A Review of Possible EEG Markers of Abstraction, Attentiveness, and Memorisation in Cyber-Physical Systems for Special Education

Cyber-physical systems (CPSs) for special education rely on effective mental and brain processing during the lesson, performed with the assistance of humanoid robots. The improved diagnostic ability of the CPS is a prerogative of the system for efficient technological support of the pedagogical process. The article focuses on the available knowledge of possible EEG markers of abstraction, attentiveness, and memorisation (in some cases combined with eye tracking) related to predicting effective mental and brain processing during the lesson. The role of processing abstraction is emphasised as the learning mechanism, which is given priority over the other mechanisms by the cognitive system. The main markers in focus are P1, N170, Novelty P3, RewP, N400, and P600. The description of the effects is accompanied by the analysis of some implications for the design of novel educational scenarios in inclusive classes.

Novelty Processing Depends on Medial Temporal Lobe Structures

ObjectivesThe goal of the present study was to identify the role of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) in the detection and later processing of novelty stimuli.MethodsTwenty-one epilepsy patients with unilateral MTL resection (10 left-sided; 11 right-sided) performed an adapted visual novelty oddball task. In this task two streams of stimuli were presented on the left and right of fixation while the patients’ electroencephalogram was measured. Patients responded to infrequent target stimuli, while ignoring frequent standard, and infrequent novel stimuli that could appear either contra- or ipsilateral to the resected side.ResultsNovelty detection, as indexed by the N2 ERP component elicited by novels, was not affected by the MTL resections. Later processing of novels, however, as indexed by the novelty P3 ERP component, was reduced for novels presented contra-versus ipsilateral to the resected side. Target processing, as indexed by the P3b, was unaffected.ConclusionsThe current results suggest that MTL structures play a role in novelty processing, but that the novelty signal may originate from a distinct neural source.

Emotion lies in the eye of the listener: emotional arousal to novel sounds is reflected in the sympathetic contribution to the pupil dilation response and the P3

Novel sounds in the auditory oddball paradigm elicit a biphasic dilation of the pupil (PDR) and P3a as well as novelty P3 event-related potentials (ERPs). The biphasic PDR has been hypothesized to reflect the relaxation of the iris sphincter muscle due to parasympathetic inhibition and the constriction of the iris dilator muscle due to sympathetic activation. We measured the PDR and the P3 to neutral and to emotionally arousing negative novels in dark and moderate lighting conditions. By means of principal component analysis (PCA) of the PDR data we extracted two components: the early one was absent in darkness and, thus, presumably reflects parasympathetic inhibition, whereas the late component occurred in darkness and light and presumably reflects sympathetic activation. Importantly, only this sympathetic late component was enhanced for emotionally arousing (as compared to neutral) sounds supporting the hypothesis that emotional arousal specifically activates the sympathetic nervous system. In the ERPs we observed P3a and novelty P3 in response to novel sounds. Both components were enhanced for emotionally arousing (as compared to neutral) novels. Our results demonstrate that sympathetic and parasympathetic contributions to the PDR can be separated and link emotional arousal to sympathetic nervous system activation.HighlightsPDR and ERP effects of novel emotional and neutral oddball sounds were studied.Parasympathetic and sympathetic contributions to the PDR were dissociated by PCA.The parasympathetic PDR component was absent in darkness.Emotional arousal enhanced the sympathetic contribution to the PDR and the P3 ERP.Effects of emotional arousal are mediated by the sympathetic pathway.

Apathy in Parkinson’s Disease: An Electrophysiological Study

In Parkinson’s disease (PD), apathy (or loss of motivation) is frequent. Nevertheless, the contribution of attentional disorders to its genesis is still not clearly known. We want to determine the relation existing between apathy and attentional disorders by using P300a (or novelty P3) as a marker of the attentional process. The study included 25 patients (13 women and 12 men) with PD for whom we have determined the relationship between automatic attention (represented by P300a) and motor status, apathy, executive dysfunction, mental flexibility, inhibitory control, and depression/anxiety. We have found a correlation between the apathy score and amplitude of novelty P300 during the ON period and also a correlation of the apathy score with a decrease in amplitude of P300 during the OFF period. In a linear regression model, changes in the P300a predicted the severity of apathy independently of any other variable. We concluded firstly that the reduction in amplitude of the P300a wave was a neurophysiological marker of apathy in PD and secondly that apathy led to both dopaminergic denervation (mesolimbic) and nondopaminergic (dorsolateral prefrontal-subcortical) dysfunction.

Cognitive Evaluation of Bupropion Sustained Release in Heavy Tobacco Smokers Using Event-Related Potentials

Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of bupropion sustained release (SR) on cognitive function, evaluated by event-related potentials (ERPs), in heavy tobacco smokers. Material and Methods. A total of 10 healthy volunteers (6 men and 4 women) were enrolled into the study. P3a and P3b components were evaluated by the novelty P3 paradigm. The ERP recordings were taken after the overnight abstaining and the first dose on the 1st day, on the 7th day, and 45th day of the therapy. Results. The analysis of electrophysiological data in response to the standard stimuli in the parietal area after 7-day bupropion SR treatment revealed a significant increase in the P2 latency (P<0.05). With respect to the drug use × topography effect, an increasing trend of borderline significance in the P3b and P2 amplitudes against target events in the parietal area was observed (P=0.08 for both). A significant increase in the P3a amplitude in the parietocentral area was also observed on the seventh day of treatment (P<0.05). Conclusions. The reduction of P3a in the frontal area may be due to the decreased distractibility of task-irrelevant novel events, which may mean an augmentation of focused attention to task-relevant target events. The increases in the P3b and P2 amplitudes for target events in the parietal area are very suggestive of this hypothesis, since these components reflect the response to task-relevant target events. Meanwhile, the increased P2 latency for standard events may reflect reduced attention resources for the processing of standard events due to increased attention resources allocated for task-relevant target events. Decreased distractibility and increased attention are believed to be caused by bupropion.

Contribution of Subregions of Human Frontal Cortex to Novelty Processing

Novelty processing was studied in patients with lesions centered in either OFC or lateral pFC (LPFC). An auditory novelty oddball ERP paradigm was applied with environmental sounds serving as task irrelevant novel stimuli. Lesions to the LPFC as well as the OFC resulted in a reduction of the frontal Novelty P3 response, supporting a key role of both frontal subdivisions in novelty processing. The posterior P3b to target sounds was unaffected in patients with frontal lobe lesions in either location, indicating intact posterior cortical target detection mechanisms. LPFC patients displayed an enhanced sustained negative slow wave (NSW) to novel sounds not observed in OFC patients, indicating prolonged resource allocation to task-irrelevant stimuli after LPFC damage. Both patient groups displayed an enhanced NSW to targets relative to controls. However, there was no difference in behavior between patients and controls suggesting that the enhanced NSW to targets may index an increased resource allocation to response requirements enabling comparable performance in the frontal lesioned patients. The current findings indicate that the LPFC and OFC have partly shared and partly differential contributions to the cognitive subcomponents of novelty processing.