Human neural responses elicited to observing the actions of others

2001 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
KYLIE J. WHEATON ◽  
ANDREW PIPINGAS ◽  
RICHARD B. SILBERSTEIN ◽  
AINA PUCE
Keyword(s):  
Mouth Opening ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Body Part ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Motion ◽  
Neural Systems ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Human Neuroimaging

Monkey electrophysiological and human neuroimaging studies indicate the existence of specialized neural systems for the perception and execution of actions. To date, the dynamics of these neural systems in humans have not been well studied. Here, we investigated the spatial and temporal behavior of human neural responses elicited to viewing motion of the face, hand, and body. Scalp event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in 20 participants viewing videotaped mouth (opening, closing), hand (closing, opening), and body stepping (forward, backward) movements. ERP peak differences within the movements of each body part were compared using topographical maps of voltage, voltage difference, and Student's t-test at ERP peak latencies. Predominantly temporoparietal negative ERPs occurred to motion of all body parts within 200 ms postmovement onset. Hand closure elicited a significantly greater negativity than opening, particularly in the left hemisphere. Vertex positive ERPs within 300 ms postmovement onset were elicited to hand and body motion. A significantly greater positivity occurred for the body stepping forward relative to stepping backward. The ERP topography was consistent with observed activation foci in human neuroimaging studies. Our data indicate that the neural activity of a system dedicated to the perception of high-level motion stimuli can rapidly differentiate between movements across and within body parts.

Neural dynamics of trainee teachers' emotional conflict processing: An event-related potential study

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Li Jin ◽  
Xu Li ◽  
Jiamei Lu ◽  
Nianqu Chen ◽  
Lin Cheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
School Context ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
The Body ◽  
Educational Context ◽  
Congruent Condition ◽  
Slow Potential ◽  
Emotional Conflict ◽  
Trainee Teachers ◽  
Related Potentials

We investigated emotional conflict in an educational context with an emotional body–word Stroop paradigm, examining whether the N450 (a late fronto-central phasic negative event-related potential signature) and slow potential (SP) effects could be evoked in trainee teachers. The N450 effect is characterized by topography and negative polarity of an incongruent minus congruent difference potential, and the SP effect has positive polarity (incongruent minus congruent difference potential). Positive and negative body language examples were obtained from pupils in an actual school context, and emotional words were selected. Compound stimuli were presented, each comprising a congruent or incongruent word displayed across a body image. Event-related potentials were recorded while participants judged body expression valence. Reaction times were longer and accuracies were lower for the incongruent compared to the congruent condition. The N450 component amplitude in the incongruent condition was more negative than in the congruent condition. Results showed a behavioral interference effect and an N450 effect for trainee teachers in this context, thus indicating that the body–word task was efficient in assessing emotional conflict in an educational context, and trainee teachers' perception of body expressions of students could be influenced by emotional signals. The findings further the understanding of emotional conflict in an educational context.

scholarly journals Frequency Sensitivity of Neural Responses to English Verb Argument Structure Violations

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jona Sassenhagen ◽  
Ryan Blything ◽  
Elena V. M. Lieven ◽  
Ben Ambridge
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Learning ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
Verb Argument Structure ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Intransitive Verbs

How are verb-argument structure preferences acquired? Children typically receive very little negative evidence, raising the question of how they come to understand the restrictions on grammatical constructions. Statistical learning theories propose stochastic patterns in the input contain sufficient clues. For example, if a verb is very common, but never observed in transitive constructions, this would indicate that transitive usage of that verb is illegal. Ambridge et al. (2008) have shown that in offline grammaticality judgements of intransitive verbs used in transitive constructions, low-frequency verbs elicit higher acceptability ratings than high-frequency verbs, as predicted if relative frequency is a cue during statistical learning. Here, we investigate if the same pattern also emerges in on-line processing of English sentences. EEG was recorded while healthy adults listened to sentences featuring transitive uses of semantically matched verb pairs of differing frequencies. We replicate the finding of higher acceptabilities of transitive uses of low- vs. high-frequency intransitive verbs. Event-Related Potentials indicate a similar result: early electrophysiological signals distinguish between misuse of high- vs low-frequency verbs. This indicates online processing shows a similar sensitivity to frequency as off-line judgements, consistent with a parser that reflects an original acquisition of grammatical constructions via statistical cues. However, the nature of the observed neural responses was not of the expected, or an easily interpretable, form, motivating further work into neural correlates of online processing of syntactic constructions.

