Exercise Similarly Facilitates Men and Women’s Selective Attention Task Response Times but Differentially Affects Memory Task Performance

AbstractHow does the brain follow a sound that is mixed with others in a noisy environment? A possible strategy is to allocate attention to task-relevant time intervals while suppressing irrelevant intervals - a strategy that could be implemented by aligning neural modulations with critical moments in time. Here we tested whether selective attention to non-verbal sound streams is linked to shifts in the timing of attentional modulations of EEG activity, and investigated whether this neural mechanism can be enhanced by short-term training and musical experience. Participants performed a memory task on a target auditory stream presented at 4 Hz while ignoring a distractor auditory stream also presented at 4 Hz, but with a 180-degree shift in phase. The two attention conditions were linked to a roughly 180-degree shift in phase in the EEG signal at 4 Hz. Moreover, there was a strong relationship between performance on the 1-back task and the timing of the EEG modulation with respect to the attended band. EEG modulation timing was also enhanced after several days of training on the selective attention task and enhanced in experienced musicians. These results support the hypothesis that modulation of neural timing facilitates attention to particular moments in time and indicate that phase timing is a robust and reliable marker of individual differences in auditory attention. Moreover, these results suggest that nonverbal selective attention can be enhanced in the short term by only a few hours of practice and in the long term by years of musical training.

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Individual alpha peak frequency predicts 10 Hz flicker effects on selective attention

10.1101/185132 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Rasa Gulbinaite ◽

Tara van Viegen ◽

Martijn Wieling ◽

Michael X Cohen ◽

Rufin VanRullen

Keyword(s):

Selective Attention ◽

Task Performance ◽

Visual Stimulation ◽

Peak Frequency ◽

Alpha Band ◽

Attention Task ◽

Stimulus Processing ◽

Brain Rhythms ◽

Attention Demands ◽

Alpha Peak

ABSTRACTRhythmic visual stimulation (“flicker”) is primarily used to “tag” processing of low-level visual and high-level cognitive phenomena. However, preliminary evidence suggests that flicker may also entrain endogenous brain oscillations, thereby modulating cognitive processes supported by those brain rhythms. Here we tested the interaction between 10 Hz flicker and endogenous alpha-band (~10 Hz) oscillations during a selective visuospatial attention task. We recorded EEG from human participants (both genders) while they performed a modified Eriksen flanker task in which distractors and targets flickered within (10 Hz) or outside (7.5 or 15 Hz) the alpha band. By using a combination of EEG source separation, time-frequency, and single-trial linear mixed effects modeling, we demonstrate that 10 Hz flicker interfered with stimulus processing more on incongruent than congruent trials (high vs. low selective attention demands). Crucially, the effect of 10 Hz flicker on task performance was predicted by the distance between 10 Hz and individual alpha peak frequency (estimated during the task). Finally, the flicker effect on task performance was more strongly predicted by EEG flicker responses during stimulus processing than during preparation for the upcoming stimulus, suggesting that 10 Hz flicker interfered more with reactive than proactive selective attention. These findings are consistent with our hypothesis that visual flicker entrained endogenous alpha-band networks, which in turn impaired task performance. Our findings also provide novel evidence for frequency-dependent exogenous modulation of cognition that is determined by the correspondence between the exogenous flicker frequency and the endogenous brain rhythms.SignificanceHere we provide novel evidence that the interaction between exogenous rhythmic visual stimulation and endogenous brain rhythms can have frequency-specific behavioral effects. We show that alpha-band (10 Hz) flicker impairs stimulus processing in a selective attention task when the stimulus flicker rate matches individual alpha peak frequency. The effect of sensory flicker on task performance was stronger when selective attention demands were high, and was stronger during stimulus processing and response selection compared to the pre-stimulus anticipatory period. These findings provide novel evidence that frequency-specific sensory flicker affects online attentional processing, and also demonstrate that the correspondence between exogenous and endogenous rhythms is an overlooked prerequisite when testing for frequency-specific cognitive effects of flicker.

