All EyeLink Publications
All 8000+ peer-reviewed EyeLink research publications up until 2019 (with some early 2020s) are listed below by year. You can search the publications library using key words such as Visual Search, Smooth Pursuit, Parkinsons, etc. You can also search for individual author names. Eye tracking studies grouped by research area can be found on the solutions pages. If we missed any EyeLink eye tracking paper, please email us!
All EyeLink publications are also available for download / import into reference management software as a single Bibtex (.bib) file.
2019 |
Yang Liu Visual search characteristics of precise map reading by orienteers Journal Article PeerJ, 7 , pp. 1–15, 2019. @article{Liu2019c, title = {Visual search characteristics of precise map reading by orienteers}, author = {Yang Liu}, doi = {10.7717/peerj.7592}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-08-01}, journal = {PeerJ}, volume = {7}, pages = {1--15}, publisher = {PeerJ Inc.}, abstract = {This article compares the differences in eye movements between orienteers of different skill levels on map information searches and explores the visual search patterns of orienteers during precise map reading so as to explore the cognitive characteristics of orienteers' visual search. We recruited 44 orienteers at different skill levels (experts, advanced beginners, and novices), and recorded their behavioral responses and eye movement data when reading maps of different complexities. We found that the complexity of map (complex vs. simple) affects the quality of orienteers' route planning during precise map reading. Specifically, when observing complex maps, orienteers of higher competency tend to have a better quality of route planning (i.e., a shorter route planning time, a longer gaze time, and a more concentrate distribution of gazes). Expert orienteers demonstrated obvious cognitive advantages in the ability to find key information. We also found that in the stage of route planning, expert orienteers and advanced beginners first pay attention to the checkpoint description table. The expert group extracted information faster, and their attention was more concentrated, whereas the novice group paid less attention to the checkpoint description table, and their gaze was scattered. We found that experts regarded the information in the checkpoint description table as the key to the problem and they give priority to this area in route decision making. These results advance our understanding of professional knowledge and problem solving in orienteering.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } This article compares the differences in eye movements between orienteers of different skill levels on map information searches and explores the visual search patterns of orienteers during precise map reading so as to explore the cognitive characteristics of orienteers' visual search. We recruited 44 orienteers at different skill levels (experts, advanced beginners, and novices), and recorded their behavioral responses and eye movement data when reading maps of different complexities. We found that the complexity of map (complex vs. simple) affects the quality of orienteers' route planning during precise map reading. Specifically, when observing complex maps, orienteers of higher competency tend to have a better quality of route planning (i.e., a shorter route planning time, a longer gaze time, and a more concentrate distribution of gazes). Expert orienteers demonstrated obvious cognitive advantages in the ability to find key information. We also found that in the stage of route planning, expert orienteers and advanced beginners first pay attention to the checkpoint description table. The expert group extracted information faster, and their attention was more concentrated, whereas the novice group paid less attention to the checkpoint description table, and their gaze was scattered. We found that experts regarded the information in the checkpoint description table as the key to the problem and they give priority to this area in route decision making. These results advance our understanding of professional knowledge and problem solving in orienteering. |
Dong-Ho Lee; Sherryse L Corrow; Raika Pancaroglu; Jason J S Barton The scanpaths of subjects with developmental prosopagnosia during a face memory task Journal Article Brain Sciences, 9 , pp. 1–19, 2019. @article{Lee2019a, title = {The scanpaths of subjects with developmental prosopagnosia during a face memory task}, author = {Dong-Ho Lee and Sherryse L Corrow and Raika Pancaroglu and Jason J S Barton}, doi = {10.3390/brainsci9080188}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-08-01}, journal = {Brain Sciences}, volume = {9}, pages = {1--19}, publisher = {MDPI AG}, abstract = {The scanpaths of healthy subjects show biases towards the upper face, the eyes and the center of the face, which suggests that their fixations are guided by a feature hierarchy towards the regions most informative for face identification. However, subjects with developmental prosopagnosia have a lifelong impairment in face processing. Whether this is reflected in the loss of normal face-scanning strategies is not known. The goal of this study was to determine if subjects with developmental prosopagnosia showed anomalous scanning biases as they processed the identity of faces. We recorded the fixations of 10 subjects with developmental prosopagnosia as they performed a face memorization and recognition task, for comparison with 8 subjects with acquired prosopagnosia (four with anterior temporal lesions and four with occipitotemporal lesions) and 20 control subjects. The scanning of healthy subjects confirmed a bias to fixate the upper over the lower face, the eyes over the mouth, and the central over the peripheral face. Subjects with acquired prosopagnosia from occipitotemporal lesions had more dispersed fixations and a trend to fixate less informative facial regions. Subjects with developmental prosopagnosia did not differ from the controls. At a single-subject level, some developmental subjects performed abnormally, but none consistently across all metrics. Scanning distributions were not related to scores on perceptual or memory tests for faces. We conclude that despite lifelong difficulty with faces, subjects with developmental prosopagnosia still have an internal facial schema that guides their scanning behavior.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The scanpaths of healthy subjects show biases towards the upper face, the eyes and the center of the face, which suggests that their fixations are guided by a feature hierarchy towards the regions most informative for face identification. However, subjects with developmental prosopagnosia have a lifelong impairment in face processing. Whether this is reflected in the loss of normal face-scanning strategies is not known. The goal of this study was to determine if subjects with developmental prosopagnosia showed anomalous scanning biases as they processed the identity of faces. We recorded the fixations of 10 subjects with developmental prosopagnosia as they performed a face memorization and recognition task, for comparison with 8 subjects with acquired prosopagnosia (four with anterior temporal lesions and four with occipitotemporal lesions) and 20 control subjects. The scanning of healthy subjects confirmed a bias to fixate the upper over the lower face, the eyes over the mouth, and the central over the peripheral face. Subjects with acquired prosopagnosia from occipitotemporal lesions had more dispersed fixations and a trend to fixate less informative facial regions. Subjects with developmental prosopagnosia did not differ from the controls. At a single-subject level, some developmental subjects performed abnormally, but none consistently across all metrics. Scanning distributions were not related to scores on perceptual or memory tests for faces. We conclude that despite lifelong difficulty with faces, subjects with developmental prosopagnosia still have an internal facial schema that guides their scanning behavior. |
Jessica Klusek; Carly Moser; Joseph Schmidt; Leonard Abbeduto; Jane E Roberts A novel eye‐tracking paradigm for indexing social avoidance‐related behavior in fragile X syndrome Journal Article American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics, pp. 1–12, 2019. @article{Klusek2019, title = {A novel eye‐tracking paradigm for indexing social avoidance‐related behavior in fragile X syndrome}, author = {Jessica Klusek and Carly Moser and Joseph Schmidt and Leonard Abbeduto and Jane E Roberts}, doi = {10.1002/ajmg.b.32757}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-08-01}, journal = {American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics}, pages = {1--12}, publisher = {Wiley}, abstract = {Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is characterized by hallmark features of gaze avoidance, reduced social approach, and social anxiety. The development of therapeutics to manage these symptoms has been hindered, in part, by the lack of sensitive outcome measures. This study investigated the utility of a novel eye-tracking paradigm for indexing social avoidance-related phenotypes. Adolescent/young adult-aged males with FXS (n = 24) and typical development (n = 23) participated in the study. Participants viewed faces displaying direct or averted gaze and the first fixation duration on the eyes was recorded as an index of initial stimulus registration. Fixation durations did not differ across the direction of gaze conditions in either group, although the control group showed longer initial fixations on the eyes relative to the FXS group. Shorter initial fixation on averted gaze in males with FXS was a robust predictor of the severity of their social avoidance behavior exhibited during a social greeting context, whereas parent-reported social avoidance symptoms were not related to performance in the semi-naturalistic context. This eye-tracking paradigm may represent a promising outcome measure for FXS clinical trials because it provides a quantitative index that closely maps onto core social avoidance phenotypes of FXS, can be completed in less than 20 min, and is suitable for use with individuals with low IQ.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is characterized by hallmark features of gaze avoidance, reduced social approach, and social anxiety. The development of therapeutics to manage these symptoms has been hindered, in part, by the lack of sensitive outcome measures. This study investigated the utility of a novel eye-tracking paradigm for indexing social avoidance-related phenotypes. Adolescent/young adult-aged males with FXS (n = 24) and typical development (n = 23) participated in the study. Participants viewed faces displaying direct or averted gaze and the first fixation duration on the eyes was recorded as an index of initial stimulus registration. Fixation durations did not differ across the direction of gaze conditions in either group, although the control group showed longer initial fixations on the eyes relative to the FXS group. Shorter initial fixation on averted gaze in males with FXS was a robust predictor of the severity of their social avoidance behavior exhibited during a social greeting context, whereas parent-reported social avoidance symptoms were not related to performance in the semi-naturalistic context. This eye-tracking paradigm may represent a promising outcome measure for FXS clinical trials because it provides a quantitative index that closely maps onto core social avoidance phenotypes of FXS, can be completed in less than 20 min, and is suitable for use with individuals with low IQ. |
Taylor R Hayes; John M Henderson Center bias outperforms image salience but not semantics in accounting for attention during scene viewing Journal Article Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, pp. 1–10, 2019. @article{Hayes2019, title = {Center bias outperforms image salience but not semantics in accounting for attention during scene viewing}, author = {Taylor R Hayes and John M Henderson}, doi = {10.3758/s13414-019-01849-7}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-08-01}, journal = {Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics}, pages = {1--10}, publisher = {Springer Science and Business Media LLC}, abstract = {How do we determine where to focus our attention in real-world scenes? Image saliency theory proposes that our attention is ‘pulled' to scene regions that differ in low-level image features. However, models that formalize image saliency theory often contain significant scene-independent spatial biases. In the present studies, three different viewing tasks were used to evaluate whether image saliency models account for variance in scene fixation density based primarily on scene-dependent, low-level feature contrast, or on their scene-independent spatial biases. For comparison, fixation density was also compared to semantic feature maps (Meaning Maps; Henderson & Hayes, Nature Human Behaviour, 1, 743–747, 2017)thatwere generated using human ratings of isolated scene patches. The squared correlations (R2) between scene fixation density and each image saliency model's center bias, each full image saliency model, and meaning maps were computed. The results showed that in tasks that produced observer center bias, the image saliency models on average explained 23% less variance in scene fixation density than their center biases alone. In comparison, meaning maps explained on average 10% more variance than center bias alone. We conclude that image saliency theory generalizes poorly to real-world scenes.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } How do we determine where to focus our attention in real-world scenes? Image saliency theory proposes that our attention is ‘pulled' to scene regions that differ in low-level image features. However, models that formalize image saliency theory often contain significant scene-independent spatial biases. In the present studies, three different viewing tasks were used to evaluate whether image saliency models account for variance in scene fixation density based primarily on scene-dependent, low-level feature contrast, or on their scene-independent spatial biases. For comparison, fixation density was also compared to semantic feature maps (Meaning Maps; Henderson & Hayes, Nature Human Behaviour, 1, 743–747, 2017)thatwere generated using human ratings of isolated scene patches. The squared correlations (R2) between scene fixation density and each image saliency model's center bias, each full image saliency model, and meaning maps were computed. The results showed that in tasks that produced observer center bias, the image saliency models on average explained 23% less variance in scene fixation density than their center biases alone. In comparison, meaning maps explained on average 10% more variance than center bias alone. We conclude that image saliency theory generalizes poorly to real-world scenes. |
Kun Guo; Zhihan Li; Yin Yan; Wu Li Viewing heterospecific facial expressions: An eye-tracking study of human and monkey viewers Journal Article Experimental Brain Research, 237 , pp. 2045–2059, 2019. @article{Guo2019, title = {Viewing heterospecific facial expressions: An eye-tracking study of human and monkey viewers}, author = {Kun Guo and Zhihan Li and Yin Yan and Wu Li}, doi = {10.1007/s00221-019-05574-3}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-08-01}, journal = {Experimental Brain Research}, volume = {237}, pages = {2045--2059}, publisher = {Springer Berlin Heidelberg}, abstract = {Common facial expressions of emotion have distinctive patterns of facial muscle movements that are culturally similar among humans, and perceiving these expressions is associated with stereotypical gaze allocation at local facial regions that are characteristic for each expression, such as eyes in angry faces. It is, however, unclear to what extent this ‘universality' view can be extended to process heterospecific facial expressions, and how ‘social learning' process contributes to heterospecific expression perception. In this eye-tracking study, we examined face-viewing gaze allocation of human (including dog owners and non-dog owners) and monkey observers while exploring expressive human, chimpanzee, monkey and dog faces (positive, neutral and negative expressions in human and dog faces; neutral and negative expressions in chimpanzee and monkey faces). Human observers showed species- and experience-dependent expression categorization accuracy. Furthermore, both human and monkey observers demonstrated different face-viewing gaze distributions which were also species dependent. Specifically, humans predominately attended at human eyes but animal mouth when judging facial expressions. Monkeys' gaze distributions in exploring human and monkey faces were qualitatively different from exploring chimpanzee and dog faces. Interestingly, the gaze behaviour of both human and monkey observers were further affected by their prior experience of the viewed species. It seems that facial expression processing is species dependent, and social learning may play a significant role in discriminating even rudimentary types of heterospecific expressions.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Common facial expressions of emotion have distinctive patterns of facial muscle movements that are culturally similar among humans, and perceiving these expressions is associated with stereotypical gaze allocation at local facial regions that are characteristic for each expression, such as eyes in angry faces. It is, however, unclear to what extent this ‘universality' view can be extended to process heterospecific facial expressions, and how ‘social learning' process contributes to heterospecific expression perception. In this eye-tracking study, we examined face-viewing gaze allocation of human (including dog owners and non-dog owners) and monkey observers while exploring expressive human, chimpanzee, monkey and dog faces (positive, neutral and negative expressions in human and dog faces; neutral and negative expressions in chimpanzee and monkey faces). Human observers showed species- and experience-dependent expression categorization accuracy. Furthermore, both human and monkey observers demonstrated different face-viewing gaze distributions which were also species dependent. Specifically, humans predominately attended at human eyes but animal mouth when judging facial expressions. Monkeys' gaze distributions in exploring human and monkey faces were qualitatively different from exploring chimpanzee and dog faces. Interestingly, the gaze behaviour of both human and monkey observers were further affected by their prior experience of the viewed species. It seems that facial expression processing is species dependent, and social learning may play a significant role in discriminating even rudimentary types of heterospecific expressions. |
Rebecca M Foerster; Werner X Schneider Task-irrelevant features in visual working memory influence covert attention: Evidence from a partial report task Journal Article Vision, 3 , pp. 1–14, 2019. @article{Foerster2019a, title = {Task-irrelevant features in visual working memory influence covert attention: Evidence from a partial report task}, author = {Rebecca M Foerster and Werner X Schneider}, doi = {10.3390/vision3030042}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-08-01}, journal = {Vision}, volume = {3}, pages = {1--14}, publisher = {MDPI AG}, abstract = {Selecting a target based on a representation in visual working memory (VWM) affords biasing covert attention towards objects with memory-matching features. Recently, we showed that even task-irrelevant features of a VWM template bias attention. Specifically, when participants had to saccade to a cued shape, distractors sharing the cue's search-irrelevant color captured the eyes. While a saccade always aims at one target location, multiple locations can be attended covertly. Here, we investigated whether covert attention is captured similarly as the eyes. In our partial report task, each trial started with a shape-defined search cue, followed by a fixation cross. Next, two colored shapes, each including a letter, appeared left and right from fixation, followed by masks. The letter inside that shape matching the preceding cue had to be reported. In Experiment 1, either target, distractor, both, or no object matched the cue's irrelevant color. Target-letter reports were most frequent in target-match trials and least frequent in distractor-match trials. Irrelevant cue and target color never matched in Experiment 2. Still, participants reported the distractor more often to the target's disadvantage, when cue and distractor color matched. Thus, irrelevant features of a VWM template can influence covert attention in an involuntarily object-based manner when searching for trial-wise varying targets.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Selecting a target based on a representation in visual working memory (VWM) affords biasing covert attention towards objects with memory-matching features. Recently, we showed that even task-irrelevant features of a VWM template bias attention. Specifically, when participants had to saccade to a cued shape, distractors sharing the cue's search-irrelevant color captured the eyes. While a saccade always aims at one target location, multiple locations can be attended covertly. Here, we investigated whether covert attention is captured similarly as the eyes. In our partial report task, each trial started with a shape-defined search cue, followed by a fixation cross. Next, two colored shapes, each including a letter, appeared left and right from fixation, followed by masks. The letter inside that shape matching the preceding cue had to be reported. In Experiment 1, either target, distractor, both, or no object matched the cue's irrelevant color. Target-letter reports were most frequent in target-match trials and least frequent in distractor-match trials. Irrelevant cue and target color never matched in Experiment 2. Still, participants reported the distractor more often to the target's disadvantage, when cue and distractor color matched. Thus, irrelevant features of a VWM template can influence covert attention in an involuntarily object-based manner when searching for trial-wise varying targets. |
Ramina Adam; Kevin Johnston; Stefan Everling Journal of Neurophysiology, 122 (2), pp. 672–690, 2019. @article{Adam2019, title = {Recovery of contralesional saccade choice and reaction time deficits after a unilateral endothelin-1-induced lesion in the macaque caudal prefrontal cortex}, author = {Ramina Adam and Kevin Johnston and Stefan Everling}, doi = {10.1152/jn.00078.2019}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-08-01}, journal = {Journal of Neurophysiology}, volume = {122}, number = {2}, pages = {672--690}, publisher = {American Physiological Society Bethesda, MD}, abstract = {The caudal primate prefrontal cortex (PFC) is involved in target selection and visually guided saccades through both covert attention and overt orienting eye movements. Unilateral damage to the caudal PFC often leads to decreased awareness of a contralesional target alone, referred to as “neglect,” or when it is presented simultaneously with an ipsilesional target, referred to as “extinction.” In the current study, we examined whether deficits in contralesional target selection were due to contralesional oculomotor deficits, such as slower reaction times. We experimentally induced a focal ischemic lesion in the right caudal PFC of 4 male macaque monkeys using the vasoconstrictor endothelin-1 and measured saccade choice and reaction times on double-stimulus free-choice tasks and single-stimulus trials before and after the lesion. We found that 1) endothelin-1-induced lesions in the caudal PFC produced contralesional target selection deficits that varied in severity and duration based on lesion volume and location; 2) contralesional neglect-like deficits were transient and recovered by week 4 postlesion; 3) contralesional extinction-like deficits were longer lasting and recovered by weeks 8–16 postlesion; 4) contralesional reaction time returned to baseline well before the contralesional choice deficit had recovered; and 5) neither the mean reaction times nor the reaction time distributions could account for the degree of contralesional extinction on the free-choice task throughout recovery. These findings demonstrate that the saccade choice bias observed after a right caudal PFC lesion is not exclusively due to contralesional motor deficits, but instead reflects a combination of impaired motor and attentional processing.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The caudal primate prefrontal cortex (PFC) is involved in target selection and visually guided saccades through both covert attention and overt orienting eye movements. Unilateral damage to the caudal PFC often leads to decreased awareness of a contralesional target alone, referred to as “neglect,” or when it is presented simultaneously with an ipsilesional target, referred to as “extinction.” In the current study, we examined whether deficits in contralesional target selection were due to contralesional oculomotor deficits, such as slower reaction times. We experimentally induced a focal ischemic lesion in the right caudal PFC of 4 male macaque monkeys using the vasoconstrictor endothelin-1 and measured saccade choice and reaction times on double-stimulus free-choice tasks and single-stimulus trials before and after the lesion. We found that 1) endothelin-1-induced lesions in the caudal PFC produced contralesional target selection deficits that varied in severity and duration based on lesion volume and location; 2) contralesional neglect-like deficits were transient and recovered by week 4 postlesion; 3) contralesional extinction-like deficits were longer lasting and recovered by weeks 8–16 postlesion; 4) contralesional reaction time returned to baseline well before the contralesional choice deficit had recovered; and 5) neither the mean reaction times nor the reaction time distributions could account for the degree of contralesional extinction on the free-choice task throughout recovery. These findings demonstrate that the saccade choice bias observed after a right caudal PFC lesion is not exclusively due to contralesional motor deficits, but instead reflects a combination of impaired motor and attentional processing. |
Yipu Wei; Willem M Mak; Jacqueline Evers-Vermeul; Ted J M Sanders Causal connectives as indicators of source information: Evidence from the visual world paradigm Journal Article Acta Psychologica, 198 , pp. 1–13, 2019. @article{Wei2019, title = {Causal connectives as indicators of source information: Evidence from the visual world paradigm}, author = {Yipu Wei and Willem M Mak and Jacqueline Evers-Vermeul and Ted J M Sanders}, doi = {10.1016/J.ACTPSY.2019.102866}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-07-01}, journal = {Acta Psychologica}, volume = {198}, pages = {1--13}, publisher = {North-Holland}, abstract = {Causal relations can be presented as subjective, involving someone's reasoning, or objective, depicting a real-world cause-consequence relation. Subjective relations require longer processing times than objective relations. We hypothesize that the extra time is due to the involvement of a Subject of Consciousness (SoC) in the mental representation of subjective information. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a Visual World Paradigm eye-tracking experiment on Dutch and Chinese connectives that differ in the degree of subjectivity they encode. In both languages, subjective connectives triggered an immediate increased attention to the SoC, compared to objective connectives. Only when the subjectivity information was not expressed by the connective, modal verbs presented later in the sentence induced an increase in looks at the SoC. This focus on the SoC due to the linguistic cues can be explained as the tracking of the information source in the situation models, which continues throughout the sentence.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Causal relations can be presented as subjective, involving someone's reasoning, or objective, depicting a real-world cause-consequence relation. Subjective relations require longer processing times than objective relations. We hypothesize that the extra time is due to the involvement of a Subject of Consciousness (SoC) in the mental representation of subjective information. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a Visual World Paradigm eye-tracking experiment on Dutch and Chinese connectives that differ in the degree of subjectivity they encode. In both languages, subjective connectives triggered an immediate increased attention to the SoC, compared to objective connectives. Only when the subjectivity information was not expressed by the connective, modal verbs presented later in the sentence induced an increase in looks at the SoC. This focus on the SoC due to the linguistic cues can be explained as the tracking of the information source in the situation models, which continues throughout the sentence. |
Peter Vincent; Thomas Parr; David Benrimoh; Karl J Friston With an eye on uncertainty: Modelling pupillary responses to environmental volatility Journal Article PLOS Computational Biology, 15 (7), pp. 1–22, 2019. @article{Vincent2019, title = {With an eye on uncertainty: Modelling pupillary responses to environmental volatility}, author = {Peter Vincent and Thomas Parr and David Benrimoh and Karl J Friston}, editor = {Adrian M Haith}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007126}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-07-01}, journal = {PLOS Computational Biology}, volume = {15}, number = {7}, pages = {1--22}, publisher = {Public Library of Science}, abstract = {Living creatures must accurately infer the nature of their environments. They do this despite being confronted by stochastic and context sensitive contingencies—and so must constantly update their beliefs regarding their uncertainty about what might come next. In this work, we examine how we deal with uncertainty that evolves over time. This prospective uncertainty (or imprecision) is referred to as volatility and has previously been linked to noradrenergic signals that originate in the locus coeruleus. Using pupillary dilatation as a measure of central noradrenergic signalling, we tested the hypothesis that changes in pupil diameter reflect inferences humans make about environmental volatility. To do so, we collected pupillometry data from participants presented with a stream of numbers. We generated these numbers from a process with varying degrees of volatility. By measuring pupillary dilatation in response to these stimuli—and simulating the inferences made by an ideal Bayesian observer of the same stimuli—we demonstrate that humans update their beliefs about environmental contingencies in a Bayes optimal way. We show this by comparing general linear (convolution) models that formalised competing hypotheses about the causes of pupillary changes. We found greater evidence for models that included Bayes optimal estimates of volatility than those without. We additionally explore the interaction between different causes of pupil dilation and suggest a quantitative approach to characterising a person's prior beliefs about volatility.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Living creatures must accurately infer the nature of their environments. They do this despite being confronted by stochastic and context sensitive contingencies—and so must constantly update their beliefs regarding their uncertainty about what might come next. In this work, we examine how we deal with uncertainty that evolves over time. This prospective uncertainty (or imprecision) is referred to as volatility and has previously been linked to noradrenergic signals that originate in the locus coeruleus. Using pupillary dilatation as a measure of central noradrenergic signalling, we tested the hypothesis that changes in pupil diameter reflect inferences humans make about environmental volatility. To do so, we collected pupillometry data from participants presented with a stream of numbers. We generated these numbers from a process with varying degrees of volatility. By measuring pupillary dilatation in response to these stimuli—and simulating the inferences made by an ideal Bayesian observer of the same stimuli—we demonstrate that humans update their beliefs about environmental contingencies in a Bayes optimal way. We show this by comparing general linear (convolution) models that formalised competing hypotheses about the causes of pupillary changes. We found greater evidence for models that included Bayes optimal estimates of volatility than those without. We additionally explore the interaction between different causes of pupil dilation and suggest a quantitative approach to characterising a person's prior beliefs about volatility. |
Mervyn G Thomas; Gail D E Maconachie; Cris S Constantinescu; Wai-Man Chan; Brenda Barry; Michael Hisaund; Viral Sheth; Helen J Kuht; Rob A Dineen; Sreemathi Harieaswar; Elizabeth C Engle; Irene Gottlob Congenital monocular elevation deficiency associated with a novel TUBB3 gene variant Journal Article British Journal of Ophthalmology, pp. 1–4, 2019. @article{Thomas2019, title = {Congenital monocular elevation deficiency associated with a novel TUBB3 gene variant}, author = {Mervyn G Thomas and Gail D E Maconachie and Cris S Constantinescu and Wai-Man Chan and Brenda Barry and Michael Hisaund and Viral Sheth and Helen J Kuht and Rob A Dineen and Sreemathi Harieaswar and Elizabeth C Engle and Irene Gottlob}, doi = {10.1136/bjophthalmol-2019-314293}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-07-01}, journal = {British Journal of Ophthalmology}, pages = {1--4}, publisher = {BMJ Publishing Group Ltd}, abstract = {BACKGROUND :The genetic basis of monocular elevation deficiency (MED) is unclear. It has previously been considered to arise due to a supranuclear abnormality. METHODS: Two brothers with MED were referred to Leicester Royal Infirmary, UK from the local opticians. Their father had bilateral ptosis and was unable to elevate both eyes, consistent with the diagnosis of congenital fibrosis of extraocular muscles (CFEOM). Candidate sequencing was performed in all family members. RESULTS: Both affected siblings (aged 7 and 12 years) were unable to elevate the right eye. Their father had bilateral ptosis, left esotropia and bilateral limitation of elevation. Chin up head posture was present in the older sibling and the father. Bell's phenomenon and vertical rotational vestibulo-ocular reflex were absent in the right eye for both children. Mild bilateral facial nerve palsy was present in the older sibling and the father. Both siblings had slight difficulty with tandem gait. MRI revealed hypoplastic oculomotor nerve. Left anterior insular focal cortical dysplasia was seen in the older sibling. Sequencing of TUBB3 revealed a novel heterozygous variant (c.1263GtextgreaterC, p.E421D) segregating with the phenotype. This residue is in the C-terminal H12 $alpha$-helix of $beta$-tubulin and is one of three putative kinesin binding sites. CONCLUSION: We show that familial MED can arise from a TUBB3 variant and could be considered a limited form of CFEOM. Neurological features such as mild facial palsy and cortical malformations can be present in patients with MED. Thus, in individuals with congenital MED, consideration may be made for TUBB3 mutation screening.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } BACKGROUND :The genetic basis of monocular elevation deficiency (MED) is unclear. It has previously been considered to arise due to a supranuclear abnormality. METHODS: Two brothers with MED were referred to Leicester Royal Infirmary, UK from the local opticians. Their father had bilateral ptosis and was unable to elevate both eyes, consistent with the diagnosis of congenital fibrosis of extraocular muscles (CFEOM). Candidate sequencing was performed in all family members. RESULTS: Both affected siblings (aged 7 and 12 years) were unable to elevate the right eye. Their father had bilateral ptosis, left esotropia and bilateral limitation of elevation. Chin up head posture was present in the older sibling and the father. Bell's phenomenon and vertical rotational vestibulo-ocular reflex were absent in the right eye for both children. Mild bilateral facial nerve palsy was present in the older sibling and the father. Both siblings had slight difficulty with tandem gait. MRI revealed hypoplastic oculomotor nerve. Left anterior insular focal cortical dysplasia was seen in the older sibling. Sequencing of TUBB3 revealed a novel heterozygous variant (c.1263GtextgreaterC, p.E421D) segregating with the phenotype. This residue is in the C-terminal H12 $alpha$-helix of $beta$-tubulin and is one of three putative kinesin binding sites. CONCLUSION: We show that familial MED can arise from a TUBB3 variant and could be considered a limited form of CFEOM. Neurological features such as mild facial palsy and cortical malformations can be present in patients with MED. Thus, in individuals with congenital MED, consideration may be made for TUBB3 mutation screening. |
Florian Sandhaeger; Constantin von Nicolai; Earl K Miller; Markus Siegel Monkey EEG links neuronal color and motion information across species and scales Journal Article eLife, 8 , pp. 1–21, 2019. @article{Sandhaeger2019, title = {Monkey EEG links neuronal color and motion information across species and scales}, author = {Florian Sandhaeger and Constantin von Nicolai and Earl K Miller and Markus Siegel}, doi = {10.7554/elife.45645}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-07-01}, journal = {eLife}, volume = {8}, pages = {1--21}, publisher = {eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd}, abstract = {It remains challenging to relate EEG and MEG to underlying circuit processes and comparable experiments on both spatial scales are rare. To close this gap between invasive and non-invasive electrophysiology we developed and recorded human-comparable EEG in macaque monkeys during visual stimulation with colored dynamic random dot patterns. Furthermore, we performed simultaneous microelectrode recordings from 6 areas of macaque cortex and human MEG. Motion direction and color information were accessible in all signals. Tuning of the non-invasive signals was similar to V4 and IT, but not to dorsal and frontal areas. Thus, MEG and EEG were dominated by early visual and ventral stream sources. Source level analysis revealed corresponding information and latency gradients across cortex. We show how information-based methods and monkey EEG can identify analogous properties of visual processing in signals spanning spatial scales from single units to MEG – a valuable framework for relating human and animal studies. DOI:}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } It remains challenging to relate EEG and MEG to underlying circuit processes and comparable experiments on both spatial scales are rare. To close this gap between invasive and non-invasive electrophysiology we developed and recorded human-comparable EEG in macaque monkeys during visual stimulation with colored dynamic random dot patterns. Furthermore, we performed simultaneous microelectrode recordings from 6 areas of macaque cortex and human MEG. Motion direction and color information were accessible in all signals. Tuning of the non-invasive signals was similar to V4 and IT, but not to dorsal and frontal areas. Thus, MEG and EEG were dominated by early visual and ventral stream sources. Source level analysis revealed corresponding information and latency gradients across cortex. We show how information-based methods and monkey EEG can identify analogous properties of visual processing in signals spanning spatial scales from single units to MEG – a valuable framework for relating human and animal studies. DOI: |
Jessica Robin; Rosanna K Olsen Scenes facilitate associative memory and integration Journal Article Learning & Memory, 26 (7), pp. 252–261, 2019. @article{Robin2019, title = {Scenes facilitate associative memory and integration}, author = {Jessica Robin and Rosanna K Olsen}, doi = {10.1101/lm.049486.119}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-07-01}, journal = {Learning & Memory}, volume = {26}, number = {7}, pages = {252--261}, publisher = {Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press}, abstract = {How do we form mental links between related items? Forming associations between representations is a key feature of episodic memory and provides the foundation for learning and guiding behavior. Theories suggest that spatial context plays a supportive role in episodic memory, providing a scaffold on which to form associations, but this has mostly been tested in the context of autobiographical memory. We examined the memory boosting effect of spatial stimuli in memory using an associative inference paradigm combined with eye-tracking. Across two experiments, we found that memory was better for associations that included scenes, even indirectly, compared to objects and faces. Eye-tracking measures indicated that these effects may be partly mediated by greater fixations to scenes compared to objects, but did not explain the differences between scenes and faces. These results suggest that scenes facilitate associative memory and integration across memories, demonstrating evidence in support of theories of scenes as a spatial scaffold for episodic memory. A shared spatial context may promote learning and could potentially be leveraged to improve learning and memory in educational settings or for memory-impaired populations.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } How do we form mental links between related items? Forming associations between representations is a key feature of episodic memory and provides the foundation for learning and guiding behavior. Theories suggest that spatial context plays a supportive role in episodic memory, providing a scaffold on which to form associations, but this has mostly been tested in the context of autobiographical memory. We examined the memory boosting effect of spatial stimuli in memory using an associative inference paradigm combined with eye-tracking. Across two experiments, we found that memory was better for associations that included scenes, even indirectly, compared to objects and faces. Eye-tracking measures indicated that these effects may be partly mediated by greater fixations to scenes compared to objects, but did not explain the differences between scenes and faces. These results suggest that scenes facilitate associative memory and integration across memories, demonstrating evidence in support of theories of scenes as a spatial scaffold for episodic memory. A shared spatial context may promote learning and could potentially be leveraged to improve learning and memory in educational settings or for memory-impaired populations. |