Maximizing Recall of Gruesome Images for Health Effects Advertising: An Experimental Investigation

2010 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 112-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brennen W. Mills ◽  
Owen B. J. Carter ◽  
Robert J. Donovan
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Investigation ◽  
Body Part ◽  
The Body ◽  
Advertising Effectiveness ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Online Study ◽  
Video Clips ◽  
Video Images ◽  
The Impact

The objective of this case study was to experimentally manipulate the impact on arousal and recall of two characteristics frequently occurring in gruesome depictions of body parts in smoking cessation advertisements: the presence or absence of an external physical insult to the body part depicted; whether or not the image contains a clear figure/ground demarcation. Three hundred participants (46% male, 54% female; mean age 27.3 years, SD = 11.4) participated in a two-stage online study wherein they viewed and responded to a series of gruesome 4-s video images. Seventy-two video clips were created to provide a sample of images across the two conditions: physical insult versus no insult and clear figure/ground demarcation versus merged or no clear figure/ground demarcation. In stage one, participants viewed a randomly ordered series of 36 video clips and rated how “confronting” they considered each to be. Seven days later (stage two), to test recall of each video image, participants viewed all 72 clips and were asked to identify those they had seen previously. Images containing a physical insult were consistently rated more confronting and were remembered more accurately than images with no physical insult. Images with a clear figure/ground demarcation were rated as no more confronting but were consistently recalled with greater accuracy than those with unclear figure/ground demarcation. Makers of gruesome health warning television advertisements should incorporate some form of physical insult and use a clear figure/ground demarcation to maximize image recall and subsequent potential advertising effectiveness.

scholarly journals Social Exclusion Down-Regulates Pain Empathy at the Late Stage of Empathic Responses: Electrophysiological Evidence

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Fan ◽  
Jing Jie ◽  
Pinchao Luo ◽  
Yu Pang ◽  
Danna Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Controlled Processing ◽  
Behavioral Studies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Central Regions ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
And Behavior

Social exclusion has a significant impact on cognition, emotion, and behavior. Some behavioral studies investigated how social exclusion affects pain empathy. Conclusions were inconsistent, and there is a lack of clarity in identifying which component of pain empathy is more likely to be affected. To investigate these issues, we used a Cyberball task to manipulate feelings of social exclusion. Two groups (social exclusion and social inclusion) participated in the same pain empathy task while we recorded event-related potentials (ERP) when participants viewed static images of body parts in painful and neutral situations. The results showed early N2 differentiation between painful and neutral pictures in the central regions in both groups. The pattern at the late controlled processing stage was different. Parietal P3 amplitudes for painful pictures were significantly smaller than those for neutral pictures in the social exclusion group; they did not differ in the social inclusion group. We observed a parietal late positive potential (LPP) differentiation between painful and neutral pictures in both groups. LPP amplitudes were significantly smaller in the social exclusion group than those in the social inclusion group for painful stimuli. Our results indicate that social exclusion does not affect empathic responses during the early emotional sharing stage. However, it down-regulates empathic responses at the late cognitive controlled stage, and this modulation is attenuated gradually. The current study provides neuroscientific evidence of how social exclusion dynamically influences pain empathy.

scholarly journals Embodiment of sleep-related words: evidence from event-related potentials

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mareike J. Hülsemann ◽  
Björn Rasch
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Body Position ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
The Body ◽  
Semantic Meaning ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Multimodal Networks ◽  
Lying Down

