoning, which is a reconstruction mechanism that allows individuals to converge to optimal solutions. We tested these two competing hypotheses with a microsociety experiment, in which participants had to optimize a physical system in partial- and degraded-information transmission conditions. Our results indicated an improvement of the system over generations, which was accompanied by an increased understanding of it. The solutions produced tended to progressively converge over generations. These findings show that technical reasoning can bolster high-fidelity transmission through convergent transformations, which highlights its role in the cultural evolution of technology.

Technical reasoning is important for cumulative technological culture

Human technology has evolved in an unparalleled way, allowing us to expand across the globe. One fascinating question is, how do we understand the cognitive origins of this phenomenon, which is known as cumulative technological culture (CTC)? The dominant view posits that CTC results from our unique ability to learn from each other. The cultural niche hypothesis even minimizes the involvement of non-social cognitive skills in the emergence of CTC, claiming that technologies can be optimized without us understanding how they work, but simply through the retention of small improvements over generations. Here we conduct a partial replication of the experimental study of Derex et al. (Nature Human Behaviour, 2019) and show that the improvement of a physical system over generations is accompanied by an increased understanding of it. These findings indicate that technical-reasoning skills (non-social cognitive skills) are important in the acquisition, understanding and improvement of technical content-that is, specific to the technological form of cumulative culture-thereby making social learning a salient source of technical inspiration.

Tool acceptance and acceptability: insights from a real tool use activity

The issue of tool adoption has been the subject of many investigations, which focus either on acceptability (evaluating intention to use, a priori) or acceptance (evaluating real tool use, a posteriori). There are many criteria in the literature explaining why a tool is accepted or rejected by users, but behavioral observations are rare. This work aims to study the relationship between acceptability and acceptance and to find out if there is a hierarchy between the criteria that lead a user to use a particular tool. We exposed participants to eight xylophones varying according to three criteria: Ease of use, Utility, and Aesthetics. We assessed acceptability and judgment of participants about xylophones with questionnaires, based on tool use observation in a video session, and after a short-term use (Experiment 1); we also measured acceptance after long-term use of five sessions during which participants learned to play xylophone (Experiment 2). The results suggested that previous exposure to the tool influenced the judgment of the user, indicating a difference between acceptability and acceptance and between observation and use of a tool. The results also indicate differences in the hierarchy of criteria. In the acceptability phase, user judgments are guided by Ease of use. However, during the acceptance phase, the Utility criterion has the greatest influence, whether in terms of tool preference, or time spent using tools.

On the Neurocognitive Co-Evolution of Tool Behavior and Language: Insights from the Massive Redeployment Framework

Understanding the link between brain evolution and the evolution of distinctive features of modern human cognition is a fundamental challenge. A still unresolved question concerns the co-evolution of tool behavior (i.e., tool use or tool making) and language. The shared neurocognitive processes hypothesis suggests that the emergence of the combinatorial component of language skills within the frontal lobe/Broca's area made possible the complexification of tool-making skills. The importance of the frontal lobe/Broca's area in tool behavior is somewhat surprising with regard to the literature on neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience, which has instead stressed the critical role of the left inferior parietal lobe. Therefore, to be complete, any version of the shared neurocognitive processes hypothesis needs to integrate the potential interactions between the frontal lobe/Broca's area and the left inferior parietal lobe as well as their co-evolution at a phylogenetic level. Here, we sought to provide the first elements of answer through the use of the massive deployment framework, which posits that evolutionarily older brain areas are deployed in more cognitive functions (i.e., they are less specific). We focused on the left parietal cortex, and particularly the left areas PF, PGI, and anterior intraparietal (AIP), which are known to be involved in tool use, language, and motor control, respectively. The deployment of each brain area in different cognitive functions was measured by conducting a meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies. Our results confirmed the pattern of specificity for each brain area and also showed that the left area PGI was far less specific than the left areas PF and AIP. From these findings, we discuss the different evolutionary scenarios depicting the potential co-evolution of the combinatorial and generative components of language and tool behavior in our lineage.

