scholarly journals The influence of pupil responses on subjective brightness perception

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Intan K. Wardhani ◽  
C. Nico Boehler ◽  
Sebastiaan Mathot
Keyword(s):  
Visual System ◽  
Pupil Size ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Red Light ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
World Knowledge ◽  
Opposite Pattern ◽  
Brightness Perception ◽  
Indirect Cues

When pupil size changes, the amount of light that falls onto the retina changes as well. However, in daily life, this does not make us perceive the world as brighter or darker. There are many indirect cues in our environment (e.g., ambient light intensity, world knowledge about object brightness) that support brightness constancy. Here we asked whether pupil-size changes influence subjective brightnessin the absence of such indirect cues. To investigate this, we measured the subjective brightness of a tester stimulus relative to a referent stimulus as a function of pupil size during presentation of the tester. In Experiment 1, we manipulated pupil size by varying memory load in a working-memory task (i.e., larger pupils with higher load as well as after incorrect responses). We found some evidence that the tester stimulus was perceived as darker when pupils were larger. In Experiment 2, we presented a red or blue display (i.e., larger pupils with red light). Here, we again found that the tester stimulus was perceived as darker when pupils were larger. We speculate that the visual system takes pupil size into account when making brightness judgements, possibly even relying on a large-pupils- indicate-darkness heuristic; this could explain why large pupils lead to an underestimation of brightness, despite an increase in light influx. (And also why a recent study using a pharmacological manipulation of pupil size, which the visual system can likely not take into account, found the opposite pattern.) This is an intriguing step towards understanding the role of pupil size in brightness perception.

scholarly journals The Role of Cognitive Load in Intentional Forgetting Using the Think/No-Think Task

2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saima Noreen ◽  
Jan W. de Fockert
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Load Condition ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Intentional Forgetting ◽  
Probe Test ◽  
Target Words

Abstract. We investigated the role of cognitive control in intentional forgetting by manipulating working memory load during the think/no-think task. In two experiments, participants learned a series of cue-target word pairs and were asked to recall the target words associated with some cues or to avoid thinking about the target associated with other cues. In addition to this, participants also performed a modified version of the n-back task which required them to respond to the identity of a single target letter present in the currently presented cue word (n = 0 condition, low working memory load), and in either the previous cue word (n = 1 condition, high working memory load, Experiment 1) or the cue word presented two trials previously (n = 2 condition, high working memory load, Experiment 2). Participants’ memory for the target words was subsequently tested using same and novel independent probes. In both experiments it was found that although participants were successful at forgetting on both the same and independent-probe tests in the low working memory load condition, they were only successful at forgetting on the same-probe test in the high working memory load condition. We argue that our findings suggest that the high load working memory task diverted attention from direct suppression and acted as an interference-based strategy. Thus, when cognitive resources are limited participants can switch between the strategies they use to prevent unwanted memories from coming to mind.

Working Memory and Conditional Reasoning

1993 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 679-699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Toms ◽  
Neil Morris ◽  
Deborah Ward
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Central Executive ◽  
Conditional Reasoning ◽  
Reasoning Task ◽  
Impaired Performance ◽  
Spatial Interference

Little is known about the role of working memory in conditional reasoning. This paper reports three experiments that examine the contributions of the visuo-spatial scratch pad (VSSP), the articulatory loop, and the central executive components of Baddeley and Hitch's (1974) model of working memory to conditional reasoning. The first experiment employs a spatial memory task that is presented concurrently with two putative spatial interference tasks (tapping and tracking), articulatory suppression, and a verbal memory load. Only the tracking and memory load impaired performance, suggesting that these tap the VSSP and central executive, respectively. Having established the potency of these interference tasks two further experiments examined the effects of tapping and tracking (Experiment 2) and articulation and memory load (Experiment 3) on a conditional reasoning task. Neither tracking nor tapping affected the number of inferences accepted or response latency. Articulation also failed to affect conditional reasoning but memory load selectively reduced acceptance of modus tollens inferences. These results are discussed in terms of both rule-based and mental models theories of reasoning. While these data cannot discriminate between the two perspectives they provide support for one of the central assumptions in each: that some errors in reasoning are attributable directly to working memory demands. Taken together these experiments suggest that conditional reasoning requires an abstract working memory medium for representation; it does not require either the VSSP or the articulatory loop. It is concluded that the central executive provides the necessary substrate.

scholarly journals Auditory cortex supports verbal working memory capacity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gavin M. Bidelman ◽  
Jane A. Brown ◽  
Pouya Bashivan
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Auditory Cortex ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Source Analysis ◽  
Neural Basis

AbstractWorking memory (WM) is a fundamental construct of human cognition. The neural basis of auditory WM is thought to reflect a distributed brain network consisting of canonical memory and central executive brain regions including frontal lobe, prefrontal areas, and hippocampus. Yet, the role of auditory (sensory) cortex in supporting active memory representations remains controversial. Here, we recorded neuroelectric activity via EEG as listeners actively performed an auditory version of the Sternberg memory task. Memory load was taxed by parametrically manipulating the number of auditory tokens (letter sounds) held in memory. Source analysis of scalp potentials showed that sustained neural activity maintained in auditory cortex (AC) prior to memory retrieval closely scaled with behavioral performance. Brain-behavior correlations revealed lateralized modulations in left (but not right) AC predicted individual differences in auditory WM capacity. Our findings confirm a prominent role of auditory cortex, traditionally viewed as a sensory-perceptual processor, in actively maintaining memory traces and dictating individual differences in behavioral WM limits.

