scholarly journals Anger, race, and the neurocognition of threat: attention, inhibition, and error processing during a weapon identification task

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Rivera-Rodriguez ◽  
Maxwell Sherwood ◽  
Ahren B. Fitzroy ◽  
Lisa D. Sanders ◽  
Nilanjana Dasgupta
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Correct Identification ◽  
Object Type ◽  
Identification Task ◽  
Attentional Processing ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Race Effects ◽  
Error Recognition ◽  
Task Irrelevant

AbstractThis study measured event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to test competing hypotheses regarding the effects of anger and race on early visual processing (N1, P2, and N2) and error recognition (ERN and Pe) during a sequentially primed weapon identification task. The first hypothesis was that anger would impair weapon identification in a biased manner by increasing attention and vigilance to, and decreasing recognition and inhibition of weapon identification errors following, task-irrelevant Black (compared to White) faces. Our competing hypothesis was that anger would facilitate weapon identification by directing attention toward task-relevant stimuli (i.e., objects) and away from task-irrelevant stimuli (i.e., race), and increasing recognition and inhibition of biased errors. Results partially supported the second hypothesis, in that anger increased early attention to faces but minimized attentional processing of race, and did not affect error recognition. Specifically, angry (vs. neutral) participants showed increased N1 to both Black and White faces, ablated P2 race effects, and topographically restricted N2 race effects. Additionally, ERN amplitude was unaffected by emotion, race, or object type. However, Pe amplitude was affected by object type (but not emotion or race), such that Pe amplitude was larger after the misidentification of harmless objects as weapons. Finally, anger slowed overall task performance, especially the correct identification of harmless objects, but did not impact task accuracy. Task performance speed and accuracy were unaffected by the race of the face prime. Implications are discussed.

Previously reward-associated sounds interfere with goal-directed auditory processing

2021 ◽  
pp. 174702182199003
Author(s):  
Andy J Kim ◽  
David S Lee ◽  
Brian A Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Visual Processing ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Dichotic Listening ◽  
Auditory Information ◽  
Correct Identification ◽  
Subsequent Test ◽  
Dichotic Listening Task ◽  
Listening Task ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Visual Domain

Previously reward-associated stimuli have consistently been shown to involuntarily capture attention in the visual domain. Although previously reward-associated but currently task-irrelevant sounds have also been shown to interfere with visual processing, it remains unclear whether such stimuli can interfere with the processing of task-relevant auditory information. To address this question, we modified a dichotic listening task to measure interference from task-irrelevant but previously reward-associated sounds. In a training phase, participants were simultaneously presented with a spoken letter and number in different auditory streams and learned to associate the correct identification of each of three letters with high, low, and no monetary reward, respectively. In a subsequent test phase, participants were again presented with the same auditory stimuli but were instead instructed to report the number while ignoring spoken letters. In both the training and test phases, response time measures demonstrated that attention was biased in favour of the auditory stimulus associated with high value. Our findings demonstrate that attention can be biased towards learned reward cues in the auditory domain, interfering with goal-directed auditory processing.

Visual disgust-elicitors produce an attentional blink independent of contextual and trait-level pathogen avoidance

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Perone ◽  
David Vaughn Becker ◽  
Joshua M. Tybur
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Visual Attention ◽  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Attentional Bias ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Attentional Biases ◽  
Attentional Processing ◽  
Trait Level ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Pathogen Avoidance

