Open Access Publications

@article{saurels_behavioral_2024,

title = {A behavioral advantage for the face pareidolia illusion in peripheral vision},

author = {Blake W. Saurels and Natalie Peluso and Jessica Taubert},

url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-60892-z},

doi = {10.1038/s41598-024-60892-z},

issn = {2045-2322},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-05-01},

urldate = {2024-05-09},

journal = {Scientific Reports},

volume = {14},

number = {1},

pages = {10040},

abstract = {Investigation of visual illusions helps us understand how we process visual information. For example, face pareidolia, the misperception of illusory faces in objects, could be used to understand how we process real faces. However, it remains unclear whether this illusion emerges from errors in face detection or from slower, cognitive processes. Here, our logic is straightforward; if examples of face pareidolia activate the mechanisms that rapidly detect faces in visual environments, then participants will look at objects more quickly when the objects also contain illusory faces. To test this hypothesis, we sampled continuous eye movements during a fast saccadic choice task—participants were required to select either faces or food items. During this task, pairs of stimuli were positioned close to the initial fixation point or further away, in the periphery. As expected, the participants were faster to look at face targets than food targets. Importantly, we also discovered an advantage for food items with illusory faces but, this advantage was limited to the peripheral condition. These findings are among the first to demonstrate that the face pareidolia illusion persists in the periphery and, thus, it is likely to be a consequence of erroneous face detection.},

note = {Publisher: Nature Publishing Group},

keywords = {TRACKPixx3, VIEWPixx},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{burge_continuous_2024,

title = {Continuous psychophysics shows millisecond-scale visual processing delays are faithfully preserved in movement dynamics},

author = {Johannes Burge and Lawrence K. Cormack},

url = {https://jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2793651},

doi = {10.1167/jov.24.5.4},

issn = {1534-7362},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-05-01},

urldate = {2024-05-09},

journal = {Journal of Vision},

volume = {24},

number = {5},

pages = {4–4},

note = {Publisher: The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology},

keywords = {VIEWPixx3D},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{aljassmi_visual_2024,

title = {Visual similarity effects in the identification of Arabic letters: evidence with masked priming},

author = {Maryam A. AlJassmi and Manuel Perea},

url = {https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1866980824000206/type/journal_article},

doi = {10.1017/langcog.2024.20},

issn = {1866-9808, 1866-9859},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-04-01},

urldate = {2024-05-09},

journal = {Language and Cognition},

pages = {1–21},

abstract = {Research using masked priming and parafoveal preview techniques has shown that visual letter similarity has an impact on word processing during the initial stages in Latin-derived scripts. However, these effects appear to be absent in Arabic. One reason for this discrepancy could be attributed to the distinctive features of the Arabic script, which includes numerous letters sharing a basic form while varying in the location or number of diacritics. To shed light on this issue, the present study employed Arabic letters rather than words in two masked priming experiments: an alphabetic decision task and a letter-matching task. Both experiments showed that visually similar letters were more effective as primes than visually dissimilar letters. These findings suggest that the processes of letter identification in Arabic and Latin scripts may be roughly alike, implying that differences in visual letter similarity across scripts may arise at later stages of processing.},

keywords = {RESPONSEPixx},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{romagnano_dynamic_2024,

title = {Dynamic brain communication underwriting face pareidolia},

author = {Valentina Romagnano and Julian Kubon and Alexander N. Sokolov and Andreas J. Fallgatter and Christoph Braun and Marina A. Pavlova},

url = {https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2401196121},

doi = {10.1073/pnas.2401196121},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-04-01},

urldate = {2024-05-09},

journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences},

volume = {121},

number = {16},

pages = {e2401196121},

abstract = {Face pareidolia is a tendency to seeing faces in nonface images that reflects high tuning to a face scheme. Yet, studies of the brain networks underwriting face pareidolia are scarce. Here, we examined the time course and dynamic topography of gamma oscillatory neuromagnetic activity while administering a task with nonface images resembling a face. Images were presented either with canonical orientation or with display inversion that heavily impedes face pareidolia. At early processing stages, the peaks in gamma activity (40 to 45 Hz) to images either triggering or not face pareidolia originate mainly from the right medioventral and lateral occipital cortices, rostral and caudal cuneus gyri, and medial superior occipital gyrus. Yet, the difference occurred at later processing stages in the high-frequency range of 80 to 85 Hz over a set of the areas constituting the social brain. The findings speak rather for a relatively late neural network playing a key role in face pareidolia. Strikingly, a cutting-edge analysis of brain connectivity unfolding over time reveals mutual feedforward and feedback intra- and interhemispheric communication not only within the social brain but also within the extended large-scale network of down- and upstream regions. In particular, the superior temporal sulcus and insula strongly engage in communication with other brain regions either as signal transmitters or recipients throughout the whole processing of face-pareidolia images.},