Charlotte R Pennington; Adam W Qureshi; Rebecca L Monk; Katie Greenwood; Derek Heim Beer? Over here! Examining attentional bias towards alcoholic and appetitive stimuli in a visual search eye-tracking task Journal Article Psychopharmacology, 236 , pp. 3465–3476, 2019. @article{Pennington2019b, title = {Beer? Over here! Examining attentional bias towards alcoholic and appetitive stimuli in a visual search eye-tracking task}, author = {Charlotte R Pennington and Adam W Qureshi and Rebecca L Monk and Katie Greenwood and Derek Heim}, doi = {10.1007/s00213-019-05313-0}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-07-01}, journal = {Psychopharmacology}, volume = {236}, pages = {3465--3476}, abstract = {RATIONALE: Experimental tasks that demonstrate alcohol-related attentional bias typically expose participants to single-stimulus targets (e.g. addiction Stroop, visual probe, anti-saccade task), which may not correspond fully with real-world contexts where alcoholic and non-alcoholic cues simultaneously compete for attention. Moreover, alcoholic stimuli are rarely matched to other appetitive non-alcoholic stimuli. OBJECTIVES: To address these limitations by utilising a conjunction search eye-tracking task and matched stimuli to examine alcohol-related attentional bias. METHODS: Thirty social drinkers (Mage = 19.87}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } RATIONALE: Experimental tasks that demonstrate alcohol-related attentional bias typically expose participants to single-stimulus targets (e.g. addiction Stroop, visual probe, anti-saccade task), which may not correspond fully with real-world contexts where alcoholic and non-alcoholic cues simultaneously compete for attention. Moreover, alcoholic stimuli are rarely matched to other appetitive non-alcoholic stimuli. OBJECTIVES: To address these limitations by utilising a conjunction search eye-tracking task and matched stimuli to examine alcohol-related attentional bias. METHODS: Thirty social drinkers (Mage = 19.87 |
Kristin Koller; Christopher M Hatton; Robert D Rogers; Robert D Rafal Stria terminalis microstructure in humans predicts variability in orienting towards threat Journal Article European Journal of Neuroscience, 50 , pp. 3804–3813, 2019. @article{Koller2019, title = {Stria terminalis microstructure in humans predicts variability in orienting towards threat}, author = {Kristin Koller and Christopher M Hatton and Robert D Rogers and Robert D Rafal}, doi = {10.1111/ejn.14504}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-07-01}, journal = {European Journal of Neuroscience}, volume = {50}, pages = {3804--3813}, publisher = {Wiley}, abstract = {Current concepts of the extended amygdala posit that basolateral to central amygdala projections mediate fear-conditioned autonomic alerting, whereas projections to the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis mediate sustained anxiety. Using diffusion tensor imaging tractography in humans, we show that microstructure of the stria terminalis correlates with an orienting bias towards threat in a saccade decision task, providing the first evidence that this circuit supports decisions guiding evaluation of threatening stimuli.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Current concepts of the extended amygdala posit that basolateral to central amygdala projections mediate fear-conditioned autonomic alerting, whereas projections to the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis mediate sustained anxiety. Using diffusion tensor imaging tractography in humans, we show that microstructure of the stria terminalis correlates with an orienting bias towards threat in a saccade decision task, providing the first evidence that this circuit supports decisions guiding evaluation of threatening stimuli. |
Gernot Horstmanna; Daniel Ernsta; Stefanie Becker Dwelling on distractors varying in target-distractor similarity Journal Article Acta Psychologica, 198 , pp. 1–10, 2019. @article{Horstmanna2019, title = {Dwelling on distractors varying in target-distractor similarity}, author = {Gernot Horstmanna and Daniel Ernsta and Stefanie Becker}, doi = {10.1016/J.CELREP.2019.05.072}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-07-01}, journal = {Acta Psychologica}, volume = {198}, pages = {1--10}, publisher = {North-Holland}, abstract = {Present day models of visual search focus on explaining search efficiency by visual guidance: The target guides attention to the target's position better in more efficient than in less efficient search. The time spent processing the distractor, however, is set to a constant in these models. In contrast to this assumption, recent studies found that dwelling on distractors is longer in more inefficient search. Previous experiments in support of this contention all presented the same distractors across all conditions, while varying the targets. While this procedure has its virtues, it confounds the manipulation of search efficiency with target type. Here we use the same targets over the entire experiment, while varying search efficiency by presenting different types of distractors. Eye fixation behavior was used to infer the amount of distractor dwelling, skipping, and revisiting. The results replicate previous results, with similarity affecting dwelling, and dwelling in turn affecting search performance. A regression analysis confirmed that variations in dwelling account for a large amount of variance in search speed, and that the similarity effect in dwelling accounts for the similarity effect in overall search performance.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Present day models of visual search focus on explaining search efficiency by visual guidance: The target guides attention to the target's position better in more efficient than in less efficient search. The time spent processing the distractor, however, is set to a constant in these models. In contrast to this assumption, recent studies found that dwelling on distractors is longer in more inefficient search. Previous experiments in support of this contention all presented the same distractors across all conditions, while varying the targets. While this procedure has its virtues, it confounds the manipulation of search efficiency with target type. Here we use the same targets over the entire experiment, while varying search efficiency by presenting different types of distractors. Eye fixation behavior was used to infer the amount of distractor dwelling, skipping, and revisiting. The results replicate previous results, with similarity affecting dwelling, and dwelling in turn affecting search performance. A regression analysis confirmed that variations in dwelling account for a large amount of variance in search speed, and that the similarity effect in dwelling accounts for the similarity effect in overall search performance. |
Jesse A Harris; Katy Carlson Correlate not optional: PP sprouting and parallelism in “much less” ellipsis Journal Article Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics, 4 (1), pp. 1–35, 2019. @article{Harris2019, title = {Correlate not optional: PP sprouting and parallelism in “much less” ellipsis}, author = {Jesse A Harris and Katy Carlson}, doi = {10.5334/gjgl.707}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-07-01}, journal = {Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics}, volume = {4}, number = {1}, pages = {1--35}, publisher = {Ubiquity Press}, abstract = {Clauses that are parallel in form and meaning show processing advantages in ellipsis and coordination structures (Frazier et al. 1984; Kehler 2000; Carlson 2002). However, the constructions that have been used to show a parallelism advantage do not always require a strong semantic relationship between clauses. We present two eye tracking while reading studies on focus-sensitive coordination structures, an understudied form of ellipsis which requires the generation of a contextually salient semantic relation or scale between conjuncts. However, when the remnant of ellipsis lacks an overt correlate in the matrix clause and must be “sprouted” in the ellipsis site, the relation between clauses is simplified to entailment. Instead of facilitation for sentences with an entailment relation between clauses, our online processing results suggest that violating parallelism is costly, even when doing so could ease the semantic relations required for interpretation.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Clauses that are parallel in form and meaning show processing advantages in ellipsis and coordination structures (Frazier et al. 1984; Kehler 2000; Carlson 2002). However, the constructions that have been used to show a parallelism advantage do not always require a strong semantic relationship between clauses. We present two eye tracking while reading studies on focus-sensitive coordination structures, an understudied form of ellipsis which requires the generation of a contextually salient semantic relation or scale between conjuncts. However, when the remnant of ellipsis lacks an overt correlate in the matrix clause and must be “sprouted” in the ellipsis site, the relation between clauses is simplified to entailment. Instead of facilitation for sentences with an entailment relation between clauses, our online processing results suggest that violating parallelism is costly, even when doing so could ease the semantic relations required for interpretation. |
Alexander Goettker; Doris I Braun; Karl R Gegenfurtner Dynamic combination of position and motion information when tracking moving targets Journal Article Journal of Vision, 19 (7), pp. 1–22, 2019. @article{Goettker2019a, title = {Dynamic combination of position and motion information when tracking moving targets}, author = {Alexander Goettker and Doris I Braun and Karl R Gegenfurtner}, doi = {10.1167/19.7.2}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-07-01}, journal = {Journal of Vision}, volume = {19}, number = {7}, pages = {1--22}, publisher = {The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology}, abstract = {To accurately foveate a moving target, the oculomotor system needs to estimate the position of the target at the saccade end, based on information about its position and ongoing movement, while accounting for neuronal delays and execution time of the saccade. We investigated human interceptive saccades and pursuit responses to moving targets defined by high and low luminance contrast or by chromatic contrast only (isoluminance). We used step-ramps with perpendicular directions between vertical target steps of 10 deg/s and horizontal ramps of 2.5 to 20 deg/s to separate errors with respect to the position step of the target in the vertical dimension, and errors related to target motion in the horizontal dimension. Interceptive saccades to targets of high and low luminance contrast landed close to the actual target positions, suggesting relatively accurate estimates of the amount of target displacement. Interceptive saccades to isoluminant targets were less accurate. They landed at positions the target had on average 100 ms before saccade onset. One account of this finding is that the integration of target motion is compromised for isoluminant targets moving in the periphery. In this case, the oculomotor system can use an accurate, but delayed position component, but cannot account for target movement. This deficit was also present for the postsaccadic pursuit speed. For the two luminance conditions, pursuit direction and speed were adjusted depending on the saccadic landing position. The rapid postsaccadic pursuit adjustments suggest shared position- and motion-related signals of target and eye for saccade and pursuit control.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } To accurately foveate a moving target, the oculomotor system needs to estimate the position of the target at the saccade end, based on information about its position and ongoing movement, while accounting for neuronal delays and execution time of the saccade. We investigated human interceptive saccades and pursuit responses to moving targets defined by high and low luminance contrast or by chromatic contrast only (isoluminance). We used step-ramps with perpendicular directions between vertical target steps of 10 deg/s and horizontal ramps of 2.5 to 20 deg/s to separate errors with respect to the position step of the target in the vertical dimension, and errors related to target motion in the horizontal dimension. Interceptive saccades to targets of high and low luminance contrast landed close to the actual target positions, suggesting relatively accurate estimates of the amount of target displacement. Interceptive saccades to isoluminant targets were less accurate. They landed at positions the target had on average 100 ms before saccade onset. One account of this finding is that the integration of target motion is compromised for isoluminant targets moving in the periphery. In this case, the oculomotor system can use an accurate, but delayed position component, but cannot account for target movement. This deficit was also present for the postsaccadic pursuit speed. For the two luminance conditions, pursuit direction and speed were adjusted depending on the saccadic landing position. The rapid postsaccadic pursuit adjustments suggest shared position- and motion-related signals of target and eye for saccade and pursuit control. |
Sanuji Gajamange; Annie Shelton; Meaghan Clough; Owen White; Joanne Fielding; Scott Kolbe Functional correlates of cognitive dysfunction in clinically isolated syndromes Journal Article PLOS ONE, 14 (7), pp. 1–13, 2019. @article{Gajamange2019, title = {Functional correlates of cognitive dysfunction in clinically isolated syndromes}, author = {Sanuji Gajamange and Annie Shelton and Meaghan Clough and Owen White and Joanne Fielding and Scott Kolbe}, editor = {Friedemann Paul}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0219590}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-07-01}, journal = {PLOS ONE}, volume = {14}, number = {7}, pages = {1--13}, publisher = {Public Library of Science}, abstract = {Cognitive dysfunction can be identified in patients with clinically isolated syndromes suggestive of multiple sclerosis using ocular motor testing. This study aimed to identify the functional neural correlates of cognitive dysfunction in patients with clinically isolated syndrome using MRI. Eighteen patients with clinically isolated syndrome and 17 healthy controls were recruited. Subjects underwent standard neurological and neuropsychological testing. Subjects also underwent functional MRI (fMRI) during a cognitive ocular motor task, involving pro-saccade (direct gaze towards target) and anti-saccade (direct gaze away from target) trials. Ocular motor performance variables (averaged response time and error rate) were calculated for each subject. Patients showed a trend towards a greater rate of anti-saccade errors (p = 0.09) compared to controls. Compared to controls, patients exhibited increased activation in the right postcentral, right supramarginal gyrus, and the right parietal operculum during the anti-saccadetextgreaterpro-saccade contrast. This study demonstrated that changes in functional organisation of cognitive brain networks is associated with subtle cognitive changes in patients with clinically isolated syndrome.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Cognitive dysfunction can be identified in patients with clinically isolated syndromes suggestive of multiple sclerosis using ocular motor testing. This study aimed to identify the functional neural correlates of cognitive dysfunction in patients with clinically isolated syndrome using MRI. Eighteen patients with clinically isolated syndrome and 17 healthy controls were recruited. Subjects underwent standard neurological and neuropsychological testing. Subjects also underwent functional MRI (fMRI) during a cognitive ocular motor task, involving pro-saccade (direct gaze towards target) and anti-saccade (direct gaze away from target) trials. Ocular motor performance variables (averaged response time and error rate) were calculated for each subject. Patients showed a trend towards a greater rate of anti-saccade errors (p = 0.09) compared to controls. Compared to controls, patients exhibited increased activation in the right postcentral, right supramarginal gyrus, and the right parietal operculum during the anti-saccadetextgreaterpro-saccade contrast. This study demonstrated that changes in functional organisation of cognitive brain networks is associated with subtle cognitive changes in patients with clinically isolated syndrome. |
Guillaume Doucet; Roberto A Gulli; Benjamin W Corrigan; Lyndon R Duong; Julio C Martinez‐Trujillo Modulation of local field potentials and neuronal activity in primate hippocampus during saccades Journal Article Hippocampus, pp. 1–18, 2019. @article{Doucet2019, title = {Modulation of local field potentials and neuronal activity in primate hippocampus during saccades}, author = {Guillaume Doucet and Roberto A Gulli and Benjamin W Corrigan and Lyndon R Duong and Julio C Martinez‐Trujillo}, doi = {10.1002/hipo.23140}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-07-01}, journal = {Hippocampus}, pages = {1--18}, publisher = {Wiley}, abstract = {Primates use saccades to gather information about objects and their relative spatial arrangement, a process essential for visual perception and memory. It has been proposed that signals linked to saccades reset the phase of local field potential (LFP) oscillations in the hippocampus, providing a temporal window for visual signals to activate neurons in this region and influence memory formation. We investigated this issue by measuring hippocampal LFPs and spikes in two macaques performing different tasks with unconstrained eye movements. We found that LFP phase clustering (PC) in the alpha/beta (8-16 Hz) frequencies followed foveation onsets, while PC in frequencies lower than 8 Hz followed spontaneous saccades, even on a homogeneous background. Saccades to a solid grey background were not followed by increases in local neuronal firing, whereas saccades toward appearing visual stimuli were. Finally, saccade parameters correlated with LFPs phase and amplitude: saccade direction correlated with delta (≤4 Hz) phase, and saccade amplitude with theta (4-8 Hz) power. Our results suggest that signals linked to saccades reach the hippocampus, producing synchronization of delta/theta LFPs without a general activation of local neurons. Moreover, some visual inputs co-occurring with saccades produce LFP synchronization in the alpha/beta bands and elevated neuronal firing. Our findings support the hypothesis that saccade-related signals enact sensory input-dependent plasticity and therefore memory formation in the primate hippocampus.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Primates use saccades to gather information about objects and their relative spatial arrangement, a process essential for visual perception and memory. It has been proposed that signals linked to saccades reset the phase of local field potential (LFP) oscillations in the hippocampus, providing a temporal window for visual signals to activate neurons in this region and influence memory formation. We investigated this issue by measuring hippocampal LFPs and spikes in two macaques performing different tasks with unconstrained eye movements. We found that LFP phase clustering (PC) in the alpha/beta (8-16 Hz) frequencies followed foveation onsets, while PC in frequencies lower than 8 Hz followed spontaneous saccades, even on a homogeneous background. Saccades to a solid grey background were not followed by increases in local neuronal firing, whereas saccades toward appearing visual stimuli were. Finally, saccade parameters correlated with LFPs phase and amplitude: saccade direction correlated with delta (≤4 Hz) phase, and saccade amplitude with theta (4-8 Hz) power. Our results suggest that signals linked to saccades reach the hippocampus, producing synchronization of delta/theta LFPs without a general activation of local neurons. Moreover, some visual inputs co-occurring with saccades produce LFP synchronization in the alpha/beta bands and elevated neuronal firing. Our findings support the hypothesis that saccade-related signals enact sensory input-dependent plasticity and therefore memory formation in the primate hippocampus. |
Lijing Chen; Kevin B Paterson; Xingshan Li; Lin Li; Yufang Yang Pragmatic influences on sentence integration: Evidence from eye movements Journal Article Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, pp. 1–10, 2019. @article{Chen2019b, title = {Pragmatic influences on sentence integration: Evidence from eye movements}, author = {Lijing Chen and Kevin B Paterson and Xingshan Li and Lin Li and Yufang Yang}, doi = {10.1177/1747021819859829}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-07-01}, journal = {Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology}, pages = {1--10}, publisher = {SAGE PublicationsSage UK: London, England}, abstract = {To understand a discourse, readers must rapidly process semantic and syntactic information and extract the pragmatic information these sources imply. An important question concerns how this pragmatic information influences discourse processing in return. We address this issue in two eye movement experiments that investigate the influence of pragmatic inferences on the processing of inter-sentence integration. In Experiments 1a and 1b, participants read two-sentence discourses in Chinese in which the first sentence introduced an event and the second described its consequence, where the sentences were linked using either the causal connective “suoyi” (meaning “so” or “therefore”) or not. The second sentence included a target word that was unmarked or marked using the focus particle “zhiyou” (meaning “only”) in Experiment 1a or “shi” (equivalent to an it-cleft) in Experiment 1b. These particles have the pragmatic function of implying a contrast between a target element and its alternatives. The results showed that while the causal connective facilitated the processing of unmarked words in causal contexts (a connective facilitation effect), this effect was eliminated by the presence of the focus particle. This implies that contrastive information is inferred sufficiently rapidly during reading that it can influence semantic processes involved in sentence integration. Experiment 2 showed that disruption due to conflict between the processing requirements of focus and inter-sentence integration occurred only in causal and not adversative connective contexts, confirming that processing difficulty occurred when a contrastive relationship was not possible.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } To understand a discourse, readers must rapidly process semantic and syntactic information and extract the pragmatic information these sources imply. An important question concerns how this pragmatic information influences discourse processing in return. We address this issue in two eye movement experiments that investigate the influence of pragmatic inferences on the processing of inter-sentence integration. In Experiments 1a and 1b, participants read two-sentence discourses in Chinese in which the first sentence introduced an event and the second described its consequence, where the sentences were linked using either the causal connective “suoyi” (meaning “so” or “therefore”) or not. The second sentence included a target word that was unmarked or marked using the focus particle “zhiyou” (meaning “only”) in Experiment 1a or “shi” (equivalent to an it-cleft) in Experiment 1b. These particles have the pragmatic function of implying a contrast between a target element and its alternatives. The results showed that while the causal connective facilitated the processing of unmarked words in causal contexts (a connective facilitation effect), this effect was eliminated by the presence of the focus particle. This implies that contrastive information is inferred sufficiently rapidly during reading that it can influence semantic processes involved in sentence integration. Experiment 2 showed that disruption due to conflict between the processing requirements of focus and inter-sentence integration occurred only in causal and not adversative connective contexts, confirming that processing difficulty occurred when a contrastive relationship was not possible. |
Benjamin T Carter; Steven G Luke Data in Brief, 25 , pp. 1–21, 2019. @article{Carter2019a, title = {The effect of convolving word length, word frequency, function word predictability and first pass reading time in the analysis of a fixation-related fMRI dataset}, author = {Benjamin T Carter and Steven G Luke}, doi = {10.1016/J.DIB.2019.104171}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-07-01}, journal = {Data in Brief}, volume = {25}, pages = {1--21}, publisher = {Elsevier}, abstract = {The data presented in this document was created to explore the effect of including or excluding word length, word frequency, the lexical predictability of function words and first pass reading time (or the duration of the first fixation on a word) as either baseline regressors or duration modulators on the final analysis for a fixation-related fMRI investigation of linguistic processing. The effect of these regressors was a central question raised during the review of Linguistic networks associated with lexical, semantic and syntactic predictability in reading: A fixation-related fMRI study [1]. Three datasets were created and compared to the original dataset to determine their effect. The first examines the effect of adding word length and word frequency as baseline regressors. The second examines the effect of removing first pass reading time as a duration modulator. The third examines the inclusion of function word predictability into the baseline hemodynamic response function. Statistical maps were created for each dataset and compared to the primary dataset (published in [1]) across the linguistic conditions of the initial dataset (lexical predictability, semantic predictability or syntax predictability).}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The data presented in this document was created to explore the effect of including or excluding word length, word frequency, the lexical predictability of function words and first pass reading time (or the duration of the first fixation on a word) as either baseline regressors or duration modulators on the final analysis for a fixation-related fMRI investigation of linguistic processing. The effect of these regressors was a central question raised during the review of Linguistic networks associated with lexical, semantic and syntactic predictability in reading: A fixation-related fMRI study [1]. Three datasets were created and compared to the original dataset to determine their effect. The first examines the effect of adding word length and word frequency as baseline regressors. The second examines the effect of removing first pass reading time as a duration modulator. The third examines the inclusion of function word predictability into the baseline hemodynamic response function. Statistical maps were created for each dataset and compared to the primary dataset (published in [1]) across the linguistic conditions of the initial dataset (lexical predictability, semantic predictability or syntax predictability). |
Arielle Borovsky; Ryan E Peters Vocabulary size and structure affects real-time lexical recognition in 18-month-olds Journal Article PLOS ONE, 14 (7), pp. 1–21, 2019. @article{Borovsky2019, title = {Vocabulary size and structure affects real-time lexical recognition in 18-month-olds}, author = {Arielle Borovsky and Ryan E Peters}, editor = {Masatoshi Koizumi}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0219290}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-07-01}, journal = {PLOS ONE}, volume = {14}, number = {7}, pages = {1--21}, publisher = {Public Library of Science}, abstract = {The mature lexicon encodes semantic relations between words, and these connections can alternately facilitate and interfere with language processing. We explore the emergence of these processing dynamics in 18-month-olds (N = 79) using a novel approach that calculates individualized semantic structure at multiple granularities in participants' productive vocabularies. Participants completed two interleaved eye-tracked word recognition tasks involving semantically unrelated and related picture contexts, which sought to measure the impact of lexical facilitation and interference on processing, respectively. Semantic structure and vocabulary size differentially impacted processing in each task. Category level structure facilitated word recognition in 18-month-olds with smaller productive vocabularies, while overall lexical connectivity interfered with word recognition for toddlers with relatively larger vocabularies. The results suggest that, while semantic structure at multiple granularities is measurable even in small lexicons, mechanisms of semantic interference and facilitation are driven by the development of structure at different granularities. We consider these findings in light of accounts of adult word recognition that posits that different levels of structure index strong and weak activation from nearby and distant semantic neighbors. We also consider further directions for developmental change in these patterns.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The mature lexicon encodes semantic relations between words, and these connections can alternately facilitate and interfere with language processing. We explore the emergence of these processing dynamics in 18-month-olds (N = 79) using a novel approach that calculates individualized semantic structure at multiple granularities in participants' productive vocabularies. Participants completed two interleaved eye-tracked word recognition tasks involving semantically unrelated and related picture contexts, which sought to measure the impact of lexical facilitation and interference on processing, respectively. Semantic structure and vocabulary size differentially impacted processing in each task. Category level structure facilitated word recognition in 18-month-olds with smaller productive vocabularies, while overall lexical connectivity interfered with word recognition for toddlers with relatively larger vocabularies. The results suggest that, while semantic structure at multiple granularities is measurable even in small lexicons, mechanisms of semantic interference and facilitation are driven by the development of structure at different granularities. We consider these findings in light of accounts of adult word recognition that posits that different levels of structure index strong and weak activation from nearby and distant semantic neighbors. We also consider further directions for developmental change in these patterns. |
Hans A Trukenbrod; Simon Barthelmé; Felix A Wichmann; Ralf Engbert Spatial statistics for gaze patterns in scene viewing: Effects of repeated viewing Journal Article Journal of Vision, 19 (6), pp. 1–19, 2019. @article{Trukenbrod2019, title = {Spatial statistics for gaze patterns in scene viewing: Effects of repeated viewing}, author = {Hans A Trukenbrod and Simon Barthelmé and Felix A Wichmann and Ralf Engbert}, doi = {10.1167/19.6.5}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-06-01}, journal = {Journal of Vision}, volume = {19}, number = {6}, pages = {1--19}, publisher = {The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology}, abstract = {Scene viewing is used to study attentional selection in complex but still controlled environments. One of the main observations on eye movements during scene viewing is the inhomogeneous distribution of fixation locations: While some parts of an image are fixated by almost all observers and are inspected repeatedly by the same observer, other image parts remain unfixated by observers even after long exploration intervals. Here, we apply spatial point process methods to investigate the relationship between pairs of fixations. More precisely, we use the pair correlation function, a powerful statistical tool, to evaluate dependencies between fixation locations along individual scanpaths. We demonstrate that aggregation of fixation locations within 4° is stronger than expected from chance. Furthermore, the pair correlation function reveals stronger aggregation of fixations when the same image is presented a second time. We use simulations of a dynamical model to show that a narrower spatial attentional span may explain differences in pair correlations between the first and the second inspection of the same image.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Scene viewing is used to study attentional selection in complex but still controlled environments. One of the main observations on eye movements during scene viewing is the inhomogeneous distribution of fixation locations: While some parts of an image are fixated by almost all observers and are inspected repeatedly by the same observer, other image parts remain unfixated by observers even after long exploration intervals. Here, we apply spatial point process methods to investigate the relationship between pairs of fixations. More precisely, we use the pair correlation function, a powerful statistical tool, to evaluate dependencies between fixation locations along individual scanpaths. We demonstrate that aggregation of fixation locations within 4° is stronger than expected from chance. Furthermore, the pair correlation function reveals stronger aggregation of fixations when the same image is presented a second time. We use simulations of a dynamical model to show that a narrower spatial attentional span may explain differences in pair correlations between the first and the second inspection of the same image. |
Emma E M Stewart; Alexander C Schütz Transsaccadic integration is dominated by early, independent noise Journal Article Journal of Vision, 19 (6), pp. 1–19, 2019. @article{Stewart2019b, title = {Transsaccadic integration is dominated by early, independent noise}, author = {Emma E M Stewart and Alexander C Schütz}, doi = {10.1167/19.6.17}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-06-01}, journal = {Journal of Vision}, volume = {19}, number = {6}, pages = {1--19}, publisher = {The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology}, abstract = {Humans are able to integrate pre- and postsaccadic percepts of an object across saccades to maintain perceptual stability. Previous studies have used Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) to determine that integration occurs in a near-optimal manner. Here, we compared three different models to investigate the mechanism of integration in more detail: an early noise model, where noise is added to the pre- and postsaccadic signals before integration occurs; a late-noise model, where noise is added to the integrated signal after integration occurs; and a temporal summation model, where integration benefits arise from the longer transsaccadic presentation duration compared to pre- and postsaccadic presentation only. We also measured spatiotemporal aspects of integration to determine whether integration can occur for very brief stimulus durations, across two hemifields, and in spatiotopic and retinotopic coordinates. Pre-, post-, and transsaccadic performance was measured at different stimulus presentation durations, both at the saccade target and a location where the pre- and postsaccadic stimuli were presented in different hemifields across the saccade. Results showed that for both within- and between-hemifields conditions, integration could occur when pre- and postsaccadic stimuli were presented only briefly, and that the pattern of integration followed an early noise model. Whereas integration occurred when the pre- and post-saccadic stimuli were presented in the same spatiotopic coordinates, there was no integration when they were presented in the same retinotopic coordinates. This contrast suggests that transsaccadic integration is limited by early, independent, sensory noise acting separately on pre- and postsaccadic signals.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Humans are able to integrate pre- and postsaccadic percepts of an object across saccades to maintain perceptual stability. Previous studies have used Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) to determine that integration occurs in a near-optimal manner. Here, we compared three different models to investigate the mechanism of integration in more detail: an early noise model, where noise is added to the pre- and postsaccadic signals before integration occurs; a late-noise model, where noise is added to the integrated signal after integration occurs; and a temporal summation model, where integration benefits arise from the longer transsaccadic presentation duration compared to pre- and postsaccadic presentation only. We also measured spatiotemporal aspects of integration to determine whether integration can occur for very brief stimulus durations, across two hemifields, and in spatiotopic and retinotopic coordinates. Pre-, post-, and transsaccadic performance was measured at different stimulus presentation durations, both at the saccade target and a location where the pre- and postsaccadic stimuli were presented in different hemifields across the saccade. Results showed that for both within- and between-hemifields conditions, integration could occur when pre- and postsaccadic stimuli were presented only briefly, and that the pattern of integration followed an early noise model. Whereas integration occurred when the pre- and post-saccadic stimuli were presented in the same spatiotopic coordinates, there was no integration when they were presented in the same retinotopic coordinates. This contrast suggests that transsaccadic integration is limited by early, independent, sensory noise acting separately on pre- and postsaccadic signals. |
Andrea F M Petrella; Glen Belfry; Matthew Heath Older adults elicit a single-bout post-exercise executive benefit across a continuum of aerobically supported metabolic intensities Journal Article Brain Research, 1712 , pp. 197–206, 2019. @article{Petrella2019, title = {Older adults elicit a single-bout post-exercise executive benefit across a continuum of aerobically supported metabolic intensities}, author = {Andrea F M Petrella and Glen Belfry and Matthew Heath}, doi = {10.1016/J.BRAINRES.2019.02.009}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-06-01}, journal = {Brain Research}, volume = {1712}, pages = {197--206}, publisher = {Elsevier}, abstract = {Ten minutes of aerobic or resistance training can ‘boost' executive function in older adults. Here, we examined whether the magnitude of the exercise benefit is influenced by exercise intensity. Older adults (N = 17: mean age = 73 years) completed a volitional test to exhaustion (VO2peak) via treadmill to determine participant-specific moderate (80% of lactate threshold (LT)), heavy (15% of the difference between LT and VO2peak) and very-heavy (50% of the difference between LT and VO2peak) exercise intensities. Subsequently, in separate sessions all participants completed 10-min constant load single-bouts of exercise at each intensity. Pre- and post-exercise executive function were examined via the antisaccade task. Antisaccades require a saccade mirror-symmetrical to a target and extensive evidence has shown that antisaccades are supported via frontoparietal networks that demonstrate task-dependent changes following single-bout and chronic exercise. We also included a non-executive task (saccade to veridical target location; i.e., prosaccade) to determine whether a putative post-exercise benefit is specific to executive-related oculomotor control. Results showed that VO2 and psychological ratings of perceived exertion concurrently increased with increasing exercise intensity. As well, antisaccade reaction times showed a 24 ms (i.e., 8%) reduction from pre- to post-exercise assessments (p textless .001), whereas prosaccade values did not (p = .19). Most notably, the post-exercise change in antisaccade RTs did not reliably vary with exercise intensity. Further, for each exercise intensity participants' cardiorespiratory fitness level was unrelated to the magnitude of the post-exercise executive benefit (ps textgreater .13). Accordingly, an exercise duration as brief as 10-min provides a selective benefit to executive function in older adults across the continuum of moderate to very-heavy intensities.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Ten minutes of aerobic or resistance training can ‘boost' executive function in older adults. Here, we examined whether the magnitude of the exercise benefit is influenced by exercise intensity. Older adults (N = 17: mean age = 73 years) completed a volitional test to exhaustion (VO2peak) via treadmill to determine participant-specific moderate (80% of lactate threshold (LT)), heavy (15% of the difference between LT and VO2peak) and very-heavy (50% of the difference between LT and VO2peak) exercise intensities. Subsequently, in separate sessions all participants completed 10-min constant load single-bouts of exercise at each intensity. Pre- and post-exercise executive function were examined via the antisaccade task. Antisaccades require a saccade mirror-symmetrical to a target and extensive evidence has shown that antisaccades are supported via frontoparietal networks that demonstrate task-dependent changes following single-bout and chronic exercise. We also included a non-executive task (saccade to veridical target location; i.e., prosaccade) to determine whether a putative post-exercise benefit is specific to executive-related oculomotor control. Results showed that VO2 and psychological ratings of perceived exertion concurrently increased with increasing exercise intensity. As well, antisaccade reaction times showed a 24 ms (i.e., 8%) reduction from pre- to post-exercise assessments (p textless .001), whereas prosaccade values did not (p = .19). Most notably, the post-exercise change in antisaccade RTs did not reliably vary with exercise intensity. Further, for each exercise intensity participants' cardiorespiratory fitness level was unrelated to the magnitude of the post-exercise executive benefit (ps textgreater .13). Accordingly, an exercise duration as brief as 10-min provides a selective benefit to executive function in older adults across the continuum of moderate to very-heavy intensities. |