The Toolman effect: Preexisting non-tool-use experience improves subsequent tool-use performance

This study explores whether performing a cognitive task without using a tool (i.e., preexisting non-tool-use experience) impacts subsequent tool-use performance. Sixty participants moved an avatar within a maze in four directions (up, down, left, right). The keys were remapped 90° anticlockwise (e.g., the right key → upward). Therefore, the participants had to learn the mental-rotation-based perceptual-motor transformation to complete the path as quickly as possible and with as few errors as possible. In Tool trials, a cognitive tool (i.e., an arrow symbol) helped the participants to find the correct key. In No Tool trials, they completed the task without the cognitive tool. The tool was introduced either early or late in the task. At the end of the task, all participants completed the task without the tool. Results indicated that preexisting non-tool-use experience improved subsequent tool-use efficiency (i.e., completion times). In addition, the early introduction of the tool induced an effectiveness bias (i.e., accuracy) that persisted even after the removal of the tool. By contrast, its late introduction favored the emergence of an efficiency bias that persisted even after the introduction of the tool. These findings provide new insights into the role of users' intrinsic cognitive skills in tool use.

Semantic and action tool knowledge in the brain: Identifying common and distinct networks

Most cognitive models of apraxia assume that impaired tool use results from a deficit occurring at the conceptual level, which contains dedicated information about tool use, namely, semantic and action tool knowledge. Semantic tool knowledge contains information about the prototypical use of familiar tools, such as function (e.g., a hammer and a mallet share the same purpose) and associative relations (e.g., a hammer goes with a nail). Action tool knowledge contains information about how to manipulate tools, such as hand posture and kinematics. The present review aimed to better understand the neural correlates of action and semantic tool knowledge, by focusing on activation, stimulation and patients' studies (left brain-damaged patients). We found that action and semantic tool knowledge rely upon a large brain network including temporal and parietal regions. Yet, while action tool knowledge calls into play the intraparietal sulcus, function relations mostly involve the anterior and posterior temporal lobe. Associative relations engaged the angular and the posterior middle temporal gyrus. Moreover, we found that hand posture and kinematics both tapped into the inferior parietal lobe and the lateral occipital temporal cortex, but no region specificity was found for one or the other representation. Our results point out the major role of both posterior middle temporal gyrus and inferior parietal lobe for action and semantic tool knowledge. They highlight the common and distinct brain networks involved in action and semantic tool networks and spur future directions on this topic.

Semantic congruency effects of prime words on tool visual exploration

Most recent research on human tool use highlighted how people might integrate multiple sources of information through different neurocognitive systems to exploit the environment for action. This mechanism of integration is known as "action reappraisal". In the present eye-tracking study, we further tested the action reappraisal idea by devising a word-priming paradigm to investigate how semantically congruent (e.g., "nail") vs. semantically incongruent words (e.g., "jacket") that preceded the vision of tools (e.g., a hammer) may affect participants' visual exploration of them. We found an implicit modulation of participants' temporal allocation of visuospatial attention as a function of the object-word consistency. Indeed, participants tended to increase over time their fixations on tools' manipulation areas under semantically congruent conditions. Conversely, participants tended to concentrate their visual-spatial attention on tools' functional areas when inconsistent object-word pairs were presented. These results support and extend the information-integrated perspective of the action reappraisal approach. Also, these findings provide further evidence about how higher-level semantic information may influence tools' visual exploration.

Memory for a virtual reality experience in children and adults according to image quality, emotion, and sense of presence