Multiple studies report that disgust-eliciting stimuli are perceived as salient and subsequently capture selective attention. In the current study, we aimed to better understand the nature of temporal attentional biases toward disgust-eliciting stimuli and to investigate the extent to which these biases are sensitive to contextual and trait-level pathogen avoidance motives. Participants (N=116) performed in an Emotional Attentional Blink (EAB) task in which task-irrelevant disgust-eliciting, fear-eliciting, or neutral images preceded a target by 200, 500, or 800 milliseconds (i.e., lag two, five and eight respectively). They did so twice - once while not exposed to an odor, and once while exposed to either an odor that elicited disgust or an odor that did not - and completed a measure of disgust sensitivity. Results indicate that disgust-eliciting visual stimuli produced a greater attentional blink than neutral visual stimuli at lag two and a greater attentional blink than fear-eliciting visual stimuli at both lag two and at lag five. Neither the odor manipulations nor individual differences measures moderated this effect. We propose that visual attention is engaged for a longer period of time following disgust-eliciting stimuli because covert processes automatically initiate the evaluation of pathogen threats. The fact that state and trait pathogen avoidance do not influence this temporal attentional bias suggests that early attentional processing of pathogen cues is initiated independent from the context in which such cues are perceived.

scholarly journals The Cologne Picture Naming Test for Language Mapping and Monitoring (CoNaT): An Open Set of 100 Black and White Object Drawings

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolin Weiss Lucas ◽  
Julia Pieczewski ◽  
Sophia Kochs ◽  
Charlotte Nettekoven ◽  
Christian Grefkes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Brain Tumour ◽  
Educational Level ◽  
Picture Naming ◽  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Clinical Use ◽  
Language Mapping ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Language Functions ◽  
Open Set

Language assessment using a picture naming task crucially relies on the interpretation of the given verbal response by the rater. To avoid misinterpretations, a language-specific and linguistically controlled set of unambiguous, clearly identifiable and common object–word pairs is mandatory. We, here, set out to provide an open-source set of black and white object drawings, particularly suited for language mapping and monitoring, e.g., during awake brain tumour surgery or transcranial magnetic stimulation, in German language. A refined set of 100 black and white drawings was tested in two consecutive runs of randomised picture order and was analysed in respect of correct, prompt, and reliable object recognition and naming in a series of 132 healthy subjects between 18 and 84 years (median 25 years, 64% females) and a clinical pilot cohort of 10 brain tumour patients (median age 47 years, 80% males). The influence of important word- and subject-related factors on task performance and reliability was investigated. Overall, across both healthy subjects and patients, excellent correct object naming rates (97 vs. 96%) as well as high reliability coefficients (Goodman–Kruskal's gamma = 0.95 vs. 0.86) were found. However, the analysis of variance revealed a significant, overall negative effect of low word frequency (p < 0.05) and high age (p < 0.0001) on task performance whereas the effect of a low educational level was only evident for the subgroup of 72 or more years of age (p < 0.05). Moreover, a small learning effect was observed across the two runs of the test (p < 0.001). In summary, this study provides an overall robust and reliable picture naming tool, optimised for the clinical use to map and monitor language functions in patients. However, individual familiarisation before the clinical use remains advisable, especially for subjects that are comparatively prone to spontaneous picture naming errors such as older subjects of low educational level and patients with clinically apparent word finding difficulties.

scholarly journals Processing of Task-Irrelevant Race Information is Associated with Diminished Cognitive Control in Black and White Individuals

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Estée Rubien-Thomas ◽  
Nia Berrian ◽  
Alessandra Cervera ◽  
Binyam Nardos ◽  
Alexandra O. Cohen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Behavioral Pattern ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Face Area ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Brain Behavior ◽  
Black Faces

AbstractThe race of an individual is a salient physical feature that is rapidly processed by the brain and can bias our perceptions of others. How the race of others explicitly impacts our actions toward them during intergroup contexts is not well understood. In the current study, we examined how task-irrelevant race information influences cognitive control in a go/no-go task in a community sample of Black (n = 54) and White (n = 51) participants. We examined the neural correlates of behavioral effects using functional magnetic resonance imaging and explored the influence of implicit racial attitudes on brain-behavior associations. Both Black and White participants showed more cognitive control failures, as indexed by dprime, to Black versus White faces, despite the irrelevance of race to the task demands. This behavioral pattern was paralleled by greater activity to Black faces in the fusiform face area, implicated in processing face and in-group information, and lateral orbitofrontal cortex, associated with resolving stimulus-response conflict. Exploratory brain-behavior associations suggest different patterns in Black and White individuals. Black participants exhibited a negative association between fusiform activity and response time during impulsive errors to Black faces, whereas White participants showed a positive association between lateral OFC activity and cognitive control performance to Black faces when accounting for implicit racial associations. Together our findings propose that attention to race information is associated with diminished cognitive control that may be driven by different mechanisms for Black and White individuals.

