scholarly journals Temporal Characteristics of Priming of Attention Shifts Are Mirrored by BOLD Response Patterns in the Frontoparietal Attention Network

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 2267-2280
Author(s):  
Manje A B Brinkhuis ◽  
Árni Kristjánsson ◽  
Ben M Harvey ◽  
Jan W Brascamp
Keyword(s):  
Target Location ◽  
Preceding Trial ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Target Color ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Temporal Characteristics ◽  
Frontoparietal Network ◽  
Repetition Suppression ◽  
Attention Shifts

Abstract Priming of attention shifts involves the reduction in search RTs that occurs when target location or target features repeat. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neural basis of such attentional priming, specifically focusing on its temporal characteristics over trial sequences. We first replicated earlier findings by showing that repetition of target color and of target location from the immediately preceding trial both result in reduced blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals in a cortical network that encompasses occipital, parietal, and frontal cortices: lag-1 repetition suppression. While such lag-1 suppression can have a number of explanations, behaviorally, the influence of attentional priming extends further, with the influence of past search trials gradually decaying across multiple subsequent trials. Our results reveal that the same regions within the frontoparietal network that show lag-1 suppression, also show longer term BOLD reductions that diminish over the course of several trial presentations, keeping pace with the decaying behavioral influence of past target properties across trials. This distinct parallel between the across-trial patterns of cortical BOLD and search RT reductions, provides strong evidence that these cortical areas play a key role in attentional priming.

scholarly journals Rewarding Feedback After Correct Visual Discriminations Has Both General and Specific Influences on Visual Cortex

2010 ◽  
Vol 104 (3) ◽  
pp. 1746-1757 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Weil ◽  
N. Furl ◽  
C. C. Ruff ◽  
M. Symmonds ◽  
G. Flandin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Correct Performance ◽  
Visual Events ◽  
Visual Areas ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
Time Point

Reward can influence visual performance, but the neural basis of this effect remains poorly understood. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate how rewarding feedback affected activity in distinct areas of human visual cortex, separating rewarding feedback events after correct performance from preceding visual events. Participants discriminated oriented gratings in either hemifield, receiving auditory feedback at trial end that signaled financial reward after correct performance. Greater rewards improved performance for all but the most difficult trials. Rewarding feedback increased blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signals in striatum and orbitofrontal cortex. It also increased BOLD signals in visual areas beyond retinotopic cortex, but not in primary visual cortex representing the judged stimuli. These modulations were seen at a time point in which no visual stimuli were presented or expected, demonstrating a novel type of activity change in visual cortex that cannot reflect modulation of response to incoming or anticipated visual stimuli. Rewarded trials led on the next trial to improved performance and enhanced visual activity contralateral to the judged stimulus, for retinotopic representations of the judged visual stimuli in V1. Our findings distinguish general effects in nonretinotopic visual cortex when receiving rewarding feedback after correct performance from consequences of reward for spatially specific responses in V1.

scholarly journals The neural basis of temporal individuation and its capacity limits in the human brain

2014 ◽  
Vol 111 (3) ◽  
pp. 499-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire K. Naughtin ◽  
Benjamin J. Tamber-Rosenau ◽  
Paul E. Dux
Keyword(s):  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Response Factors ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Temporal Properties ◽  
Repetition Suppression ◽  
Capacity Limit

Individuation refers to individuals' use of spatial and temporal properties to register an object as a distinct perceptual event relative to other stimuli. Although behavioral studies have examined both spatial and temporal individuation, neuroimaging investigations of individuation have been restricted to the spatial domain and at relatively late stages of information processing. In this study we used univariate and multivoxel pattern analyses of functional magnetic resonance imaging data to identify brain regions involved in individuating temporally distinct visual items and the neural consequences that arise when this process reaches its capacity limit (repetition blindness, RB). First, we found that regional patterns of blood oxygen level-dependent activity in a large group of brain regions involved in “lower-level” perceptual and “higher-level” attentional/executive processing discriminated between instances where repeated and nonrepeated stimuli were successfully individuated, conditions that placed differential demands on temporal individuation. These results could not be attributed to repetition suppression, stimulus or response factors, task difficulty, regional activation differences, other capacity-limited processes, or artifacts in the data or analyses. Consistent with the global workplace model of consciousness, this finding suggests that temporal individuation is supported by a distributed set of brain regions, rather than a single neural correlate. Second, conditions that reflect the capacity limit of individuation (instances of RB) modulated the amplitude, rather than spatial pattern, of activity in the left hemisphere premotor cortex. This finding could not be attributed to response conflict/ambiguity and likely reflects a candidate brain region underlying the capacity-limited process that gives rise to RB.