Numerous studies have explored the effects of virtual reality (VR) on adults' cognition. Little is known, however, of these effects in children. The aim of this study was to explore, in both children and adults, the respective roles of the specific factors of VR, such as immersion, sense of presence and emotion, on memory performance. To do so, we used a head-mounted display to present a VR experience in which we manipulated immersion by varying 3D asset quality (High and Low) and emotion by presenting negative, neutral and positive stimuli. 48 adults (M _age = 20.65) and 40 children (M _age = 11.63) were both divided into two experimental groups (High vs. Low 3D model quality). Valence, arousal, and sense of presence were self-assessed by means of questionnaires, while memory of the presented stimuli was assessed using a free recall task. We also performed physiological measurements to provide objective support for our data. Results showed that memory performance was better for emotional than for neutral stimuli regardless of age group, even though children seemed to avoid looking at negative stimuli compared to neutral ones. Memory was predicted by arousal and presence in adults and only by arousal in children. Memory was not impaired by using poor image quality when highly arousing content was displayed. This study revealed that, contrary to adults, the use of poor image quality did not protect children from strong emotional experiences in VR. The roles of familiarity and arousal are discussed to help explain these results.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10055-021-00537-y.

Dynamic scan paths investigations under manual and highly automated driving

Active visual scanning of the scene is a key task-element in all forms of human locomotion. In the field of driving, steering (lateral control) and speed adjustments (longitudinal control) models are largely based on drivers’ visual inputs. Despite knowledge gained on gaze behaviour behind the wheel, our understanding of the sequential aspects of the gaze strategies that actively sample that input remains restricted. Here, we apply scan path analysis to investigate sequences of visual scanning in manual and highly automated simulated driving. Five stereotypical visual sequences were identified under manual driving: forward polling (i.e. far road explorations), guidance, backwards polling (i.e. near road explorations), scenery and speed monitoring scan paths. Previously undocumented backwards polling scan paths were the most frequent. Under highly automated driving backwards polling scan paths relative frequency decreased, guidance scan paths relative frequency increased, and automation supervision specific scan paths appeared. The results shed new light on the gaze patterns engaged while driving. Methodological and empirical questions for future studies are discussed.

The Pedagogue, the Engineer, and the Friend : From Whom Do We Learn?

Humans can follow different social learning strategies, sometimes oriented toward the models' characteristics (i.e., who-strategies). The goal of the present study was to explore which who-strategy is preferentially followed in the technological context based on the models' psychological characteristics. We identified three potential who-strategies: Copy the pedagogue (a model with high theory-of-mind skills), copy the engineer (a model with high technical-reasoning skills), and copy the friend (a model with high level of prosocialness). We developed a closed-group micro-society paradigm in which participants had to build the highest possible towers. Participants began with an individual building phase. Then, they were gathered to discuss the best solutions to increase tower height. After this discussion phase, they had to make a new building attempt, followed by another discussion phase, and so forth for a total of six building phases and five discussion rounds. This methodology allowed us to create an attraction score for each participant (the more an individual was copied in a group, the greater the attraction score). We also assessed participants' theory-of-mind skills, technical-reasoning skills, and prosocialness to predict participants' attraction scores based on these measures. Results show that we learn from engineers (high technical-reasoning skills) because they are the most successful. Their attraction power is not immediate, but after they have been identified as attractors, their technique is copied irrespective of their pedagogy (theory-of-mind skills) or friendliness (prosocialness). These findings open avenues for the study of the cognitive bases of human technological culture.

Technition: When Tools Come Out of the Closet

People are ambivalently enthusiastic and anxious about how far technology can go. Therefore, understanding the neurocognitive bases of the human technical mind should be a major topic of the cognitive sciences. Surprisingly, however, scientists are not interested in this topic or address it only marginally in other mainstream domains (e.g., motor control, action observation, social cognition). In fact, this lack of interest may hinder our understanding of the necessary neurocognitive skills underlying our appetence for transforming our physical environment. Here, we develop the thesis that our technical mind originates in perhaps uniquely human neurocognitive skills, namely, technical-reasoning skills involving the area PF within the left inferior parietal lobe. This thesis creates an epistemological rupture with the state of the art that justifies the emergence of a new field in the cognitive sciences (i.e., technition) dedicated to the intelligence hidden behind tools and other forms of technologies, including constructions.

Numerical cognition: A meta-analysis of neuroimaging, transcranial magnetic stimulation and brain-damaged patients studies

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We review neuroimaging, TMS, and patients studies on numerical cognition.

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We focused on the predictions derived from the Triple Code Model (TCM).