note = {Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences},

keywords = {PROPixx},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{laurin_reduced_2024,

title = {Reduced spatial attentional distribution in older adults},

author = {Anne-Sophie Laurin and Julie Ouerfelli-Ethier and Laure Pisella and Aarlenne Zein Khan},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1167/jov.24.4.8},

doi = {10.1167/jov.24.4.8},

issn = {1534-7362},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-04-01},

urldate = {2024-04-11},

journal = {Journal of Vision},

volume = {24},

number = {4},

pages = {8},

abstract = {Older adults show decline in visual search performance, but the underlying cause remains unclear. It has been suggested that older adults’ altered performance may be related to reduced spatial attention to peripheral visual information compared with younger adults. In this study, 18 younger (M = 21.6 years) and 16 older (M = 69.1 years) participants performed pop-out and serial visual search tasks with variously sized gaze-contingent artificial central scotomas (3°, 5°, or 7° diameter). By occluding central vision, we measured how attention to the periphery was contributing to the search performance. We also tested the effect of target eccentricity on search times and eye movements. We hypothesized that, if attention is reduced primarily in the periphery in older adults, we would observe longer search times for more eccentric targets and with central occlusion. During the pop-out search, older adults showed a steeper decline in search performance with increasing eccentricity and central scotoma size compared with younger adults. In contrast, during the serial search, older adults had longer search times than younger adults overall, independent of target eccentricity and scotoma size. Longer search times were attributed to higher cost-per-item slopes, indicating increased difficulty in simultaneously processing complex symbols made up of separable features in aging, possibly stemming from challenges in spatially binding individual features. Altogether, our findings point to fewer attentional resources of simultaneous visual processing to distribute over space or separable features of objects, consistent with decreased dorsal visual stream functioning in aging.},

keywords = {RESPONSEPixx, VIEWPixx3D},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{schmitz_attentional_2024,

title = {Attentional cueing: Gaze is harder to override than arrows},

author = {Inka Schmitz and Hanna Strauss and Ludwig Reinel and Wolfgang Einhäuser},

url = {https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0301136},

doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0301136},

issn = {1932-6203},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-03-01},

urldate = {2024-04-02},

journal = {PLOS ONE},

volume = {19},

number = {3},

pages = {e0301136},

abstract = {Gaze is an important and potent social cue to direct others’ attention towards specific locations. However, in many situations, directional symbols, like arrows, fulfill a similar purpose. Motivated by the overarching question how artificial systems can effectively communicate directional information, we conducted two cueing experiments. In both experiments, participants were asked to identify peripheral targets appearing on the screen and respond to them as quickly as possible by a button press. Prior to the appearance of the target, a cue was presented in the center of the screen. In Experiment 1, cues were either faces or arrows that gazed or pointed in one direction, but were non-predictive of the target location. Consistent with earlier studies, we found a reaction time benefit for the side the arrow or the gaze was directed to. Extending beyond earlier research, we found that this effect was indistinguishable between the vertical and the horizontal axis and between faces and arrows. In Experiment 2, we used 100% “counter-predictive” cues; that is, the target always occurred on the side opposite to the direction of gaze or arrow. With cues without inherent directional meaning (color), we controlled for general learning effects. Despite the close quantitative match between non-predictive gaze and non-predictive arrow cues observed in Experiment 1, the reaction-time benefit for counter-predictive arrows over neutral cues is more robust than the corresponding benefit for counter-predictive gaze. This suggests that–if matched for efficacy towards their inherent direction–gaze cues are harder to override or reinterpret than arrows. This difference can be of practical relevance, for example, when designing cues in the context of human-machine interaction.},

note = {Publisher: Public Library of Science},

keywords = {RESPONSEPixx, VIEWPixx},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{balestrieri_alpha-band_2024,

