scholarly journals The P600, but not N400, is modulated by sustained attention

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friederike Contier ◽  
Mathias Weymar ◽  
Isabell Wartenburger ◽  
Milena Rabovsky
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Time Variability ◽  
Reaction Time Variability ◽  
Independent Evidence ◽  
Time Coefficient ◽  
N400 Component

The functional significance of the two prominent language-related ERP components N400 and P600 is still under debate. It has recently been suggested that one important dimension along which the two vary, is in terms of automaticity versus attentional control, with N400 amplitudes reflecting more automatic and P600 amplitudes reflecting more controlled aspects of sentence comprehension. The availability of executive resources necessary for controlled processes depends on sustained attention, which fluctuates over time. Here, we thus tested whether P600 and N400 amplitudes depend on the level of sustained attention. We re-analyzed EEG and behavioral data from a sentence processing task by Sassenhagen & Bornkessel-Schlesewsky (2015, Cortex), which included sentences with morphosyntactic and semantic violations. Participants read sentences phrase by phrase and indicated whether a sentence contained any type of anomaly as soon as they had the relevant information. To quantify periods of high versus low sustained attention, we extracted a moving reaction time coefficient of variation over the entire course of the task. We found that the P600 amplitude was significantly larger during periods of low reaction time variability (high sustained attention) than in periods of high reaction time variability (low sustained attention). In contrast, the amplitude of the N400 was not affected by reaction time variability. These results thus suggest that the P600 component is sensitive to sustained attention while the N400 component is not, which provides independent evidence for accounts suggesting that P600 amplitudes reflect more controlled and N400 amplitudes more automatic aspects of sentence comprehension.

scholarly journals Stimulus degradation impairs performance in a rodent continuous performance test

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrienne C. DeBrosse ◽  
Ye Li ◽  
Robyn Wiseman ◽  
Racine Ross ◽  
Sy’Keria Garrison ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Performance Test ◽  
Human Studies ◽  
Response Strategy ◽  
Cognitive Domain ◽  
Time Variability ◽  
Continuous Performance ◽  
Reaction Time Variability ◽  
Stimulus Degradation

AbstractSustained attention is a core cognitive domain that is often disrupted in neuropsychiatric disorders. Continuous performance tests (CPTs) are the most common clinical assay of sustained attention. In CPTs, participants produce a behavioral response to target stimuli and refrain from responding to non-target stimuli. Performance in CPTs is measured as the ability to discriminate between targets and non-targets. Rodent versions of CPTs (rCPT) have been developed and validated with both anatomical and pharmacological studies, providing a translational platform for understanding the neurobiology of sustained attention. In human studies, using degraded stimuli (decreased contrast) in CPTs impairs performance and patients with schizophrenia experience a larger decrease in performance compared to healthy controls. In this study, we tested multiple levels of stimulus degradation in a touchscreen version of the CPT in mice. We found that stimulus degradation significantly decreased performance in both males and females. The changes in performance consisted of a decrease in stimulus discrimination, measured as d’, and increases in hit reaction time and reaction time variability. These findings are in line with the effects of stimulus degradation in human studies. Overall, female mice demonstrated a more liberal response strategy than males, but response strategy was not affected by stimulus degradation. These data extend the utility of the mouse CPT by demonstrating that stimulus degradation produces equivalent behavioral responses in mice and humans. Therefore, the degraded stimuli rCPT has high translational value as a preclinical assay of sustained attention.

Neuroticism and Speed-Accuracy Tradeoff in Self-Paced Speeded Mental Addition and Comparison

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 130-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hagen C. Flehmig ◽  
Michael B. Steinborn ◽  
Karl Westhoff ◽  
Robert Langner
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Response Speed ◽  
Time Variability ◽  
Reaction Time Variability ◽  
Comparison Task ◽  
Processing Efficiency ◽  
Mental Addition ◽  
Speed Accuracy ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Accuracy Tradeoff

Previous research suggests a relationship between neuroticism (N) and the speed-accuracy tradeoff in speeded performance: High-N individuals were observed performing less efficiently than low-N individuals and compensatorily overemphasizing response speed at the expense of accuracy. This study examined N-related performance differences in the serial mental addition and comparison task (SMACT) in 99 individuals, comparing several performance measures (i.e., response speed, accuracy, and variability), retest reliability, and practice effects. N was negatively correlated with mean reaction time but positively correlated with error percentage, indicating that high-N individuals tended to be faster but less accurate in their performance than low-N individuals. The strengthening of the relationship after practice demonstrated the reliability of the findings. There was, however, no relationship between N and distractibility (assessed via measures of reaction time variability). Our main findings are in line with the processing efficiency theory, extending the relationship between N and working style to sustained self-paced speeded mental addition.

scholarly journals Lateralization of attention in adults with ADHD: Evidence of pseudoneglect

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bartosz Helfer ◽  
Stefanos Maltezos ◽  
Elizabeth Liddle ◽  
Jonna Kuntsi ◽  
Philip Asherson
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Visual Field ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Study Participant ◽  
Reaction Time Task ◽  
Right Visual Field ◽  
Time Variability ◽  
Incentive Condition ◽  
Reaction Time Variability ◽  
The Right

