神经科学研究出版物中的EyeLink眼动仪

@article{Zeng2025,

title = {Coregistration of eye movements and EEG reveals frequency effects of words and their constituent characters in natural silent Chinese reading},

author = {Taishen Zeng and Longxia Lou and Zhi-Fang Liu and Chaoyang Chen and Zhijun Zhang},

doi = {10.1038/s41598-024-82817-6},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Scientific Reports},

volume = {15},

number = {1},

pages = {1–14},

abstract = {We conducted two experiments to examine the lexical and sub-lexical processing of Chinese two-character words in reading. We used a co-registration electroencephalogram (EEG) for the first fixation on target words. In Experiment 1, whole-word occurrence frequency and initial constituent character frequency were orthogonally manipulated, while in Experiment 2, whole-word occurrence frequency and end constituent character frequency were orthogonally manipulated. Results showed that word frequency facilitated eye-tracking measures, while initial and end character frequencies inhibited them. Classical word frequency effects on N170 and N400 in the posterior region and reversed word frequency effects over the anterior region were consistently observed in both experiments. Experiment 1 revealed an inhibiting effect of initial character frequency on anterior N170. In Experiment 2, interaction between end-character frequency and word frequency showed reliable effects on anterior N170 and N400. These results demonstrate both facilitating and inhibiting word frequency effects, along with inhibiting effects of character frequency and that word frequency moderates the inhibiting effects of end constituent character frequency during natural silent Chinese reading.},

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}

@article{Zeng2025a,

title = {Age-related depreciation in predictive processing during Chinese reading: Insights from fixation-related potentials},

author = {Taishen Zeng and Longxia Lou and Zhifang Liu and Zhijun Zhang},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Current Psychology},

number = {2004},

pages = {1–11},

abstract = {To overcome methodological deficiencies in previous eye-tracking and event-related potentials (ERP) studies, the fixa- tion-related potential (FRP) approach was used to investigate how aging affects predictive processing in silent Chinese free-view reading. Forty older and 42 young adults participated in the experiment. All of them reported good reading abilities and none suffered from physical, mental, or cognitive diseases. The older participants were over 60 years of age (62.670 ± 3.018), and they did not differ from the younger group in the schooling years (11.43 vs. 12.10},

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@article{Zhang2025a,

title = {Simultaneous dataset of brain, eye and hand during visuomotor tasks},

author = {Hao Zhang and Yiqing Hu and Yang Li and Shuangyu Zhang and Xiao Li Li and Chenguang Zhao},

doi = {10.1038/s41597-024-04227-7},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Scientific Data},

volume = {12},

number = {1},

pages = {1–15},

publisher = {Springer US},

abstract = {Visuomotor integration is a complex skill set encompassing many fundamental abilities, such as visual search, attention monitoring, and motor control. To explore the dynamic interplay between visual inputs and motor outputs, it is necessary to simultaneously record multiple brain activities with high temporal and spatial resolution, as well as to record implicit and explicit behaviors. However, there is a lack of public datasets that provide simultaneous multiple modalities during a visual-motor task. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy and electroencephalography to record brain activity simultaneously facilitate more precise capture of the complex visuomotor of brain mechanisms. Additionally, by employing a combined eye movement and manual response, it is possible to fully evaluate the effects of visuomotor outputs from implicit and explicit dimensions. We recorded whole-brain EEG (34 electrodes) and fNIRS (44 channels) covering the frontal and parietal cortex along with eye movements, behavior sampling, and operant behavior. The dataset underwent rigorous synchronization, quality control to highlight the effectiveness of our experiments and to demonstrate the high quality of our multimodal data framework.},

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}

@article{Zhu2025,

title = {Transformer-based fusion model for mild depression recognition with EEG and pupil area signals},

author = {Jing Zhu and Yuanlong Li and Changlin Yang and Hanshu Cai and Xiaowei Li and Bin Hu},

doi = {10.1007/s11517-024-03269-8},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Medical and Biological Engineering & Computing},

pages = {1–17},

publisher = {Springer Berlin Heidelberg},

abstract = {Early detection and treatment are crucial for the prevention and treatment of depression; compared with major depression, current researches pay less attention to mild depression. Meanwhile, analysis of multimodal biosignals such as EEG, eye movement data, and magnetic resonance imaging provides reliable technical means for the quantitative analysis of depression. However, how to effectively capture relevant and complementary information between multimodal data so as to achieve efficient and accurate depression recognition remains a challenge. This paper proposes a novel Transformer-based fusion model using EEG and pupil area signals for mild depression recognition. We first introduce CSP into the Transformer to construct single-modal models of EEG and pupil data and then utilize attention bottleneck to construct a mid-fusion model to facilitate information exchange between the two modalities; this strategy enables the model to learn the most relevant and complementary information for each modality and only share the necessary information, which improves the model accuracy while reducing the computational cost. Experimental results show that the accuracy of the EEG and pupil area signals of single-modal models we constructed is 89.75% and 84.17%, the precision is 92.04% and 95.21%, the recall is 89.5% and 71%, the specificity is 90% and 97.33%, the F1 score is 89.41% and 78.44%, respectively, and the accuracy of mid-fusion model can reach 93.25%. Our study demonstrates that the Transformer model can learn the long-term time-dependent relationship between EEG and pupil area signals, providing an idea for designing a reliable multimodal fusion model for mild depression recognition based on EEG and pupil area signals.},

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@article{Yano2025,

title = {Producing non-basic word orders in (in)felicitous contexts: Evidence from pupillometry and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)},

author = {Masataka Yano and Keiyu Niikuni and Ruri Shimura and Natsumi Funasaki and Masatoshi Koizumi},

doi = {10.1080/23273798.2024.2404178},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Language, Cognition and Neuroscience},

volume = {40},

number = {1},

pages = {1–22},

publisher = {Taylor & Francis},

abstract = {The present study examined why speakers of languages with flexible word orders are more likely to use syntactically complex non-basic word orders when they provide discourse-given information earlier in sentences. This may be because they are more efficient for speakers to produce (the Speaker Economy Hypothesis). Alternatively, speakers may produce them to help listeners understand sentences more efficiently (the Listener Economy Hypothesis), given that previous studies showed that the processing of non-basic word orders was facilitated when the felicitous context was provided (i.e. a displaced object refers to discourse-given information). We addressed this issue by conducting a picture-description experiment, in which participants uttered sentences with syntactically basic Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) or non-basic Object-Subject-Verb (OSV) in felicitous or infelicitous contexts while cognitive load was tracked using pupillometry and functional near-infrared spectroscopy. The results showed that the felicitous context facilitated the filler-gap dependency formation of OSVs in production, supporting the Speaker Economy Hypothesis.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Gong2025,

title = {Time course of orientation ensemble representation in the human brain},

author = {Xizi Gong and Tao He and Qian Wang and Junshi Lu and Fang Fang},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {The Journal of Neuroscience},

volume = {45},

number = {7},

pages = {1–13},

abstract = {Natural scenes are filled with groups of similar items. Humans employ ensemble coding to extract the summary statistical information of the environment, thereby enhancing the efficiency of information processing, something particularly useful when observing natural scenes. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the representation ofensemble information in the brain remain elusive. In particular, whether ensemble representation results from the mere summation of individual item representations or it engages other specific processes remains unclear. In this study, we utilized a set of orientation ensembles wherein none ofthe individual item orientations were the same as the ensemble orientation. We recorded magnetoencephalography (MEG) signals from human participants (both sexes) when they performed an ensemble orientation discrimination task. Time-resolved multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) and the inverted encoding model (IEM) were employed to unravel the neural mechanisms of the ensemble orientation representation and track its time course. First, we achieved successful decoding of the ensemble orientation, with a high correlation between the decoding and behavioral accuracies. Second, the IEM analysis demonstrated that the representation of the ensemble orientation differed from the sum of the representations of individual item orientations, suggesting that ensemble coding could fur- ther modulate orientation representation in the brain. Moreover, using source reconstruction, we showed that the representation of ensemble orientation manifested in early visual areas. Taken together, our findings reveal the emergence of the ensemble representation in the human visual cortex and advance the understanding of how the brain captures and represents ensemble information.},

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@article{Stone2025,

title = {Neural mechanisms of metacognitive improvement under speed pressure},

author = {Caleb Stone and Jason B. Mattingley and Dragan Rangelov},

doi = {10.1038/s42003-025-07646-3},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Communications Biology},

volume = {8},

pages = {1–12},

publisher = {Springer US},

abstract = {The ability to accurately monitor the quality of one's choices, or metacognition, improves under speed pressure, possibly due to changes in post-decisional evidence processing. Here, we investigate the neural processes that regulate decision-making and metacognition under speed pressure using time- resolved analyses of brain activity recorded using electroencephalography. Participants performed a motion discrimination task under short and long response deadlines and provided a metacognitive rating following each response. Behaviourally, participants were faster, less accurate, and showed superior metacognition with short deadlines. These effects were accompanied by a larger centro- parietal positivity (CPP), a neural correlate of evidence accumulation. Crucially, post-decisional CPP amplitude was more strongly associated with participants' metacognitive ratings following errors under short relative to long responsedeadlines. Our results suggest that superior metacognition under speed pressure may stem from enhanced metacognitive readout of post-decisional evidence.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Sangoi2025,

title = {Efferent compared to afferent neural substrates of the vergence eye movement system evoked via fMRI},

author = {Ayushi Sangoi and Farzin Hajebrahimi and Suril Gohel and Mitchell Scheiman and Tara L. Alvarez},

doi = {10.3389/fnins.2024.1497326},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Frontiers in Neuroscience},

volume = {18},

pages = {1–13},

abstract = {Introduction: The vergence neural system was stimulated to dissect the afferent and efferent components of symmetrical vergence eye movement step responses. The hypothesis tested was whether the afferent regions of interest would differ from the efferent regions to serve as comparative data for future clinical patient population studies. Methods: Thirty binocularly normal participants participated in an oculomotor symmetrical vergence step block task within a functional MRI experiment compared to a similar sensory task where the participants did not elicit vergence eye movements. Results: For the oculomotor vergence task, functional activation was observed within the parietal eye field, supplemental eye field, frontal eye field, and cerebellar vermis, and activation in these regions was significantly diminished during the sensory task. Differences between the afferent sensory and efferent oculomotor experiments were also observed within the visual cortex. Discussion: Differences between the vergence oculomotor and sensory tasks provide a protocol to delineate the afferent and efferent portion of the vergence neural circuit. Implications with clinical populations and future therapeutic intervention studies are discussed.},

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@article{Schuster2025,

title = {Interactive and additive effects of word frequency and predictability: A fixation-related fMRI study},

author = {Sarah Schuster and Kim Lara Weiss and Florian Hutzler and Martin Kronbichler and Stefan Hawelka},

doi = {10.1016/j.bandl.2024.105508},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Brain and Language},

volume = {260},

pages = {1–7},

publisher = {Elsevier Inc.},

abstract = {The effects of word frequency and predictability are informative with respect to bottom-up and top-down mechanisms during reading. Word frequency is assumed to index bottom-up, whereas word predictability top-down information. Findings regarding potential interactive effects, however, are inconclusive. An interactive effect would suggest an early lexical impact of contextual top-down mechanisms where both variables are processed concurrently in early stages of word recognition. An additive effect, to the contrary, would suggest that contextual top-down processing only occurs post-lexically. We evaluated potential interactions between word frequency and predictability during silent reading by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging and simultaneous eye-tracking (i.e., fixation-related fMRI). Our data revealed exclusively additive effects. Specifically, we observed effects of word frequency and word predictability in left inferior frontal regions, whereas word frequency additionally exhibited an effect in the left occipito-temporal cortex. We interpret our findings in terms of contextual top-down processing facilitation.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Shackman2025,

title = {Blunted ventral striatal reactivity to social reward is associated with more severe motivation and pleasure deficits in psychosis},

author = {Alexander J. Shackman and Jason F. Smith and Ryan D. Orth and Christina L. G Savage and Paige R. Didier and Julie M. Mccarthy and Melanie E. Bennett and Jack J. Blanchard},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Schizophrenia Bulletin},

pages = {1–36},

abstract = {Background and Hypothesis: Among individuals living with psychotic disorders, social impairment is common, debilitating, and challenging to treat. While the roots of this impairment are undoubtedly complex, converging lines of evidence suggest that social motivation and pleasure (MAP) deficits play a central role. Yet most neuroimaging studies have focused on monetary rewards, precluding deci- sive inferences. Study Design: Here we leveraged parallel social and monetary incentive delay functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigms to test whether blunted reactivity to social incentives in the ventral striatum—a key component of the distributed neural circuit mediating appetitive motivation and hedonic pleasure—is associated with more severe MAP symptoms in a transdiagnostic adult sample enriched for psychosis. To maximize ecological validity and translational relevance, we capitalized on naturalistic audiovisual clips of an established social partner expressing positive feedback. Study Results: Although both paradigms robustly engaged the ventral striatum, only reactivity to social incentives was associated with clinician-rated MAP deficits. This association remained significant when controlling for other symptoms, binary diagnostic status, or striatal reactivity to monetary incentives. Follow-up analyses suggested that this association predominantly reflects diminished activation during the presentation of social reward. Conclusions: These observations provide a neurobiologically grounded framework for conceptualizing the social-anhedonia symptoms and social impairments that characterize many individuals living with psychotic disorders and underscore the need to develop targeted intervention strategies.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Kerkoerle2025,

title = {Brain mechanisms of reversible symbolic reference: A potential singularity of the human brain},

author = {Timo Kerkoerle and Louise Pape and Milad Ekramnia and Xiaoxia Feng and Jordy Tasserie and Morgan Dupont and Xiaolian Li and Bechir Jarraya and Wim Vanduffel and Stanislas Dehaene and Ghislaine Dehaene-Lambertz},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {eLife},

volume = {12},

pages = {1–28},

abstract = {The emergence of symbolic thinking has been proposed as a dominant cognitive criterion to distinguish humans from other primates during hominization. Although the proper definition of a symbol has been the subject of much debate, one of its simplest features is bidirectional attachment: the content is accessible from the symbol, and vice versa. Behavioral observations scattered over the past four decades suggest that this criterion might not be met in non-human primates, as they fail to generalize an association learned in one temporal order (A to B) to the reverse order (B to A). Here, we designed an implicit fMRI test to investigate the neural mechanisms of arbitrary audio-visual and visual-visual pairing in monkeys and humans and probe their spontaneous reversibility. After learning a unidirectional association, humans showed surprise signals when this learned association was violated. Crucially, this effect occurred spontaneously in both learned and reversed directions, within an extended network of high-level brain areas, including, but also going beyond the language network. In monkeys, by contrast, violations of association effects occurred solely in the learned direction and were largely confined to sensory areas. We propose that a human-specific brain network may have evolved the capacity for reversible symbolic reference. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Knippenberg2025,

title = {Negative auditory hallucinations are associated with increased activation of the defensive motivational system in schizophrenia},

author = {Anna R. Knippenberg and Sabrina Yavari and Gregory P. Strauss},

doi = {10.1016/j.scog.2024.100334},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Schizophrenia Research: Cognition},

volume = {39},

pages = {1–6},

publisher = {Elsevier Inc.},

abstract = {Auditory hallucinations (AH) are the most common symptom of psychosis. The voices people hear make comments that are benign or even encouraging, but most often voices are threatening and derogatory. Negative AH are often highly distressing and contribute to suicide risk and violent behavior. Biological mechanisms underlying the valence of voices (i.e., positive, negative, neutral) are not well delineated. In the current study, we examined whether AH voice valence was associated with increased activation of the Defensive Motivational System, as indexed by central and autonomic system response to unpleasant stimuli. Data were evaluated from two studies that used a common symptom rating instrument, the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scale (PSY-RATS), to measure AH valence. Participants included outpatients diagnosed with SZ. Tasks included: Study 1: Trier Social Stress Task while heart rate was recorded via electrocardiography (N = 27); Study 2: Passive Viewing Task while participants were exposed to pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral images from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) library while eye movements, pupil dilation, and electroencephalography were recorded (N = 25). Results indicated that negative voice content was significantly associated with: 1) increased heart rate during an acute social stressor, 2) increased pupil dilation to unpleasant images, 3) higher neural reactivity to unpleasant images, and 4) a greater likelihood of having bottom-up attention drawn to unpleasant stimuli. Findings suggest that negative AH are associated with greater Defensive Motivational System activation in terms of central and autonomic nervous system response.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Medeiros2025,

title = {Optimal frequency bands for pupillography for maximal correlation with HRV},

author = {Júlio Medeiros and André Bernardes and Ricardo Couceiro and Paulo Oliveira and Henrique Madeira and César Teixeira and Paulo Carvalho},

doi = {10.1038/s41598-025-85663-2},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Scientific Reports},

volume = {15},

number = {1},

pages = {1–17},

abstract = {Assessing cognitive load using pupillography frequency features presents a persistent challenge due to the lack of consensus on optimal frequency limits. This study aims to address this challenge by exploring pupillography frequency bands and seeking clarity in defining the most effective ranges for cognitive load assessment. From a controlled experiment involving 21 programmers performing software bug inspection, our study pinpoints the optimal low-frequency (0.06-0.29 Hz) and high-frequency (0.29-0.49 Hz) bands. Correlation analysis yielded a geometric mean of 0.238 compared to Heart Rate Variability features, with individual correlations for low-frequency, high-frequency, and their ratio at 0.279, 0.168, and 0.286, respectively. Extending the study to 51 participants, including a different experiment focusing on mental arithmetic tasks, validated the previous findings and further refined bands, maintaining effectiveness with a geometric mean correlation of 0.236 and surpassing common frequency bands reported in the existing literature. This study represents a pivotal step toward converging and establishing a coherent framework for frequency band definition to be used in pupillography analysis. Furthermore, based on this, it also contributes insights into the importance of more integration and adoption of eye-tracking with pupillography technology into authentic software development contexts for cognitive load assessment at a very fine level of granularity.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Lehet2025,

title = {Altered effective connectivity within a thalamocortical corollary discharge network in individuals with schizophrenia},

author = {Matthew Lehet and Beier Yao and Ivy F. Tso and Vaibhav A. Diwadkar and Jessica Fattal and Jacqueline Bao and Katharine N. Thakkar},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Schizophrenia Bulletin},

pages = {1–14},

abstract = {Background and Hypothesis: Sequential saccade planning requires corollary discharge (CD) signals that provide information about the planned landing location of an eye movement. These CD signals may be altered among individuals with schizophrenia (SZ), providing a potential mechanism to explain passivity and anomalous self-experiences broadly. In healthy controls (HC), a key oculomotor CD network transmits CD signals from the thalamus to the frontal eye fields (FEF) and the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and also remaps signals from FEF to IPS. Study Design: Here, we modeled fMRI data using dynamic causal modeling (DCM) to examine patient-control differences in effective connectivity evoked by a double-step (DS) task (30 SZ, 29 HC). The interrogated network was formed from a combination of (1) functionally identified FEF and IPS regions that robustly responded on DS trials and (2) anatomically identified thalamic regions involved in CD transmission. We also examined the relationship between clinical symptoms and effective connectivity parameters associated with task modulation of network pathways. Study Results: Network connectivity was indeed modulated by the DS task, which involves CD transmission. More importantly, we found reduced effective connectivity from thalamus to IPS in SZ, which was further correlated with passivity symptom severity. Conclusions: These results reaffirm the importance of IPS and thalamocortical connections in oculomotor CD signaling and provide mechanistic insights into CD alterations and consequently agency disturbances in schizophrenia.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{NarhiMartinez2025,

