Dissociating central and auditory attention: Is there a shared bottleneck for response selection and auditory search?

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (10) ◽  
pp. 1564-1574
Author(s):  
Florian Kattner ◽  
Christina B Reimer
Keyword(s):  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Search Time ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Auditory Attention ◽  
Search Process ◽  
Capacity Limitations ◽  
Central Attention ◽  
Search Tasks ◽  
Auditory Search

Central and auditory attention are limited in capacity. In dual-tasks, central attention is required to select the appropriate response, but because central attention is limited in capacity, response selection can only be carried out for one task at a time. In auditory search tasks, search time to detect the target sound increases with the number of distractor sounds added to the auditory scene (set sizes), indicating that auditory attention is limited in capacity. Here, we investigated whether central and auditory attention relied on common or distinct capacity limitations using a dual-task paradigm. In two experiments, participants completed a visual choice discrimination task (task 1) together with an auditory search task (task 2), and the two tasks were separated by an experimentally modulated stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA). Analysing auditory search time as a function of SOA and set sizes (locus-of-slack method) revealed that the auditory search process in task 2 was performed after response selection in a visual two-choice discrimination task 1 (Experiment 1), but concurrently with response selection in a visual four-choice discrimination task 1 (Experiment 2). Hence, although response selection in the visual four-choice discrimination task demanded more central attention as compared with response selection in the two-choice discrimination task, the auditory search process was performed in parallel. Distribution analyses of inter-response time further indicated that parallel processing of response selection and auditory search was not influenced by response grouping. Taken together, the two experiments provided evidence that central and auditory attention relied on distinct capacity limitations.

scholarly journals Dynamics of chromosomal target search by a membrane-integrated one-component receptor

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Martini ◽  
Sophie Brameyer ◽  
Elisabeth Hoyer ◽  
Kirsten Jung ◽  
Ulrich Gerland
Keyword(s):  
Signal Transduction ◽  
Kinetic Monte Carlo ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Search Time ◽  
Target Site ◽  
Search Process ◽  
Target Search ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Cad System ◽  
Kinetic Monte Carlo Simulations

AbstractMembrane proteins account for about one third of the cellular proteome, but it is still unclear how dynamic they are and how they establish functional contacts with cytoplasmic interaction partners. Here, we consider a membrane-integrated one-component receptor that also acts as a transcriptional activator, and analyze how it kinetically locates its specific binding site on the genome. We focus on the case of CadC, the pH receptor of the acid stress response Cad system in E. coli. CadC is a prime example of a one-component signaling protein that directly binds to its cognate target site on the chromosome to regulate transcription. We combined fluorescence microscopy experiments, mathematical analysis, and kinetic Monte Carlo simulations to probe this target search process. Using fluorescently labeled CadC, we measured the time from activation of the receptor until successful binding to the DNA in single cells, exploiting that stable receptor-DNA complexes are visible as fluorescent spots. Our experimental data indicate that CadC is highly mobile in the membrane and finds its target by a 2D diffusion and capture mechanism. DNA mobility is constrained due to the overall chromosome organization, but a labeled DNA locus in the vicinity of the target site appears sufficiently mobile to randomly come close to the membrane. Relocation of the DNA target site to a distant position on the chromosome had almost no effect on the mean search time, which was between four and five minutes in either case. However, a mutant strain with two binding sites displayed a mean search time that was reduced by about a factor of two. This behavior is consistent with simulations of a coarse-grained lattice model for the coupled dynamics of DNA within a cell volume and proteins on its surface. The model also rationalizes the experimentally determined distribution of search times. Overall our findings reveal that DNA target search does not present a much bigger kinetic challenge for membrane-integrated proteins than for cytoplasmic proteins. More generally, diffusion and capture mechanisms may be sufficient for bacterial membrane proteins to establish functional contacts with cytoplasmic targets.Author summaryAdaptation to changing environments is vital to bacteria and is enabled by sophisticated signal transduction systems. While signal transduction by two-component systems is well studied, the signal transduction of membrane-integrated one-component systems, where one protein performs both sensing and response regulation, are insufficiently understood. How can a membrane-integrated protein bind to specific sites on the genome to regulate transcription? Here, we study the kinetics of this process, which involves both protein diffusion within the membrane and conformational fluctuations of the genomic DNA. A well-suited model system for this question is CadC, the signaling protein of the E. coli Cad system involved in pH stress response. Fluorescently labeled CadC forms visible spots in single cells upon stable DNA-binding, marking the end of the protein-DNA search process. Moreover, the start of the search is triggered by a medium shift exposing cells to pH stress. We probe the underlying mechanism by varying the number and position of DNA target sites. We combine these experiments with mathematical analysis and kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of lattice models for the search process. Our results suggest that CadC diffusion in the membrane is pivotal for this search, while the DNA target site is just mobile enough to reach the membrane.