Effie J Pereira; Elina Birmingham; Jelena Ristic Contextually-based social attention diverges across covert and overt measures Journal Article Vision, 3 , pp. 1–19, 2019. @article{Pereira2019b, title = {Contextually-based social attention diverges across covert and overt measures}, author = {Effie J Pereira and Elina Birmingham and Jelena Ristic}, doi = {10.3390/vision3020029}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-06-01}, journal = {Vision}, volume = {3}, pages = {1--19}, publisher = {MDPI AG}, abstract = {Humans spontaneously attend to social cues like faces and eyes. However, recent data show that this behavior is significantly weakened when visual content, such as luminance and configuration of internal features, as well as visual context, such as background and facial expression, are controlled. Here, we investigated attentional biasing elicited in response to information presented within appropriate background contexts. Using a dot-probe task, participants were presented with a face–house cue pair, with a person sitting in a room and a house positioned within a picture hanging on a wall. A response target occurred at the previous location of the eyes, mouth, top of the house, or bottom of the house. Experiment 1 measured covert attention by assessing manual responses while participants maintained central fixation. Experiment 2 measured overt attention by assessing eye movements using an eye tracker. The data from both experiments indicated no evidence of spontaneous attentional biasing towards faces or facial features in manual responses; however, an infrequent, though reliable, overt bias towards the eyes of faces emerged. Together, these findings suggest that contextually-based social information does not determine spontaneous social attentional biasing in manual measures, although it may act to facilitate oculomotor behavior.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Humans spontaneously attend to social cues like faces and eyes. However, recent data show that this behavior is significantly weakened when visual content, such as luminance and configuration of internal features, as well as visual context, such as background and facial expression, are controlled. Here, we investigated attentional biasing elicited in response to information presented within appropriate background contexts. Using a dot-probe task, participants were presented with a face–house cue pair, with a person sitting in a room and a house positioned within a picture hanging on a wall. A response target occurred at the previous location of the eyes, mouth, top of the house, or bottom of the house. Experiment 1 measured covert attention by assessing manual responses while participants maintained central fixation. Experiment 2 measured overt attention by assessing eye movements using an eye tracker. The data from both experiments indicated no evidence of spontaneous attentional biasing towards faces or facial features in manual responses; however, an infrequent, though reliable, overt bias towards the eyes of faces emerged. Together, these findings suggest that contextually-based social information does not determine spontaneous social attentional biasing in manual measures, although it may act to facilitate oculomotor behavior. |
Megan H Papesh; Juan D Guevara Pinto Spotting rare items makes the brain “blink” harder: Evidence from pupillometry Journal Article Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 81 (8), pp. 2635–2647, 2019. @article{Papesh2019, title = {Spotting rare items makes the brain “blink” harder: Evidence from pupillometry}, author = {Megan H Papesh and Juan D {Guevara Pinto}}, doi = {10.3758/s13414-019-01777-6}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-06-01}, journal = {Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics}, volume = {81}, number = {8}, pages = {2635--2647}, publisher = {Springer Science and Business Media LLC}, abstract = {In many visual search tasks (e.g., cancer screening, airport baggage inspections), the most serious search targets occur infrequently. As an ironic side effect, when observers finally encounter important objects (e.g., a weapon in baggage), they often fail to notice them, a phenomenon known as the low-prevalence effect (LPE). Although many studies have investigated LPE search errors, we investigated the attentional consequences of successful rare target detection. Using an attentional blink paradigm, we manipulated how often observers encountered the first serial target (T1), then measured its effects on their ability to detect a following target (T2). Across two experiments, we show that the LPE is more than just an inflated miss rate: When observers successfully detected rare targets, they were less likely to spot subsequent targets. Using pupillometry to index locus-coeruleus (LC) mediated attentional engagement, Experiment 2 confirmed that an LC refractory period mediates the attentional blink (`Nieuwenhuis, Gilzenrat, Holmes, & Cohen, 2005, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 134[3], 291–307), and that these effects emerge relatively quickly following T1 onset. Moreover, in both behavioral and pupil analyses, we found that detecting low-prevalence targets exacerbates the LC refractory period. Consequences for theories of the LPE are discussed.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } In many visual search tasks (e.g., cancer screening, airport baggage inspections), the most serious search targets occur infrequently. As an ironic side effect, when observers finally encounter important objects (e.g., a weapon in baggage), they often fail to notice them, a phenomenon known as the low-prevalence effect (LPE). Although many studies have investigated LPE search errors, we investigated the attentional consequences of successful rare target detection. Using an attentional blink paradigm, we manipulated how often observers encountered the first serial target (T1), then measured its effects on their ability to detect a following target (T2). Across two experiments, we show that the LPE is more than just an inflated miss rate: When observers successfully detected rare targets, they were less likely to spot subsequent targets. Using pupillometry to index locus-coeruleus (LC) mediated attentional engagement, Experiment 2 confirmed that an LC refractory period mediates the attentional blink (`Nieuwenhuis, Gilzenrat, Holmes, & Cohen, 2005, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 134[3], 291–307), and that these effects emerge relatively quickly following T1 onset. Moreover, in both behavioral and pupil analyses, we found that detecting low-prevalence targets exacerbates the LC refractory period. Consequences for theories of the LPE are discussed. |
Shira Klorfeld-Auslender; Nitzan Censor Visual-oculomotor interactions facilitate consolidation of perceptual learning Journal Article Journal of Vision, 19 (6), pp. 1–10, 2019. @article{Klorfeld-Auslender2019, title = {Visual-oculomotor interactions facilitate consolidation of perceptual learning}, author = {Shira Klorfeld-Auslender and Nitzan Censor}, doi = {10.1167/19.6.11}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-06-01}, journal = {Journal of Vision}, volume = {19}, number = {6}, pages = {1--10}, publisher = {The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology}, abstract = {Visual skill learning is commonly considered a manifestation of brain plasticity. Following encoding, consolidation of the skill may result in between-session performance gains. A great volume of studies have demonstrated that during the offline consolidation interval, the skill is susceptible to external inputs that modify the preformed representation of the memory, affecting future performance. However, while basic visual perceptual learning is thought to be mediated by sensory brain regions or their higher-order readout pathways, the possibility of visual-oculomotor interactions affecting the consolidation interval and reshaping visual learning remains uncharted. Motivated by findings mapping connections between oculomotor behavior and visual performance, we examined whether visual consolidation can be facilitated by visual-oculomotor interactions. To this aim, we paired reactivation of an oculomotor memory with consolidation of a typical visual texture discrimination task. Importantly, the oculomotor memory was encoded by learning of the pure motor component of the movement, removing visual cues. When brief reactivation of the oculomotor memory preceded the visual task, visual gains were substantially enhanced compared with those achieved by visual practice per se and were strongly related to the magnitude of oculomotor gains, suggesting that the brain utilizes oculomotor memory to enhance basic visual perception.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Visual skill learning is commonly considered a manifestation of brain plasticity. Following encoding, consolidation of the skill may result in between-session performance gains. A great volume of studies have demonstrated that during the offline consolidation interval, the skill is susceptible to external inputs that modify the preformed representation of the memory, affecting future performance. However, while basic visual perceptual learning is thought to be mediated by sensory brain regions or their higher-order readout pathways, the possibility of visual-oculomotor interactions affecting the consolidation interval and reshaping visual learning remains uncharted. Motivated by findings mapping connections between oculomotor behavior and visual performance, we examined whether visual consolidation can be facilitated by visual-oculomotor interactions. To this aim, we paired reactivation of an oculomotor memory with consolidation of a typical visual texture discrimination task. Importantly, the oculomotor memory was encoded by learning of the pure motor component of the movement, removing visual cues. When brief reactivation of the oculomotor memory preceded the visual task, visual gains were substantially enhanced compared with those achieved by visual practice per se and were strongly related to the magnitude of oculomotor gains, suggesting that the brain utilizes oculomotor memory to enhance basic visual perception. |
Stefan Dowiasch; Peter Wolf; Frank Bremmer Quantitative comparison of a mobile and a stationary video-based eye-tracker Journal Article Behavior Research Methods, pp. 1–14, 2019. @article{Dowiasch2019, title = {Quantitative comparison of a mobile and a stationary video-based eye-tracker}, author = {Stefan Dowiasch and Peter Wolf and Frank Bremmer}, doi = {10.3758/s13428-019-01267-5}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-06-01}, journal = {Behavior Research Methods}, pages = {1--14}, publisher = {Springer Science and Business Media LLC}, abstract = {Vision represents the most important sense of primates. To understand visual processing, various different methods are employed—for example, electrophysiology, psychophysics, or eye-tracking. For the latter method, researchers have recently begun to step outside the artificial environments of laboratory setups toward the more natural conditions we usually face in the real world. To get a better understanding of the advantages and limitations of modern mobile eye-trackers, we quantitatively compared one of the most advanced mobile eye-trackers available, the EyeSeeCam, with a commonly used laboratory eye- tracker, the EyeLink II, serving as a gold standard. We aimed to investigate whether or not fully mobile eye-trackers are capable of providing data that would be adequate for direct comparisons with data recorded by stationary eye-trackers. Therefore, we recorded three different, commonly used eye movements—fixations, saccades, and smooth-pursuit eye movements—with both eye-trackers, in successive standardized paradigms in a laboratory setting with eight human subjects. Despite major technical differences between the devices, most eye movement parameters were not statistically different between the two systems. Differences could only be found in overall gaze accuracy and for time-critical parameters such as saccade duration, for which a higher sample frequency is especially useful. Although the stationary EyeLink II system proved to be superior, especially on a single-subject or even a single-trial basis, the ESC showed similar performance for the averaged parameters across both trials and subjects. We concluded that modern mobile eye-trackers are well-suited to providing reliable oculomotor data at the required spatial and temporal resolutions.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Vision represents the most important sense of primates. To understand visual processing, various different methods are employed—for example, electrophysiology, psychophysics, or eye-tracking. For the latter method, researchers have recently begun to step outside the artificial environments of laboratory setups toward the more natural conditions we usually face in the real world. To get a better understanding of the advantages and limitations of modern mobile eye-trackers, we quantitatively compared one of the most advanced mobile eye-trackers available, the EyeSeeCam, with a commonly used laboratory eye- tracker, the EyeLink II, serving as a gold standard. We aimed to investigate whether or not fully mobile eye-trackers are capable of providing data that would be adequate for direct comparisons with data recorded by stationary eye-trackers. Therefore, we recorded three different, commonly used eye movements—fixations, saccades, and smooth-pursuit eye movements—with both eye-trackers, in successive standardized paradigms in a laboratory setting with eight human subjects. Despite major technical differences between the devices, most eye movement parameters were not statistically different between the two systems. Differences could only be found in overall gaze accuracy and for time-critical parameters such as saccade duration, for which a higher sample frequency is especially useful. Although the stationary EyeLink II system proved to be superior, especially on a single-subject or even a single-trial basis, the ESC showed similar performance for the averaged parameters across both trials and subjects. We concluded that modern mobile eye-trackers are well-suited to providing reliable oculomotor data at the required spatial and temporal resolutions. |
Denise Baumeler; Sabine Born Vertical and horizontal meridian modulations suggest areas with quadrantic representations as neural locus of the attentional repulsion effect Journal Article Journal of Vision, 19 (6), pp. 1–16, 2019. @article{Baumeler2019, title = {Vertical and horizontal meridian modulations suggest areas with quadrantic representations as neural locus of the attentional repulsion effect}, author = {Denise Baumeler and Sabine Born}, doi = {10.1167/19.6.15}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-06-01}, journal = {Journal of Vision}, volume = {19}, number = {6}, pages = {1--16}, publisher = {The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology}, abstract = {The attentional repulsion effect (ARE) is a perceptual bias attributed to a covert shift of attention toward a peripheral cue, which, in turn, repulses the perceived position of a subsequently presented probe (Suzuki & Cavanagh, 1997). So far, probes were mainly presented around the vertical meridian. Other studies of perceptual biases reported disruptions when stimuli were presented across the vertical meridian. These disruptions were explained by separate representations of the left and right visual hemifields, projecting to opposite anatomical hemispheres. As the ARE is typically examined through two-alternative, forced-choice tasks in which the estimation of the probe's position is based on the cue's effectiveness to repulse the probe across the vertical meridian, no such asymmetry has been reported. To test for similar meridian disruptions in the ARE, we collected absolute estimations (computer mouse responses) of the perceived probe positions (Experiment 1a). As absolute estimations of memorized positions are associated with overestimated distances in reproduction, results had to be compared to a no-cue baseline condition (Experiment 1b). Through this new methodological approach, we found the ARE to be strongest when the attentional capturing cue and the subsequently presented probe were displayed in the same hemifield (Experiment 2a). In a further experiment (Experiment 2b), we observed that the ARE is not only disrupted at the vertical, but also at the horizontal meridian. These disruptions at both meridians suggest the involvement of visual neural areas with quadrantic representations, such as V2 and/or V3 in the generation of the ARE.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The attentional repulsion effect (ARE) is a perceptual bias attributed to a covert shift of attention toward a peripheral cue, which, in turn, repulses the perceived position of a subsequently presented probe (Suzuki & Cavanagh, 1997). So far, probes were mainly presented around the vertical meridian. Other studies of perceptual biases reported disruptions when stimuli were presented across the vertical meridian. These disruptions were explained by separate representations of the left and right visual hemifields, projecting to opposite anatomical hemispheres. As the ARE is typically examined through two-alternative, forced-choice tasks in which the estimation of the probe's position is based on the cue's effectiveness to repulse the probe across the vertical meridian, no such asymmetry has been reported. To test for similar meridian disruptions in the ARE, we collected absolute estimations (computer mouse responses) of the perceived probe positions (Experiment 1a). As absolute estimations of memorized positions are associated with overestimated distances in reproduction, results had to be compared to a no-cue baseline condition (Experiment 1b). Through this new methodological approach, we found the ARE to be strongest when the attentional capturing cue and the subsequently presented probe were displayed in the same hemifield (Experiment 2a). In a further experiment (Experiment 2b), we observed that the ARE is not only disrupted at the vertical, but also at the horizontal meridian. These disruptions at both meridians suggest the involvement of visual neural areas with quadrantic representations, such as V2 and/or V3 in the generation of the ARE. |
Aarit Ahuja; David L Sheinberg Behavioral and oculomotor evidence for visual simulation of object movement Journal Article Journal of Vision, 19 (6), pp. 1–17, 2019. @article{Ahuja2019, title = {Behavioral and oculomotor evidence for visual simulation of object movement}, author = {Aarit Ahuja and David L Sheinberg}, doi = {10.1167/19.6.13}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-06-01}, journal = {Journal of Vision}, volume = {19}, number = {6}, pages = {1--17}, publisher = {The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology}, abstract = {We regularly interact with moving objects in our environment. Yet, little is known about how we extrapolate the future movements of visually perceived objects. One possibility is that movements are experienced by a mental visual simulation, allowing one to internally picture an object's upcoming motion trajectory, even as the object itself remains stationary. Here we examined this possibility by asking human participants to make judgments about the future position of a falling ball on an obstacle-filled display. We found that properties of the ball's trajectory were highly predictive of subjects' reaction times and accuracy on the task. We also found that the eye movements subjects made while attempting to ascertain where the ball might fall had significant spatiotemporal overlap with those made while actually perceiving the ball fall. These findings suggest that subjects simulated the ball's trajectory to inform their responses. Finally, we trained a convolutional neural network to see whether this problem could be solved by simple image analysis as opposed to the more intricate simulation strategy we propose. We found that while the network was able to solve our task, the model's output did not effectively or consistently predict human behavior. This implies that subjects employed a different strategy for solving our task, and bolsters the conclusion that they were engaging in visual simulation. The current study thus provides support for visual simulation of motion as a means of understanding complex visual scenes and paves the way for future investigations of this phenomenon at a neural level.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } We regularly interact with moving objects in our environment. Yet, little is known about how we extrapolate the future movements of visually perceived objects. One possibility is that movements are experienced by a mental visual simulation, allowing one to internally picture an object's upcoming motion trajectory, even as the object itself remains stationary. Here we examined this possibility by asking human participants to make judgments about the future position of a falling ball on an obstacle-filled display. We found that properties of the ball's trajectory were highly predictive of subjects' reaction times and accuracy on the task. We also found that the eye movements subjects made while attempting to ascertain where the ball might fall had significant spatiotemporal overlap with those made while actually perceiving the ball fall. These findings suggest that subjects simulated the ball's trajectory to inform their responses. Finally, we trained a convolutional neural network to see whether this problem could be solved by simple image analysis as opposed to the more intricate simulation strategy we propose. We found that while the network was able to solve our task, the model's output did not effectively or consistently predict human behavior. This implies that subjects employed a different strategy for solving our task, and bolsters the conclusion that they were engaging in visual simulation. The current study thus provides support for visual simulation of motion as a means of understanding complex visual scenes and paves the way for future investigations of this phenomenon at a neural level. |
Benjamin Tari; Mohammed A Fadel; Matthew Heath Response suppression produces a switch-cost for spatially compatible saccades Journal Article Experimental Brain Research, 237 (5), pp. 1195–1203, 2019. @article{Tari2019b, title = {Response suppression produces a switch-cost for spatially compatible saccades}, author = {Benjamin Tari and Mohammed A Fadel and Matthew Heath}, doi = {10.1007/s00221-019-05497-z}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-05-01}, journal = {Experimental Brain Research}, volume = {237}, number = {5}, pages = {1195--1203}, abstract = {Executive function supports the rapid alternation between tasks for online reconfiguration of attentional and motor goals. The oculomotor literature has found that a prosaccade (i.e., saccade to veridical target location) preceded by an antisaccade (i.e., saccade mirror symmetrical to a target) elicits an increase in reaction time (RT), whereas the converse switch does not. This switch-cost has been attributed to the antisaccade task's requirement of inhibiting a prosaccade (i.e., response suppression) and transforming a target's coordinate (i.e., vector inversion)—executive processes thought to contribute to a task-set inertia that proactively interferes with the planning of a subsequent prosaccade. It is, however, unclear whether response suppression and vector inversion contribute to a task-set inertia or whether the phenomenon relates to a unitary component (e.g., response suppression). Here, the same stimulus-driven (SD) prosaccades (i.e., respond at target onset) as used in previous work were used with minimally delayed (MD) prosaccades (i.e., respond at target offset) and arranged in an AABB paradigm (i.e.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Executive function supports the rapid alternation between tasks for online reconfiguration of attentional and motor goals. The oculomotor literature has found that a prosaccade (i.e., saccade to veridical target location) preceded by an antisaccade (i.e., saccade mirror symmetrical to a target) elicits an increase in reaction time (RT), whereas the converse switch does not. This switch-cost has been attributed to the antisaccade task's requirement of inhibiting a prosaccade (i.e., response suppression) and transforming a target's coordinate (i.e., vector inversion)—executive processes thought to contribute to a task-set inertia that proactively interferes with the planning of a subsequent prosaccade. It is, however, unclear whether response suppression and vector inversion contribute to a task-set inertia or whether the phenomenon relates to a unitary component (e.g., response suppression). Here, the same stimulus-driven (SD) prosaccades (i.e., respond at target onset) as used in previous work were used with minimally delayed (MD) prosaccades (i.e., respond at target offset) and arranged in an AABB paradigm (i.e. |
Timothy G Shepard; Fang Hou; Peter J Bex; Luis A Lesmes; Zhong-Lin Lu; Deyue Yu Assessing reading performance in the periphery with a Bayesian adaptive approach: The qReading method Journal Article Journal of Vision, 19 (5), pp. 1–14, 2019. @article{Shepard2019, title = {Assessing reading performance in the periphery with a Bayesian adaptive approach: The qReading method}, author = {Timothy G Shepard and Fang Hou and Peter J Bex and Luis A Lesmes and Zhong-Lin Lu and Deyue Yu}, doi = {10.1167/19.5.5}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-05-01}, journal = {Journal of Vision}, volume = {19}, number = {5}, pages = {1--14}, publisher = {The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology}, abstract = {Reading is a crucial visual activity and a fundamental skill in daily life. Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) is a text-presentation paradigm that has been extensively used in the laboratory to study basic characteristics of reading performance. However, measuring reading function (reading speed vs. print size) is time-consuming for RSVP reading using conventional testing procedures. In this study, we develop a novel method, qReading, utilizing the Bayesian adaptive testing framework to measure reading function in the periphery. We perform both a psychophysical experiment and computer simulations to validate the qReading method. In the experiment, words are presented using an RSVP paradigm at 10° in the lower visual field. The reading function obtained from the qReading method with 50 trials exhibits good agreement (i.e., high accuracy) with the reading function obtained from a conventional method (method of constant stimuli [MCS]) with 186 trials (mean root mean square error: 0.12 log10 units). Simulations further confirm that the qReading method provides an unbiased measure. The qReading procedure also demonstrates excellent precision (half width of 68.2% credible interval: 0.02 log10 units with 50 trials) compared to the MCS method (0.03 log10 units with 186 trials). This investigation establishes that the qReading method can adequately measure the reading function in the normal periphery with high accuracy, precision, and efficiency, and is a potentially valuable tool for both research and clinical assessments.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Reading is a crucial visual activity and a fundamental skill in daily life. Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) is a text-presentation paradigm that has been extensively used in the laboratory to study basic characteristics of reading performance. However, measuring reading function (reading speed vs. print size) is time-consuming for RSVP reading using conventional testing procedures. In this study, we develop a novel method, qReading, utilizing the Bayesian adaptive testing framework to measure reading function in the periphery. We perform both a psychophysical experiment and computer simulations to validate the qReading method. In the experiment, words are presented using an RSVP paradigm at 10° in the lower visual field. The reading function obtained from the qReading method with 50 trials exhibits good agreement (i.e., high accuracy) with the reading function obtained from a conventional method (method of constant stimuli [MCS]) with 186 trials (mean root mean square error: 0.12 log10 units). Simulations further confirm that the qReading method provides an unbiased measure. The qReading procedure also demonstrates excellent precision (half width of 68.2% credible interval: 0.02 log10 units with 50 trials) compared to the MCS method (0.03 log10 units with 186 trials). This investigation establishes that the qReading method can adequately measure the reading function in the normal periphery with high accuracy, precision, and efficiency, and is a potentially valuable tool for both research and clinical assessments. |
Justin Riddle; Kai Hwang; Dillan Cellier; Sofia Dhanani; Mark D'Esposito Causal evidence for the role of neuronal oscillations in top–down and bottom–up attention Journal Article Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 31 , pp. 768–779, 2019. @article{Riddle2019, title = {Causal evidence for the role of neuronal oscillations in top–down and bottom–up attention}, author = {Justin Riddle and Kai Hwang and Dillan Cellier and Sofia Dhanani and Mark D'Esposito}, doi = {10.1162/jocn_a_01376}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-05-01}, journal = {Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience}, volume = {31}, pages = {768--779}, abstract = {Beta and gamma frequency neuronal oscillations have been implicated in top–down and bottom–up attention. In this study, we used rhythmic TMS to modulate ongoing beta and gamma frequency neuronal oscillations in frontal and parietal cortex while human participants performed a visual search task that manipulates bottom–up and top–down attention (single feature and conjunction search). Both task conditions will engage bottom–up attention processes, although the conjunction search condition will require more top–down attention. Gamma frequency TMS to superior precentral sulcus (sPCS) slowed saccadic RTs during both task conditions and induced a response bias to the contralateral visual field. In contrary, beta frequency TMS to sPCS and intraparietal sulcus decreased search accuracy only during the conjunction search condition that engaged more top–down attention. Furthermore, beta frequency TMS increased trial errors specifically when the target was in the ipsilateral visual field for the conjunction search condition. These results indicate that beta frequency TMS to sPCS and intraparietal sulcus disrupted top–down attention, whereas gamma frequency TMS to sPCS disrupted bottom–up, stimulus-driven attention processes. These findings provide causal evidence suggesting that beta and gamma oscillations have distinct functional roles for cognition.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Beta and gamma frequency neuronal oscillations have been implicated in top–down and bottom–up attention. In this study, we used rhythmic TMS to modulate ongoing beta and gamma frequency neuronal oscillations in frontal and parietal cortex while human participants performed a visual search task that manipulates bottom–up and top–down attention (single feature and conjunction search). Both task conditions will engage bottom–up attention processes, although the conjunction search condition will require more top–down attention. Gamma frequency TMS to superior precentral sulcus (sPCS) slowed saccadic RTs during both task conditions and induced a response bias to the contralateral visual field. In contrary, beta frequency TMS to sPCS and intraparietal sulcus decreased search accuracy only during the conjunction search condition that engaged more top–down attention. Furthermore, beta frequency TMS increased trial errors specifically when the target was in the ipsilateral visual field for the conjunction search condition. These results indicate that beta frequency TMS to sPCS and intraparietal sulcus disrupted top–down attention, whereas gamma frequency TMS to sPCS disrupted bottom–up, stimulus-driven attention processes. These findings provide causal evidence suggesting that beta and gamma oscillations have distinct functional roles for cognition. |
Kristin Koller; Robert D Rafal; Adam Platt; Nicholas D Mitchell Neuropsychologia, 128 , pp. 78–86, 2019. @article{Koller2019b, title = {Orienting toward threat: Contributions of a subcortical pathway transmitting retinal afferents to the amygdala via the superior colliculus and pulvinar}, author = {Kristin Koller and Robert D Rafal and Adam Platt and Nicholas D Mitchell}, doi = {10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.01.027}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-05-01}, journal = {Neuropsychologia}, volume = {128}, pages = {78--86}, publisher = {Elsevier Ltd}, abstract = {Probabilistic diffusion tractography was used to provide the first direct evidence for a subcortical pathway from the retina to the amygdala, via the superior colliculus and pulvinar, that transmits visual stimuli signaling threat. A bias to orient toward threat was measured in a temporal order judgement saccade decision task, under monocular viewing, in a group of 19 healthy participants who also underwent diffusion weighted MR imaging. On each trial of the behavioural task a picture depicting threat was presented in one visual field and a competing non-threatening stimulus in the other. The onset interval between the two pictures was randomly varied and participants made a saccade toward the stimulus that they judged to have appeared first. The bias to orient toward threat was stronger when the threatening stimulus was in the temporal visual hemifield, suggesting that afferents via the retinotectal tract contributed to the bias. Probabalistic tractography was used to virtually dissect connections between the superior colliculus and the amygdala traversing the pulvinar. Individual differences in microstructure (fractional anisotropy) of the streamline predicted the magnitude of the bias to orient toward threat, providing supporting evidence for a functional role of the subcortical SC-amygdala pathway in processing threat in healthy humans.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Probabilistic diffusion tractography was used to provide the first direct evidence for a subcortical pathway from the retina to the amygdala, via the superior colliculus and pulvinar, that transmits visual stimuli signaling threat. A bias to orient toward threat was measured in a temporal order judgement saccade decision task, under monocular viewing, in a group of 19 healthy participants who also underwent diffusion weighted MR imaging. On each trial of the behavioural task a picture depicting threat was presented in one visual field and a competing non-threatening stimulus in the other. The onset interval between the two pictures was randomly varied and participants made a saccade toward the stimulus that they judged to have appeared first. The bias to orient toward threat was stronger when the threatening stimulus was in the temporal visual hemifield, suggesting that afferents via the retinotectal tract contributed to the bias. Probabalistic tractography was used to virtually dissect connections between the superior colliculus and the amygdala traversing the pulvinar. Individual differences in microstructure (fractional anisotropy) of the streamline predicted the magnitude of the bias to orient toward threat, providing supporting evidence for a functional role of the subcortical SC-amygdala pathway in processing threat in healthy humans. |
Mariana Babo-Rebelo; Anne Buot; Catherine Tallon-Baudry Neural responses to heartbeats distinguish self from other during imagination Journal Article NeuroImage, 191 , pp. 10–20, 2019. @article{Babo-Rebelo2019, title = {Neural responses to heartbeats distinguish self from other during imagination}, author = {Mariana Babo-Rebelo and Anne Buot and Catherine Tallon-Baudry}, doi = {10.1016/J.NEUROIMAGE.2019.02.012}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-05-01}, journal = {NeuroImage}, volume = {191}, pages = {10--20}, publisher = {Academic Press}, abstract = {Imagination is an internally-generated process, where one can make oneself or other people appear as protagonists of a scene. How does the brain tag the protagonist of an imagined scene as being oneself or someone else? Crucially, during imagination, neither external stimuli nor motor feedback are available to disentangle imagining oneself from imagining someone else. Here, we test the hypothesis that an internal mechanism based on the neural monitoring of heartbeats could distinguish between self and other. 23 participants imagined themselves (from a first-person perspective) or a friend (from a third-person perspective) in various scenarios, while their brain activity was recorded with magnetoencephalography and their cardiac activity was simultaneously monitored. We measured heartbeat-evoked responses, i.e. transients of neural activity occurring in response to each heartbeat, during imagination. The amplitude of heartbeat-evoked responses differed between imagining oneself and imagining a friend, in the precuneus and posterior cingulate regions bilaterally. Effect size was modulated by the daydreaming frequency scores of participants but not by their interoceptive abilities. These results could not be accounted for by other characteristics of imagination (e.g., the ability to adopt the perspective, valence or arousal), nor by cardiac parameters (e.g., heart rate) or arousal levels (e.g. arousal ratings, pupil diameter). Heartbeat-evoked responses thus appear as a neural marker distinguishing self from other during imagination.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Imagination is an internally-generated process, where one can make oneself or other people appear as protagonists of a scene. How does the brain tag the protagonist of an imagined scene as being oneself or someone else? Crucially, during imagination, neither external stimuli nor motor feedback are available to disentangle imagining oneself from imagining someone else. Here, we test the hypothesis that an internal mechanism based on the neural monitoring of heartbeats could distinguish between self and other. 23 participants imagined themselves (from a first-person perspective) or a friend (from a third-person perspective) in various scenarios, while their brain activity was recorded with magnetoencephalography and their cardiac activity was simultaneously monitored. We measured heartbeat-evoked responses, i.e. transients of neural activity occurring in response to each heartbeat, during imagination. The amplitude of heartbeat-evoked responses differed between imagining oneself and imagining a friend, in the precuneus and posterior cingulate regions bilaterally. Effect size was modulated by the daydreaming frequency scores of participants but not by their interoceptive abilities. These results could not be accounted for by other characteristics of imagination (e.g., the ability to adopt the perspective, valence or arousal), nor by cardiac parameters (e.g., heart rate) or arousal levels (e.g. arousal ratings, pupil diameter). Heartbeat-evoked responses thus appear as a neural marker distinguishing self from other during imagination. |
Shlomit Yuval-Greenberg; Anat Keren; Rinat Hilo; Adar Paz; Navah Ratzon Gaze control during simulator driving in adolescents with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Journal Article American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 73 (3), pp. 1–8, 2019. @article{Yuval-Greenberg2019, title = {Gaze control during simulator driving in adolescents with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder}, author = {Shlomit Yuval-Greenberg and Anat Keren and Rinat Hilo and Adar Paz and Navah Ratzon}, doi = {10.5014/ajot.2019.031500}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-04-01}, journal = {American Journal of Occupational Therapy}, volume = {73}, number = {3}, pages = {1--8}, publisher = {American Occupational Therapy Association}, abstract = {Importance: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with driving deficits. Visual standards for driving define minimum qualifications for safe driving, including acuity and field of vision, but they do not consider the ability to explore the environment efficiently by shifting the gaze, which is a critical element of safe driving. Objective: To examine visual exploration during simulated driving in adolescents with and without ADHD. Design: Adolescents with and without ADHD drove a driving simulator for approximately 10 min while their gaze was monitored. They then completed a battery of questionnaires. Setting: University lab. Participants: Participants with (n = 16) and without (n = 15) ADHD were included. Participants had a history of neurological disorders other than ADHD and normal or corrected-to-normal vision. Control participants reported not having a diagnosis of ADHD. Participants with ADHD had been previously diagnosed by a qualified professional. Outcomes and Measures: We compared the following measures between ADHD and non-ADHD groups: dashboard dwell times, fixation variance, entropy, and fixation duration. Results: Findings showed that participants with ADHD were more restricted in their patterns of exploration than control group participants. They spent considerably more time gazing at the dashboard and had longer periods of fixation with lower variability and randomness. Conclusions and Relevance: The results support the hypothesis that adolescents with ADHD engage in less active exploration during simulated driving. What This Article Adds: This study raises concerns regarding the driving competence of people with ADHD and opens up new directions for potential training programs that focus on exploratory gaze control.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Importance: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with driving deficits. Visual standards for driving define minimum qualifications for safe driving, including acuity and field of vision, but they do not consider the ability to explore the environment efficiently by shifting the gaze, which is a critical element of safe driving. Objective: To examine visual exploration during simulated driving in adolescents with and without ADHD. Design: Adolescents with and without ADHD drove a driving simulator for approximately 10 min while their gaze was monitored. They then completed a battery of questionnaires. Setting: University lab. Participants: Participants with (n = 16) and without (n = 15) ADHD were included. Participants had a history of neurological disorders other than ADHD and normal or corrected-to-normal vision. Control participants reported not having a diagnosis of ADHD. Participants with ADHD had been previously diagnosed by a qualified professional. Outcomes and Measures: We compared the following measures between ADHD and non-ADHD groups: dashboard dwell times, fixation variance, entropy, and fixation duration. Results: Findings showed that participants with ADHD were more restricted in their patterns of exploration than control group participants. They spent considerably more time gazing at the dashboard and had longer periods of fixation with lower variability and randomness. Conclusions and Relevance: The results support the hypothesis that adolescents with ADHD engage in less active exploration during simulated driving. What This Article Adds: This study raises concerns regarding the driving competence of people with ADHD and opens up new directions for potential training programs that focus on exploratory gaze control. |