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Cortical and Autonomic Correlates of Visual Selective Attention in Introverted and Extraverted Children

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027/0269-8803.19.1.35 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 35-49 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Monika Althaus ◽

H. Karin Gomarus ◽

Albertus A. Wijers ◽

Lambertus J.M. Mulder ◽

José L. van Velzen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Selective Attention ◽

Task Performance ◽

High Frequency ◽

Physiological State ◽

Cardiac Activity ◽

Visual Selective Attention ◽

Spectral Energy ◽

Healthy Children ◽

Perceptual Sensitivity ◽

Attention Task

Abstract. We investigated the performance on a selective attention task in two groups of 8- to 12-year-old healthy children being characterized as extraverted and introverted, respectively. During task performance EEG-activity was recorded to investigate differential effects on a specific selection-related potential, the N2b. Cardiac activity was recorded continuously before, during and after task performance. Spectral energy was computed for three distinguishable frequency bands corresponding with a low (LF), mid- (MF), and high-frequency (HF) component in heart rate variability (HRV). The extraverted children were found to show greater perceptual sensitivity in response to irrelevant information. They also exhibited a greater N2b-component while showing significantly greater decreases in, particularly, the LF- and MF-power of HRV during task performance as compared to baseline periods. The magnitude of the N2b and the task-related decreases in LF-power of HRV were found to correlate significantly with the degree of extraversion and task performance, as well as with each other. The findings are discussed in the light of how selective attention and changes in physiological state may be related to the children's temperament.

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Association between free-living sleep and memory and attention in healthy adolescents

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-73774-x ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Runa Stefansdottir ◽

Hilde Gundersen ◽

Vaka Rognvaldsdottir ◽

Alexander S. Lundervold ◽

Sunna Gestsdottir ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Response Times ◽

Cognitive Task ◽

Memory Task ◽

Cognitive Testing ◽

Free Living ◽

Attention Task ◽

Laboratory Findings ◽

Time In Bed ◽

Sleep Parameters ◽

Objectively Measured

Abstract In laboratory studies, imposed sleep restriction consistently reduces cognitive performance. However, the association between objectively measured, free-living sleep and cognitive function has not been studied in older adolescents. To address this gap, we measured one week of sleep with a wrist-worn GT3X+ actigraph in 160 adolescents (96 girls, 17.7 ± 0.3 years) followed by assessment of working memory with an n-back task and visual attention with a Posner cue-target task. Over the week, participants spent 7.1 ± 0.8 h/night in bed and slept 6.2 ± 0.8 h/night with 88.5 ± 4.8% efficiency and considerable intra-participant night-to-night variation, with a standard deviation in sleep duration of 1.2 ± 0.7 h. Sleep measures the night before cognitive testing were similar to weekly averages. Time in bed the night before cognitive testing was negatively associated with response times during the most challenging memory task (3-back; p = 0.005). However, sleep measures the night before did not correlate with performance on the attention task and weekly sleep parameters were not associated with either cognitive task. Our data suggests shorter acute free-living sleep may negatively impact difficult memory tasks, however the relationship between free-living sleep and cognitive task performance in healthy adolescents is less clear than that of laboratory findings, perhaps due to high night-to-night sleep variation.

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The P3 Parietal-To-Frontal Shift Relates to Age-Related Slowing in a Selective Attention Task

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027/0269-8803/a000167 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 31 (2) ◽

pp. 49-66 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Eva-Maria Reuter ◽

Claudia Voelcker-Rehage ◽

Solveig Vieluf ◽

Franca Parianen Lesemann ◽

Ben Godde

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Selective Attention ◽

Response Times ◽

Flanker Task ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Compensatory Mechanism ◽

Attention Task ◽

Equal Distribution ◽

Age Related ◽

Related Potentials

Abstract. Older adults recruit relatively more frontal as compared to parietal resources in a variety of cognitive and perceptual tasks. It is not yet clear whether this parietal-to-frontal shift is a compensatory mechanism, or simply reflects a reduction in processing efficiency. In this study we aimed to investigate how the parietal-to-frontal shift with aging relates to selective attention. Fourteen young and 26 older healthy adults performed a color Flanker task under three conditions (incongruent, congruent, neutral) and event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured. The P3 was analyzed for the electrode positions Pz, Cz, and Fz as an indicator of the parietal-to-frontal shift. Further, behavioral performance and other ERP components (P1 and N1 at electrodes O1 and O2; N2 at electrodes Fz and Cz) were investigated. First young and older adults were compared. Older adults had longer response times, reduced accuracy, longer P3 latencies, and a more frontal distribution of P3 than young adults. These results confirm the parietal-to-frontal shift in the P3 with age for the selective attention task. Second, based on the differences between frontal and parietal P3 activity the group of older adults was subdivided into those showing a rather equal distribution of the P3 and older participants showing a strong frontal focus of the P3. Older adults with a more frontally distributed P3 had longer response times than participants with a more equally distributed P3. These results suggest that the frontally distributed P3 observed in older adults has no compensatory function in selective attention but rather indicates less efficient processing and slowing with age.