title = {Allocation of spatial attention in human visual cortex as a function of endogenous cue validity},

author = {William Narhi-Martinez and Yong Min Choi and Blaire Dube and Julie D. Golomb},

doi = {10.1016/j.cortex.2025.01.002},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Cortex},

volume = {185},

pages = {4–19},

publisher = {Elsevier Ltd},

abstract = {Several areas of visual cortex contain retinotopic maps of the visual field, and neuroimaging studies have shown that covert attentional guidance will result in increases of activity within the regions representing attended locations. However, little research has been done to directly compare neural activity for different types of attentional cues. Here, we used fMRI to investigate how retinotopically-specific cortical activity would be modulated depending on whether we provided deterministic or probabilistic spatial information. On each trial, a four-item memory array was presented and participants' memory for one of the items would later be probed. Critically, trials began with a foveally-presented endogenous cue that was either 100% valid (deterministic runs), 70% valid (probabilistic runs), or neutral. By dividing visual cortex into quadrant-specific regions of interest (qROIs), we could examine how attention was spatially distributed across the visual field within each trial, depending on cue type and delay. During the anticipatory period prior to the memory array, we found increased activation at the cued location compared to noncued locations, with surprisingly comparable levels of facilitation for both deterministic and probabilistic cues. However, we found significantly greater facilitation on deterministic relative to probabilistic trials following the onset of the memory array, with only deterministic cue-related facilitation persisting through the presentation of the probe. These findings reveal how cue validity can drive differential allocations of neural resources over time across cued and noncued locations, and that the allocation of attention should not be assumed to invariably scale alongside the validity of a cue.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Plikata2025,

title = {Hierarchical surprise signals in naturalistic violation of expectations},

author = {Vincent Plikata and Pablo R. Grassia and Julius Frackd and Andreas Bartels},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Imaging Neuroscience},

volume = {3},

pages = {1–23},

abstract = {Surprise responses signal both high-level cognitive alerts that information is missing, and increasingly specific back-propagating error signals that allow updates in processing nodes. Studying surprise is, hence, central for cognitive neuroscience to understand internal world representations and learning. Yet, only few prior studies used naturalistic stimuli targeting our high-level understanding of the world. Here, we use magic tricks in an fMRI experiment to investigate neural responses to violations of core assumptions held by humans about the world. We showed participants naturalistic videos of three types of magic tricks, involving objects appearing, changing color, or disappearing, along with control videos without any violation of expectation. Importantly, the same videos were presented with and without prior knowledge about the tricks' explanation. Results revealed generic responses in frontal and parietal areas, together with responses specific to each of the three trick types in posterior sensory areas. A subset of these regions, the midline areas of the default mode network (DMN), showed surprise activity that depended on prior knowledge. Equally, sensory regions showed sensitivity to prior knowledge, reflected in differing decoding accuracies. These results suggest a hierarchy of surprise signals involving generic processing of violation of expectations in frontal and parietal areas with concurrent surprise signals in sensory regions that are specific to the processed features.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Qian2025,

title = {Multiple loci for foveolar vision in macaque monkey visual cortex},

author = {Meizhen Qian and Jianbao Wang and Yang Gao and Ming Chen and Yin Liu and Dengfeng Zhou and Haidong D Lu and Xiaotong Zhang and Jia Ming Hu and Anna Wang Roe},

doi = {10.1038/s41593-024-01810-4},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Nature Neuroscience},

volume = {28},

number = {1},

pages = {137–149},

publisher = {Springer US},

abstract = {In humans and nonhuman primates, the central 1° of vision is processed by the foveola, a retinal structure that comprises a high density of photoreceptors and is crucial for primate-specific high-acuity vision, color vision and gaze-directed visual attention. Here, we developed high-spatial-resolution ultrahigh-field 7T functional magnetic resonance imaging methods for functional mapping of the foveolar visual cortex in awake monkeys. In the ventral pathway (visual areas V1–V4 and the posterior inferior temporal cortex), viewing of a small foveolar spot elicits a ring of multiple (eight) foveolar representations per hemisphere. This ring surrounds an area called the ‘foveolar core', which is populated by millimeter-scale functional domains sensitive to fine stimuli and high spatial frequencies, consistent with foveolar visual acuity, color and achromatic information and motion. Thus, this elaborate rerepresentation of central vision coupled with a previously unknown foveolar core area signifies a cortical specialization for primate foveation behaviors.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Gruner2025,

title = {Semantic context effects in picture and sound naming: Evidence from event-related potentials and pupillometric data},

author = {Magdalena Gruner and Andreas Widmann and Stefan Wöhner and Erich Schröger and Jörg D. Jescheniak},

doi = {10.1162/jocn_a_02255},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Journal of cognitive neuroscience},

volume = {37},

number = {2},

pages = {443–463},

abstract = {When a picture is repeatedly named in the context of semantically related pictures (homogeneous context), responses are slower than when the picture is repeatedly named in the context of unrelated pictures (heterogeneous context). This semantic interference effect in blocked-cyclic naming plays an important role in devising theories of word production. Wöhner, Mädebach, and Jescheniak [Wöhner, S., Mädebach, A., & Jescheniak, J. D. Naming pictures and sounds: Stimulus type affects semantic context effects. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 47, 716-730, 2021] have shown that the effect is substantially larger when participants name environmental sounds than when they name pictures. We investigated possible reasons for this difference, using EEG and pupillometry. The behavioral data replicated Wöhner and colleagues. ERPs were more positive in the homogeneous compared with the heterogeneous context over central electrode locations between 140-180 msec and 250-350 msec for picture naming and between 250 and 350 msec for sound naming, presumably reflecting semantic interference during semantic and lexical processing. The later component was of similar size for pictures and sounds. ERPs were more negative in the homogeneous compared with the heterogeneous context over frontal electrode locations between 400 and 600 msec only for sounds. The pupillometric data showed a stronger pupil dilation in the homogeneous compared with the heterogeneous context only for sounds. The amplitudes of the late ERP negativity and pupil dilation predicted naming latencies for sounds in the homogeneous context. The latency of the effects indicates that the difference in semantic interference between picture and sound naming arises at later, presumably postlexical processing stages closer to articulation. We suggest that the processing of the auditory stimuli interferes with phonological response preparation and self-monitoring, leading to enhanced semantic interference.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Iotzov2025,

title = {Effects of noise and reward on pupil size and electroencephalographic speech tracking in a word-detection task},

author = {Ivan Iotzov and Lucas C. Parra},

doi = {10.1111/ejn.70009},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {European Journal of Neuroscience},

volume = {61},

pages = {1–12},

abstract = {Speech is hard to understand when there is background noise. Speech intelligibility and listening effort both affect our ability to understand speech, but the relative contribution of these factors is hard to disentangle. Previous studies suggest that speech intelligibility could be assessed with EEG speech tracking and listening effort via pupil size. However, these measures may be confounded, because poor intelligibility may require a larger effort. To address this, we developed a novel word-detection paradigm that allows for a rapid behavioural assessment of speech processing. In this paradigm, words appear on the screen during continuous speech, similar to closed captioning. In two listening experiments with a total of 51 participants, we manipulated intelligibility by changing signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) and modulated effort by varying monetary reward. Increasing SNR improved detection performance along with EEG speech tracking. Additionally, we find that pupil size increases with increased SNR. Surprisingly, when we modulated both reward and SNR, we found that reward modulated only pupil size, whereas SNR modulated only EEG speech tracking. We interpret this as the effects of arousal and listening effort on pupil size and of intelligibility on EEG speech tracking. The experimental paradigm},

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pubstate = {published},

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}

@article{Baykan2025,

title = {Electroencephalographic responses to the number of objects in partially occluded and uncovered scenes},

author = {Cemre Baykan and Alexander C. Schütz},

doi = {10.1162/jocn_a_02264},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Nognitive neuroscience},

volume = {37},

number = {1},

pages = {227–238},

abstract = {Perceptual completion is ubiquitous when estimating properties such as the shape, size, or number of objects in partially occluded scenes. Behavioral experiments showed that the number of hidden objects is underestimated in partially occluded scenes compared with an estimation based on the density of visible objects and the amount of occlusion. It is still unknown at which processing level this (under)estimation of the number of hidden objects occurs. We studied this question using a passive viewing task in which observers viewed a game board that was initially partially occluded and later was uncovered to reveal its hidden parts. We simultaneously measured the electroencephalographic responses to the partially occluded board presentation and its uncovering. We hypothesized that if the underestimation is a result of early sensory processing, it would be observed in the activities of P1 and N1, whereas if it is because of higher level processes such as expectancy, it would be reflected in P3 activities. Our data showed that P1 amplitude increased with numerosity in both occluded and uncovered states, indicating a link between P1 and simple stimulus features. The N1 amplitude was highest when both the initially visible and uncovered areas of the board were completely filled with game pieces, suggesting that the N1 component is sensitive to the overall Gestalt. Finally, we observed that P3 activity was reduced when the density of game pieces in the uncovered parts matched the initially visible parts, implying a relationship between the P3 component and expectation mismatch. Overall, our results suggest that inferences about the number of hidden items are reflected in high-level processing.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Chang2025,

title = {Pupil size correlates with heart rate, skin conductance, pulse wave amplitude, and respiration responses during emotional conflict and valence processing},

author = {Yi Hsuan Chang and Rachel Yep and Chin An Wang},

doi = {10.1111/psyp.14726},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Psychophysiology},

volume = {62},

pages = {1–22},

abstract = {Pupil size is a non-invasive index for autonomic arousal mediated by the locus coeruleus–norepinephrine (LC-NE) system. While pupil size and its derivative (velocity) are increasingly used as indicators of arousal, limited research has investigated the relationships between pupil size and other well-known autonomic responses. Here, we simultaneously recorded pupillometry, heart rate, skin conductance, pulse wave amplitude, and respiration signals during an emotional face–word Stroop task, in which task-evoked (phasic) pupil dilation correlates with LC-NE responsivity. We hypothesized that emotional conflict and valence would affect pupil and other autonomic responses, and trial-by-trial correlations between pupil and other autonomic responses would be observed during both tonic and phasic epochs. Larger pupil dilations, higher pupil size derivative, and lower heart rates were observed in the incongruent condition compared to the congruent condition. Additionally, following incongruent trials, the congruency effect was reduced, and arousal levels indexed by previous-trial pupil dilation were correlated with subsequent reaction times. Furthermore, linear mixed models revealed that larger pupil dilations correlated with higher heart rates, higher skin conductance responses, higher respiration amplitudes, and lower pulse wave amplitudes on a trial-by-trial basis. Similar effects were seen between positive and negative valence conditions. Moreover, tonic pupil size before stimulus presentation significantly correlated with all other tonic autonomic responses, whereas tonic pupil size derivative correlated with heart rates and skin conductance responses. These results demonstrate a trial-by-trial relationship between pupil dynamics and other autonomic responses, highlighting pupil size as an effective real-time index for autonomic arousal during emotional conflict and valence processing.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Cruz2025,

title = {Oscillatory brain activity in the canonical alpha-band conceals distinct mechanisms in attention},

author = {Gabriela Cruz and María Melcón and Leonardo Sutandi and Matias M. Palva and Satu Palva and Gregor Thut},

doi = {10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0918-24.2024},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {The Journal of Neuroscience},

volume = {45},

number = {1},

pages = {1–17},

abstract = {Brain oscillations in the alpha-band (8-14 Hz) have been linked to specific processes in attention and perception. In particular, decreases in posterior alpha-amplitude are thought to reflect activation of perceptually relevant brain areas for target engagement, while alpha-amplitude increases have been associated with inhibition for distractor suppression. Traditionally, these alpha-changes have been viewed as two facets of the same process. However, recent evidence calls for revisiting this interpretation. Here, we recorded MEG/EEG in 32 participants (19 females) during covert visuospatial attention shifts (spatial cues) and two control conditions (neutral cue, no-attention cue), while tracking fixational eye movements. In disagreement with a single, perceptually relevant alpha-process, we found the typical alpha-modulations contra- and ipsilateral to the attention focus to be triple dissociated in their timing, topography, and spectral features: Ipsilateral alpha-increases occurred early, over occipital sensors, at a high alpha-frequency (10–14 Hz) and were expressed during spatial attention (alpha spatial cue > neutral cue). In contrast, contralateral alpha-decreases occurred later, over parietal sensors, at a lower alpha-frequency (7–10 Hz) and were associated with attention deployment in general (alpha spatial and neutral cue < no-attention cue). Additionally, the lateralized early alpha-increases but not alpha-decreases during spatial attention coincided in time with directionally biased microsaccades. Overall, this suggests that the attention-related early alpha-increases and late alpha-decreases reflect distinct, likely reflexive versus endogenously controlled attention mechanisms. We conclude that there is more than one perceptually relevant posterior alpha-oscillation, which need to be dissociated for a detailed account of their roles in perception and attention.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Duschek2025,

title = {Neural correlates of proactive and reactive control investigated using a novel precued antisaccade paradigm},

author = {S. Duschek and T. Rainer and P. Piwkowski and J. Vorwerk and L. Riml and U. Ettinger},

doi = {10.1111/psyp.70015},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Psychophysiology},

volume = {62},

pages = {1–17},

abstract = {This ERP study investigated central nervous correlates of proactive and reactive control using a novel precued antisaccade paradigm. Proactive control refers to preparatory processes during anticipation of a behaviorally relevant event; reactive control is activated after such an event to ensure goal attainment. A 64-channel EEG was obtained in 35 subjects; video-based eye tracking was applied for ocular recording. In the task, a target (probe) appeared left or right of the fixation point 1800ms after a visual cue; subjects had to move their gaze to the probe (prosaccade) or its mirror image position (antisaccade). Probes were emotional face expressions; their frame colors instructed task requirements. The cue informed about antisaccade probability (70% vs. 30%) in a trial. High antisaccade probability was associated with larger CNV amplitude than low antisaccade probability. In trials with incongruence between expected and actual task requirements, the probe N2 and P3a amplitudes were larger than in congruent trials. The P3a was smaller for affective than neutral probes. Task accuracy and speed were lower in incongruent trials and varied according to affective probe valence. EEG source imaging suggested origin of the ERPs in the orbitofrontal cortex and superior frontal gyrus. The difference for the CNV indicates greater cortical activity during higher proactive control demands. The larger probe N2 and P3a in incongruent trials reflect greater resource allocation to conflict monitoring and conflict resolution, i.e., reactive control. The influence of probe valence on the P3a suggests reduction of processing capacity due to higher emotional arousal.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Hur2025,

title = {Adolescent social anxiety is associated with diminished discrimination of anticipated threat and safety in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis},

author = {Juyoen Hur and Rachael M. Tillman and Hyung Cho Kim3 and Paige Didier and Allegra S. Anderson and Samiha Islam and Melissa D. Stockbridge and Andres De Los Reyes and Kathryn A. DeYoung and Jason F. Smith and Alexander J. Shackman},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science},

volume = {134},

number = {1},

pages = {41–56},

abstract = {Social anxiety-which typically emerges in adolescence-lies on a continuum and, when extreme, can be devastating. Socially anxious individuals are prone to heightened fear, anxiety, and the avoidance of contexts associated with potential social scrutiny. Yet most neuroimaging research has focused on acute social threat. Much less attention has been devoted to understanding the neural systems recruited during the uncertain anticipation of potential encounters with social threat. Here we used a novel fMRI paradigm to probe the neural circuitry engaged during the anticipation and acute presentation of threatening faces and voices in a racially diverse sample of 66 adolescents selectively recruited to encompass a range of social anxiety and enriched for clinically significant levels of distress and impairment. Results demonstrated that adolescents with more severe social anxiety symptoms experience heightened distress when anticipating encounters with social threat, and reduced discrimination of uncertain social threat and safety in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST), a key division of the central extended amygdala (EAc). Although the EAc-including the BST and central nucleus of the amygdala-was robustly engaged by the acute presentation of threatening faces and voices, the degree of EAc engagement was unrelated to the severity of social anxiety. Together, these observations provide a neurobiologically grounded framework for conceptualizing adolescent social anxiety and set the stage for the kinds of prospective-longitudinal and mechanistic research that will be necessary to determine causation and, ultimately, to develop improved interventions for this often-debilitating illness.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Klimova2025,

title = {How does orientation-tuned normalization spread across the visual field?},

author = {Michaela Klímová and Ilona M. Bloem and Sam Ling},

doi = {10.1152/jn.00224.2024},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Neurophysiology},

volume = {133},

number = {2},

pages = {539–546},

abstract = {Visuocortical responses are regulated by gain control mechanisms, giving rise to fundamental neural and perceptual phenomena such as surround suppression. Suppression strength, determined by the composition and relative properties of stimuli, controls the strength of neural responses in early visual cortex, and in turn, the subjective salience of the visual stimulus. Notably, suppression strength is modulated by feature similarity; for instance, responses to a center-surround stimulus in which the components are collinear to each other are weaker than when they are orthogonal. However, this feature-tuned aspect of normalization, and how it may affect the gain of responses, has been understudied. Here, we examine the contribution of the tuned component of suppression to contrast response modulations across the visual field. To do so, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure contrast response functions (CRFs) in early visual cortex (areas V1–V3) in 10 observers while they viewed full-field center-surround gratings. The center stimulus varied in contrast between 2.67% and 96% and was surrounded by a collinear or orthogonal surround at full contrast. We found substantially stronger suppression of responses when the surround was parallel to the center, manifesting as shifts in the population CRF. The magnitude of the CRF shift was strongly dependent on voxel spatial preference and seen primarily in voxels whose receptive field spatial preference corresponds to the area straddling the center-surround boundary in our display, with little-to-no modulation elsewhere.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Breveglieri2025,

title = {Role of the medial posterior parietal cortex in orchestrating attention and reaching},

author = {Rossella Breveglieri and Riccardo Brandolani and Stefano Diomedi and Markus Lappe and Claudio Galletti and Patrizia Fattori},

doi = {10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0659-24.2024},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {The Journal of Neuroscience},

volume = {45},

number = {1},

pages = {1–11},

abstract = {The interplay between attention, alertness, and motor planning is crucial for our manual interactions. To investigate the neural bases of this interaction and challenge the views that attention cannot be disentangled from motor planning, we instructed human volunteers of both sexes to plan and execute reaching movements while attending to the target, while attending elsewhere, or without constraining attention. We recorded reaction times to reach initiation and pupil diameter and interfered with the functions of the medial posterior parietal cortex (mPPC) with online repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to test the causal role of this cortical region in the interplay between spatial attention and reaching. We found that mPPC plays a key role in the spatial association of reach planning and covert attention. Moreover, we have found that alertness, measured by pupil size, is a good predictor of the promptness of reach initiation only if we plan a reach to attended targets, and mPPC is causally involved in this coupling. Different from previous understanding, we suggest that mPPC is neither involved in reach planning per se, nor in sustained covert attention in the absence of a reach plan, but it is specifically involved in attention functional to reaching.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Xia2024,