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Our findings generally agree with TCM predictions.

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Our results open avenues for the study of the neural bases of numerical cognition.

This article offers the first comprehensive review examining the neurocognitive bases of numerical cognition from neuroimaging, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and brain-damaged patients studies. We focused on the predictions derived from the Triple Code Model (TCM), particularly the assumption that the representation of numerical quantities rests on a single format-independent representation (i.e., the analogical code) involving both intraparietal sulci (IPS). To do so, we conducted a meta-analysis based on 28 neuroimaging, 12 TMS and 12 brain-damaged patients studies, including arithmetic and magnitude tasks in symbolic and non-symbolic formats. Our findings generally agree with the TCM predictions indicating that both IPS are engaged in all tasks. Nonetheless, the results of brain-damaged patients studies conflicted with neuroimaging and TMS studies, suggesting a right hemisphere lateralization for non-symbolic formats. Our findings also led us to discuss the involvement of brain regions other than IPS in the processing of the analogical code as well as the neural substrate of other codes underlying numerical cognition (i.e., the auditory-verbal code).

To Watch is to Work: a Review of NeuroImaging Data on Tool Use Observation Network

Since the discovery of mirror neurons in the 1990s, many neuroimaging studies have tackled the issue of action observation with the aim of unravelling a putative homolog human system. However, these studies do not distinguish between non-tool-use versus tool-use actions, implying that a common brain network is systematically involved in the observation of any action. Here we provide evidence for a brain network dedicated to tool-use action observation, called the tool-use observation network, mostly situated in the left hemisphere, and distinct from the non-tool-use action observation network. Areas specific for tool-use action observation are the left cytoarchitectonic area PF within the left inferior parietal lobe and the left inferior frontal gyrus. The neural correlates associated with the observation of tool-use reported here offer new insights into the neurocognitive bases of action observation and tool use, as well as addressing more fundamental issues on the origins of specifically human phenomena such as cumulative technological evolution.

Tools don't-and won't-make the man: A cognitive look at the future

The question of whether tools erase cognitive and physical interindividual differences has been surprisingly overlooked in the literature. Yet if technology is profusely available in a near or far future, will we be equal in our capacity to use it? We sought to address this unexplored, fundamental issue, asking 200 participants to perform 3 physical (e.g., fine manipulation) and 3 cognitive tasks (e.g., calculation) in both non-tool-use and tool-use conditions. Here we show that tools do not erase but rather extend our intrinsic physical and cognitive skills. Moreover, this phenomenon of extension is task specific because we found no evidence for superusers, benefitting from the use of a tool irrespective of the task concerned. These results challenge the possibility that technical solutions could always be found to make people equal. Rather, technical innovation might be systematically limited by the user's initial degree of knowledge or skills for a given task. (PsycINFO Database Record

The castaway island: Distinct roles of theory of mind and technical reasoning in cumulative technological culture

Cumulative technological culture is an intriguing phenomenon whose cognitive bases remain a matter of debate. For the influential shared-intentionality theory, this phenomenon originates in theory-of-mind skills. Evidence challenges it, stressing the role of learners' technical-reasoning skills. This discrepancy might be explained by a more specific role of theory-of-mind skills, notably in situations where the teacher communicates with the learner without visual access to what the latter is doing. We tested this hypothesis using a microsociety paradigm where participants (n = 200) had to build the highest possible tower in 2 conditions: Monitoring (communication with visual access) and Blind (communication without visual access). We also assessed participants' theory-of-mind and technical-reasoning skills. Results indicated that learners' technical-reasoning skills predicted cumulative performance in both conditions, whereas teachers' theory-of-mind skills were involved only in the Blind condition. These findings confirm the distinct but complementary roles of theory-of-mind and technical-reasoning skills in cumulative technological culture. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Driving Under the Influence: How Music Listening Affects Driving Behaviors

Car driving is a daily activity for many individuals in modern societies. Drivers often listen to music while driving. The method presented here investigates how listening to music influences driving behaviors. A driving simulation was selected because it offers both a well-controlled environment and a good level of ecological validity. Driving behaviors were assessed through a car-following task. In practice, participants were instructed to follow a lead vehicle as they would do in real life. The lead vehicle speed changed over time requiring constant speed adjustments for the participants. The inter-vehicular time was used to assess driving behaviors. To complement the driving behaviors, the subjective mood and physiological level of arousal were also collected. As such, the results collected using this method offer insights on both the human internal state (i.e., subjective mood and physiological arousal) and driving behaviors in the car following task.

