Event-related desynchronization (ERD) in the alpha band during a hand mental rotation task

AbstractNon-invasive approaches to modulate oscillatory activity in the brain receive growing popularity in the scientific community. Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) has been shown to modulate neural oscillations in a frequency specific manner. Due to a massive stimulation artifact at the targeted frequency, only little is known about effects of tACS during stimulation. I.e. it remains unclear how the continuous application of tACS affects event-related oscillations during cognitive tasks. Depending on whether tACS merely affects pre‐ or post-stimulus oscillations or both, stimulation can alter patterns of event-related oscillatory dynamics in various directions or may not affect them at all. Thus, knowledge about these directions is crucial to plan, predict and understand outcomes of solely behavioral tACS experiments. Here, a recently proposed procedure to suppress tACS artifacts by projecting MEG data into source space using spatial filtering was utilized to recover event-related power modulations in the alpha band during a mental rotation task. MEG of twenty-five volunteers was continuously recorded. After 10 minutes of baseline measurement, they received either 20 minutes of tACS at individual alpha frequency or sham stimulation. Another 40 minutes of MEG were acquired thereafter. Data were projected into source space and carefully examined for residual artifacts. Results revealed strong facilitation of event-related power modulations in the alpha band during tACS application. Data provide first direct evidence, that tACS does not counteract top-down suppression of intrinsic oscillations, but rather enhances pre-existent power modulations within the range of the individual alpha (=stimulation) frequency.SignificanceTranscranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is increasingly used in cognitive neuroscience to study the causal role of brain oscillations and cognition. However, online effects of tACS so far largely remain a ‘black box’ due to an intense electromagnetic artifact encountered during stimulation. The current study is the first to employ a spatial filtering approach to recover and systematically study event-related oscillatory dynamics during tACS, which can potentially be altered in various directions. TACS facilitated pre-existing patterns of oscillatory dynamics during the employed mental rotation task, but does not counteract or overwrite them. In addition, control analysis and a measure to quantify tACS artifact suppression are provided that can enrich future studies investigating tACS online effects.

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The Influence of Mental Imagery Expertise of Pen and Paper Players versus Computer Gamers upon Performance and Electrocortical Correlates in a Difficult Mental Rotation Task

Symmetry ◽

10.3390/sym13122337 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (12) ◽

pp. 2337

Author(s):

Johannes Rodrigues ◽

Dorna Marzban ◽

Johannes Hewig

Keyword(s):

Mental Rotation ◽

Mental Imagery ◽

Role Playing ◽

Mental Rotation Task ◽

Control Group ◽

Alpha Band ◽

Top Down ◽

Small Female ◽

Role Players ◽

Rotation Strategy

We investigated the influence of mental imagery expertise in 15 pen and paper role-players as an expert group compared to the gender-matched control group of computer role-players in the difficult Vandenberg and Kuse mental rotation task. In this task, the participants have to decide which two of four rotated figures match the target figure. The dependent measures were performance speed and accuracy. In our exploratory investigation, we further examined midline frontal theta band activation, parietal alpha band activation, and parietal alpha band asymmetry in EEG as indicator for the chosen rotation strategy. Additionally, we explored the gender influence on performance and EEG activation, although a very small female sample section was given. The expected gender difference concerning performance accuracy was negated by expertise in pen and paper role-playing women, while the gender-specific difference in performance speed was preserved. Moreover, gender differences concerning electro-cortical measures revealed differences in rotation strategy, with women using top-down strategies compared to men, who were using top-down strategies and active inhibition of associative cortical areas. These strategy uses were further moderated by expertise, with higher expertise leading to more pronounced activation patters, especially during successful performance. However, due to the very limited sample size, the findings of this explorative study have to be interpreted cautiously.