scholarly journals Target of selective auditory attention can be robustly followed with MEG

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dovilė Kurmanavičiūtė ◽  
Antti Rantala ◽  
Mainak Jas ◽  
Anne Välilä ◽  
Lauri Parkkonen
Keyword(s):  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Auditory Attention ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Auditory Evoked Responses ◽  
Spatially Resolved ◽  
Auditory Responses ◽  
Brain Responses ◽  
Source Level ◽  
The Right

AbstractSelective auditory attention enables filtering relevant from irrelevant acoustic information. Specific auditory responses, measurable by electro- and magnetoencephalography (EEG/MEG), are known to be modulated by attention to the evoking stimuli. However, these attention effects are typically demonstrated in averaged responses and their robustness in single trials is not studied extensively.We applied decoding algorithms to MEG to investigate how well the target of auditory attention could be determined from single responses and which spatial and temporal aspects of the responses carry most of the information regarding the target of attention. To this end, we recorded brain responses of 15 healthy subjects with MEG when they selectively attended to one of the simultaneously presented auditory streams of words “Yes” and “No”. A support vector machine was trained on the MEG data both at the sensor and source level to predict at every trial which stream was attended.Sensor-level decoding of the attended stream using the entire 2-s epoch resulted in a mean accuracy of 93%±1% (range 83–99% across subjects). Time-resolved decoding revealed that the highest accuracies were obtained 200–350 ms after the stimulus onset. Spatially-resolved source-level decoding indicated that the cortical sources most informative of the attended stream were located primarily in the auditory cortex, especially in the right hemi-sphere.Our result corroborates attentional modulation of auditory evoked responses also to naturalistic stimuli. The achieved high decoding accuracy could enable the use of our experimental paradigm and classification method in a brain–computer interface.

scholarly journals The Impact of Increasing Autonomy on Training Requirements in a UAV Supervisory Control Task

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 295-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Cummings ◽  
Lixiao Huang ◽  
Haibei Zhu ◽  
Daniel Finkelstein ◽  
Ran Wei
Keyword(s):  
Supervisory Control ◽  
Human Performance ◽  
Search Time ◽  
Recognition Algorithm ◽  
Control Task ◽  
Training Requirements ◽  
Human In The Loop ◽  
Search Tasks ◽  
Automation Control ◽  
The Impact

A common assumption across many industries is that inserting advanced autonomy can often replace humans for low-level tasks, with cost reduction benefits. However, humans are often only partially replaced and moved into a supervisory capacity with reduced training. It is not clear how this shift from human to automation control and subsequent training reduction influences human performance, errors, and a tendency toward automation bias. To this end, a study was conducted to determine whether adding autonomy and skipping skill-based training could influence performance in a supervisory control task. In the human-in-the-loop experiment, operators performed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) search tasks with varying degrees of autonomy and training. At the lowest level of autonomy, operators searched images and, at the highest level, an automated target recognition algorithm presented its best estimate of a possible target, occasionally incorrectly. Results were mixed, with search time not affected by skill-based training. However, novices with skill-based training and automated target search misclassified more targets, suggesting a propensity toward automation bias. More experienced operators had significantly fewer misclassifications when the autonomy erred. A descriptive machine learning model in the form of a hidden Markov model also provided new insights for improved training protocols and interventional technologies.

scholarly journals Beyond Looking for the Rewarded Target: The Effects of Reward on Attention in Search Tasks

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annabelle Walle ◽  
Michel D. Druey
Keyword(s):  
Response Time ◽  
Time Pressure ◽  
Search Time ◽  
Search Efficiency ◽  
Attentional Processing ◽  
Search Tasks ◽  
Performance Effects ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
Response Time Distributions