Which cognitive tools do we prefer to use, and is that preference rational?

This work aims to address the issue of which kind of cognitive tools we prefer, and whether this preference is rational. To do so, we proposed three experiments in which participants had to play the game Guess Who? by choosing between three tools that assisted them in three distinct cognitive functions (Working memory vs. Selective visual attention vs. Decision-making). In Experiment 3, additional tasks were proposed to assess participants' performance and meta-representations in working memory, selective visual attention and decision-making. Our findings indicate that participants preferred to use a cognitive tool assisting working memory over selective visual attention and decision-making. The meta-representation of participants' performance influenced the decision to use one cognitive tool over the others much more than individual performance itself. These results suggest that a search for effectiveness rather than efficiency, as well as the meta-representations of cognitive performance might be two key predictors of people's preference toward a cognitive tool.

Does the Tempo of Music Impact Human Behavior Behind the Wheel?

OBJECTIVE

Assess the influence of background music tempo on driving performance.

BACKGROUND

Music with a fast tempo is known to increase the level of arousal, whereas the reverse is observed for slow music. The relationship between driving performance and level of arousal was expected to take the form of an inverted U-curve.

METHOD

Three experiments were undertaken to manipulate the musical background during driving. In Experiment 1, the driver's preferred music track played at its original and modified (plus or minus 30%) tempo were used together with the simple ticking of a metronome. In Experiment 2, music tracks of different tempos were played during driving. In Experiment 3, music tracks were categorized as arousing or relaxing based on the associated perceived level of arousal.

RESULTS

Listening to music tended to influence drivers' performances in a car-following task by improving coherence and gain adjustments relative to the followed vehicle but simultaneously shortened the intervehicular time. Although the tempo of the music per se did not directly affect driving behavior, arousing music tracks improved drivers' adjustments to the followed vehicle (Experiment 3).

CONCLUSION

The tempo of the music listened to behind the wheel was not found to influence driving behaviors. However, arousing music improved drivers' responsiveness to changes in the speed of the followed vehicle. However, this benefit was canceled out by a reduction in the drivers' intervehicle safety margin.

APPLICATION

Listening to arousing music while driving cannot be considered to improve road safety, at least in a car-following task without attentional impairments.

How Our Cognition Shapes and Is Shaped by Technology: A Common Framework for Understanding Human Tool-Use Interactions in the Past, Present, and Future

Over the evolution, humans have constantly developed and improved their technologies. This evolution began with the use of physical tools, those tools that increase our sensorimotor abilities (e.g., first stone tools, modern knives, hammers, pencils). Although we still use some of these tools, we also employ in daily life more sophisticated tools for which we do not systematically understand the underlying physical principles (e.g., computers, cars). Current research is also turned toward the development of brain-computer interfaces directly linking our brain activity to machines (i.e., symbiotic tools). The ultimate goal of research on this topic is to identify the key cognitive processes involved in these different modes of interaction. As a primary step to fulfill this goal, we offer a first attempt at a common framework, based on the idea that humans shape technologies, which also shape us in return. The framework proposed is organized into three levels, describing how we interact when using physical (Past), sophisticated (Present), and symbiotic (Future) technologies. Here we emphasize the role played by technical reasoning and practical reasoning, two key cognitive processes that could nevertheless be progressively suppressed by the proficient use of sophisticated and symbiotic tools. We hope that this framework will provide a common ground for researchers interested in the cognitive basis of human tool-use interactions, from paleoanthropology to neuroergonomics.