AbstractOur thoughts, plans and intentions can influence physiological sleep, but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. According to the theoretical framework of “embodied cognition”, the semantic content of cognitive processes is represented by multimodal networks in the brain which also include body-related functions. Such multimodal representation could offer a mechanism which explains mutual influences between cognition and sleep. In the current study we tested whether sleep-related words are represented in multimodal networks by examining the effect of congruent vs. incongruent body positions on word processing during wakefulness.We experimentally manipulated the body position of 66 subjects (50 females, 16 males, 19-40 years old) between standing upright and lying down. Sleep- and activity-related words were presented around the individual speech recognition threshold to increase task difficulty. Our results show that word processing is facilitated in congruent body positions (sleep words: lying down and activity words: standing upright) compared with incongruent body positions, as indicated by a reduced N400 of the event-related potential (ERP) in the congruent condition with the lowest volume. In addition, early sensory components of the ERP (N180 and P280) were enhanced, suggesting that words were also acoustically better understood when the body position was congruent with the semantic meaning of the word. However, the difference in ERPs did not translate to differences on a behavioural level.Our results support the prediction of embodied processing of sleep- and activity-related words. Body position potentially induces a pre-activation of multimodal networks, thereby enhancing the access to the semantic concepts of words related to current the body position. The mutual link between semantic meaning and body-related function could be a key element in explaining influences of cognitive processing on sleep.

Comparison of attentional resource allocation to threat and selfrelevant information: An event-related potentials study

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Guan Wang ◽  
Yuting Liu ◽  
Yuan Fang
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
The Body ◽  
Attentional Resource ◽  
P300 Amplitude ◽  
Oddball Paradigm ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Computer Screen ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Information Type

Although previous researchers have shown that attention is preferentially allocated during situations involving both threat and selfrelevant information, it is unclear which information type requires more cognitive resources. We compared the automatic processing of threat and self-relevant stimuli using the no-report oddball paradigm. Participants looked at images on a computer screen that displayed fighting with opponents or interacting with friends or customers. The body action of the person depicted was performed either toward the viewing participant or toward other people. Participants watched without making an explicit response, and event-related potentials were measured with electroencephalography. We found that threat (vs. selfrelevant) information elicited a larger P300 amplitude, and for nonthreatening events the P300 amplitude was larger for self-relevant than other-relevant stimuli. These results indicate that threat (vs. selfrelevant) information demands more cognitive resources, possibly because people prioritize survival.

Low-dimensional versus high-dimensional chaos in brain function – is it an and/or issue?

2001 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 823-824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Márk Molnár
Keyword(s):  
Brain Function ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Neural Systems ◽  
Sensory Information Processing ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Dimensional Complexity ◽  
Low Dimensional ◽  
The Brain

We discuss whether low-dimensional chaos and even nonlinear processes can be traced in the electrical activity of the brain. Experimental data show that the dimensional complexity of the EEG decreases during event-related potentials associated with cognitive effort. This probably represents increased nonlinear cooperation between different neural systems during sensory information processing.

Temporal Dynamics of Prospective Memory (Event-Related Potentials)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert West
Keyword(s):  
Prospective Memory ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Fundamental Aspect ◽  
Neural Systems ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Considerable Research ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Memory Event ◽  
Related Potentials

Life is filled with goals or intentions that people hope to realize. Some of these are rather mundane (e.g., remembering to purchase a key ingredient for a recipe when stopping at the market), while others are more significant (e.g., remembering to pick up one’s child from school at the end of the day). Prospective memory represents the ability to form and then realize intentions at an appropriate time. A fundamental aspect of prospective memory is that one is engaged in one or more tasks (i.e., ongoing activities) between the formation of an intention and the opportunity to realize the goal. For instance, in the shopping example, one might form the intention at home and then travel to the market and collect several other items before walking past the desired ingredient. Considerable research has demonstrated that the efficiency of prospective memory declines with age, although age-related differences are not universal. The neurocognitive processes underpinning age-related differences in the formation and realization of delayed intentions have been investigated in studies using event-related brain potentials. This research reveals that age-related differences in prospective memory arise from the disruption of neural systems supporting the successful encoding of intentions, the detection of prospective memory cues, and possibly processes supporting the retrieval of intentions from memory when a cue is encountered or efficiently shifting from the ongoing activity to the prospective element of the task. Therefore, strategies designed to ameliorate age-related declines in prospective memory should target a variety of processes engaged during the encoding, retrieval, and enactment of delayed intentions.