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Individual Differences in Mental Rotation

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000184 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 60 (3) ◽

pp. 164-171 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Peter Khooshabeh ◽

Mary Hegarty ◽

Thomas F. Shipley

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Mental Rotation ◽

Response Times ◽

Task Demands ◽

Mental Rotation Task ◽

Imagery Ability ◽

Alternative Strategies

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that imagery ability and figural complexity interact to affect the choice of mental rotation strategies. Participants performed the Shepard and Metzler (1971) mental rotation task. On half of the trials, the 3-D figures were manipulated to create “fragmented” figures, with some cubes missing. Good imagers were less accurate and had longer response times on fragmented figures than on complete figures. Poor imagers performed similarly on fragmented and complete figures. These results suggest that good imagers use holistic mental rotation strategies by default, but switch to alternative strategies depending on task demands, whereas poor imagers are less flexible and use piecemeal strategies regardless of the task demands.

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The brain dynamics of architectural affordances during transition

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-82504-w ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Zakaria Djebbara ◽

Lars Brorson Fich ◽

Klaus Gramann

Keyword(s):

Occipital Cortex ◽

The Body ◽

Brain Dynamics ◽

Alpha Band ◽

Time Frequency ◽

Posterior Cingulate ◽

Sensory Signals ◽

Event Related Desynchronization ◽

The Brain ◽

Attentional Mechanisms

AbstractAction is a medium of collecting sensory information about the environment, which in turn is shaped by architectural affordances. Affordances characterize the fit between the physical structure of the body and capacities for movement and interaction with the environment, thus relying on sensorimotor processes associated with exploring the surroundings. Central to sensorimotor brain dynamics, the attentional mechanisms directing the gating function of sensory signals share neuronal resources with motor-related processes necessary to inferring the external causes of sensory signals. Such a predictive coding approach suggests that sensorimotor dynamics are sensitive to architectural affordances that support or suppress specific kinds of actions for an individual. However, how architectural affordances relate to the attentional mechanisms underlying the gating function for sensory signals remains unknown. Here we demonstrate that event-related desynchronization of alpha-band oscillations in parieto-occipital and medio-temporal regions covary with the architectural affordances. Source-level time–frequency analysis of data recorded in a motor-priming Mobile Brain/Body Imaging experiment revealed strong event-related desynchronization of the alpha band to originate from the posterior cingulate complex, the parahippocampal region as well as the occipital cortex. Our results firstly contribute to the understanding of how the brain resolves architectural affordances relevant to behaviour. Second, our results indicate that the alpha-band originating from the occipital cortex and parahippocampal region covaries with the architectural affordances before participants interact with the environment, whereas during the interaction, the posterior cingulate cortex and motor areas dynamically reflect the affordable behaviour. We conclude that the sensorimotor dynamics reflect behaviour-relevant features in the designed environment.

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Neuroimaging correlates of insight in obsessive compulsive disorder: A fMRI study

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2017.01.344 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 41 (S1) ◽

pp. S409-S409

Author(s):

A. Gadad ◽

D.Y.C.J. Reddy ◽

D.G. Venkatasubramanian ◽

D.J. C.N

Keyword(s):

Mental Rotation ◽

Negative Correlation ◽

Mental Rotation Task ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Inferior Parietal Lobule ◽

Good Insight ◽

Compulsive Disorder ◽

Accuracy Ratio ◽

Parietal Lobule ◽

Medial Frontal Gyrus

Aim of the studyTo study the neural substrates of insight in OCD by comparing patients with good insight, patients with poor insight and matched healthy controls using functional MRI.MethodologySubjects were recruited from among patients attending OCD clinic, adult psychiatry services and psychiatry ward inpatients of National Institute of Mental Health And Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore. They were further divided into ‘good insight’ (n = 30) and ‘poor insight’ (n = 14) using Brown's assessment of belief's scale. Control subjects (n = 30) were recruited from consenting volunteers. 3 T MRI was used mental rotation task was paradigm used for fMRI and analysis was done by SPM 8.ResultsPoor insight patients and good insight patients comparison revealed differential activation in left superior/medial frontal gyrus (corresponding to the DLPFC). A negative correlation between BABS score and activation of right inferior parietal lobule. Mental rotation task behavioural data results: OCD patients as a group had significantly lower accuracy compared to healthy controls. Poor insight group had significantly decreased accuracy ratio compared to good insight group and healthy controls. A negative correlation was noted between BABS score and accuracy ratio, indicating that poorer the insight, greater the errors during the active task.ConclusionInsight has been important prognostic factor in OCD. Poor insight patients had specific deficits in left medial frontal gyrus and right inferior parietal lobule as compared to good insight patients and healthy controls. Together, these indicate that insight has a strong neurobiological underpinning in OCD.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

