scholarly journals The higher the pitch the larger its crossmodal influence on visuospatial processing

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 713-724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irune Fernández-Prieto ◽  
Jordi Navarra
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Representation ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Upper Visual Field ◽  
Visuospatial Processing ◽  
Visual Targets ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Frequency Sweeps

High-pitched sounds generate larger neural responses than low-pitched sounds. We investigated whether this neural difference has implications, at cognitive level, for the “vertical” representation of pitch. Participants performed a speeded detection of visual targets that could appear at one of four different spatial positions. Rising or falling frequency sweeps were randomly presented before the visual target. Faster reaction times to visual targets appearing above (but not below) a central fixation point were observed after the presentation of rising frequencies. No significant effects were found for falling frequency sweeps and visual targets presented below fixation point. These results suggest that the difference in the level of arousal between rising and falling frequencies influences their capacity for generating spatial representations. The fact that no difference was found, in terms of crossmodal effects, between the two upper positions may indicate that this “spatial representation of pitch” is not specific for any particular spatial location but rather has a widespread influence over stimuli appearing in the upper visual field. The present findings are relevant for the study of music performance, the design of musical instruments, and research in areas where visual and auditory stimuli with certain complexity are combined (music in advertisements, movies, etc.).

Effect of Bilingualism on Multitasking: A Pilot Study

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 94-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Hsieh
Keyword(s):  
Executive Control ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Linguistic Representations ◽  
A Cell ◽  
The Difference

Bilingual speakers rely on attentional and executive control to continuously inhibit or activate linguistic representations of competing languages, which leads to an increased efficiency known as “bilingual advantage”. Both monolingual and bilingual speakers were asked to perform multiple tasks of talking on a cell phone while simultaneously attending to simulated driving events. This study examined the effect of bilingualism on participants' performance during a dual-task experiment based on 20 monolingual and 13 bilingual healthy adults. The within-subject and between-subject comparisons were conducted on reaction times of a visual event detection task for (a) only driving and (b) driving while simultaneously engaged in a phone conversation. Results of this study showed that bilingual speakers performed significantly faster than monolingual speakers during the multitasking condition, but not during the driving only condition. Further, bilingual speakers consistently showed a bilingual advantage in reaction times during the multitasking condition, despite varying degrees on a bilingual dominance scale. Overall, experiences in more than one language yield bilingual advantage in better performance than monolingual speakers during a multitasking condition, but not during a single task condition. Regardless of the difference in bilingual proficiency level, such language experience reveals a positive impact on bilingual speakers for multitasking.

Frontal eye field activity preceding aurally guided saccades

1994 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 1250-1253 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. S. Russo ◽  
C. J. Bruce
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Location ◽  
Auditory Target ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Visually Guided ◽  
Movement Vector ◽  
Initial Fixation ◽  
Field Activity ◽  
Eye Field ◽  
Movement Field ◽  
Visual Targets

1. We studied neuronal activity in the monkey's frontal eye field (FEF) in conjunction with saccades directed to auditory targets. 2. All FEF neurons with movement activity preceding saccades to visual targets also were active preceding saccades to auditory targets, even when such saccades were made in the dark. Movement cells generally had comparable bursts for aurally and visually guided saccades; visuomovement cells often had weaker bursts in conjunction with aurally guided saccades. 3. When these cells were tested from different initial fixation directions, movement fields associated with aurally guided saccades, like fields mapped with visual targets, were a function of saccade dimensions, and not the speaker's spatial location. Thus, even though sound location cues are chiefly craniotopic, the crucial factor for a FEF discharge before aurally guided saccades was the location of auditory target relative to the current direction of gaze. 4. Intracortical microstimulation at the sites of these cells evoked constant-vector saccades, and not goal-directed saccades. The direction and size of electrically elicited saccades generally matched the cell's movement field for aurally guided saccades. 5. Thus FEF activity appears to have a role in aurally guided as well as visually guided saccades. Moreover, visual and auditory target representations, although initially obtained in different coordinate systems, appear to converge to a common movement vector representation at the FEF stage of saccadic processing that is appropriate for transmittal to saccade-related burst neurons in the superior colliculus and pons.

scholarly journals Comparison of organics and heavy metals acute toxicities to Vibrio fischeri

2016 ◽  
Vol 81 (6) ◽  
pp. 697-705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuepeng Yang ◽  
Yan Ji ◽  
Fangfang Wang ◽  
Jia Xu ◽  
Xiangzhen Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Cell Death ◽  
Benzoic Acid ◽  
Death Rate ◽  
Vibrio Fischeri ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Inhibition Rate ◽  
Cell Death Rate ◽  
Bioluminescence Inhibition ◽  
The Difference

