scholarly journals Motor Inhibition to Dangerous Objects: Electrophysiological Evidence for Task-dependent Aversive Affordances

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 826-839
Author(s):  
Magda Mustile ◽  
Flora Giocondo ◽  
Daniele Caligiore ◽  
Anna M. Borghi ◽  
Dimitrios Kourtis
Keyword(s):  
Contextual Information ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Motor Inhibition ◽  
Inhibitory Mechanism ◽  
Categorization Task ◽  
Dangerous Object ◽  
Extrapersonal Space ◽  
Behavioral Studies ◽  
Grasping And Manipulation

Abstract Previous work suggests that perception of an object automatically facilitates actions related to object grasping and manipulation. Recently, the notion of automaticity has been challenged by behavioral studies suggesting that dangerous objects elicit aversive affordances that interfere with encoding of an object's motor properties; however, related EEG studies have provided little support for these claims. We sought EEG evidence that would support the operation of an inhibitory mechanism that interferes with the motor encoding of dangerous objects, and we investigated whether such mechanism would be modulated by the perceived distance of an object and the goal of a given task. EEGs were recorded by 24 participants who passively perceived dangerous and neutral objects in their peripersonal, boundary, or extrapersonal space and performed either a reachability judgment task or a categorization task. Our results showed that greater attention, reflected in the visual P1 potential, was drawn by dangerous and reachable objects. Crucially, a frontal N2 potential, associated with motor inhibition, was larger for dangerous objects only when participants performed a reachability judgment task. Furthermore, a larger parietal P3b potential for dangerous objects indicated the greater difficulty in linking a dangerous object to the appropriate response, especially when it was located in the participants' extrapersonal space. Taken together, our results show that perception of dangerous objects elicits aversive affordances in a task-dependent way and provides evidence for the operation of a neural mechanism that does not code affordances of dangerous objects automatically, but rather on the basis of contextual information.

Mathematics anxiety and cognition: an integrated neural network model

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-296
Author(s):  
Ahmed A. Moustafa ◽  
Angela Porter ◽  
Ahmed M. Megreya
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Educational Outcomes ◽  
Mathematics Anxiety ◽  
Network Models ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Neural Network Models ◽  
Cognitive Studies ◽  
Behavioral Studies ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
The Impact

AbstractMany students suffer from anxiety when performing numerical calculations. Mathematics anxiety is a condition that has a negative effect on educational outcomes and future employment prospects. While there are a multitude of behavioral studies on mathematics anxiety, its underlying cognitive and neural mechanism remain unclear. This article provides a systematic review of cognitive studies that investigated mathematics anxiety. As there are no prior neural network models of mathematics anxiety, this article discusses how previous neural network models of mathematical cognition could be adapted to simulate the neural and behavioral studies of mathematics anxiety. In other words, here we provide a novel integrative network theory on the links between mathematics anxiety, cognition, and brain substrates. This theoretical framework may explain the impact of mathematics anxiety on a range of cognitive and neuropsychological tests. Therefore, it could improve our understanding of the cognitive and neurological mechanisms underlying mathematics anxiety and also has important applications. Indeed, a better understanding of mathematics anxiety could inform more effective therapeutic techniques that in turn could lead to significant improvements in educational outcomes.

scholarly journals Adaptive coding of pain prediction error in the anterior insula

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Hoskin ◽  
Deborah Talmi
Keyword(s):  
Prediction Error ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Axiomatic Approach ◽  
Anterior Insula ◽  
Prediction Errors ◽  
Adaptive Coding ◽  
Pain Prediction ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Behavioural Evidence

Background: To reduce the computational demands of the task of determining values, the brain is thought to engage in adaptive coding, where the sensitivity of some neurons to value is modulated by contextual information. There is good behavioural evidence that pain is coded adaptively, but controversy regarding the underlying neural mechanism. Additionally, there is evidence that reward prediction errors are coded adaptively, but no parallel evidence regarding pain prediction errors. Methods: We tested the hypothesis that pain prediction errors are coded adaptively by scanning 19 healthy adults with fMRI while they performed a cued pain task. Our analysis followed an axiomatic approach. Results: We found that the left anterior insula was the only region which was sensitive both to predicted pain magnitudes and the unexpectedness of pain delivery, but not to the magnitude of delivered pain. Conclusions: This pattern suggests that the left anterior insula is part of a neural mechanism that serves the adaptive prediction error of pain.

scholarly journals Neural representations of task context and temporal order during action sequence execution

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danesh Shahnazian ◽  
Mehdi Senoussi ◽  
Ruth M. Krebs ◽  
Tom Verguts ◽  
Clay B. Holroyd
Keyword(s):  
Contextual Information ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Temporal Information ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level ◽  
Action Sequence ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Action Sequences ◽  
Data Driven Approach