title = {Alpha-Band Lateralization and Microsaccades Elicited by Exogenous Cues Do Not Track Attentional Orienting},

author = {Elio Balestrieri and René Michel and Niko A. Busch},

url = {https://www.eneuro.org/lookup/doi/10.1523/ENEURO.0076-23.2023},

doi = {10.1523/ENEURO.0076-23.2023},

issn = {2373-2822},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-02-01},

urldate = {2024-05-09},

journal = {eneuro},

volume = {11},

number = {2},

pages = {ENEURO.0076–23.2023},

abstract = {We explore the world by constantly shifting our focus of attention toward salient stimuli and then disengaging from them in search of new ones. The alpha rhythm (8–13 Hz) has been suggested as a pivotal neural substrate of these attentional shifts, due to its local synchronization and desynchronization that suppress irrelevant cortical areas and facilitate relevant areas, a phenomenon called alpha lateralization. Whether alpha lateralization tracks the focus of attention from orienting toward a salient stimulus to disengaging from it is still an open question. We addressed it by leveraging the phenomenon of inhibition of return (IOR), consisting of an initial facilitation in response times (RTs) for stimuli appearing at an exogenously cued location, followed by a suppression of that location. Our behavioral data from human participants showed a typical IOR effect with both early facilitation and subsequent inhibition. In contrast, alpha lateralized in the cued direction after the behavioral facilitation effect and never re-lateralized compatibly with the behavioral inhibition. Furthermore, we analyzed the interaction between alpha lateralization and microsaccades: while alpha was lateralized toward the cued location, microsaccades were mostly oriented away from it. Crucially, the two phenomena showed a significant positive correlation. These results indicate that alpha lateralization reflects primarily the processing of salient stimuli, challenging the view that alpha lateralization is directly involved in exogenous attentional orienting per se. We discuss the relevance of the present findings for an oculomotor account of alpha lateralization as a modulator of cortical excitability in preparation of a saccade.},

keywords = {VIEWPixxEEG},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{maruya_perceptual_2024,

title = {Perceptual transitions between object rigidity and non-rigidity: Competition and cooperation among motion energy, feature tracking, and shape-based priors},

author = {Akihito Maruya and Qasim Zaidi},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1167/jov.24.2.3},

doi = {10.1167/jov.24.2.3},

issn = {1534-7362},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-02-01},

urldate = {2024-02-06},

journal = {Journal of Vision},

volume = {24},

number = {2},

pages = {3},

abstract = {Why do moving objects appear rigid when projected retinal images are deformed non-rigidly? We used rotating rigid objects that can appear rigid or non-rigid to test whether shape features contribute to rigidity perception. When two circular rings were rigidly linked at an angle and jointly rotated at moderate speeds, observers reported that the rings wobbled and were not linked rigidly, but rigid rotation was reported at slow speeds. When gaps, paint, or vertices were added, the rings appeared rigidly rotating even at moderate speeds. At high speeds, all configurations appeared non-rigid. Salient features thus contribute to rigidity at slow and moderate speeds but not at high speeds. Simulated responses of arrays of motion-energy cells showed that motion flow vectors are predominantly orthogonal to the contours of the rings, not parallel to the rotation direction. A convolutional neural network trained to distinguish flow patterns for wobbling versus rotation gave a high probability of wobbling for the motion-energy flows. However, the convolutional neural network gave high probabilities of rotation for motion flows generated by tracking features with arrays of MT pattern-motion cells and corner detectors. In addition, circular rings can appear to spin and roll despite the absence of any sensory evidence, and this illusion is prevented by vertices, gaps, and painted segments, showing the effects of rotational symmetry and shape. Combining convolutional neural network outputs that give greater weight to motion energy at fast speeds and to feature tracking at slow speeds, with the shape-based priors for wobbling and rolling, explained rigid and non-rigid percepts across shapes and speeds (R2 = 0.95). The results demonstrate how cooperation and competition between different neuronal classes lead to specific states of visual perception and to transitions between the states.},

keywords = {VIEWPixx3D},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{wang_mesoscale_2024,

title = {Mesoscale organization of ventral and dorsal visual pathways in macaque monkey revealed by 7T fMRI},