scholarly journals Neuronal Correlates of Multiple Top–Down Signals during Covert Tracking of Moving Objects in Macaque Prefrontal Cortex

2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (10) ◽  
pp. 2043-2056 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayano Matsushima ◽  
Masaki Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Object Tracking ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Moving Objects ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Selective Suppression ◽  
Internal Object ◽  
Object Segregation ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
The Brain

Resistance to distraction is a key component of executive functions and is strongly linked to the prefrontal cortex. Recent evidence suggests that neural mechanisms exist for selective suppression of task-irrelevant information. However, neuronal signals related to selective suppression have not yet been identified, whereas nonselective surround suppression, which results from attentional enhancement for relevant stimuli, has been well documented. This study examined single neuron activities in the lateral PFC when monkeys covertly tracked one of randomly moving objects. Although many neurons responded to the target, we also found a group of neurons that exhibited a selective response to the distractor that was visually identical to the target. Because most neurons were insensitive to an additional distractor that explicitly differed in color from the target, the brain seemed to monitor the distractor only when necessary to maintain internal object segregation. Our results suggest that the lateral PFC might provide at least two top–down signals during covert object tracking: one for enhancement of visual processing for the target and the other for selective suppression of visual processing for the distractor. These signals might work together to discriminate objects, thereby regulating both the sensitivity and specificity of target choice during covert object tracking.

scholarly journals Exploring attentional focus of older adult fallers during heightened postural threat

2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (7) ◽  
pp. 1877-1889 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toby J. Ellmers ◽  
Adam J. Cocks ◽  
William R. Young
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Attentional Focus ◽  
Monitoring And Control ◽  
Attentional Processing ◽  
Attentional Resources ◽  
Behavioral Adaptations ◽  
Regulatory Strategies ◽  
Postural Threat ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
And Control

Abstract Objectives Threats to balance, and subsequent increases in fall-related anxiety, can disrupt attentional processing during gait in older adults, leading to behavioral adaptations which may increase fall risk. However, limited research has investigated what changes in attention occur to contribute to these disruptions. The aim of this research was to describe changes in attention that occur during gait when older adults’ balance is threatened, while exploring how previous fall history and trait movement reinvestment (conscious monitoring and control of movement) also influence attention. Methods Forty older adults reported where they focus their attention when walking during two scenarios: (1) when they are relaxed and there is little risk of falling, and; (2) when their balance is threatened and they are anxious of falling. Results During the high-threat condition, participants reported greater attention towards movement processes, threats to balance, worries/disturbing thoughts and self-regulatory strategies, with less attention directed towards task-irrelevant thoughts. However, fall history influenced attentional focus, with fallers directing greater attention towards worries/disturbing thoughts. Contrary to predictions, trait movement reinvestment was not associated with attention directed towards movement processes. Discussion As processing worries/disturbing thoughts will likely reduce attentional resources available for effective postural control, we highlight this as one potential area to target interventions aimed at reducing the likelihood of repeated falling.

scholarly journals VGluT1 Deficiency Impairs Visual Attention and Reduces the Dynamic Range of Short-Term Plasticity at Corticothalamic Synapses

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 1813-1829
Author(s):  
Sarah H Lindström ◽  
Sofie C Sundberg ◽  
Max Larsson ◽  
Fredrik K Andersson ◽  
Jonas Broman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Processing ◽  
Dynamic Range ◽  
Sensorimotor Gating ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Attentional Processing ◽  
Excitatory Neurotransmitter ◽  
Release Probability ◽  
Visual Spatial

