scholarly journals Perceptual Expectations do not Modulate Image Repetition Effects as Measured by Event-Related Potentials

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Feuerriegel ◽  
Owen Churches ◽  
Scott Coussens ◽  
Hannah A. D. Keage

AbstractRepeated stimulus presentation leads to complex changes in cortical neuron response properties, commonly known as repetition suppression or stimulus-specific adaptation. Circuit-based models of repetition suppression provide a framework for investigating patterns of repetition effects that propagate through cortical hierarchies. To further develop such models it is critical to determine whether (and if so, when) repetition effects are modulated by top-down influences, such as those related to perceptual expectation. We investigated this by presenting pairs of repeated and alternating face images, and orthogonally manipulating expectations regarding the likelihood of stimulus repetition. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from n=39 healthy adults, to map the spatiotemporal progression of stimulus repetition and expectation effects, and interactions between these factors, using mass univariate analyses. We also tested whether the ability to predict unrepeated (compared to repeated) face identities could influence the magnitude of observed repetition effects, by presenting separate blocks with predictable and unpredictable alternating faces. Multiple repetition and expectation effects were identified between 99-800ms from stimulus onset, which did not statistically interact at any point. Repetition effects in blocks with predictable alternating faces were smaller than in unpredictable alternating face blocks between 117-179ms and 506-652ms, and larger between 246-428ms. ERP repetition effects appear not to be modulated by perceptual expectations, supporting separate mechanisms for repetition and expectation suppression. However, previous studies that aimed to test for repetition effects, in which the repeated (but not unrepeated) stimulus was predictable, are likely to have conflated repetition and stimulus predictability effects.Highlights- ERP face image repetition effects were apparent between 99-800ms from stimulus onset- Expectations of stimulus image properties did not modulate face repetition effects- The predictability of unrepeated stimuli influenced repetition effect magnitudes

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Feuerriegel ◽  
Owen Churches ◽  
Scott Coussens ◽  
Hannah A.D. Keage

AbstractRepeated exposure to a stimulus leads to reduced responses of stimulus-selective sensory neurons, an effect known as repetition suppression or stimulus-specific adaptation. Several influential models have been proposed to explain repetition suppression within hierarchically-organised sensory systems, with each specifying different mechanisms underlying repetition effects. We manipulated temporal expectations within a face repetition experiment to test a critical prediction of the predictive coding model of repetition suppression: that repetition effects will be larger following stimuli that appear at expected times compared to stimuli that appear at unexpected times. We recorded event-related potentials from 18 participants and mapped the spatiotemporal progression of repetition effects using mass univariate analyses. We then assessed whether the magnitudes of observed face image repetition effects were influenced by temporal expectations. In each trial participants saw an adapter face, followed by a 500ms or 1000ms interstimulus interval (ISI), and then a test face, which was the same or a different face identity to the adapter. Participants’ expectations for whether the test face would appear after a 500ms ISI were cued by the sex of the adapter face. Our analyses revealed multiple repetition effects with distinct scalp topographies, extending until at least 800ms from stimulus onset. An early (158-203ms) repetition effect was larger for stimuli following surprising, rather than expected, 500ms ISI durations, contrary to the model predictions of the predictive coding model of repetition suppression. Later (230-609ms) repetition effects tended to be larger following expected stimulus onset times, in line with predictive coding models. Our results indicate that the relationship between repetition suppression and temporal expectation differs across the time course of the stimulus-evoked response, suggesting multiple distinct mechanisms driving repetition suppression that operate at different latencies within the visual hierarchy.Highlights- Multiple face image repetition effects identified from 162-800ms post stimulus onset- Temporal expectations influenced the magnitudes of repetition effects- Temporal expectation effects differed for early and late stimulus-evoked responses


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 75
Author(s):  
Tessa Marzi ◽  
Giorgio Gronchi ◽  
Maria Teresa Turano ◽  
Fabio Giovannelli ◽  
Fiorenza Giganti ◽  
...  