author = {Jianbao Wang and Xiao Du and Songping Yao and Lihui Li and Hisashi Tanigawa and Xiaotong Zhang and Anna Wang Roe},

url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301008224000200},

doi = {10.1016/j.pneurobio.2024.102584},

issn = {0301-0082},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-02-01},

urldate = {2024-02-06},

journal = {Progress in Neurobiology},

pages = {102584},

abstract = {In human and nonhuman primate brains, columnar (mesoscale) organization has been demonstrated to underlie both lower and higher order aspects of visual information processing. Previous studies have focused on identifying functional preferences of mesoscale domains in specific areas; but there has been little understanding of how mesoscale domains may cooperatively respond to single visual stimuli across dorsal and ventral pathways. Here, we have developed ultrahigh-field 7T fMRI methods to enable simultaneous mapping, in individual macaque monkeys, of response in both dorsal and ventral pathways to single simple color and motion stimuli. We provide the first evidence that anatomical V2 cytochrome oxidase-stained stripes are well aligned with fMRI maps of V2 stripes, settling a long-standing controversy. In the ventral pathway, a systematic array of paired color and luminance processing domains across V4 was revealed, suggesting a novel organization for surface information processing. In the dorsal pathway, in addition to high quality motion direction maps of MT, MST and V3A, alternating color and motion direction domains in V3 are revealed. As well, submillimeter motion domains were observed in peripheral LIPd and LIPv. In sum, our study provides a novel global snapshot of how mesoscale networks in the ventral and dorsal visual pathways form the organizational basis of visual objection recognition and vision for action.},

keywords = {PROPixx, VPixxProgram},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{kumano_employment_2024,

title = {Employment of time-varying sensory evidence to test the mechanisms underlying flexible decision-making},

author = {Hironori Kumano and Takanori Uka},

url = {https://journals.lww.com/neuroreport/fulltext/2024/02010/employment_of_time_varying_sensory_evidence_to.5.aspx},

doi = {10.1097/WNR.0000000000001980},

issn = {0959-4965},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-02-01},

urldate = {2024-01-09},

journal = {NeuroReport},

volume = {35},

number = {2},

pages = {107},

abstract = {To make flexible decisions in dynamic environments, the brain must integrate behaviorally relevant information while simultaneously discarding irrelevant information. This study aimed to investigate the mechanisms responsible for discarding irrelevant information during context-dependent decision-making. We trained two macaque monkeys to switch between direction and depth discrimination tasks in successive trials. During decision-making, the strength of the motion or depth signal changes transiently at various times, introducing a brief pulse. We assessed the effects of pulse on behavioral choices. Consistent with previous findings, early relevant pulses, such as motion pulses during direction discrimination, had a significantly larger effect compared to late pulses. Critically, the effects of irrelevant pulses, such as motion pulses during depth discrimination, exhibited an initial minimal effect, followed by an increase and subsequent decrease as a function of pulse timing. Gating mechanisms alone, aimed at discarding irrelevant information, did not account for the observed time course of pulse effects. Instead, the observed increase in the effects of irrelevant pulses with time suggested the involvement of a leaky integration mechanism. The results suggested that the brain controls the amount of disposal in accumulating sensory evidence during flexible decision-making.},

keywords = {VIEWPixx3D},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{ju_decoding_2024,

title = {Decoding the dynamic perception of risk and speed using naturalistic stimuli: A multivariate, whole-brain analysis},

author = {Uijong Ju and Christian Wallraven},

url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/hbm.26652},

doi = {10.1002/hbm.26652},

issn = {1097-0193},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

urldate = {2024-05-09},

journal = {Human Brain Mapping},

volume = {45},

number = {4},

pages = {e26652},

abstract = {Time-resolved decoding of speed and risk perception in car driving is important for understanding the perceptual processes related to driving safety. In this study, we used an fMRI-compatible trackball with naturalistic stimuli to record dynamic ratings of perceived risk and speed and investigated the degree to which different brain regions were able to decode these. We presented participants with first-person perspective videos of cars racing on the same course. These videos varied in terms of subjectively perceived speed and risk profiles, as determined during a behavioral pilot. During the fMRI experiment, participants used the trackball to dynamically rate subjective risk in a first and speed in a second session and assessed overall risk and speed after watching each video. A standard multivariate correlation analysis based on these ratings revealed sparse decodability in visual areas only for the risk ratings. In contrast, the dynamic rating-based correlation analysis uncovered frontal, visual, and temporal region activation for subjective risk and dorsal visual stream and temporal region activation for subjectively perceived speed. Interestingly, further analyses showed that the brain regions for decoding risk changed over time, whereas those for decoding speed remained constant. Overall, our results demonstrate the advantages of time-resolved decoding to help our understanding of the dynamic networks associated with decoding risk and speed perception in realistic driving scenarios.},