title = {Abnormal occipital and frontal activity during voluntary convergence in intermittent exotropia: A task-fMRI study},

author = {Lin Xia and Yanming Wang and Sha Luo and Yong Zhang and Bensheng Qiu and Xiaoxiao Wang and Lixia Feng},

doi = {10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e26197},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Heliyon},

volume = {10},

number = {5},

pages = {1–7},

publisher = {Elsevier Ltd},

abstract = {Intermittent exotropia (IXT) is characterized by intermittently outward deviation of the eye and involved with vergence dysfunction. This study aimed to investigate the brain areas related to voluntary convergence and cortical activation changes between IXT patients and normal subjects. A total of 21 subjects, including 11 IXT patients and 10 age- and sex-matched normal subjects, were recruited for this study. A voluntary convergence task was employed, with changes in brain function measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Correlations between cortical activation and clinical measurements were conducted by Pearson's correlation analysis. fMRI results showed that during voluntary convergence, the medial frontal gyrus (MFG) and bilateral occipital cortex were activated in the normal group, whereas only activation of the occipital cortex in IXT patients. Compared with the normal, IXT patients showed hypo-activation of both the MFG and cuneus during the task. The activation of MFG was negatively correlated to the duration of IXT. This study demonstrates that both MFG and occipital cortex may participate in voluntary convergence in normal subjects, while IXT patients have an aberrant cortical function of the MFG and cuneus, and the duration of IXT likely influences the severity of MFG. These findings may provide valuable insights for understanding the relationship between convergence and IXT.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Ylinen2024,

title = {Attenuated processing of task-irrelevant speech and other auditory stimuli: fMRI evidence from arithmetic tasks},

author = {Artturi Ylinen and Minna Hannula-Sormunen and Jake McMullen and Erno Lehtinen and Patrik Wikman and Kimmo Alho},

doi = {10.1111/ejn.16616},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {European Journal of Neuroscience},

volume = {60},

pages = {7124–7147},

abstract = {When performing cognitive tasks in noisy conditions, the brain needs to maintain task performance while additionally controlling the processing of task-irrelevant and potentially distracting auditory stimuli. Previous research indicates that a fundamental mechanism by which this control is achieved is the attenuation of task-irrelevant processing, especially in conditions with high task demands. However, it remains unclear whether the processing of complex naturalistic sounds can be modulated as easily as that of simpler ones. To address this issue, the present fMRI study examined whether activity related to task-irrelevant meaningful speech is attenuated similarly as that related to meaningless control sounds (nonsense speech and noise-vocoded, unintelligible sounds). The sounds were presented concurrently with three numerical tasks varying in difficulty: an easy control task requiring no calculation, a ‘routine' arithmetic calculation task and a more demanding ‘creative' arithmetic task, where solutions are generated to reach a given answer. Consistent with their differing difficulty, the tasks activated fronto-parieto-temporal regions parametrically (creative > routine > control). In bilateral auditory regions, activity related to the speech stimuli decreased as task demands increased. Importantly, however, the attenuation was more pronounced for meaningful than nonsense speech, demonstrating that distractor type can strongly modulate the extent of the attenuation. This also suggests that semantic processing may be especially susceptible to attenuation under conditions with increased task demands. Finally, as this is the first study to utilize the ‘creative' arithmetic task, we conducted exploratory analyses to examine its potential in assessing neural processes involved in mathematical problem-solving beyond routine arithmetic.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Zhong2024,

title = {Assessment of the macrovascular contribution to resting-state fMRI functional connectivity at 3 Tesla},

author = {Xiaole Z. Zhong and Yunjie Tong and J. Jean Chen and Xiaole Z. Zhonga and Yunjie Tong and J. Jean Chen},

doi = {10.1162/imag},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Imaging Neuroscience},

volume = {2},

pages = {1–23},

abstract = {In resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) functional connectivity (FC) mapping, temporal correlation is widely assumed to reflect synchronized neural-related activity. Although a large number of studies have demonstrated the potential vascular effects on FC, little research has been conducted on FC resulting from macrovascular signal fluctuations. Previously, our study found (Tong, Yao, et al., 2019) a robust anti-correlation between the fMRI signals in the internal carotid artery and the internal jugular vein (and the sagittal sinus). The present study extends the previous study to include all detectable major veins and arteries in the brain in a systematic analysis of the macrovascular contribution to the functional connectivity of the whole-gray matter (GM). This study demonstrates that: (1) The macrovasculature consistently exhibited strong correlational connectivity among itself, with the sign of the correlations varying between arterial and venous connectivity; (2) GM connectivity was found to have a strong macrovascular contribution, stronger from veins than arteries; (3) FC originating from the macrovasculature displayed disproportionately high spatial variability compared to that associated with all GM voxels; and (4) macrovascular contributions to connectivity were still evident well beyond the confines of the macrovascular space. These findings highlight the extensive contribution to rs-fMRI blood-oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) and FC predominantly by large veins, but also by large arteries. These findings pave the way for future studies aimed at more comprehensively modeling and thereby removing these macrovascular contributions.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Zhong2024a,

title = {Predicting the macrovascular contribution to resting-state fMRI functional connectivity at 3 Tesla: A model-informed approach},

author = {Xiaole Z Zhong and Jonathan R. Polimenic and J. Jean Chen},

doi = {10.1162/imag},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Imaging Neuroscience},

volume = {2},

pages = {1–22},

abstract = {Macrovascular biases have been a long-standing challenge for fMRI, limiting its ability to detect spatially specific neural activity. Recent experimental studies, including our own (Huck et al., 2023; Zhong et al., 2023), found substantial resting-state macrovascular BOLD fMRI contributions from large veins and arteries, extending into the perivascular tissue at 3 T and 7 T. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the feasibility of predicting, using a biophysical model, the experimental resting-state BOLD fluctuation amplitude (RSFA) and associated functional connectivity (FC) values at 3 Tesla. We investigated the feasibility of both 2D and 3D infinite-cylinder models as well as macrovascular anatomical networks (mVANs) derived from angiograms. Our results demonstrate that: 1) with the availability of mVANs, it is feasible to model macrovascular BOLD FC using both the mVAN-based model and 3D infinite-cylinder models, though the former performed better; 2) biophysical modelling can accurately predict the BOLD pairwise correlation near to large veins (with R 2 ranging from 0.53 to 0.93 across different subjects), but not near to large arteries; 3) compared with FC, biophysical modelling provided less accurate predictions for RSFA; 4) modelling of perivascular BOLD connectivity was feasible at close distances from veins (with R 2 ranging from 0.08 to 0.57), but not arteries, with performance deteriorating with increasing distance. While our current study demonstrates the feasibility of simulating macrovascular BOLD in the resting state, our methodology may also apply to understanding task-based BOLD. Furthermore, these results suggest the possibility of correcting for macrovascular bias in resting-state fMRI and other types of fMRI using biophysical modelling based on vascular anatomy.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Lee2024c,

title = {Adaptation and exogenous attention interact in the early visual cortex : A TMS study},

author = {Hsing-Hao Lee and Antonio Fernandez and Marisa Carrasco},

doi = {10.1016/j.isci.2024.111155},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {iScience},

volume = {27},

pages = {1–12},

abstract = {Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to early visual cortex modulates the effect of adaptation and eliminates the effect of exogenous (involuntary) attention on contrast sensitivity. Here, we investigated whether adaptation modulates exogenous attention under TMS to V1/V2. Observers performed an orientation discrimination task while attending to one of two stimuli, with or without adaptation. Following an attentional cue, two stimuli were presented in the stimulated region and its contralateral symmetric re- gion. A response cue indicated the stimulus whose orientation observers had to discriminate. Without adaptation, in the distractor-stimulated condition, contrast sensitivity increased at the attended location and decreased at the unattended location via response gain—but these effects were eliminated in the target-stimulated condition. Critically, after adaptation, exogenous attention altered performance similarly in both distractor-stimulated and target-stimulated conditions. These results reveal that (1) adaptation and attention interact in the early visual cortex, and (2) adaptation shields exogenous attention from TMS effects.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Kreichman2024,

title = {Parafoveal vision reveals qualitative differences between fusiform face area and parahippocampal place area},

author = {Olga Kreichman and Sharon Gilaie-Dotan},

doi = {10.1002/hbm.26616},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Human Brain Mapping},

volume = {45},

number = {3},

pages = {1–22},

abstract = {The center-periphery visual field axis guides early visual system organization with enhanced resources devoted to central vision leading to reduced peripheral performance relative to that of central vision (i.e., behavioral eccentricity effect) for many visual functions. The center-periphery organization extends to high-order visual cortex where, for example, the well-studied face-sensitive fusiform face area (FFA) shows sensitivity to central vision and the place-sensitive parahippocampal place area (PPA) shows sensitivity to peripheral vision. As we have recently found that face perception is more sensitive to eccentricity than place perception, here we examined whether these behavioral findings reflect differences in FFA's and PPA's sensitivities to eccentricity. We assumed FFA would show higher sensitivity to eccentricity than PPA would, but that both regions' modulation by eccentricity would be invariant to the viewed category. We parametrically investigated (fMRI},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Kulkarni2024,

title = {Control of memory retrieval alters memory-based eye movements},

author = {Mrinmayi Kulkarni and Allison E. Nickel and Greta N. Minor and Deborah E. Hannula and Mrinmayi Kulkarni and Allison E. Nickel and Greta N. Minor and Deborah E. Hannula},

doi = {10.1037/xlm0001321},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition},

volume = {50},

number = {8},

pages = {1199–1219},

abstract = {Past work has shown that eye movements are affected by long-term memory across different tasks and instructional manipulations. In the current study, we tested whether these memory-based eye movements persist when memory retrieval is under intentional control. Participants encoded multiple scenes with six objects (three faces; three tools). Next, they completed a memory regulation and visual search task, while undergoing eye tracking. Here, scene cues were presented and participants either retrieved the encoded associate, suppressed it, or substituted it with a specific object from the other encoded category. Following a delay, a search display consisting of six dots intermixed with the six encoded objects was presented. Participants' task was to fixate one remaining dot after five had disappeared. Incidental viewing of the objects was of interest. Results revealed that performance in a final recognition phase was impaired for suppressed pairs, but only when the associate was a tool. During the search task, incidental associate viewing was lower when participants attempted to control retrieval, whereas one object from the nonassociate category was most viewed in the substitute condition. Additionally, viewing patterns in the search phase were related to final recognition performance, but the direction of this association differed between conditions. Overall, these results suggest that eye movements are attracted to information retrieved from long-term memory and held active (the associate in the retrieve condition, or an object from the other category in the substitute condition). Furthermore, the level of viewing may index the strength of the representation of retrieved information.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Kupers2024,

title = {Rethinking simultaneous suppression in visual cortex via compressive spatiotemporal population receptive fields},

author = {Eline R. Kupers and Insub Kim and Kalanit Grill-Spector},

doi = {10.1038/s41467-024-51243-7},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Nature Communications},

volume = {15},

number = {1},

pages = {1–19},

publisher = {Springer US},

abstract = {When multiple visual stimuli are presented simultaneously in the receptive field, the neural response is suppressed compared to presenting the same stimuli sequentially. The prevailing hypothesis suggests that this suppression is due to competition among multiple stimuli for limited resources within receptive fields, governed by task demands. However, it is unknown how stimulus-driven computations may give rise to simultaneous suppression. Using fMRI, we find simultaneous suppression in single voxels, which varies with both stimulus size and timing, and progressively increases up the visual hierarchy. Using population receptive field (pRF) models, we find that compressive spatiotemporal summation rather than compressive spatial summation predicts simultaneous suppression, and that increased simultaneous suppression is linked to larger pRF sizes and stronger compressive nonlinearities. These results necessitate a rethinking of simultaneous suppression as the outcome of stimulus-driven compressive spatiotemporal computations within pRFs, and open new opportunities to study visual processing capacity across space and time.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Leharanger2024,

title = {Eye tracking post processing to detect visual artifacts and quantify visual attention under cognitive task activity during fMRI},

author = {Maxime Leharanger and Pan Liu and Luc Vandromme and Olivier Balédent},

doi = {10.3390/s24154916},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Sensors},

volume = {24},

number = {15},

pages = {1–16},

abstract = {Determining visual attention during cognitive tasks using activation MRI remains challenging. This study aimed to develop a new eye-tracking (ET) post-processing platform to enhance data accuracy, validate the feasibility of subsequent ET-fMRI applications, and provide tool support. Sixteen volunteers aged 18 to 20 were exposed to a visual temporal paradigm with changing images of objects and faces in various locations while their eye movements were recorded using an MRI-compatible ET system. The results indicate that the accuracy of the data significantly improved after post-processing. Participants generally maintained their visual attention on the screen, with mean gaze positions ranging from 89.1% to 99.9%. In cognitive tasks, the gaze positions showed adherence to instructions, with means ranging from 46.2% to 50%. Temporal consistency assessments indicated prolonged visual tasks can lead to decreased attention during certain tasks. The proposed methodology effectively identified and quantified visual artifacts and losses, providing a precise measure of visual attention. This study offers a robust framework for future work integrating filtered eye-tracking data with fMRI analyses, supporting cognitive neuroscience research.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Lei2024,

title = {Phase-encoded fMRI tracks down brainstorms of natural language processing with subsecond precision},

author = {Victoria Lai Cheng Lei and Teng Ieng Leong and Cheok Teng Leong and Lili Liu and Chi Un Choi and Martin I. Sereno and Defeng Li and Ruey Song Huang},

doi = {10.1002/hbm.26617},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Human Brain Mapping},

volume = {45},

number = {2},

pages = {1–23},

abstract = {Natural language processing unfolds information overtime as spatially separated, multimodal, and interconnected neural processes. Existing noninvasive subtraction-based neuroimaging techniques cannot simultaneously achieve the spatial and temporal resolutions required to visualize ongoing information flows across the whole brain. Here we have developed rapid phase-encoded designs to fully exploit the temporal information latent in functional magnetic resonance imaging data, as well as overcoming scanner noise and head-motion challenges during overt language tasks. We captured real-time information flows as coherent hemodynamic waves traveling over the cortical surface during listening, reading aloud, reciting, and oral cross-language interpreting tasks. We were able to observe the timing, location, direction, and surge of traveling waves in all language tasks, which were visualized as “brainstorms” on brain “weather” maps. The paths of hemodynamic traveling waves provide direct evidence for dual-stream models of the visual and auditory systems as well as logistics models for crossmodal and cross-language processing. Specifically, we have tracked down the step-by-step processing of written or spoken sentences first being received and processed by the visual or auditory streams, carried across language and domain-general cognitive regions, and finally delivered as overt speeches monitored through the auditory cortex, which gives a complete picture of information flows across the brain during natural language functioning.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Lerebourg2024,

title = {Attentional guidance through object associations in visual cortex},

author = {Maëlle Lerebourg and Floris P. De Lange and Marius V. Peelen},

doi = {10.1126/sciadv.ado6226},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Science Advances},

volume = {10},

pages = {1–11},

abstract = {Efficient behavior requires the rapid attentional selection of task-relevant objects. Preparatory activity of target-selective neurons in visual cortex is thought to support attentional selection, guiding spatial attention and favoring processing of target-matching input. However, naturalistic searches are often guided by nontargets, including target-associated “anchor” objects. For instance, when looking for a pen, we may direct our attention to the office desk on which we expect to find it. Here, using fMRI and eye tracking in a context-guided search task, we tested whether preparatory activity in visual cortex reflected the target, the guiding anchor object, or both. Participants learned associations between targets and anchors, reversing across two scene contexts, before searching for these targets. Participants' first fixations were reliably guided by the associated anchor. Preparatory activity in lateral occipital cortex (LOC) and right intraparietal sulcus (IPS) represented the target-associated anchor rather than the target. These results shed light on the neural basis of context-guided search in structured environments.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Li2024,

title = {Prediction of image interpretation cognitive ability under different mental workloads: A task-state fMRI study},

author = {Bao Li and Li Tong and Chi Zhang and Panpan Chen and Linyuan Wang and Bin Yan},

doi = {10.1093/cercor/bhae100},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Cerebral Cortex},

volume = {34},

number = {3},

pages = {1–10},

abstract = {Visual imaging experts play an important role in multiple fields, and studies have shown that the combination of functional magnetic resonance imaging and machine learning techniques can predict cognitive abilities, which provides a possible method for selecting individuals with excellent image interpretation skills. We recorded behavioral data and neural activity of 64 participants during image interpretation tasks under different workloads. Based on the comprehensive image interpretation ability, participants were divided into two groups. general linear model analysis showed that during image interpretation tasks, the high-Ability group exhibited higher activation in middle frontal gyrus (MFG), fusiform gyrus, inferior occipital gyrus, superior parietal gyrus, inferior parietal gyrus, and insula compared to the low-Ability group. The radial basis function Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm shows the most excellent performance in predicting participants' image interpretation abilities (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.54},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Master2024,

title = {Trying harder: How cognitive effort sculpts neural representations during working memory},

author = {Sarah L. Master and Shanshan Li and Clayton E. Curtis},

doi = {10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0060-24.2024},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {The Journal of Neuroscience},

volume = {44},

number = {28},

pages = {1–12},

abstract = {While the exertion of mental effort improves performance on cognitive tasks, the neural mechanisms by which motivational factors impact cognition remain unknown. Here, we used fMRI to test how changes in cognitive effort, induced by changes in task difficulty, impact neural representations of working memory (WM). Participants (both sexes) were precued whether WM difficulty would be hard or easy. We hypothesized that hard trials demanded more effort as a later decision required finer mnemonic precision. Behaviorally, pupil size was larger and response times were slower on hard compared with easy trials suggesting our manipulation of effort succeeded. Neurally, we observed robust persistent activity during delay periods in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), especially during hard trials. Yet, details of the memoranda could not be decoded from patterns in prefrontal activity. In the patterns of activity in the visual cortex, however, we found strong decoding of memorized targets, where accuracy was higher on hard trials. To potentially link these across-region effects, we hypothesized that effort, carried by persistent activity in the PFC, impacts the quality of WM representations encoded in the visual cortex. Indeed, we found that the amplitude of delay period activity in the frontal cortex predicted decoded accuracy in the visual cortex on a trial-wise basis. These results indicate that effort-related feedback signals sculpt population activity in the visual cortex, improving mnemonic fidelity.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Mazor2024,

title = {A randomization-based, model-free approach to functional neuroimaging: A proof of concept},

author = {Matan Mazor and Roy Mukamel},

doi = {10.3390/e26090751},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Entropy},