Abstract Background. We investigated whether adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show pseudoneglect—preferential allocation of attention to the left visual field (LVF) and a resulting slowing of mean reaction times (MRTs) in the right visual field (RVF), characteristic of neurotypical (NT) individuals —and whether lateralization of attention is modulated by presentation speed and incentives. Method. Fast Task, a four-choice reaction-time task where stimuli were presented in LVF or RVF, was used to investigate differences in MRT and reaction time variability (RTV) in adults with ADHD (n = 43) and NT adults (n = 46) between a slow/no-incentive and fast/incentive condition. In the lateralization analyses, pseudoneglect was assessed based on MRT, which was calculated separately for the LVF and RVF for each condition and each study participant. Results. Adults with ADHD had overall slower MRT and increased RTV relative to NT. MRT and RTV improved under the fast/incentive condition. Both groups showed RVF-slowing with no between-group or between-conditions differences in RVF-slowing. Conclusion. Adults with ADHD exhibited pseudoneglect, a NT pattern of lateralization of attention, which was not attenuated by presentation speed and incentives.

scholarly journals Critical Dynamics in Spontaneous Resting-State Oscillations Are Associated With the Attention-Related P300 ERP in a Go/Nogo Task

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine D. Herzog ◽  
Tim P. Steinfath ◽  
Ricardo Tarrasch
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
P300 Amplitude ◽  
Time Variability ◽  
Oddball Paradigm ◽  
Continuous Performance Task ◽  
Reaction Time Variability ◽  
Attentional Deficits

Sustained attention is the ability to continually concentrate on task-relevant information, even in the presence of distraction. Understanding the neural mechanisms underlying this ability is critical for comprehending attentional processes as well as neuropsychiatric disorders characterized by attentional deficits, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In this study, we aimed to investigate how trait-like critical oscillations during rest relate to the P300 evoked potential—a biomarker commonly used to assess attentional deficits. We measured long−range temporal correlations (LRTC) in resting-state EEG oscillations as index for criticality of the signal. In addition, the attentional performance of the subjects was assessed as reaction time variability (RTV) in a continuous performance task following an oddball paradigm. P300 amplitude and latencies were obtained from EEG recordings during this task. We found that, after controlling for individual variability in task performance, LRTC were positively associated with P300 amplitudes but not latencies. In line with previous findings, good performance in the sustained attention task was related to higher P300 amplitudes and earlier peak latencies. Unexpectedly, we observed a positive relationship between LRTC in ongoing oscillations during rest and RTV, indicating that greater criticality in brain oscillations during rest relates to worse task performance. In summary, our results show that resting-state neuronal activity, which operates near a critical state, relates to the generation of higher P300 amplitudes. Brain dynamics close to criticality potentially foster a computationally advantageous state which promotes the ability to generate higher event-related potential (ERP) amplitudes.

scholarly journals Modality differences in ERP components between somatosensory and auditory Go/No-go paradigms in prepubescent children

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0259653
Author(s):  
Hiroki Nakata ◽  
Miho Takezawa ◽  
Keita Kamijo ◽  
Manabu Shibasaki
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Peak Latency ◽  
Peak Amplitude ◽  
Time Variability ◽  
Commission Error ◽  
Reaction Time Variability ◽  
Related Potentials

We investigated modality differences in the N2 and P3 components of event-related potentials (ERPs) between somatosensory and auditory Go/No-go paradigms in eighteen healthy prepubescent children (mean age: 125.9±4.2 months). We also evaluated the relationship between behavioral responses (reaction time, reaction time variability, and omission and commission error rates) and amplitudes and latencies of N2 and P3 during somatosensory and auditory Go/No-go paradigms. The peak latency of No-go-N2 was significantly shorter than that of Go-N2 during somatosensory paradigms, but not during auditory paradigms. The peak amplitude of P3 was significantly larger during somatosensory than auditory paradigms, and the peak latency of P3 was significantly shorter during somatosensory than auditory paradigms. Correlations between behavioral responses and the P3 component were not found during somatosensory paradigms. On the other hand, in auditory paradigms, correlations were detected between the reaction time and peak amplitude of No-go-P3, and between the reaction time variability and peak latency of No-go-P3. A correlation was noted between commission error and the peak latency of No-go-N2 during somatosensory paradigms. Compared with previous adult studies using both somatosensory and auditory Go/No-go paradigms, the relationships between behavioral responses and ERP components would be weak in prepubescent children. Our data provide findings to advance understanding of the neural development of motor execution and inhibition processing, that is dependent on or independent of the stimulus modality.

Reaction time variability in ADHD: A meta-analytic review of 319 studies

2013 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 795-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Kofler ◽  
Mark D. Rapport ◽  
Dustin E. Sarver ◽  
Joseph S. Raiker ◽  
Sarah A. Orban ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Time Variability ◽  
Reaction Time Variability ◽  
Analytic Review
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