Individual abilities in face recognition (good versus bad recognizers) were explored by means of event-related potentials (ERPs). The adaptation response profile of the N170 component to whole faces, eyes and mouths was used in order to highlight the crucial role of individual abilities in identity repetition processes for unfamiliar faces. The main point of this study is to underline the importance of characterizing the performance (bad or good) of the participants and to show that behaviorally selected groups might reveal neural differences. Good recognizers showed selective right hemisphere N170 repetition effects for whole faces and not for features. On the contrary, bad recognizers showed a general repetition effect not specifically related to faces and more pronounced processing for features. These findings suggest a different contribution of holistic and featural analysis in bad and good performers. In conclusion, we propose that the N170 might be used as a tool to tease apart face encoding processes as a function of individual differences.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verena R. Sommer ◽  
Luzie Mount ◽  
Sarah Weigelt ◽  
Markus Werkle-Bergner ◽  
Myriam C. Sander

Our memories depend on our brain's ability to form internal representations of relevant aspects of the world that can later be retrieved. The specificity with which past experiences can be remembered varies across the lifespan, possibly due to differences in how precisely information is encoded. This memory formation can be investigated through repetition effects, the common finding that neural activity is altered (suppressed or enhanced) when stimuli are repeated. However, whether differences in this indirect measure of memory formation relate to lifespan age differences in memory specificity has not yet been established. In the present study, we examined repetition effects in event-related potentials and their relation to recognition specificity. During incidental encoding, children (aged 7-9 years), young adults (18-30 years), and older adults (65-76 years) viewed repeated object images from different categories. During subsequent recognition, old, similar, and new objects were presented, allowing for a differentiation of memory for the specific item versus the general category. We identified neural repetition suppression effects in all age groups, and repetition enhancement for adults. Furthermore, individual item recognition performance comprising lure discrimination was positively associated with the magnitude of the neural repetition effects. These brain-behavior associations did not differ between age groups, indicating common neural mechanisms of memory formation. In sum, our findings demonstrate that neural repetition effects reflect encoding mechanisms that facilitate the formation of highly specific memory representations and highlight their significance as a neural indicator of individual differences in episodic memory encoding across the lifespan.


2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 198-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Wang ◽  
Jianhui Wu ◽  
Shimin Fu ◽  
Yuejia Luo

In the present study, we used event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavioral measurements in a peripherally cued line-orientation discrimination task to investigate the underlying mechanisms of orienting and focusing in voluntary and involuntary attention conditions. Informative peripheral cue (75% valid) with long stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) was used in the voluntary attention condition; uninformative peripheral cue (50% valid) with short SOA was used in the involuntary attention condition. Both orienting and focusing were affected by attention type. Results for attention orienting in the voluntary attention condition confirmed the “sensory gain control theory,” as attention enhanced the amplitude of the early ERP components, P1 and N1, without latency changes. In the involuntary attention condition, compared with invalid trials, targets in the valid trials elicited larger and later contralateral P1 components, and smaller and later contralateral N1 components. Furthermore, but only in the voluntary attention condition, targets in the valid trials elicited larger N2 and P3 components than in the invalid trials. Attention focusing in the involuntary attention condition resulted in larger P1 components elicited by targets in small-cue trials compared to large-cue trials, whereas in the voluntary attention condition, larger P1 components were elicited by targets in large-cue trials than in small-cue trials. There was no interaction between orienting and focusing. These results suggest that orienting and focusing of visual-spatial attention are deployed independently regardless of attention type. In addition, the present results provide evidence of dissociation between voluntary and involuntary attention during the same task.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 835
Author(s):  
Alexander Rokos ◽  
Richard Mah ◽  
Rober Boshra ◽  
Amabilis Harrison ◽  
Tsee Leng Choy ◽  
...  

A consistent limitation when designing event-related potential paradigms and interpreting results is a lack of consideration of the multivariate factors that affect their elicitation and detection in behaviorally unresponsive individuals. This paper provides a retrospective commentary on three factors that influence the presence and morphology of long-latency event-related potentials—the P3b and N400. We analyze event-related potentials derived from electroencephalographic (EEG) data collected from small groups of healthy youth and healthy elderly to illustrate the effect of paradigm strength and subject age; we analyze ERPs collected from an individual with severe traumatic brain injury to illustrate the effect of stimulus presentation speed. Based on these critical factors, we support that: (1) the strongest paradigms should be used to elicit event-related potentials in unresponsive populations; (2) interpretation of event-related potential results should account for participant age; and (3) speed of stimulus presentation should be slower in unresponsive individuals. The application of these practices when eliciting and recording event-related potentials in unresponsive individuals will help to minimize result interpretation ambiguity, increase confidence in conclusions, and advance the understanding of the relationship between long-latency event-related potentials and states of consciousness.