volume = {26},

number = {9},

pages = {1–11},

abstract = {Functional neuroimaging analysis takes noisy multidimensional measurements as input and produces statistical inferences regarding the functional properties of brain regions as output. Such inferences are most commonly model-based, in that they assume a model of how neural activity translates to the measured signal (blood oxygenation level-dependent signal in the case of functional MRI). The use of models increases statistical sensitivity and makes it possible to ask fine-grained theoretical questions. However, this comes at the cost of making theoretical assumptions about the underlying data-generating process. An advantage of model-free approaches is that they can be used in cases where model assumptions are known not to hold. To this end, we introduce a randomization-based, model-free approach to functional neuroimaging. TWISTER randomization makes it possible to infer functional selectivity from correlations between experimental runs. We provide a proof of concept in the form of a visuomotor mapping experiment and discuss the possible strengths and limitations of this new approach in light of our empirical results.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Mewobber2024,

title = {Self-regulating arousal via pupil-based biofeedback},

author = {Sarah Nadine Mewobber and Marc Bächinger and Sanne Kikkert and Jenny Imhof and Silvia Missura and Manuel Carro Dominguez and Nicole Wenderoth},

doi = {10.1038/s41562-023-01729-z},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Nature Human Behaviour},

volume = {8},

number = {1},

pages = {43–62},

publisher = {Springer US},

abstract = {The brain's arousal state is controlled by several neuromodulatory nuclei known to substantially influence cognition and mental well-being. Here we investigate whether human participants can gain volitional control of their arousal state using a pupil-based biofeedback approach. Our approach inverts a mechanism suggested by previous literature that links activity of the locus coeruleus, one of the key regulators of central arousal and pupil dynamics. We show that pupil-based biofeedback enables participants to acquire volitional control of pupil size. Applying pupil self-regulation systematically modulates activity of the locus coeruleus and other brainstem structures involved in arousal control. Furthermore, it modulates cardiovascular measures such as heart rate, and behavioural and psychophysiological responses during an oddball task. We provide evidence that pupil-based biofeedback makes the brain's arousal system accessible to volitional control, a finding that has tremendous potential for translation to behavioural and clinical applications across various domains, including stress-related and anxiety disorders.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Nigam2024,

title = {Predictions enable top-down pattern separation in the macaque face-processing hierarchy},

author = {Tarana Nigam and Caspar M. Schwiedrzik},

doi = {10.1038/s41467-024-51543-y},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Nature Communications},

volume = {15},

number = {1},

pages = {1–13},

publisher = {Springer US},

abstract = {Distinguishing faces requires well distinguishable neural activity patterns. Contextual information may separate neural representations, leading to enhanced identity recognition. Here, we use functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate how predictions derived from contextual information affect the separability of neural activity patterns in the macaque face-processing system, a 3-level processing hierarchy in ventral visual cortex. We find that in the presence of predictions, early stages of this hierarchy exhibit well separable and high-dimensional neural geometries resembling those at the top of the hierarchy. This is accompanied by a systematic shift of tuning properties from higher to lower areas, endowing lower areas with higher-order, invariant representations instead of their feedforward tuning properties. Thus, top-down signals dynamically transform neural representations of faces into separable and high-dimensional neural geometries. Our results provide evidence how predictive context transforms flexible representational spaces to optimally use the computational resources provided by cortical processing hierarchies for better and faster distinction of facial identities.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{OBryan2024,

title = {Effector-independent representations guide sequential target selection biases in action},

author = {Sean R. O'Bryan and Jeff Moher and J. Daniel McCarthy and Joo Hyun Song},

doi = {10.1162/jocn_a_02102},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience},

volume = {36},

number = {3},

pages = {492–507},

abstract = {Previous work shows that automatic attention biases toward recently selected target features transfer across action and perception and even across different effectors such as the eyes and hands on a trial-by-trial basis. Although these findings suggest a common neural representation of selection history across effec-tors, the extent to which information about recently selected target features is encoded in overlapping versus distinct brain regions is unknown. Using fMRI and a priming of pop-out task where participants selected unpredictable, uniquely colored targets among homogeneous distractors via reach or saccade, we show that color priming is driven by shared, effector-independent underlying representations of recent selection history. Consistent with previous work, we found that the intra-parietal sulcus (IPS) was commonly activated on trials where target colors were switched relative to those where the colors were repeated; however, the dorsal anterior insula exhibited effector-specific activation related to color priming. Via multi-voxel cross-classification analyses, we further demonstrate that fine-grained patterns of activity in both IPS and the medial temporal lobe encode information about selection history in an effector-independent manner, such that ROI-specific models trained on activity patterns during reach selection could predict whether a color was repeated or switched on the current trial during saccade selection and vice versa. Remarkably, model generalization performance in IPS and medial temporal lobe also tracked individual differences in behavioral priming sensitivity across both types of action. These results represent a first step to clarify the neural substrates of experience-driven selection biases in contexts that require the coordination of multiple actions.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{OntiveroOrtega2024,

title = {Intra-V1 functional networks and classification of observed stimuli},

author = {Marlis Ontivero-Ortega and Jorge Iglesias-Fuster and Jhoanna Perez-Hidalgo and Daniele Marinazzo and Mitchell Valdes-Sosa and Pedro Valdes-Sosa},

doi = {10.3389/fninf.2024.1080173},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Frontiers in Neuroinformatics},

volume = {18},

pages = {1–15},

abstract = {Introduction: Previous studies suggest that co-fluctuations in neural activity within V1 (measured with fMRI) carry information about observed stimuli, potentially reflecting various cognitive mechanisms. This study explores the neural sources shaping this information by using different fMRI preprocessing methods. The common response to stimuli shared by all individuals can be emphasized by using inter-subject correlations or de-emphasized by deconvolving the fMRI with hemodynamic response functions (HRFs) before calculating the correlations. The latter approach shifts the balance towards participant-idiosyncratic activity. Methods: Here, we used multivariate pattern analysis of intra-V1 correlation matrices to predict the Level or Shape of observed Navon letters employing the types of correlations described above. We assessed accuracy in inter-subject prediction of specific conjunctions of properties, and attempted intra-subject cross-classification of stimulus properties (i.e., prediction of one feature despite changes in the other). Weight maps from successful classifiers were projected onto the visual field. A control experiment investigated eye-movement patterns during stimuli presentation. Results: All inter-subject classifiers accurately predicted the Level and Shape of specific observed stimuli. However, successful intra-subject cross-classification was achieved only for stimulus Level, but not Shape, regardless of preprocessing scheme. Weight maps for successful Level classification differed between inter-subject correlations and deconvolved correlations. The latter revealed asymmetries in visual field link strength that corresponded to known perceptual asymmetries. Post-hoc measurement of eyeball fMRI signals did not find differences in gaze between stimulus conditions, and a control experiment (with derived simulations) also suggested that eye movements do not explain the stimulus-related changes in V1 topology. Discussion: Our findings indicate that both inter-subject common responses and participant-specific activity contribute to the information in intra-V1 co-fluctuations, albeit through distinct sub-networks. Deconvolution, that enhances subject-specific activity, highlighted interhemispheric links for Global stimuli. Further exploration of intra-V1 networks promises insights into the neural basis of attention and perceptual organization.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Pais2024,

title = {Rapid effects of tryptamine psychedelics on perceptual distortions and early visual cortical population receptive fields},

author = {Marta Lapo Pais and Marta Teixeira and Carla Soares and Gisela Lima and Patrícia Rijo and Célia Cabral and Miguel Castelo-Branco},

doi = {10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120718},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {NeuroImage},

volume = {297},

pages = {1–10},

abstract = {N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a psychedelic tryptamine acting on 5-HT2A serotonin receptors, which is associated with intense visual hallucinatory phenomena and perceptual changes such as distortions in visual space. The neural underpinnings of these effects remain unknown. We hypothesised that changes in population receptive field (pRF) properties in the primary visual cortex (V1) might underlie visual perceptual experience. We tested this hypothesis using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a within-subject design. We used a technique called pRF mapping, which measures neural population visual response properties and retinotopic maps in early visual areas. We show that in the presence of visual effects, as documented by the Hallucinogen Rating Scale (HRS), the mean pRF sizes in V1 significantly increase in the peripheral visual field for active condition (inhaled DMT) compared to the control. Eye and head movement differences were absent across conditions. This evidence for short-term effects of DMT in pRF may explain perceptual distortions induced by psychedelics such as field blurring, tunnel vision (peripheral vision becoming blurred while central vision remains sharp) and the enlargement of nearby visual space, particularly at the visual locations surrounding the fovea. Our findings are also consistent with a mechanistic framework whereby gain control of ongoing and evoked activity in the visual cortex is controlled by activation of 5-HT2A receptors.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Papitto2024,

title = {Distinct neural mechanisms for action access and execution in the human brain: Insights from an fMRI study},

author = {Giorgio Papitto and Angela D. Friederici and Emiliano Zaccarella},

doi = {10.1093/cercor/bhae163},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Cerebral Cortex},

volume = {34},

number = {4},

pages = {1–18},

abstract = {Goal-directed actions are fundamental to human behavior, whereby inner goals are achieved through mapping action representations to motor outputs. The left premotor cortex (BA6) and the posterior portion of Broca's area (BA44) are two modulatory poles of the action system. However, how these regions support the representation-output mapping within the system is not yet understood. To address this, we conducted a finger-tapping functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment using action categories ranging from specific to general. Our study found distinct neural behaviors in BA44 and BA6 during action category processing and motor execution. During access of action categories, activity in a posterior portion of BA44 (pBA44) decreased linearly as action categories became less specific. Conversely, during motor execution, activity in BA6 increased linearly with less specific categories. These findings highlight the differential roles of pBA44 and BA6 in action processing. We suggest that pBA44 facilitates access to action categories by utilizing motor information from the behavioral context while the premotor cortex integrates motor information to execute the selected action. This finding enhances our understanding of the interplay between prefrontal cortical regions and premotor cortex in mapping action representation to motor execution and, more in general, of the cortical mechanisms underlying human behavior.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Pinho2024,

title = {Individual Brain Charting dataset extension, third release for movie watching and retinotopy data},

author = {Ana Luísa Pinho and Hugo Richard and Ana Fernanda Ponce and Michael Eickenberg and Alexis Amadon and Elvis Dohmatob and Isabelle Denghien and Juan Jesús Torre and Swetha Shankar and Himanshu Aggarwal and Alexis Thual and Thomas Chapalain and Chantal Ginisty and Séverine Becuwe-Desmidt and Séverine Roger and Yann Lecomte and Valérie Berland and Laurence Laurier and Véronique Joly-Testault and Gaëlle Médiouni-Cloarec and Christine Doublé and Bernadette Martins and Gaël Varoquaux and Stanislas Dehaene and Lucie Hertz-Pannier and Bertrand Thirion},

doi = {10.1038/s41597-024-03390-1},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Scientific Data},

volume = {11},

number = {1},

pages = {1–16},

abstract = {The Individual Brain Charting (IBC) is a multi-task functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging dataset acquired at high spatial-resolution and dedicated to the cognitive mapping of the human brain. It consists in the deep phenotyping of twelve individuals, covering a broad range of psychological domains suitable for functional-atlasing applications. Here, we present the inclusion of task data from both naturalistic stimuli and trial-based designs, to uncover structures of brain activation. We rely on the Fast Shared Response Model (FastSRM) to provide a data-driven solution for modelling naturalistic stimuli, typically containing many features. We show that data from left-out runs can be reconstructed using FastSRM, enabling the extraction of networks from the visual, auditory and language systems. We also present the topographic organization of the visual system through retinotopy. In total, six new tasks were added to IBC, wherein four trial-based retinotopic tasks contributed with a mapping of the visual field to the cortex. IBC is open access: source plus derivatives imaging data and meta-data are available in public repositories.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Denison2024,

title = {Anticipatory and evoked visual cortical dynamics of voluntary temporal attention},

author = {Rachel N. Denison and Karen J. Tian and David J. Heeger and Marisa Carrasco},

doi = {10.1038/s41467-024-53406-y},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Nature Communications},

volume = {15},

number = {1},

pages = {1–13},

publisher = {Springer US},

abstract = {We can often anticipate the precise moment when a stimulus will be relevant for our behavioral goals. Voluntary temporal attention, the prioritization of sensory information at task-relevant time points, enhances visual perception. However, the neural mechanisms of voluntary temporal attention have not been isolated from those of temporal expectation, which reflects timing predictability rather than relevance. Here we use time-resolved steady-state visual evoked responses (SSVER) to investigate how temporal attention dynamically modulates visual activity when temporal expectation is controlled. We recorded magnetoencephalography while participants directed temporal attention to one of two sequential grating targets with predictable timing. Meanwhile, a co-localized SSVER probe continuously tracked visual cortical modulations both before and after the target stimuli. We find that in the pre-target period, the SSVER gradually ramps up as the targets approach, reflecting temporal expectation. Furthermore, we find a low-frequency modulation of the SSVER, which shifts approximately half a cycle in phase according to which target is attended. In the post-target period, temporal attention to the first target transiently modulates the SSVER shortly after target onset. Thus, temporal attention dynamically modulates visual cortical responses via both periodic pre-target and transient post-target mechanisms to prioritize sensory information at precise moments.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Zhang2024q,

title = {Integrating large language model, eeg, and eye-tracking for word-level neural state classification in reading comprehension},

author = {Yuhong Zhang and Qin Li and Sujal Nahata and Tasnia Jamal and Shih Cheng and Gert Cauwenberghs and Tzyy Ping Jung},

doi = {10.1109/TNSRE.2024.3435460},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering},

volume = {32},

pages = {3465–3475},

publisher = {IEEE},

abstract = {With the recent proliferation of large language models (LLMs), such as Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT), there has been a significant shift in exploring human and machine comprehension of semantic language meaning. This shift calls for interdisciplinary research that bridges cognitive science and natural language processing (NLP). This pilot study aims to provide insights into individuals’ neural states during a semantic inference reading-comprehension task. We propose jointly analyzing LLMs, eye-gaze, and electroencephalographic (EEG) data to study how the brain processes words with varying degrees of relevance to a keyword during reading. We also use feature engineering to improve the fixation-related EEG data classification while participants read words with high versus low relevance to the keyword. The best validation accuracy in this word-level classification is over 60% across 12 subjects. Words highly relevant to the inference keyword received significantly more eye fixations per word: 1.0584 compared to 0.6576, including words with no fixations. This study represents the first attempt to classify brain states at a word level using LLM-generated labels. It provides valuable insights into human cognitive abilities and Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), and offers guidance for developing potential reading-assisted technologies.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Zhang2024r,

title = {CogAware: Cognition-Aware framework for sentiment analysis with textual representations},

author = {Zhihan Zhang and Chuhan Wu and Hongyi Chen and Hongyang Chen},

doi = {10.1016/j.knosys.2024.112094},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Knowledge-Based Systems},

volume = {299},

pages = {1–9},

publisher = {Elsevier B.V.},

abstract = {Sentiment analysis has become an important research area in artificial intelligence. Recently, the integration of sentiment analysis with cognitive neuroscience in natural language processing (NLP) tasks has attracted widespread attention. Cognitive signals and textual signals (i.e. word embeddings) both contain distinctive information for sentiment analysis tasks. However, most previous studies cannot effectively capture the specific features and cross-domain features while integrating cognitive signals acquired from brain activity and textual signals obtained from natural language processing (NLP). To address this issue, we propose CogAware, which learns to obtain a deep representation that combines purified specific features with cross-domain features from textual and cognitive signals. CogAware employs four private encoders to extract specific or cross-domain features from textual and cognitive signals alternately. It also employs feature reinforcement and orthogonality regularization to separate specific and cross-domain features from each modality. Moreover, a shared encoder and a modality discriminator are used to further capture cross-domain features from different modalities. Our designed architecture utilizes cognitive signals and word embeddings during model training, yet relies solely on word embeddings for model inference. Experiments on a public dataset show that CogAware achieves new state-of-the-art performance on the sentiment analysis task compared with other existing models. The source code of CogAware is available at: https://github.com/zhejiangzhuque/CogAware.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Ziereis2024,

title = {Additive effects of emotional expression and stimulus size on the perception of genuine and artificial facial expressions: An ERP study},

author = {Annika Ziereis and Anne Schacht},

doi = {10.1038/s41598-024-55678-2},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Scientific Reports},

volume = {14},

number = {1},

pages = {1–15},

publisher = {Nature Publishing Group UK},

abstract = {Seeing an angry individual in close physical proximity can not only result in a larger retinal representation of that individual and an enhanced resolution of emotional cues, but may also increase motivation for rapid visual processing and action preparation. The present study investigated the effects of stimulus size and emotional expression on the perception of happy, angry, non-expressive, and scrambled faces. We analyzed event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavioral responses of N = 40 participants who performed a naturalness classification task on real and artificially created facial expressions. While the emotion-related effects on accuracy for recognizing authentic expressions were modulated by stimulus size, ERPs showed only additive effects of stimulus size and emotional expression, with no significant interaction with size. This contrasts with previous research on emotional scenes and words. Effects of size were present in all included ERPs, whereas emotional expressions affected the N170, EPN, and LPC, irrespective of size. These results imply that the decoding of emotional valence in faces can occur even for small stimuli. Supra-additive effects in faces may necessitate larger size ranges or dynamic stimuli that increase arousal.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Zinchenko2024,

title = {Environmental regularities mitigate attentional misguidance in contextual cueing of visual search},

author = {Artyom Zinchenko and Markus Conci and Hermann J. Müller and Thomas Geyer},

doi = {10.1037/xlm0001297},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition},

volume = {50},

number = {5},

pages = {699–711},

abstract = {Visual search is faster when a fixed target location is paired with a spatially invariant (vs. randomly changing) distractor configuration, thus indicating that repeated contexts are learned, thereby guiding attention to the target (contextual cueing [CC]). Evidence for memory-guided attention has also been revealed with electrophysiological (electroencephalographic [EEG]) recordings, starting with an enhanced early posterior neg- ativity (N1pc), which signals a preattentive bias toward the target, and, subsequently, attentional and postselective components, such as the posterior contralateral negativity (PCN) and contralateral delay activ- ity (CDA), respectively. Despite effective learning, relearning of previously acquired contexts is inflexible: The CC benefits disappear when the target is relocated to a new position within an otherwise invariant context and corresponding EEG correlates are diminished. The present study tested whether global statistical properties that induce predictions going beyond the immediate invariant layout can facilitate contextual relearning. Global statistical regularities were implemented by presenting repeated and nonrepeated displays in separate streaks (mini blocks) of trials in the relocation phase, with individual displays being presented in a fixed and thus predictable order. Our results revealed a significant CC effect (and an associated modulation of the N1pc, PCN, and CDA components) during initial learning. Critically, the global statistical regularities in the relocation phase also resulted in a reliable CC effect, thus revealing effective relearning with predictive streaks. Moreover, this relearning was reflected in an enhanced PCN amplitude for repeated relative to non- repeated contexts. Temporally ordered contexts may thus adapt memory-based guidance of attention, par- ticularly the allocation of covert attention in the visual display.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Zsigo2024,

title = {Frontal alpha asymmetry during emotion regulation in adults with lifetime major depression},

