Reading in Thai: Visual and Attentional Processes

2015 ◽  
pp. 111-125
Author(s):  
Heather Winskel
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Processes

Skipping Breakfast Affects the Early Steps of Cognitive Processing

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-118
Author(s):  
Andrés Antonio González-Garrido ◽  
Jacobo José Brofman-Epelbaum ◽  
Fabiola Reveca Gómez-Velázquez ◽  
Sebastián Agustín Balart-Sánchez ◽  
Julieta Ramos-Loyo
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Brain Functioning ◽  
Attentional Processes ◽  
Electrical Brain Activity ◽  
Skipping Breakfast

Abstract. It has been generally accepted that skipping breakfast adversely affects cognition, mainly disturbing the attentional processes. However, the effects of short-term fasting upon brain functioning are still unclear. We aimed to evaluate the effect of skipping breakfast on cognitive processing by studying the electrical brain activity of young healthy individuals while performing several working memory tasks. Accordingly, the behavioral results and event-related brain potentials (ERPs) of 20 healthy university students (10 males) were obtained and compared through analysis of variances (ANOVAs), during the performance of three n-back working memory (WM) tasks in two morning sessions on both normal (after breakfast) and 12-hour fasting conditions. Significantly fewer correct responses were achieved during fasting, mainly affecting the higher WM load task. In addition, there were prolonged reaction times with increased task difficulty, regardless of breakfast intake. ERP showed a significant voltage decrement for N200 and P300 during fasting, while the amplitude of P200 notably increased. The results suggest skipping breakfast disturbs earlier cognitive processing steps, particularly attention allocation, early decoding in working memory, and stimulus evaluation, and this effect increases with task difficulty.

scholarly journals Linking the Rapid Cascade of Visuo-Attentional Processes to Successful Memory Encoding

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
B R Geib ◽  
R Cabeza ◽  
M G Woldorff
Keyword(s):  
Visual Processing ◽  
Memory Retrieval ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Attentional Orienting ◽  
Memory Encoding ◽  
Attentional Processes ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Dm Effect

Abstract While it is broadly accepted that attention modulates memory, the contribution of specific rapid attentional processes to successful encoding is largely unknown. To investigate this issue, we leveraged the high temporal resolution of electroencephalographic recordings to directly link a cascade of visuo-attentional neural processes to successful encoding: namely (1) the N2pc (peaking ~200 ms), which reflects stimulus-specific attentional orienting and allocation, (2) the sustained posterior-contralateral negativity (post-N2pc), which has been associated with sustained visual processing, (3) the contralateral reduction in oscillatory alpha power (contralateral reduction in alpha > 200 ms), which has also been independently related to attentionally sustained visual processing. Each of these visuo-attentional processes was robustly predictive of successful encoding, and, moreover, each enhanced memory independently of the classic, longer-latency, conceptually related, difference-due-to memory (Dm) effect. Early latency midfrontal theta power also promoted successful encoding, with at least part of this influence being mediated by the later latency Dm effect. These findings markedly expand current knowledge by helping to elucidate the intimate relationship between attentional modulations of perceptual processing and effective encoding for later memory retrieval.

scholarly journals Eye Fixation-Related Potentials during Visual Search on Acquaintance and Newly-Learned Faces

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 218
Author(s):  
Seungji Lee ◽  
Doyoung Lee ◽  
Hyunjae Gil ◽  
Ian Oakley ◽  
Yang Seok Cho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Gaze Behavior ◽  
Directed Attention ◽  
Attentional Processes ◽  
Eye Fixation ◽  
P300 Component ◽  
Successful Search ◽  
Late Positive Potentials ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Face Task

Searching familiar faces in the crowd may involve stimulus-driven attention by emotional significance, together with goal-directed attention due to task-relevant needs. The present study investigated the effect of familiarity on attentional processes by exploring eye fixation-related potentials (EFRPs) and eye gazes when humans searched for, among other distracting faces, either an acquaintance’s face or a newly-learned face. Task performance and gaze behavior were indistinguishable for identifying either faces. However, from the EFRP analysis, after a P300 component for successful search of target faces, we found greater deflections of right parietal late positive potentials in response to newly-learned faces than acquaintance’s faces, indicating more involvement of goal-directed attention in processing newly-learned faces. In addition, we found greater occipital negativity elicited by acquaintance’s faces, reflecting emotional responses to significant stimuli. These results may suggest that finding a familiar face in the crowd would involve lower goal-directed attention and elicit more emotional responses.

