scholarly journals Multiple serial picture presentation with millisecond resolution using a three-way LC-shutter-tachistoscope

2010 ◽  
Vol 187 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Ph.S. Fischmeister ◽  
Ulrich Leodolter ◽  
Christian Windischberger ◽  
Christian H. Kasess ◽  
Veronika Schöpf ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Picture Presentation

scholarly journals Attention for Speaking: Prestimulus Motor-cortical Alpha Power Predicts Picture Naming Latencies

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 747-761
Author(s):  
Suzanne R. Jongman ◽  
Ardi Roelofs ◽  
Ashley G. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Language Production ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Attentional State ◽  
Inhibitory Function ◽  
Manual Responses ◽  
Picture Presentation ◽  
Single Speaker ◽  
Motor Cortical ◽  
Cortical Regions ◽  
Naming Latencies

There is a range of variability in the speed with which a single speaker will produce the same word from one instance to another. Individual differences studies have shown that the speed of production and the ability to maintain attention are related. This study investigated whether fluctuations in production latencies can be explained by spontaneous fluctuations in speakers' attention just prior to initiating speech planning. A relationship between individuals' incidental attentional state and response performance is well attested in visual perception, with lower prestimulus alpha power associated with faster manual responses. Alpha is thought to have an inhibitory function: Low alpha power suggests less inhibition of a specific brain region, whereas high alpha power suggests more inhibition. Does the same relationship hold for cognitively demanding tasks such as word production? In this study, participants named pictures while EEG was recorded, with alpha power taken to index an individual's momentary attentional state. Participants' level of alpha power just prior to picture presentation and just prior to speech onset predicted subsequent naming latencies. Specifically, higher alpha power in the motor system resulted in faster speech initiation. Our results suggest that one index of a lapse of attention during speaking is reduced inhibition of motor-cortical regions: Decreased motor-cortical alpha power indicates reduced inhibition of this area while early stages of production planning unfold, which leads to increased interference from motor-cortical signals and longer naming latencies. This study shows that the language production system is not impermeable to the influence of attention.

Emotion and Brain Oscillations: High Arousal is Associated with Decreases in Alpha- and Lower Beta-Band Power

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Schubring ◽  
Harald T Schupp
Keyword(s):  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Emotional Stimulus ◽  
Brain Oscillations ◽  
Beta Band ◽  
Viewing Condition ◽  
Stimulus Processing ◽  
Beta Power ◽  
Picture Presentation ◽  
Alpha Beta ◽  
Task Conditions

Abstract The study of brain oscillations associated with emotional picture processing has revealed conflicting findings. Although many studies observed a decrease in power in the alpha- and lower beta band, some studies observed an increase. Accordingly, the main aim of the present research series was to further elucidate whether emotional stimulus processing is related to an increase or decrease in alpha/beta power. In Study 1, participants (N = 16) viewed briefly presented (150 ms) high-arousing erotic and low-arousing people pictures. Picture presentation included a passive viewing condition and an active picture categorization task. Study 2 (N = 16) replicated Study 1 with negative valence stimuli (mutilations). In Study 3 (N = 18), stimulus materials of Study 1 and 2 were used. The main finding is that high-arousing pictures (erotica and mutilations) are associated with a decrease of power in the alpha/beta band across studies and task conditions. The effect peaked in occipitoparietal sensors between 400 and 800 ms after stimulus onset. Furthermore, a late (>1000 ms) alpha/beta power increase to mutilation pictures was observed, possibly reflecting top–down inhibitory control processes. Overall, these findings suggest that brain oscillations in the alpha/beta-band may serve as a useful measure of emotional stimulus processing.

The Strategic Control of Gaze Direction in the Tower of London Task

2000 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 894-907 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy L. Hodgson ◽  
Adnan Bajwa ◽  
Adrian M. Owen ◽  
Christopher Kennard
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Initial Period ◽  
Visual Fields ◽  
Problem Solution ◽  
Tower Of London ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Picture Presentation ◽  
Movement Strategy ◽  
Minimum Number ◽  
The One

In this paper, we describe a novel approach to the study of problem solving involving the detailed analysis of natural scanning eye movements during the “one-touch” Tower-of-London (TOL) task. We showed subjects a series of pictures depicting two arrangements of colored balls in pockets within the uper and lower halves of a computer display. The task was to plan (but not to execute)the shortest movement sequence required to rearrange the balls in one half of the display (the workspace)to match the arrangement in the opposite half (the Goalspace)and indicate the minimum number of moves required for problem solution. We report that subjects are more likely to look towards the Goalspace in the initial period after picture presentation, but bias gaze towards the Workspace during the middle of trials. Towards the end of a trial, subjects are once again more likely to fixate the Goalspace. This pattern is found regardless of whether the subjects solve problems by rearranging the balls in the lower or uper visual fields, demonstrating that this strategy correlates with discreate phases in problem solving. A second experiment showed that efficient planners direct their gaze selectively towards the problem critical balls in the workspace. In contrast, Individuals who make errors spend more time looking at irrelevant items and are strongly influenced by the movement strategy needed to solve the preceding problem. We conclude that efficient solution of the TOL requires the capacity to generate and flexibly shift between control sets, including those underlying ocular scanning. The role of working memory and the prefrontal cerebral cortex in the task are discussed.