author = {Carolin Zsigo and Ellen Greimel and Regine Primbs and Jürgen Bartling and Gerd Schulte-Körne and Lisa Feldmann},

doi = {10.3758/s13415-024-01165-0},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience},

volume = {24},

number = {3},

pages = {552–566},

publisher = {Springer US},

abstract = {Emotion regulation (ER) often is impaired in current or remitted major depression (MD), although the extent of the deficits is not fully understood. Recent studies suggest that frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) could be a promising electrophysiological measure to investigate ER. The purpose of this study was to investigate ER differences between participants with lifetime major depression (lifetime MD) and healthy controls (HC) for the first time in an experimental task by using FAA. We compared lifetime MD (n = 34) and HC (n = 25) participants aged 18–24 years in (a) an active ER condition, in which participants were instructed to reappraise negative images and (b) a condition in which they attended to the images while an EEG was recorded. We also report FAA results from an independent sample of adolescents with current MD (n = 36) and HC adolescents (n = 38). In the main sample, both groups were able to decrease self-reported negative affect in response to negative images through ER, without significant group differences. We found no differences between groups or conditions in FAA, which was replicated within the independent adolescent sample. The lifetime MD group also reported less adaptive ER in daily life and higher difficulty of ER during the task. The lack of differences between in self-reported affect and FAA between lifetime MD and HC groups in the active ER task indicates that lifetime MD participants show no impairments when instructed to apply an adaptive ER strategy. Implications for interventional aspects are discussed.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{AlDahhan2024,

title = {Compensatory mechanisms amidst demyelinating disorders: Insights into cognitive preservation},

author = {Noor Z. Al Dahhan and Julie Tseng and Cynthia Medeiros and Sridar Narayanan and Douglas L. Arnold and Brian C. Coe and Douglas P. Munoz and E. Ann Yeh and Donald J. Mabbott},

doi = {10.1093/braincomms/fcae353},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Brain Communications},

volume = {6},

number = {6},

pages = {1–17},

publisher = {Oxford University Press},

abstract = {Demyelination disrupts the transmission of electrical signals in the brain and affects neurodevelopment in children with disorders such as multiple sclerosis and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein-associated disorders. Although cognitive impairments are prevalent in these conditions, some children maintain cognitive function despite substantial structural injury. These findings raise an important question: in addition to the degenerative process, do compensatory neural mechanisms exist to mitigate the effects of myelin loss? We propose that a multi-dimensional approach integrating multiple neuroimaging modalities, including diffusion tensor imaging, magnetoencephalography and eye-tracking, is key to investigating this question. We examine the structural and functional connectivity of the default mode and executive control networks due to their significant roles in supporting higher-order cognitive processes. As cognitive proxies, we examine saccade reaction times and direction errors during an interleaved pro- (eye movement towards a target) and anti-saccade (eye movement away from a target) task. 28 typically developing children, 18 children with multiple sclerosis and 14 children with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein-associated disorders between 5 and 18.9 years old were scanned at the Hospital for Sick Children. Tractography of diffusion MRI data examined structural connectivity. Intracellular and extracellular microstructural parameters were extracted using a white matter tract integrity model to provide specific inferences on myelin and axon structure. Magnetoencephalography scanning was conducted to examine functional connectivity. Within groups, participants had longer saccade reaction times and greater direction errors on the anti- versus pro-saccade task; there were no group differences on either task. Despite similar behavioural performance, children with demyelinating disorders had significant structural compromise and lower bilateral high gamma, higher left-hemisphere theta and higher right-hemisphere alpha synchrony relative to typically developing children. Children diagnosed with multiple sclerosis had greater structural compromise relative to children with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein-associated disorders; there were no group differences in neural synchrony. For both patient groups, increased disease disability predicted greater structural compromise, which predicted longer saccade reaction times and greater direction errors on both tasks. Structural compromise also predicted increased functional connectivity, highlighting potential adaptive functional reorganisation in response to structural compromise. In turn, increased functional connectivity predicted faster saccade reaction times and fewer direction errors. These findings suggest that increased functional connectivity, indicated by increased alpha and theta synchrony, may be necessary to compensate for structural compromise and preserve cognitive abilities. Further understanding these compensatory neural mechanisms could pave the way for the development of targeted therapeutic interventions aimed at enhancing these mechanisms, ultimately improving cognitive outcomes for affected individuals.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Coleman2024,

title = {Post-task responses following working memory and movement are driven by transient spectral bursts with similar characteristics},

author = {Sebastian C. Coleman and Zelekha A. Seedat and Daisie O. Pakenham and Andrew J. Quinn and Matthew J. Brookes and Mark W. Woolrich and Karen J. Mullinger},

doi = {10.1002/hbm.26700},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Human Brain Mapping},

volume = {45},

number = {7},

pages = {1–14},

abstract = {The post-movement beta rebound has been studied extensively using magnetoencephalography (MEG) and is reliably modulated by various task parameters as well as illness. Our recent study showed that rebounds, which we generalise as “post-task responses” (PTRs), are a ubiquitous phenomenon in the brain, occurring across the cortex in theta, alpha, and beta bands. Currently, it is unknown whether PTRs following working memory are driven by transient bursts, which are moments of short-lived high amplitude activity, similar to those that drive the post-movement beta rebound. Here, we use three-state univariate hidden Markov models (HMMs), which can identify bursts without a priori knowledge of frequency content or response timings, to compare bursts that drive PTRs in working memory and visuomotor MEG datasets. Our results show that PTRs across working memory and visuomotor tasks are driven by pan-spectral transient bursts. These bursts have very similar spectral content variation over the cortex, correlating strongly between the two tasks in the alpha (R2 =.89) and beta (R2 =.53) bands. Bursts also have similar variation in duration over the cortex (e.g., long duration bursts occur in the motor cortex for both tasks), strongly correlating over cortical regions between tasks (R2 =.56), with a mean over all regions of around 300 ms in both datasets. Finally, we demonstrate the ability of HMMs to isolate signals of interest in MEG data, such that the HMM probability timecourse correlates more strongly with reaction times than frequency filtered power envelopes from the same brain regions. Overall, we show that induced PTRs across different tasks are driven by bursts with similar characteristics, which can be identified using HMMs. Given the similarity between bursts across tasks, we suggest that PTRs across the cortex may be driven by a common underlying neural phenomenon.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Costa2024,

title = {Distinct oscillatory patterns differentiate between segregation and integration processes in perceptual grouping},

author = {Gabriel Nascimento Costa and Michael Schaum and João Valente Duarte and Ricardo Martins and Isabel Catarina Duarte and João Castelhano and Michael Wibral and Miguel Castelo-Branco},

doi = {10.1002/hbm.26779},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Human Brain Mapping},

volume = {45},

number = {12},

pages = {1–17},

abstract = {Recently, there has been a resurgence in experimental and conceptual efforts to understand how brain rhythms can serve to organize visual information. Oscillations can provide temporal structure for neuronal processing and form a basis for integrating information across brain areas. Here, we use a bistable paradigm and a data-driven approach to test the hypothesis that oscillatory modulations associate with the integration or segregation of visual elements. Spectral signatures of perception of bound and unbound configurations of visual moving stimuli were studied using magnetoencephalography (MEG) in ambiguous and unambiguous conditions. Using a 2 × 2 design, we were able to isolate correlates from visual integration, either perceptual or stimulus-driven, from attentional and ambiguity-related activity. Two frequency bands were found to be modulated by visual integration: an alpha/beta frequency and a higher frequency gamma-band. Alpha/beta power was increased in several early visual cortical and dorsal visual areas during visual integration, while gamma-band power was surprisingly increased in the extrastriate visual cortex during segregation. This points to an integrative role for alpha/beta activity, likely from top-down signals maintaining a single visual representation. On the other hand, when more representations have to be processed in parallel gamma-band activity is increased, which is at odds with the notion that gamma oscillations are related to perceptual coherence. These modulations were confirmed in intracranial EEG recordings and partially originate from distinct brain areas. Our MEG and stereo-EEG data confirms predictions of binding mechanisms depending on low-frequency activity for long-range integration and for organizing visual processing while refuting a straightforward correlation between gamma-activity and perceptual binding.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Zhang2024n,

title = {The execution of saccadic eye movements suppresses visual processing of both color and luminance in the early visual cortex of humans},

author = {Yuan Zhang and Matteo Valsecchi and Karl R. Gegenfurtner and Jing Chen},

doi = {10.1152/jn.00419.2023},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Neurophysiology},

volume = {131},

number = {6},

pages = {1156–1167},

abstract = {Our eyes execute rapid, directional movements known as saccades, occurring several times per second, to focus on objects of interest in our environment. During these movements, visual sensitivity is temporarily reduced. Despite numerous studies on this topic, the underlying mechanism remains elusive, including a lingering debate on whether saccadic suppression affects the parvocellular visual pathway. To address this issue, we conducted a study employing steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) elicited by chromatic and luminance stimuli while observers performed saccadic eye movements. We also employed an innovative analysis pipeline to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio, yielding superior results compared to the previous method. Our findings revealed a clear suppression effect on SSVEP signals during saccades compared to fixation periods. Notably, this suppression effect was comparable for both chromatic and luminance stimuli. We went further to measure the suppression effect across various contrast levels, which enabled us to model SSVEP responses with contrast response functions. The results suggest that saccades primarily reduce response gain without significantly affecting contrast gain and that this reduction applies uniformly to both chromatic and luminance pathways. In summary, our study provides robust evidence that saccades similarly suppress visual processing in both the parvocellular and magnocellular pathways within the human early visual cortex, as indicated by SSVEP responses. The observation that saccadic eye movements impact response gain rather than contrast gain implies that they influence visual processing through a multiplicative mechanism.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Fakche2024a,

title = {Fast feature- and category-related parafoveal previewing support free visual exploration},

author = {Camille Fakche and Clayton Hickey and Ole Jensen},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {The Journal of Neuroscience},

volume = {44},

number = {49},

pages = {1–13},

abstract = {While humans typically saccade every ∼250 ms in natural settings, studies on vision tend to prevent or restrict eye movements. As it takes ∼50 ms to initiate and execute a saccade, this leaves only∼200 ms to identify the fixated object and select the next saccade goal. How much detail can be derived about parafoveal objects in this short time interval, during which foveal processing and saccade planning both occur? Here, we had male and female human participants freely explore a set of natural images while we recorded magnetoencephalography and eye movements. Using multivariate pattern analysis, we demonstrate that future parafoveal images could be decoded at the feature and category level with peak decoding at ∼110 and ∼165 ms, respectively, while the decoding of fixated objects at the feature and category level peaked at ∼100 and∼145 ms. The decoding offeatures and categories was contingent on the objects being saccade goals. In sum, we provide insight on the neuronal mechanism ofpresaccadic attention by demonstrating that feature- and category-specific information of foveal and parafoveal objects can be extracted in succession within a ∼200 ms intersaccadic interval. These findings rule out strict serial or parallel processing accounts but are consistent with a pipeline mech- anism in which foveal and parafoveal objects are processed in parallel but at different levels in the visual hierarchy. Key},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Ghafari2024,

title = {Modulation of alpha oscillations by attention is predicted by hemispheric asymmetry of subcortical regions},

author = {Tara Ghafari and Cecilia Mazzetti and Kelly Garner and Tjerk Gutteling and Ole Jensen},

doi = {10.7554/eLife.91650},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {eLife},

volume = {12},

pages = {1–20},

abstract = {Evidence suggests that subcortical structures play a role in high-level cognitive functions such as the allocation of spatial attention. While there is abundant evidence in humans for posterior alpha band oscillations being modulated by spatial attention, little is known about how subcortical regions contribute to these oscillatory modulations, particularly under varying conditions of cognitive challenge. In this study, we combined MEG and structural MRI data to investigate the role of subcortical structures in controlling the allocation of attentional resources by employing a cued spatial attention paradigm with varying levels of perceptual load. We asked whether hemispheric lateralization of volumetric measures of the thalamus and basal ganglia predicted the hemispheric modulation of alpha-band power. Lateral asymmetry of the globus pallidus, caudate nucleus, and thalamus predicted attention-related modulations of posterior alpha oscillations. When the perceptual load was applied to the target and the distractor was salient caudate nucleus asymmetry predicted alpha-band modulations. Globus pallidus was predictive of alpha-band modulations when either the target had a high load, or the distractor was salient, but not both. Finally, the asymmetry of the thalamus predicted alpha band modulation when neither component of the task was perceptually demanding. In addition to delivering new insight into the subcortical circuity controlling alpha oscillations with spatial attention, our finding might also have clinical applications. We provide a framework that could be followed for detecting how structural changes in subcortical regions that are associated with neurological disorders can be reflected in the modulation of oscillatory brain activity.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Johns2024,

title = {Attention mobilization as a modulator of listening effort: Evidence from pupillometry},

author = {M. A. Johns and R. C. Calloway and I. M. D. Karunathilake and L. P. Decruy and S. Anderson and J. Z. Simon and S. E. Kuchinsky},

doi = {10.1177/23312165241245240},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Trends in Hearing},

volume = {28},

pages = {1–20},

abstract = {Listening to speech in noise can require substantial mental effort, even among younger normal-hearing adults. The task-evoked pupil response (TEPR) has been shown to track the increased effort exerted to recognize words or sentences in increasing noise. However, few studies have examined the trajectory of listening effort across longer, more natural, stretches of speech, or the extent to which expectations about upcoming listening difficulty modulate the TEPR. Seventeen younger normal-hearing adults listened to 60-s-long audiobook passages, repeated three times in a row, at two different signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) while pupil size was recorded. There was a significant interaction between SNR, repetition, and baseline pupil size on sustained listening effort. At lower baseline pupil sizes, potentially reflecting lower attention mobilization, TEPRs were more sustained in the harder SNR condition, particularly when attention mobilization remained low by the third presentation. At intermediate baseline pupil sizes, differences between conditions were largely absent, suggesting these listeners had optimally mobilized their attention for both SNRs. Lastly, at higher baseline pupil sizes, potentially reflecting overmobilization of attention, the effect of SNR was initially reversed for the second and third presentations: participants initially appeared to disengage in the harder SNR condition, resulting in reduced TEPRs that recovered in the second half of the story. Together, these findings suggest that the unfolding of listening effort over time depends critically on the extent to which individuals have successfully mobilized their attention in anticipation of difficult listening conditions.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Liljefors2024,

title = {Distinct functions for beta and alpha bursts in gating of human working memory},

author = {Johan Liljefors and Rita Almeida and Gustaf Rane and Johan N. Lundström and Pawel Herman and Mikael Lundqvist},

doi = {10.1038/s41467-024-53257-7},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Nature Communications},

volume = {15},

number = {1},

pages = {1–15},

publisher = {Springer US},

abstract = {Multiple neural mechanisms underlying gating to and from working memory (WM) have been proposed, with divergent results obtained in human and animal studies. Previous results from non-human primate studies suggest information encoding and retrieval is regulated by high-power bursts in the beta frequency range, whereas human studies suggest that alpha power in sensory regions filters out unwanted stimuli from entering WM. Discrepancies between studies, whether due to differences in analysis, species, or cortical regions, remain unexplained. We addressed this by performing similar single-trial burst analysis we earlier deployed on non-human primates on human whole-brain electrophysiological activity. Participants performed a sequential working memory task that allowed us to track the distinct electrophysiological activity patterns associated with neural processing of targets and distractors. Intriguingly, our results reconcile earlier findings by demonstrating that both alpha and beta bursts are involved in the filtering and control of WM items, but with region and task-specific differences between the two rhythms. Occipital beta burst patterns regulate the transition from sensory processing to WM retention whereas prefrontal and parietal beta bursts track sequence order and proactively suppress retained information prior to upcoming target encoding. Occipital alpha bursts instead suppress unwanted sensory stimuli during their presentation. These results suggest that human working memory is regulated by multiple neural mechanisms that operate in different cortical regions and serve distinct computational roles. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Maekelae2024a,

title = {Naturalistic reading of multi-page texts elicits spatially extended modulation of oscillatory activity in the right hemisphere},

author = {Sasu Mäkelä and Jan Kujala and Pauliina Ojala and Jukka Hyönä and Riitta Salmelin},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Scientific Reports},

volume = {14},

number = {1},

pages = {1–11},

abstract = {The study of the cortical basis of reading has greatly benefited from the use of naturalistic paradigms that permit eye movements. However, due to the short stimulus lengths used in most naturalistic reading studies, it remains unclear how reading of texts comprising more than isolated sentences modulates cortical processing. To address this question, we used magnetoencephalography to study the spatiospectral distribution of oscillatory activity during naturalistic reading of multi-page texts. In contrast to previous results, we found abundant activity in the right hemisphere in several frequency bands, whereas reading-related modulation of neural activity in the left hemisphere was quite limited. Our results show that the role of the right hemisphere may be importantly emphasized as the reading process extends beyond single sentences.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Monov2024,

title = {Linking cognitive integrity to working memory dynamics in the aging human brain},

author = {Gina Monov and Henrik Stein and Leonie Klock and Juergen Gallinat and Simone Kühn and Tania Lincoln and Katarina Krkovic and Peter R. Murphy and Tobias H. Donner},

doi = {10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1883-23.2024},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {The Journal of Neuroscience},

volume = {44},

number = {26},

pages = {1–20},

abstract = {Aging is accompanied by a decline of working memory, an important cognitive capacity that involves stimulus-selective neural activity that persists after stimulus presentation. Here, we unraveled working memory dynamics in older human adults (male and female) including those diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) using a combination of behavioral modeling, neuropsychological assessment, and MEG recordings of brain activity. Younger adults (male and female) were studied with behavioral modeling only. Participants performed a visuospatial delayed match-to-sample task under systematic manipulation of the delay and distance between sample and test stimuli. Their behavior (match/nonmatch decisions) was fit with a computational model permitting the dissociation of noise in the internal operations underlying the working memory performance from a strategic decision threshold. Task accuracy decreased with delay duration and sample/test proximity.When sample/test distances were small, older adults committed more false alarms than younger adults. The computational model explained the participants' behavior well. The model parameters reflecting internal noise (not decision threshold) correlated with the precision of stimulus-selective cortical activity measured with MEG during the delay interval. The model uncovered an increase specifically in working memory noise in older compared with younger participants. Furthermore, in the MCI group, but not in the older healthy controls, internal noise correlated with the participants' clinically assessed cognitive integrity. Our results are consistent with the idea that the stability of working memory contents deteriorates in aging, in a manner that is specifically linked to the overall cognitive integrity of individuals diagnosed with MCI.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Pan2024b,

title = {Early parafoveal semantic integration in natural reading},

author = {Yali Pan and Steven Frisson and Kara D Federmeier and Ole Jensen},

doi = {10.7554/elife.91327.4},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {eLife},

