scholarly journals The impact of eye closure on anticipatory alpha activity in a tactile discrimination task

eNeuro ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. ENEURO.0412-21.2021
Author(s):  
Hesham A. ElShafei ◽  
Corinne Orlemann ◽  
Saskia Haegens
Keyword(s):  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Alpha Activity ◽  
Tactile Discrimination ◽  
Eye Closure ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals The impact of eye closure on anticipatory alpha activity in a tactile discrimination task

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hesham A. ElShafei ◽  
Corinne Orlemann ◽  
Saskia Haegens
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Alpha Activity ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Behavioral Performance ◽  
Tactile Discrimination ◽  
Eyes Open ◽  
Eye Closure ◽  
The Impact

One of the very first observations made regarding alpha oscillations (8-14 Hz), is that they increase in power over posterior areas when awake participants close their eyes. Recent work, especially in the context of (spatial) attention, suggests that alpha activity reflects a mechanism of functional inhibition. However, it remains unclear how eye closure impacts anticipatory alpha modulation observed in attention paradigms, and how this affects subsequent behavioral performance. Here, we recorded magnetoencephalography (MEG) in 33 human participants performing a tactile discrimination task with their eyes open vs. closed. We replicated the hallmarks of previous somatosensory spatial attention studies: alpha lateralization across the somatosensory cortices as well as alpha increase over posterior regions. Furthermore, we found that eye closure leads to (i) reduced task performance, (ii) widespread increase in alpha power, and (iii) reduced anticipatory visual alpha modulation (iv) with no effect on somatosensory alpha lateralization. Regardless of whether participants had their eyes open or closed, increased posterior alpha power and somatosensory alpha lateralization improved their performance. Thus, we provide evidence that eye closure does not alter the impact of anticipatory alpha modulations on behavioral performance. We propose there is an optimal posterior alpha level for somatosensory task performance, which can be achieved through a combination of eye closure and top-down anticipatory attention.

The impact of feedback on tactile discrimination task performance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashikha Arun ◽  
Prarthana Kalmath ◽  
Millena Sivakumar
Keyword(s):  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Tactile Discrimination ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Partial Feedback ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Compare And Contrast ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Better Than

Research in the fields of psychology and neuroscience often rely on tasks that participants perform to fulfill the requirements of a study. These tasks are administered with either feedback, partial feedback, or no feedback given to the participant. The purpose of this study is to compare and contrast the impact of feedback vs. no feedback on a tactile discrimination task.  The goal of providing feedback should, in theory, be to motivate participants while performing a task without altering the results. To test this hypothesis, a group of 22 participants was instructed to take two sequential amplitude discrimination tests using the Brain Gauge; one test with feedback and one without. The results show a clear indication that when presented with feedback, participants performed better than without feedback, and it was speculated that the improvement in performance was due to an improvement in motivation, which was supported by a simple survey. The study results suggest that future research should utilize feedback as a means for motivation in participants and should investigate the effects of only positive or negative feedback as well as how feedback would affect scores and motivation levels during long-term experiments.

Individuals With 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome Are Impaired at Explicit, But Not Implicit, Discrimination of Local Forms Embedded in Global Structures

2014 ◽  
Vol 119 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Giersch ◽  
Bronwyn Glaser ◽  
Catherine Pasca ◽  
Mélanie Chabloz ◽  
Martin Debbané ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Information ◽  
Discrimination Task ◽  
22Q11.2 Deletion Syndrome ◽  
Deletion Syndrome ◽  
Local Processing ◽  
Visual Scanning ◽  
Form Discrimination ◽  
22Q11.2 Deletion ◽  
Visual Form ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Individuals with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) are impaired at exploring visual information in space; however, not much is known about visual form discrimination in the syndrome. Thirty-five individuals with 22q11.2DS and 41 controls completed a form discrimination task with global forms made up of local elements. Affected individuals demonstrated clear impairment in detecting local, but not global, differences. Nevertheless, 22q11.2DS participants easily discriminated the same local elements when they were displayed in isolation, and further use of a prime demonstrated preserved facilitation of local processing in 22q11.2DS. These results did not differ by age or IQ. This study illustrates the impact of visuospatial impairments on form discrimination, and suggests how these difficulties may affect visual scanning in 22q11.2DS.

scholarly journals The Impact of Brain Lateralization and Anxiety-Like Behaviour in an Extensive Operant Conditioning Task in Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Symmetry ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Elena Miletto Petrazzini ◽  
Alessandra Pecunioso ◽  
Marco Dadda ◽  
Christian Agrillo
Keyword(s):  
Operant Conditioning ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Brain Lateralization ◽  
Colour Discrimination ◽  
Learning Skills ◽  
Learning Abilities ◽  
Low Performance ◽  
The Impact

Several studies in mammals, birds, and fish have documented better cognitive abilities associated with an asymmetrical distribution of cognitive functions in the two halves of the brain, also known as ‘functional brain lateralization’. However, the role of brain lateralization in learning abilities is still unclear. In addition, although recent studies suggest a link between some personality traits and accuracy in cognitive tasks, the relation between anxiety and learning skills in Skinner boxes needs to be clarified. In the present study, we tested the impact of brain lateralization and anxiety-like behaviour in the performance of an extensive operant conditioning task. Zebrafish tested in a Skinner box underwent 500 trials in a colour discrimination task (red vs. yellow and green vs. blue). To assess the degree of lateralization, fish were observed in a detour test in the presence of a dummy predator, and anxiety-like behaviour was studied by observing scototaxis response in an experimental tank divided into light and dark compartments. Although the low performance in the colour discrimination task did not permit the drawing of firm conclusions, no correlation was found between the accuracy in the colour discrimination task and the behaviour in the detour and scototaxis tests. This suggests that neither different degrees of asymmetries in brain lateralization nor anxiety may significantly impact the learning skills of zebrafish.

Psychophysically scaled cue differences, learning rate, and attentional strategies in a tactile discrimination task

1972 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann L. Brown ◽  
Keith G. Scott ◽  
Richard C. Urbano
Keyword(s):  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Learning Rate ◽  
Tactile Discrimination ◽  
Attentional Strategies

Alpha Activity during Rem Sleep Contributes to Overnight Improvement in Performance on a Visual Discrimination Task

2012 ◽  
Vol 115 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Suzuki ◽  
Sayaka Aritake ◽  
Ryuichi Kuga ◽  
Makoto Uchiyama ◽  
Kenichi Kuriyama ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rem Sleep ◽  
Visual Discrimination ◽  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Alpha Activity ◽  
Visual Discrimination Task
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