One puzzling result in training-test paradigms is that effects of reward-associated stimuli on attention are often seen in test but not in training. We focus on one study, where reward-related performance benefits occur in the training and which was discussed contentiously. By using a similar design, we conceptually replicated the results. Moreover, we investigated the underlying mechanisms and processes resulting in these reward-related performance benefits. In two experiments, using search tasks and having participants perform the tasks either with or without individually adjusted time pressure, we disentangled the mechanisms and processes contributing to the reward-related benefits. We found evidence that not only search efficiency is increased with increasing reward, but also that non-search factors contribute to the results. By also investigating response time distributions, we were able to show that reward-related performance effects increased as search time increased in demanding tasks but not in less demanding tasks. Theoretical implications of the results regarding how reward influences attentional processing are discussed.

scholarly journals Foveal feedback supports peripheral perception of both object color and form

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly B. Weldon ◽  
Alexandra Woolgar ◽  
Anina N. Rich ◽  
Mark A. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Visual Processing ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Visual Space ◽  
Color Discrimination ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Shape Information ◽  
Visual Distractor ◽  
Novel Objects ◽  
Object Form

AbstractEvidence from neuroimaging and brain stimulation studies suggest that visual information about objects in the periphery is fed back to foveal retinotopic cortex in a separate representation that is essential for peripheral perception. The characteristics of this phenomenon has important theoretical implications for the role fovea-specific feedback might play in perception. In this work, we employed a recently developed behavioral paradigm to explore whether late disruption to central visual space impaired perception of color. First, participants performed a shape discrimination task on colored novel objects in the periphery while fixating centrally. Consistent with the results from previous work, a visual distractor presented at fixation ~100ms after presentation of the peripheral stimuli impaired sensitivity to differences in peripheral shapes more than a visual distractor presented at other stimulus onset asynchronies. In a second experiment, participants performed a color discrimination task on the same colored objects. In a third experiment, we further tested for the foveal distractor effect with stimuli restricted to a low-level feature by using homogenous color patches. These two latter experiments resulted in a similar pattern of behavior: a central distractor presented at the critical stimulus onset asynchrony impaired sensitivity to peripheral color differences, but, importantly, the magnitude of the effect depended on whether peripheral objects contained complex shape information. These results taken together suggest that feedback to the foveal confluence is a component of visual processing supporting perception of both object form and color.

Language Processes and Linguistic Levels

1982 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-10
Author(s):  
Clara S. Wing
Keyword(s):  
Response Selection ◽  
Expressive Language ◽  
Language Ability ◽  
Auditory Memory ◽  
Auditory Attention ◽  
Assessment Instruments ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Language Deficits ◽  
Oral Motor

Historical reasons for the variety of approaches to the classification of language abilities and disabilities are explained. A model of language abilities in matrix form is described in which areas of language ability are defined in terms of the effects of receptive and expressive language processes on four linguistic levels: phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. The language processes are selective auditory attention, auditory discrimination, auditory memory, auditory association or comprehension, response selection and organization, oral retrieval, oral sequencing, and oral motor output. This model provides a better basis for assessment and remediation of language deficits than does one in which language processes and linguistic levels are seen as parallel because its framework can be used for evaluating and selecting nonconfounding assessment instruments so that specific areas of deficit can be identified.

Locus of Backward Crosstalk Effects on Task 1 in a Psychological Refractory Period Task

2014 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yao-Ting Ko ◽  
Jeff Miller
Keyword(s):  
Dual Task ◽  
Refractory Period ◽  
Psychological Refractory Period ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Standard Response ◽  
Backward Crosstalk ◽  
Selection Stage ◽  
Prp Paradigm ◽  
Response Selection Bottleneck

Our performance on a task decreases when the task is in a dual-task situation than when it is in isolation. An important experimental setting for dual-task situation is the psychological refractory period (PRP) paradigm, and the dual-task performance decrements in the PRP paradigm are referred to as PRP interference. The standard response-selection bottleneck (RSB) models state that the response-selection stage of the second task (T2) cannot start until the response-selection stage of the first task (T1) finishes, resulting in the PRP interference. Contrary to the prediction of RSB models, several researchers have found T2’s modulations on T1’s performance, and have suggested that T1’s selection-related processes are affected by T2’s selection-related processes, referred to as backward crosstalk effects. The locus of backward crosstalk effects is not clear, however, because RTs were measured in most previous studies. By using semantically unrelated stimuli and responses and by measuring T1’s lateralized readiness potential, we examined the locus of backward crosstalk effects. We found that the interval between T1’s stimulus onset and the stimulus-locked LRP onset was affected, suggesting T2’s response selection starts before T1’s selection is complete. The present result provided electrophysiological evidence focusing on T1’s changes in favor of the hypothesis of parallel response selection in the PRP paradigm.