scholarly journals The processing of color preference in the brain

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Racey ◽  
Anna Franklin ◽  
Chris M. Bird
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Color Preference ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Color Preferences ◽  
Subjective Value ◽  
Value Judgements ◽  
Automatic Encoding ◽  
The Brain

AbstractDecades of research has established that humans have preferences for some colors (e.g., blue) and a dislike of others (e.g., dark chartreuse), with preference varying systematically with variation in hue (e.g., Hurlbert & Owen, 2015). Here, we used functional MRI to investigate why humans have likes and dislikes for simple patches of color, and to understand the neural basis of preference, aesthetics and value judgements more generally. We looked for correlations of a behavioural measure of color preference with the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response when participants performed an irrelevant orientation judgement task on colored squares. A whole brain analysis found a significant correlation between BOLD activity and color preference in the posterior midline cortex (PMC), centred on the precuneus but extending into the adjacent posterior cingulate and cuneus. These results demonstrate that brain activity is modulated by color preference, even when such preferences are irrelevant to the ongoing task the participants are engaged. They also suggest that color preferences automatically influence our processing of the visual world. Interestingly, the effect in the PMC overlaps with regions identified in neuroimaging studies of preference and value judgements of other types of stimuli. Therefore, our findings extends this literature to show that the PMC is related to automatic encoding of subjective value even for basic visual features such as color.

scholarly journals Simultaneous mesoscopic Ca2+ imaging and fMRI: Neuroimaging spanning spatiotemporal scales

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyn MR Lake ◽  
Xinxin Ge ◽  
Xilin Shen ◽  
Peter Herman ◽  
Fahmeed Hyder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Function ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Optical Measurements ◽  
Wide Field ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Transgenic Murine Model ◽  
Spatiotemporal Scales

ABSTRACTTo achieve a more comprehensive understanding of brain function requires simultaneous measurement of activity across a range of spatiotemporal scales. However, the appropriate tools to perform such studies are largely unavailable. Here, we present a novel approach for concurrent wide-field optical and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). By merging these two modalities, we are for the first time able to simultaneously acquire whole-brain blood-oxygen-level-dependent and whole-cortex calcium-sensitive fluorescent measures of brain activity. We describe the developments that allow us to combine these modalities without compromising the fidelity of either technique. In a transgenic murine model, we examine correspondences between activity measured using these modalities and identify unique and complementary features of each. Our approach links cell-type specific optical measurements of neural activity to the most widely used method for assessing human brain function. These data and approach directly establish the neural basis for the macroscopic connectivity patterns observed with fMRI.

scholarly journals Preprint: Out of the Ordinary: Neural correlates of literary form and emotional content in aesthetic engagement with literature

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franziska Hartung ◽  
Yuchao Wang ◽  
Marloes Mak ◽  
Roel M. Willems ◽  
Anjan Chatterjee
Keyword(s):  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Semantic Integration ◽  
Literary Form ◽  
Emotional Content ◽  
Angular Gyrus ◽  
Emotional Intensity ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level ◽  
Aesthetic Experiences ◽  
Frontoparietal Network ◽  
Dependent Signal

We explored two aspects of aesthetic experiences during narrative engagement - literariness and emotional intensity. Independent ratings of literariness and emotional intensity of two literary stories were used to predict blood oxygen-level-dependent signal changes in 52 listeners from an existing fMRI dataset. Literariness was associated with increased activation in brain areas linked to semantic integration (left angular gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, and precuneus), and decreased activation in bilateral middle temporal cortices, associated with semantic representations and word memory. Emotional intensity correlated with decreased activation in a bilateral frontoparietal network that is often associated with controlled attention. Our results confirm a neural dissociation in processing literary form and emotional content in stories and generate new questions about the function of and interaction between attention, social cognition, and semantic systems during literary engagement and aesthetic experiences.

scholarly journals Aesthetic appraisals of literary style and emotional intensity in narrative engagement are neurally dissociable

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Franziska Hartung ◽  
Yuchao Wang ◽  
Marloes Mak ◽  
Roel Willems ◽  
Anjan Chatterjee
Keyword(s):  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Semantic Integration ◽  
Literary Form ◽  
Angular Gyrus ◽  
Emotional Intensity ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level ◽  
Aesthetic Experiences ◽  
Frontoparietal Network ◽  
Dependent Signal ◽  
Narrative Engagement