Yelda Semizer; Melchi M Michel Natural image clutter degrades overt search performance independently of set size Journal Article Journal of Vision, 19 (4), pp. 1–16, 2019. @article{Semizer2019, title = {Natural image clutter degrades overt search performance independently of set size}, author = {Yelda Semizer and Melchi M Michel}, doi = {10.1167/19.4.1}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-04-01}, journal = {Journal of Vision}, volume = {19}, number = {4}, pages = {1--16}, publisher = {The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology}, abstract = {Although studies of visual search have repeatedly demonstrated that visual clutter impairs search performance in natural scenes, these studies have not attempted to disentangle the effects of search set size from those of clutter per se. Here, we investigate the effect of natural image clutter on performance in an overt search for categorical targets when the search set size is controlled. Observers completed a search task that required detecting and localizing common objects in a set of natural images. The images were sorted into high- and low-clutter conditions based on the clutter metric by Bravo and Farid (2008). The search set size was varied independently by fixing the number and positions of potential targets across set size conditions within a block of trials. Within each fixed set size condition, search times increased as a function of increasing clutter, suggesting that clutter degrades overt search performance independently of set size.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Although studies of visual search have repeatedly demonstrated that visual clutter impairs search performance in natural scenes, these studies have not attempted to disentangle the effects of search set size from those of clutter per se. Here, we investigate the effect of natural image clutter on performance in an overt search for categorical targets when the search set size is controlled. Observers completed a search task that required detecting and localizing common objects in a set of natural images. The images were sorted into high- and low-clutter conditions based on the clutter metric by Bravo and Farid (2008). The search set size was varied independently by fixing the number and positions of potential targets across set size conditions within a block of trials. Within each fixed set size condition, search times increased as a function of increasing clutter, suggesting that clutter degrades overt search performance independently of set size. |
Sergio Delle Monache; Francesco Lacquaniti; Gianfranco Bosco Ocular tracking of occluded ballistic trajectories: Effects of visual context and of target law of motion Journal Article Journal of Vision, 19 (4), pp. 1–21, 2019. @article{Monache2019, title = {Ocular tracking of occluded ballistic trajectories: Effects of visual context and of target law of motion}, author = {Sergio Delle Monache and Francesco Lacquaniti and Gianfranco Bosco}, doi = {10.1167/19.4.13}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-04-01}, journal = {Journal of Vision}, volume = {19}, number = {4}, pages = {1--21}, publisher = {The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology}, abstract = {In tracking a moving target, the visual context may provide cues for an observer to interpret the causal nature of the target motion and extract features to which the visual system is weakly sensitive, such as target acceleration. This information could be critical when vision of the target is temporarily impeded, requiring visual motion extrapolation processes. Here we investigated how visual context influences ocular tracking of motion either congruent or not with natural gravity. To this end, 28 subjects tracked computer-simulated ballistic trajectories either perturbed in the descending segment with altered gravity effects (0g/2g) or retaining natural-like motion (1g). Shortly after the perturbation (550 ms), targets disappeared for either 450 or 650 ms and became visible again until landing. Target motion occurred with either quasi-realistic pictorial cues or a uniform background, presented in counterbalanced order. We analyzed saccadic and pursuit movements after 0g and 2g target-motion perturbations and for corresponding intervals of unperturbed 1g trajectories, as well as after corresponding occlusions. Moreover, we considered the eye-to-target distance at target reappearance. Tracking parameters differed significantly between scenarios: With a neutral background, eye movements did not depend consistently on target motion, whereas with pictorial background they showed significant dependence, denoting better tracking of accelerated targets. These results suggest that oculomotor control is tuned to realistic properties of the visual scene.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } In tracking a moving target, the visual context may provide cues for an observer to interpret the causal nature of the target motion and extract features to which the visual system is weakly sensitive, such as target acceleration. This information could be critical when vision of the target is temporarily impeded, requiring visual motion extrapolation processes. Here we investigated how visual context influences ocular tracking of motion either congruent or not with natural gravity. To this end, 28 subjects tracked computer-simulated ballistic trajectories either perturbed in the descending segment with altered gravity effects (0g/2g) or retaining natural-like motion (1g). Shortly after the perturbation (550 ms), targets disappeared for either 450 or 650 ms and became visible again until landing. Target motion occurred with either quasi-realistic pictorial cues or a uniform background, presented in counterbalanced order. We analyzed saccadic and pursuit movements after 0g and 2g target-motion perturbations and for corresponding intervals of unperturbed 1g trajectories, as well as after corresponding occlusions. Moreover, we considered the eye-to-target distance at target reappearance. Tracking parameters differed significantly between scenarios: With a neutral background, eye movements did not depend consistently on target motion, whereas with pictorial background they showed significant dependence, denoting better tracking of accelerated targets. These results suggest that oculomotor control is tuned to realistic properties of the visual scene. |
David J Kelly; Sofia Duarte; David Meary; Markus Bindemann; Olivier Pascalis Infants rapidly detect human faces in complex naturalistic visual scenes Journal Article Developmental Science, 22 (6), pp. 1–10, 2019. @article{Kelly2019, title = {Infants rapidly detect human faces in complex naturalistic visual scenes}, author = {David J Kelly and Sofia Duarte and David Meary and Markus Bindemann and Olivier Pascalis}, doi = {10.1111/desc.12829}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-04-01}, journal = {Developmental Science}, volume = {22}, number = {6}, pages = {1--10}, publisher = {John Wiley & Sons, Ltd (10.1111)}, abstract = {Infants respond preferentially to faces and face-like stimuli from birth, but past research has typically presented faces in isolation or amongst an artificial array of competing objects. In the current study infants aged 3- to 12-months viewed a series of complex visual scenes; half of the scenes contained a person, the other half did not. Infants rapidly detected and oriented to faces in scenes even when they were not visually salient. Although a clear developmental improvement was observed in face detection and interest, all infants displayed sensitivity to the presence of a person in a scene, by displaying eye movements that differed quantifiably across a range of measures when viewing scenes that either did or did not contain a person. We argue that infant's face detection capabilities are ostensibly “better” with naturalistic stimuli and artificial array presentations used in previous studies have underestimated performance.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Infants respond preferentially to faces and face-like stimuli from birth, but past research has typically presented faces in isolation or amongst an artificial array of competing objects. In the current study infants aged 3- to 12-months viewed a series of complex visual scenes; half of the scenes contained a person, the other half did not. Infants rapidly detected and oriented to faces in scenes even when they were not visually salient. Although a clear developmental improvement was observed in face detection and interest, all infants displayed sensitivity to the presence of a person in a scene, by displaying eye movements that differed quantifiably across a range of measures when viewing scenes that either did or did not contain a person. We argue that infant's face detection capabilities are ostensibly “better” with naturalistic stimuli and artificial array presentations used in previous studies have underestimated performance. |
Jean-Michel Hupé; Camilo Miguel Signorelli; David Alais Two paradigms of bistable plaid motion reveal independent mutual inhibition processes Journal Article Journal of Vision, 19 (4), pp. 1–16, 2019. @article{Hupe2019, title = {Two paradigms of bistable plaid motion reveal independent mutual inhibition processes}, author = {Jean-Michel Hupé and Camilo Miguel Signorelli and David Alais}, doi = {10.1167/19.4.5}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-04-01}, journal = {Journal of Vision}, volume = {19}, number = {4}, pages = {1--16}, publisher = {The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology}, abstract = {Perception is sometimes bistable, switching between two possible interpretations. Levelt developed several propositions to explain bistable perception in binocular rivalry, based on a model of competing neural populations connected through reciprocal inhibition. Here we test Levelt's laws with bistable plaid motion. Plaids are typically tristable, either a coherent pattern, transparent with one component in front, or transparent with the opposite depth order. In Experiment 1, we use a large angle between component directions to prevent plaid coherence, limiting the ambiguity to alternations of grating depth order. Similar to increasing contrast in binocular rivalry, increasing component speed led to higher switch rates (analogous to Levelt's fourth proposition). In Experiment 2, we used occlusion cues to prevent one depth order and limit bistability to one transparent depth order alternating with coherence. Increasing grating speed shortened coherent motion periods but left transparent periods largely unchanged (analogous to Levelt's second proposition). Switch dynamics showed no correlation between the experiments. These data suggest that plaid component speed acts like contrast in binocular rivalry to vary switch dynamics through a mutual inhibition model. The lack of correlation between both experiments suggests reciprocal inhibition mediates bistability between a variety of neural populations across the visual system.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Perception is sometimes bistable, switching between two possible interpretations. Levelt developed several propositions to explain bistable perception in binocular rivalry, based on a model of competing neural populations connected through reciprocal inhibition. Here we test Levelt's laws with bistable plaid motion. Plaids are typically tristable, either a coherent pattern, transparent with one component in front, or transparent with the opposite depth order. In Experiment 1, we use a large angle between component directions to prevent plaid coherence, limiting the ambiguity to alternations of grating depth order. Similar to increasing contrast in binocular rivalry, increasing component speed led to higher switch rates (analogous to Levelt's fourth proposition). In Experiment 2, we used occlusion cues to prevent one depth order and limit bistability to one transparent depth order alternating with coherence. Increasing grating speed shortened coherent motion periods but left transparent periods largely unchanged (analogous to Levelt's second proposition). Switch dynamics showed no correlation between the experiments. These data suggest that plaid component speed acts like contrast in binocular rivalry to vary switch dynamics through a mutual inhibition model. The lack of correlation between both experiments suggests reciprocal inhibition mediates bistability between a variety of neural populations across the visual system. |
Michael J Armson; Jennifer D Ryan; Brian Levine Maintaining fixation does not increase demands on working memory relative to free viewing Journal Article PeerJ, 7 , pp. 1–16, 2019. @article{Armson2019, title = {Maintaining fixation does not increase demands on working memory relative to free viewing}, author = {Michael J Armson and Jennifer D Ryan and Brian Levine}, doi = {10.7717/peerj.6839}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-04-01}, journal = {PeerJ}, volume = {7}, pages = {1--16}, publisher = {PeerJ Inc.}, abstract = {The comparison of memory performance during free and fixed viewing conditions has been used to demonstrate the involvement of eye movements in memory encoding and retrieval, with stronger effects at encoding than retrieval. Relative to conditions of free viewing, participants generally show reduced memory performance following sustained fixation, suggesting that unrestricted eye movements benefit memory. However, the cognitive basis of the memory reduction during fixed viewing is uncertain, with possible mechanisms including disruption of visual-mnemonic and/or imagery processes with sustained fixation, or greater working memory demands required for fixed relative to free viewing. To investigate one possible mechanism for this reduction, we had participants perform a working memory task—an auditory n-back task—during free and fixed viewing, as well as a repetitive finger tapping condition, included to isolate the effects of motor interference independent of the oculomotor system. As expected, finger tapping significantly interfered with n-back performance relative to free viewing, as indexed by a decrease in accuracy and increase in response times. By contrast, there was no evidence that fixed viewing interfered with n-back performance relative to free viewing. Our findings failed to support a hypothesis of increased working memory load during fixation. They are consistent with the notion that fixation disrupts long-term memory performance through interference with visual processes.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The comparison of memory performance during free and fixed viewing conditions has been used to demonstrate the involvement of eye movements in memory encoding and retrieval, with stronger effects at encoding than retrieval. Relative to conditions of free viewing, participants generally show reduced memory performance following sustained fixation, suggesting that unrestricted eye movements benefit memory. However, the cognitive basis of the memory reduction during fixed viewing is uncertain, with possible mechanisms including disruption of visual-mnemonic and/or imagery processes with sustained fixation, or greater working memory demands required for fixed relative to free viewing. To investigate one possible mechanism for this reduction, we had participants perform a working memory task—an auditory n-back task—during free and fixed viewing, as well as a repetitive finger tapping condition, included to isolate the effects of motor interference independent of the oculomotor system. As expected, finger tapping significantly interfered with n-back performance relative to free viewing, as indexed by a decrease in accuracy and increase in response times. By contrast, there was no evidence that fixed viewing interfered with n-back performance relative to free viewing. Our findings failed to support a hypothesis of increased working memory load during fixation. They are consistent with the notion that fixation disrupts long-term memory performance through interference with visual processes. |
Richard Yao; Katherine Wood; Daniel J Simons As if by magic: An abrupt change in motion direction induces change blindness Journal Article Psychological Science, 30 (3), pp. 436–443, 2019. @article{Yao2019a, title = {As if by magic: An abrupt change in motion direction induces change blindness}, author = {Richard Yao and Katherine Wood and Daniel J Simons}, doi = {10.1177/0956797618822969}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-03-01}, journal = {Psychological Science}, volume = {30}, number = {3}, pages = {436--443}, publisher = {SAGE PublicationsSage CA: Los Angeles, CA}, abstract = {Magicians claim that an abrupt change in the direction of movement can attract attention, allowing them to hide their method for a trick in plain sight. In three experiments involving 43 total subjects, we tested this claim by examining whether a sudden directional change can induce change blindness. Subjects were asked to detect an instantaneous orientation change of a single item in an array of Gabor patches; this change occurred as the entire array moved across the display. Subjects consistently spotted the change if it occurred while the array moved along a straight path but missed it when it occurred as the array changed direction. This method of inducing change blindness leaves the object in full view during the change; requires no additional distractions, visual occlusion, or global transients; and worked in every subject tested here. This phenomenon joins a body of magic-inspired work that yields insights into perception and attention.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Magicians claim that an abrupt change in the direction of movement can attract attention, allowing them to hide their method for a trick in plain sight. In three experiments involving 43 total subjects, we tested this claim by examining whether a sudden directional change can induce change blindness. Subjects were asked to detect an instantaneous orientation change of a single item in an array of Gabor patches; this change occurred as the entire array moved across the display. Subjects consistently spotted the change if it occurred while the array moved along a straight path but missed it when it occurred as the array changed direction. This method of inducing change blindness leaves the object in full view during the change; requires no additional distractions, visual occlusion, or global transients; and worked in every subject tested here. This phenomenon joins a body of magic-inspired work that yields insights into perception and attention. |
Brook Shiferaw; David Crewther; Luke A Downey Gaze entropy measures reveal alcohol-induced visual scanning impairment during ascending and descending phases of intoxication Journal Article Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 80 (2), pp. 236–244, 2019. @article{Shiferaw2019, title = {Gaze entropy measures reveal alcohol-induced visual scanning impairment during ascending and descending phases of intoxication}, author = {Brook Shiferaw and David Crewther and Luke A Downey}, doi = {10.15288/jsad.2019.80.236}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-03-01}, journal = {Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs}, volume = {80}, number = {2}, pages = {236--244}, publisher = {Rutgers University}, abstract = {Objective: Visuospatial awareness is critical for everyday activities like driving. Higher order processes, such as visuospatial working memory (VSWM) and top-down modulation of gaze control, enable goal-driven visual scanning. Although available evidence suggests that alcohol differentially affects VSWM during the ascending and descending phases of the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) curve, it remains unclear whether such impact extends to a systemic disruption of visual scanning behavior. Method: In a placebo-controlled and repeated-measures design, the present study investigated the influence of moderate alcohol intake (0.6 g/kg) on VSWM and gaze behavior by using gaze entropy measures to quantify visual scanning efficiency. Thirty-eight (18 female, 20 male) healthy participants completed a VSWM task across three consecutive sessions (baseline, ascending, descending) while their eye movements were simultaneously recorded. Results: Performance in VSWM was affected during the descending session, where response accuracy declined significantly. Stationary gaze entropy (SGE) and gaze transition entropy (GTE) measures significantly reduced during both ascending and descending sessions. Fixation rate and duration were also affected by alcohol, but only during the ascending session. Conclusions: Reduction in SGE suggests a less explorative distribution of gaze, whereas low GTE is indicative of reduced visual scanning efficiency. These findings reflect the detrimental effects of alcohol on top-down control of gaze behavior, which may limit visual scanning efficiency. Deficits in visual scanning efficiency across the blood alcohol concentration curve may reduce visuospatial awareness and contribute to unintentional injuries during periods of intoxication.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Objective: Visuospatial awareness is critical for everyday activities like driving. Higher order processes, such as visuospatial working memory (VSWM) and top-down modulation of gaze control, enable goal-driven visual scanning. Although available evidence suggests that alcohol differentially affects VSWM during the ascending and descending phases of the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) curve, it remains unclear whether such impact extends to a systemic disruption of visual scanning behavior. Method: In a placebo-controlled and repeated-measures design, the present study investigated the influence of moderate alcohol intake (0.6 g/kg) on VSWM and gaze behavior by using gaze entropy measures to quantify visual scanning efficiency. Thirty-eight (18 female, 20 male) healthy participants completed a VSWM task across three consecutive sessions (baseline, ascending, descending) while their eye movements were simultaneously recorded. Results: Performance in VSWM was affected during the descending session, where response accuracy declined significantly. Stationary gaze entropy (SGE) and gaze transition entropy (GTE) measures significantly reduced during both ascending and descending sessions. Fixation rate and duration were also affected by alcohol, but only during the ascending session. Conclusions: Reduction in SGE suggests a less explorative distribution of gaze, whereas low GTE is indicative of reduced visual scanning efficiency. These findings reflect the detrimental effects of alcohol on top-down control of gaze behavior, which may limit visual scanning efficiency. Deficits in visual scanning efficiency across the blood alcohol concentration curve may reduce visuospatial awareness and contribute to unintentional injuries during periods of intoxication. |
John-Ross Rizzo; Mahya Beheshti; James Fung; Janet C Rucker; Todd E Hudson Efficiently recording the eye-hand coordination to incoordination spectrum Journal Article Journal of Visualized Experiments, (145), pp. 1–10, 2019. @article{Rizzo2019, title = {Efficiently recording the eye-hand coordination to incoordination spectrum}, author = {John-Ross Rizzo and Mahya Beheshti and James Fung and Janet C Rucker and Todd E Hudson}, doi = {10.3791/58885}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-03-01}, journal = {Journal of Visualized Experiments}, number = {145}, pages = {1--10}, abstract = {The objective analysis of eye movements has a significant history and has been long proven to be an important research tool in the setting of brain injury. Quantitative recordings have a strong capacity to screen diagnostically. Concurrent examinations of the eye and upper limb movements directed toward shared functional goals (e.g., eye-hand coordination) serve as an additional robust biomarker-laden path to capture and interrogate neural injury, including acquired brain injury (ABI). While quantitative dual-effector recordings in 3-D afford ample opportunities within ocular-manual motor investigations in the setting of ABI, the feasibility of such dual recordings for both eye and hand is challenging in pathological settings, particularly when approached with research-grade rigor. Here we describe the integration of an eye tracking system with a motion tracking system intended primarily for limb control research to study a natural behavior. The protocol enables the investigation of unrestricted, three-dimensional (3D) eye-hand coordination tasks. More specifically, we review a method to assess eye-hand coordination in visually guided saccade-to-reach tasks in subjects with chronic middle cerebral artery (MCA) stroke and compare them to healthy controls. Special attention is paid to the specific eye- and limb-tracking system properties in order to obtain high fidelity data from participants post-injury. Sampling rate, accuracy, permissible head movement range given anticipated tolerance and the feasibility of use were several of the critical properties considered when selecting an eye tracker and an approach. The limb tracker was selected based on a similar rubric but included the need for 3-D recording, dynamic interaction and a miniaturized physical footprint. The quantitative data provided by this method and the overall approach when executed correctly has tremendous potential to further refine our mechanistic understanding of eye-hand control and help inform feasible diagnostic and pragmatic interventions within the neurological and rehabilitative practice.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The objective analysis of eye movements has a significant history and has been long proven to be an important research tool in the setting of brain injury. Quantitative recordings have a strong capacity to screen diagnostically. Concurrent examinations of the eye and upper limb movements directed toward shared functional goals (e.g., eye-hand coordination) serve as an additional robust biomarker-laden path to capture and interrogate neural injury, including acquired brain injury (ABI). While quantitative dual-effector recordings in 3-D afford ample opportunities within ocular-manual motor investigations in the setting of ABI, the feasibility of such dual recordings for both eye and hand is challenging in pathological settings, particularly when approached with research-grade rigor. Here we describe the integration of an eye tracking system with a motion tracking system intended primarily for limb control research to study a natural behavior. The protocol enables the investigation of unrestricted, three-dimensional (3D) eye-hand coordination tasks. More specifically, we review a method to assess eye-hand coordination in visually guided saccade-to-reach tasks in subjects with chronic middle cerebral artery (MCA) stroke and compare them to healthy controls. Special attention is paid to the specific eye- and limb-tracking system properties in order to obtain high fidelity data from participants post-injury. Sampling rate, accuracy, permissible head movement range given anticipated tolerance and the feasibility of use were several of the critical properties considered when selecting an eye tracker and an approach. The limb tracker was selected based on a similar rubric but included the need for 3-D recording, dynamic interaction and a miniaturized physical footprint. The quantitative data provided by this method and the overall approach when executed correctly has tremendous potential to further refine our mechanistic understanding of eye-hand control and help inform feasible diagnostic and pragmatic interventions within the neurological and rehabilitative practice. |
Matthew O Kimble; Andrew S Hyatt Vigilance/avoidance to expected and presented stimuli in trauma survivors: An eye-tracking study Journal Article Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 20 (2), pp. 228–241, 2019. @article{Kimble2019, title = {Vigilance/avoidance to expected and presented stimuli in trauma survivors: An eye-tracking study}, author = {Matthew O Kimble and Andrew S Hyatt}, doi = {10.1080/15299732.2019.1572041}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-03-01}, journal = {Journal of Trauma & Dissociation}, volume = {20}, number = {2}, pages = {228--241}, publisher = {Routledge}, abstract = {Attention in trauma-related disorders has been characterized by both vigilance and avoidance of trauma-related or aversive stimuli. This study used eye-tracking technology to investigate how cumulative trauma, as well as hypervigilance and dissociative symptoms, affected attentional patterns to anticipated negative stimuli and actual negative stimuli. A sample of forty-two trauma participants recruited from the community had a choice about where to look on a computer screen knowing which segments of the screen negative stimuli were likely to appear. Participants could look at those stimuli for as long as they chose before pushing a button to move onto the next trial. A measure of hypervigilance predicted looking to quadrants in which a negative stimulus was to appear. Cumulative trauma predicted avoidance of those stimuli. Neither cumulative trauma or symptom profiles predicted how long participants looked at the negative pictures once they were presented. These data suggest that hypervigilance is associated with looking for threats that are not yet present, and that cumulative trauma may be associated with motivation to avoid negative stimuli. The findings are discussed with respect to the characteristics of the sample and the limited dissociative pathology.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Attention in trauma-related disorders has been characterized by both vigilance and avoidance of trauma-related or aversive stimuli. This study used eye-tracking technology to investigate how cumulative trauma, as well as hypervigilance and dissociative symptoms, affected attentional patterns to anticipated negative stimuli and actual negative stimuli. A sample of forty-two trauma participants recruited from the community had a choice about where to look on a computer screen knowing which segments of the screen negative stimuli were likely to appear. Participants could look at those stimuli for as long as they chose before pushing a button to move onto the next trial. A measure of hypervigilance predicted looking to quadrants in which a negative stimulus was to appear. Cumulative trauma predicted avoidance of those stimuli. Neither cumulative trauma or symptom profiles predicted how long participants looked at the negative pictures once they were presented. These data suggest that hypervigilance is associated with looking for threats that are not yet present, and that cumulative trauma may be associated with motivation to avoid negative stimuli. The findings are discussed with respect to the characteristics of the sample and the limited dissociative pathology. |
Lynn Huestegge; Oliver Herbort; Nora Gosch; Wilfried Kunde; Aleks Pieczykolan Free-choice saccades and their underlying determinants: Explorations of high-level voluntary oculomotor control Journal Article Journal of Vision, 19 (3), pp. 1–15, 2019. @article{Huestegge2019, title = {Free-choice saccades and their underlying determinants: Explorations of high-level voluntary oculomotor control}, author = {Lynn Huestegge and Oliver Herbort and Nora Gosch and Wilfried Kunde and Aleks Pieczykolan}, doi = {10.1167/19.3.14}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-03-01}, journal = {Journal of Vision}, volume = {19}, number = {3}, pages = {1--15}, publisher = {The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology}, abstract = {Models of eye-movement control distinguish between different control levels, ranging from automatic (bottom-up, stimulus-driven selection) and automatized (based on well-learned routines) to voluntary (top-down, goal-driven selection, e.g., based on instructions). However, one type of voluntary control has yet only been examined in the manual and not in the oculomotor domain, namely free-choice selection among arbitrary targets, that is, targets that are of equal interest from both a bottom-up and topdown processing perspective. Here, we ask which features of targets (identity- or location-related) are used to determine such oculomotor free-choice behavior. In two experiments, participants executed a saccade to one of four peripheral targets in three different choice conditions: unconstrained free choice, constrained free choice based on target identity (color), and constrained free choice based on target location. The analysis of choice frequencies revealed that unconstrained free-choice selection closely resembled constrained choice based on target location. The results suggest that free-choice oculomotor control is mainly guided by spatial (location-based) target characteristics. We explain these results by assuming that participants tend to avoid less parsimonious recoding of target-identity representations into spatial codes, the latter being a necessary prerequisite to configure oculomotor commands.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Models of eye-movement control distinguish between different control levels, ranging from automatic (bottom-up, stimulus-driven selection) and automatized (based on well-learned routines) to voluntary (top-down, goal-driven selection, e.g., based on instructions). However, one type of voluntary control has yet only been examined in the manual and not in the oculomotor domain, namely free-choice selection among arbitrary targets, that is, targets that are of equal interest from both a bottom-up and topdown processing perspective. Here, we ask which features of targets (identity- or location-related) are used to determine such oculomotor free-choice behavior. In two experiments, participants executed a saccade to one of four peripheral targets in three different choice conditions: unconstrained free choice, constrained free choice based on target identity (color), and constrained free choice based on target location. The analysis of choice frequencies revealed that unconstrained free-choice selection closely resembled constrained choice based on target location. The results suggest that free-choice oculomotor control is mainly guided by spatial (location-based) target characteristics. We explain these results by assuming that participants tend to avoid less parsimonious recoding of target-identity representations into spatial codes, the latter being a necessary prerequisite to configure oculomotor commands. |
Nils Bergmann; Dennis Koch; Anna Schubö Reward expectation facilitates context learning and attentional guidance in visual search Journal Article Journal of Vision, 19 (3), pp. 1–18, 2019. @article{Bergmann2019, title = {Reward expectation facilitates context learning and attentional guidance in visual search}, author = {Nils Bergmann and Dennis Koch and Anna Schubö}, doi = {10.1167/19.3.10}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-03-01}, journal = {Journal of Vision}, volume = {19}, number = {3}, pages = {1--18}, publisher = {The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology}, abstract = {Modulations of visual attention due to expectation of reward were frequently reported in recent years. Recent studies revealed that reward can modulate the implicit learning of repeated context configurations (e.g., Tseng & Lleras, 2013). We investigated the influence of reward expectations on context learning by associating colors to different reward magnitudes. Participants searched through contexts consisting of spatially distributed Lshaped distractors and a T-shaped target, with half of these objects appearing in a color associated with low, medium, or high reward. Half of these context configurations were repeatedly presented in every experimental block, whereas the other half was generated newly for every trial. Results showed an earlier and more pronounced contextual cueing effect in contexts associated with high reward compared with low reward contexts. This was visible as faster decline of response times to targets in repeated contexts associated with high reward compared with repeated low reward and novel contexts, and was reflected in the eye movement pattern as shorter distance of the first fixation to the target location. These results suggest that expectation of high reward magnitude facilitates subsequent learning of repeated context configurations. High reward also increases the efficiency of attention guidance toward the target location.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Modulations of visual attention due to expectation of reward were frequently reported in recent years. Recent studies revealed that reward can modulate the implicit learning of repeated context configurations (e.g., Tseng & Lleras, 2013). We investigated the influence of reward expectations on context learning by associating colors to different reward magnitudes. Participants searched through contexts consisting of spatially distributed Lshaped distractors and a T-shaped target, with half of these objects appearing in a color associated with low, medium, or high reward. Half of these context configurations were repeatedly presented in every experimental block, whereas the other half was generated newly for every trial. Results showed an earlier and more pronounced contextual cueing effect in contexts associated with high reward compared with low reward contexts. This was visible as faster decline of response times to targets in repeated contexts associated with high reward compared with repeated low reward and novel contexts, and was reflected in the eye movement pattern as shorter distance of the first fixation to the target location. These results suggest that expectation of high reward magnitude facilitates subsequent learning of repeated context configurations. High reward also increases the efficiency of attention guidance toward the target location. |
Sarah J Thompson; Tom Foulsham; Susan R Leekam; Catherine R G Jones Attention to the face is characterised by a difficult to inhibit first fixation to the eyes Journal Article Acta Psychologica, 193 , pp. 229–238, 2019. @article{Thompson2019, title = {Attention to the face is characterised by a difficult to inhibit first fixation to the eyes}, author = {Sarah J Thompson and Tom Foulsham and Susan R Leekam and Catherine R G Jones}, doi = {10.1016/j.actpsy.2019.01.006}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-02-01}, journal = {Acta Psychologica}, volume = {193}, pages = {229--238}, abstract = {The eyes are preferentially attended over other facial features and recent evidence suggests this bias is difficult to suppress. To further examine the automatic and volitional nature of this bias for eye information, we used a novel prompting face recognition paradigm in 41 adults and measured the location of their first fixations, overall dwell time and behavioural responses. First, patterns of eye gaze were measured during a free-viewing forced choice face recognition paradigm. Second, the task was repeated but with prompts to look to either the eyes or the mouth. Participants showed significantly more first fixations to the eyes than mouth, both when prompted to look at the eyes and when prompted to look at the mouth. The pattern of looking to the eyes when prompted was indistinguishable from the unprompted condition in which participants were free to look where they chose.Notably, the dwell time data demonstrated that the eye bias did not persist over the entire presentation period.Our results suggest a difficult-to-inhibit bias to initially orient to the eyes, which is superseded by volitional, top-down control of eye gaze. Further, the amount of looking to the eyes is at a maximum level spontaneously and cannot be enhanced by explicit instructions.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The eyes are preferentially attended over other facial features and recent evidence suggests this bias is difficult to suppress. To further examine the automatic and volitional nature of this bias for eye information, we used a novel prompting face recognition paradigm in 41 adults and measured the location of their first fixations, overall dwell time and behavioural responses. First, patterns of eye gaze were measured during a free-viewing forced choice face recognition paradigm. Second, the task was repeated but with prompts to look to either the eyes or the mouth. Participants showed significantly more first fixations to the eyes than mouth, both when prompted to look at the eyes and when prompted to look at the mouth. The pattern of looking to the eyes when prompted was indistinguishable from the unprompted condition in which participants were free to look where they chose.Notably, the dwell time data demonstrated that the eye bias did not persist over the entire presentation period.Our results suggest a difficult-to-inhibit bias to initially orient to the eyes, which is superseded by volitional, top-down control of eye gaze. Further, the amount of looking to the eyes is at a maximum level spontaneously and cannot be enhanced by explicit instructions. |
