scholarly journals Busy and confused? High risk of missed alerts in the cockpit: an electrophysiological study

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mickael Causse ◽  
Fabrice Parmentier ◽  
Damien Mouratille ◽  
Dorothee Thibaut ◽  
Marie Kisselenko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Control ◽  
Electrophysiological Study ◽  
Load Condition ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Detection Performance ◽  
Target Tone ◽  
Brain Response ◽  
Mental Load ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Tone Detection

Of evolutionary importance, the ability to react to unexpected auditory stimuli remains critical today, especially in settings such as aircraft cockpits or air traffic control towers, characterized by high mental and auditory loads. Evidences show that both factors can negatively impact auditory attention and prevent appropriate reactions in hazardous situations. In the present study, sixty participants performed a simulated aviation task, varying in terms of mental load (no, low, high mental load), that was embedded with a concurrent tone detection paradigm, in which auditory load was manipulated by the number of different tones (1, 2 or 3). We measured both detection performance (miss, false alarm) and brain activity (event-related potentials) related to the target tone. Our results showed that both mental and auditory loads affected tone detection performance. Importantly, their combined effects had a massive impact on the percentage of missed target tones. While, in the no mental load condition, miss rate was very low with 1 (0.53%) and 2 tones (1.11%), it increased drastically with 3 tones (24.44%), and this effect was accentuated as mental load increased, yielding to the higher miss rate in the 3-tone paradigm under high mental load conditions (68.64%). Increased mental load, auditory load, and miss rate, were all associated with disrupted brain response to the target tone as showed by reductions of the P3b amplitude. In sum, our results highlight the importance of balancing mental and auditory loads to maintain or improve efficient reactions to alarms in complex environment.

scholarly journals Gaming enhances learning-induced plastic changes in the brain

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Junttila ◽  
Anna-Riikka Smolander ◽  
Reima Karhila ◽  
Anastasia Giannakopoulou ◽  
Maria Uther ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Digital Game ◽  
Game Based Learning ◽  
Brain Response ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Plastic Changes ◽  
Game Condition ◽  
The Brain

Learning is increasingly assisted by technology. Digital games may be useful for learning, especially in children. However, more research is needed to understand the factors that induce gaming benefits to cognition. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of digital game-based learning approach in children by comparing the learning of foreign speech sounds and words in a digital game or a non-game digital application with equal amount of exposure and practice. To evaluate gaming-induced plastic changes in the brain function, we used the mismatch negativity (MMN) brain response that reflects the activation of long-term memory representations for speech sounds and words. We recorded auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) from 37 school-aged Finnish-speaking children before and after playing the “Say it again, kid!” (SIAK) language-learning game where they explored game boards, produced English words aloud, and got stars as feedback from an automatic speech recognizer to proceed in the game. The learning of foreign speech sounds and words was compared in two conditions embedded in the game: a game condition and a non-game condition with the same speech production task but lacking visual game elements and feedback. The MMN amplitude increased between the pre-measurement and the post-measurement for the word trained with the game but not for the word trained with the non-game condition, suggesting that the gaming intervention enhanced learning more than the non-game intervention. The results indicate that digital game-based learning can be beneficial for children’s language learning and that gaming elements per se, not just practise time, support learning.

Behavioral and Electrophysiological Study of Phonological Priming between Bisyllabic Spoken Words

2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Dumay ◽  
Abdelrhani Benraïss ◽  
Brian Barriol ◽  
Cécile Colin ◽  
Monique Radeau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electrophysiological Study ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Auditory Presentation ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Phonological Priming ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
N400 Component ◽  
Lexical Processes

Phonological priming between bisyllabic (CV.CVC) spoken items was examined using both behavioral (reaction times, RTs) and electrophysiological (event-related potentials, ERPs) measures. Word and pseudoword targets were preceded by pseudoword primes. Different types of final phonological overlap between prime and target were compared. Critical pairs shared the last syllable, the rime or the coda, while unrelated pairs were used as controls. Participants performed a target shadowing task in Experiment 1 and a delayed lexical decision task in Experiment 2. RTs were measured in the first experiment and ERPs were recorded in the second experiment. The RT experiment was carried out under two presentation conditions. In Condition 1 both primes and targets were presented auditorily, while in Condition 2 the primes were presented visually and the targets auditorily. Priming effects were found in the unimodal condition only. RTs were fastest for syllable overlap, intermediate for rime overlap, and slowest for coda overlap and controls that did not differ from one another. ERPs were recorded under unimodal auditory presentation. ERP results showed that the amplitude of the auditory N400 component was smallest for syllable overlap, intermediate for rime overlap, and largest for coda overlap and controls that did not differ from one another. In both experiments, the priming effects were larger for word than for pseudoword targets. These results are best explained by the combined influences of nonlexical and lexical processes, and a comparison of the reported effects with those found in monosyllables suggests the involvement of rime and syllable representations.