Predicting Handwriting Difficulties Through Spelling Processes

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (5) ◽  
pp. 504-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Rodríguez ◽  
Rebeca Villarroel
Keyword(s):  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Irregular Word ◽  
Main Hypothesis ◽  
Opposite Pattern ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Word Spelling ◽  
Grade 3

This study examined whether spelling tasks contribute to the prediction of the handwriting status of children with poor and good handwriting skills in a cross-sectional study with 276 Spanish children from Grades 1 and 3. The main hypothesis was that the spelling tasks would predict the handwriting status of the children, although this influence would decrease with age due to a gradual automatization of handwriting skills. The results confirmed this hypothesis. Another interesting result was that the pattern of pseudoword and irregular word spellings as predictors of handwriting status changed from Grade 1 to Grade 3. In Grade 1, the pseudoword spelling task made a significant contribution, whereas the irregular word spelling task did not. The opposite pattern was found in Grade 3. These results may be a consequence of progressive acquisition of orthographic representations. The orthographic role of the task of writing the alphabet in order from memory in the prediction model was also analyzed. The writing of the alphabet in order from memory task made a significant contribution to the prediction of handwriting status of the children beyond the orthographic influence of spelling tasks. The additional effect of this task on the prediction of handwriting status is presumably due to the fact that this measure is based on fluency.

The “How” of Animacy Effects in Episodic Memory

2015 ◽  
Vol 62 (6) ◽  
pp. 371-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Bonin ◽  
Margaux Gelin ◽  
Betty Laroche ◽  
Alain Méot ◽  
Aurélia Bugaiska
Keyword(s):  
Memory Load ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Human Memory ◽  
Recall Rate ◽  
Interactive Imagery ◽  
Ultimate Explanation ◽  
Better Than ◽  
Observation Results

Abstract. Animates are better remembered than inanimates. According to the adaptive view of human memory ( Nairne, 2010 ; Nairne & Pandeirada, 2010a , 2010b ), this observation results from the fact that animates are more important for survival than inanimates. This ultimate explanation of animacy effects has to be complemented by proximate explanations. Moreover, animacy currently represents an uncontrolled word characteristic in most cognitive research ( VanArsdall, Nairne, Pandeirada, & Cogdill, 2015 ). In four studies, we therefore investigated the “how” of animacy effects. Study 1 revealed that words denoting animates were recalled better than those referring to inanimates in an intentional memory task. Study 2 revealed that adding a concurrent memory load when processing words for the animacy dimension did not impede the animacy effect on recall rates. Study 3A was an exact replication of Study 2 and Study 3B used a higher concurrent memory load. In these two follow-up studies, animacy effects on recall performance were again not altered by a concurrent memory load. Finally, Study 4 showed that using interactive imagery to encode animate and inanimate words did not alter the recall rate of animate words but did increase the recall of inanimate words. Taken together, the findings suggest that imagery processes contribute to these effects.

scholarly journals Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease-Related Cognitive Change With the Mobile Cognitive App Performance Platform

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 801-801
Author(s):  
Dawn Mechanic-Hamilton ◽  
Sean Lydon ◽  
Alexander Miller ◽  
Kimberly Halberstadter ◽  
Jacqueline Lane ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Structural Mri ◽  
Cognitive Change ◽  
Difficulty Level ◽  
Trial Duration ◽  
Parahippocampal Cortex ◽  
Relationship Of

Abstract This study investigates the psychometric properties of the mobile cognitive app performance platform (mCAPP), designed to detect memory changes associated with preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). The mCAPP memory task includes learning and matching hidden card pairs and incorporates increasing memory load, pattern separation features, and spatial memory. Participants included 30 older adults with normal cognition. They completed the mCAPP, paper and pencil neuropsychological tests and a subset completed a high-resolution structural MRI. The majority of participants found the difficulty level of the mCAPP game to be “just right”. Accuracy on the mCAPP correlated with performance on memory and executive measures, while speed of performance on the mCAPP correlated with performance on attention and executive function measures. Longer trial duration correlated with measures of the parahippocampal cortex. The relationship of mCAPP variables with molecular biomarkers, at-home and burst testing, and development of additional cognitive measures will also be discussed.