Giuseppe Notaro; Wieske van Zoest; Magda Altman; David Melcher; Uri Hasson Journal of Vision, 19 (2), pp. 1–22, 2019. @article{Notaro2019, title = {Predictions as a window into learning: Anticipatory fixation offsets carry more information about environmental statistics than reactive stimulus-responses}, author = {Giuseppe Notaro and Wieske van Zoest and Magda Altman and David Melcher and Uri Hasson}, doi = {10.1167/19.2.8}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-02-01}, journal = {Journal of Vision}, volume = {19}, number = {2}, pages = {1--22}, publisher = {The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology}, abstract = {A core question underlying neurobiological and computational models of behavior is how individuals learn environmental statistics and use them to make predictions. Most investigations of this issue have relied on reactive paradigms, in which inferences about predictive processes are derived by modeling responses to stimuli that vary in likelihood. Here we deployed a novel anticipatory oculomotor metric to determine how input statistics impact anticipatory behavior that is decoupled from target-driven-response. We implemented transition constraints between target locations, so that the probability of a target being presented on the same side as the previous trial was 70% in one condition (pret70) and 30% in the other (pret30). Rather than focus on responses to targets, we studied subtle endogenous anticipatory fixation offsets (AFOs) measured while participants fixated the screen center, awaiting a target. These AFOs were small (textless 0.48 from center on average), but strongly tracked globallevel statistics. Speaking to learning dynamics, trial-bytrial fluctuations in AFO were well-described by a learning model, which identified a lower learning rate in pret70 than pret30, corroborating prior suggestions that pret70 is subjectively treated as more regular. Most importantly, direct comparisons with saccade latencies revealed that AFOs: (a) reflected similar temporal integration windows, (b) carried more information about the statistical context than did saccade latencies, and (c) accounted for most of the information that saccade latencies also contained about inputs statistics. Our work demonstrates how strictly predictive processes reflect learning dynamics, and presents a new direction for studying learning and prediction.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } A core question underlying neurobiological and computational models of behavior is how individuals learn environmental statistics and use them to make predictions. Most investigations of this issue have relied on reactive paradigms, in which inferences about predictive processes are derived by modeling responses to stimuli that vary in likelihood. Here we deployed a novel anticipatory oculomotor metric to determine how input statistics impact anticipatory behavior that is decoupled from target-driven-response. We implemented transition constraints between target locations, so that the probability of a target being presented on the same side as the previous trial was 70% in one condition (pret70) and 30% in the other (pret30). Rather than focus on responses to targets, we studied subtle endogenous anticipatory fixation offsets (AFOs) measured while participants fixated the screen center, awaiting a target. These AFOs were small (textless 0.48 from center on average), but strongly tracked globallevel statistics. Speaking to learning dynamics, trial-bytrial fluctuations in AFO were well-described by a learning model, which identified a lower learning rate in pret70 than pret30, corroborating prior suggestions that pret70 is subjectively treated as more regular. Most importantly, direct comparisons with saccade latencies revealed that AFOs: (a) reflected similar temporal integration windows, (b) carried more information about the statistical context than did saccade latencies, and (c) accounted for most of the information that saccade latencies also contained about inputs statistics. Our work demonstrates how strictly predictive processes reflect learning dynamics, and presents a new direction for studying learning and prediction. |
Jolande Fooken; Miriam Spering Decoding go/no-go decisions from eye movements Journal Article Journal of Vision, 19 (2), pp. 1–13, 2019. @article{Fooken2019, title = {Decoding go/no-go decisions from eye movements}, author = {Jolande Fooken and Miriam Spering}, doi = {10.1167/19.2.5}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-02-01}, journal = {Journal of Vision}, volume = {19}, number = {2}, pages = {1--13}, publisher = {The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology}, abstract = {Neural activity in brain areas involved in the planning and execution of eye movements predicts the outcome of an upcoming perceptual decision. Many real-world decisions, such as whether to swing at a baseball pitch, are accompanied by characteristic eye-movement behavior. Here we ask whether human eye-movement kinematics can sensitively predict decision outcomes in a go/no-go task requiring rapid interceptive hand movements. Observers (n = 45) viewed a moving target that passed through or missed a designated strike box. Critically, the target disappeared briefly after launch, and observers had to predict the target's trajectory, withholding a hand movement if it missed (no-go) or intercepting inside the strike box (go). We found that go/no-go decisions were reflected in distinct eye-movement responses on a trial-by-trial basis: Eye-position error and targeting-saccade dynamics predicted decision outcome with 76% accuracy across conditions. Model prediction accuracy was related to observers' decision accuracy across different levels of task difficulty and sensory-signal strength. Our findings suggest that eye movements provide a sensitive and continuous readout of internal neural decision-making processes and reflect decision-task requirements in human observers.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Neural activity in brain areas involved in the planning and execution of eye movements predicts the outcome of an upcoming perceptual decision. Many real-world decisions, such as whether to swing at a baseball pitch, are accompanied by characteristic eye-movement behavior. Here we ask whether human eye-movement kinematics can sensitively predict decision outcomes in a go/no-go task requiring rapid interceptive hand movements. Observers (n = 45) viewed a moving target that passed through or missed a designated strike box. Critically, the target disappeared briefly after launch, and observers had to predict the target's trajectory, withholding a hand movement if it missed (no-go) or intercepting inside the strike box (go). We found that go/no-go decisions were reflected in distinct eye-movement responses on a trial-by-trial basis: Eye-position error and targeting-saccade dynamics predicted decision outcome with 76% accuracy across conditions. Model prediction accuracy was related to observers' decision accuracy across different levels of task difficulty and sensory-signal strength. Our findings suggest that eye movements provide a sensitive and continuous readout of internal neural decision-making processes and reflect decision-task requirements in human observers. |
Tianlong Zu; John Hutson; Lester C Loschky; Sanjay N Rebello Using eye movements to measure intrinsic, extraneous, and germane load in a multimedia learning environment Journal Article Journal of Educational Psychology, pp. 1–15, 2019. @article{Zu2019, title = {Using eye movements to measure intrinsic, extraneous, and germane load in a multimedia learning environment}, author = {Tianlong Zu and John Hutson and Lester C Loschky and Sanjay N Rebello}, doi = {10.1037/edu0000441}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Journal of Educational Psychology}, pages = {1--15}, abstract = {In a previous study, DeLeeuw and Mayer (2008) found support for the triarchic model of cognitive load (Sweller, Van Merriënboer, & Paas, 1998, 2019) by showing that three different metrics could be used to independently measure 3 hypothesized types of cognitive load: intrinsic, extraneous, and germane. However, 2 of the 3 metrics that the authors used were intrusive in nature because learning had to be stopped momentarily to complete the measures. The current study extends the design of DeLeeuw and Mayer (2008) by investigating whether learners' eye movement behavior can be used to measure the three proposed types of cognitive load without interrupting learning. During a 1-hr experiment, we presented a multimedia lesson explaining the mechanism of electric motors to participants who had low prior knowledge of this topic. First, we replicated the main results of DeLeeuw and Mayer (2008), providing further support for the triarchic structure of cognitive load. Second, we identified eye movement measures that differentiated the three types of cognitive load. These findings were independent of participants' working memory capacity. Together, these results provide further evidence for the triarchic nature of cognitive load (Sweller et al., 1998, 2019), and are a first step toward online measures of cognitive load that could potentially be implemented into computer assisted learning technologies.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } In a previous study, DeLeeuw and Mayer (2008) found support for the triarchic model of cognitive load (Sweller, Van Merriënboer, & Paas, 1998, 2019) by showing that three different metrics could be used to independently measure 3 hypothesized types of cognitive load: intrinsic, extraneous, and germane. However, 2 of the 3 metrics that the authors used were intrusive in nature because learning had to be stopped momentarily to complete the measures. The current study extends the design of DeLeeuw and Mayer (2008) by investigating whether learners' eye movement behavior can be used to measure the three proposed types of cognitive load without interrupting learning. During a 1-hr experiment, we presented a multimedia lesson explaining the mechanism of electric motors to participants who had low prior knowledge of this topic. First, we replicated the main results of DeLeeuw and Mayer (2008), providing further support for the triarchic structure of cognitive load. Second, we identified eye movement measures that differentiated the three types of cognitive load. These findings were independent of participants' working memory capacity. Together, these results provide further evidence for the triarchic nature of cognitive load (Sweller et al., 1998, 2019), and are a first step toward online measures of cognitive load that could potentially be implemented into computer assisted learning technologies. |
Eirini Zormpa; Antje S Meyer; Laurel E Brehm Slow naming of pictures facilitates memory for their names Journal Article Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 26 , pp. 1675–1682, 2019. @article{Zormpa2019, title = {Slow naming of pictures facilitates memory for their names}, author = {Eirini Zormpa and Antje S Meyer and Laurel E Brehm}, doi = {10.3758/s13423-019-01620-x}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Psychonomic Bulletin & Review}, volume = {26}, pages = {1675--1682}, publisher = {Psychonomic Bulletin & Review}, abstract = {Speakers remember their own utterances better than those of their interlocutors, suggesting that language production is beneficial to memory. This may be partly explained by a generation effect: The act of generating a word is known to lead to a memory advantage (Slamecka & Graf, 1978). In earlier work, we showed a generation effect for recognition of images (Zormpa, Brehm, Hoedemaker, & Meyer, 2019). Here, we tested whether the recognition of their names would also benefit from name generation. Testing whether picture naming improves memory for words was our primary aim, as it serves to clarify whether the representations affected by generation are visual or conceptual/lexical. A secondary aim was to assess the influence of processing time on memory. Fifty-one participants named pictures in three conditions: after hearing the picture name (identity condition), backward speech, or an unrelated word. A day later, recognition memory was tested in a yes/no task. Memory in the backward speech and unrelated conditions, which required generation, was superior to memory in the identity condition, which did not require generation. The time taken by participants for naming was a good predictor of memory, such that words that took longer to be retrieved were remembered better. Importantly, that was the case only when generation was required: In the no-generation (identity) condition, processing time was not related to recognition memory performance. This work has shown that generation affects conceptual/lexical representations, making an important contribution to the understanding of the relationship between memory and language.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Speakers remember their own utterances better than those of their interlocutors, suggesting that language production is beneficial to memory. This may be partly explained by a generation effect: The act of generating a word is known to lead to a memory advantage (Slamecka & Graf, 1978). In earlier work, we showed a generation effect for recognition of images (Zormpa, Brehm, Hoedemaker, & Meyer, 2019). Here, we tested whether the recognition of their names would also benefit from name generation. Testing whether picture naming improves memory for words was our primary aim, as it serves to clarify whether the representations affected by generation are visual or conceptual/lexical. A secondary aim was to assess the influence of processing time on memory. Fifty-one participants named pictures in three conditions: after hearing the picture name (identity condition), backward speech, or an unrelated word. A day later, recognition memory was tested in a yes/no task. Memory in the backward speech and unrelated conditions, which required generation, was superior to memory in the identity condition, which did not require generation. The time taken by participants for naming was a good predictor of memory, such that words that took longer to be retrieved were remembered better. Importantly, that was the case only when generation was required: In the no-generation (identity) condition, processing time was not related to recognition memory performance. This work has shown that generation affects conceptual/lexical representations, making an important contribution to the understanding of the relationship between memory and language. |
Imme C Zillekens; Marie-Luise Luise Brandi; Juha M Lahnakoski; Atesh Koul; Valeria Manera; Cristina Becchio; Leonhard Schilbach Increased functional coupling of the left amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex during the perception of communicative point-light stimuli Journal Article Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 14 , pp. 97–107, 2019. @article{Zillekens2019, title = {Increased functional coupling of the left amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex during the perception of communicative point-light stimuli}, author = {Imme C Zillekens and Marie-Luise Luise Brandi and Juha M Lahnakoski and Atesh Koul and Valeria Manera and Cristina Becchio and Leonhard Schilbach}, doi = {10.1093/scan/nsy105}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience}, volume = {14}, pages = {97--107}, abstract = {Interpersonal predictive coding (IPPC) describes the behavioral phenomenon whereby seeing a communicative rather than an individual action helps to discern a masked second agent. As little is known, yet, about the neural correlates of IPPC, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging study in a group of 27 healthy participants using point-light displays of moving agents embedded in distractors. We discovered that seeing communicative compared to individual actions was associated with higher activation of right superior frontal gyrus, whereas the reversed contrast elicited increased neural activation in an action observation network that was activated during all trials. Our findings, therefore, potentially indicate the formation of action predictions and a reduced demand for executive control in response to communicative actions. Further, in a regression analysis, we revealed that increased perceptual sensitivity was associated with a deactivation of the left amygdala during the perceptual task. A consecutive psychophysiological interaction analysis showed increased connectivity of the amygdala with medial prefrontal cortex in the context of communicative compared to individual actions. Thus, whereas increased amygdala signaling might interfere with task-relevant processes, increased co-activation of the amygdala and the medial prefrontal cortex in a communicative context might represent the integration of mentalizing computations.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Interpersonal predictive coding (IPPC) describes the behavioral phenomenon whereby seeing a communicative rather than an individual action helps to discern a masked second agent. As little is known, yet, about the neural correlates of IPPC, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging study in a group of 27 healthy participants using point-light displays of moving agents embedded in distractors. We discovered that seeing communicative compared to individual actions was associated with higher activation of right superior frontal gyrus, whereas the reversed contrast elicited increased neural activation in an action observation network that was activated during all trials. Our findings, therefore, potentially indicate the formation of action predictions and a reduced demand for executive control in response to communicative actions. Further, in a regression analysis, we revealed that increased perceptual sensitivity was associated with a deactivation of the left amygdala during the perceptual task. A consecutive psychophysiological interaction analysis showed increased connectivity of the amygdala with medial prefrontal cortex in the context of communicative compared to individual actions. Thus, whereas increased amygdala signaling might interfere with task-relevant processes, increased co-activation of the amygdala and the medial prefrontal cortex in a communicative context might represent the integration of mentalizing computations. |
Zhuoting Zhu; Yin Hu; Chimei Liao; Stuart Keel; Ren Huang; Yanping Liu; Mingguang He Visual span and cognitive factors affect Chinese reading speed Journal Article Journal of Vision, 19 (14), pp. 1–11, 2019. @article{Zhu2019d, title = {Visual span and cognitive factors affect Chinese reading speed}, author = {Zhuoting Zhu and Yin Hu and Chimei Liao and Stuart Keel and Ren Huang and Yanping Liu and Mingguang He}, doi = {10.1167/19.14.17}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Journal of Vision}, volume = {19}, number = {14}, pages = {1--11}, abstract = {Visual span, which is the number of recognizable letters seen without moving the eyes, has been proven to impose a sensory limitation for alphabetic reading speed (Chung, 2011; Chung, Legge, & Cheung, 2004; Lee, Kwon, Legge, & Gefroh, 2010; Legge, Ahn, Klitz, & Luebker, 1997; Legge, Hooven, Klitz, Stephen Mansfield, & Tjan, 2002; D. Yu, Cheung, Legge, & Chung, 2010). However, little is known about the effects of visual span on Chinese reading performance. Of note, Chinese text differs greatly from that of the alphabetic writing system. There are no spaces between words, and readers are forced to utilize their lexical knowledge to segment Chinese characters into meaningful words, thus increasing the relative importance of cognitive/linguistic factors in reading performance. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to explore whether visual span and cognitive/linguistic factors have independent effects on Chinese reading speed. Visual span profiles, cognitive/linguistic factors indicated by word frequency, and Chinese sentence-reading performance were collected from 28 native Chinese-speaking subjects. We found that the visual-span size and cognitive/linguistic factors independently contributed to Chinese sentence-reading speed (all ps textless 0.05). We concluded that both the visual-span size and cognitive/linguistic factors represented bottlenecks for Chinese sentence-reading speed.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Visual span, which is the number of recognizable letters seen without moving the eyes, has been proven to impose a sensory limitation for alphabetic reading speed (Chung, 2011; Chung, Legge, & Cheung, 2004; Lee, Kwon, Legge, & Gefroh, 2010; Legge, Ahn, Klitz, & Luebker, 1997; Legge, Hooven, Klitz, Stephen Mansfield, & Tjan, 2002; D. Yu, Cheung, Legge, & Chung, 2010). However, little is known about the effects of visual span on Chinese reading performance. Of note, Chinese text differs greatly from that of the alphabetic writing system. There are no spaces between words, and readers are forced to utilize their lexical knowledge to segment Chinese characters into meaningful words, thus increasing the relative importance of cognitive/linguistic factors in reading performance. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to explore whether visual span and cognitive/linguistic factors have independent effects on Chinese reading speed. Visual span profiles, cognitive/linguistic factors indicated by word frequency, and Chinese sentence-reading performance were collected from 28 native Chinese-speaking subjects. We found that the visual-span size and cognitive/linguistic factors independently contributed to Chinese sentence-reading speed (all ps textless 0.05). We concluded that both the visual-span size and cognitive/linguistic factors represented bottlenecks for Chinese sentence-reading speed. |
Zhuoting Zhu; Yin Hu; Chimei Liao; Ren Huang; Stuart Keel; Yanping Liu; Mingguang He; Stuart Keell; Yanping Liu; Mingguang He Perceptual learning of visual span improves Chinese reading speed Journal Article Visual Psychophysics and Physiological Optics, 60 (6), pp. 2357–2368, 2019. @article{Zhu2019c, title = {Perceptual learning of visual span improves Chinese reading speed}, author = {Zhuoting Zhu and Yin Hu and Chimei Liao and Ren Huang and Stuart Keel and Yanping Liu and Mingguang He and Stuart Keell and Yanping Liu and Mingguang He}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Visual Psychophysics and Physiological Optics}, volume = {60}, number = {6}, pages = {2357--2368}, abstract = {PURPOSE. Evidence has indicated that the size of the visual span (the number of identifiable letters without movement of the eyes) and reading speed can be boosted through perceptual learning in alphabetic scripts. In this study, we investigated whether benefits of perceptual learning could be extended to visual-span size and sentence reading (all characters are presented at the same time) for Chinese characters and explored changes in sensory factors contributing to changes in visual-span size following training. METHODS. We randomly assigned 26 normally sighted subjects to either a control group (n ¼ 13) or a training group (n ¼ 13). Pre- and posttests were administered to evaluate visual-span profiles (VSPs) and reading speed. Training consisted of trigram (sequences of three characters) character-recognition trials over 4 consecutive days. VSPs are plots of recognition accuracy as a function of character position. Visual-span size was quantified as the area under VSPs in bits of information transmitted. A decomposition analysis of VSPs was used to quantify the effects of sensory factors (crowding and mislocation). We compared the size and sensory factors of visual span and reading speed following training. RESULTS. Following training, the visual-span size significantly increased by 11.7 bits, and reading speed increased by 50.8%. The decomposition analysis showed a significant reduction for crowding (?13.1 bits) but a minor increase in the magnitude of mislocation errors (1.46 bits) following training. CONCLUSIONS. These results suggest that perceptual learning expands the visual-span size and further improves Chinese text sentence-reading speed, indicating that visual span may be a common sensory limitation on reading that can be overcome with practice.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } PURPOSE. Evidence has indicated that the size of the visual span (the number of identifiable letters without movement of the eyes) and reading speed can be boosted through perceptual learning in alphabetic scripts. In this study, we investigated whether benefits of perceptual learning could be extended to visual-span size and sentence reading (all characters are presented at the same time) for Chinese characters and explored changes in sensory factors contributing to changes in visual-span size following training. METHODS. We randomly assigned 26 normally sighted subjects to either a control group (n ¼ 13) or a training group (n ¼ 13). Pre- and posttests were administered to evaluate visual-span profiles (VSPs) and reading speed. Training consisted of trigram (sequences of three characters) character-recognition trials over 4 consecutive days. VSPs are plots of recognition accuracy as a function of character position. Visual-span size was quantified as the area under VSPs in bits of information transmitted. A decomposition analysis of VSPs was used to quantify the effects of sensory factors (crowding and mislocation). We compared the size and sensory factors of visual span and reading speed following training. RESULTS. Following training, the visual-span size significantly increased by 11.7 bits, and reading speed increased by 50.8%. The decomposition analysis showed a significant reduction for crowding (?13.1 bits) but a minor increase in the magnitude of mislocation errors (1.46 bits) following training. CONCLUSIONS. These results suggest that perceptual learning expands the visual-span size and further improves Chinese text sentence-reading speed, indicating that visual span may be a common sensory limitation on reading that can be overcome with practice. |
Rongjuan Zhu; Xuqun You; Shuoqiu Gan; Jinwei Wang Spatial attention shifts in addition and subtraction arithmetic: Evidence of eye movement Journal Article Perception, 48 (9), pp. 835–849, 2019. @article{Zhu2019a, title = {Spatial attention shifts in addition and subtraction arithmetic: Evidence of eye movement}, author = {Rongjuan Zhu and Xuqun You and Shuoqiu Gan and Jinwei Wang}, doi = {10.1177/0301006619865156}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Perception}, volume = {48}, number = {9}, pages = {835--849}, abstract = {Recently, it has been proposed that solving addition and subtraction problems can evoke horizontal shifts of spatial attention. However, prior to this study, it remained unclear whether orienting shifts of spatial attention relied on actual arithmetic processes (i.e., the activated magnitude) or the semantic spatial association of the operator. In this study, spatial–arithmetic associations were explored through three experiments using an eye tracker, which attempted to investigate the mechanism of those associations. Experiment 1 replicated spatial–arithmetic associations in addition and subtraction problems. Experiments 2 and 3 selected zero as the operand to investigate whether these arithmetic problems could induce shifts of spatial attention. Experiment 2 indicated that addition and subtraction problems (zero as the second operand, i.e., 2 + 0) do not induce shifts of spatial attention. Experiment 3 showed that addition and subtraction arithmetic (zero as the first operand, i.e., 0 + 2) do facilitate rightward and leftward eye movement, respectively. This indicates that the operator alone does not induce horizontal eye movement. However, our findings support the idea that solving addition and subtraction problems is associated with horizontal shifts of spatial attention.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Recently, it has been proposed that solving addition and subtraction problems can evoke horizontal shifts of spatial attention. However, prior to this study, it remained unclear whether orienting shifts of spatial attention relied on actual arithmetic processes (i.e., the activated magnitude) or the semantic spatial association of the operator. In this study, spatial–arithmetic associations were explored through three experiments using an eye tracker, which attempted to investigate the mechanism of those associations. Experiment 1 replicated spatial–arithmetic associations in addition and subtraction problems. Experiments 2 and 3 selected zero as the operand to investigate whether these arithmetic problems could induce shifts of spatial attention. Experiment 2 indicated that addition and subtraction problems (zero as the second operand, i.e., 2 + 0) do not induce shifts of spatial attention. Experiment 3 showed that addition and subtraction arithmetic (zero as the first operand, i.e., 0 + 2) do facilitate rightward and leftward eye movement, respectively. This indicates that the operator alone does not induce horizontal eye movement. However, our findings support the idea that solving addition and subtraction problems is associated with horizontal shifts of spatial attention. |
Jing Zhu; Ying Wang; Rong La; Jiawei Zhan; Junhong Niu; Shuai Zeng; Xiping Hu Multimodal mild depression recognition based on EEG-EM synchronization acquisition network Journal Article IEEE Access, 7 , pp. 28196–28210, 2019. @article{Zhu2019b, title = {Multimodal mild depression recognition based on EEG-EM synchronization acquisition network}, author = {Jing Zhu and Ying Wang and Rong La and Jiawei Zhan and Junhong Niu and Shuai Zeng and Xiping Hu}, doi = {10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2901950}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {IEEE Access}, volume = {7}, pages = {28196--28210}, publisher = {IEEE}, abstract = {In this paper, we used electroencephalography (EEG)-eye movement (EM) synchronization acquisition network to simultaneously record both EEG and EM physiological signals of the mild depression and normal controls during free viewing. Then, we consider a multimodal feature fusion method that can best discriminate between mild depression and normal control subjects as a step toward achieving our long-term aim of developing an objective and effective multimodal system that assists doctors during diagnosis and monitoring of mild depression. Based on the multimodal denoising autoencoder, we use two feature fusion strategies (feature fusion and hidden layer fusion) for fusion of the EEG and EM signals to improve the recognition performance of classifiers for mild depression. Our experimental results indicate that the EEG-EM synchronization acquisition network ensures that the recorded EM and EEG data require that both the data streams are synchronized with millisecond precision, and both fusion methods can improve the mild depression recognition accuracy, thus demonstrating the complementary nature of the modalities. Compared with the unimodal classification approach that uses only EEG or EM, the feature fusion method slightly improved the recognition accuracy by 1.88%, while the hidden layer fusion method significantly improved the classification rate by up to 7.36%. In particular, the highest classification accuracy achieved in this paper was 83.42%. These results indicate that the multimodal deep learning approaches with input data using a combination of EEG and EM signals are promising in achieving real-time monitoring and identification of mild depression.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } In this paper, we used electroencephalography (EEG)-eye movement (EM) synchronization acquisition network to simultaneously record both EEG and EM physiological signals of the mild depression and normal controls during free viewing. Then, we consider a multimodal feature fusion method that can best discriminate between mild depression and normal control subjects as a step toward achieving our long-term aim of developing an objective and effective multimodal system that assists doctors during diagnosis and monitoring of mild depression. Based on the multimodal denoising autoencoder, we use two feature fusion strategies (feature fusion and hidden layer fusion) for fusion of the EEG and EM signals to improve the recognition performance of classifiers for mild depression. Our experimental results indicate that the EEG-EM synchronization acquisition network ensures that the recorded EM and EEG data require that both the data streams are synchronized with millisecond precision, and both fusion methods can improve the mild depression recognition accuracy, thus demonstrating the complementary nature of the modalities. Compared with the unimodal classification approach that uses only EEG or EM, the feature fusion method slightly improved the recognition accuracy by 1.88%, while the hidden layer fusion method significantly improved the classification rate by up to 7.36%. In particular, the highest classification accuracy achieved in this paper was 83.42%. These results indicate that the multimodal deep learning approaches with input data using a combination of EEG and EM signals are promising in achieving real-time monitoring and identification of mild depression. |
Hongzhi Zhu; Septimiu Salcudean; Robert Rohling The Neyman Pearson detection of microsaccades with maximum likelihood estimation of parameters Journal Article Journal of Vision, 19 (13), pp. 1–17, 2019. @article{Zhu2019b, title = {The Neyman Pearson detection of microsaccades with maximum likelihood estimation of parameters}, author = {Hongzhi Zhu and Septimiu Salcudean and Robert Rohling}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Journal of Vision}, volume = {19}, number = {13}, pages = {1--17}, abstract = {Despite the fact that the velocity threshold method is widely applied, the detection of microsaccades continues to be a challenging problem, due to gaze-tracking inaccuracy and the transient nature of microsaccades. Important parameters associated with a saccadic event, e.g., saccade duration, amplitude, and maximum velocity, are sometimes imprecisely estimated, which may lead to biases in inferring the roles of microsaccades in perception and cognition. To overcome the biases and have a better detection algorithm for microsaccades, we propose a novel statistical model for the tracked gaze positions during eye fixations. In this model, we incorporate a parametrization that has been previously applied to model saccades, which allows us to veridically capture the velocity profile of saccadic eye movements. Based on our model, we derive the Neyman Pearson Detector (NPD) for saccadic events. Implemented in conjunction with the maximum likelihood estimation method, our NPD can detect a saccadic event and estimate all parameters simultaneously. Because of its adaptive nature and its statistical optimality, our NPD method was able to better detect microsaccades in some datasets when compared with a recently proposed state-of-the-art method based on convolutional neural networks. NPD also yielded comparable performance with a recently developed Bayesian algorithm, with the added benefit of modeling a more biologically veridical velocity profile of the saccade. As opposed to these algorithms, NPD can lend itself better to online saccade detection, and thus has potential for human-computer interaction applications. Our algorithm is publicly available at https://github.com/hz-zhu/NPD-micro-saccade-detection.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Despite the fact that the velocity threshold method is widely applied, the detection of microsaccades continues to be a challenging problem, due to gaze-tracking inaccuracy and the transient nature of microsaccades. Important parameters associated with a saccadic event, e.g., saccade duration, amplitude, and maximum velocity, are sometimes imprecisely estimated, which may lead to biases in inferring the roles of microsaccades in perception and cognition. To overcome the biases and have a better detection algorithm for microsaccades, we propose a novel statistical model for the tracked gaze positions during eye fixations. In this model, we incorporate a parametrization that has been previously applied to model saccades, which allows us to veridically capture the velocity profile of saccadic eye movements. Based on our model, we derive the Neyman Pearson Detector (NPD) for saccadic events. Implemented in conjunction with the maximum likelihood estimation method, our NPD can detect a saccadic event and estimate all parameters simultaneously. Because of its adaptive nature and its statistical optimality, our NPD method was able to better detect microsaccades in some datasets when compared with a recently proposed state-of-the-art method based on convolutional neural networks. NPD also yielded comparable performance with a recently developed Bayesian algorithm, with the added benefit of modeling a more biologically veridical velocity profile of the saccade. As opposed to these algorithms, NPD can lend itself better to online saccade detection, and thus has potential for human-computer interaction applications. Our algorithm is publicly available at https://github.com/hz-zhu/NPD-micro-saccade-detection. |
Wei Zhou; Yadong Gao; Yulin Chang; Mengmeng Su Hemispheric processing of lexical information in Chinese character recognition and its relationship to reading performance Journal Article Journal of General Psychology, 146 (1), pp. 34–49, 2019. @article{Zhou2019b, title = {Hemispheric processing of lexical information in Chinese character recognition and its relationship to reading performance}, author = {Wei Zhou and Yadong Gao and Yulin Chang and Mengmeng Su}, doi = {10.1080/00221309.2018.1535483}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Journal of General Psychology}, volume = {146}, number = {1}, pages = {34--49}, publisher = {Psychology Press}, abstract = {Hemispheric predominance has been well documented in the visual perception of alphabetic words. However, the hemispheric processing of lexical information in Chinese character recognition and its relationship to reading performance are far from clear. In the divided visual field paradigm, participants were required to judge the orthography, phonology, or semantics of Chinese characters, which were presented randomly in the left or right visual field. The results showed a right visual field/left hemispheric superiority in the phonological judgment task, but no hemispheric advantage in the orthographic or semantic task was found. In addition, reaction times in the right visual field for phonological and semantic tasks were significantly correlated with the reading test score. These results suggest that both hemispheres involved in the orthographic and semantic processing of Chinese characters, and that the left lateralized phonological processing is important for Chinese fluent reading.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Hemispheric predominance has been well documented in the visual perception of alphabetic words. However, the hemispheric processing of lexical information in Chinese character recognition and its relationship to reading performance are far from clear. In the divided visual field paradigm, participants were required to judge the orthography, phonology, or semantics of Chinese characters, which were presented randomly in the left or right visual field. The results showed a right visual field/left hemispheric superiority in the phonological judgment task, but no hemispheric advantage in the orthographic or semantic task was found. In addition, reaction times in the right visual field for phonological and semantic tasks were significantly correlated with the reading test score. These results suggest that both hemispheres involved in the orthographic and semantic processing of Chinese characters, and that the left lateralized phonological processing is important for Chinese fluent reading. |
Peng Zhou; Likan Zhan; Huimin Ma Predictive language processing in preschool children with autism spectrum disorder: An eye-tracking study Journal Article Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 48 (2), pp. 431–452, 2019. @article{Zhou2019d, title = {Predictive language processing in preschool children with autism spectrum disorder: An eye-tracking study}, author = {Peng Zhou and Likan Zhan and Huimin Ma}, doi = {10.1007/s10936-018-9612-5}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Journal of Psycholinguistic Research}, volume = {48}, number = {2}, pages = {431--452}, publisher = {Springer US}, abstract = {Sentence comprehension relies on the abilities to rapidly integrate different types of linguistic and non-linguistic information. The present study investigated whether Mandarin-speaking preschool children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are able to use verb information predictively to anticipate the upcoming linguistic input during real-time sentence comprehension. 26 five-year-olds with ASD, 25 typically developing (TD) five-year-olds and 24 TD four-year-olds were tested using the visual world eye-tracking paradigm. The results showed that the 5-year-olds with ASD, like their TD peers, exhibited verb-based anticipatory eye movements during real-time sentence comprehension. No difference was observed between the ASD and TD groups in the time course of their eye gaze patterns, indicating that Mandarin-speaking preschool children with ASD are able to use verb information as effectively and rapidly as TD peers to predict the upcoming linguistic input.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Sentence comprehension relies on the abilities to rapidly integrate different types of linguistic and non-linguistic information. The present study investigated whether Mandarin-speaking preschool children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are able to use verb information predictively to anticipate the upcoming linguistic input during real-time sentence comprehension. 26 five-year-olds with ASD, 25 typically developing (TD) five-year-olds and 24 TD four-year-olds were tested using the visual world eye-tracking paradigm. The results showed that the 5-year-olds with ASD, like their TD peers, exhibited verb-based anticipatory eye movements during real-time sentence comprehension. No difference was observed between the ASD and TD groups in the time course of their eye gaze patterns, indicating that Mandarin-speaking preschool children with ASD are able to use verb information as effectively and rapidly as TD peers to predict the upcoming linguistic input. |
