scholarly journals Faculty Opinions recommendation of Temporal windows in visual processing: "prestimulus brain state" and "poststimulus phase reset" segregate visual transients on different temporal scales.

Author(s):  
Earl Miller
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly Reinhold ◽  
Arbora Resulaj ◽  
Massimo Scanziani

The behavioral state of a mammal impacts how the brain responds to visual stimuli as early as in the dorsolateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus (dLGN), the primary relay of visual information to the cortex. A clear example of this is the markedly stronger response of dLGN neurons to higher temporal frequencies of the visual stimulus in alert as compared to quiescent animals. The dLGN receives strong feedback from the visual cortex, yet whether this feedback contributes to these state-dependent responses to visual stimuli is poorly understood. Here we show that in mice, silencing cortico-thalamic feedback abolishes state-dependent differences in the response of dLGN neurons to visual stimuli. This holds true for dLGN responses to both temporal and spatial features of the visual stimulus. These results reveal that the state-dependent shift of the response to visual stimuli in an early stage of visual processing depends on cortico-thalamic feedback.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 2823-2833 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa C Dias ◽  
Abraham C Van Voorhis ◽  
Filipe Braga ◽  
Julianne Todd ◽  
Javier Lopez-Calderon ◽  
...  

Abstract During normal visual behavior, individuals scan the environment through a series of saccades and fixations. At each fixation, the phase of ongoing rhythmic neural oscillations is reset, thereby increasing efficiency of subsequent visual processing. This phase-reset is reflected in the generation of a fixation-related potential (FRP). Here, we evaluate the integrity of theta phase-reset/FRP generation and Guided Visual Search task in schizophrenia. Subjects performed serial and parallel versions of the task. An initial study (15 healthy controls (HC)/15 schizophrenia patients (SCZ)) investigated behavioral performance parametrically across stimulus features and set-sizes. A subsequent study (25-HC/25-SCZ) evaluated integrity of search-related FRP generation relative to search performance and evaluated visual span size as an index of parafoveal processing. Search times were significantly increased for patients versus controls across all conditions. Furthermore, significantly, deficits were observed for fixation-related theta phase-reset across conditions, that fully predicted impaired reduced visual span and search performance and correlated with impaired visual components of neurocognitive processing. By contrast, overall search strategy was similar between groups. Deficits in theta phase-reset mechanisms are increasingly documented across sensory modalities in schizophrenia. Here, we demonstrate that deficits in fixation-related theta phase-reset during naturalistic visual processing underlie impaired efficiency of early visual function in schizophrenia.


2013 ◽  
Vol 111 (1) ◽  
pp. 515-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
X.-d. Wang ◽  
C. Chen ◽  
D. Zhang ◽  
H. Yao

2004 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 143-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred W. Mast ◽  
Charles M. Oman

The role of top-down processing on the horizontal-vertical line length illusion was examined by means of an ambiguous room with dual visual verticals. In one of the test conditions, the subjects were cued to one of the two verticals and were instructed to cognitively reassign the apparent vertical to the cued orientation. When they have mentally adjusted their perception, two lines in a plus sign configuration appeared and the subjects had to evaluate which line was longer. The results showed that the line length appeared longer when it was aligned with the direction of the vertical currently perceived by the subject. This study provides a demonstration that top-down processing influences lower level visual processing mechanisms. In another test condition, the subjects had all perceptual cues available and the influence was even stronger.


Author(s):  
Leland van den Daele ◽  
Ashley Yates ◽  
Sharon Rae Jenkins

Abstract. This project compared the relative performance of professional dancers and nondancers on the Music Apperception Test (MAT; van den Daele, 2014 ), then compared dancers’ performance on the MAT with that on the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Murray, 1943 ). The MAT asks respondents to “tell a story to the music” in compositions written to represent basic emotions. Dancers had significantly shorter response latency and were more fluent in storytelling than a comparison group matched for gender and age. Criterion-based evaluation of dancers’ narratives found narrative emotion consistent with music written to portray the emotion, with the majority integrating movement, sensation, and imagery. Approximately half the dancers were significantly more fluent on the MAT than the TAT, while the other half were significantly more fluent on the TAT than the MAT. Dancers who were more fluent on the MAT had a higher proportion of narratives that integrated movement and imagery compared with those more fluent on the TAT. The results were interpreted as consistent with differences observed in neurological studies of auditory and visual processing, educational studies of modality preference, and the cognitive style literature. The MAT provides an assessment tool to complement visually based performance tests in personality appraisal.


Author(s):  
Lisa von Stockhausen ◽  
Sara Koeser ◽  
Sabine Sczesny

Past research has shown that the gender typicality of applicants’ faces affects leadership selection irrespective of a candidate’s gender: A masculine facial appearance is congruent with masculine-typed leadership roles, thus masculine-looking applicants are hired more certainly than feminine-looking ones. In the present study, we extended this line of research by investigating hiring decisions for both masculine- and feminine-typed professional roles. Furthermore, we used eye tracking to examine the visual exploration of applicants’ portraits. Our results indicate that masculine-looking applicants were favored for the masculine-typed role (leader) and feminine-looking applicants for the feminine-typed role (team member). Eye movement patterns showed that information about gender category and facial appearance was integrated during first fixations of the portraits. Hiring decisions, however, were not based on this initial analysis, but occurred at a second stage, when the portrait was viewed in the context of considering the applicant for a specific job.


1998 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-129
Author(s):  
E. Bruce Goldstein
Keyword(s):  

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