AbstractSince routine action sequences can share a great deal of similarity in terms of their stimulus response mappings, their correct execution relies crucially on the ability to preserve contextual and temporal information (Lashley, 1951). However, there are few empirical studies on the neural mechanism and the brain areas maintaining such information. To address this gap in the literature, we recently recorded the blood-oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response in a newly developed coffee-tea making task (Holroyd et al., 2018). The task involves the execution of 4 action sequences that each feature 6 decision states. Here we report a reanalysis of this dataset using a data-driven approach, namely multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA), that examines context-dependent neural activity across several predefined regions of interest. Results highlight involvement of the inferior-temporal gyrus and lateral prefrontal cortex in maintaining temporal and contextual information for the execution of hierarchically-organized action sequences. Furthermore, temporal information seems to be more strongly encoded in areas over the left hemisphere.

scholarly journals Temporal binding window and sense of agency are related processes modifiable via occipital tACS

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0256987
Author(s):  
Agnese Venskus ◽  
Francesca Ferri ◽  
Daniele Migliorati ◽  
Sara Spadone ◽  
Marcello Costantini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Window ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Peak Frequency ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Sense Of Agency ◽  
Temporal Binding ◽  
Temporal Binding Window ◽  
Temporal Grouping

The temporal binding window refers to the time frame within which temporal grouping of sensory information takes place. Sense of agency is the feeling of being in control of one’s actions, and their associated outcomes. While previous research has shown that temporal cues and multisensory integration play a role in sense of agency, no studies have directly assessed whether individual differences in the temporal binding window and sense of agency are associated. In all three experiments, to assess sense of agency, participants pressed a button triggering, after a varying delay, the appearance of the circle, and reported their sense of agency over the effect. To assess the temporal binding window a simultaneity judgment task (Experiment 1) and a double-flash illusion task (Experiment 2 and 3) was also performed. As expected, the temporal binding window correlated with the sense of agency window. In Experiment 3, these processes were modulated by applying occipital tACS at either 14Hz or 8Hz. We found 14Hz tACS stimulation was associated with narrower temporal biding window and sense of agency window. Our results suggest the temporal binding window and the time window of sense of agency are related. They also point towards a possible underlying neural mechanism (alpha peak frequency) for this association.

scholarly journals Using voluntary motor commands to inhibit involuntary arm movements

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1794) ◽  
pp. 20141139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arko Ghosh ◽  
John Rothwell ◽  
Patrick Haggard
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Silent Period ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Deltoid Muscle ◽  
Motor Command ◽  
Blind Spot ◽  
Neural Function ◽  
Motor Inhibition ◽  
Voluntary Motor ◽  
Motor Commands

A hallmark of voluntary motor control is the ability to stop an ongoing movement. Is voluntary motor inhibition a general neural mechanism that can be focused on any movement, including involuntary movements, or is it mere termination of a positive voluntary motor command? The involuntary arm lift, or ‘floating arm trick’, is a distinctive long-lasting reflex of the deltoid muscle. We investigated how a voluntary motor network inhibits this form of involuntary motor control. Transcranial magnetic stimulation of the motor cortex during the floating arm trick produced a silent period in the reflexively contracting deltoid muscle, followed by a rebound of muscle activity. This pattern suggests a persistent generator of involuntary motor commands. Instructions to bring the arm down voluntarily reduced activity of deltoid muscle. When this voluntary effort was withdrawn, the involuntary arm lift resumed. Further, voluntary motor inhibition produced a strange illusion of physical resistance to bringing the arm down, as if ongoing involuntarily generated commands were located in a ‘sensory blind-spot’, inaccessible to conscious perception. Our results suggest that voluntary motor inhibition may be a specific neural function, distinct from absence of positive voluntary motor commands.

scholarly journals The Relationship Between Internal Motor Imagery and Motor Inhibition in School-Aged Children: A Cross-Sectional Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-98
Author(s):  
Cuiping Wang ◽  
Wei Li ◽  
Yanlin Zhou ◽  
Feifei Nan ◽  
Guohua Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Imagery ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Stop Signal Task ◽  
Motor Inhibition ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Hand Laterality ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Internal Motor ◽  
Laterality Judgment

Functional equivalence hypothesis and motor-cognitive model both posit that motor imagery performance involves inhibition of overt physical movement and thus engages control processes. As motor inhibition in internal motor imagery has been fairly well studied in adults, the present study aimed to investigate the correlation between internal motor imagery and motor inhibition in children. A total of 73 children (7-year-olds: 23, 9-year-olds: 27, and 11-year-olds: 23) participated the study. Motor inhibition was assessed with a stop-signal task, and motor imagery abilities were measured with a hand laterality judgment task and an alphanumeric rotation task, respectively. Overall, for all age groups, response time in both motor imagery tasks increased with rotation angles. Moreover, all children’s response times in both tasks decreased with age, their accuracy increased with age, and their motor inhibition efficiency increased with age. We found a significant difference between 7-year-olds and 9-year-olds in the hand laterality judgment task, suggesting that the involvement of motor inhibition in internal motor imagery might change with age. Our results reveal the underlying processes of internal motor imagery development, and furthermore, provide practical implications for movement rehabilitation of children.

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