Peng Zhou; Weiyi Ma; Likan Zhan A deficit in using prosodic cues to understand communicative intentions by children with autism spectrum disorders: An eye-tracking study Journal Article First Language, pp. 1–13, 2019. @article{Zhou2019, title = {A deficit in using prosodic cues to understand communicative intentions by children with autism spectrum disorders: An eye-tracking study}, author = {Peng Zhou and Weiyi Ma and Likan Zhan}, doi = {10.1177/0142723719885270}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {First Language}, pages = {1--13}, abstract = {The present study investigated whether Mandarin-speaking preschool children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) were able to use prosodic cues to understand others' communicative intentions. Using the visual world eye-tracking paradigm, the study found that unlike typically developing (TD) 4-year-olds, both 4-year-olds with ASD and 5-year-olds with ASD exhibited an eye gaze pattern that reflected their inability to use prosodic cues to infer the intended meaning of the speaker. Their performance was relatively independent of their verbal IQ and mean length of utterance. In addition, the findings also show that there was no development in this ability from 4 years of age to 5 years of age. The findings indicate that Mandarin-speaking preschool children with ASD exhibit a deficit in using prosodic cues to understand the communicative intentions of the speaker, and this ability might be inherently impaired in ASD.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The present study investigated whether Mandarin-speaking preschool children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) were able to use prosodic cues to understand others' communicative intentions. Using the visual world eye-tracking paradigm, the study found that unlike typically developing (TD) 4-year-olds, both 4-year-olds with ASD and 5-year-olds with ASD exhibited an eye gaze pattern that reflected their inability to use prosodic cues to infer the intended meaning of the speaker. Their performance was relatively independent of their verbal IQ and mean length of utterance. In addition, the findings also show that there was no development in this ability from 4 years of age to 5 years of age. The findings indicate that Mandarin-speaking preschool children with ASD exhibit a deficit in using prosodic cues to understand the communicative intentions of the speaker, and this ability might be inherently impaired in ASD. |
Sijia Zhao; Nga Wai Yum; Lucas Benjamin; Elia Benhamou; Makoto Yoneya; Shigeto Furukawa; Fred Dick; Malcolm Slaney; Maria Chait Rapid ocular responses are modulated by bottom-up-driven auditory salience Journal Article The Journal of Neuroscience, 39 (39), pp. 7703–7714, 2019. @article{Zhao2019c, title = {Rapid ocular responses are modulated by bottom-up-driven auditory salience}, author = {Sijia Zhao and Nga Wai Yum and Lucas Benjamin and Elia Benhamou and Makoto Yoneya and Shigeto Furukawa and Fred Dick and Malcolm Slaney and Maria Chait}, doi = {10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0776-19.2019}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {The Journal of Neuroscience}, volume = {39}, number = {39}, pages = {7703--7714}, abstract = {Despite the prevalent use of alerting sounds in alarms and human–machine interface systems and the long-hypothesized role of the auditory system as the brain's “early warning system,” we have only a rudimentary understanding of what determines auditory salience — the automatic attraction of attention by sound —and which brain mechanisms underlie this process. A major roadblock has been the lack ofa robust, objective means of quantifying sound-driven attentional capture. Here we demonstrate that: (1) a reliable salience scale can be obtained from crowd-sourcing (N ⫽ 911), (2) acoustic roughness appears to be a driving feature behind this scaling, consistent with previous reports implicating roughness in the perceptual distinctiveness of sounds, and (3) crowd-sourced auditory salience correlates with objective autonomic measures. Specifically, we show that a salience ranking obtained from online raters correlated robustly with the superior colliculus-mediated ocular freezing response, microsaccadic inhibition (MSI), measured in naive, passively listening human participants (ofeither sex). More salient sounds evoked earlier and larger MSI, consistent with a faster orienting response. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that MSI reflects a general reorienting response that is evoked by potentially behaviorally important events regardless oftheir modality.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Despite the prevalent use of alerting sounds in alarms and human–machine interface systems and the long-hypothesized role of the auditory system as the brain's “early warning system,” we have only a rudimentary understanding of what determines auditory salience — the automatic attraction of attention by sound —and which brain mechanisms underlie this process. A major roadblock has been the lack ofa robust, objective means of quantifying sound-driven attentional capture. Here we demonstrate that: (1) a reliable salience scale can be obtained from crowd-sourcing (N ⫽ 911), (2) acoustic roughness appears to be a driving feature behind this scaling, consistent with previous reports implicating roughness in the perceptual distinctiveness of sounds, and (3) crowd-sourced auditory salience correlates with objective autonomic measures. Specifically, we show that a salience ranking obtained from online raters correlated robustly with the superior colliculus-mediated ocular freezing response, microsaccadic inhibition (MSI), measured in naive, passively listening human participants (ofeither sex). More salient sounds evoked earlier and larger MSI, consistent with a faster orienting response. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that MSI reflects a general reorienting response that is evoked by potentially behaviorally important events regardless oftheir modality. |
Sijia Zhao; Gabriela Bury; Alice Milne; Maria Chait Pupillometry as an objective measure of sustained attention in young and older listeners Journal Article Trends in Hearing, pp. 1–21, 2019. @article{Zhao2019a, title = {Pupillometry as an objective measure of sustained attention in young and older listeners}, author = {Sijia Zhao and Gabriela Bury and Alice Milne and Maria Chait}, doi = {10.1101/579540}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Trends in Hearing}, pages = {1--21}, abstract = {The ability to sustain attention on a task-relevant sound-source whilst avoiding distraction from other concurrent sounds is fundamental to listening in crowded environments. To isolate this aspect of hearing we designed a paradigm that continuously measured behavioural and pupillometry responses during 25-second-long trials in young (18-35 yo) and older (63-79 yo) participants. The auditory stimuli consisted of a number (1, 2 or 3) of concurrent, spectrally distinct tone streams. On each trial, participants detected brief silent gaps in one of the streams whilst resisting distraction from the others. Behavioural performance demonstrated increasing difficulty with time-on-task and with number/proximity of distractor streams. In young listeners (N=20), pupillometry revealed that pupil diameter (on the group and individual level) was dynamically modulated by instantaneous task difficulty such that periods where behavioural performance revealed a strain on sustained attention, were also accompanied by increased pupil diameter. Only trials on which participants performed successfully were included in the pupillometry analysis. Therefore, the observed effects reflect consequences of task demands as opposed to failure to attend.In line with existing reports, we observed global changes to pupil dynamics in the older group, including decreased pupil diameter, a limited dilation range, and reduced temporal variability. However, despite these changes, the older group showed similar effects of attentive tracking to those observed in the younger listeners. Overall, our results demonstrate that pupillometry can be a reliable and time-sensitive measure of the effort associated with attentive tracking over long durations in both young and (with some caveats) older listeners.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The ability to sustain attention on a task-relevant sound-source whilst avoiding distraction from other concurrent sounds is fundamental to listening in crowded environments. To isolate this aspect of hearing we designed a paradigm that continuously measured behavioural and pupillometry responses during 25-second-long trials in young (18-35 yo) and older (63-79 yo) participants. The auditory stimuli consisted of a number (1, 2 or 3) of concurrent, spectrally distinct tone streams. On each trial, participants detected brief silent gaps in one of the streams whilst resisting distraction from the others. Behavioural performance demonstrated increasing difficulty with time-on-task and with number/proximity of distractor streams. In young listeners (N=20), pupillometry revealed that pupil diameter (on the group and individual level) was dynamically modulated by instantaneous task difficulty such that periods where behavioural performance revealed a strain on sustained attention, were also accompanied by increased pupil diameter. Only trials on which participants performed successfully were included in the pupillometry analysis. Therefore, the observed effects reflect consequences of task demands as opposed to failure to attend.In line with existing reports, we observed global changes to pupil dynamics in the older group, including decreased pupil diameter, a limited dilation range, and reduced temporal variability. However, despite these changes, the older group showed similar effects of attentive tracking to those observed in the younger listeners. Overall, our results demonstrate that pupillometry can be a reliable and time-sensitive measure of the effort associated with attentive tracking over long durations in both young and (with some caveats) older listeners. |
Sainan Zhao; Lin Li; Min Chang; Qianqian Xu; Kuo Zhang; Jingxin Wang; Kevin B Paterson Older adults make greater use of word predictability in Chinese reading Journal Article Psychology and Aging, 34 (6), pp. 780–790, 2019. @article{Zhao2019, title = {Older adults make greater use of word predictability in Chinese reading}, author = {Sainan Zhao and Lin Li and Min Chang and Qianqian Xu and Kuo Zhang and Jingxin Wang and Kevin B Paterson}, doi = {10.1037/pag0000382}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Psychology and Aging}, volume = {34}, number = {6}, pages = {780--790}, abstract = {An influential account of normative aging effects on reading holds that older adults make greater use of contextual predictability to facilitate word identification. However, supporting evidence is scarce. Accordingly, we used measures of eye movements to experimentally investigate age differences in word predictability effects in Chinese reading, as this nonalphabetic language has characteristics that may promote such effects. Word-skipping rates were higher and reading times lower for more highly predictable words for both age groups. Effects of word predictability on word skipping did not differ across the 2 adult age groups. However, word predictability effects in reading time measures sensitive to both lexical identification (i.e., gaze duration) and contextual integration (i.e., regression-path reading times) were larger for the older than younger adults. Our findings therefore reveal that older Chinese readers make greater use of a word's predictability to facilitate both its lexical identification and integration with the prior sentence context.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } An influential account of normative aging effects on reading holds that older adults make greater use of contextual predictability to facilitate word identification. However, supporting evidence is scarce. Accordingly, we used measures of eye movements to experimentally investigate age differences in word predictability effects in Chinese reading, as this nonalphabetic language has characteristics that may promote such effects. Word-skipping rates were higher and reading times lower for more highly predictable words for both age groups. Effects of word predictability on word skipping did not differ across the 2 adult age groups. However, word predictability effects in reading time measures sensitive to both lexical identification (i.e., gaze duration) and contextual integration (i.e., regression-path reading times) were larger for the older than younger adults. Our findings therefore reveal that older Chinese readers make greater use of a word's predictability to facilitate both its lexical identification and integration with the prior sentence context. |
Xuemeng Zhang; Yijun Luo; Yong Liu; Chao Yang; Hong Chen Lack of conflict during food choice is associated with the failure of restrained eating Journal Article Eating Behaviors, 34 , pp. 1–8, 2019. @article{Zhang2019i, title = {Lack of conflict during food choice is associated with the failure of restrained eating}, author = {Xuemeng Zhang and Yijun Luo and Yong Liu and Chao Yang and Hong Chen}, doi = {10.1016/j.eatbeh.2019.101309}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Eating Behaviors}, volume = {34}, pages = {1--8}, abstract = {Restrained eaters tend to sustain a restriction in caloric intake to lose or maintain body weight; however, only a few restrained eaters can achieve the goal of restricting their caloric intake to lose or maintain body weight. Those who are effective restrained eaters habitually adhere to their intentions to avoid eating certain palatable foods, whereas those who are ineffective restrained eaters are generally unable to translate their intentions into behavior. To restrain eating regardless of temptation, an individual must first identify potential conflicts between achieving restrained eating and temptation to eat. Regarding food selections, the association between a lack of conflict between temptation, eating enjoyment, and weight loss or maintenance goals and the failure of restriction of caloric intake remains unknown. The present study used an eye-tracking technique to assess the degree of conflict experienced by effective and ineffective restrained eaters during food choice. Participants were required to choose between pairs of high-and low-calorie foods. The results showed that choosing the low-calorie food was associated with the experience of more conflict, measured by longer response times and more gaze switches, than choosing the high-calorie food. Ineffective restrained eaters experienced less conflict, exhibiting shorter response times and fewer gaze switches, than did effective restrained eaters, which suggests that a failure to restrain eating might be associated with a lack of experience of conflict.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Restrained eaters tend to sustain a restriction in caloric intake to lose or maintain body weight; however, only a few restrained eaters can achieve the goal of restricting their caloric intake to lose or maintain body weight. Those who are effective restrained eaters habitually adhere to their intentions to avoid eating certain palatable foods, whereas those who are ineffective restrained eaters are generally unable to translate their intentions into behavior. To restrain eating regardless of temptation, an individual must first identify potential conflicts between achieving restrained eating and temptation to eat. Regarding food selections, the association between a lack of conflict between temptation, eating enjoyment, and weight loss or maintenance goals and the failure of restriction of caloric intake remains unknown. The present study used an eye-tracking technique to assess the degree of conflict experienced by effective and ineffective restrained eaters during food choice. Participants were required to choose between pairs of high-and low-calorie foods. The results showed that choosing the low-calorie food was associated with the experience of more conflict, measured by longer response times and more gaze switches, than choosing the high-calorie food. Ineffective restrained eaters experienced less conflict, exhibiting shorter response times and fewer gaze switches, than did effective restrained eaters, which suggests that a failure to restrain eating might be associated with a lack of experience of conflict. |
Xiaoxian Zhang; Wanlu Fu; Licheng Xue; Jing Zhao; Zhiguo Wang Children with mathematical learning difficulties are sluggish in disengaging attention Journal Article Frontiers in Psychology, 10 , pp. 1–9, 2019. @article{Zhang2019f, title = {Children with mathematical learning difficulties are sluggish in disengaging attention}, author = {Xiaoxian Zhang and Wanlu Fu and Licheng Xue and Jing Zhao and Zhiguo Wang}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00932}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Frontiers in Psychology}, volume = {10}, pages = {1--9}, abstract = {Mathematical learning difficulties (MLD) refer to a variety of deficits in math skills, typically pertaining to the domains of arithmetic and problem solving. The present study examined the time course of attentional orienting in MLD children with a spatial cueing task, by parametrically manipulating the cue-target onset asynchrony (CTOA). The results of Experiment 1 revealed that, in contrast to typical developing children, the inhibitory aftereffect of attentional orienting-frequently referred to as inhibition of return (IOR)-was not observed in the MLD children, even at the longest CTOA tested (800 ms). However, robust early facilitation effects were observed in the MLD children, suggesting that they have difficulties in attentional disengagement rather than attentional engagement. In a second experiment, a secondary cue was introduced to the cueing task to encourage attentional disengagement and IOR effects were observed in the MLD children. Taken together, the present experiments indicate that MLD children are sluggish in disengaging spatial attention.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Mathematical learning difficulties (MLD) refer to a variety of deficits in math skills, typically pertaining to the domains of arithmetic and problem solving. The present study examined the time course of attentional orienting in MLD children with a spatial cueing task, by parametrically manipulating the cue-target onset asynchrony (CTOA). The results of Experiment 1 revealed that, in contrast to typical developing children, the inhibitory aftereffect of attentional orienting-frequently referred to as inhibition of return (IOR)-was not observed in the MLD children, even at the longest CTOA tested (800 ms). However, robust early facilitation effects were observed in the MLD children, suggesting that they have difficulties in attentional disengagement rather than attentional engagement. In a second experiment, a secondary cue was introduced to the cueing task to encourage attentional disengagement and IOR effects were observed in the MLD children. Taken together, the present experiments indicate that MLD children are sluggish in disengaging spatial attention. |
Manman Zhang; Simon P Liversedge; Xuejun Bai; Guoli Yan; Chuanli Zang The influence of foveal lexical processing load on parafoveal preview and saccadic targeting during Chinese reading Journal Article Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 45 (6), pp. 812–825, 2019. @article{Zhang2019e, title = {The influence of foveal lexical processing load on parafoveal preview and saccadic targeting during Chinese reading}, author = {Manman Zhang and Simon P Liversedge and Xuejun Bai and Guoli Yan and Chuanli Zang}, doi = {10.1037/xhp0000644}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance}, volume = {45}, number = {6}, pages = {812--825}, abstract = {Whether increased foveal load causes a reduction of parafoveal processing remains equivocal. The present study examined foveal load effects on parafoveal processing in natural Chinese reading. Parafoveal preview of a single-character parafoveal target word was manipulated by using the boundary paradigm (Rayner, 1975; pseudocharacter or identity previews) under high foveal load (low-frequency pretarget word) compared with low foveal load (high-frequency pretarget word) conditions. Despite an effective manipulation of foveal processing load, we obtained no evidence of any modulatory influence on parafoveal processing in first-pass reading times. However, our results clearly showed that saccadic targeting, in relation to forward saccade length from the pretarget word and in relation to target word skipping, was influenced by foveal load and this influence occurred independent of parafoveal preview. Given the optimal experimental conditions, these results provide very strong evidence that preview benefit is not modulated by foveal lexical load during Chinese reading.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Whether increased foveal load causes a reduction of parafoveal processing remains equivocal. The present study examined foveal load effects on parafoveal processing in natural Chinese reading. Parafoveal preview of a single-character parafoveal target word was manipulated by using the boundary paradigm (Rayner, 1975; pseudocharacter or identity previews) under high foveal load (low-frequency pretarget word) compared with low foveal load (high-frequency pretarget word) conditions. Despite an effective manipulation of foveal processing load, we obtained no evidence of any modulatory influence on parafoveal processing in first-pass reading times. However, our results clearly showed that saccadic targeting, in relation to forward saccade length from the pretarget word and in relation to target word skipping, was influenced by foveal load and this influence occurred independent of parafoveal preview. Given the optimal experimental conditions, these results provide very strong evidence that preview benefit is not modulated by foveal lexical load during Chinese reading. |
Jinxiao Zhang; Antoni B Chan; Esther Yuet Ying Lau; Janet H Hsiao Individuals with insomnia misrecognize angry faces as fearful faces while missing the eyes: An eye-tracking study Journal Article Sleep, 42 (2), pp. 1–11, 2019. @article{Zhang2019h, title = {Individuals with insomnia misrecognize angry faces as fearful faces while missing the eyes: An eye-tracking study}, author = {Jinxiao Zhang and Antoni B Chan and Esther Yuet Ying Lau and Janet H Hsiao}, doi = {10.1093/sleep/zsy220}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Sleep}, volume = {42}, number = {2}, pages = {1--11}, abstract = {Individuals with insomnia have been found to have disturbed perception of facial expressions. Through eye movement examinations, here we test the hypothesis that this effect is due to impaired visual attention functions for retrieving diagnostic features in facial expression judgments. Twenty-three individuals with insomnia symptoms and 23 controls without insomnia completed a task to categorize happy, sad, fearful, and angry facial expressions. The participants with insomnia were less accurate in recognizing angry faces and misidentified them as fearful faces more often than the controls. A hidden Markov modeling approach for eye movement data analysis revealed that when viewing facial expressions, more individuals with insomnia adopted a nose-mouth eye movement pattern focusing on the vertical face midline while more controls adopted an eyes-mouth pattern preferentially attending to lateral features, particularly the two eyes. As previous studies found that the primary diagnostic feature for recognizing angry faces is the eyes while the diagnostic features for other facial expressions involve the mouth region, missing the eye region may contribute to specific difficulties in recognizing angry facial expressions, consistent with our behavioral finding in participants with insomnia symptoms. Taken together, the findings suggest that impaired information selection through visual attention control may be related to the compromised emotion perception in individuals with insomnia.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Individuals with insomnia have been found to have disturbed perception of facial expressions. Through eye movement examinations, here we test the hypothesis that this effect is due to impaired visual attention functions for retrieving diagnostic features in facial expression judgments. Twenty-three individuals with insomnia symptoms and 23 controls without insomnia completed a task to categorize happy, sad, fearful, and angry facial expressions. The participants with insomnia were less accurate in recognizing angry faces and misidentified them as fearful faces more often than the controls. A hidden Markov modeling approach for eye movement data analysis revealed that when viewing facial expressions, more individuals with insomnia adopted a nose-mouth eye movement pattern focusing on the vertical face midline while more controls adopted an eyes-mouth pattern preferentially attending to lateral features, particularly the two eyes. As previous studies found that the primary diagnostic feature for recognizing angry faces is the eyes while the diagnostic features for other facial expressions involve the mouth region, missing the eye region may contribute to specific difficulties in recognizing angry facial expressions, consistent with our behavioral finding in participants with insomnia symptoms. Taken together, the findings suggest that impaired information selection through visual attention control may be related to the compromised emotion perception in individuals with insomnia. |
Han Zhang; Chuyan Qu; Kevin F Miller; Kai S Cortina Missing the joke: Reduced rereading of garden-path jokes during mind-wandering. Journal Article Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, pp. 1–11, 2019. @article{Zhang2019d, title = {Missing the joke: Reduced rereading of garden-path jokes during mind-wandering.}, author = {Han Zhang and Chuyan Qu and Kevin F Miller and Kai S Cortina}, doi = {10.1037/xlm0000745}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition}, pages = {1--11}, abstract = {Mind-wandering (i.e., thoughts irrelevant to the current task) occurs frequently during reading. The current study examined whether mind-wandering was associated with reduced rereading when the reader read the so-called garden-path jokes. In a garden-path joke, the reader's initial interpretation is violated by the final punchline, and the violation creates a semantic incongruity that needs to be resolved (e.g., “My girlfriend has read so many negative things about smoking. Therefore, she decided to quit reading.”). Rereading text prior to the punchline can help resolve the incongruity. In a main study and a preregistered replication, participants read jokes and nonfunny controls embedded in filler texts and responded to thought probes that assessed intentional and unintentional mind-wandering. Results were consistent across the two studies: When the reader was not mind-wandering, jokes elicited more rereading (from the punchline) than the nonfunny controls did, and had a recall advantage over the nonfunny controls. During mind-wandering, however, the additional eye movement processing and the recall advantage of jokes were generally reduced. These results show that mind-wandering is associated with reduced rereading, which is important for resolving higher level comprehension difficulties.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Mind-wandering (i.e., thoughts irrelevant to the current task) occurs frequently during reading. The current study examined whether mind-wandering was associated with reduced rereading when the reader read the so-called garden-path jokes. In a garden-path joke, the reader's initial interpretation is violated by the final punchline, and the violation creates a semantic incongruity that needs to be resolved (e.g., “My girlfriend has read so many negative things about smoking. Therefore, she decided to quit reading.”). Rereading text prior to the punchline can help resolve the incongruity. In a main study and a preregistered replication, participants read jokes and nonfunny controls embedded in filler texts and responded to thought probes that assessed intentional and unintentional mind-wandering. Results were consistent across the two studies: When the reader was not mind-wandering, jokes elicited more rereading (from the punchline) than the nonfunny controls did, and had a recall advantage over the nonfunny controls. During mind-wandering, however, the additional eye movement processing and the recall advantage of jokes were generally reduced. These results show that mind-wandering is associated with reduced rereading, which is important for resolving higher level comprehension difficulties. |
Felicia Zhang; Lauren L Emberson Opposing timing constraints severely limit the use of pupillometry to investigate visual statistical learning Journal Article Frontiers in Psychology, 10 , pp. 1–15, 2019. @article{Zhang2019c, title = {Opposing timing constraints severely limit the use of pupillometry to investigate visual statistical learning}, author = {Felicia Zhang and Lauren L Emberson}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01792}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Frontiers in Psychology}, volume = {10}, pages = {1--15}, abstract = {Majority of visual statistical learning (VSL) research uses only offline measures, collected after the familiarization phase (i.e. learning) has occurred. Offline measures have revealed a lot about the extent of statistical learning (SL) but less is known about the learning mechanisms that support VSL. Studies have shown that prediction can be a potential learning mechanism for VSL, but it is difficult to examine the role of prediction in VSL using offline measures alone. Pupil diameter is a promising online measure to index prediction in VSL because it can be collected during learning, requires no overt action or task and can be used in a wide-range of populations (e.g., infants and adults). Furthermore, pupil diameter has already been used to investigate processes that are part of prediction such as prediction error and updating. While the properties of pupil diameter have the potentially to powerfully expand studies in VSL, through a series of three experiments, we find that the two are not compatible with each other. Our results revealed that pupil diameter, used to index prediction, is not related to offline measures of learning. We also found that pupil differences that appear to be a result of prediction, are actually a result of where we chose to baseline instead. Ultimately, we conclude that the fast-paced nature of VSL paradigms make it incompatible with the slow nature of pupil change. Therefore, our findings suggest pupillometry should not be used to investigate learning mechanisms in fast-paced VSL tasks.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Majority of visual statistical learning (VSL) research uses only offline measures, collected after the familiarization phase (i.e. learning) has occurred. Offline measures have revealed a lot about the extent of statistical learning (SL) but less is known about the learning mechanisms that support VSL. Studies have shown that prediction can be a potential learning mechanism for VSL, but it is difficult to examine the role of prediction in VSL using offline measures alone. Pupil diameter is a promising online measure to index prediction in VSL because it can be collected during learning, requires no overt action or task and can be used in a wide-range of populations (e.g., infants and adults). Furthermore, pupil diameter has already been used to investigate processes that are part of prediction such as prediction error and updating. While the properties of pupil diameter have the potentially to powerfully expand studies in VSL, through a series of three experiments, we find that the two are not compatible with each other. Our results revealed that pupil diameter, used to index prediction, is not related to offline measures of learning. We also found that pupil differences that appear to be a result of prediction, are actually a result of where we chose to baseline instead. Ultimately, we conclude that the fast-paced nature of VSL paradigms make it incompatible with the slow nature of pupil change. Therefore, our findings suggest pupillometry should not be used to investigate learning mechanisms in fast-paced VSL tasks. |
Chen Zhang; Angelina Paolozza; Po-He Tseng; James N Reynolds; Douglas P Munoz; Laurent Itti Detection of children/youth with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder through eye movement, psychometric, and neuroimaging data Journal Article Frontiers in Neurology, 10 , pp. 1–15, 2019. @article{Zhang2019a, title = {Detection of children/youth with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder through eye movement, psychometric, and neuroimaging data}, author = {Chen Zhang and Angelina Paolozza and Po-He Tseng and James N Reynolds and Douglas P Munoz and Laurent Itti}, doi = {10.3389/fneur.2019.00080}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Frontiers in Neurology}, volume = {10}, pages = {1--15}, abstract = {Background: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) is one of the most common causes of developmental disabilities and neurobehavioral deficits. Despite the high-prevalence of FASD, the current diagnostic process is challenging and time- and money-consuming, with underreported profiles of the neurocognitive and neurobehavioral impairments because of limited clinical capacity. We assessed children/youth with FASD from a multimodal perspective and developed a high-performing, low-cost screening protocol using a machine learning framework. Methods and Findings: Participants with FASD and age-matched typically developing controls completed up to six assessments, including saccadic eye movement tasks (prosaccade, antisaccade, and memory-guided saccade), free viewing of videos, psychometric tests, and neuroimaging of the corpus callosum. We comparatively investigated new machine learning methods applied to these data, toward the acquisition of a quantitative signature of the neurodevelopmental deficits, and the development of an objective, high-throughput screening tool to identify children/youth with FASD. Our method provides a comprehensive profile of distinct measures in domains including sensorimotor and visuospatial control, visual perception, attention, inhibition, working memory, academic functions, and brain structure. We also showed that a combination of four to six assessments yields the best FASD vs. control classification accuracy; however, this protocol is expensive and time consuming. We conducted a cost/benefit analysis of the six assessments and developed a high-performing, low-cost screening protocol based on a subset of eye movement and psychometric tests that approached the best result under a range of constraints (time, cost, participant age, required administration, and access to neuroimaging facility). Using insights from the theory of value of information, we proposed an optimal annual screening procedure for children at risk of FASD. Conclusions: We developed a high-capacity, low-cost screening procedure under constrains, with high expected monetary benefit, substantial impact of the referral and diagnostic process, and expected maximized long-term benefits to the tested individuals and to society. This annual screening procedure for children/youth at risk of FASD can be easily and widely deployed for early identification, potentially leading to earlier intervention and treatment. This is crucial for neurodevelopmental disorders, to mitigate the severity of the disorder and/or frequency of secondary comorbidities.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Background: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) is one of the most common causes of developmental disabilities and neurobehavioral deficits. Despite the high-prevalence of FASD, the current diagnostic process is challenging and time- and money-consuming, with underreported profiles of the neurocognitive and neurobehavioral impairments because of limited clinical capacity. We assessed children/youth with FASD from a multimodal perspective and developed a high-performing, low-cost screening protocol using a machine learning framework. Methods and Findings: Participants with FASD and age-matched typically developing controls completed up to six assessments, including saccadic eye movement tasks (prosaccade, antisaccade, and memory-guided saccade), free viewing of videos, psychometric tests, and neuroimaging of the corpus callosum. We comparatively investigated new machine learning methods applied to these data, toward the acquisition of a quantitative signature of the neurodevelopmental deficits, and the development of an objective, high-throughput screening tool to identify children/youth with FASD. Our method provides a comprehensive profile of distinct measures in domains including sensorimotor and visuospatial control, visual perception, attention, inhibition, working memory, academic functions, and brain structure. We also showed that a combination of four to six assessments yields the best FASD vs. control classification accuracy; however, this protocol is expensive and time consuming. We conducted a cost/benefit analysis of the six assessments and developed a high-performing, low-cost screening protocol based on a subset of eye movement and psychometric tests that approached the best result under a range of constraints (time, cost, participant age, required administration, and access to neuroimaging facility). Using insights from the theory of value of information, we proposed an optimal annual screening procedure for children at risk of FASD. Conclusions: We developed a high-capacity, low-cost screening procedure under constrains, with high expected monetary benefit, substantial impact of the referral and diagnostic process, and expected maximized long-term benefits to the tested individuals and to society. This annual screening procedure for children/youth at risk of FASD can be easily and widely deployed for early identification, potentially leading to earlier intervention and treatment. This is crucial for neurodevelopmental disorders, to mitigate the severity of the disorder and/or frequency of secondary comorbidities. |
Andrea M Zawoyski; Scott P Ardoin Using eye-tracking technology to examine the impact of question format on reading behavior in elementary students Journal Article School Psychology Review, 48 (4), pp. 320–332, 2019. @article{Zawoyski2019, title = {Using eye-tracking technology to examine the impact of question format on reading behavior in elementary students}, author = {Andrea M Zawoyski and Scott P Ardoin}, doi = {10.17105/SPR-2018-0014.V48-4}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {School Psychology Review}, volume = {48}, number = {4}, pages = {320--332}, abstract = {Reading comprehension assessments often include multiple-choice (MC) questions, but some researchers doubt their validity in measuring comprehension. Consequently, new assessments may include more short-answer (SA) questions. The current study contributes to the research comparing MC and SA questions by evaluating the effects of anticipated question format on elementary students' reading behavior. Third- and fourth-grade participants were divided into the MC (n = 43) or SA condition (n = 44) and expected to answer questions consistent with their group assignment. Eye movements (EMs) were analyzed across the passage and on areas significant to its meaning. Correlational analyses between EMs and reading measures were conducted. Findings support modification of question format in reading assessments. Implications for school psychologists, teachers, and EM researchers are addressed.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Reading comprehension assessments often include multiple-choice (MC) questions, but some researchers doubt their validity in measuring comprehension. Consequently, new assessments may include more short-answer (SA) questions. The current study contributes to the research comparing MC and SA questions by evaluating the effects of anticipated question format on elementary students' reading behavior. Third- and fourth-grade participants were divided into the MC (n = 43) or SA condition (n = 44) and expected to answer questions consistent with their group assignment. Eye movements (EMs) were analyzed across the passage and on areas significant to its meaning. Correlational analyses between EMs and reading measures were conducted. Findings support modification of question format in reading assessments. Implications for school psychologists, teachers, and EM researchers are addressed. |
Chuanli Zang; Li Zhang; Manman Zhang; Xuejun Bai; Guoli Yan; Xiaoming Jiang; Zhewen He; Xiaolin Zhou Frontiers in Psychology, 10 , pp. 1–11, 2019. @article{Zang2019a, title = {Eye movements reveal delayed use of construction-based pragmatic information during online sentence reading: A case of Chinese lianłdotsdou construction}, author = {Chuanli Zang and Li Zhang and Manman Zhang and Xuejun Bai and Guoli Yan and Xiaoming Jiang and Zhewen He and Xiaolin Zhou}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02211}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Frontiers in Psychology}, volume = {10}, pages = {1--11}, abstract = {An event-related potential (ERP) study demonstrated that construction-based pragmatic constraints in Chinese (e.g., lianłdotsdou that constrains a low-likelihood event and is similar to even in English) can rapidly influence sentence comprehension and the mismatch of such constraints would lead to increased neural activity on the mismatching word. Here we examine to what extent readers' eye movements can instantly reveal the difficulties of mismatching constraints when participants read sentences with the structure lian + determiner phrase + object noun + subject noun + dou + verb phrase (VP) + final commenting clause. By embedding high-likelihood or neutral events in the construction, we created incongruent and underspecified sentences and compared such sentences with congruent ones describing events of low expectedness. Relative to congruent sentences, the VP region of incongruent sentences showed no significant differences on first-pass reading time measures, but the total fixation duration was reliably longer. Moreover, readers made more regressions from the VP and the sentence-final region to previous regions in the incongruent than the congruent condition. These findings suggest that the effect of pragmatic constraints is observable during naturalistic sentence reading, reflecting the activation of the construction-based pragmatic information for the late integration of linguistic and extra-linguistic information at sentential level.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } An event-related potential (ERP) study demonstrated that construction-based pragmatic constraints in Chinese (e.g., lianłdotsdou that constrains a low-likelihood event and is similar to even in English) can rapidly influence sentence comprehension and the mismatch of such constraints would lead to increased neural activity on the mismatching word. Here we examine to what extent readers' eye movements can instantly reveal the difficulties of mismatching constraints when participants read sentences with the structure lian + determiner phrase + object noun + subject noun + dou + verb phrase (VP) + final commenting clause. By embedding high-likelihood or neutral events in the construction, we created incongruent and underspecified sentences and compared such sentences with congruent ones describing events of low expectedness. Relative to congruent sentences, the VP region of incongruent sentences showed no significant differences on first-pass reading time measures, but the total fixation duration was reliably longer. Moreover, readers made more regressions from the VP and the sentence-final region to previous regions in the incongruent than the congruent condition. These findings suggest that the effect of pragmatic constraints is observable during naturalistic sentence reading, reflecting the activation of the construction-based pragmatic information for the late integration of linguistic and extra-linguistic information at sentential level. |
