Visual Category Learning Results in Rapid Changes in Brain Activation Reflecting Sensitivity to the Category Relation between Perceived Objects and to Decision Correctness

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 1804-1819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rubi Hammer ◽  
Vladimir Sloutsky
Keyword(s):  
Category Learning ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Feedback Processing ◽  
Feedback Information ◽  
Lateral Occipital Complex ◽  
Visual Category Learning ◽  
Visual Cortices ◽  
Feature Dimension ◽  
Learning Trials

Little is known about the time scales in which sensitivity to novel category identity may become evident in visual and executive cortices in visual category learning (VCL) tasks and the nature of such changes in brain activation. We used fMRI to investigate the processing of category information and trial-by-trial feedback information. In each VCL task, stimuli differed in three feature dimensions. In each trial, either two same-category stimuli or two different-categories stimuli were presented. The participant had to learn which feature dimension was relevant for categorization based on the feedback that followed each categorization decision. We contrasted between same-category stimuli trials and different-category trials and between correct and incorrect categorization decision trials. In each trial, brain activation in the visual stimuli processing phase was modeled separately from activation during the later feedback processing phase. We found activation in the lateral occipital complex, indicating sensitivity to the category relation between stimuli, to be evident in VCL within only few learning trials. Specifically, greater lateral occipital complex activation was evident when same-category stimuli were presented than when different-category stimuli were presented. In the feedback processing phase, greater activation in both executive and visual cortices was evident primarily after “misdetections” of same-category stimuli. Implications regarding the contribution of different learning trials to VCL, and the respective role of key brain regions, at the onset of VCL, are discussed.

scholarly journals Comparison of Activation in the Prefrontal Cortex of Native Speakers of Mandarin by Ability of Japanese as a Second Language Using a Novel Speaking Task

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 412
Author(s):  
Li Cong ◽  
Hideki Miyaguchi ◽  
Chinami Ishizuki
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Strong Inhibition ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
High Level

Evidence shows that second language (L2) learning affects cognitive function. Here in this work, we compared brain activation in native speakers of Mandarin (L1) who speak Japanese (L2) between and within two groups (high and low L2 ability) to determine the effect of L2 ability in L1 and L2 speaking tasks, and to map brain regions involved in both tasks. The brain activation during task performance was determined using prefrontal cortex blood flow as a proxy, measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). People with low L2 ability showed much more brain activation when speaking L2 than when speaking L1. People with high L2 ability showed high-level brain activation when speaking either L2 or L1. Almost the same high-level brain activation was observed in both ability groups when speaking L2. The high level of activation in people with high L2 ability when speaking either L2 or L1 suggested strong inhibition of the non-spoken language. A wider area of brain activation in people with low compared with high L2 ability when speaking L2 is considered to be attributed to the cognitive load involved in code-switching L1 to L2 with strong inhibition of L1 and the cognitive load involved in using L2.

scholarly journals Neural Correlates of Feedback Processing in Toddlers

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 1519-1527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlene Meyer ◽  
Harold Bekkering ◽  
Denise J. C. Janssen ◽  
Ellen R. A. de Bruijn ◽  
Sabine Hunnius
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Brain Development ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Feedback System ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Adaptive Performance ◽  
Feedback Processing ◽  
Essential Information ◽  
Electrophysiological Studies ◽  
Neural Feedback

External feedback provides essential information for successful learning. Feedback is especially important for learning in early childhood, as toddlers strongly rely on external signals to determine the consequences of their actions. In adults, many electrophysiological studies have elucidated feedback processes using a neural marker called the feedback-related negativity (FRN). The neural generator of the FRN is assumed to be the ACC, located in medial frontal cortex. As frontal brain regions are the latest to mature during brain development, it is unclear when in early childhood a functional feedback system develops. Is feedback differentiated on a neural level in toddlers and in how far is neural feedback processing related to children's behavioral adjustment? In an EEG experiment, we addressed these questions by measuring the brain activity and behavioral performance of 2.5-year-old toddlers while they played a feedback-guided game on a touchscreen. Electrophysiological results show differential brain activity for feedback with a more negative deflection for incorrect than correct outcomes, resembling the adult FRN. This provides the first neural evidence for feedback processing in toddlers. Notably, FRN amplitudes were predictive of adaptive behavior: the stronger the differential brain activity for feedback, the better the toddlers' adaptive performance during the game. Thus, already in early childhood toddlers' feedback-guided performance directly relates to the functionality of their neural feedback processing. Implications for early feedback-based learning as well as structural and functional brain development are discussed.

scholarly journals A Neural Model of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Hippocampal Theta Rhythms: Anatomy, Neurophysiology, and Function