Use of mind mapping in search process to clarify information needs and improve search satisfaction

2021 ◽  
pp. 016555152110580
Author(s):  
Atiyeh Baghestani Tajali ◽  
Azam Sanatjoo ◽  
Hassan Behzadi ◽  
Hamid R Jamali Mahmuei
Keyword(s):  
Information Needs ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Search Process ◽  
Information Need ◽  
Mind Mapping ◽  
Search Tasks ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Internet Information ◽  
Mind Maps ◽  
The Mind

A mind map is an approach to the organisation of the human mind that prepares the ground for thinking. Inspired by the function of the mind in handling a situation, this article reports on an empirical study that evaluated the efficiency of mind map techniques and tools in formulating and refining information needs. The study examined graduate students’ Internet information searching. Two simulated search tasks were completed by participants in two search sessions. The results revealed no statistically significant difference between searching with a mind map and without a mind map, and therefore, no advantage could be found for using a mind map in the search process. Participants were happier with their search session when not using mind maps; mind map might help information need clarification, but it is a barrier to interaction and serendipity retrieval. However, this could be due to the search setting where the mind map had to be used as a separate tool and not an integrated component of the search system. The article also discusses some potential benefits of mind mapping for searching.

scholarly journals Dopamine Alters the Fidelity of Working Memory Representations according to Attentional Demands

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 728-738 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean James Fallon ◽  
Nahid Zokaei ◽  
Agnes Norbury ◽  
Sanjay G. Manohar ◽  
Masud Husain
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Stochastic Model ◽  
Receptor Agonist ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Drug Induced ◽  
Capacity Limitations ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Memory Representations ◽  
Induced Changes

Capacity limitations in working memory (WM) necessitate the need to effectively control its contents. Here, we examined the effect of cabergoline, a dopamine D2 receptor agonist, on WM using a continuous report paradigm that allowed us to assess the fidelity with which items are stored. We assessed recall performance under three different gating conditions: remembering only one item, being cued to remember one target among distractors, and having to remember all items. Cabergoline had differential effects on recall performance according to whether distractors had to be ignored and whether mnemonic resources could be deployed exclusively to the target. Compared with placebo, cabergoline improved mnemonic performance when there were no distractors but significantly reduced performance when distractors were presented in a precue condition. No significant difference in performance was observed under cabergoline when all items had to be remembered. By applying a stochastic model of response selection, we established that the causes of drug-induced changes in performance were due to changes in the precision with which items were stored in WM. However, there was no change in the extent to which distractors were mistaken for targets. Thus, D2 agonism causes changes in the fidelity of mnemonic representations without altering interference between memoranda.

College Women with Differential Linguistic-Quantitative Ability Patterns: Performance on two Visual Serial-Search Tasks

1979 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 791-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Viterbo McCarthy
Keyword(s):  
College Women ◽  
Search Time ◽  
Entrance Examination ◽  
Aptitude Test ◽  
College Entrance Examination ◽  
Serial Search ◽  
Search Tasks ◽  
Mixed Factorial Design ◽  
Examination Board ◽  
Target Characteristics

Two groups of 14 college women, equated on College Entrance Examination Board Scholastic Aptitude Test scores but showing a discrepancy of at least 150 points between the scores on the Verbal and Mathematical Aptitude Test, were compared on two visual serial-search tasks; a 2 × 2 mixed factorial design was used. There was a trend in the direction of more rapid visual serial-search by the low linguistic-high quantitative subjects than for the high linguistic-low quantitative subjects. Consonant with earlier findings, visual serial-search time was significantly faster for number targets than for letter targets. Between ability patterns and target characteristics there was no significant interaction. The need to include more complex visual serial-tracking tasks in any reexamination of the observed results was noted.

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