Cognitive training in schizophrenia: PrACTice preparing action with contextual information

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (S2) ◽  
pp. 14-15
Author(s):  
D. Fabre ◽  
A. Vehier ◽  
C. Padovan ◽  
T. d’Amato ◽  
M. Saoud
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Mental Representation ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Internal Representation ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Voluntary Action ◽  
Software Training ◽  
Directed Action ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
Four Levels

Patients with schizophrenia frequently complain about their difficulty to initiate new activities. In our view, a Δ major cause for difficulties in initiating activities is as deficit of goal directed/voluntary action that requires endogenous or self-triggered attention [2,3]. In the Le Vinatier hospital, Lyon, we designed a new cognitive software training program. The PrACTice program aims at improving the capacity of activating the internal representation related to a goal directed action in patients with schizophrenia [1]. Each trial begins with a goal directed action sentence displayed in the centre of a computer screen (“writing a letter”) followed by a scene containing contextual information. Participants have to imagine themselves performing the goal-directed action. Then pictures of an isolated object (e.g., a pencil) are displayed. Subjects have to answer whether the object is useful or not to achieve the goal-directed action previously presented. Four levels are available. Reaction times of accuracy response are recorded as a measure of the effort made to produce a mental representation of the action. Preliminary results: Results vary by session factor (pre and post training) and nature of target objects (useful and non-useful). Before the cognitive training, RTs to decide that an object is non useful to achieve a goal-directed action are longer than for useful objects. Inversed pattern of response is observed after the cognitive training. We discuss how this result can favour initiation of adequate behaviours. Adequate behaviour implies active mental representation of relevance action that thus facilitates inhibition of non-pertinent information.

scholarly journals Context-dependent multiplexing by individual VTA dopamine neurons

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kremer Yves ◽  
Flakowski Jérôme ◽  
Rohner Clément ◽  
Lüscher Christian
Keyword(s):  
Prediction Error ◽  
Internal Representation ◽  
Dopamine Neurons ◽  
Neuron Activity ◽  
Movement Velocity ◽  
Tonic Firing ◽  
Reward Prediction ◽  
Directed Action ◽  
Operant Task

AbstractDopamine (DA) neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) track external cues and rewards to generate a reward prediction error (RPE) signal during Pavlovian conditioning. Here we explored how RPE is implemented for a self-paced, operant task in freely moving mice. The animal could trigger a reward-predicting cue by remaining in a specific location of an operant box for a brief time before moving to a spout for reward collection. In vivo single-unit recordings revealed phasic responses to the cue and reward in correct trials, while with failures the activity paused, reflecting positive and negative error signals of a reward prediction. In addition, a majority of VTA DA neurons also encoded parameters of the goal-directed action (e.g. movement velocity, acceleration, distance to goal and licking) by changes in tonic firing rate. Such multiplexing of individual neurons was only apparent while the mouse was engaged in the task. We conclude that a multiplexed internal representation during the task modulates VTA DA neuron activity, indicating a multimodal prediction error that shapes behavioral adaptation of a self-paced goal-directed action.

Experience, attention, and mental representation

2001 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 978-979 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Broackes
Keyword(s):  
Mental Representation ◽  
Internal Representation ◽  
Sensory Motor

O'Regan & Noë make plausible that perception involves mastery of sensory-motor dependencies. Their rejection of qualia, however, is less persuasive; as is their view that we see only what we are attending to. At times they seem to oppose “internal representation” in general; I argue that they should in fact only be rejecting crude conceptions of brain picturing.

scholarly journals Influence of the Instructions on the Performance and Establishment of Memorization Strategies in Space Judgments

2006 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 312-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandra Ackel Rodrigues ◽  
Susi Lippi Marques
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Power Function ◽  
Mental Representation ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Internal Representation ◽  
Space Perception ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Visual Space ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Experimental Configuration

Studies of visual space perception have been assuming that people have an internal representation of the physical space that surrounds them. A variety of psychophysical procedures has been used in an attempt to measure the properties of visual space. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the accuracy of the mental representation and the strategies adopted to acquire and retain visuo-spatial information of a configuration as a function of two types of instructions. Thirty-eight undergraduate and graduate students participated in the study and were distributed in perceptive and mnemonic experimental conditions. The effect of the instructions (intentional and incidental) on the representation of the distances among the objects of the scene was estimated using exponents of power function, based on the reproduction of the distances among the stimuli of the scene. The results revealed that judgments made under intentional instructions were more frequently based on strategies related to the location of the stimuli, whereas judgments originating from incidental instructions were based on strategies related to the name of the stimuli. It was observed that the intentional instruction facilitated a more accurate mental representation of the observed experimental configuration, enhancing participants' performance.