Brain Response to Unexpected Novel Noises in Children with Low and High Trait Anxiety

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra M. Hogan ◽  
Elinor L. Butterfield ◽  
Luke Phillips ◽  
Julie A. Hadwin
Keyword(s):  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Behavioral Inhibition System ◽  
Brain Response ◽  
Oxford University ◽  
Novelty P3 ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
High Trait Anxiety ◽  
Anxious Group

The behavioral inhibition system [Gray, J. A. The neuropsychology of anxiety: An enquiry into the functions of the septo-hippocampal system. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982] proposes that anxiety is associated with the processing of novel stimuli. We aimed to explore this relationship by recording auditory event-related potentials associated with unexpected novel noises in typically developing children. Children aged 10–14 years with low (n = 12) and high (n = 11) self-report trait anxiety were assessed using a novelty oddball task. The N1 associated with novel stimuli, specifically the “N1c” component maximal at temporal lobe sites, was of significantly longer latency (p = .014) and greater amplitude (p = .004) in the high compared with the low anxious group. This group difference was supported by linear correlations between N1c amplitude and trait anxiety scores. There was no effect of anxiety on the later novelty P3. These data suggest a subtle moderating role of trait anxiety on brain response to novelty, and further research with clinically anxious children is indicated.

Intramodal and crossmodal refractory effects: Evidence from oscillatory brain activity

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (0) ◽  
pp. 192
Author(s):  
Davide Bottari ◽  
Sophie Rohlf ◽  
Marlene Hense ◽  
Boukje Habets ◽  
Brigitte Roeder
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Random Order ◽  
Oddball Paradigm ◽  
Brain Response ◽  
Time Frequency ◽  
Tactile Stimuli ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Oscillatory Brain Activity ◽  
Auditory Cortices

Event-related potentials (ERP) to the second stimulus of a pair are known to be reduced in amplitude. The magnitude of this ‘refractoriness’ is modulated by both the interstimulus interval and the similarity between the two stimuli. Intramodal refractoriness is interpreted as an index of a temporary decrement in neural responsiveness. So, cross-modal refractoriness might be an indicator of shared neural generators between modalities. We analysed oscillatory neuronal activity while participants were engaged in an oddball paradigm with auditory (4000 Hz, 50 ms-long, 90 db, bilateral) and tactile stimuli (50 ms-long, 125 Hz-vibrations, index fingers) presented in a random order with an ISI of either 1000 or 2000 ms. Participants were required to detect rare tactile (middle fingers) and auditory deviants (600 Hz). A time–frequency analysis of the brain response to the second stimulus of each pair (T-T, A-A, T-A and A-T) contrasting Short and Long ISIs revealed a reduced refractory effect after Long ISI with respect to Short ISI, in all pairs (both intramodal and cross-modal). This emerged as a broadly distributed increase of evoked theta activity (3–7 Hz, 100–500 ms). Only in intramodal tactile pairs and cross-modal tactile-auditory pairs we also observed that Long ISI with respect to Short ISI determined a decrease of induced alpha (8–12 Hz, 200–700 ms), a typical sign of enhanced neural excitability and thus decreased refractoriness. These data suggest that somatosensory and auditory cortices display different neural markers of refractoriness and that the auditory cortex might have a stronger low level degree of influence on the tactile cortex than vice-versa.

Differential Brain Response to Metrical Accents in Isochronous Auditory Sequences

2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 549-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna Abecasis ◽  
Renaud Brochard ◽  
Roni Granot ◽  
Carolyn Drake
Keyword(s):  
Similar Pattern ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Brain Response ◽  
Perceptual Group ◽  
Metrical Pattern ◽  
Dependent Component ◽  
Small Intensity ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Physically Identical ◽  
High Level

Even within equitonal isochronous sequences, listeners report perceiving differences among the tones, reflecting some grouping and accenting of the sound events. In a previous study, we explored this phenomenon of �subjective rhythmization� physiologically through brain event-related potentials (ERPs). We found differences in the ERP responses to small intensity deviations introduced in different positions of isochronous sequences, even though all sound events were physically identical. These differences seemed to follow a binary pattern, with larger amplitudes in the response elicited by deviants in odd-numbered than in even-numbered positions. The experiments reported here were designed to test whether the differences observed corresponded to a metrical pattern, by using a similar design in sequences of a binary (long-short) or a ternary (long-short-short) meter. We found a similar pattern of results in the binary condition, but a significantly different pattern in the ternary one. Importantly, the amplitude of the ERP response was largest in positions corresponding to strong beats in all conditions. These results support the notion of a binary default metrical pattern spontaneously imposed by listeners, and a better processing of the first (accented) event in each perceptual group. The differences were mainly observed in a late, attention-dependent component of the ERPs, corresponding to rather high-level processing.