Abstract The most common excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, glutamate, is loaded into synaptic vesicles by vesicular glutamate transporters (VGluTs). The primary isoforms, VGluT1 and 2, are expressed in complementary patterns throughout the brain and correlate with short-term synaptic plasticity. VGluT1 deficiency is observed in certain neurological disorders, and hemizygous (VGluT1+/−) mice display increased anxiety and depression, altered sensorimotor gating, and impairments in learning and memory. The synaptic mechanisms underlying these behavioral deficits are unknown. Here, we show that VGluT1+/− mice had decreased visual processing speeds during a sustained visual-spatial attention task. Furthermore, in vitro recordings of corticothalamic (CT) synapses revealed dramatic reductions in short-term facilitation, increased initial release probability, and earlier synaptic depression in VGluT1+/− mice. Our electron microscopy results show that VGluT1 concentration is reduced at CT synapses of hemizygous mice, but other features (such as vesicle number and active zone size) are unchanged. We conclude that VGluT1-haploinsuficiency decreases the dynamic range of gain modulation provided by CT feedback to the thalamus, and this deficiency contributes to the observed attentional processing deficit. We further hypothesize that VGluT1 concentration regulates release probability by applying a “brake” to an unidentified presynaptic protein that typically acts as a positive regulator of release.

scholarly journals Vocal threat enhances visual perception as a function of attention and sex

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 727-735 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annett Schirmer ◽  
Maria Wijaya ◽  
Esther Wu ◽  
Trevor B Penney
Keyword(s):  
Visual Perception ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Visual Task ◽  
Single Task ◽  
Potential Study ◽  
Visual Enhancement ◽  
Task Block ◽  
Task Irrelevant

Abstract This pre-registered event-related potential study explored how vocal emotions shape visual perception as a function of attention and listener sex. Visual task displays occurred in silence or with a neutral or an angry voice. Voices were task-irrelevant in a single-task block, but had to be categorized by speaker sex in a dual-task block. In the single task, angry voices increased the occipital N2 component relative to neutral voices in women, but not men. In the dual task, angry voices relative to neutral voices increased occipital N1 and N2 components, as well as accuracy, in women and marginally decreased accuracy in men. Thus, in women, vocal anger produced a strong, multifaceted visual enhancement comprising attention-dependent and attention-independent processes, whereas in men, it produced a small, behavior-focused visual processing impairment that was strictly attention-dependent. In sum, these data indicate that attention and listener sex critically modulate whether and how vocal emotions shape visual perception.

scholarly journals Multiple Neuronal Networks Mediate Sustained Attention

2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (7) ◽  
pp. 1028-1038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia S. Lawrence ◽  
Thomas J. Ross ◽  
Ray Hoffmann ◽  
Hugh Garavan ◽  
Elliot A. Stein
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Vigilance Task ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Parahippocampal Gyrus ◽  
The Neural Networks ◽  
Task Irrelevant

Sustained attention deficits occur in several neuropsychiatric disorders. However, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms are still incompletely understood. To that end, functional MRI was used to investigate the neural substrates of sustained attention (vigilance) using the rapid visual information processing (RVIP) task in 25 healthy volunteers. In order to better understand the neural networks underlying attentional abilities, brain regions where task-induced activation correlated with task performance were identified. Performance of the RVIP task activated a network of frontal, parietal, occipital, thalamic, and cerebellar regions. Deactivation during task performance was seen in the anterior and posterior cingulate, insula, and the left temporal and parahippocampal gyrus. Good task performance, as defined by better detection of target stimuli, was correlated with enhanced activation in predominantly right fronto-parietal regions and with decreased activation in predominantly left temporo-limbic and cingulate areas. Factor analysis revealed that these performance-correlated regions were grouped into two separate networks comprised of positively activated and negatively activated intercorrelated regions. Poor performers failed to significantly activate or deactivate these networks, whereas good performers either activated the positive or deactivated the negative network, or did both. The fact that both increased activation of task-specific areas and increased deactivation of task-irrelevant areas mediate cognitive functions underlying good RVIP task performance suggests two independent circuits, presumably reflecting different cognitive strategies, can be recruited to perform this vigilance task.

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