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Grossberg
Keyword(s):  
Entorhinal Cortex ◽  
Category Learning ◽  
Neural Model ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Beta Oscillations ◽  
Emotional Processes ◽  
Theoretical Synthesis ◽  
Multiple Species ◽  
And Function ◽  
Hippocampal Theta

This article describes a neural model of the anatomy, neurophysiology, and functions of intrinsic and extrinsic theta rhythms in the brains of multiple species. Topics include how theta rhythms were discovered; how theta rhythms organize brain information processing into temporal series of spatial patterns; how distinct theta rhythms occur within area CA1 of the hippocampus and between the septum and area CA3 of the hippocampus; what functions theta rhythms carry out in different brain regions, notably CA1-supported functions like learning, recognition, and memory that involve visual, cognitive, and emotional processes; how spatial navigation, adaptively timed learning, and category learning interact with hippocampal theta rhythms; how parallel cortical streams through the lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC) and the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) represent the end-points of the What cortical stream for perception and cognition and the Where cortical stream for spatial representation and action; how the neuromodulator acetylcholine interacts with the septo-hippocampal theta rhythm and modulates category learning; what functions are carried out by other brain rhythms, such as gamma and beta oscillations; and how gamma and beta oscillations interact with theta rhythms. Multiple experimental facts about theta rhythms are unified and functionally explained by this theoretical synthesis.

The Contributions of Emotion and Reward to Aesthetic Judgment of Visual Art

2021 ◽  
pp. 83-87
Author(s):  
Oshin Vartanian
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Aesthetic Judgment ◽  
Aesthetic Preference ◽  
Aesthetic Experiences ◽  
Preference Ratings ◽  
Images Of Paintings

It has long been assumed that emotions play an important role in our interactions with artworks. Similarly, how rewarding we find an artwork could also be an important driver of our aesthetic preference for it. Vartanian and Goel (2004) tested this idea by presenting participants with images of paintings in the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner, recording brain activation as they viewed and rated them on aesthetic preference. Their results demonstrated that activation in brain regions that encode reward and emotions—including the caudate nucleus, cingulate sulcus, and the visual cortex—covaried with preference ratings assigned to the paintings. This study represented an early example of how brain imaging could be used to test theoretically derived predictions from empirical aesthetics. Indeed, data from that study and several others since have accumulated to demonstrate that emotions and rewards are a cornerstone of our aesthetic experiences in relation to artworks and other classes of stimuli.

scholarly journals Neural tracking of subjective value under riskand ambiguity in adolescence

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 1364-1378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neeltje E. Blankenstein ◽  
Anna C. K. van Duijvenvoorde
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activation ◽  
Superior Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Activation Patterns ◽  
Subjective Value ◽  
Adolescent Risk ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Adolescent Sample ◽  
Superior Parietal Cortex

Abstract Although many neuroimaging studies on adolescent risk taking have focused on brain activation during outcome valuation, less attention has been paid to the neural correlates of choice valuation. Subjective choice valuation may be particularly influenced by whether a choice presents risk (known probabilities) or ambiguity (unknown probabilities), which has rarely been studied in developmental samples. Therefore, we examined the neural tracking of subjective value during choice under risk and ambiguity in a large sample of adolescents (N = 188, 12–22 years). Specifically, we investigated which brain regions tracked subjective value coding under risk and ambiguity. A model-based approach to estimate individuals’ risk and ambiguity attitudes showed prominent variation in individuals’ aversions to risk and ambiguity. Furthermore, participants subjectively experienced the ambiguous options as being riskier than the risky options. Subjective value tracking under risk was coded by activation in ventral striatum and superior parietal cortex. Subjective value tracking under ambiguity was coded by dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) and superior temporal gyrus activation. Finally, overlapping activation in the dorsomedial PFC was observed for subjective value under both conditions. Overall, this is the first study to chart brain activation patterns for subjective choice valuation under risk and ambiguity in an adolescent sample, which shows that the building blocks for risk and ambiguity processing are already present in early adolescence. Finally, we highlight the potential of combining behavioral modeling with fMRI for investigating choice valuation in adolescence, which may ultimately aid in understanding who takes risks and why.

PVN activation is suppressed by repeated hypoglycemia but not antecedent corticosterone in the rat

2001 ◽  
Vol 281 (5) ◽  
pp. R1426-R1436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott B. Evans ◽  
Charles W. Wilkinson ◽  
Kathy Bentson ◽  
Pam Gronbeck ◽  
Aryana Zavosh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Central Nervous System ◽  
Nervous System ◽  
Autonomic Failure ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Neuroendocrine Response ◽  
Medial Hypothalamus ◽  
Neuroendocrine Responses ◽  
Hypothalamic Activation