Emotion regulation in bipolar disorder type I: an fMRI study

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (12) ◽  
pp. 2521-2531 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Corbalán ◽  
S. Beaulieu ◽  
J. L. Armony
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Emotion Dysregulation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Type I ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Picture Presentation ◽  
Brain Correlates ◽  
Disorder Type ◽  
Do So

BackgroundBipolar disorder type I (BD-I) is associated with emotion dysregulation. However, experimentally controlled studies of emotion regulation (ER), particularly those examining the brain correlates of the putative deficits, are scarce and their results inconsistent.MethodNineteen euthymic BD-I patients and 17 healthy controls (HC) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a visual ER 2 × 2 factorial task, with instruction (Look or Decrease) and valence (Negative or Neutral) as within-subject factors. Emotional ratings were collected after each picture presentation to assess regulation success.ResultsBD-I patients were successful at downregulating their emotions, although to a lesser degree than HC. Both groups engaged brain regions previously implicated in ER; however, unlike HC, patients engaged some of those regions, particularly the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) in the Negative Look and Neutral Decrease conditions. Moreover, patients failed to show the reduced amygdala activation in the Negative Decrease condition observed in HC.ConclusionOur findings suggest that BD-I patients are able to downregulate their emotions when instructed to do so. However, they also appear to engage their ER network, particularly the VLPFC, even when not required to do so. These findings may help explain their often-reported difficulty in regulating emotions in everyday life despite their attempts to do so.

Modulation of Amygdalar Activity by the Conscious Regulation of Negative Emotion

2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 913-921 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacey M. Schaefer ◽  
Daren C. Jackson ◽  
Richard J. Davidson ◽  
Geoffrey K. Aguirre ◽  
Daniel Y. Kimberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Emotional Response ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Negative Picture ◽  
Signal Change ◽  
Picture Presentation ◽  
The Subject

Lesion and neuroimaging studies suggest the amygdala is important in the perception and production of negative emotion; however, the effects of emotion regulation on the amygdalar response to negative stimuli remain unknown. Using event-related fMRI, we tested the hypothesis that voluntary modulation of negative emotion is associated with changes in neural activity within the amygdala. Negative and neutral pictures were presented with instructions to either “maintain” the emotional response or “passively view” the picture without regulating the emotion. Each picture presentation was followed by a delay, after which subjects indicated how they currently felt via a response keypad. Consistent with previous reports, greater signal change was observed in the amygdala during the presentation of negative compared to neutral pictures. No significant effect of instruction was found during the picture presentation component of the trial. However, a prolonged increase in signal change was observed in the amygdala when subjects maintained the negative emotional response during the delay following negative picture offset. This increase in amygdalar signal due to the active maintenance of negative emotion was significantly correlated with subjects' self-reported dispositional levels of negative affect. These results suggest that consciously evoked cognitive mechanisms that alter the emotional response of the subject operate, at least in part, by altering the degree of neural activity within the amygdala.

scholarly journals Distinct populations of neurons respond to emotional valence and arousal in the human subthalamic nucleus

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (10) ◽  
pp. 3116-3121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomáš Sieger ◽  
Tereza Serranová ◽  
Filip Růžička ◽  
Pavel Vostatek ◽  
Jiří Wild ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Subthalamic Nucleus ◽  
Animal Studies ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Emotional Valence ◽  
Neuronal Firing ◽  
Emotional Information ◽  
Emotional Processes ◽  
Picture Presentation ◽  
Valence And Arousal ◽  
The Relationship

Both animal studies and studies using deep brain stimulation in humans have demonstrated the involvement of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in motivational and emotional processes; however, participation of this nucleus in processing human emotion has not been investigated directly at the single-neuron level. We analyzed the relationship between the neuronal firing from intraoperative microrecordings from the STN during affective picture presentation in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and the affective ratings of emotional valence and arousal performed subsequently. We observed that 17% of neurons responded to emotional valence and arousal of visual stimuli according to individual ratings. The activity of some neurons was related to emotional valence, whereas different neurons responded to arousal. In addition, 14% of neurons responded to visual stimuli. Our results suggest the existence of neurons involved in processing or transmission of visual and emotional information in the human STN, and provide evidence of separate processing of the affective dimensions of valence and arousal at the level of single neurons as well.

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