AbstractHumans are deeply affected by stories, yet it is unclear how. In this study, we explored two aspects of aesthetic experiences during narrative engagement - literariness and narrative fluctuations in appraised emotional intensity. Independent ratings of literariness and emotional intensity of two literary stories were used to predict blood-oxygen-level-dependent signal changes in 52 listeners from an existing fMRI dataset. Literariness was associated with increased activation in brain areas linked to semantic integration (left angular gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, and precuneus), and decreased activation in bilateral middle temporal cortices, associated with semantic representations and word memory. Emotional intensity correlated with decreased activation in a bilateral frontoparietal network that is often associated with controlled attention. Our results confirm a neural dissociation in processing literary form and emotional content in stories and generate new questions about the function of and interaction between attention, social cognition, and semantic systems during literary engagement and aesthetic experiences.

scholarly journals The neural basis of the blood–oxygen–level–dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging signal

2002 ◽  
Vol 357 (1424) ◽  
pp. 1003-1037 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikos K. Logothetis
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Bold Signal ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Neural Signals

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has rapidly become an important tool in clinical medicine and biological research. Its functional variant (functional magnetic resonance imaging; fMRI) is currently the most widely used method for brain mapping and studying the neural basis of human cognition. While the method is widespread, there is insufficient knowledge of the physiological basis of the fMRI signal to interpret the data confidently with respect to neural activity. This paper reviews the basic principles of MRI and fMRI, and subsequently discusses in some detail the relationship between the blood–oxygen–level–dependent (BOLD) fMRI signal and the neural activity elicited during sensory stimulation. To examine this relationship, we conducted the first simultaneous intracortical recordings of neural signals and BOLD responses. Depending on the temporal characteristics of the stimulus, a moderate to strong correlation was found between the neural activity measured with microelectrodes and the BOLD signal averaged over a small area around the microelectrode tips. However, the BOLD signal had significantly higher variability than the neural activity, indicating that human fMRI combined with traditional statistical methods underestimates the reliability of the neuronal activity. To understand the relative contribution of several types of neuronal signals to the haemodynamic response, we compared local field potentials (LFPs), single– and multi–unit activity (MUA) with high spatio–temporal fMRI responses recorded simultaneously in monkey visual cortex. At recording sites characterized by transient responses, only the LFP signal was significantly correlated with the haemodynamic response. Furthermore, the LFPs had the largest magnitude signal and linear systems analysis showed that the LFPs were better than the MUAs at predicting the fMRI responses. These findings, together with an analysis of the neural signals, indicate that the BOLD signal primarily measures the input and processing of neuronal information within a region and not the output signal transmitted to other brain regions.

scholarly journals A quantitative framework for motion visibility in human cortex

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Birman ◽  
Justin L Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Perceptual Decision Making ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Visual Areas ◽  
Motion Contrast ◽  
Dot Motion ◽  
Human Participants ◽  
Cortical Regions ◽  
Sensory Neural

AbstractDespite the central use of motion visibility to reveal the neural basis of perception, perceptual decision making, and sensory inference there exists no comprehensive quantitative framework establishing how motion visibility parameters modulate human cortical response. Random-dot motion stimuli can be made less visible by reducing image contrast or motion coherence, or by shortening the stimulus duration. Because each of these manipulations modulates the strength of sensory neural responses they have all been extensively used to reveal cognitive and other non-sensory phenomenon such as the influence of priors, attention, and choice-history biases. However, each of these manipulations is thought to influence response in different ways across different cortical regions and a comprehensive study is required to interpret this literature. Here, human participants observed random-dot stimuli varying across a large range of contrast, coherence, and stimulus durations as we measured blood-oxygen-level dependent responses. We developed a framework for modeling these responses which quantifies their functional form and sensitivity across areas. Our framework demonstrates the sensitivity of all visual areas to each parameter, with early visual areas V1-V4 showing more parametric sensitivity to changes in contrast and V3A and MT to coherence. Our results suggest that while motion contrast, coherence, and duration share cortical representation, they are encoded with distinct functional forms and sensitivity. Thus, our quantitative framework serves as a reference for interpretation of the vast perceptual literature manipulating these parameters and shows that different manipulations of visibility will have different effects across human visual cortex and need to be interpreted accordingly.

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