note = {_eprint: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/hbm.26652},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{varkuti_conversion_2024,

title = {Conversion of a medical implant into a versatile computer-brain interface},

author = {Bálint Várkuti and László Halász and Saman Hagh Gooie and Gabriella Miklós and Ricardo Smits Serena and Gijs Elswijk and Cameron C. McIntyre and Scott F. Lempka and Andres M. Lozano and Loránd Erōss},

url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1935861X23019769},

doi = {10.1016/j.brs.2023.12.011},

issn = {1935-861X},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

urldate = {2024-02-06},

journal = {Brain Stimulation},

volume = {17},

number = {1},

pages = {39–48},

abstract = {Background 

Information transmission into the human nervous system is the basis for a variety of prosthetic applications. Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) systems are widely available, have a well documented safety record, can be implanted minimally invasively, and are known to stimulate afferent pathways. Nonetheless, SCS devices are not yet used for computer-brain-interfacing applications. 

Objective 

Here we aimed to establish computer-to-brain communication via medical SCS implants in a group of 20 individuals who had been operated for the treatment of chronic neuropathic pain. 

Methods 

In the initial phase, we conducted interface calibration with the aim of determining personalized stimulation settings that yielded distinct and reproducible sensations. These settings were subsequently utilized to generate inputs for a range of behavioral tasks. We evaluated the required calibration time, task training duration, and the subsequent performance in each task. 

Results We could establish a stable spinal computer-brain interface in 18 of the 20 participants. Each of the 18 then performed one or more of the following tasks: A rhythm-discrimination task (n = 13), a Morse-decoding task (n = 3), and/or two different balance/body-posture tasks (n = 18; n = 5). The median calibration time was 79 min. The median training time for learning to use the interface in a subsequent task was 1:40 min. In each task, every participant demonstrated successful performance, surpassing chance levels. 

Conclusion 

The results constitute the first proof-of-concept of a general purpose computer-brain interface paradigm that could be deployed on present-day medical SCS platforms.},

keywords = {RESPONSEPixx},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{marshall_representation_2024,

title = {The representation of priors and decisions in the human parietal cortex},

author = {Tom R. Marshall and Maria Ruesseler and Laurence T. Hunt and Jill X. O’Reilly},

url = {https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002383},

doi = {10.1371/journal.pbio.3002383},

issn = {1545-7885},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

urldate = {2024-02-01},

journal = {PLOS Biology},

volume = {22},

number = {1},

pages = {e3002383},

abstract = {Animals actively sample their environment through orienting actions such as saccadic eye movements. Saccadic targets are selected based both on sensory evidence immediately preceding the saccade, and a “salience map” or prior built-up over multiple saccades. In the primate cortex, the selection of each individual saccade depends on competition between target-selective cells that ramp up their firing rate to saccade release. However, it is less clear how a cross-saccade prior might be implemented, either in neural firing or through an activity-silent mechanism such as modification of synaptic weights on sensory inputs. Here, we present evidence from magnetoencephalography for 2 distinct processes underlying the selection of the current saccade, and the representation of the prior, in human parietal cortex. While the classic ramping decision process for each saccade was reflected in neural firing rates (measured in the event-related field), a prior built-up over multiple saccades was implemented via modulation of the gain on sensory inputs from the preferred target, as evidenced by rapid frequency tagging. A cascade of computations over time (initial representation of the prior, followed by evidence accumulation and then an integration of prior and evidence) provides a mechanism by which a salience map may be built up across saccades in parietal cortex. It also provides insight into the apparent contradiction that inactivation of parietal cortex has been shown not to affect performance on single-trials, despite the presence of clear evidence accumulation signals in this region.},

note = {Publisher: Public Library of Science},

keywords = {PROPixx},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{taubert_real_2024,

title = {Real Face Value: The Processing of Naturalistic Facial Expressions in the Macaque Inferior Temporal Cortex},