Chuanli Zang; Hong Du; Xuejun Bai; Guoli Yan; Simon P Liversedge Word skipping in Chinese reading: The role of high-frequency preview and syntactic felicity Journal Article Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, pp. 1–19, 2019. @article{Zang2019, title = {Word skipping in Chinese reading: The role of high-frequency preview and syntactic felicity}, author = {Chuanli Zang and Hong Du and Xuejun Bai and Guoli Yan and Simon P Liversedge}, doi = {10.1037/xlm0000738}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition}, pages = {1--19}, abstract = {Two experiments are reported to investigate whether Chinese readers skip a high-frequency preview word without taking the syntax of the sentence context into account. In Experiment 1, we manipulated target word syntactic category, frequency, and preview using the boundary paradigm (Rayner, 1975). For high-frequency verb targets, there were identity and pseudocharacter previews alongside a low-frequency noun preview. For low-frequency verb targets, there were identity and pseudocharacter previews alongside a high-frequency noun preview. Results showed that for high-frequency targets, skipping rates were higher for identical previews compared with the syntactically infelicitous alternative low-frequency preview and pseudocharacter previews, however for low-frequency targets, skipping rates were higher for high-frequency previews (even when they were syntactically infelicitous) compared with the other 2 previews. Furthermore, readers were more likely to skip the target when they had a high-frequency, syntactically felicitous preview compared to a high-frequency, syntactically infelicitous preview. The pattern of felicity effects was statistically robust when readers launched saccades from near the target. In Experiment 2, we assessed whether display change awareness influenced the patterns of results in Experiment 1. Results showed that the overall patterns held in Experiment 2 regardless of some readers being more likely to be aware of the display change than others. These results suggest that decisions to skip a word in Chinese reading are primarily based on parafoveal word familiarity, though the syntactic felicity of a parafoveal word also exerts a robust influence for high-frequency previews.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Two experiments are reported to investigate whether Chinese readers skip a high-frequency preview word without taking the syntax of the sentence context into account. In Experiment 1, we manipulated target word syntactic category, frequency, and preview using the boundary paradigm (Rayner, 1975). For high-frequency verb targets, there were identity and pseudocharacter previews alongside a low-frequency noun preview. For low-frequency verb targets, there were identity and pseudocharacter previews alongside a high-frequency noun preview. Results showed that for high-frequency targets, skipping rates were higher for identical previews compared with the syntactically infelicitous alternative low-frequency preview and pseudocharacter previews, however for low-frequency targets, skipping rates were higher for high-frequency previews (even when they were syntactically infelicitous) compared with the other 2 previews. Furthermore, readers were more likely to skip the target when they had a high-frequency, syntactically felicitous preview compared to a high-frequency, syntactically infelicitous preview. The pattern of felicity effects was statistically robust when readers launched saccades from near the target. In Experiment 2, we assessed whether display change awareness influenced the patterns of results in Experiment 1. Results showed that the overall patterns held in Experiment 2 regardless of some readers being more likely to be aware of the display change than others. These results suggest that decisions to skip a word in Chinese reading are primarily based on parafoveal word familiarity, though the syntactic felicity of a parafoveal word also exerts a robust influence for high-frequency previews. |
Safa R Zaki; Isabella L Salmi Sequence as context in category learning: An eyetracking study Journal Article Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 45 (11), pp. 1942–1954, 2019. @article{Zaki2019, title = {Sequence as context in category learning: An eyetracking study}, author = {Safa R Zaki and Isabella L Salmi}, doi = {10.1037/xlm0000693}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition}, volume = {45}, number = {11}, pages = {1942--1954}, abstract = {In the current research, we tested the idea that the proximity of contrasting categories in a learning sequence would determine the features to which participants attend in a categorization task. For the first experiment, we designed a 4-category structure in which pairs of categories could be perfectly distinguished using 1 feature. Two of the categories were paired together in the first part of the learning phase, followed by the other 2 categories in the second part of this phase. In a transfer test in which all 4 categories were shown, participants attended more to the features that differentiated the paired categories than to the other, equally diagnostic features. In the second experiment, we extended this finding to a task that involved all 4 categories but in which pairs of categories were more likely to be interleaved. Once again, participants were more likely to pay attention to the dimensions that separated the 2 categories in proximity in the sequence. These findings suggest that the local learning context influences the representation of a category.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } In the current research, we tested the idea that the proximity of contrasting categories in a learning sequence would determine the features to which participants attend in a categorization task. For the first experiment, we designed a 4-category structure in which pairs of categories could be perfectly distinguished using 1 feature. Two of the categories were paired together in the first part of the learning phase, followed by the other 2 categories in the second part of this phase. In a transfer test in which all 4 categories were shown, participants attended more to the features that differentiated the paired categories than to the other, equally diagnostic features. In the second experiment, we extended this finding to a task that involved all 4 categories but in which pairs of categories were more likely to be interleaved. Once again, participants were more likely to pay attention to the dimensions that separated the 2 categories in proximity in the sequence. These findings suggest that the local learning context influences the representation of a category. |
Katharina Zahner; Sophie Kutscheid; Bettina Braun Alignment of f0 peak in different pitch accent types affects perception of metrical stress Journal Article Journal of Phonetics, 74 , pp. 75–95, 2019. @article{Zahner2019, title = {Alignment of f0 peak in different pitch accent types affects perception of metrical stress}, author = {Katharina Zahner and Sophie Kutscheid and Bettina Braun}, doi = {10.1016/j.wocn.2019.02.004}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Journal of Phonetics}, volume = {74}, pages = {75--95}, publisher = {The Authors}, abstract = {In intonation languages, pitch accents are associated with stressed syllables, therefore accentuation is a sufficient cue to the position of metrical stress in perception. This paper investigates how stress perception in German is affected by different pitch accent types (with different f0 alignments). Experiment 1 showed more errors in stress identification when f0 peaks and stressed syllables were not aligned – despite phonological association of pitch accent and stressed syllable. Erroneous responses revealed a response bias towards the syllable with the f0 peak. In a visual-world eye-tracking study (Experiment 2), listeners fixated a stress competitor with initial stress more when the spoken target, which had penultimate stress, was realized with an early-peak accent (f0 peak preceding stressed syllable), compared to a condition with the f0 peak on the stressed syllable. Hence, high-pitched unstressed syllables are temporarily interpreted as stressed – a process directly affecting lexical activation. To investigate whether this stress competitor activation is guided by the frequent co-occurrence of high f0 and lexical stress, Experiment 3 increased the frequency of low-pitched stressed syllables in the immediate input. The effect of intonation on competitor fixations disappeared. Our findings are discussed with respect to a frequency-based mechanism and their implications for the nature of f0 processing.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } In intonation languages, pitch accents are associated with stressed syllables, therefore accentuation is a sufficient cue to the position of metrical stress in perception. This paper investigates how stress perception in German is affected by different pitch accent types (with different f0 alignments). Experiment 1 showed more errors in stress identification when f0 peaks and stressed syllables were not aligned – despite phonological association of pitch accent and stressed syllable. Erroneous responses revealed a response bias towards the syllable with the f0 peak. In a visual-world eye-tracking study (Experiment 2), listeners fixated a stress competitor with initial stress more when the spoken target, which had penultimate stress, was realized with an early-peak accent (f0 peak preceding stressed syllable), compared to a condition with the f0 peak on the stressed syllable. Hence, high-pitched unstressed syllables are temporarily interpreted as stressed – a process directly affecting lexical activation. To investigate whether this stress competitor activation is guided by the frequent co-occurrence of high f0 and lexical stress, Experiment 3 increased the frequency of low-pitched stressed syllables in the immediate input. The effect of intonation on competitor fixations disappeared. Our findings are discussed with respect to a frequency-based mechanism and their implications for the nature of f0 processing. |
Andrew D Zaharia; Robbe L T Goris; Anthony J Movshon; Eero P Simoncelli Compound stimuli reveal the structure of visual motion selectivity in macaque MT neurons Journal Article eNeuro, 6 (6), pp. 1–19, 2019. @article{Zaharia2019, title = {Compound stimuli reveal the structure of visual motion selectivity in macaque MT neurons}, author = {Andrew D Zaharia and Robbe L T Goris and Anthony J Movshon and Eero P Simoncelli}, doi = {10.1523/ENEURO.0258-19.2019}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {eNeuro}, volume = {6}, number = {6}, pages = {1--19}, abstract = {Motion selectivity in primary visual cortex (V1) is approximately separable in orientation, spatial frequency, and temporal frequency (“frequency-separable”). Models for area MT neurons posit that their selectivity arises by combining direction-selective V1 afferents whose tuning is organized around a tilted plane in the frequency domain, specifying a particular direction and speed (“velocity-separable”). This construction explains “pattern direction-selective” MT neurons, which are velocity-selective but relatively invariant to spatial structure, including spatial frequency, texture and shape. We designed a set of experiments to distinguish frequency-separable and velocity-separable models and executed them with single-unit recordings in macaque V1 and MT. Surprisingly, when tested with single drifting gratings, most MT neurons' responses are fit equally well by models with either form of separability. However, responses to plaids (sums of two moving gratings) tend to be better described as velocity-separable, especially for pattern neurons. We conclude that direction selectivity in MT is primarily computed by summing V1 afferents, but pattern-invariant velocity tuning for complex stimuli may arise from local, recurrent interactions.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Motion selectivity in primary visual cortex (V1) is approximately separable in orientation, spatial frequency, and temporal frequency (“frequency-separable”). Models for area MT neurons posit that their selectivity arises by combining direction-selective V1 afferents whose tuning is organized around a tilted plane in the frequency domain, specifying a particular direction and speed (“velocity-separable”). This construction explains “pattern direction-selective” MT neurons, which are velocity-selective but relatively invariant to spatial structure, including spatial frequency, texture and shape. We designed a set of experiments to distinguish frequency-separable and velocity-separable models and executed them with single-unit recordings in macaque V1 and MT. Surprisingly, when tested with single drifting gratings, most MT neurons' responses are fit equally well by models with either form of separability. However, responses to plaids (sums of two moving gratings) tend to be better described as velocity-separable, especially for pattern neurons. We conclude that direction selectivity in MT is primarily computed by summing V1 afferents, but pattern-invariant velocity tuning for complex stimuli may arise from local, recurrent interactions. |
Jiang Yushi Research on the best visual search effect of logo elements in internet advertising layout Journal Article Journal of Contemporary Marketing Science, 2 (1), pp. 23–33, 2019. @article{Yushi2019, title = {Research on the best visual search effect of logo elements in internet advertising layout}, author = {Jiang Yushi}, doi = {10.1108/JCMARS-01-2019-0009}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Journal of Contemporary Marketing Science}, volume = {2}, number = {1}, pages = {23--33}, publisher = {Emerald Publishing Limited}, abstract = {Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to control the size of online advertising by the use of the single factor experiment design using the eight matching methods of logo and commodity picture elements as independent variables, under the premise of background color and content complexity and to investigate the best visual search law of logo elements in online advertising format. The result shows that when the picture element is fixed in the center of the advertisement, it is suggested that the logo element should be placed in the middle position parallel to the picture element (left middle and upper left), placing the logo element at the bottom of the picture element, especially at the bottom left should be avoided. The designer can determine the best online advertising format based on the visual search effect of the logo element and the actual marketing purpose. Design/methodology/approach: In this experiment, the repeated measurement experiment design was used in a single factor test. According to the criteria of different types of commodities and eight matching methods, 20 advertisements were randomly selected from 50 original advertisements as experimental stimulation materials, as shown in Section 2.3. The eight matching methods were processed to obtain a total of 20×8=160 experimental stimuli. At the same time, in order to minimize the memory effect of the repeated appearance of the same product, all pictures, etc., the probability was randomly presented. In addition, in order to avoid the pre-judgment of the test for the purpose of the experiment, 80 additional filler online advertisements were added. Therefore, each testee was required to watch 160+80=240 pieces of stimulation materials.Findings On one hand, when the image elements are fixed for an advertisement, the advertiser should first try to place the logo element in the right middle position parallel to the picture element, because the commodity logo in this matching mode can get the longest average time of consumers' attention, and the duration of attention is the most. Danaher and Mullarkey (2003) clearly pointed out that as consumers look at online advertising, the length of fixation time increases, the degree of memory of online advertisement is also improved accordingly. Second, you can consider placing the logo element in the left or upper left of the picture element. In contrast, advertisers should try to avoid placing the logo element at the bottom of the picture element (lower left and lower right), especially at the lower left, because, at this area, the logo attracts less attention, resulting in shortest duration of consumer attention, less than a quarter of consumers' total attention. This conclusion is consistent with the related research results.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to control the size of online advertising by the use of the single factor experiment design using the eight matching methods of logo and commodity picture elements as independent variables, under the premise of background color and content complexity and to investigate the best visual search law of logo elements in online advertising format. The result shows that when the picture element is fixed in the center of the advertisement, it is suggested that the logo element should be placed in the middle position parallel to the picture element (left middle and upper left), placing the logo element at the bottom of the picture element, especially at the bottom left should be avoided. The designer can determine the best online advertising format based on the visual search effect of the logo element and the actual marketing purpose. Design/methodology/approach: In this experiment, the repeated measurement experiment design was used in a single factor test. According to the criteria of different types of commodities and eight matching methods, 20 advertisements were randomly selected from 50 original advertisements as experimental stimulation materials, as shown in Section 2.3. The eight matching methods were processed to obtain a total of 20×8=160 experimental stimuli. At the same time, in order to minimize the memory effect of the repeated appearance of the same product, all pictures, etc., the probability was randomly presented. In addition, in order to avoid the pre-judgment of the test for the purpose of the experiment, 80 additional filler online advertisements were added. Therefore, each testee was required to watch 160+80=240 pieces of stimulation materials.Findings On one hand, when the image elements are fixed for an advertisement, the advertiser should first try to place the logo element in the right middle position parallel to the picture element, because the commodity logo in this matching mode can get the longest average time of consumers' attention, and the duration of attention is the most. Danaher and Mullarkey (2003) clearly pointed out that as consumers look at online advertising, the length of fixation time increases, the degree of memory of online advertisement is also improved accordingly. Second, you can consider placing the logo element in the left or upper left of the picture element. In contrast, advertisers should try to avoid placing the logo element at the bottom of the picture element (lower left and lower right), especially at the lower left, because, at this area, the logo attracts less attention, resulting in shortest duration of consumer attention, less than a quarter of consumers' total attention. This conclusion is consistent with the related research results. |
Miao Yu; Brandon Sommers; Yuxia Yin; Guoli Yan Effects of implicit prosody and semantic bias on the resolution of ambiguous Chinese phrases Journal Article Frontiers in Psychology, 10 , pp. 1–10, 2019. @article{Yu2019a, title = {Effects of implicit prosody and semantic bias on the resolution of ambiguous Chinese phrases}, author = {Miao Yu and Brandon Sommers and Yuxia Yin and Guoli Yan}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01308}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Frontiers in Psychology}, volume = {10}, pages = {1--10}, abstract = {By manipulating the location of prosodic boundary and the semantic bias of the ambiguous "V+N1+de+N2" phrase, which is composed of one verb (V), one noun (N1), one functional word (de), and another noun (N2), this study investigated how prosodic boundary and the semantic bias affect the processing of temporary ambiguous sentences formed by the ambiguous phrase "V+N1+de+N2" through an eye movement experiment. We found the effect of prosodic boundary in the late processing stage and observed an interaction between prosodic boundary and the semantic bias of ambiguous phrases as well. The participants required more time for fixation and more regressions occurred when the meaning of the ambiguous phrase guided by prosodic boundary was inconsistent with context, especially when the ambiguous phrase was biased to the narrative-object phrase. This result suggests that prosodic boundary affects the processing of temporal ambiguous sentences and is influenced by the semantic bias of the ambiguous phrase. These findings provide further evidence from Chinese that indicate that implicit prosody plays a general role in language comprehension.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } By manipulating the location of prosodic boundary and the semantic bias of the ambiguous "V+N1+de+N2" phrase, which is composed of one verb (V), one noun (N1), one functional word (de), and another noun (N2), this study investigated how prosodic boundary and the semantic bias affect the processing of temporary ambiguous sentences formed by the ambiguous phrase "V+N1+de+N2" through an eye movement experiment. We found the effect of prosodic boundary in the late processing stage and observed an interaction between prosodic boundary and the semantic bias of ambiguous phrases as well. The participants required more time for fixation and more regressions occurred when the meaning of the ambiguous phrase guided by prosodic boundary was inconsistent with context, especially when the ambiguous phrase was biased to the narrative-object phrase. This result suggests that prosodic boundary affects the processing of temporal ambiguous sentences and is influenced by the semantic bias of the ambiguous phrase. These findings provide further evidence from Chinese that indicate that implicit prosody plays a general role in language comprehension. |
Lili Yu; Jianping Xiong; Qiaoming Zhang; Denis Drieghe; Erik D Reichle Eye-movement evidence for the mental representation of strokes in Chinese characters Journal Article Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 45 (3), pp. 544–551, 2019. @article{Yu2019b, title = {Eye-movement evidence for the mental representation of strokes in Chinese characters}, author = {Lili Yu and Jianping Xiong and Qiaoming Zhang and Denis Drieghe and Erik D Reichle}, doi = {10.1037/xlm0000598}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition}, volume = {45}, number = {3}, pages = {544--551}, abstract = {Although strokes are the smallest identifiable units in Chinese words, the fact that they are often embedded within larger units (i.e., radicals and/or characters that comprise Chinese words) raises questions about how and even if strokes are separately represented in lexical memory. The present experiment examined these questions using a gaze-contingent boundary paradigm (Rayner, 1975) to manipulate the parafoveal preview of the first of two-character target words. Relative to a normal preview, the removal of whole strokes was more disruptive (i.e., resulting in longer looking times on targets) than the removal of an equivalent amount of visual information (i.e., number of pixels) from strokes located either in similar locations or throughout the entire character. These findings suggest that strokes are represented as discrete functional units rather than visual features or integral parts of the radicals/characters in which they are embedded. We discuss the theoretical implications of this conclusion for models of Chinese word identification.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Although strokes are the smallest identifiable units in Chinese words, the fact that they are often embedded within larger units (i.e., radicals and/or characters that comprise Chinese words) raises questions about how and even if strokes are separately represented in lexical memory. The present experiment examined these questions using a gaze-contingent boundary paradigm (Rayner, 1975) to manipulate the parafoveal preview of the first of two-character target words. Relative to a normal preview, the removal of whole strokes was more disruptive (i.e., resulting in longer looking times on targets) than the removal of an equivalent amount of visual information (i.e., number of pixels) from strokes located either in similar locations or throughout the entire character. These findings suggest that strokes are represented as discrete functional units rather than visual features or integral parts of the radicals/characters in which they are embedded. We discuss the theoretical implications of this conclusion for models of Chinese word identification. |
Man Yi Yim; Xinying Cai; Xiao Jing Wang Transforming the choice outcome to an action plan in monkey lateral prefrontal cortex: A neural circuit model Journal Article Neuron, 103 , pp. 520–532, 2019. @article{Yim2019b, title = {Transforming the choice outcome to an action plan in monkey lateral prefrontal cortex: A neural circuit model}, author = {Man Yi Yim and Xinying Cai and Xiao Jing Wang}, doi = {10.1016/j.neuron.2019.05.032}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Neuron}, volume = {103}, pages = {520--532}, publisher = {Elsevier Inc.}, abstract = {In economic decisions, we make a good-based choice first, then we transform the outcome into an action to obtain the good. To elucidate the network mechanisms for such transformation, we constructed a neural circuit model consisting of modules representing choice, integration of choice with target locations, and the final action plan. We examined three scenarios regarding how the final action plan could emerge in the neural circuit and compared their implications with experimental data. Our model with heterogeneous connectivity predicts the coexistence of three types of neurons with distinct functions, confirmed by analyzing the neural activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) of behaving monkeys. We obtained a much more distinct classification of functional neuron types in the ventral than the dorsal region of LPFC, suggesting that the action plan is initially generated in ventral LPFC. Our model offers a biologically plausible neural circuit architecture that implements good-to-action transformation during economic choice.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } In economic decisions, we make a good-based choice first, then we transform the outcome into an action to obtain the good. To elucidate the network mechanisms for such transformation, we constructed a neural circuit model consisting of modules representing choice, integration of choice with target locations, and the final action plan. We examined three scenarios regarding how the final action plan could emerge in the neural circuit and compared their implications with experimental data. Our model with heterogeneous connectivity predicts the coexistence of three types of neurons with distinct functions, confirmed by analyzing the neural activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) of behaving monkeys. We obtained a much more distinct classification of functional neuron types in the ventral than the dorsal region of LPFC, suggesting that the action plan is initially generated in ventral LPFC. Our model offers a biologically plausible neural circuit architecture that implements good-to-action transformation during economic choice. |
Lok-Kin Yeung; Rosanna K Olsen; Bryan Hong; Valentina Mihajlovic; Maria C D'Angelo; Arber Kacollja; Jennifer D Ryan; Morgan D Barense Object-in-place memory predicted by anterolateral entorhinal cortex and parahippocampal cortex in older adults Journal Article Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 31 (5), pp. 711–729, 2019. @article{Yeung2019, title = {Object-in-place memory predicted by anterolateral entorhinal cortex and parahippocampal cortex in older adults}, author = {Lok-Kin Yeung and Rosanna K Olsen and Bryan Hong and Valentina Mihajlovic and Maria C D'Angelo and Arber Kacollja and Jennifer D Ryan and Morgan D Barense}, doi = {10.1162/jocn}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience}, volume = {31}, number = {5}, pages = {711--729}, abstract = {The lateral portion of the entorhinal cortex is one of the first brain regions affected by tau pathology, an important biomarker for Alzheimer disease. Improving our understanding of this region's cognitive role may help identify better cognitive tests for early detection of Alzheimer disease. Based on its functional connections, we tested the idea that the human anterolateral entorhinal cortex (alERC) may play a role in integrating spatial information into object representations. We recently demonstrated that the volume of the alERC was related to processing the spatial relationships of the features within an object [Yeung, L. K., Olsen, R. K., Bild-Enkin, H. E. P., D'Angelo, M. C., Kacollja, A., McQuiggan, D. A., et al. Anterolateral entorhinal cortex volume predicted by altered intra-item configural processing. Journal of Neuroscience, 37, 5527–5538, 2017]. In this study, we investi- gated whether the human alERC might also play a role in processing the spatial relationships between an object and its environment using an eye-tracking task that assessed visual fixations to a critical object within a scene. Guided by rodent work, we measured both object-in-place memory, the association of an object with a given context [Wilson, D. I., Langston, R. F., Schlesiger, M. I., Wagner, M., Watanabe, S., & Ainge, J. A. Lateral entorhinal cortex is critical for novel object-context recog- nition. Hippocampus, 23,352–366, 2013], and object-trace memory, the memory for the former location of objects [Tsao, A., Moser, M. B., & Moser, E. I. Traces of experience in the lateral entorhinal cortex. Current Biology, 23,399–405, 2013]. In a group of older adults with varying stages of brain atrophy and cognitive decline, we found that the volume of the alERC and the volume of the parahippocampal cortex selectively predicted object-in-place memory, but not object-trace memory. These results provide support for the notion that the alERC may integrate spatial information into object representations.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The lateral portion of the entorhinal cortex is one of the first brain regions affected by tau pathology, an important biomarker for Alzheimer disease. Improving our understanding of this region's cognitive role may help identify better cognitive tests for early detection of Alzheimer disease. Based on its functional connections, we tested the idea that the human anterolateral entorhinal cortex (alERC) may play a role in integrating spatial information into object representations. We recently demonstrated that the volume of the alERC was related to processing the spatial relationships of the features within an object [Yeung, L. K., Olsen, R. K., Bild-Enkin, H. E. P., D'Angelo, M. C., Kacollja, A., McQuiggan, D. A., et al. Anterolateral entorhinal cortex volume predicted by altered intra-item configural processing. Journal of Neuroscience, 37, 5527–5538, 2017]. In this study, we investi- gated whether the human alERC might also play a role in processing the spatial relationships between an object and its environment using an eye-tracking task that assessed visual fixations to a critical object within a scene. Guided by rodent work, we measured both object-in-place memory, the association of an object with a given context [Wilson, D. I., Langston, R. F., Schlesiger, M. I., Wagner, M., Watanabe, S., & Ainge, J. A. Lateral entorhinal cortex is critical for novel object-context recog- nition. Hippocampus, 23,352–366, 2013], and object-trace memory, the memory for the former location of objects [Tsao, A., Moser, M. B., & Moser, E. I. Traces of experience in the lateral entorhinal cortex. Current Biology, 23,399–405, 2013]. In a group of older adults with varying stages of brain atrophy and cognitive decline, we found that the volume of the alERC and the volume of the parahippocampal cortex selectively predicted object-in-place memory, but not object-trace memory. These results provide support for the notion that the alERC may integrate spatial information into object representations. |
Mar Yebra; Ana Galarza-Vallejo; Vanesa Soto-Leon; Javier J Gonzalez-Rosa; Archy O de Berker; Sven Bestmann; Antonio Oliviero; Marijn C W Kroes; Bryan A Strange Action boosts episodic memory encoding in humans via engagement of a noradrenergic system Journal Article Nature Communications, 10 , pp. 1–12, 2019. @article{Yebra2019, title = {Action boosts episodic memory encoding in humans via engagement of a noradrenergic system}, author = {Mar Yebra and Ana Galarza-Vallejo and Vanesa Soto-Leon and Javier J Gonzalez-Rosa and Archy O de Berker and Sven Bestmann and Antonio Oliviero and Marijn C W Kroes and Bryan A Strange}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-019-11358-8}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Nature Communications}, volume = {10}, pages = {1--12}, publisher = {Springer US}, abstract = {We are constantly interacting with our environment whilst we encode memories. However, how actions influence memory formation remains poorly understood. Goal-directed movement engages the locus coeruleus (LC), the main source of noradrenaline in the brain. Noradrenaline is also known to enhance episodic encoding, suggesting that action could improve memory via LC engagement. Here we demonstrate, across seven experiments, that action (Go-response) enhances episodic encoding for stimuli unrelated to the action itself, compared to action inhibition (NoGo). Functional magnetic resonance imaging, and pupil diameter as a proxy measure for LC-noradrenaline transmission, indicate increased encoding-related LC activity during action. A final experiment, replicated in two independent samples, confirmed a novel prediction derived from these data that emotionally aversive stimuli, which recruit the noradrenergic system, modulate the mnemonic advantage conferred by Go-responses relative to neutral stimuli. We therefore provide converging evidence that action boosts episodic memory encoding via a noradrenergic mechanism.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } We are constantly interacting with our environment whilst we encode memories. However, how actions influence memory formation remains poorly understood. Goal-directed movement engages the locus coeruleus (LC), the main source of noradrenaline in the brain. Noradrenaline is also known to enhance episodic encoding, suggesting that action could improve memory via LC engagement. Here we demonstrate, across seven experiments, that action (Go-response) enhances episodic encoding for stimuli unrelated to the action itself, compared to action inhibition (NoGo). Functional magnetic resonance imaging, and pupil diameter as a proxy measure for LC-noradrenaline transmission, indicate increased encoding-related LC activity during action. A final experiment, replicated in two independent samples, confirmed a novel prediction derived from these data that emotionally aversive stimuli, which recruit the noradrenergic system, modulate the mnemonic advantage conferred by Go-responses relative to neutral stimuli. We therefore provide converging evidence that action boosts episodic memory encoding via a noradrenergic mechanism. |
Angele Yazbec; Michael P Kaschak; Arielle Borovsky Developmental timescale of rapid adaptation to conflicting cues in real-time sentence processing Journal Article Cognitive Science, 43 , pp. 1–41, 2019. @article{Yazbec2019, title = {Developmental timescale of rapid adaptation to conflicting cues in real-time sentence processing}, author = {Angele Yazbec and Michael P Kaschak and Arielle Borovsky}, doi = {10.1111/cogs.12704}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Cognitive Science}, volume = {43}, pages = {1--41}, abstract = {Children and adults use established global knowledge to generate real-time linguistic predictions, but less is known about how listeners generate predictions in circumstances that semantically conflict with long-standing event knowledge. We explore these issues in adults and 5- to 10-year-old children using an eye-tracked sentence comprehension task that tests real-time activation of unexpected events that had been previously encountered in brief stories. Adults generated predictions for these previously unexpected events based on these discourse cues alone, whereas children overall did not override their established global knowledge to generate expectations for semantically conflicting material; however, they do show an increased ability to integrate discourse cues to generate appropriate predictions for sentential endings. These results indicate that the ability to rapidly integrate and deploy semantically conflicting knowledge has a long developmental trajectory, with adult-like patterns not emerging until later in childhood.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Children and adults use established global knowledge to generate real-time linguistic predictions, but less is known about how listeners generate predictions in circumstances that semantically conflict with long-standing event knowledge. We explore these issues in adults and 5- to 10-year-old children using an eye-tracked sentence comprehension task that tests real-time activation of unexpected events that had been previously encountered in brief stories. Adults generated predictions for these previously unexpected events based on these discourse cues alone, whereas children overall did not override their established global knowledge to generate expectations for semantically conflicting material; however, they do show an increased ability to integrate discourse cues to generate appropriate predictions for sentential endings. These results indicate that the ability to rapidly integrate and deploy semantically conflicting knowledge has a long developmental trajectory, with adult-like patterns not emerging until later in childhood. |
Amit Yashar; Xiuyun Wu; Jiageng Chen; Marisa Carrasco Crowding and binding: Not all feature dimensions behave in the same way Journal Article Psychological Science, 30 (10), pp. 1533–1546, 2019. @article{Yashar2019, title = {Crowding and binding: Not all feature dimensions behave in the same way}, author = {Amit Yashar and Xiuyun Wu and Jiageng Chen and Marisa Carrasco}, doi = {10.1177/0956797619870779}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Psychological Science}, volume = {30}, number = {10}, pages = {1533--1546}, abstract = {Humans often fail to identify a target because of nearby flankers. The nature and stages at which this crowding occurs are unclear, and whether crowding operates via a common mechanism across visual dimensions is unknown. Using a dual-estimation report (N = 42), we quantitatively assessed the processing of features alone and in conjunction with another feature both within and between dimensions. Under crowding, observers misreported colors and orientations (i.e., reported a flanker value instead of the target's value) but averaged the target's and flankers' spatial frequencies (SFs). Interestingly, whereas orientation and color errors were independent, orientation and SF errors were interdependent. These qualitative differences of errors across dimensions revealed a tight link between crowding and feature binding, which is contingent on the type of feature dimension. These results and a computational model suggest that crowding and misbinding are due to pooling across a joint coding of orientations and SFs but not of colors.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Humans often fail to identify a target because of nearby flankers. The nature and stages at which this crowding occurs are unclear, and whether crowding operates via a common mechanism across visual dimensions is unknown. Using a dual-estimation report (N = 42), we quantitatively assessed the processing of features alone and in conjunction with another feature both within and between dimensions. Under crowding, observers misreported colors and orientations (i.e., reported a flanker value instead of the target's value) but averaged the target's and flankers' spatial frequencies (SFs). Interestingly, whereas orientation and color errors were independent, orientation and SF errors were interdependent. These qualitative differences of errors across dimensions revealed a tight link between crowding and feature binding, which is contingent on the type of feature dimension. These results and a computational model suggest that crowding and misbinding are due to pooling across a joint coding of orientations and SFs but not of colors. |