Brain and personality bases of insensitivity to infant cues in neglectful mothers: An event-related potential study

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
María José Rodrigo ◽  
Inmaculada León ◽  
Ileana Quiñones ◽  
Agustín Lage ◽  
Sonia Byrne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Electrical Potential ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Social Anhedonia ◽  
Brain Response ◽  
N170 Amplitude ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Infant Cries ◽  
Infant Cues

AbstractThis investigation examined the neural and personality correlates of processing infant facial expressions in mothers with substantiated neglect of a child under 5 years old. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 14 neglectful and 14 control mothers as they viewed and categorized pictures of infant cries, laughs, and neutral faces. Maternal self-reports of anhedonia and empathy were also completed. Early (negative occipitotemporal component peaking at around 170 ms on the scalp [N170] and positive electrical potential peaking at about 200 ms [P200]) and late positive potential (LPP) components were selected. Both groups of mothers showed behavioral discrimination between the different facial expressions via reaction time and accuracy measures. Neglectful mothers did not exhibit increased N170 amplitude at temporal leads in response to viewing crying versus laughing and neutral expressions compared to control mothers. Both groups had greater P200 and LPP amplitudes at centroparietal leads in response to viewing crying versus neutral facial expressions. However, neglectful mothers displayed an overall attenuated brain response in LPP that was related to their higher scores in social anhedonia but not to their empathy scores. The ERP data suggest that the brain's failures in the early differentiation of cry stimuli and in the sustained processing of infant expressions related to social anhedonia may underlie the insensitive responding in neglectful mothers. The implications of these results for the design and evaluation of preventive interventions are discussed.

An Electrophysiological Study of Infants' Sensitivity to the Sound Patterns of English Speech

1998 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 874-886 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie L. Shafer ◽  
David W. Shucard ◽  
Janet L. Shucard ◽  
LouAnn Gerken
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Electrophysiological Study ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Lower Amplitude ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Sound Patterns ◽  
Tone Probe

The study explores 10- to 11-month-old infants' sensitivity to the phonological characteristics of their native language. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were obtained for tones that were superimposed on two versions of a story: an Unmodified version containing normal English function morphemes, and a Modified version in which the prosodic and segmental properties of a subset of function morphemes were changed to make them atypical. The 11-month-olds exhibited significantly lower amplitude ERPs to the tones during the Modified story than to the Unmodified story, whereas the 10-month-olds showed no differences. These results suggest that the 11-month-olds discriminated the two versions of the story based on their representations of the phonological properties of English. Further, the tone-probe ERP method can successfully be used to study the development of speech perception in the pre-linguistic infant.

scholarly journals Enhanced Neural Empathic Responses in Patients with Spino-Bulbar Muscular Atrophy: An Electrophysiological Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Arianna Palmieri ◽  
Federica Meconi ◽  
Antonino Vallesi ◽  
Mariagrazia Capizzi ◽  
Emanuele Pick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Muscular Atrophy ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Electrophysiological Study ◽  
Inverse Correlation ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Early Response ◽  
Late Response ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Related Potentials

Background: Spino-bulbar muscular atrophy is a rare genetic X-linked disease caused by testosterone insensitivity. An inverse correlation has been described between testosterone levels and empathic responses. The present study explored the profile of neural empathic responding in spino-bulbar muscular atrophy patients. Methods: Eighteen patients with spino-bulbar muscular atrophy and eighteen healthy male controls were enrolled in the study. Their event-related potentials were recorded during an “Empathy Task” designed to distinguish neural responses linked with experience-sharing (early response) and mentalizing (late response) components of empathy. The task involved the presentation of contextual information (painful vs. neutral sentences) and facial expressions (painful vs. neutral). An explicit dispositional empathy-related questionnaire was also administered to all participants, who were screened via neuropsychological battery tests that did not reveal potential cognitive deficits. Due to electrophysiological artefacts, data from 12 patients and 17 controls were finally included in the analyses. Results: Although patients and controls did not differ in terms of dispositional, explicit empathic self-ratings, notably conservative event-related potentials analyses (i.e., spatio-temporal permutation cluster analyses) showed a significantly greater experience-sharing neural response in patients compared to healthy controls in the Empathy-task when both contextual information and facial expressions were painful. Conclusion: The present study contributes to the characterization of the psychological profile of patients with spino-bulbar muscular atrophy, highlighting the peculiarities in enhanced neural responses underlying empathic reactions.

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