author = {Jessica Taubert and Shruti Japee},

url = {https://direct.mit.edu/jocn/article/doi/10.1162/jocn_a_02108/119171/Real-Face-Value-The-Processing-of-Naturalistic},

doi = {10.1162/jocn_a_02108},

issn = {0898-929X, 1530-8898},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

urldate = {2024-01-30},

journal = {Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience},

pages = {1–17},

abstract = {Abstract 

 For primates, expressions of fear are thought to be powerful social signals. In laboratory settings, faces with fearful expressions have reliably evoked valence effects in inferior temporal cortex. However, because macaques use so called “fear grins” in a variety of different contexts, the deeper question is whether the macaque inferior temporal cortex is tuned to the prototypical fear grin, or to conspecifics signaling fear? In this study, we combined neuroimaging with the results of a behavioral task to investigate how macaques encode a wide variety of fearful facial expressions. In Experiment 1, we identified two sets of macaque face stimuli using different approaches; we selected faces based on the emotional context (i.e., calm vs. fearful), and we selected faces based on the engagement of action units (i.e., neutral vs. fear grins). We also included human faces in Experiment 1. Then, using fMRI, we found that the faces selected based on context elicited a larger valence effect in the inferior temporal cortex than faces selected based on visual appearance. Furthermore, human facial expressions only elicited weak valence effects. These observations were further supported by the results of a two-alternative, forced-choice task (Experiment 2), suggesting that fear grins vary in their perceived pleasantness. Collectively, these findings indicate that the macaque inferior temporal cortex is more involved in social intelligence than commonly assumed, encoding emergent properties in naturalistic face stimuli that transcend basic visual features. These results demand a rethinking of theories surrounding the function and operationalization of primate inferior temporal cortex.},

keywords = {DATAPixx},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{coop_pre-saccadic_2024,

title = {Pre-saccadic Neural Enhancements in Marmoset Area MT},

author = {Shanna H. Coop and Jacob L. Yates and Jude F. Mitchell},

url = {https://www.jneurosci.org/content/44/4/e2034222023},

doi = {10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2034-22.2023},

issn = {0270-6474, 1529-2401},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

urldate = {2024-01-30},

journal = {Journal of Neuroscience},

volume = {44},

number = {4},

abstract = {Each time we make an eye movement, attention moves before the eyes, resulting in a perceptual enhancement at the target. Recent psychophysical studies suggest that this pre-saccadic attention enhances the visual features at the saccade target, whereas covert attention causes only spatially selective enhancements. While previous nonhuman primate studies have found that pre-saccadic attention does enhance neural responses spatially, no studies have tested whether changes in neural tuning reflect an automatic feature enhancement. Here we examined pre-saccadic attention using a saccade foraging task developed for marmoset monkeys (one male and one female). We recorded from neurons in the middle temporal area with peripheral receptive fields that contained a motion stimulus, which would either be the target of a saccade or a distracter as a saccade was made to another location. We established that marmosets, like macaques, show enhanced pre-saccadic neural responses for saccades toward the receptive field, including increases in firing rate and motion information. We then examined if the specific changes in neural tuning might support feature enhancements for the target. Neurons exhibited diverse changes in tuning but predominantly showed additive and multiplicative increases that were uniformly applied across motion directions. These findings confirm that marmoset monkeys, like macaques, exhibit pre-saccadic neural enhancements during saccade foraging tasks with minimal training requirements. However, at the level of individual neurons, the lack of feature-tuned enhancements is similar to neural effects reported during covert spatial attention.},

note = {Publisher: Society for Neuroscience 

Section: Research Articles},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{mendoza-halliday_ubiquitous_2024,

title = {A ubiquitous spectrolaminar motif of local field potential power across the primate cortex},

author = {Diego Mendoza-Halliday and Alex James Major and Noah Lee and Maxwell J. Lichtenfeld and Brock Carlson and Blake Mitchell and Patrick D. Meng and Yihan (Sophy) Xiong and Jacob A. Westerberg and Xiaoxuan Jia and Kevin D. Johnston and Janahan Selvanayagam and Stefan Everling and Alexander Maier and Robert Desimone and Earl K. Miller and André M. Bastos},