Physical intelligence does matter to cumulative technological culture

Tool-based culture is not unique to humans, but cumulative technological culture is. The social intelligence hypothesis suggests that this phenomenon is fundamentally based on uniquely human sociocognitive skills (e.g., shared intentionality). An alternative hypothesis is that cumulative technological culture also crucially depends on physical intelligence, which may reflect fluid and crystallized aspects of intelligence and enables people to understand and improve the tools made by predecessors. By using a tool-making-based microsociety paradigm, we demonstrate that physical intelligence is a stronger predictor of cumulative technological performance than social intelligence. Moreover, learners' physical intelligence is critical not only in observational learning but also when learners interact verbally with teachers. Finally, we show that cumulative performance is only slightly influenced by teachers' physical and social intelligence. In sum, human technological culture needs "great engineers" to evolve regardless of the proportion of "great pedagogues." Social intelligence might play a more limited role than commonly assumed, perhaps in tool-use/making situations in which teachers and learners have to share symbolic representations. (PsycINFO Database Record

Does age worsen sleep-dependent memory consolidation?

Slow wave sleep (SWS) is known to favour episodic memory consolidation. Given that ageing is associated with a reduction in SWS and episodic memory impairment, our aim was to investigate whether memory continues to benefit from sleep in older adults. Episodic memory consolidation was tested in 20 young (22.1 ± 1.7 years) and 20 older volunteers (68.9 ± 5.3 years) who performed a visuospatial two-dimensional object-location task. Retention capacities were evaluated after 12 h of wakefulness or 12 h of sleep. Performances before and after the interval allowed us to calculate a forgetting rate. Sleep architecture was measured by polysomnography (older adults = 410 min; young adults: 467 min). Our results showed that the beneficial effect of sleep on memory consolidation was reduced in older adults compared to young adults. In older adults, sleep did not enhance memory consolidation significantly compared to wakefulness. Sleep prevented young adults from forgetting (-0.10% ± 2.1), while the forgetting rate in older adults was still important after a period of sleep (16.60% ± 4.2; P = 0.05). The sleep architecture of older adults was characterized by a decrease in sleep efficiency (-12%; P < 0.05), in total cycle time (-137 min; P < 0.05), in percentage of total cycle time (-21%; P < 0.05) and in rapid eye movement time (-41 min; P < 0.05) compared to young adults. However, no difference in slow wave sleep was observed (-1%; not significant) and no correlation was found with performance. Age-related changes in sleep parameters may have a negative impact on memory consolidation in older adults.

Group analysis of self-organizing maps based on functional MRI using restricted Frechet means

Studies of functional MRI data are increasingly concerned with the estimation of differences in spatio-temporal networks across groups of subjects or experimental conditions. Unsupervised clustering and independent component analysis (ICA) have been used to identify such spatio-temporal networks. While these approaches have been useful for estimating these networks at the subject-level, comparisons over groups or experimental conditions require further methodological development. In this paper, we tackle this problem by showing how self-organizing maps (SOMs) can be compared within a Frechean inferential framework. Here, we summarize the mean SOM in each group as a Frechet mean with respect to a metric on the space of SOMs. The advantage of this approach is twofold. Firstly, it allows the visualization of the mean SOM in each experimental condition. Secondly, this Frechean approach permits one to draw inference on group differences, using permutation of the group labels. We consider the use of different distance functions, and introduce one extension of the classical sum of minimum distance (SMD) between two SOMs, which take into account the spatial pattern of the fMRI data. The validity of these methods is illustrated on synthetic data. Through these simulations, we show that the two distance functions of interest behave as expected, in the sense that the ones capturing temporal and spatial aspects of the SOMs are more likely to reach significance under simulated scenarios characterized by temporal, spatial [and spatio-temporal] differences, respectively. In addition, a re-analysis of a classical experiment on visually-triggered emotions demonstrates the usefulness of this methodology. In this study, the multivariate functional patterns typical of the subjects exposed to pleasant and unpleasant stimuli are found to be more similar than the ones of the subjects exposed to emotionally neutral stimuli. In this re-analysis, the group-level SOM output units with the smallest sample Jaccard indices were compared with standard GLM group-specific z-score maps, and provided considerable levels of agreement. Taken together, these results indicate that our proposed methods can cast new light on existing data by adopting a global analytical perspective on functional MRI paradigms.