Neuropsychology and Psychology of MCS

1994 ◽  
Vol 10 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 545-554
Author(s):  
Nancy Fiedler ◽  
Howard Kipen ◽  
John Deluca ◽  
Kathie Kelly-Mcneil ◽  
Benjamin Natelson
Keyword(s):  
Visual Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Chronic Fatigue ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Emotional Symptoms ◽  
Attentional Processes ◽  
Multiple Chemical Sensitivities ◽  
Fatigue Syndrome ◽  
Axis I ◽  
Normal Controls

Neurological symptoms are frequently reported by patients with multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS). Methods to compare the psychiatric, personality, and neuropsychological function of patients with MCS, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), and normal controls are described. Increased rates of Axis I psychiatric diagnoses are observed in the literature for MCS and CFS subjects relative to controls. Findings on the MMPI-2 and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale reveal prof iles consistent with the tendency to report somatic rather than emotional symptoms in response to stress. However, many of the reported somatic symptoms also coincide with those found in neurologic disorders. The overall neuropsychological prof ile for MCS subjects does not reflect cognitive impairment. Relative to normal controls, the only difference in neuropsychological performance observed is reduced recognition of nontarget designs on a visual memory task. More fruitful areas for future psychological research will include measurement of the interaction between behavioral response styles and attentional processes in cognition, as well as observations under controlled challenge conditions.

scholarly journals Defining the Role of Attention in Hierarchical Auditory Processing

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-128
Author(s):  
Caitlin N. Price ◽  
Deborah Moncrieff
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Auditory Pathway ◽  
Simultaneous Recording ◽  
Neural Encoding ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Attentional Processes ◽  
Clinical Interventions ◽  
Speech In Noise ◽  
Behavioral Studies ◽  
Electrophysiological Studies

Communication in noise is a complex process requiring efficient neural encoding throughout the entire auditory pathway as well as contributions from higher-order cognitive processes (i.e., attention) to extract speech cues for perception. Thus, identifying effective clinical interventions for individuals with speech-in-noise deficits relies on the disentanglement of bottom-up (sensory) and top-down (cognitive) factors to appropriately determine the area of deficit; yet, how attention may interact with early encoding of sensory inputs remains unclear. For decades, attentional theorists have attempted to address this question with cleverly designed behavioral studies, but the neural processes and interactions underlying attention’s role in speech perception remain unresolved. While anatomical and electrophysiological studies have investigated the neurological structures contributing to attentional processes and revealed relevant brain–behavior relationships, recent electrophysiological techniques (i.e., simultaneous recording of brainstem and cortical responses) may provide novel insight regarding the relationship between early sensory processing and top-down attentional influences. In this article, we review relevant theories that guide our present understanding of attentional processes, discuss current electrophysiological evidence of attentional involvement in auditory processing across subcortical and cortical levels, and propose areas for future study that will inform the development of more targeted and effective clinical interventions for individuals with speech-in-noise deficits.

scholarly journals The Role of Primate Prefrontal Cortex in Bias and Shift Between Visual Dimensions

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farshad A Mansouri ◽  
Mark J Buckley ◽  
Daniel J Fehring ◽  
Keiji Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Attentional Processes ◽  
Prefrontal Cortical ◽  
Frontopolar Cortex ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Cortical Regions ◽  
Visual Cortical ◽  
Bilateral Lesions