Vibrio fischeri bioluminescence inhibition has been widely used to test acute toxicities of metals and organics contaminants. However, the differences of metals and organics acute toxicities to V. fischeri have not been compared. Here, four heavy metals (Zn2+, Cu2+, Cd2+, Cr6+) and five organics (phenol, benzoic acid, p-hydroxy benzoic acid, nitro-benzene and benzene) acute toxicities to V. fischeri were investigated. Heavy metals toxicities to V. fischeri were increased along with the reaction time, while the organics toxicities kept the same level in different reaction times. In order to explain the difference, the relative cell death rate of V. fischeri was detected. In metals toxicities tests, the bioluminescence inhibition rate of V. fischeri was found to be significantly higher than the relative cell death rate (P<0.05), while for the organics toxicities tests, the cell death rate was similar to the bioluminescence inhibition rate. These results indicated that organics acute toxicities to V. fischeri could reflect the death of cell, but metals acute toxicities to V. fischeri may not lead to the death of cell, just represent the bioluminescence inhibition.

scholarly journals Implicit Detection Observation in Different Features, Exposure Duration, and Delay During Change Blindness

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wang Xiang
Keyword(s):  
Change Detection ◽  
Exposure Duration ◽  
Change Blindness ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Set Size ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Detection Effect

To investigate whether implicit detection occurs uniformly during change blindness with single or combination feature stimuli, and whether implicit detection is affected by exposure duration and delay, two one-shot change detection experiments are designed. The implicit detection effect is measured by comparing the reaction times (RTs) of baseline trials, in which stimulus exhibits no change and participants report “same,” and change blindness trials, in which the stimulus exhibits a change but participants report “same.” If the RTs of blindness trials are longer than those of baseline trials, implicit detection has occurred. The strength of the implicit detection effect was measured by the difference in RTs between the baseline and change blindness trials, where the larger the difference, the stronger the implicit detection effect. In both Experiments 1 and 2, the results showed that the RTs of change blindness trials were significantly longer than those of baseline trials. Whether under set size 4, 6, or 8, the RTs of the change blindness trials were significantly longer than those in the baseline trials. In Experiment 1, the difference between the baseline trials’ RTs and change blindness trials’ RTs of the single features was significantly larger than that of the combination features. However, in Experiment 2, the difference between the baseline trials’ RTs and the change blindness trials’ RTs of single features was significantly smaller than that of the combination features. In Experiment 1a, when the exposure duration was shorter, the difference between the baseline and change blindness trials’ RTs was smaller. In Experiment 2, when the delay was longer, the difference between the two trials’ RTs was larger. These results suggest that regardless of whether the change occurs in a single or a combination of features and whether there is a long exposure duration or delay, implicit detection occurs uniformly during the change blindness period. Moreover, longer exposure durations and delays strengthen the implicit detection effect. Set sizes had no significant impact on implicit detection.

Determination Of Reaction Time Changes Per Time Unit In Clot Assays

1981 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lj Popović
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Standard Sample ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Test Sample ◽  
Total Reaction ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Time Changes ◽  
Total Reaction Time

Changes in reaction time of clot assays are usually expressed only in time units, which fails to indicate the extent of the increase or decrease of the reaction time of the tested specimens against that of the basic sample. Reaction time increases of, e.g. , 6 seconds in tested samples, compared to basic sample reaction times of 12 and 24 seconds respectively, signify an increase twice as large in the first as in the second instance.Changes in reaction time of clot assays can be expressed as the increment or decrement of the reaction time per time unit. This amount of increase or decrease (positive or negative alteration of reaction time, T a ) can be expressed as the quotient of the difference between the reaction times of the tested (T x ) and basic (To) samples and of the basic sample, e.g. in seconds per second, T a =T x -To/To. A test sample reaction time 6 seconds longer than basic sample reaction times of 12 and 2k seconds would mean an increase of 0.5 and 0.25 seconds per second, respectively.Reaction time changes of tested samples against that of the standard sample (T std ) can be calculated in a similar way, T a =T x -T std /T std .It can be assumed that this parameter reflects the intensity of the increase or decrease of reaction time per time unit. The quotient of the tested and basic samples can be considered as the coefficient of the increase or decrease of the total reaction time (CT=T x /To).

Complexe Woorden In Het Mentale Lexicon Van Kinderen

2006 ◽  
Vol 75 ◽  
pp. 53-65
Author(s):  
Maria Mos
Keyword(s):  
Family Size ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Large Family ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Large Family Size ◽  
Small Family Size ◽  
Good Reading ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Complex Words

Do children's representations of complex words in their mental lexicon have an internal structure, with the stem as a separate unit? De Jong et al (2000) found that adults recognize words with a large Family Size, i.e. words occurring in many derivations and compounds, faster than equally frequent words with a small Family Size. This result is an indication that the occurrence of a stem in complex words facilitates the recognition of this stem. This article investigates whether the Family-Size-effect extends to children's reaction times as well. Using a lexical decision task, the effect was observed in 9-10 year old children (N=69) in Dutch. A large vocabulary and good reading ability shortened general reaction times, but had no influence on the difference between items with a small or large Family Size. Monolingual and bilingual children performed similarly on this task.