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Self-organizing maps can be summarized at a group level using the Frechet mean.

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Group-level Frechet means can be compared using a generalization of the t-test.

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Frechean inferential framework can cast new light on existing data sets.

Apo-10'-lycopenoic acid impacts adipose tissue biology via the retinoic acid receptors

Apo-10'-lycopenoic acid (apo-10-lycac), a metabolite of lycopene, has been shown to possess potent biological activities, notably via the retinoic acid receptors (RAR). In the current study, its impact on adipose tissue and adipocytes was studied. In microarray experiments, the set of genes regulated by apo-10-lycac treatments was compared to the set of genes regulated by all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), the natural ligand of RAR, in adipocytes. Approximately 27.5% of the genes regulated by apo-10-lycac treatments were also regulated by ATRA, suggesting a common ability in terms of gene expression modulation, possibly via RAR transactivation. The physiological impact of apo-10-lycac on adipose tissue biology was evaluated. If it had no effect on adipogenesis in the 3T3-L1 cell model, this metabolite may have a preventative effect against inflammation, by preventing the increase in the inflammatory markers, interleukin 6 and interleukin 1β in various dedicated models. The ability of apo-10-lycac to transactivate the RAR and to modulate the transcription of RAR target gene was brought in vivo in adipose tissue. While apo-10-lycac was not detected in adipose tissue, a metabolite with a molecular weight with 2Da larger mass was detected, suggesting that a dihydro-apo-10'-lycopenoic acid, may be present in adipose tissue and that this compound could active or may lead to further active RAR-activating apo-10-lycac metabolites. Since apo-10-lycac treatments induce anti-inflammatory effects in adipose tissue but do not inhibit adipogenesis, we propose that apo-10-lycac treatments and its potential active metabolites in WAT may be considered for prevention strategies relevant for obesity-associated pathologies.

Macrophage activation, phagocytosis and intracellular calcium oscillations induced by scorpion toxins from Tityus serrulatus

The research described here is focused upon studying the activation of mice peritoneal macrophages when submitted to in vitro effects of Tityus serrulatus scorpion venom and its major toxic peptides. Several functional events were analysed, such as: cytotoxicity, spreading, extent of phagocytosis, vacuole formation and changes of internal calcium concentration. Among the main results observed, when macrophages are subjected to the effects of soluble venom of Tityus serrulatus scorpion venom, a partially purified fraction (FII) or a pure toxin (Ts1), are an increment in the percentage of phagocytosis and vacuole formation, a decrement of the spreading ability, accompanied by oscillations of internal calcium concentration. The net results demonstrate that scorpion venom or its major toxins are effective stimulators of macrophage activity; the effect of whole soluble venom or partially purified fractions is due to the toxic peptides, seen here clearly with Ts1. The possible involvement of Na+-channels in these events is discussed. A basic understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms responsible for macrophage activation should serve as a foundation for novel drug development aimed at modulating macrophage activity.

Detecting functional nodes in large-scale cortical networks with functional magnetic resonance imaging: a principal component analysis of the human visual system

This study aimed to demonstrate how a regional variant of principal component analysis (PCA) can be used to delineate the known functional subdivisions of the human visual system. Unlike conventional eigenimage analysis, PCA was carried out as a second-level analysis subsequent to model-based General Linear Model (GLM)-type functional activation mapping. Functional homogeneity of the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) time series within and between clusters was examined on several levels of the visual network, starting from the level of individual clusters up to the network level comprising two or more distinct visual regions. On each level, the number of significant components was identified and compared with the number of clusters in the data set. Eigenimages were used to examine the regional distribution of the extracted components. It was shown that voxels within individual clusters and voxels located in bilateral homologue visual regions can be represented by a single component, constituting the characteristic functional specialization of the cluster(s). If, however, PCA was applied to time series of voxels located in functionally distinct visual regions, more than one component was observed with each component being dominated by voxels in one of the investigated regions. The model of functional connections derived by PCA was in accordance with the well-known functional anatomy and anatomical connectivity of the visual system. PCA in combination with conventional activation mapping might therefore be used to identify the number of functionally distinct nodes in an fMRI data set in order to generate a model of functional connectivity within a neuroanatomical network.