scholarly journals Reduced influence of perceptual context in schizophrenia: behavioral and neurophysiological evidence

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor J. Pokorny ◽  
Timothy J. Lano ◽  
Michael-Paul Schallmo ◽  
Cheryl A. Olman ◽  
Scott R. Sponheim
Keyword(s):  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Contour Integration ◽  
Contour Detection ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Contour Perception ◽  
Accurate Perception ◽  
Visual Contour ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Intermediate Performance

Abstract Background Accurate perception of visual contours is essential for seeing and differentiating objects in the environment. Both the ability to detect visual contours and the influence of perceptual context created by surrounding stimuli are diminished in people with schizophrenia (SCZ). The central aim of the present study was to better understand the biological underpinnings of impaired contour integration and weakened effects of perceptual context. Additionally, we sought to determine whether visual perceptual abnormalities reflect genetic factors in SCZ and are present in other severe mental disorders. Methods We examined behavioral data and event-related potentials (ERPs) collected during the perception of simple linear contours embedded in similar background stimuli in 27 patients with SCZ, 23 patients with bipolar disorder (BP), 23 first-degree relatives of SCZ, and 37 controls. Results SCZ exhibited impaired visual contour detection while BP exhibited intermediate performance. The orientation of neighboring stimuli (i.e. flankers) relative to the contour modulated perception across all groups, but SCZ exhibited weakened suppression by the perceptual context created by flankers. Late visual (occipital P2) and cognitive (centroparietal P3) neural responses showed group differences and flanker orientation effects, unlike earlier ERPs (occipital P1 and N1). Moreover, behavioral effects of flanker context on contour perception were correlated with modulation in P2 & P3 amplitudes. Conclusion In addition to replicating and extending findings of abnormal contour integration and visual context modulation in SCZ, we provide novel evidence that the abnormal use of perceptual context is associated with higher-order sensory and cognitive processes.

scholarly journals Perception on Prolonged Standing Work in Electronic Manufacturing Company

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3.24) ◽  
pp. 44
Author(s):  
Norlizaa Mohamad ◽  
Jafri Mohd Rohani ◽  
Ismail Abdul Rahman ◽  
Anis Amira Mat Zuki
Keyword(s):  
Good Health ◽  
Body Part ◽  
Health Condition ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Region ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Prolonged Standing ◽  
Electronic Manufacturing ◽  
Strong Relation ◽  
Ergonomic Interventions

Prolonged standing is one of the common activities in electronic industry as the task requirement. Prolonged standing can cause discomfort on the body of the workers and can lead to injury and occupational disease. The purpose of this study is to investigate standing workers perception on the fatigue and the discomfort on their respective body region for 12 hours working time. The subjects are the 80 workers with a good health condition and at least 6 months tenure. The subject data are collected via questionnaires and Likert scale to define the discomfort, pain, and fatigue. The workers were interviewed regarding their job and perceived fatigue discomfort. The results show the domination of the lower body region with the higher mean at the lower back, legs, and foot ankle. No statistically significant differences were found between the job tenure and body part discomfort pain and fatigue. There is a significant relation between gender and discomfort pain on legs and foot ankle. The result also shows a strong relation between age and the discomfort body parts of thigh and foot ankle. The perceptions of the workers towards discomfort pain and fatigue cause by prolonged standing during performing the task. The results from this study will provide a view for industrial consultants or ergonomist with evidence to support for ergonomic interventions for prolonged standing activity such as job rotation and work-rest schedule. 

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