volume = {12},

pages = {1–27},

abstract = {Humans can read and comprehend text rapidly, implying that readers might process multiple words per fixation. However, the extent to which parafoveal words are previewed and integrated into the evolving sentence context remains disputed. We investigated parafoveal processing during natural reading by recording brain activity and eye movements using MEG and an eye tracker while participants silently read one-line sentences. The sentences contained an unpredictable target word that was either congruent or incongruent with the sentence context. To measure parafoveal processing, we flickered the target words at 60 Hz and measured the resulting brain responses (i.e. Rapid Invisible Frequency Tagging, RIFT ) during fixations on the pre-target words. Our results revealed a significantly weaker tagging response for target words that were incongruent with the previous context compared to congruent ones, even within 100ms of fixating the word immediately preceding the target. This reduction in the RIFT response was also found to be predictive of individual reading speed. We conclude that semantic information is not only extracted from the parafovea but can also be integrated with the previous context before the word is fixated. This early and extensive parafoveal processing supports the rapid word processing required for natural reading. Our study suggests that theoretical frameworks of natural reading should incorporate the concept of deep parafoveal processing.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Pultsina2024,

title = {Atypical pupil-linked arousal induced by low-risk probabilistic choices, and intolerance of uncertainty in adults with ASD},

author = {Kristina I. Pultsina and Tatiana A. Stroganova and Galina L. Kozunova and Andrey O. Prokofyev and Aleksandra S. Miasnikova and Anna M. Rytikova and Boris V. Chernyshev},

doi = {10.3758/s13415-024-01227-3},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience},

number = {2023},

pages = {1–19},

publisher = {Springer US},

abstract = {Adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience stress when operating in a probabilistic environment, even if it is familiar, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Their decision-making may be affected by the uncertainty aversion implicated in ASD and associated with increased autonomic arousal. Previous studies have shown that in neurotypical (NT) people, decisions with predictably better outcomes are less stressful and elicit smaller pupil-linked arousal than those involving exploration. Here, in a sample of 46 high-functioning ASD and NT participants, using mixed-effects model analysis, we explored pupil-linked arousal and behavioral performance in a probabilistic reward learning task with a stable advantage of one choice option over the other. We found that subjects with ASD learned and preferred advantageous probabilistic choices at the same rate and to the same extent as NT participants, both in terms of choice ratio and response time. Although both groups exhibited similar predictive behaviors, learning to favor advantageous choices led to increased pupillary arousal for these choices in the ASD group, while it caused a decrease in pupillary arousal in the NT group. Moreover, greater pupil-linked arousal during decisions with higher expected value correlated with greater degree of self-reported intolerance of uncertainty in everyday life. Our results suggest that in a nonvolatile probabilistic environment, objectively good predictive abilities in people with ASD are coupled with elevated physiological stress and subjective uncertainty regarding the decisions with the best possible but still uncertain outcome that contributes to their intolerance of uncertainty.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Seijdel2024,

title = {Attention drives visual processing and audiovisual integration during multimodal communication},

author = {Noor Seijdel and Jan Mathijs Schoffelen and Peter Hagoort and Linda Drijvers},

doi = {10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0870-23.2023},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {The Journal of Neuroscience},

volume = {44},

number = {10},

pages = {1–11},

abstract = {During communication in real-life settings, our brain often needs to integrate auditory and visual information and at the same time actively focus on the relevant sources of information, while ignoring interference from irrelevant events. The interaction between integration and attention processes remains poorly understood. Here, we use rapid invisible frequency tagging and magnetoencephalography to investigate how attention affects auditory and visual information processing and integration, during multimodal communication. We presented human participants (male and female) with videos of an actress uttering action verbs (auditory; tagged at 58 Hz) accompanied by two movie clips of hand gestures on both sides of fixation (attended stimulus tagged at 65 Hz; unattended stimulus tagged at 63 Hz). Integration difficulty was manipulated by a lower-order auditory factor (clear/degraded speech) and a higher-order visual semantic factor (matching/mismatching gesture). We observed an enhanced neural response to the attended visual information during degraded speech compared to clear speech. For the unattended information, the neural response to mismatching gestures was enhanced compared to matching gestures. Furthermore, signal power at the intermodulation frequencies of the frequency tags, indexing nonlinear signal interactions, was enhanced in the left frontotemporal and frontal regions. Focusing on the left inferior frontal gyrus, this enhancement was specific for the attended information, for those trials that benefitted from integration with a matching gesture. Together, our results suggest that attention modulates audiovisual processing and interaction, depending on the congruence and quality of the sensory input.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Spaak2024,

title = {Perceptual foundation and extension to phase tagging for rapid invisible frequency tagging (RIFT) Eelke},

author = {Eelke Spaak and Floortje G. Bouwkamp and Floris P. Lang},

doi = {10.1162/imag},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Imaging Neuroscience},

volume = {2},

pages = {1–14},

abstract = {Recent years have seen the emergence of a visual stimulation protocol called Rapid Invisible Frequency Tagging (RIFT) in cognitive neuroscience. In RIFT experiments, visual stimuli are presented at a rapidly and sinusoidally oscillating luminance, using high refresh rate projection equipment. Such stimuli result in strong steady-state responses in visual cortex, measurable extracranially using EEG or MEG. The high signal-to-noise ratio of these neural signals, combined with the alleged invisibility of the manipulation, make RIFT a potentially promising technique to study the neural basis of visual processing. In this study, we set out to resolve two fundamental, yet still outstanding, issues regarding RIFT; as well as to open up a new avenue for taking RIFT beyond frequency tagging per se. First, we provide robust evidence that RIFT is indeed subjectively undetectable, going beyond previous anecdotal reports. Second, we demonstrate that full-amplitude luminance or contrast manipulation offer the best tagging results. Third and finally, we demonstrate that, in addition to frequency tagging, phase tagging can reliably be used in RIFT studies, opening up new avenues for constructing RIFT experiments. Together, this provides a solid foundation for using RIFT in visual cognitive neuroscience.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Zhu2024d,

title = {Temporal attention amplifies stimulus information in fronto-cingulate cortex at an intermediate processing stage},

author = {Jiating Zhu and Karen J. Tian and Marisa Carrasco and Rachel N. Denison},

doi = {10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae535},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {PNAS Nexus},

volume = {3},

number = {12},

pages = {1–13},

publisher = {Oxford University Press},

abstract = {The human brain faces significant constraints in its ability to process every item in a sequence of stimuli. Voluntary temporal attention can selectively prioritize a task-relevant item over its temporal competitors to alleviate these constraints. However, it remains unclear when and where in the brain selective temporal attention modulates the visual representation of a prioritized item. Here, we manipulated temporal attention to successive stimuli in a two-target temporal cueing task, while controlling for temporal expectation with fully predictable stimulus timing. We used magnetoencephalography and time-resolved decoding to track the spatiotemporal evolution of stimulus representations in human observers. We found that temporal attention enhanced the representation of the first target around 250 ms after target onset, in a contiguous region spanning left frontal cortex and cingulate cortex. The results indicate that voluntary temporal attention recruits cortical regions beyond the ventral stream at an intermediate processing stage to amplify the representation of a target stimulus. This routing of stimulus information to anterior brain regions may provide protection from interference in visual cortex by a subsequent stimulus. Thus, voluntary temporal attention may have distinctive neural mechanisms to support specific demands of the sequential processing of stimuli.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Wongtrakun2024,

title = {The effect of congruent versus incongruent distractor positioning on electrophysiological signals during perceptual decision-making},

author = {Jaeger Wongtrakun and Shou-Han Zhou and Mark A. Bellgrove and Trevor T. J. Chong and James P. Coxon},

doi = {10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2079-23.2024},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {The Journal of Neuroscience},

volume = {44},

number = {45},

pages = {1–9},

abstract = {Key event-related potentials (ERPs) of perceptual decision-making such as centroparietal positivity (CPP) elucidate how evidence is accumulated toward a given choice. Furthermore, this accumulation can be impacted by visual target selection signals such as the N2 contralateral (N2c). How these underlying neural mechanisms of perceptual decision-making are influenced by the spatial congruence of distractors relative to target stimuli remains unclear. Here, we used electroencephalography (EEG) in humans of both sexes to investigate the effect of distractor spatial congruency (same vs different hemifield relative to targets) on perceptual decision-making. We confirmed that responses for perceptual decisions were slower for spatially incongruent versus congruent distractors of high salience. Similarly, markers of target selection (N2c peak amplitude) and evidence accumulation (CPP slope) were found to be lower when distractors were spatially incongruent versus congruent. To evaluate the effects of congruency further, we applied drift diffusion modeling to participant responses, which showed that larger amplitudes of both ERPs were correlated with shorter nondecision times when considering the effect of congruency. The modeling also suggested that congruency's effect on behavior occurred prior to and during evidence accumulation when considering the effects of the N2c peak and CPP slope. These findings point to spatially incongruent distractors, relative to congruent distractors, influencing decisions as early as the initial sensory processing phase and then continuing to exert an effect as evidence is accumulated throughout the decision-making process. Overall, our findings highlight how key electrophysiological signals of perceptual decision-making are influenced by the spatial congruence of target and distractor.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Yang2024,

title = {Features of attention network impairment in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy: Evidence from eye-tracking and electroencephalogram},

author = {Haojun Yang and Xiaojie Wei and Kailing Huang and Zhongling Wu and Qiong Zhang and Shirui Wen and Quan Wang and Li Feng},

doi = {10.1016/j.yebeh.2024.109887},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Epilepsy and Behavior},

volume = {157},

pages = {1–8},

publisher = {Elsevier Inc.},

abstract = {Aim: To explore multiple features of attention impairments in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Methods: A total of 93 patients diagnosed with TLE at Xiangya Hospital during May 2022 and December 2022 and 85 healthy controls were included in this study. Participants were asked to complete neuropsychological scales and attention network test (ANT) with recording of eye-tracking and electroencephalogram. Results: All means of evaluation showed impaired attention functions in TLE patients. ANT results showed impaired orienting (p < 0.001) and executive control (p = 0.041) networks. Longer mean first saccade time (p = 0.046) and more total saccadic counts (p = 0.035) were found in eye-tracking results, indicating abnormal alerting and orienting networks. Both alerting, orienting and executive control networks were abnormal, manifesting as decreased amplitudes (N1 & P3, p < 0.001) and extended latency (P3},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Alvarez2024,

title = {Effectiveness of treatment for concussion-related convergence insufficiency: The CONCUSS study protocol for a randomized clinical trial},

author = {Tara L. Alvarez and Mitchell Scheiman and Suril Gohel and Farzin Hajebrahimi and Melissa Noble and Ayushi Sangoi and Chang Yaramothu and Christina L. Master and Arlene Goodman},

doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0314027},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {PloS ONE},

volume = {19},

number = {11},

pages = {1–23},

abstract = {PURPOSE: To describe CONCUSS, a randomized clinical trial (RCT) designed to compare the following: the effectiveness of immediate office-based vergence/accommodative therapy with movement (OBVAM) to delayed OBVAM as treatments for concussion-related convergence insufficiency (CONC-CI) to understand the impact of time (watchful waiting), the effect of OBVAM dosage (12 versus 16 therapy sessions), and to investigate the underlying neuro-mechanisms of OBVAM on CONC-CI participants. METHODS: CONCUSS is an RCT indexed on https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05262361 enrolling 100 participants aged 11-25 years with medically diagnosed concussion, persistent post-concussive symptoms 4-24 weeks post-injury, and symptomatic convergence insufficiency. Participants will receive standard concussion care and will be randomized to either immediate OBVAM or delayed (by six weeks) OBVAM. At the Outcome 1 examination (week 7), clinical assessments of success as determined by changes in the near point of convergence (NPC), positive fusional vergence (PFV), and symptoms will be compared between the two treatment groups. After the Outcome 1 visit, those in the delayed group receive 16 visits of OBVAM, while those in the immediate OBVAM group receive four more therapy visits. Outcome 2 assessment will be used to compare both groups after participants receive 16 sessions of OBVAM. The primary measure is the between-group differences of the composite change in the NPC and PFV at the Outcome 1 visit. Secondary outcome measures include individual clinical measures, objective eye-tracking parameters, and functional brain imaging. CONCLUSIONS: Major features of the study design include formal definitions of conditions and outcomes, standardized diagnostic and treatment protocols, a delayed treatment arm, masked outcome examinations, and the incorporation of objective eye movement recording and brain imaging as outcome measures. CONCUSS will establish best practices in the clinical care of CONC-CI. The objective eye movement and brain imaging, correlated with the clinical signs and symptoms, will determine the neuro-mechanisms of OBVAM on CONC-CI.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Anderson2024,

title = {fMRI and gene therapy in adults with CNGB3 mutation},

author = {Elaine J. Anderson and Tessa M. Dekker and Mahtab Farahbakhsh and Nashila Hirji and D. Samuel Schwarzkopf and Michel Michaelides and Geraint Rees},

doi = {10.1016/j.brainresbull.2024.111026},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Brain Research Bulletin},

volume = {215},

pages = {1–10},

publisher = {Elsevier Inc.},

abstract = {Achromatopsia is an inherited retinal disease that affects 1 in 30,000–50,000 individuals and is characterised by an absence of functioning cone photoreceptors from birth. This results in severely reduced visual acuity, no colour vision, marked sensitivity to light and involuntary oscillations of the eyes (nystagmus). In most cases, a single gene mutation prevents normal development of cone photoreceptors, with mutations in the CNGB3 or CNGA3 gene being responsible for ∼80 % of all patients with achromatopsia. There are a growing number of studies investigating recovery of cone function after targeted gene therapy. These studies have provided some promise for patients with the CNGA3 mutation, but thus far have found limited or no recovery for patients with the CNGB3 mutation. Here, we developed colour-calibrated visual stimuli designed to isolate cone photoreceptor responses. We combined these with adapted fMRI techniques and pRF mapping to identify if cortical responses to cone-driven signals could be detected in 9 adult patients with the CNGB3 mutation after receiving gene therapy. We did not detect any change in brain activity after gene therapy when the 9 patients were analysed as a group. However, on an individual basis, one patient self-reported a change in colour perception, corroborated by improved performance on a psychophysical task designed to selectively identify cone function. This suggests a level of cone sensitivity that was lacking pre-treatment, further supported by a subtle but reliable change in cortical activity within their primary visual cortex.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Azadi2024a,

title = {Inactivation of face-selective neurons alters eye movements when free viewing faces},

author = {Reza Azadi and Emily Lopez and Jessica Taubert and Amanda Patterson and Arash Afraz},

doi = {10.1073/pnas},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences},

volume = {121},

number = {3},

pages = {1–10},

abstract = {During free viewing, faces attract gaze and induce specific fixation patterns corresponding to the facial features. This suggests that neurons encoding the facial features are in the causal chain that steers the eyes. However, there is no physiological evidence to support a mechanistic link between face- encoding neurons in high- level visual areas and the oculo- motor system. In this study, we targeted the middle face patches of the inferior temporal (IT) cortex in two macaque monkeys using an functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) localizer. We then utilized muscimol microinjection to unilaterally suppress IT neural activity inside and outside the face patches and recorded eye movements while the animals free viewing natural scenes. Inactivation of the face- selective neurons altered the pattern of eye movements on faces: The monkeys found faces in the scene but neglected the eye contralateral to the inactivation hemisphere. These findings reveal the causal contribution of the high- level visual cortex in eye movements.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{BachaTrams2024,

title = {Sisterhood predicts similar neural processing of a film},

author = {Mareike Bacha-Trams and Gökce Ertas Yorulmaz and Enrico Glerean and Elisa Ryyppö and Karoliina Tapani and Eero Virmavirta and Jenni Saaristo and Iiro P. Jääskeläinen and Mikko Sams},

doi = {10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120712},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {NeuroImage},

volume = {297},

pages = {1–14},

abstract = {Relationships between humans are essential for how we see the world. Using fMRI, we explored the neural basis of homophily, a sociological concept that describes the tendency to bond with similar others. Our comparison of brain activity between sisters, friends and acquaintances while they watched a movie, indicate that sisters' brain activity is more similar than that of friends and friends' activity is more similar than that of acquaintances. The increased similarity in brain activity measured as inter-subject correlation (ISC) was found both in higher-order brain areas including the default-mode network (DMN) and sensory areas. Increased ISC could not be explained by genetic relation between sisters neither by similarities in eye-movements, emotional experiences, and physiological activity. Our findings shed light on the neural basis of homophily by revealing that similarity in brain activity in the DMN and sensory areas is the stronger the closer is the relationship between the people.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Beckers2024,

title = {Impact of repeated short light exposures on sustained pupil responses in an fMRI environment},

author = {Elise Beckers and Islay Campbell and Roya Sharifpour and Ilenia Paparella and Alexandre Berger and Jose Fermin Balda Aizpurua and Ekaterina Koshmanova and Nasrin Mortazavi and Puneet Talwar and Siya Sherif and Heidi I. L. Jacobs and Gilles Vandewalle},

doi = {10.1111/jsr.14085},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Sleep Research},

volume = {33},

number = {4},

pages = {1–14},

abstract = {Light triggers numerous non-image-forming, or non-visual, biological effects. The brain correlates of these non-image-forming effects have been investigated, notably using magnetic resonance imaging and short light exposures varying in irradiance and spectral quality. However, it is not clear whether non-image-forming responses estimation may be biased by having light in sequential blocks, for example, through a potential carryover effect of one light onto the next. We reasoned that pupil light reflex was an easy readout of one of the non-image-forming effects of light that could be used to address this issue. We characterised the sustained pupil light reflex in 13–16 healthy young individuals under short light exposures during three distinct cognitive processes (executive, emotional and attentional). Light conditions pseudo-randomly alternated between monochromatic orange light (0.16 melanopic equivalent daylight illuminance lux) and polychromatic blue-enriched white light of three different levels (37, 92, 190 melanopic equivalent daylight illuminance lux). As expected, higher melanopic irradiance was associated with larger sustained pupil light reflex in each cognitive domain. This result was stable over the light sequence under higher melanopic irradiance levels compared with lower ones. Exploratory frequency-domain analyses further revealed that sustained pupil light reflex was more variable under lower melanopic irradiance levels. Importantly, sustained pupil light reflex varied across tasks independently of the light condition, pointing to a potential impact of light history and/or cognitive context on sustained pupil light reflex. Together, our results emphasise that the distinct contribution and adaptation of the different retinal photoreceptors influence the non-image-forming effects of light and therefore potentially their brain correlates.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Bergmann2024,

title = {Cortical depth profiles in primary visual cortex for illusory and imaginary experiences},

author = {Johanna Bergmann and Lucy S. Petro and Clement Abbatecola and Min S. Li and A. Tyler Morgan and Lars Muckli},

doi = {10.1038/s41467-024-45065-w},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Nature Communications},

volume = {15},

number = {1},

pages = {1–13},

publisher = {Springer US},

abstract = {Visual illusions and mental imagery are non-physical sensory experiences that involve cortical feedback processing in the primary visual cortex. Using laminar functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in two studies, we investigate if information about these internal experiences is visible in the activation patterns of different layers of primary visual cortex (V1). We find that imagery content is decodable mainly from deep layers of V1, whereas seemingly ‘real' illusory content is decodable mainly from superficial layers. Furthermore, illusory content shares information with perceptual content, whilst imagery content does not generalise to illusory or perceptual information. Together, our results suggest that illusions and imagery, which differ immensely in their subjective experiences, also involve partially distinct early visual microcircuits. However, overlapping microcircuit recruitment might emerge based on the nuanced nature of subjective conscious experience.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Blanchard2024,