url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-023-01554-7},

doi = {10.1038/s41593-023-01554-7},

issn = {1546-1726},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

urldate = {2024-01-18},

journal = {Nature Neuroscience},

pages = {1–14},

abstract = {The mammalian cerebral cortex is anatomically organized into a six-layer motif. It is currently unknown whether a corresponding laminar motif of neuronal activity patterns exists across the cortex. Here we report such a motif in the power of local field potentials (LFPs). Using laminar probes, we recorded LFPs from 14 cortical areas across the cortical hierarchy in five macaque monkeys. The laminar locations of recordings were histologically identified by electrolytic lesions. Across all areas, we found a ubiquitous spectrolaminar pattern characterized by an increasing deep-to-superficial layer gradient of high-frequency power peaking in layers 2/3 and an increasing superficial-to-deep gradient of alpha-beta power peaking in layers 5/6. Laminar recordings from additional species showed that the spectrolaminar pattern is highly preserved among primates—macaque, marmoset and human—but more dissimilar in mouse. Our results suggest the existence of a canonical layer-based and frequency-based mechanism for cortical computation.},

note = {Publisher: Nature Publishing Group},

keywords = {VIEWPixx3D},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{fakche_perceptual_2024,

title = {Perceptual Cycles Travel Across Retinotopic Space},

author = {Camille Fakche and Laura Dugué},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_02075},

doi = {10.1162/jocn_a_02075},

issn = {0898-929X},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

urldate = {2024-01-16},

journal = {Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience},

volume = {36},

number = {1},

pages = {200–216},

abstract = {Visual perception waxes and wanes periodically over time at low frequencies (theta: 4–7 Hz; alpha: 8–13 Hz), creating “perceptual cycles.” These perceptual cycles can be induced when stimulating the brain with a flickering visual stimulus at the theta or alpha frequency. Here, we took advantage of the well-known organization of the visual system into retinotopic maps (topographic correspondence between visual and cortical spaces) to assess the spatial organization of induced perceptual cycles. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that they can propagate across the retinotopic space. A disk oscillating in luminance (inducer) at 4, 6, 8, or 10 Hz was presented in the periphery of the visual field to induce perceptual cycles at specific frequencies. EEG recordings verified that the brain responded at the corresponding inducer frequencies and their first harmonics. Perceptual cycles were assessed with a concurrent detection task—target stimuli were displayed at threshold contrast (50% detection) at random times during the inducer. Behavioral results confirmed that perceptual performance was modulated periodically by the inducer at each frequency. We additionally manipulated the distance between the target and the inducer (three possible positions) and showed that the optimal phase, that is, moment of highest target detection, shifted across target distance to the inducer, specifically when its flicker frequency was in the alpha range (8 and 10 Hz). These results demonstrate that induced alpha perceptual cycles travel across the retinotopic space in humans at a propagation speed of 0.3–0.5 m/sec, consistent with the speed of unmyelinated horizontal connections in the visual cortex.},

keywords = {PROPixx},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{campbell_severe_2024,

title = {Severe processing capacity limits for sub-lexical features of letter strings},

author = {Maya Campbell and Nicole Oppenheimer and Alex L. White},

url = {https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-023-02830-1},

doi = {10.3758/s13414-023-02830-1},

issn = {1943-393X},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

urldate = {2024-01-08},

journal = {Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics},

abstract = {When reading, the visual system is confronted with many words simultaneously. How much of that information can a reader process at once? Previous studies demonstrated that low-level visual features of multiple words are processed in parallel, but lexical attributes are processed serially, for one word at a time. This implies that an internal bottleneck lies somewhere between early visual and lexical analysis. We used a dual-task behavioral paradigm to investigate whether this bottleneck lies at the stage of letter recognition or phonological decoding. On each trial, two letter strings were flashed briefly, one above and one below fixation, and then masked. In the letter identification experiment, participants indicated whether a vowel was present in a particular letter string. In the phonological decoding experiment, participants indicated whether the letter string was pronounceable. We compared accuracy in a focused attention condition, in which participants judged only one of the two strings, with accuracy in a divided attention condition, in which participants judged both strings independently. In both experiments, the cost of dividing attention was so large that it supported a serial model: participants were able to process only one letter string per trial. Furthermore, we found a stimulus processing trade-off that is characteristic of serial processing: When participants judged one string correctly, they were less likely to judge the other string correctly. Therefore, the bottleneck that constrains word recognition under these conditions arises at a sub-lexical level, perhaps due to a limit on the efficiency of letter recognition.},