Neural responses to dynamic expressions of fear in schizophrenia

Abnormalities in social functioning are a significant feature of schizophrenia. One critical aspect of these abnormalities is the difficulty these individuals have with the recognition of facial emotions, particularly negative expressions such as fear. The present work focuses on fear perception and its relationship to the paranoid symptoms of schizophrenia, specifically, how underlying limbic system structures (i.e. the amygdala) react when probed with dynamic fearful facial expressions. Seven paranoid and eight non-paranoid subjects (all males) with a diagnosis of schizophrenia took part in functional magnetic resonance imaging study (1.5T) examining neural responses to emerging fearful expressions contrasted with dissipating fearful expressions. Subjects viewed emerging and dissipating expressions while completing a gender discrimination task. Their brain activation was compared to that of 10 healthy male subjects. Increased hippocampal activation was seen in the non-paranoid group, while abnormalities in the bilateral amygdalae were observed only in the paranoid individuals. These patterns may represent trait-related hippocampal dysfunction, coupled with state (specifically paranoia) related amygdala abnormalities. The findings are discussed in light of models of paranoia in schizophrenia.

The impact of temporal compression and space selection on SVM analysis of single-subject and multi-subject fMRI data

In the present study, we compared the effects of temporal compression (averaging across multiple scans) and space selection (i.e. selection of "regions of interest" from the whole brain) on single-subject and multi-subject classification of fMRI data using the support vector machine (SVM). Our aim was to investigate various data transformations that could be applied before training the SVM to retain task discriminatory variance while suppressing irrelevant components of variance. The data were acquired during a blocked experiment design: viewing unpleasant (Class 1), neutral (Class 2) and pleasant pictures (Class 3). In the multi-subject level analysis, we used a "leave-one-subject-out" approach, i.e. in each iteration, we trained the SVM using data from all but one subject and tested its performance in predicting the class label of the this last subject's data. In the single-subject level analysis, we used a "leave-one-block-out" approach, i.e. for each subject, we selected randomly one block per condition to be the test block and trained the SVM using data from the remaining blocks. Our results showed that in a single-subject level both temporal compression and space selection improved the SVM accuracy. However, in a multi-subject level, the temporal compression improved the performance of the SVM, but the space selection had no effect on the classification accuracy.

Do you see what I see? Interpretations of intentional movement in schizophrenia

OBJECTIVE

Current literature exploring theory of mind (ToM) abilities in patients with schizophrenia has failed to take into account the dynamic nature of complex social interactions. The aim of this study was to explore symptom specific impairments in theory of mind using a novel, dynamic task.

METHODS

Subjects viewed short animations displaying three types of movement; random, goal directed, and socially complex (theory of mind). Verbal descriptions of the animations were obtained from 61 patients with schizophrenia (divided into symptom sub-groups) and 22 healthy comparison subjects and were scored for accuracy, type of response and use of target terms (terms most appropriate to each animation type).

RESULTS

Accuracy on all three conditions discriminated behavioural signs (BS), and (to a lesser degree) paranoid subjects, from the other schizophrenia sub-groups (those in remission and those with passivity features) and the controls. Paranoid and BS groups had difficulties with all the animations, yet all symptom sub-groups failed to use the appropriate mentalising language to describe the ToM animations.

CONCLUSIONS

In this first exploration of on-line mentalising abilities in schizophrenia, it is suggested that a failure to use appropriate mentalising language may be a trait marker for the disease. The nature of the type of tasks used to assess social cognitive processing in this group needs careful consideration, and tasks tapping into the fluidity of social interactions yield results that differ from previously reported studies.