Sounds prevent selective monitoring of high spatial frequency channels in vision

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (0) ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
Alexis Pérez-Bellido ◽  
Joan López-Moliner ◽  
Salvador Soto-Faraco
Keyword(s):  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Spatial Frequency ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
High Spatial Frequency ◽  
Visual Signals ◽  
Sensory Interactions ◽  
Multisensory Interactions ◽  
Visual Targets ◽  
Selective Monitoring

Prior knowledge about the spatial frequency (SF) of upcoming visual targets (Gabor patches) speeds up average reaction times and decreases standard deviation. This has often been regarded as evidence for a multichannel processing of SF in vision. Multisensory research, on the other hand, has often reported the existence of sensory interactions between auditory and visual signals. These interactions result in enhancements in visual processing, leading to lower sensory thresholds and/or more precise visual estimates. However, little is known about how multisensory interactions may affect the uncertainty regarding visual SF. We conducted a reaction time study in which we manipulated the uncertanty about SF (SF was blocked or interleaved across trials) of visual targets, and compared visual only versus audio–visual presentations. Surprisingly, the analysis of the reaction times and their standard deviation revealed an impairment of the selective monitoring of the SF channel by the presence of a concurrent sound. Moreover, this impairment was especially pronounced when the relevant channels were high SFs at high visual contrasts. We propose that an accessory sound automatically favours visual processing of low SFs through the magnocellular channels, thereby detracting from the potential benefits from tuning into high SF psychophysical-channels.

scholarly journals An unusual way to validate regional chemistry-transport models

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Menut ◽  
Sylvain Mailler ◽  
Bertrand Bessagnet ◽  
Guillaume Siour ◽  
Augustin Colette ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Model Evaluation ◽  
Temporal Correlation ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Reference Period ◽  
Evaluation Technique ◽  
Transport Models ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Spatial Locations

Abstract. A simple and exhaustive model evaluation technique for regional chemistry-transport is discussed. It is based on the concept that we can learn more on models performances by comparing the results to in situ measurements available for other time periods than the period originally targeted in the simulation. First, the usual scores (spatial and temporal correlation) are computed for a reference period, using the actual temporal synchronization and spatial location of measurements . Second, the same scores are calculated for several other years by conserving only the actual spatial locations and days of the year. The difference between the two score provides complementary insights to the following questions: (i) is the model performing well only because the situation is persistent? (ii) is the model representative enough of the measurements for all variables? (iii) if the pollutants concentrations are not well modelled, is it due to meteorology or chemistry? In order to synthetize the large amount of results, a new score is proposed: the "multi-year variability", designed to compare the several indicators between all the years of validation and to quantify if the studied period was well modelled and, if yes, for the good reasons.

The hands have it: Hand specific vision of touch enhances touch perception and somatosensory evoked potential

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (0) ◽  
pp. 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brenda Malcolm ◽  
Karen Reilly ◽  
Jérémie Mattout ◽  
Roméo Salemme ◽  
Olivier Bertrand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Information ◽  
Evoked Potential ◽  
Sensory Modality ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Tactile Perception ◽  
Somatosensory Evoked Potential ◽  
Visual Contact ◽  
Temporal Cues ◽  
Spatio Temporal

Our ability to accurately discriminate information from one sensory modality is often influenced by information from the other senses. Previous research indicates that tactile perception on the hand may be enhanced if participants look at a hand (compared to a neutral object) and if visual information about the origin of touch conveys temporal and/or spatial congruency. The current experiment further assessed the effects of non-informative vision on tactile perception. Participants made speeded discrimination responses (digit 2 or digit 5 of their right hand) to supra-threshold electro-cutaneous stimulation while viewing a video showing a pointer, in a static position or moving (dynamic), towards the same or different digit of a hand or to the corresponding spatial location on a non-corporeal object (engine). Therefore, besides manipulating whether a visual contact was spatially congruent to the simultaneously felt touch, we also manipulated the nature of the recipient object (hand vs. engine). Behaviourally, the temporal cues provided by the dynamic visual information about an upcoming touch decreased reaction times. Additionally, a greater enhancement in tactile discrimination was present when participants viewed a spatially congruent contact compared to a spatially incongruent contact. Most importantly, this visually driven improvement was greater for the view-hand condition compared to the view-object condition. Spatially-congruent, hand-specific visual events also produced the greatest amplitude in the P50 somatosensory evoked potential (SEP). We conclude that tactile perception is enhanced when vision provides non-predictive spatio-temporal cues and that these effects are specifically enhanced when viewing a hand.

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