Abnormal prefrontal activity subserving attentional control of emotion in remitted depressed patients during a working memory task with emotional distracters

2011 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Kerestes ◽  
C. D. Ladouceur ◽  
S. Meda ◽  
P. J. Nathan ◽  
H. P. Blumberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Emotional Information ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Depressed Patients ◽  
The Right

BackgroundPatients with major depressive disorder (MDD) show deficits in processing of facial emotions that persist beyond recovery and cessation of treatment. Abnormalities in neural areas supporting attentional control and emotion processing in remitted depressed (rMDD) patients suggests that there may be enduring, trait-like abnormalities in key neural circuits at the interface of cognition and emotion, but this issue has not been studied systematically.MethodNineteen euthymic, medication-free rMDD patients (mean age 33.6 years; mean duration of illness 34 months) and 20 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HC; mean age 35.8 years) performed the Emotional Face N-Back (EFNBACK) task, a working memory task with emotional distracter stimuli. We used blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure neural activity in the dorsolateral (DLPFC) and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), ventral striatum and amygdala, using a region of interest (ROI) approach in SPM2.ResultsrMDD patients exhibited significantly greater activity relative to HC in the left DLPFC [Brodmann area (BA) 9/46] in response to negative emotional distracters during high working memory load. By contrast, rMDD patients exhibited significantly lower activity in the right DLPFC and left VLPFC compared to HC in response to positive emotional distracters during high working memory load. These effects occurred during accurate task performance.ConclusionsRemitted depressed patients may continue to exhibit attentional biases toward negative emotional information, reflected by greater recruitment of prefrontal regions implicated in attentional control in the context of negative emotional information.

Expression of the BDNF gene in the developing visual system of the chick

Development ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 120 (6) ◽  
pp. 1643-1649 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.H. Herzog ◽  
K. Bailey ◽  
Y.A. Barde
Keyword(s):  
Visual System ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Mrna Levels ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Bdnf Gene ◽  
Bdnf Mrna ◽  
Optic Stalk ◽  
Copy Numbers ◽  
Activity Dependent

Using a sensitive and quantitative method, the mRNA levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were determined during the development of the chick visual system. Low copy numbers were detected, and BDNF was found to be expressed in the optic tectum already 2 days before the arrival of the first retinal ganglion cell axons, suggesting an early role of BDNF in tectal development. After the beginning of tectal innervation, BDNF mRNA levels markedly increased, and optic stalk transection at day 4 (which prevents subsequent tectal innervation) was found to reduce the contralateral tectal levels of BDNF mRNA. Comparable reductions were obtained after injection of tetrodotoxin into one eye, indicating that, already during the earliest stages of target encounter in the CNS, the degree of BDNF gene expression is influenced by activity-dependent mechanisms. BDNF mRNA was also detected in the retina itself and at levels comparable to those found in the tectum. Together with previous findings indicating that BDNF prevents the death of cultured chick retinal ganglion cells, these results support the idea that the tightly controlled expression of the BDNF gene might be important in the co-ordinated development of the visual system.

The role of vision on postural strategy evaluated in patients affected by congenital nystagmus as an experimental model

1999 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 445-451
Author(s):  
S. Di Girolamo ◽  
W. Di Nardo ◽  
A. Cosenza ◽  
F. Ottaviani ◽  
A. Dickmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual System ◽  
Postural Control ◽  
Visual Stimulus ◽  
Postural Balance ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Normal Subjects ◽  
Congenital Nystagmus ◽  
Dynamic Posturography ◽  
Normal Controls

The role of vision in postural control is crucial and is strictly related to the characteristics of the visual stimulus and to the performance of the visual system. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effects of chronically reduced visual cues upon postural control in patients affected by Congenital Nystagmus (CN). These patients have developed since birth a postural strategy mainly based on vestibular and somatosensorial cues. Fifteen patients affected by CN and 15 normal controls (NC) were enrolled in the study and evaluated by means of dynamic posturography. The overall postural control in CN patients was impaired as demonstrated by the equilibrium score and by the changes of the postural strategy. This impairment was even more enhanced in CN than in NC group when somatosensorial cues were experimentally reduced. An aspecific pattern of visual impairment and a pathological composite score were also present. Our data outline that in patients affected by CN an impairment of the postural balance is present especially when the postural control relies mainly on visual cues. Moreover, a decrease in accuracy of the somatosensory cues has a proportionally greater effect on balance than it has on normal subjects.

scholarly journals Occipital Cortex of Blind Individuals Is Functionally Coupled with Executive Control Areas of Frontal Cortex

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 1633-1647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Deen ◽  
Rebecca Saxe ◽  
Marina Bedny
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Memory Systems ◽  
Functional Responses ◽  
Congenitally Blind ◽  
Blind Individuals

In congenital blindness, the occipital cortex responds to a range of nonvisual inputs, including tactile, auditory, and linguistic stimuli. Are these changes in functional responses to stimuli accompanied by altered interactions with nonvisual functional networks? To answer this question, we introduce a data-driven method that searches across cortex for functional connectivity differences across groups. Replicating prior work, we find increased fronto-occipital functional connectivity in congenitally blind relative to blindfolded sighted participants. We demonstrate that this heightened connectivity extends over most of occipital cortex but is specific to a subset of regions in the inferior, dorsal, and medial frontal lobe. To assess the functional profile of these frontal areas, we used an n-back working memory task and a sentence comprehension task. We find that, among prefrontal areas with overconnectivity to occipital cortex, one left inferior frontal region responds to language over music. By contrast, the majority of these regions responded to working memory load but not language. These results suggest that in blindness occipital cortex interacts more with working memory systems and raise new questions about the function and mechanism of occipital plasticity.

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