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The Effects of Unilateral Pulvinar Damage in Humans on Reflexive Orienting and Filtering of Irrelevant Information

Behavioural Neurology ◽

10.1155/2002/917570 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 13 (3-4) ◽

pp. 95-104 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Shai Danziger ◽

Robert Ward ◽

Vanessa Owen ◽

Robert Rafal

Keyword(s):

Selective Attention ◽

Response Times ◽

Visual Fields ◽

Irrelevant Information ◽

Interference Effects ◽

Reflexive Orienting ◽

Attention Task ◽

Hierarchical Stimulus ◽

Spatial Orienting ◽

Different Response

The effects of damage to the pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus in humans on reflexive orienting and selective attention were investigated. In a spatial orienting task three patients with unilateral pulvinar damage determined the location of a visual target that followed a cue that was not informative as to the targets location. Contralesional targets were responded to more slowly than ipsilesional targets. Also, at long cue target intervals patients responses to contralesional targets that appeared at previously cued locations were slower than to non-cued locations indicating that pulvinar damage does not affect inhibition of return. In the selective attention task two of the patients identified a target that appeared at one level of a global-local hierarchical stimulus while ignoring a distractor present at the other level. The distractor indicated either the same response as the target or a different response. Response times to targets in both visual fields were similar as were interference effects from the ignored distractors. These data indicate that engaging attention contralesionally is not impaired in discrimination tasks and that filtering of irrelevant information was not impaired contralesionally.

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Cognitive and affective benefits of colouring: Two randomized controlled crossover studies

10.31234/osf.io/r6w8v ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Nicola Jane Holt ◽

Leah Furbert ◽

Emily Sweetingham

Keyword(s):

Selective Attention ◽

Performance Measures ◽

Divergent Thinking ◽

Attention Task ◽

Creative Cognition ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

Mindful Attention ◽

Crossover Studies ◽

And Performance ◽

Implicit Mood

The current research sought to replicate and extend work suggesting that coloring can reduce anxiety, asking whether coloring can improve cognitive performance. In two experiments undergraduates (N = 47; N = 52) colored and participated in a control condition. Subjective and performance measures of mood and mindfulness were included: an implicit mood test (Experiment 1) and a selective attention task (Experiment 2) along with a divergent thinking test. In both experiments coloring significantly reduced anxiety and increased mindfulness compared with control and baseline scores. Following coloring participants scored significantly lower on implicit fear, than the control condition, and significantly higher on selective attention and original ideation. Coloring may not only reduce anxiety, but also improve mindful attention and creative cognition.

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499 Trait anxiety and erp (nd) in a selective attention task

International Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1016/s0167-8760(98)90498-6 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 30 (1-2) ◽

pp. 191-192

Author(s):

S. Hayashida ◽

S.-I. Niwa ◽

K. Kobayashi ◽

K. Itoh

Keyword(s):

Selective Attention ◽

Trait Anxiety ◽

Attention Task

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Experiential and Strategic Emotional Intelligence Are Implicated When Inhibiting Affective and Non-Affective Distractors: Findings from Three Emotional Flanker N-Back Tasks

Journal of Intelligence ◽

10.3390/jintelligence9010012 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 12

Author(s):

Ming D. Lim ◽

Damian P. Birney

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Emotional Intelligence ◽

Experimental Evidence ◽

Cognitive Processes ◽

Response Times ◽

Memory Task ◽

Low Load ◽

Affective Information ◽

Accuracy Rates

Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to a set of competencies to process, understand, and reason with affective information. Recent studies suggest ability measures of experiential and strategic EI differentially predict performance on non-emotional and emotionally laden tasks. To explore cognitive processes underlying these abilities further, we varied the affective context of a traditional letter-based n-back working-memory task. In study 1, participants completed 0-, 2-, and 3-back tasks with flanking distractors that were either emotional (fearful or happy faces) or non-emotional (shapes or letters stimuli). Strategic EI, but not experiential EI, significantly influenced participants’ accuracy across all n-back levels, irrespective of flanker type. In Study 2, participants completed 1-, 2-, and 3-back levels. Experiential EI was positively associated with response times for emotional flankers at the 1-back level but not other levels or flanker types, suggesting those higher in experiential EI reacted slower on low-load trials with affective context. In Study 3, flankers were asynchronously presented either 300 ms or 1000 ms before probes. Results mirrored Study 1 for accuracy rates and Study 2 for response times. Our findings (a) provide experimental evidence for the distinctness of experiential and strategic EI and (b) suggest that each are related to different aspects of cognitive processes underlying working memory.

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