title = {Motivation and pleasure deficits undermine the benefits of social affiliation in psychosis},

author = {Jack J. Blanchard and Jason F. Smith and Melanie E. Bennett and Ryan D. Orth and Christina L. G. Savage and Julie M. McCarthy and James A. Coan and Alexander J. Shackman},

doi = {10.1177/21677026241227886},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Clinical Psychological Science},

volume = {12},

number = {6},

pages = {1195 –1217},

abstract = {In psychotic disorders, motivation and pleasure (MAP) deficits are associated with decreased affiliation and heightened functional impairment. We leveraged a transdiagnostic sample enriched for psychosis and a multimethod approach to test the hypothesis that MAP deficits undermine the stress-buffering benefits of affiliation. Participants completed the social-affiliation-enhancement task (SAET) to cultivate affiliation with an experimental partner. Although the SAET increased perceived affiliation and mood, individuals with greater negative symptoms derived smaller emotional benefits from the partners, as indexed by self-report and facial behavior. We then used the handholding functional MRI paradigm, which combines threat anticipation with affiliative physical contact, to determine whether MAP deficits undermine the social regulation of distress. Individuals with greater MAP deficits showed diminished neural “benefits”—reduced dampening of threat-elicited activation—from affiliative touch in key frontoparietal nodes of the dorsal attention network. In short, MAP symptoms disrupt the emotional and neuroregulatory benefits of affiliation.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Bocha2024,

title = {Action observation reveals a network with divergent temporal and parietal cortex engagement in dogs compared with humans},

author = {Magdalena Bocha and Sabrina Karl and Isabella C. Wagnera and Lukas L. Lengersdorff and Ludwig Huberc and Claus Lamm},

doi = {10.1162/imag},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Imaging Neuroscience},

volume = {2},

pages = {1–29},

abstract = {Action observation is a fundamental pillar of social cognition. Neuroimaging research has revealed a human and non-human primate action observation network (AON) encompassing frontotemporoparietal areas with links to the species' imitation tendencies and relative lobe expansion. Dogs (Canis familiaris) have good action perception and imitation skills and a less expanded parietal than temporal cortex, but their AON remains unexplored. We conducted a functional MRI study with 28 dogs and 40 humans and found functionally analogous involvement of somatosensory and temporal brain areas of both species' AONs and responses to transitive and intransitive action observation in line with their imitative skills. Employing a functional localizer, we also identified functionally analogous agent-responsive areas within both species' AONs. However, activation and task-based functional connectivity measures suggested significantly less parietal cortex involvement in dogs than in humans. These findings advance our understanding of the neural bases of action understanding and the convergent evolution of social cognition, with analogies and differences resulting from similar social environments and divergent brain expansion, respectively.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Borovska2024,

title = {Individual gaze shapes diverging neural representations},

author = {Petra Borovska and Benjamin Haas},

doi = {10.1073/pnas},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences},

volume = {121},

number = {36},

pages = {1–3},

abstract = {Complex visual stimuli evoke diverse patterns of gaze, but previous research suggests that their neural representations are shared across brains. Here, we used hyperalignment to compare visual responses between observers viewing identical stimuli. We find that individual eye movements enhance cortical visual responses but also lead to representational divergence. Pairwise differences in the spatial distribution of gaze and in semantic salience predict pairwise representational divergence in V1 and inferior temporal cortex, respectively. This suggests that individual gaze sculpts individual visual worlds.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Brendler2024,

title = {Assessing hypo-arousal during reward anticipation with pupillometry in patients with major depressive disorder: replication and correlations with anhedonia},

author = {Andy Brendler and Max Schneider and Immanuel G. Elbau and Rui Sun and Taechawidd Nantawisarakul and Dorothee Pöhlchen and Tanja Brückl and A. K. Brem and E. B. Binder and A. Erhardt and J. Fietz and N. C. Grandi and Y. Kim and S. Ilić-Ćoćić and L. Leuchs and S. Lucae and T. Namendorf and J. Pape and L. Schilbach and I. Mücke-Heim and J. Ziebula and Michael Czisch and Philipp G. Sämann and Michael D. Lee and Victor I. Spoormaker},

doi = {10.1038/s41598-023-48792-0},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Scientific Reports},

volume = {14},

number = {344},

pages = {1–11},

abstract = {Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a devastating and heterogenous disorder for which there are no approved biomarkers in clinical practice. We recently identified anticipatory hypo-arousal indexed by pupil responses as a candidate mechanism subserving depression symptomatology. Here, we conducted a replication and extension study of these findings. We analyzed a replication sample of 40 unmedicated patients with a diagnosis of depression and 30 healthy control participants, who performed a reward anticipation task while pupil responses were measured. Using a Bayesian modelling approach taking measurement uncertainty into account, we could show that the negative correlation between pupil dilation and symptom load during reward anticipation is replicable within MDD patients, albeit with a lower effect size. Furthermore, with the combined sample of 136 participants (81 unmedicated depressed and 55 healthy control participants), we further showed that reduced pupil dilation in anticipation of reward is inversely associated with anhedonia items of the Beck Depression Inventory in particular. Moreover, using simultaneous fMRI, particularly the right anterior insula as part of the salience network was negatively correlated with depressive symptom load in general and anhedonia items specifically. The present study supports the utility of pupillometry in assessing noradrenergically mediated hypo-arousal during reward anticipation in MDD, a physiological process that appears to subserve anhedonia.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Bridge2024,

title = {Neurochemistry and functional connectivity in the brain of people with Charles Bonnet syndrome},

author = {Holly Bridge and Abigail Wyllie and Aaron Kay and Bailey Rand and Lucy Starling and Rebecca S. Millington-Truby and William T. Clarke and Jasleen K. Jolly and I. Betina Ip},

doi = {10.1177/25158414241280201},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Therapeutic Advances in Ophthalmology},

volume = {16},

pages = {1–18},

abstract = {Background: Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS) is a condition in which people with vision loss experience complex visual hallucinations. These complex visual hallucinations may be caused by increased excitability in the visual cortex that are present in some people with vision loss but not others. Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the association between γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the visual cortex and CBS. We also tested the relationship among visually evoked responses, functional connectivity, and CBS. Design: This is a prospective, case-controlled, cross-sectional observational study. Methods: We applied 3-Tesla magnetic resonance spectroscopy, as well as task-based and resting state (RS) connectivity functional magnetic resonance imaging in six participants with CBS and six controls without CBS. GABA+ was measured in the early visual cortex (EVC) and in the lateral occipital cortex (LOC). Participants also completed visual acuity and cognitive tests, and the North-East Visual Hallucinations Interview. Results: The two groups were well-matched for age, gender, visual acuity and cognitive scores. There was no difference in GABA+ levels between groups in the visual cortex. Most participants showed the expected blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) activation to images of objects and the phase-scrambled control. Using a fixed effects analysis, we found that BOLD activation was greater in participants with CBS compared to controls. Analysis of RS connectivity with LOC and EVC showed little difference between groups. A fixed effects analysis showed a correlation between the extent of functional connectivity with LOC and hallucination strength. Conclusion: Overall, our results provide no strong evidence for an association between GABAergic inhibition in the visual cortex and CBS. We only found subtle differences in visual function and connectivity between groups. These findings suggest that the neurochemistry and visual connectivity for people with Charles Bonnet hallucinations are comparable to a sight loss population. Differences between groups may emerge when investigating subtle and transient changes that occur at the time of visual hallucinations.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Brus2024,

title = {Causal phase-dependent control of non-spatial attention in human prefrontal cortex},

author = {Jeroen Brus and Joseph A. Heng and Valeriia Beliaeva and Fabian Gonzalez Pinto and Antonino Mario Cassarà and Esra Neufeld and Marcus Grueschow and Lukas Imbach and Rafael Polanía},

doi = {10.1038/s41562-024-01820-z},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Nature Human Behaviour},

volume = {8},

number = {4},

pages = {743–757},

publisher = {Springer US},

abstract = {Non-spatial attention is a fundamental cognitive mechanism that allows organisms to orient the focus of conscious awareness towards sensory information that is relevant to a behavioural goal while shifting it away from irrelevant stimuli. It has been suggested that attention is regulated by the ongoing phase of slow excitability fluctuations of neural activity in the prefrontal cortex, a hypothesis that has been challenged with no consensus. Here we developed a behavioural and non-invasive stimulation paradigm aiming at modulating slow excitability fluctuations of the inferior frontal junction. Using this approach, we show that non-spatial attention can be selectively modulated as a function of the ongoing phase of exogenously modulated excitability states of this brain structure. These results demonstrate that non-spatial attention relies on ongoing prefrontal excitability states, which are probably regulated by slow oscillatory dynamics, that orchestrate goal-oriented behaviour.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Buschermoehle2024,

title = {Comparing the performance of beamformer algorithms in estimating orientations of neural sources},

author = {Yvonne Buschermöhle and Malte B. Höltershinken and Tim Erdbrügger and Jan Ole Radecke and Andreas Sprenger and Till R. Schneider and Rebekka Lencer and Joachim Gross and Carsten H. Wolters},

doi = {10.1016/j.isci.2024.109150},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {iScience},

volume = {27},

number = {3},

pages = {1–21},

abstract = {The efficacy of transcranial electric stimulation (tES) to effectively modulate neuronal activity depends critically on the spatial orientation of the targeted neuronal population. Therefore, precise estimation of target orientation is of utmost importance. Different beamforming algorithms provide orientation estimates; however, a systematic analysis of their performance is still lacking. For fixed brain locations, EEG and MEG data from sources with randomized orientations were simulated. The orientation was then estimated (1) with an EEG and (2) with a combined EEG-MEG approach. Three commonly used beamformer algorithms were evaluated with respect to their abilities to estimate the correct orientation: Unit-Gain (UG), Unit-Noise-Gain (UNG), and Array-Gain (AG) beamformer. Performance depends on the signal-to-noise ratios for the modalities and on the chosen beamformer. Overall, the UNG and AG beamformers appear as the most reliable. With increasing noise, the UG estimate converges to a vector determined by the leadfield, thus leading to insufficient orientation estimates.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Campbell2024d,

title = {Regional response to light illuminance across the human hypothalamus},

author = {Islay Campbell and Roya Sharifpour and Jose Fermin Balda Aizpurua and Elise Beckers and Ilenia Paparella and Alexandre Berger and Ekaterina Koshmanova and Nasrin Mortazavi and John Read and Mikhail Zubkov and Puneet Talwar and Fabienne Collette and Siya Sherif and Christophe Phillips and Laurent Lamalle and Gilles Vandewalle},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {eLife},

volume = {13},

pages = {1–21},

abstract = {Light exerts multiple non-image-forming biological effects on physiology including the stimulation of alertness and cognition. However, the subcortical circuitry underlying the stimulating impact of light is not established in humans. We used 7 Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess the impact of variations in light illuminance on the regional activity of the hypothalamus while healthy young adults (N=26; 16 women; 24.3 ± 2.9y) were completing two auditory cognitive tasks. We find that, during both the executive and emotional tasks, higher illuminance triggered an activity increase over the posterior part of the hypothalamus, which includes part of the tuberomamillary nucleus and the posterior part of the lateral hypothalamus. In contrast, increasing illuminance evoked a decrease in activity over the anterior and ventral parts of the hypothalamus, encompassing notably the suprachiasmatic nucleus and another part of the tuberomammillary nucleus. Critically, performance of the executive task was improved under higher illuminance and was negatively correlated with the activity of the posterior hypothalamus area. These findings reveal the distinct local dynamics of different hypothalamus regions that underlie the impact of light on cognition. They may suggest that light acts on the orexin and histamine system to affect the quality of wakefulness. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Cao2024a,

title = {Moral conviction interacts with metacognitive ability in modulating neural activity during sociopolitical decision-making},

author = {Qiongwen Cao and Michael Cohen and Akram Bakkour and Yuan Leong and Jean Decety},

doi = {10.3758/s13415-024-01243-3},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience},

pages = {1–20},

publisher = {Springer US},

abstract = {The extent to which a belief is rooted in one's sense of morality has significant societal implications. While moral convictions can inspire positive collective action, they can also prompt dogmatism, intolerance, and societal divisions. These negative effects may be exacerbated by poor metacognition. There has been extensive research in social psychology about the characteristics of moral convictions, but their neural mechanisms and how they are incorporated into the valuation and decision-making process remain unclear. This study was designed to examine the neural mechanisms of decision-making on sociopolitical issues that vary on moral conviction, as well as how metacognitive abilities relate to these mechanisms. Participants (N = 44) underwent fMRI scanning while deciding on each trial which of two groups of political protesters they supported more. As predicted, stronger moral conviction was related to faster response times. Hemodynamic response in the anterior insula (aINS), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC) were elevated during decisions with higher moral conviction level, supporting both the emotional and cognitive dimensions of moral conviction. Functional connectivity between lPFC and vmPFC was also higher on trials higher in moral conviction, elucidating mechanisms through which moral conviction is incorporated into valuation. Support for protesters was positively associated with brain activity in regions involved in valuation (particularly vmPFC and amygdala). Metacognitive sensitivity, measured in a separate perceptual task, negatively correlated with parametric effects of moral conviction in the brain, providing new evidence that metacognition modulates responses to morally convicted issues.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Cecconi2024,

title = {Study protocol: Cerebral characterization of sensory gating in disconnected dreaming states during propofol anesthesia using fMRI},

author = {Benedetta Cecconi and Javier Montupil and Sepehr Mortaheb and Rajanikant Panda and Robert D. Sanders and Christophe Phillips and Naji Alnagger and Emma Remacle and Aline Defresne and Melanie Boly and Mohamed Ali Bahri and Laurent Lamalle and Steven Laureys and Olivia Gosseries and Vincent Bonhomme and Jitka Annen},

doi = {10.3389/fnins.2024.1306344},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Frontiers in Neuroscience},

volume = {18},

pages = {1–14},

abstract = {Background: Disconnected consciousness describes a state in which subjective experience (i.e., consciousness) becomes isolated from the external world. It appears frequently during sleep or sedation, when subjective experiences remain vivid but are unaffected by external stimuli. Traditional methods of differentiating connected and disconnected consciousness, such as relying on behavioral responsiveness or on post-anesthesia reports, have demonstrated limited accuracy: unresponsiveness has been shown to not necessarily equate to unconsciousness and amnesic effects of anesthesia and sleep can impair explicit recollection of events occurred during sleep/sedation. Due to these methodological challenges, our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying sensory disconnection remains limited. Methods: To overcome these methodological challenges, we employ a distinctive strategy by combining a serial awakening paradigm with auditory stimulation during mild propofol sedation. While under sedation, participants are systematically exposed to auditory stimuli and questioned about their subjective experience (to assess consciousness) and their awareness of the sounds (to evaluate connectedness/disconnectedness from the environment). The data collected through interviews are used to categorize participants into connected and disconnected consciousness states. This method circumvents the requirement for responsiveness in assessing consciousness and mitigates amnesic effects of anesthesia as participants are questioned while still under sedation. Functional MRI data are concurrently collected to investigate cerebral activity patterns during connected and disconnected states, to elucidate sensory disconnection neural gating mechanisms. We examine whether this gating mechanism resides at the thalamic level or results from disruptions in information propagation to higher cortices. Furthermore, we explore the potential role of slow-wave activity (SWA) in inducing disconnected consciousness by quantifying high-frequency BOLD oscillations, a known correlate of slow-wave activity. Discussion: This study represents a notable advancement in the investigation of sensory disconnection. The serial awakening paradigm effectively mitigates amnesic effects by collecting reports immediately after regaining responsiveness, while still under sedation. Ultimately, this research holds the potential to understand how sensory gating is achieved at the neural level. These biomarkers might be relevant for the development of sensitive anesthesia monitoring to avoid intraoperative connected consciousness and for the assessment of patients suffering from pathologically reduced consciousness.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Centanino2024,

title = {The neural link between stimulus duration and spatial location in the human visual hierarchy},

author = {Valeria Centanino and Gianfranco Fortunato and Domenica Bueti},

doi = {10.1038/s41467-024-54336-5},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Nature Communications},

volume = {15},

number = {1},

pages = {1–19},

publisher = {Springer US},

abstract = {Integrating spatial and temporal information is essential for our sensory experience. While psychophysical evidence suggests spatial dependencies in duration perception, few studies have directly tested the neural link between temporal and spatial processing. Using ultra-high-field functional MRI and neuronal-based modeling, we investigated how and where the processing and the representation of a visual stimulus duration is linked to that of its spatial location. Our results show a transition in duration coding: from monotonic and spatially-dependent in early visual cortex to unimodal and spatially-invariant in frontal cortex. Along the dorsal visual stream, particularly in the intraparietal sulcus (IPS), neuronal populations show common selective responses to both spatial and temporal information. In the IPS, spatial and temporal topographic organizations are also linked, although duration maps are smaller, less clustered, and more variable across participants. These findings help identify the mechanisms underlying human perception of visual duration and characterize the functional link between time and space processing, highlighting the importance of their interactions in shaping brain responses.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Chauhan2024,

title = {Reading reshapes stimulus selectivity in the visual word form area},

author = {Vassiki S. Chauhan and Krystal C. McCook and Alex L. White},

doi = {10.1523/ENEURO.0228-24.2024},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {eNeuro},

volume = {11},

number = {7},

pages = {1–20},

abstract = {Reading depends on a brain region known as the “visual word form area” (VWFA) in the left ventral occipitotemporal cortex. This region's function is debated because its stimulus selectivity is not absolute, it is modulated by a variety of task demands, and it is inconsistently localized. We used fMRI to characterize the combination of sensory and cognitive factors that activate word-responsive regions that we precisely localized in 16 adult humans (4 male). We then presented three types of character strings: English words, pseudowords, and unfamiliar characters with matched visual features. Participants performed three different tasks while viewing those stimuli: detecting real words, detecting color in the characters, and detecting color in the fixation mark. There were three primary findings about the VWFA's response: (1) It preferred letter strings over unfamiliar characters even when the stimuli were ignored during the fixation task. (2) Compared with those baseline responses, engaging in the word reading task enhanced the response to words but suppressed the response to unfamiliar characters. (3) Attending to the stimuli to judge their color had little effect on the response magnitudes. Thus, the VWFA is uniquely modulated by a cognitive signal that is specific to voluntary linguistic processing and is not additive. Functional connectivity analyses revealed that communication between the VWFA and a left frontal language area increased when the participant engaged in the linguistic task. We conclude that the VWFA is inherently selective for familiar orthography, but it falls under control of the language network when the task demands it.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Cicero2024,

title = {Differential cortical and subcortical visual processing with eyes shut},

author = {Nicholas G. Cicero and Michaela Klimova and Laura D. Lewis and Sam Ling},

doi = {10.1152/jn.00073.2024},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Neurophysiology},