Beier Yao; Sebastiaan F W Neggers; Martin X Rolfs; X Lara Rösler; Ilse A Thompson; Helene J Hopman; Livon Ghermezi; René S Kahn; Katharine N Thakkar Structural thalamofrontal hypoconnectivity is related to oculomotor corollary discharge dysfunction in schizophrenia Journal Article The Journal of Neuroscience, 39 (11), pp. 2102–2113, 2019. @article{Yao2019, title = {Structural thalamofrontal hypoconnectivity is related to oculomotor corollary discharge dysfunction in schizophrenia}, author = {Beier Yao and Sebastiaan F W Neggers and Martin X Rolfs and X {Lara Rösler} and Ilse A Thompson and Helene J Hopman and Livon Ghermezi and René S Kahn and Katharine N Thakkar}, doi = {10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1473-18.2019}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {The Journal of Neuroscience}, volume = {39}, number = {11}, pages = {2102--2113}, abstract = {By predicting sensory consequences of actions, humans can distinguish self-generated sensory inputs from those that are elicited externally. This is one mechanism by which we achieve a subjective sense of agency over our actions. Corollary discharge (CD) signals-"copies" of motor signals sent to sensory areas-permit such predictions, and CD abnormalities are a hypothesized mechanism for the agency disruptions in schizophrenia that characterize a subset of symptoms. Indeed, behavioral evidence of altered CD, including in the oculomotor system, has been observed in schizophrenia patients. A pathway projecting from the superior colliculus to the frontal eye fields (FEFs) via the mediodorsal thalamus (MD) conveys oculomotor CD associated with saccadic eye movements in nonhuman primates. This animal work provides a promising translational framework in which to investigate CD abnormalities in clinical populations. In the current study, we examined whether structural connectivity of this MD-FEF pathway relates to oculomotor CD functioning in schizophrenia. Twenty-two schizophrenia patients and 24 healthy control participants of both sexes underwent diffusion tensor imaging, and a large subset performed a trans-saccadic perceptual task that yields measures of CD. Using probabilistic tractography, we identified anatomical connections between FEF and MD and extracted indices of microstructural integrity. Patients exhibited compromised microstructural integrity in the MD-FEF pathway, which was correlated with greater oculomotor CD abnormalities and more severe psychotic symptoms. These data reinforce the role of the MD-FEF pathway in transmitting oculomotor CD signals and suggest that disturbances in this pathway may relate to psychotic symptom manifestation in patients.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } By predicting sensory consequences of actions, humans can distinguish self-generated sensory inputs from those that are elicited externally. This is one mechanism by which we achieve a subjective sense of agency over our actions. Corollary discharge (CD) signals-"copies" of motor signals sent to sensory areas-permit such predictions, and CD abnormalities are a hypothesized mechanism for the agency disruptions in schizophrenia that characterize a subset of symptoms. Indeed, behavioral evidence of altered CD, including in the oculomotor system, has been observed in schizophrenia patients. A pathway projecting from the superior colliculus to the frontal eye fields (FEFs) via the mediodorsal thalamus (MD) conveys oculomotor CD associated with saccadic eye movements in nonhuman primates. This animal work provides a promising translational framework in which to investigate CD abnormalities in clinical populations. In the current study, we examined whether structural connectivity of this MD-FEF pathway relates to oculomotor CD functioning in schizophrenia. Twenty-two schizophrenia patients and 24 healthy control participants of both sexes underwent diffusion tensor imaging, and a large subset performed a trans-saccadic perceptual task that yields measures of CD. Using probabilistic tractography, we identified anatomical connections between FEF and MD and extracted indices of microstructural integrity. Patients exhibited compromised microstructural integrity in the MD-FEF pathway, which was correlated with greater oculomotor CD abnormalities and more severe psychotic symptoms. These data reinforce the role of the MD-FEF pathway in transmitting oculomotor CD signals and suggest that disturbances in this pathway may relate to psychotic symptom manifestation in patients. |
Ming Yan; Aiping Wang; Hosu Song; Reinhold Kliegl Parafoveal processing of phonology and semantics during the reading of Korean sentences Journal Article Cognition, 193 , pp. 1–7, 2019. @article{Yan2019f, title = {Parafoveal processing of phonology and semantics during the reading of Korean sentences}, author = {Ming Yan and Aiping Wang and Hosu Song and Reinhold Kliegl}, doi = {10.1016/j.cognition.2019.104009}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Cognition}, volume = {193}, pages = {1--7}, publisher = {Elsevier}, abstract = {The present study sets out to address two fundamental questions in the reading of continuous texts: Whether semantic and phonological information from upcoming words can be accessed during natural reading. In the present study we investigated parafoveal processing during the reading of Korean sentences, manipulating semantic and phonological information from parafoveal preview words. In addition to the first evidence for a semantic preview effect in Korean, we found that Korean readers have stronger and more long-lasting phonological than semantic activation from parafoveal words in second-pass reading. The present study provides an example that human mind can flexibly adjust processing priority to different types of information based on the linguistic environment.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The present study sets out to address two fundamental questions in the reading of continuous texts: Whether semantic and phonological information from upcoming words can be accessed during natural reading. In the present study we investigated parafoveal processing during the reading of Korean sentences, manipulating semantic and phonological information from parafoveal preview words. In addition to the first evidence for a semantic preview effect in Korean, we found that Korean readers have stronger and more long-lasting phonological than semantic activation from parafoveal words in second-pass reading. The present study provides an example that human mind can flexibly adjust processing priority to different types of information based on the linguistic environment. |
Ming Yan; Werner Sommer The effects of emotional significance of foveal words on the parafoveal processing of N + 2 words in reading Chinese sentences Journal Article Reading and Writing, 32 , pp. 1243–1256, 2019. @article{Yan2019c, title = {The effects of emotional significance of foveal words on the parafoveal processing of N + 2 words in reading Chinese sentences}, author = {Ming Yan and Werner Sommer}, doi = {10.1007/s11145-018-9914-x}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Reading and Writing}, volume = {32}, pages = {1243--1256}, publisher = {Springer Netherlands}, abstract = {The emotional significance of stimuli has a strong effect on lexical processing across different reading paradigms. In the present study, we investigated whether foveal and parafoveal lexical processing is influenced by foveal emotional words (positive, negative, or neutral) during the reading of Chinese sentences. We tested word N + 2 preview effect by manipulating the visibility of the upcoming word, located two words away from the foveal word. Processing benefits due to valid parafoveal preview were found for all three valence classes of foveal words. Most interestingly, for negative as compared to both neutral and positive foveal target words, the parafoveal preview effect was reduced when preview duration had been long. These findings suggest that negative words are more likely to attract readers' attention, narrowing the attentional spotlight to the fovea as affected information becomes activated during word processing. We discuss implications for the notion of attention attraction due to emotional content.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The emotional significance of stimuli has a strong effect on lexical processing across different reading paradigms. In the present study, we investigated whether foveal and parafoveal lexical processing is influenced by foveal emotional words (positive, negative, or neutral) during the reading of Chinese sentences. We tested word N + 2 preview effect by manipulating the visibility of the upcoming word, located two words away from the foveal word. Processing benefits due to valid parafoveal preview were found for all three valence classes of foveal words. Most interestingly, for negative as compared to both neutral and positive foveal target words, the parafoveal preview effect was reduced when preview duration had been long. These findings suggest that negative words are more likely to attract readers' attention, narrowing the attentional spotlight to the fovea as affected information becomes activated during word processing. We discuss implications for the notion of attention attraction due to emotional content. |
Ming Yan; Jinger Pan; Reinhold Kliegl Eye movement control in Chinese reading: A cross- sectional study Journal Article Developmental Psychology, 55 (11), pp. 2275–2285, 2019. @article{Yan2019b, title = {Eye movement control in Chinese reading: A cross- sectional study}, author = {Ming Yan and Jinger Pan and Reinhold Kliegl}, doi = {10.1037/dev0000819}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Developmental Psychology}, volume = {55}, number = {11}, pages = {2275--2285}, abstract = {The present study explored the age-related changes of eye movement control in reading-that is, where to send the eyes and when to move them. Different orthographies present readers with somewhat different problems to solve, and this might, in turn, be reflected in different patterns of development of reading skill. Participants of different developmental levels (Grade 3}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The present study explored the age-related changes of eye movement control in reading-that is, where to send the eyes and when to move them. Different orthographies present readers with somewhat different problems to solve, and this might, in turn, be reflected in different patterns of development of reading skill. Participants of different developmental levels (Grade 3 |
Ming Yan; Jinger Pan; Wenshuo Chang; Reinhold Kliegl Read sideways or not: Vertical saccade advantage in sentence reading Journal Article Reading and Writing, 32 (8), pp. 1911–1926, 2019. @article{Yan2019a, title = {Read sideways or not: Vertical saccade advantage in sentence reading}, author = {Ming Yan and Jinger Pan and Wenshuo Chang and Reinhold Kliegl}, doi = {10.1007/s11145-018-9930-x}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Reading and Writing}, volume = {32}, number = {8}, pages = {1911--1926}, publisher = {Springer Netherlands}, abstract = {During the reading of alphabetic scripts and scene perception, eye movements are programmed more efficiently in horizontal direction than in vertical direction. We propose that such a directional advantage may be due the overwhelming reading experience in the horizontal direction. Writing orientation is highly flexible for Traditional Chinese sentences. We compare horizontal and vertical eye movements during reading of such sentences and provide first evidence of a text-orientation effect on eye-movement control during reading. In addition to equivalent reading speed in both directions, more fine-grained analyses demonstrate a tradeoff between longer fixation durations and better fixation locations in vertical than in horizontal reading. Our results suggest that with extensive reading experience, Traditional Chinese readers can generate saccades more efficiently in vertical than in horizontal direction.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } During the reading of alphabetic scripts and scene perception, eye movements are programmed more efficiently in horizontal direction than in vertical direction. We propose that such a directional advantage may be due the overwhelming reading experience in the horizontal direction. Writing orientation is highly flexible for Traditional Chinese sentences. We compare horizontal and vertical eye movements during reading of such sentences and provide first evidence of a text-orientation effect on eye-movement control during reading. In addition to equivalent reading speed in both directions, more fine-grained analyses demonstrate a tradeoff between longer fixation durations and better fixation locations in vertical than in horizontal reading. Our results suggest that with extensive reading experience, Traditional Chinese readers can generate saccades more efficiently in vertical than in horizontal direction. |
S Xue; Jana Lüdtke; Teresa Sylvester; Arthur M Jacobs Reading Shakespeare sonnets: Combining quantitative barrative analysis and predictive modeling — an eye tracking study Journal Article Journal of Eye Movement Research, 12 (5), pp. 1–16, 2019. @article{Xue2019, title = {Reading Shakespeare sonnets: Combining quantitative barrative analysis and predictive modeling — an eye tracking study}, author = {S Xue and Jana Lüdtke and Teresa Sylvester and Arthur M Jacobs}, doi = {10.16910/jemr.12.5.2}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Journal of Eye Movement Research}, volume = {12}, number = {5}, pages = {1--16}, abstract = {As a part of a larger interdisciplinary project on Shakespeare sonnets' reception (Jacobs et al., 2017; Xue et al., 2017), the present study analyzed the eye movement behavior of participants reading three of the 154 sonnets as a function of seven lexical features extracted via Quantitative Narrative Analysis (QNA). Using a machine learning- based predictive modeling approach five ‘surface' features (word length, orthographic neighborhood density, word frequency, orthographic dissimilarity and sonority score) were detected as important predictors of total reading time and fixation probability in poetry reading. The fact that one phonological feature, i.e., sonority score, also played a role is in line with current theorizing on poetry reading. Our approach opens new ways for future eye movement research on reading poetic texts and other complex literary materials (cf. Jacobs, 2015c).}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } As a part of a larger interdisciplinary project on Shakespeare sonnets' reception (Jacobs et al., 2017; Xue et al., 2017), the present study analyzed the eye movement behavior of participants reading three of the 154 sonnets as a function of seven lexical features extracted via Quantitative Narrative Analysis (QNA). Using a machine learning- based predictive modeling approach five ‘surface' features (word length, orthographic neighborhood density, word frequency, orthographic dissimilarity and sonority score) were detected as important predictors of total reading time and fixation probability in poetry reading. The fact that one phonological feature, i.e., sonority score, also played a role is in line with current theorizing on poetry reading. Our approach opens new ways for future eye movement research on reading poetic texts and other complex literary materials (cf. Jacobs, 2015c). |
Yaoda Xu; Maryam Vaziri-Pashkam Task modulation of the 2-pathway characterization of occipitotemporal and posterior parietal visual object representations Journal Article Neuropsychologia, 132 , pp. 1–13, 2019. @article{Xu2019d, title = {Task modulation of the 2-pathway characterization of occipitotemporal and posterior parietal visual object representations}, author = {Yaoda Xu and Maryam Vaziri-Pashkam}, doi = {10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107140}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Neuropsychologia}, volume = {132}, pages = {1--13}, abstract = {Recent studies have reported the existence of rich non-spatial visual object representations in both human and monkey posterior parietal cortex (PPC), similar to those found in occipito-temporal cortex (OTC). Despite this similarity, we recently showed that visual object representation still differ between OTC and PPC in two aspects. In one study, by manipulating whether object shape or color was task relevant, we showed that visual object representations were under greater top-down attention and task control in PPC than in OTC (Vaziri-Pashkam & Xu, 2017, J Neurosci). In another study, using a bottom-up data driven approach, we showed that there exists a large separation between PPC and OTC regions in the representational space, with OTC regions lining up hierarchically along an OTC pathway and PPC regions lining up hierarchically along an orthogonal PPC pathway (Vaziri-Pashkam & Xu, 2019, Cereb Cortex). To understand the interaction of goal-driven visual processing and the two-pathway structure in the representational space, here we performed a set of new analyses of the data from the three experiments of Vaziri-Pashkam and Xu (2017) and directly compared the two-pathway separation of OTC and PPC regions when object shapes were attended and task relevant and when they were not. We found that in all three experiments the correlation of visual object representational structure between superior IPS (a key PPC visual region) and lateral and ventral occipito-temporal regions (higher OTC visual regions) became greater when object shapes were attended than when they were not. This modified the two-pathway structure, with PPC regions moving closer to higher OTC regions and a compression of the PPC pathway towards the OTC pathway in the representational space when shapes were attended. Consistent with this observation, the correlation between neural and behavioral measures of visual representational structure was also higher in superior IPS when shapes were attended than when they were not. By comparing representational structures across experiments and tasks, we further showed that attention to object shape resulted in the formation of more similar object representations in superior IPS across experiments than between the two tasks within the same experiment despite noise and stimulus differences across the experiments. Overall, these results demonstrated that, despite the separation of the OTC and PPC pathways in the representational space, the visual representational structure of PPC is flexible and can be modulated by the task demand. This reaffirms the adaptive nature of visual processing in PPC and further distinguishes it from the more invariant nature of visual processing in OTC.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Recent studies have reported the existence of rich non-spatial visual object representations in both human and monkey posterior parietal cortex (PPC), similar to those found in occipito-temporal cortex (OTC). Despite this similarity, we recently showed that visual object representation still differ between OTC and PPC in two aspects. In one study, by manipulating whether object shape or color was task relevant, we showed that visual object representations were under greater top-down attention and task control in PPC than in OTC (Vaziri-Pashkam & Xu, 2017, J Neurosci). In another study, using a bottom-up data driven approach, we showed that there exists a large separation between PPC and OTC regions in the representational space, with OTC regions lining up hierarchically along an OTC pathway and PPC regions lining up hierarchically along an orthogonal PPC pathway (Vaziri-Pashkam & Xu, 2019, Cereb Cortex). To understand the interaction of goal-driven visual processing and the two-pathway structure in the representational space, here we performed a set of new analyses of the data from the three experiments of Vaziri-Pashkam and Xu (2017) and directly compared the two-pathway separation of OTC and PPC regions when object shapes were attended and task relevant and when they were not. We found that in all three experiments the correlation of visual object representational structure between superior IPS (a key PPC visual region) and lateral and ventral occipito-temporal regions (higher OTC visual regions) became greater when object shapes were attended than when they were not. This modified the two-pathway structure, with PPC regions moving closer to higher OTC regions and a compression of the PPC pathway towards the OTC pathway in the representational space when shapes were attended. Consistent with this observation, the correlation between neural and behavioral measures of visual representational structure was also higher in superior IPS when shapes were attended than when they were not. By comparing representational structures across experiments and tasks, we further showed that attention to object shape resulted in the formation of more similar object representations in superior IPS across experiments than between the two tasks within the same experiment despite noise and stimulus differences across the experiments. Overall, these results demonstrated that, despite the separation of the OTC and PPC pathways in the representational space, the visual representational structure of PPC is flexible and can be modulated by the task demand. This reaffirms the adaptive nature of visual processing in PPC and further distinguishes it from the more invariant nature of visual processing in OTC. |
Xiaolei Xu; Jialin Li; Zhuo Chen; Keith M Kendrick; Benjamin Becker Psychoneuroendocrinology, 108 , pp. 62–69, 2019. @article{Xu2019c, title = {Oxytocin reduces top-down control of attention by increasing bottom-up attention allocation to social but not non-social stimuli – A randomized controlled trial}, author = {Xiaolei Xu and Jialin Li and Zhuo Chen and Keith M Kendrick and Benjamin Becker}, doi = {10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.06.004}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Psychoneuroendocrinology}, volume = {108}, pages = {62--69}, publisher = {Elsevier}, abstract = {The neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) may facilitate attention to social stimuli by influencing early stage bottom-up processing although findings in relation to different emotional expressions are inconsistent and its influence on top-down cognitive processing mechanisms unclear. In the current double-blind placebo (PLC) controlled between-subject design study we therefore recruited 71 male subjects (OXT = 34}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) may facilitate attention to social stimuli by influencing early stage bottom-up processing although findings in relation to different emotional expressions are inconsistent and its influence on top-down cognitive processing mechanisms unclear. In the current double-blind placebo (PLC) controlled between-subject design study we therefore recruited 71 male subjects (OXT = 34 |
Pingping Xu; Qingqing Qu; Wei Shen; Xingshan Li Co-activation of taxonomic and thematic relations in spoken word comprehension: Evidence from eye movements Journal Article Frontiers in Psychology, 10 , pp. 1–9, 2019. @article{Xu2019b, title = {Co-activation of taxonomic and thematic relations in spoken word comprehension: Evidence from eye movements}, author = {Pingping Xu and Qingqing Qu and Wei Shen and Xingshan Li}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00964}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Frontiers in Psychology}, volume = {10}, pages = {1--9}, abstract = {Evidence from behavior, computational linguistics, and neuroscience studies supported that semantic knowledge is represented in (at least) two semantic systems (i.e., taxonomic and thematic systems). It remains unclear whether, when and to what extent taxonomic and thematic relations are co-activated. The present study investigated the relative strength of the co-activation of the two types of semantic representations when both types of semantic relations are simultaneously presented. In a visual-world task, participants listened to a spoken target word and looked at a visual display consisted of a taxonomic competitor, a thematic competitor and two distractors. The growth curve analysis revealed that although taxonomic competitors were fixated more than thematic competitors, and these two types of competitors started to receive more fixations than distractor in a similar time window, which suggested that taxonomic and thematic relations are co-activated by the spoken word.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Evidence from behavior, computational linguistics, and neuroscience studies supported that semantic knowledge is represented in (at least) two semantic systems (i.e., taxonomic and thematic systems). It remains unclear whether, when and to what extent taxonomic and thematic relations are co-activated. The present study investigated the relative strength of the co-activation of the two types of semantic representations when both types of semantic relations are simultaneously presented. In a visual-world task, participants listened to a spoken target word and looked at a visual display consisted of a taxonomic competitor, a thematic competitor and two distractors. The growth curve analysis revealed that although taxonomic competitors were fixated more than thematic competitors, and these two types of competitors started to receive more fixations than distractor in a similar time window, which suggested that taxonomic and thematic relations are co-activated by the spoken word. |
Kitty Z Xu; Jeffrey D Mayse; Susan Courtney Evidence for selective adjustments of inhibitory control in a variant of the stop signal task Journal Article Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 72 (4), pp. 818–831, 2019. @article{Xu2019a, title = {Evidence for selective adjustments of inhibitory control in a variant of the stop signal task}, author = {Kitty Z Xu and Jeffrey D Mayse and Susan Courtney}, doi = {10.1177/1747021818768721}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology}, volume = {72}, number = {4}, pages = {818--831}, abstract = {The ability to inhibit actions inappropriate for the context is essential for meeting the shifting demands of complex environments. The stop signal task (SST) has been used in many previous studies to examine the interactions between go and stop responses in a cognitively demanding task involving attention, conflict resolution, and motor plan selection. The current study uses a variant of the SST, in which the continue signal instructs participants to proceed with the go response they were preparing. Reaction times (RTs) on continue trials were bimodally distributed, suggesting that an aspect of inhibition was involved in at least some of the trials. We investigated whether the cognitive processes delaying the generation of a behavioural response on continue trials are the same as for stop trials. We found improvement of stop signal reaction times (SSRTs) following stop trials, but the decrease in continue signal reaction times (CSRTs) was not significant. No improvement in either SSRT or CSRT was found following continue trials, suggesting that activation of the processes delaying the response on continue trials is insufficient to drive subsequent adjustments in SSRT or CSRT. In addition, go RTs only slowed following stop trials. These effects may suggest the presence of a selective learning process, which requires that the initial inhibition captured by SSRT and CSRT be combined with recognition of the stop signal specifically to affect subsequent performance.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The ability to inhibit actions inappropriate for the context is essential for meeting the shifting demands of complex environments. The stop signal task (SST) has been used in many previous studies to examine the interactions between go and stop responses in a cognitively demanding task involving attention, conflict resolution, and motor plan selection. The current study uses a variant of the SST, in which the continue signal instructs participants to proceed with the go response they were preparing. Reaction times (RTs) on continue trials were bimodally distributed, suggesting that an aspect of inhibition was involved in at least some of the trials. We investigated whether the cognitive processes delaying the generation of a behavioural response on continue trials are the same as for stop trials. We found improvement of stop signal reaction times (SSRTs) following stop trials, but the decrease in continue signal reaction times (CSRTs) was not significant. No improvement in either SSRT or CSRT was found following continue trials, suggesting that activation of the processes delaying the response on continue trials is insufficient to drive subsequent adjustments in SSRT or CSRT. In addition, go RTs only slowed following stop trials. These effects may suggest the presence of a selective learning process, which requires that the initial inhibition captured by SSRT and CSRT be combined with recognition of the stop signal specifically to affect subsequent performance. |
Qiang Xing; Zheyi Lu; Jing Hu The effect of working memory updating ability on spatial insight problem solving: Evidence from behavior and eye movement studies Journal Article Frontiers in Psychology, 10 , pp. 1–10, 2019. @article{Xing2019, title = {The effect of working memory updating ability on spatial insight problem solving: Evidence from behavior and eye movement studies}, author = {Qiang Xing and Zheyi Lu and Jing Hu}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00927}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Frontiers in Psychology}, volume = {10}, pages = {1--10}, abstract = {It still remains uncertain whether working memory updating ability influences spatial insight problem solving and whether working memory updating ability plays a role in the representation restructuring phase. The current study explored the correlation of working memory updating ability and spatial insight problem solving by behavior and eye movement experiments, and the results showed that high working memory updating ability individuals spend significant shorter time to solve spatial insight problem than low working memory updating ability individuals. For participants with high or low working memory updating ability, the underlying mechanism of spatial insight problem solving is sudden rather than incremental, which demonstrated that the working memory updating ability didn't influence the representation restructuring phase. Working memory updating ability influences spatial problem solving, and it works critically in the problem space search phase, while the restructuring phase is sudden and immediate, which is not influenced by working memory updating ability. The representation restructuring tends to be spontaneous.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } It still remains uncertain whether working memory updating ability influences spatial insight problem solving and whether working memory updating ability plays a role in the representation restructuring phase. The current study explored the correlation of working memory updating ability and spatial insight problem solving by behavior and eye movement experiments, and the results showed that high working memory updating ability individuals spend significant shorter time to solve spatial insight problem than low working memory updating ability individuals. For participants with high or low working memory updating ability, the underlying mechanism of spatial insight problem solving is sudden rather than incremental, which demonstrated that the working memory updating ability didn't influence the representation restructuring phase. Working memory updating ability influences spatial problem solving, and it works critically in the problem space search phase, while the restructuring phase is sudden and immediate, which is not influenced by working memory updating ability. The representation restructuring tends to be spontaneous. |
Yanfang Xia; Angelina Gurkina; Dominik R Bach Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer after human threat conditioning Journal Article Learning & Memory, 26 (5), pp. 167–175, 2019. @article{Xia2019, title = {Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer after human threat conditioning}, author = {Yanfang Xia and Angelina Gurkina and Dominik R Bach}, doi = {10.1101/lm.049338.119}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Learning & Memory}, volume = {26}, number = {5}, pages = {167--175}, abstract = {Threat conditioning is a common associative learning model with translational relevance. How threat-conditioned cues impact on formally unrelated instrumental behavior in humans is not well known. Such an effect is known as Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT). While PIT with aversive primary Pavlovian reinforcers is established in nonhuman animals, this is less clear in humans, where secondary reinforcers or instructed instrumental responses are most often investigated. We modified an existing human PIT procedure to include primary reinforcers. Participants first learned to obtain (or avoid losing) appetitive instrumental reinforcement (chocolate) by appropriate approach or avoidance actions. They either had to act (Go) or to with hold an action (NoGo),and in theGocondition either to approach a reward target to collect it or to withdraw fromthe reward target to avoid losing it. Then they learned to associate screen color (CS) with aversive Pavlovian reinforcement (electric shock US). In the transfer phase, we conducted the instrumental task during the presence of Pavlovian CS. In a first experiment, we show that the aversive Pavlovian CS+, compared to CS−, increased response rate in Go-Withdraw trials, i.e., induce condi- tioned facilitation of avoidance responses. This finding was confirmed in a second and independent experiment with an in- creased number of Go-Withdraw trials. Notably, we observed no appreciable conditioned suppression of approach responses. Effect size to distinguish CS+/CS− in Go-Withdraw trials was d=0.42 in the confirmation sample. This would require n=37 participants to demonstrate threat learning with 80% power. Thus, the effect size is on a practically useful scale although smaller than for model-based analysis of autonomic measures. In summary, our results indicate conditioned facilitation of formally unrelated instrumental avoidance behavior in humans and provide a novel behavioral threat learning measure that requires only key presses.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Threat conditioning is a common associative learning model with translational relevance. How threat-conditioned cues impact on formally unrelated instrumental behavior in humans is not well known. Such an effect is known as Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT). While PIT with aversive primary Pavlovian reinforcers is established in nonhuman animals, this is less clear in humans, where secondary reinforcers or instructed instrumental responses are most often investigated. We modified an existing human PIT procedure to include primary reinforcers. Participants first learned to obtain (or avoid losing) appetitive instrumental reinforcement (chocolate) by appropriate approach or avoidance actions. They either had to act (Go) or to with hold an action (NoGo),and in theGocondition either to approach a reward target to collect it or to withdraw fromthe reward target to avoid losing it. Then they learned to associate screen color (CS) with aversive Pavlovian reinforcement (electric shock US). In the transfer phase, we conducted the instrumental task during the presence of Pavlovian CS. In a first experiment, we show that the aversive Pavlovian CS+, compared to CS−, increased response rate in Go-Withdraw trials, i.e., induce condi- tioned facilitation of avoidance responses. This finding was confirmed in a second and independent experiment with an in- creased number of Go-Withdraw trials. Notably, we observed no appreciable conditioned suppression of approach responses. Effect size to distinguish CS+/CS− in Go-Withdraw trials was d=0.42 in the confirmation sample. This would require n=37 participants to demonstrate threat learning with 80% power. Thus, the effect size is on a practically useful scale although smaller than for model-based analysis of autonomic measures. In summary, our results indicate conditioned facilitation of formally unrelated instrumental avoidance behavior in humans and provide a novel behavioral threat learning measure that requires only key presses. |
Yuan hao Wu; Lisa A Velenosi; Pia Schröder; Simon Ludwig; Felix Blankenburg Decoding vibrotactile choice independent of stimulus order and saccade selection during sequential comparisons Journal Article Human Brain Mapping, (40), pp. 1898–1907, 2019. @article{Wu2019, title = {Decoding vibrotactile choice independent of stimulus order and saccade selection during sequential comparisons}, author = {Yuan hao Wu and Lisa A Velenosi and Pia Schröder and Simon Ludwig and Felix Blankenburg}, doi = {10.1002/hbm.24499}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Human Brain Mapping}, number = {40}, pages = {1898--1907}, abstract = {Decision‐making in the somatosensory domain has been intensively studied using vibrotactile frequency discrimination tasks. Results from human and monkey electrophysiological studies from this line of research suggest that perceptual choices are encoded within a sensorimotor network. These findings, however, rely on experimental settings in which perceptual choices are inextricably linked to sensory and motor components of the task. Here, we devised a novel version of the vibrotactile frequency discrimination task with saccade responses which has the crucial advantage of decoupling perceptual choices from sensory and motor processes. We recorded human fMRI data from 32 participants while they performed the task. Using a whole‐brain searchlight multivariate classification technique, we identify the left lateral prefrontal cortex and the oculomotor system, including the bilateral frontal eye fields (FEF) and intraparietal sulci, as representing vibrotactile choices. Moreover, we show that the decoding accuracy of choice information in the right FEF correlates with behavioral performance. Not only are these findings in remarkable agreement with previous work, they also provide novel fMRI evidence for choice coding in human oculomotor regions, which is not limited to saccadic decisions, but pertains to contexts where choices are made in a more abstract form.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Decision‐making in the somatosensory domain has been intensively studied using vibrotactile frequency discrimination tasks. Results from human and monkey electrophysiological studies from this line of research suggest that perceptual choices are encoded within a sensorimotor network. These findings, however, rely on experimental settings in which perceptual choices are inextricably linked to sensory and motor components of the task. Here, we devised a novel version of the vibrotactile frequency discrimination task with saccade responses which has the crucial advantage of decoupling perceptual choices from sensory and motor processes. We recorded human fMRI data from 32 participants while they performed the task. Using a whole‐brain searchlight multivariate classification technique, we identify the left lateral prefrontal cortex and the oculomotor system, including the bilateral frontal eye fields (FEF) and intraparietal sulci, as representing vibrotactile choices. Moreover, we show that the decoding accuracy of choice information in the right FEF correlates with behavioral performance. Not only are these findings in remarkable agreement with previous work, they also provide novel fMRI evidence for choice coding in human oculomotor regions, which is not limited to saccadic decisions, but pertains to contexts where choices are made in a more abstract form. |
Bo Yeong Won; Mary Kosoyan; Joy J Geng Evidence for second-order singleton suppression based on probabilistic expectations Journal Article Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 45 (1), pp. 125–138, 2019. @article{Won2019b, title = {Evidence for second-order singleton suppression based on probabilistic expectations}, author = {Bo Yeong Won and Mary Kosoyan and Joy J Geng}, doi = {10.1037/xhp0000594}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-01-01}, journal = {Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance}, volume = {45}, number = {1}, pages = {125--138}, abstract = {Decades of research in attention have shown that salient distractors (e.g., a color singleton) tend to capture attention. However, in most studies, singleton distractors are just as likely to be present as absent. We therefore have little knowledge of how probabilistic expectations of the salient distractor's occurrence and features affect suppression. In three experiments, we explored this question by manipulating the frequency of a singleton distractor and the variability of its color within a search display. We found that increased expectations regarding the occurrence of the singleton distractor eliminated the singleton response time cost and reduced the number of first saccades to the singleton. In contrast, expectations regarding variability in the singleton color did not affect singleton capture. This was surprising and suggests the ability to suppress second-order salience over and above that of first-order features. We next inserted the probe display that included a to-be-reported letter inside each shape between search trials to measure if attention went to multiple objects. The letter in the singleton location was reported less often in the high-frequency condition, suggesting proactive suppression of expected singleton. Additionally, we found that trial-to-trial repetitions of a singleton (irrespective of its color and location) facilitated performance (i.e., singleton repetition priming), but repetitions of its specific color or location did not. Together our findings demonstrate that attentional capture by a color singleton distractor is attenuated by probabilistic expectations of its occurrence, but not of its color and location.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Decades of research in attention have shown that salient distractors (e.g., a color singleton) tend to capture attention. However, in most studies, singleton distractors are just as likely to be present as absent. We therefore have little knowledge of how probabilistic expectations of the salient distractor's occurrence and features affect suppression. In three experiments, we explored this question by manipulating the frequency of a singleton distractor and the variability of its color within a search display. We found that increased expectations regarding the occurrence of the singleton distractor eliminated the singleton response time cost and reduced the number of first saccades to the singleton. In contrast, expectations regarding variability in the singleton color did not affect singleton capture. This was surprising and suggests the ability to suppress second-order salience over and above that of first-order features. We next inserted the probe display that included a to-be-reported letter inside each shape between search trials to measure if attention went to multiple objects. The letter in the singleton location was reported less often in the high-frequency condition, suggesting proactive suppression of expected singleton. Additionally, we found that trial-to-trial repetitions of a singleton (irrespective of its color and location) facilitated performance (i.e., singleton repetition priming), but repetitions of its specific color or location did not. Together our findings demonstrate that attentional capture by a color singleton distractor is attenuated by probabilistic expectations of its occurrence, but not of its color and location. |