keywords = {VIEWPixx3D},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{doherty_atypical_2024,

title = {Atypical cortical networks in children at high-genetic risk of psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders},

author = {Joanne L. Doherty and Adam C. Cunningham and Samuel J. R. A. Chawner and Hayley M. Moss and Diana C. Dima and David E. J. Linden and Michael J. Owen and Marianne B. M. Bree and Krish D. Singh},

url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-023-01628-x},

doi = {10.1038/s41386-023-01628-x},

issn = {1740-634X},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

urldate = {2024-01-04},

journal = {Neuropsychopharmacology},

volume = {49},

number = {2},

pages = {368–376},

abstract = {Although many genetic risk factors for psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders have been identified, the neurobiological route from genetic risk to neuropsychiatric outcome remains unclear. 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) is a copy number variant (CNV) syndrome associated with high rates of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and schizophrenia. Alterations in neural integration and cortical connectivity have been linked to the spectrum of neuropsychiatric disorders seen in 22q11.2DS and may be a mechanism by which the CNV acts to increase risk. In this study, magnetoencephalography (MEG) was used to investigate electrophysiological markers of local and global network function in 34 children with 22q11.2DS and 25 controls aged 10–17 years old. Resting-state oscillatory activity and functional connectivity across six frequency bands were compared between groups. Regression analyses were used to explore the relationships between these measures, neurodevelopmental symptoms and IQ. Children with 22q11.2DS had altered network activity and connectivity in high and low frequency bands, reflecting modified local and long-range cortical circuitry. Alpha and theta band connectivity were negatively associated with ASD symptoms while frontal high frequency (gamma band) activity was positively associated with ASD symptoms. Alpha band activity was positively associated with cognitive ability. These findings suggest that haploinsufficiency at the 22q11.2 locus impacts short and long-range cortical circuits, which could be a mechanism underlying neurodevelopmental and psychiatric vulnerability in this high-risk group.},

note = {Number: 2 

Publisher: Nature Publishing Group},

keywords = {PROPixx},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{minarik_optimal_2023,

title = {Optimal parameters for rapid (invisible) frequency tagging using MEG},

author = {Tamas Minarik and Barbara Berger and Ole Jensen},

url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811923005402},

doi = {10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120389},

issn = {1053-8119},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-11-01},

urldate = {2024-01-31},

journal = {NeuroImage},

volume = {281},

pages = {120389},

abstract = {Frequency tagging has been demonstrated to be a useful tool for identifying representational-specific neuronal activity in the auditory and visual domains. However, the slow flicker (<30 Hz) applied in conventional frequency tagging studies is highly visible and might entrain endogenous neuronal oscillations. Hence, stimulation at faster frequencies that is much less visible and does not interfere with endogenous brain oscillatory activity is a promising new tool. In this study, we set out to examine the optimal stimulation parameters of rapid frequency tagging (RFT/RIFT) with magnetoencephalography (MEG) by quantifying the effects of stimulation frequency, size and position of the flickering patch. Rapid frequency tagging using flickers above 50 Hz results in almost invisible stimulation which does not interfere with slower endogenous oscillations; however, the signal is weaker as compared to tagging at slower frequencies so certainty over the optimal parameters of stimulation delivery are crucial. The here presented results examining the frequency range between 60 Hz and 96 Hz suggest that RFT induces brain responses with decreasing strength up to about 84 Hz. In addition, even at the smallest flicker patch (2°) focally presented RFT induces a significant and measurable oscillatory brain signal (steady state visual evoked potential/field, SSVEP/F) at the stimulation frequency (66 Hz); however, the elicited response increases with patch size. While focal RFT presentation elicits the strongest response, off-centre presentations do generally mainly elicit a measureable response if presented below the horizontal midline. Importantly, the results also revealed considerable individual differences in the neuronal responses to RFT stimulation. Finally, we discuss the comparison of oscillatory measures (coherence and power) and sensor types (planar gradiometers and magnetometers) in order to achieve optimal outcomes. Based on our extensive findings we set forward concrete recommendations for using rapid frequency tagging in human cognitive neuroscience investigations.},

keywords = {PROPixx},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}