Overcoming residual interference in mental set switching: Neural correlates and developmental trajectory

AbstractMentalising has long been suggested to play an important role in irony interpretation. We hypothesised that another important cognitive underpinning of irony interpretation is likely to be children's capacity for mental set switching – the ability to switch flexibly between different approaches to the same task. We experimentally manipulated mentalising and set switching to investigate their effects on the ability of 7-year-olds to determine if an utterance is intended ironically or literally. The component of mentalising examined was whether the speaker and listener shared requisite knowledge.We developed a paradigm in which children had to select how a listener might reply, depending on whether the listener shared knowledge needed to interpret the utterance as ironic. Our manipulation of requisite set switching found null results. However, we are the first to show experimentally that children as young as seven years use mentalising to determine whether an utterance is intended ironically or literally.

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Neural correlates of cardiac interoceptive accuracy across development: implications for social symptoms in autism spectrum disorders

10.1101/630343 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Michelle D. Failla ◽

Lauren K. Bryant ◽

Brynna H. Heflin ◽

Lisa E. Mash ◽

Kim Schauder ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Emotional Health ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Developmental Trajectory ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Curvilinear Relationship ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Interoceptive Accuracy ◽

Interoceptive Cues

AbstractBackgroundInteroception involves the processing of sensory information relevant to physiological functioning and is integral to building self-awareness, emotional states, and modulating social behaviors. With the role of interoception in emotional processing and social functioning, there is growing interest in characterizing interoception in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet, there are mixed results regarding cardiac interoceptive accuracy in ASD.MethodsIn this study, we explored the neural basis of cardiac interoception using an fMRI heartbeat counting task in order to assess neural correlates of primary interoception. We predicted that interoceptive-specific response in the insula, a “hub” for interoception, would be related to ASD symptomatology. We investigated the relationship of insula responses during cardiac interoceptive accuracy and a self/caregiver-reported autism-related symptom scale (Social Responsiveness Scale-2 (SRS)). Participants included 46 individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (age 8-54, mean= 19.43±10.68 years) and 54 individuals with typical development for comparison (TC, age 8-53, mean= 21.43±10.41 years).ResultsWe found no significant difference in cardiac interoceptive accuracy or neural response to cardiac interoception in ASD. Several insula sudivisons had a curvilinear relationship to age, peaking in early adulthood. Interoceptive-specific insula response was associated with adult self-report SRS scores; this association differed by diagnostic group and self/other report.ConclusionsThis work suggests that 1) there is no global deficit in interoception in ASD, but that integrating interoceptive cues with social information may distinguish individuals with ASD, and 2) there is a developmental trajectory for interoceptive processing in the insula that may be relevant for socio-emotional health.

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Components of Attentional Set-switching

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169.52.2.83 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 52 (2) ◽

pp. 83-98 ◽

Cited By ~ 81

Author(s):

M. F. S. Rushworth ◽

R. E. Passingham ◽

A. C. Nobre

Keyword(s):

Task Switching ◽

Human Subjects ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Stimulus Dimension ◽

Task Switch ◽

Attentional Set ◽

Set Switching ◽

Related Potentials ◽

The Way

Abstract. A series of distinct event-related potentials (ERPs) have been recorded from the scalp of human subjects as they switch from one task to another. It is possible that task switching may depend on different mechanisms depending on whether the switch requires a change in attentional set, in other words the redirecting of attention to different aspects of a sensory stimulus, or whether it requires a change in intentional set, in others words a change in the way that responses are selected. To address this issue, the current study recorded ERPs while subjects switched between attentional sets and the results were compared with those of a previous investigation in which subjects switched between intentional sets. Subjects selected stimuli according to two conflicting attentional sets, each emphasizing one visual stimulus dimension (colour, shape). Pairs of stimuli, only one of which was to be attended, were presented for between eight and seventeen trials then either a switch or a stay cue was shown. The switch cue instructed subjects to switch from the current attentional set to the other set, while the stay cue instructed subjects to maintain the current set. Comparing ERPs time-locked to the switch and stay cues revealed neural correlates of the initiation of a task switch. Comparing the ERPs time locked to the first stimuli after either stay or switch cues identified neural correlates of the implementation of a task switch. A similar modulation over parietal electrodes was seen when subjects were switching between either attentional or intentional sets. While an intentional set switch began with a medial frontal modulation, attentional set switching began with a lateral frontal modulation. Implementing a new attentional set was associated with modulation of relatively early visual potentials, while implementing a new intentional set was associated with modulation of later response-related potentials. The results confirm that task switching consists of a number of constituent processes which may be taxed to different degrees depending on whether a task-switch paradigm requires subjects to change the way in which they select stimuli or responses.