The mechanism(s) underlying hypoglycemia-associated autonomic failure (HAAF) are unknown. To test the hypothesis that the activation of brain regions involved in the counterregulatory response to hypoglycemia is blunted with HAAF, rats were studied in a 2-day protocol. Neuroendocrine responses and brain activation (c-Fos immunoreactivity) were measured during day 2 insulin-induced hypoglycemia (0.5 U insulin · 100 g body wt−1· h−1iv for 2 h) after day 1 hypoglycemia (Hypo-Hypo) or vehicle. Hypo-Hypo animals demonstrated HAAF with blunted epinephrine, glucagon, and corticosterone (Cort) responses and decreased activation of the medial hypothalamus [the paraventricular (PVN), dorsomedial (DMH), and arcuate (Arc) nuclei]. To evaluate whether increases in day 1 Cort were responsible for the decreased hypothalamic activation, Cort was infused intracerebroventricularly (72 μg) on day 1 and the response to day 2 hypoglycemia was measured. Intracerebroventricular Cort infusion failed to alter the neuroendocrine response to day 2 hypoglycemia, despite elevating both central nervous system and peripheral Cort levels. However, day 1 Cort blunted responses in two of the same hypothalamic regions as Hypo-Hypo (the DMH and Arc) but not in the PVN. These results suggest that decreased activation of the PVN may be important in the development of HAAF and that antecedent exposure to elevated levels of Cort is not always sufficient to produce HAAF.

scholarly journals Feedback-dependent generalization

2013 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 202-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan A. Taylor ◽  
Laura L. Hieber ◽  
Richard B. Ivry
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Learning Rule ◽  
Network Models ◽  
Visuomotor Adaptation ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
Neural Network Models ◽  
Feedback Processing ◽  
Feedback Information ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Sensorimotor Map

Generalization provides a window into the representational changes that occur during motor learning. Neural network models have been integral in revealing how the neural representation constrains the extent of generalization. Specifically, two key features are thought to define the pattern of generalization. First, generalization is constrained by the properties of the underlying neural units; with directionally tuned units, the extent of generalization is limited by the width of the tuning functions. Second, error signals are used to update a sensorimotor map to align the desired and actual output, with a gradient-descent learning rule ensuring that the error produces changes in those units responsible for the error. In prior studies, task-specific effects in generalization have been attributed to differences in neural tuning functions. Here we ask whether differences in generalization functions may arise from task-specific error signals. We systematically varied visual error information in a visuomotor adaptation task and found that this manipulation led to qualitative differences in generalization. A neural network model suggests that these differences are the result of error feedback processing operating on a homogeneous and invariant set of tuning functions. Consistent with novel predictions derived from the model, increasing the number of training directions led to specific distortions of the generalization function. Taken together, the behavioral and modeling results offer a parsimonious account of generalization that is based on the utilization of feedback information to update a sensorimotor map with stable tuning functions.

scholarly journals A short, robust brain activation control task optimised for pharmacological fMRI studies

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica-Lily Harvey ◽  
Lysia Demetriou ◽  
John McGonigle ◽  
Matthew B. Wall
Keyword(s):  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Neurovascular Coupling ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Control Task ◽  
Physiological Factors ◽  
Basic Task ◽  
Task Conditions ◽  
Reliability Coefficients

Background Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a popular method for examining pharmacological effects on the brain; however, the BOLD response is dependent on intact neurovascular coupling, and potentially modulated by a number of physiological factors. Pharmacological fMRI is therefore vulnerable to confounding effects of pharmacological probes on general physiology or neurovascular coupling. Controlling for such non-specific effects in pharmacological fMRI studies is therefore an important consideration, and there is an additional need for well-validated fMRI task paradigms that could be used to control for such effects, or for general testing purposes. Methods We have developed two variants of a standardized control task that are short (5 minutes duration) simple (for both the subject and experimenter), widely applicable, and yield a number of readouts in a spatially diverse set of brain networks. The tasks consist of four functionally discrete three-second trial types (plus additional null trials) and contain visual, auditory, motor and cognitive (eye-movements, and working memory tasks in the two task variants) stimuli. Performance of the tasks was assessed in a group of 15 subjects scanned on two separate occasions, with test-retest reliability explicitly assessed using intra-class correlation coefficients. Results Both tasks produced robust patterns of brain activation in the expected brain regions, and region of interest-derived reliability coefficients for the tasks were generally high, with four out of eight task conditions rated as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’, and only one out of eight rated as ‘poor’. Median values in the voxel-wise reliability measures were also >0.7 for all task conditions, and therefore classed as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’. The spatial concordance between the most highly activated voxels and those with the highest reliability coefficients was greater for the sensory (auditory, visual) conditions than the other (motor, cognitive) conditions. Discussion Either of the two task variants would be suitable for use as a control task in future pharmacological fMRI studies or for any other investigation where a short, reliable, basic task paradigm is required. Stimulus code is available online for re-use by the scientific community.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document