Integrated Contextual Representation for Objects' Identities and Their Locations

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nurit Gronau ◽  
Maital Neta ◽  
Moshe Bar
Keyword(s):  
Object Recognition ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Target Object ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Attention And Memory ◽  
Contextual Knowledge ◽  
Lateral Occipital Complex

Visual context plays a prominent role in everyday perception. Contextual information can facilitate recognition of objects within scenes by providing predictions about objects that are most likely to appear in a specific setting, along with the locations that are most likely to contain objects in the scene. Is such identity-related (“semantic”) and location-related (“spatial”) contextual knowledge represented separately or jointly as a bound representation? We conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) priming experiment whereby semantic and spatial contextual relations between prime and target object pictures were independently manipulated. This method allowed us to determine whether the two contextual factors affect object recognition with or without interacting, supporting a unified versus independent representations, respectively. Results revealed a Semantic × Spatial interaction in reaction times for target object recognition. Namely, significant semantic priming was obtained when targets were positioned in expected (congruent), but not in unexpected (incongruent), locations. fMRI results showed corresponding interactive effects in brain regions associated with semantic processing (inferior prefrontal cortex), visual contextual processing (parahippocampal cortex), and object-related processing (lateral occipital complex). In addition, activation in fronto-parietal areas suggests that attention and memory-related processes might also contribute to the contextual effects observed. These findings indicate that object recognition benefits from associative representations that integrate information about objects' identities and their locations, and directly modulate activation in object-processing cortical regions. Such context frames are useful in maintaining a coherent and meaningful representation of the visual world, and in providing a platform from which predictions can be generated to facilitate perception and action.

scholarly journals Body ownership determines the attenuation of self-generated tactile sensations

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (31) ◽  
pp. 8426-8431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantina Kilteni ◽  
H. Henrik Ehrsson
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Internal Representation ◽  
Experimental Manipulation ◽  
Voluntary Action ◽  
Left Index Finger ◽  
Body Ownership ◽  
Forward Models ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Force Matching ◽  
Right Hand

Self-perception depends on the brain’s abilities to differentiate our body from the environment and to distinguish between the sensations generated as a consequence of voluntary movement and those arising from events in the external world. The first process refers to the sense of ownership of our body and relies on the dynamic integration of multisensory (afferent) signals. The second process depends on internal forward models that use (efferent) information from our motor commands to predict and attenuate the sensory consequences of our movements. However, the relationship between body ownership and sensory attenuation driven by the forward models remains unknown. To address this issue, we combined the rubber hand illusion, which allows experimental manipulation of body ownership, and the force-matching paradigm, which allows psychophysical quantification of somatosensory attenuation. We found that a rubber right hand pressing on the left index finger produced somatosensory attenuation but only when the model hand felt like one’s own (illusory self-touch); reversely, the attenuation that was expected to occur during actual self-touch with the real hands was reduced when the participants simultaneously experienced ownership of a rubber right hand that was placed at a distance from their left hand. These results demonstrate that the sense of body ownership determines somatosensory attenuation. From a theoretical perspective, our results are important because they suggest that body ownership updates the internal representation of body state that provides the input to the forward model generating sensory predictions during voluntary action.

scholarly journals Global disruption in excitation-inhibition balance can cause localized network dysfunction and Schizophrenia-like context-integration deficits

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. e1008985
Author(s):  
Olivia L. Calvin ◽  
A. David Redish
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Pyramidal Cells ◽  
Current Information ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Decision Making System ◽  
Memory Network ◽  
Context Integration ◽  
The Brain

Poor context integration, the process of incorporating both previous and current information in decision making, is a cognitive symptom of schizophrenia. The maintenance of the contextual information has been shown to be sensitive to changes in excitation-inhibition (EI) balance. Many regions of the brain are sensitive to EI imbalances, however, so it is unknown how systemic manipulations affect the specific regions that are important to context integration. We constructed a multi-structure, biophysically-realistic agent that could perform context-integration as is assessed by the dot pattern expectancy task. The agent included a perceptual network, a memory network, and a decision making system and was capable of successfully performing the dot pattern expectancy task. Systemic manipulation of the agent’s EI balance produced localized dysfunction of the memory structure, which resulted in schizophrenia-like deficits at context integration. When the agent’s pyramidal cells were less excitatory, the agent fixated upon the cue and initiated responding later than the default agent, which were like the deficits one would predict that individuals on the autistic spectrum would make. This modelling suggests that it may be possible to parse between different types of context integration deficits by adding distractors to context integration tasks and by closely examining a participant’s reaction times.

scholarly journals Game Platform as an Instrument of Psychological Correction of Cognitive Impairment in Cardiac Patients

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 421-434
Author(s):  
Anton V. Solodukhin
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Cognitive Impairments ◽  
Development Program ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Diagnostic Methods ◽  
Cardiac Patients ◽  
Design Elements ◽  
Four Levels ◽  
Game Platform