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The Cerebellum Mediates Conflict Resolution

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn.2007.19.12.1974 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 19 (12) ◽

pp. 1974-1982 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Tom A. Schweizer ◽

Chris Oriet ◽

Nachshon Meiran ◽

Michael P. Alexander ◽

Michael Cusimano ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Conflict Resolution ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Response Conflict ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Focal Lesions ◽

Active Response ◽

Motor Processing ◽

Cortical Areas ◽

Set Switching ◽

Cerebellar Lesions

Regions within the frontal and parietal cortex have been implicated as important neural correlates for cognitive control during conflict resolution. Despite the extensive reciprocal connectivity between the cerebellum and these putatively critical cortical areas, a role for the cerebellum in conflict resolution has never been identified. We used a task-switching paradigm that separates processes related to task-set switching and the management of response conflict independent of motor processing. Eleven patients with chronic, focal lesions to the cerebellum and 11 healthy controls were compared. Patients were slower and less accurate in conditions involving conflict resolution. In the absence of response conflict, however, tasks-witching abilities were not impaired in our patients. The cerebellum may play an important role in coordinating with other areas of cortex to modulate active response states. These results are the first demonstration of impaired conflict resolution following cerebellar lesions in the presence of an intact prefrontal cortex.

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Development of an eye-tracking method to assess mental set switching in people with aphasia

Brain Injury ◽

10.1080/02699052.2017.1290277 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 31 (5) ◽

pp. 686-696

Author(s):

Sabine Heuer ◽

Melissa Lu Pinke

Keyword(s):

Eye Tracking ◽

Tracking Method ◽

Mental Set ◽

Set Switching

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On the Relationship Between General Auditory Sensitivity and Speech Perception: An Examination of Pitch and Lexical Tone Perception in 4- to 6-Year-Old Children

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2019_jslhr-19-00104 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 63 (2) ◽

pp. 487-498

Author(s):

Puisan Wong ◽

Man Wai Cheng

Keyword(s):

Speech Perception ◽

Theoretical Models ◽

Developmental Trajectory ◽

Auditory Sensitivity ◽

Pitch Discrimination ◽

Lexical Tone ◽

Perceptual Training ◽

Lexical Tones ◽

Tone Perception ◽

Tone Discrimination

Purpose Theoretical models and substantial research have proposed that general auditory sensitivity is a developmental foundation for speech perception and language acquisition. Nonetheless, controversies exist about the effectiveness of general auditory training in improving speech and language skills. This research investigated the relationships among general auditory sensitivity, phonemic speech perception, and word-level speech perception via the examination of pitch and lexical tone perception in children. Method Forty-eight typically developing 4- to 6-year-old Cantonese-speaking children were tested on the discrimination of the pitch patterns of lexical tones in synthetic stimuli, discrimination of naturally produced lexical tones, and identification of lexical tone in familiar words. Results The findings revealed that accurate lexical tone discrimination and identification did not necessarily entail the accurate discrimination of nonlinguistic stimuli that followed the pitch levels and pitch shapes of lexical tones. Although pitch discrimination and tone discrimination abilities were strongly correlated, accuracy in pitch discrimination was lower than that in tone discrimination, and nonspeech pitch discrimination ability did not precede linguistic tone discrimination in the developmental trajectory. Conclusions Contradicting the theoretical models, the findings of this study suggest that general auditory sensitivity and speech perception may not be causally or hierarchically related. The finding that accuracy in pitch discrimination is lower than that in tone discrimination suggests that comparable nonlinguistic auditory perceptual ability may not be necessary for accurate speech perception and language learning. The results cast doubt on the use of nonlinguistic auditory perceptual training to improve children's speech, language, and literacy abilities.

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A Review of the Role of Cue Processing in Task Switching

Zeitschrift für Psychologie ◽

10.1027/2151-2604/a000125 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 221 (1) ◽

pp. 5-14 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Kerstin Jost ◽

Wouter De Baene ◽

Iring Koch ◽

Marcel Brass

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Task Switching ◽

Task Switch ◽

Task Set ◽

Switch Costs ◽

Set Switching ◽

Controversial Topic ◽

Cue Encoding ◽

Cue Processing

The role of cue processing has become a controversial topic in research on cognitive control using task-switching procedures. Some authors suggested a priming account to explain switch costs as a form of encoding benefit when the cue from the previous trial is repeated and hence challenged theories that attribute task-switch costs to task-set (re)configuration. A rich body of empirical evidence has evolved that indeed shows that cue-encoding repetition priming is an important component in task switching. However, these studies also demonstrate that there are usually substantial “true” task-switch costs. Here, we review this behavioral, electrophysiological, and brain imaging evidence. Moreover, we describe alternative approaches to the explicit task-cuing procedure, such as the usage of transition cues or the task-span procedure. In addition, we address issues related to the type of cue, such as cue transparency. We also discuss methodological and theoretical implications and argue that the explicit task-cuing procedure is suitable to address issues of cognitive control and task-set switching.

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