2015 ◽  
Vol 114 (5) ◽  
pp. 2672-2681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emanuel N. van den Broeke ◽  
André Mouraux ◽  
Antonia H. Groneberg ◽  
Doreen B. Pfau ◽  
Rolf-Detlef Treede ◽  
...  

Secondary hyperalgesia is believed to be a key feature of “central sensitization” and is characterized by enhanced pain to mechanical nociceptive stimuli. The aim of the present study was to characterize, using EEG, the effects of pinprick stimulation intensity on the magnitude of pinprick-elicited brain potentials [event-related potentials (ERPs)] before and after secondary hyperalgesia induced by intradermal capsaicin in humans. Pinprick-elicited ERPs and pinprick-evoked pain ratings were recorded in 19 healthy volunteers, with mechanical pinprick stimuli of varying intensities (0.25-mm probe applied with a force extending between 16 and 512 mN). The recordings were performed before (T0) and 30 min after (T1) intradermal capsaicin injection. The contralateral noninjected arm served as control. ERPs elicited by stimulation of untreated skin were characterized by 1) an early-latency negative-positive complex peaking between 120 and 250 ms after stimulus onset (N120-P240) and maximal at the vertex and 2) a long-lasting positive wave peaking 400–600 ms after stimulus onset and maximal more posterior (P500), which was correlated to perceived pinprick pain. After capsaicin injection, pinprick stimuli were perceived as more intense in the area of secondary hyperalgesia and this effect was stronger for lower compared with higher stimulus intensities. In addition, there was an enhancement of the P500 elicited by stimuli of intermediate intensity, which was significant for 64 mN. The other components of the ERPs were unaffected by capsaicin. Our results suggest that the increase in P500 magnitude after capsaicin is mediated by facilitated mechanical nociceptive pathways.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rémy Masson ◽  
Yohana Lévêque ◽  
Geneviève Demarquay ◽  
Hesham ElShafei ◽  
Lesly Fornoni ◽  
...  

AbstractObjectivesTo evaluate alterations of top-down and/or bottom-up attention in migraine and their cortical underpinnings.Methods19 migraineurs between attacks and 19 matched control participants performed a task evaluating jointly top-down and bottom-up attention, using visually-cued target sounds and unexpected task-irrelevant distracting sounds. Behavioral responses and MEG/EEG were recorded. Event-related potentials and fields (ERPs/ERFs) were processed and source reconstruction was applied to ERFs.ResultsAt the behavioral level, neither top-down nor bottom-up attentional processes appeared to be altered in migraine. However, migraineurs presented heightened evoked responses following distracting sounds (orienting component of the N1 and Re-Orienting Negativity, RON) and following target sounds (orienting component of the N1), concomitant to an increased recruitment of the right temporo-parietal junction. They also displayed an increased effect of the cue informational value on target processing resulting in the elicitation of a negative difference (Nd).ConclusionsMigraineurs appear to display increased bottom-up orienting response to all incoming sounds, and an enhanced recruitment of top-down attention.SignificanceThe interictal state in migraine is characterized by an exacerbation of the orienting response to attended and unattended sounds. These attentional alterations might participate to the peculiar vulnerability of the migraine brain to all incoming stimuli.HighlightsMigraineurs performed as well as healthy participants in an attention task.However, EEG markers of both bottom-up and top-down attention are increased.Migraine is also associated with a facilitated recruitment of the right temporo-parietal junction.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias de Taillez ◽  
Florian Denk ◽  
Bojana Mirkovic ◽  
Birger Kollmeier ◽  
Bernd T. Meyer