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Mental Rotation Meets the Motion Aftereffect: The Role of hV5/MT+ in Visual Mental Imagery

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn.2010.21525 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 23 (6) ◽

pp. 1395-1404 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Ruth Seurinck ◽

Floris P. de Lange ◽

Erik Achten ◽

Guy Vingerhoets

Keyword(s):

Mental Rotation ◽

Mental Imagery ◽

Parietal Cortex ◽

Neural Activity ◽

Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽

Visual Motion ◽

Motion Aftereffect ◽

Mental Rotation Task ◽

Behavioral Performance ◽

Visual Mental Imagery

A growing number of studies show that visual mental imagery recruits the same brain areas as visual perception. Although the necessity of hV5/MT+ for motion perception has been revealed by means of TMS, its relevance for motion imagery remains unclear. We induced a direction-selective adaptation in hV5/MT+ by means of an MAE while subjects performed a mental rotation task that elicits imagined motion. We concurrently measured behavioral performance and neural activity with fMRI, enabling us to directly assess the effect of a perturbation of hV5/MT+ on other cortical areas involved in the mental rotation task. The activity in hV5/MT+ increased as more mental rotation was required, and the perturbation of hV5/MT+ affected behavioral performance as well as the neural activity in this area. Moreover, several regions in the posterior parietal cortex were also affected by this perturbation. Our results show that hV5/MT+ is required for imagined visual motion and engages in an interaction with parietal cortex during this cognitive process.

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Acoustic Neurofeedback Increases Beta ERD During Mental Rotation Task

Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback ◽

10.1007/s10484-018-9426-0 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 44 (2) ◽

pp. 103-115 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Wioletta Karina Ozga ◽

Dariusz Zapała ◽

Piotr Wierzgała ◽

Paweł Augustynowicz ◽

Robert Porzak ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Rotation ◽

Mental Rotation Task

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An fMRI investigation of right parietal function using a mental rotation task in pre-pubertal boys with ADHD, combined type

Molecular Psychiatry ◽

10.1038/sj.mp.4002070 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 12 (9) ◽

pp. 793-793 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

A Vance ◽

T J Silk ◽

R Cunnington

Keyword(s):

Mental Rotation ◽

Mental Rotation Task ◽

Pubertal Boys

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2BALANCE: Test-retest reliability of a cognitive-motor dual-task protocol

Journal of Vestibular Research ◽

10.3233/ves-210069 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-13

Author(s):

Maya Danneels ◽

Ruth Van Hecke ◽

Laura Leyssens ◽

Dirk Cambier ◽

Raymond van de Berg ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Rotation ◽

Dual Task ◽

Motor Task ◽

Mental Rotation Task ◽

Cognitive Tasks ◽

Task Condition ◽

Dual Task Condition ◽

Single Task ◽

Retest Reliability ◽

Test Retest Reliability

PURPOSE: Aside from typical symptoms such as dizziness and vertigo, persons with vestibular disorders often have cognitive and motor problems. These symptoms have been assessed in single-task condition. However, dual-tasks assessing cognitive-motor interference might be an added value as they reflect daily life situations better. Therefore, the 2BALANCE protocol was developed. In the current study, the test-retest reliability of this protocol was assessed. METHODS: The 2BALANCE protocol was performed twice in 20 healthy young adults with an in-between test interval of two weeks. Two motor tasks and five different cognitive tasks were performed in single and dual-task condition. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), the standard error of measurement, and the minimal detectable difference were calculated. RESULTS: All cognitive tasks, with the exception of the mental rotation task, had favorable reliability results (0.26≤ICC≤0.91). The dynamic motor task indicated overall substantial reliability values in all conditions (0.67≤ICC≤0.98). Similar results were found for the static motor task during dual-tasking (0.50≤ICC≤0.92), but were slightly lower in single-task condition (–0.26≤ICC≤0.75). CONCLUSIONS: The 2BALANCE protocol was overall consistent across trials. However, the mental rotation task showed lowest reliability values.

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