volume = {132},

number = {1},

pages = {54–60},

abstract = {Closing our eyes largely shuts down our ability to see. That said, our eyelids still pass some light, allowing our visual system to coarsely process information about visual scenes, such as changes in luminance. However, the specific impact of eye closure on processing within the early visual system remains largely unknown. To understand how visual processing is modulated when eyes are shut, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure responses to a flickering visual stimulus at high (100%) and low (10%) temporal contrasts, while participants viewed the stimuli with their eyes open or closed. Interestingly, we discovered that eye closure produced a qualitatively distinct pattern of effects across the visual thalamus and visual cortex. We found that with eyes open, low temporal contrast stimuli produced smaller responses across the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), primary (V1) and extrastriate visual cortex (V2). However, with eyes closed, we discovered that the LGN and V1 maintained similar blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) responses as the eyes open condition, despite the suppressed visual input through the eyelid. In contrast, V2 and V3 had strongly attenuated BOLD response when eyes were closed, regardless of temporal contrast. Our findings reveal a qualitatively distinct pattern of visual processing when the eyes are closed-one that is not simply an overall attenuation but rather reflects distinct responses across visual thalamocortical networks, wherein the earliest stages of processing preserve information about stimuli but are then gated off downstream in visual cortex.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Clairis2024,

title = {Value estimation versus effort mobilization: A general dissociation between ventromedial and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex},

author = {Nicolas Clairis and Mathias Pessiglione},

doi = {10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1176-23.2024},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {The Journal of Neuroscience},

volume = {44},

number = {17},

pages = {1–13},

abstract = {Deciding on a course of action requires both an accurate estimation of option values and the right amount of effort invested iwn deliberation to reach sufficient confidence in the final choice. In a previous study, we have provided evidence, across a series of judgment and choice tasks, for a dissociation between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), which would represent option values, and the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), which would represent the duration of deliberation. Here, we first replicate this dissociation and extend it to the case of an instrumental learning task, in which 24 human volunteers (13 women) choose between options associated with probabilistic gains and losses. According to fMRI data recorded during decision-making, vmPFC activity reflects the sum of option values generated by a reinforcement learning model and dmPFC activity the deliberation time. To further generalize the role of the dmPFC in mobilizing effort, we then analyze fMRI data recorded in the same participants while they prepare to perform motor and cognitive tasks (squeezing a handgrip or making numerical comparisons) to maximize gains or minimize losses. In both cases, dmPFC activity is associated with the output of an effort regulation model, and not with response time. Taken together, these results strengthen a general theory of behavioral control that implicates the vmPFC in the estimation of option values and the dmPFC in the energization of relevant motor and cognitive processes.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Dabbagh2024,

title = {Reliability of task-based fMRI in the dorsal horn of the human spinal cord},

author = {Alice Dabbagh and Ulrike Horn and Merve Kaptan and Toralf Mildner and Roland Müller and Jöran Lepsien and Nikolaus Weiskop and Jonathan C. W. Brooks and Jürgen Finsterbusch and Falk Eippert},

doi = {10.1162/imag},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Imaging Neuroscience},

volume = {2},

pages = {1–27},

abstract = {The application of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to the human spinal cord is still a relatively small field of research and faces many challenges. Here we aimed to probe the limitations of task-based spinal fMRI at 3T by investigating the reliability of spinal cord blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) responses to repeated nociceptive stimulation across 2 consecutive days in 40 healthy volunteers. We assessed the test–retest reliability of subjective ratings, autonomic responses, and spinal cord BOLD responses to short heat-pain stimuli (1 s duration) using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). At the group level, we observed robust autonomic responses as well as spatially specific spinal cord BOLD responses at the expected location, but no spatial overlap in BOLD response patterns across days. While autonomic indicators of pain processing showed good-to-excellent reliability, both β-estimates and z-scores of task-related BOLD responses showed poor reliability across days in the target region (gray matter of the ipsilateral dorsal horn). When taking into account the sensitivity of gradient-echo echo planar imaging (GE-EPI) to draining vein signals by including the venous plexus in the analysis, we observed BOLD responses with fair reliability across days. Taken together, these results demonstrate that heat- pain stimuli as short as 1 s are able to evoke a robust and spatially specific BOLD response, which is, however, strongly variable within participants across time, resulting in low reliability in the dorsal horn gray matter. Further improvements in data acquisition and analysis techniques are thus necessary before event-related spinal cord fMRI as used here can be reliably employed in longitudinal designs or clinical settings.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Demiral2024,

title = {Blink-induced changes in pupil dynamics are consistent and heritable},

author = {Şükrü Barış Demiral and Nora D. Volkow},

doi = {10.1038/s41598-024-79527-4},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Scientific Reports},

volume = {14},

number = {1},

pages = {1–13},

abstract = {Pupil size and blink rates are heritable but the extent to which they interact with one another has not been properly investigated. Though changes in pupil size due to eye blinks have been reported, they are considered a pupillary artifact. In this study we used the HCP 7T fMRI dataset with resting state eye-tracking data obtained in monozygotic and dizygotic twins to assess their heritability and their interactions. For this purpose, we characterized the pupil dilation (positive peak) and constriction (negative peak) that followed blink events, which we describe as blink-induced pupillary response (BIPR). We show that the BIPR is highly consistent with a positive dilatory peak (D-peak) around 500ms and a negative constricting peak (C-peak) around 1s. These patterns were reproducible within- and between-subjects across two time points and differed by vigilance state (vigilant versus drowsy). By comparing BIPR between monozygotic and dizygotic twins we show that BIPR have a heritable component with significant additive genetic (A) and environmental (E) factors dominating the structural equation models, particularly in the time-domain for both D- and C-peaks (a2 between 42 and 49%) and shared effects (C) as observed in the amplitude domain for the C-peak. Blink duration, pupil size and blink rate were also found to be highly heritable (a2 up to 62% for pupil size). Our study provides evidence of that shared environmental and additive genetic factors influence BIPR and indicates that BIPR should not be treated as a coincidental artefact. Instead BIPR appears to be a component of a larger oculomotor system that we label here as Oculomotor Adaptive System, that is genetically determined.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Diasa2024,

title = {A chronometric relationship between circuits underlying learning and error monitoring in the basal ganglia and salience network},

author = {Camila Diasa and Teresa Sousa and Miguel Castelo-Branco},

doi = {10.1162/imag},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Imaging Neuroscience},

volume = {2},

pages = {1–16},

abstract = {Healthy individuals readily adjust their behavior in response to errors using learning mechanisms. This raises the question of how error-related neural mechanisms underlie the learning process and its progress. In this study, 21 healthy participants performed a challenging functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) task to answer this question. We assessed the evolution of error- related neural response as a function of learning progress. We tested the hypothesis that the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and anterior insula, key regions of the error monitoring neural circuitry, reflect both the performance of an action and its improvement. Given the nature of trial- and-error learning, we also expected an involvement of the striatum, particularly the putamen. We found that error-related neural activity (in the dACC and anterior insula) was similar following correct responses and errors in an initial learning period. However, as learning progressed, the activity continuously decreased in response to correct events and increased after errors. In opposition, during the initial learning phase, the putamen activity was modulated by errors, but, as it progressed, this region became unaffected by response outcomes. In sum, our study provides neural evidence for an interaction between the mechanisms underlying error monitoring and learning, contributing to clarifying how error- related neural responses evolve with learning.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Du2024a,

title = {Organization of the human cerebral cortex estimated within individuals: Networks, global topography, and function},

author = {Jingnan Du and Lauren M. DiNicola and Peter A. Angeli and Noam Saadon-Grosman and Wendy Sun and Stephanie Kaiser and Joanna Ladopoulou and Aihuiping Xue and B. T. Thomas Yeo and Mark C. Eldaief and Randy L. Buckner},

doi = {10.1152/jn.00308.2023},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Neurophysiology},

volume = {131},

number = {6},

pages = {1014–1082},

abstract = {The cerebral cortex is populated by specialized regions that are organized into networks. Here we estimated networks from functional MRI (fMRI) data in intensively sampled participants. The procedure was developed in two participants (scanned 31 times) and then prospectively applied to 15 participants (scanned 8–11 times). Analysis of the networks revealed a global organization. Locally organized first-order sensory and motor networks were surrounded by spatially adjacent second-order networks that linked to distant regions. Third-order networks possessed regions distributed widely throughout association cortex. Regions of distinct third-order networks displayed side-by-side juxtapositions with a pattern that repeated across multiple cortical zones. We refer to these as supra-areal association megaclusters (SAAMs). Within each SAAM, two candidate control regions were adjacent to three separate domain-specialized regions. Response properties were explored with task data. The somatomotor and visual networks responded to body movements and visual stimulation, respectively. Second-order networks responded to transients in an oddball detection task, consistent with a role in orienting to salient events. The third-order networks, including distinct regions within each SAAM, showed two levels of functional specialization. Regions linked to candidate control networks responded to working memory load across multiple stimulus domains. The remaining regions dissociated across language, social, and spatial/episodic processing domains. These results suggest that progressively higher-order networks nest outward from primary sensory and motor cortices. Within the apex zones of association cortex, there is specialization that repeatedly divides domain-flexible from domain-specialized regions. We discuss implications of these findings, including how repeating organizational motifs may emerge during development.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Duan2024a,

title = {Visual working memories are abstractions of percepts},

author = {Ziyi Duan and Clayton E. Curtis},

doi = {10.7554/ELIFE.94191},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {eLife},

volume = {13},

pages = {1–18},

abstract = {During perception, decoding the orientation of gratings depends on complex interactions between the orientation of the grating, aperture edges, and topographic structure of the visual map. Here, we aimed to test how aperture biases described during perception affect working memory (WM) decoding. For memoranda, we used gratings multiplied by radial and angular modulators to generate orthogonal aperture biases for identical orientations. Therefore, if WM representations are simply maintained sensory representations, they would have similar aperture biases. If they are abstractions of sensory features, they would be unbiased and the modulator would have no effect on orientation decoding. Neural patterns of delay period activity while maintaining the orientation of gratings with one modulator (e.g. radial) were interchangeable with patterns while maintaining gratings with the other modulator (e.g. angular) in visual and parietal cortex, suggesting that WM representations are insensitive to aperture biases during perception. Then, we visualized memory abstractions of stimuli using models of visual field map properties. Regardless of aperture biases, WM representations of both modulated gratings were recoded into a single oriented line. These results provide strong evidence that visual WM representations are abstractions of percepts, immune to perceptual aperture biases, and compel revisions of WM theory.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Eng2024,

title = {Identifying subgroups of urge suppression in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder using machine learning},

author = {Goi Khia Eng and Alessandro S. De Nadai and Katherine A. Collins and Nicolette Recchia and Russell H. Tobe and Laura B. Bragdon and Emily R. Stern},

doi = {10.1016/j.jpsychires.2024.06.052},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Psychiatric Research},

volume = {177},

pages = {129–139},

publisher = {Elsevier Ltd},

abstract = {Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is phenomenologically heterogeneous. While predominant models suggest fear and harm prevention drive compulsions, many patients also experience uncomfortable sensory-based urges (“sensory phenomena”) that may be associated with heightened interoceptive sensitivity. Using an urge-to-blink eyeblink suppression paradigm to model sensory-based urges, we previously found that OCD patients as a group had more eyeblink suppression failures and greater activation of sensorimotor-interoceptive regions than controls. However, conventional approaches assuming OCD homogeneity may obscure important within-group variability, impeding precision treatment development. This study investigated the heterogeneity of urge suppression failure in OCD and examined relationships with clinical characteristics and neural activation. Eighty-two patients with OCD and 38 controls underwent an fMRI task presenting 60-s blocks of eyeblink suppression alternating with free-blinking blocks. Latent profile analysis identified OCD subgroups based on number of erroneous blinks during suppression. Subgroups were compared on behavior, clinical characteristics, and brain activation during task. Three patient subgroups were identified. Despite similar overall OCD severity, the subgroup with the most erroneous eyeblinks had the highest sensory phenomena severity, interoceptive sensitivity, and subjective urge intensity. Compared to other subgroups, this subgroup exhibited more neural activity in somatosensory and interoceptive regions during the early phase (first 30 s) of blink suppression and reduced activity in the middle frontal gyrus during the late phase (second 30 s) as the suppression period elapsed. Heterogeneity of urge suppression in OCD was associated with clinical characteristics and brain function. Our results reveal potential treatment targets that could inform personalized medicine.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Fafrowicz2024,

title = {Classification of ROI-based fMRI data in short-term memory tasks using discriminant analysis and neural networks},

author = {Magdalena Fafrowicz and Marcin Tutajewski and Igor Sieradzki and Jeremi K. Ochab and Anna Ceglarek-Sroka and Koryna Lewandowska and Tadeusz Marek and Barbara Sikora-Wachowicz and Igor T. Podolak and Paweł Oświcecimka},

doi = {10.3389/fninf.2024.1480366},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Frontiers in Neuroinformatics},

volume = {18},

pages = {1–18},

abstract = {Understanding brain function relies on identifying spatiotemporal patterns in brain activity. In recent years, machine learning methods have been widely used to detect connections between regions of interest (ROIs) involved in cognitive functions, as measured by the fMRI technique. However, it's essential to match the type of learning method to the problem type, and extracting the information about the most important ROI connections might be challenging. In this contribution, we used machine learning techniques to classify tasks in a working memory experiment and identify the brain areas involved in processing information. We employed classical discriminators and neural networks (convolutional and residual) to differentiate between brain responses to distinct types of visual stimuli (visuospatial and verbal) and different phases of the experiment (information encoding and retrieval). The best performance was achieved by the LGBM classifier with 1-time point input data during memory retrieval and a convolutional neural network during the encoding phase. Additionally, we developed an algorithm that took into account feature correlations to estimate the most important brain regions for the model's accuracy. Our findings suggest that from the perspective of considered models, brain signals related to the resting state have a similar degree of complexity to those related to the encoding phase, which does not improve the model's accuracy. However, during the retrieval phase, the signals were easily distinguished from the resting state, indicating their different structure. The study identified brain regions that are crucial for processing information in working memory, as well as the differences in the dynamics of encoding and retrieval processes. Furthermore, our findings indicate spatiotemporal distinctions related to these processes. The analysis confirmed the importance of the basal ganglia in processing information during the retrieval phase. The presented results reveal the benefits of applying machine learning algorithms to investigate working memory dynamics.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Mocchi2024,

title = {Aperiodic spectral slope tracks the effects of brain state on saliency responses in the human auditory cortex},

author = {Madaline Mocchi and Eleonora Bartoli and John Magnotti and Jan Willem Gee and Brian Metzger and Bailey Pascuzzi and Raissa Mathura and Suhruthaa Pulapaka and Wayne Goodman and Sameer Sheth and Matthew J. McGinley and Kelly Bijanki},

doi = {10.1038/s41598-024-80911-3},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Scientific Reports},

volume = {14},

number = {1},

pages = {1–14},

abstract = {Alteration of responses to salient stimuli occurs in a wide range of brain disorders and may be rooted in pathophysiological brain state dynamics. Specifically, tonic and phasic modes of activity in the reticular activating system (RAS) influence, and are influenced by, salient stimuli, respectively. The RAS influences the spectral characteristics of activity in the neocortex, shifting the balance between low- and high-frequency fluctuations. Aperiodic ‘1/f slope' has emerged as a promising composite measure of these brain state dynamics. However, the relationship of 1/f slope to state-dependent processes, such as saliency, is less explored, particularly intracranially in humans. Here, we record pupil diameter as a measure of brain state and intracranial local field potentials in auditory cortical regions of human patients during an auditory oddball stimulus paradigm. We find that phasic high-gamma band responses in auditory cortical regions exhibit an inverted-u shaped relationship to tonic state, as reflected in the 1/f slope. Furthermore, salient stimuli trigger state changes, as indicated by shifts in the 1/f slope. Taken together, these findings suggest that 1/f slope tracks tonic and phasic arousal state dynamics in the human brain, increasing the interpretability of this metric and supporting it as a potential biomarker in brain disorders.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Mohr2024,

title = {Visual cortical area contributions to the transient, multifocal and steady-­ state VEP: A forward model-­ informed analysis},

author = {Kieran S. Mohr and Anna C. Geuzebroek and Simon P. Kelly},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Imaging Neuroscience},

volume = {2},

pages = {1–26},

abstract = {Central to our understanding of how visual-­ evoked potentials (VEPs) contribute to visual processing is the question of where their anatomical sources are. Three well-­ established measures of low-­ level visual cortical activity are widely used: the first component (“C1”) of the transient and multifocal VEP, and the steady-­ state VEP (SSVEP). Although primary visual cortex (V1) activity has often been implicated in the generation of all three signals, their dominant sources remain uncertain due to the limited resolution and methodological heterogeneity of source modelling. Here, we provide the first characterisation of all three signals in one analytic framework centred on the “cruciform model”, which describes how scalp topographies of V1 activity vary with stimulus location due to the retinotopy and unique folding pattern of V1. We measured the transient C1, multifocal C1, and SSVEPs driven by an 18.75 Hz and 7.5 Hz flicker, and regressed them against forward models of areas V1, V2, and V3 generated from the Benson-­ 2014 retino- topy atlas. The topographic variations of all four VEP signals across the visual field were better captured by V1 mod- els, explaining between 2 and 6 times more variance than V2/V3. Models with all three visual areas improved fit further, but complementary analyses of temporal dynamics across all three signals indicated that the bulk of extrastriate contributions occur considerably later than V1. Overall, our data support the use of peak C1 amplitude and SSVEPs to probe V1 activity, although the SSVEP contains stronger extrastriate contributions. Moreover, we provide elabo- rated heuristics to distinguish visual areas in VEP data based on signal lateralisation as well as polarity inversion.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Moran2024,

title = {Decoding remapped spatial information in the peri-saccadic period},

author = {Caoimhe Moran and Philippa A. Johnson and Ayelet N. Landau and Hinze Hogendoorn},

doi = {10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2134-23.2024},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {The Journal of Neuroscience},

volume = {44},

number = {30},

pages = {1–12},

abstract = {It has been suggested that, prior to a saccade, visual neurons predictively respond to stimuli that will fall in their receptive fields after completion of the saccade. This saccadic remapping process is thought to compensate for the shift of the visual world across the retina caused by eye movements. To map the timing of this predictive process in the brain, we recorded neural activity using electroencephalography during a saccade task. Human participants (male and female) made saccades between two fixation points while covertly attending to oriented gratings briefly presented at various locations on the screen. Data recorded during trials in which participants maintained fixation were used to train classifiers on stimuli in different positions. Subsequently, data collected during saccade trials were used to test for the presence of remapped stimulus information at the post-saccadic retinotopic location in the peri-saccadic period, providing unique insight into when remapped information becomes available. We found that the stimulus could be decoded at the remapped location ∼180 ms post-stimulus onset, but only when the stimulus was presented 100–200 ms before saccade onset. Within this range, we found that the timing of remapping was dictated by stimulus onset rather than saccade onset. We conclude that presenting the stimulus immediately before the saccade allows for optimal integration of the corollary discharge signal with the incoming peripheral visual information, resulting in a remapping of activation to the relevant post-saccadic retinotopic neurons.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}