This review article deals with the possibilities of psychological correction of cognitive impairment in cardiac patients using gaming platforms. It introduces some data on the prevalence of cognitive impairment among the elderly. The author gives a classification of cognitive impairment according to severity and the main manifestations of psychological maladjustment, together with a detailed description of aspontanity, inertness, and inactivity. The paper also describes the main diagnostic methods used in the neuropsychological diagnosis of cognitive impairment. The author analyzed the effectiveness of cognitive training for the restoration of cognitive functions. The analysis showed that improvement of cognitive processes is most often observed in patients with mild cognitive impairment and moderate cognitive deficit. The article also present design limits of a digital game environment that must be considered when developing remedial development programs. There is a list of advantages of using a game platform in the correction of cognitive impairments compared to cognitive training programs without the use of game design elements. As an example of a correctional development program, the author introduces a game platform, which consists of four levels of complexity and can be used in the correction of cognitive impairments in cardiac patients.

scholarly journals An extended research of crossmodal correspondence between color and sound in psychology and cognitive ergonomics

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e4443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiuwen Sun ◽  
Xiaoling Li ◽  
Lingyu Ji ◽  
Feng Han ◽  
Huifen Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Times ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Sound Symbolism ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Color Properties ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Crossmodal Correspondence ◽  
Sound Color ◽  
Four Levels ◽  
Congruent Group

Based on the existing research on sound symbolism and crossmodal correspondence, this study proposed an extended research on cross-modal correspondence between various sound attributes and color properties in a group of non-synesthetes. In Experiment 1, we assessed the associations between each property of sounds and colors. Twenty sounds with five auditory properties (pitch, roughness, sharpness, tempo and discontinuity), each varied in four levels, were used as the sound stimuli. Forty-nine colors with different hues, saturation and brightness were used to match to those sounds. Result revealed that besides pitch and tempo, roughness and sharpness also played roles in sound-color correspondence. Reaction times of sound-hue were a little longer than the reaction times of sound-lightness. In Experiment 2, a speeded target discrimination task was used to assess whether the associations between sound attributes and color properties could invoke natural cross-modal correspondence and improve participants’ cognitive efficiency in cognitive tasks. Several typical sound-color pairings were selected according to the results of Experiment 1. Participants were divided into two groups (congruent and incongruent). In each trial participants had to judge whether the presented color could appropriately be associated with the sound stimuli. Result revealed that participants responded more quickly and accurately in the congruent group than in the incongruent group. It was also found that there was no significant difference in reaction times and error rates between sound-hue and sound-lightness. The results of Experiment 1 and 2 indicate the existence of a robust crossmodal correspondence between multiple attributes of sound and color, which also has strong influence on cognitive tasks. The inconsistency of the reaction times between sound-hue and sound-lightness in Experiment 1 and 2 is probably owing to the difference in experimental protocol, which indicates that the complexity of experiment design may be an important factor in crossmodal correspondence phenomena.

Intact Context-Dependent Modulation of Conflict Monitoring in Childhood ADHD

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (11) ◽  
pp. 1503-1510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annet Bluschke ◽  
Witold X. Chmielewski ◽  
Veit Roessner ◽  
Christian Beste
Keyword(s):  
Executive Control ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Conflict Monitoring ◽  
Performance Deficits ◽  
Children With Adhd ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Control Functions

Objective: Conflict monitoring is well known to be modulated by context. This is known as the Gratton effect, meaning that the degree of interference is smaller when a stimulus–response conflict had been encountered previously. It is unclear to what extent these processes are changed in ADHD. Method: Children with ADHD (combined subtype) and healthy controls performed a modified version of the sequence flanker task. Results: Patients with ADHD made significantly more errors than healthy controls, indicating general performance deficits. However, there were no differences regarding reaction times, indicating an intact Gratton effect in ADHD. These results were supported by Bayesian statistics. Conclusion: The results suggest that the ability to take contextual information into account during conflict monitoring is preserved in patients with ADHD despite this disorder being associated with changes in executive control functions overall. These findings are discussed in light of different theoretical accounts on contextual modulations of conflict monitoring.

scholarly journals The Effect of Forms’ Ratio of Conditioning on Word-Final /s/ Voicing in Mexican Spanish

Languages ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Earl Kjar Brown
Keyword(s):  
Mental Representation ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
Predictor Variables ◽  
Beta Regression ◽  
Mexican Spanish ◽  
Response Variable ◽  
Growing Body

There is mounting evidence that words that occur proportionately more often in contexts that condition a phonetically-motivated sound change end up changing more rapidly than other words. Support has been found in at least modern-day Spanish, Medieval Spanish, bilingual English-Spanish, and modern-day English. This study tests whether there is support for this idea with regards to the variable voicing of word-final /s/ in Spanish. An analysis of 1431 tokens of word-final /s/ spoken by 15 female speakers of Mexican Spanish living in Salinas, California, USA is performed. The response variable is the percentage of the /s/ segment that is voiced, and the effect of a handful of predictor variables shown in the literature to condition /s/ voicing is investigated. The variable of interest is forms’ ratio of conditioning (FRC), or the proportion of times with which word types occur in the context that conditions voicing of word-final /s/. The results of a series of 40 beta regression models indicate that FRC significantly conditions the percentage of voicing of word-final /s/ in these data. Also, the effect of manipulating two aspects of FRC operationalization is analyzed. This study adds to the growing body of literature documenting the importance of cumulative contextual information in the mental representation of words.

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