Abstract Imaging and neural activity recording studies have shown activation in the primate prefrontal cortex when shifting attention between visual dimensions is necessary to achieve goals. A fundamental unanswered question is whether representations of these dimensions emerge from top-down attentional processes mediated by prefrontal regions or from bottom-up processes within visual cortical regions. We hypothesized a causative link between prefrontal cortical regions and dimension-based behavior. In large cohorts of humans and macaque monkeys, performing the same attention shifting task, we found that both species successfully shifted between visual dimensions, but both species also showed a significant behavioral advantage/bias to a particular dimension; however, these biases were in opposite directions in humans (bias to color) versus monkeys (bias to shape). Monkeys’ bias remained after selective bilateral lesions within the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), frontopolar cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), or superior, lateral prefrontal cortex. However, lesions within certain regions (ACC, DLPFC, or OFC) impaired monkeys’ ability to shift between these dimensions. We conclude that goal-directed processing of a particular dimension for the executive control of behavior depends on the integrity of prefrontal cortex; however, representation of competing dimensions and bias toward them does not depend on top-down prefrontal-mediated processes.

scholarly journals An Integrated Perspective on Spatio-Temporal Attention and Infant Language Acquisition

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 1592
Author(s):  
Sofia Russo ◽  
Giulia Calignano ◽  
Marco Dispaldro ◽  
Eloisa Valenza
Keyword(s):  
Visual Field ◽  
Speech Signal ◽  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Temporal Attention ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Attentional Processes ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Infant Language

Efficiency in the early ability to switch attention toward competing visual stimuli (spatial attention) may be linked to future ability to detect rapid acoustic changes in linguistic stimuli (temporal attention). To test this hypothesis, we compared individual performances in the same cohort of Italian-learning infants in two separate tasks: (i) an overlap task, measuring disengagement efficiency for visual stimuli at 4 months (Experiment 1), and (ii) an auditory discrimination task for trochaic syllabic sequences at 7 months (Experiment 2). Our results indicate that an infant’s efficiency in processing competing information in the visual field (i.e., visuospatial attention; Exp. 1) correlates with the subsequent ability to orient temporal attention toward relevant acoustic changes in the speech signal (i.e., temporal attention; Exp. 2). These results point out the involvement of domain-general attentional processes (not specific to language or the sensorial domain) playing a pivotal role in the development of early language skills in infancy.

Relationships between attention to emotion and anxiety among a community sample of adolescents

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Benjamin C. Mullin ◽  
Jacob B. W. Holzman ◽  
Laura Pyle ◽  
Emmaly L. Perks ◽  
Yaswanth Chintaluru ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Attentional Bias ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Small Samples ◽  
Control Analysis ◽  
Attentional Processes ◽  
Anxious Youth ◽  
Case Control Analysis

Abstract Background Attentional bias to threat has been implicated as a cognitive mechanism in anxiety disorders for youth. Yet, prior studies documenting this bias have largely relied on a method with questionable reliability (i.e. dot-probe task) and small samples, few of which included adolescents. The current study sought to address such limitations by examining relations between anxiety – both clinically diagnosed and dimensionally rated – and attentional bias to threat. Methods The study included a community sample of adolescents and employed eye-tracking methodology intended to capture possible biases across the full range of both automatic (i.e. vigilance bias) and controlled attentional processes (i.e. avoidance bias, maintenance bias). We examined both dimensional anxiety (across the full sample; n = 215) and categorical anxiety in a subset case-control analysis (n = 100) as predictors of biases. Results Findings indicated that participants with an anxiety disorder oriented more slowly to angry faces than matched controls. Results did not suggest a greater likelihood of initial orienting to angry faces among our participants with anxiety disorders or those with higher dimensional ratings of anxiety. Greater anxiety severity was associated with greater dwell time to neutral faces. Conclusions This is the largest study to date examining eye-tracking metrics of attention to threat among healthy and anxious youth. Findings did not support the notion that anxiety is characterized by heightened vigilance or avoidance/maintenance of attention to threat. All effects detected were extremely small. Links between attention to threat and anxiety among adolescents may be subtle and highly dependent on experimental task dimensions.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document