Diferent linear models have been proposed to establish a link between an auditory stimulus and the neurophysiological response obtained through electroencephalography (EEG). We investigate if non-linear mappings can be modeled with deep neural networks trained on continuous speech envelopes and EEG data obtained in an auditory attention two-speaker scenario. An artificial neural network was trained to predict the EEG response related to the attended and unattended speech envelopes. After training, the properties of the DNN-based model are analyzed by measuring the transfer function between input envelopes and predicted EEG signals by using click-like stimuli and frequency sweeps as input patterns. Using sweep responses allows to separate the linear and nonlinear response components also with respect to attention. The responses from the model trained on normal speech resemble event-related potentials despite the fact that the DNN was not trained to reproduce such patterns. These responses are modulated by attention, since we obtain significantly lower amplitudes at latencies of 110 ms, 170 ms and 300 ms after stimulus presentation for unattended processing in contrast to the attended. The comparison of linear and nonlinear components indicates that the largest contribution arises from linear processing (75%), while the remaining 25% are attributed to nonlinear processes in the model. Further, a spectral analysis showed a stronger 5 Hz component in modeled EEG for attended in contrast to unattended predictions. The results indicate that the artificial neural network produces responses consistent with recent findings and presents a new approach for quantifying the model properties.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1506
Author(s):  
Annalisa Tosoni ◽  
Emanuele Cosimo Altomare ◽  
Marcella Brunetti ◽  
Pierpaolo Croce ◽  
Filippo Zappasodi ◽  
...  

One fundamental principle of the brain functional organization is the elaboration of sensory information for the specification of action plans that are most appropriate for interaction with the environment. Using an incidental go/no-go priming paradigm, we have previously shown a facilitation effect for the execution of a walking-related action in response to far vs. near objects/locations in the extrapersonal space, and this effect has been called “macro-affordance” to reflect the role of locomotion in the coverage of extrapersonal distance. Here, we investigated the neurophysiological underpinnings of such an effect by recording scalp electroencephalography (EEG) from 30 human participants during the same paradigm. The results of a whole-brain analysis indicated a significant modulation of the event-related potentials (ERPs) both during prime and target stimulus presentation. Specifically, consistent with a mechanism of action anticipation and automatic activation of affordances, a stronger ERP was observed in response to prime images framing the environment from a far vs. near distance, and this modulation was localized in dorso-medial motor regions. In addition, an inversion of polarity for far vs. near conditions was observed during the subsequent target period in dorso-medial parietal regions associated with spatially directed foot-related actions. These findings were interpreted within the framework of embodied models of brain functioning as arising from a mechanism of motor-anticipation and subsequent prediction error which was guided by the preferential affordance relationship between the distant large-scale environment and locomotion. More in general, our findings reveal a sensory-motor mechanism for the processing of walking-related environmental affordances.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 254-278
Author(s):  
Lisa V. Eberhardt ◽  
Ferdinand Pittino ◽  
Anna Scheins ◽  
Anke Huckauf ◽  
Markus Kiefer ◽  
...  

Abstract Emotional stimuli like emotional faces have been frequently shown to be temporally overestimated compared to neutral ones. This effect has been commonly explained by induced arousal caused by emotional processing leading to the acceleration of an inner-clock-like pacemaker. However, there are some studies reporting contradictory effects and others point to relevant moderating variables. Given this controversy, we aimed at investigating the processes underlying the temporal overestimation of emotional faces by combining behavioral and electrophysiological correlates in a temporal bisection task. We assessed duration estimation of angry and neutral faces using anchor durations of 400 ms and 1600 ms while recording event-related potentials. Subjective ratings and the early posterior negativity confirmed encoding and processing of stimuli’s emotionality. However, temporal ratings did not differ between angry and neutral faces. In line with this behavioral result, the Contingent Negative Variation (CNV), an electrophysiological index of temporal accumulation, was not modulated by the faces’ emotionality. Duration estimates, i.e., short or long responses toward stimuli of ambiguous durations of 1000 ms, were nevertheless associated with a differential CNV amplitude. Interestingly, CNV modulation was already observed at 600–700 ms after stimulus onset, i.e., long before stimulus offset. The results are discussed in light of the information-processing model of time perception as well as regarding possible factors of the experimental setup moderating temporal overestimation of emotional stimuli. In sum, combining behavioral and electrophysiological measures seems promising to more clearly understand the complex processes leading to the illusion of temporal lengthening of emotional faces.


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