Open Access Publications
From research on the visual systems of turtles, to the perception of faces with or without makeup, to transaccadic perception and perceptual cycles in the brain– VPixx hardware and software solutions have supported research in vision science and beyond for over 20 years. We are immensely proud of the discoveries and accomplishments of our customers across the world.
On this page you will find a non-exhaustive list of peer-reviewed, open access publications citing VPixx tools dating back to 2003. Browse the list or use the tag filter to search for specific products. Note that we report the device used in the paper according to the authors; this may not accurately reflect the specific model of device used (e.g., VIEWPixx vs. VIEWPixx /3D). Nor do we guarantee the accuracy of published content. Please contact our team at [email protected] if you have any questions about a specific paper.
Curious about a specific application of our tools? Can’t find what you are looking for? Our staff scientists are happy to discuss paradigms and protocols using our equipment by email or video chat. Please contact us with your questions.
Want to have your work added to our library? Send us a message at [email protected] and we will add it. Your article must be peer-reviewed, open access, and it must indicate VPixx products were used in the research.
Use the search tool below to search for specific terms among the titles, authors and abstracts in our library.
1.
Weise, Annekathrin; Hartmann, Thomas; Parmentier, Fabrice; Weisz, Nathan; Ruhnau, Philipp
Involuntary shifts of spatial attention contribute to distraction—Evidence from oscillatory alpha power and reaction time data Journal Article
In: Psychophysiology, vol. 60, no. 10, pp. e14353, 2023, ISSN: 1469-8986, (_eprint: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/psyp.14353).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: DATAPixx2, PROPixx, RESPONSEPixxMRI, SOUNDPixx
@article{weise_involuntary_2023,
title = {Involuntary shifts of spatial attention contribute to distraction—Evidence from oscillatory alpha power and reaction time data},
author = {Annekathrin Weise and Thomas Hartmann and Fabrice Parmentier and Nathan Weisz and Philipp Ruhnau},
url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/psyp.14353},
doi = {10.1111/psyp.14353},
issn = {1469-8986},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-01-01},
urldate = {2023-12-21},
journal = {Psychophysiology},
volume = {60},
number = {10},
pages = {e14353},
abstract = {Imagine you are focusing on the traffic on a busy street to ride your bike safely when suddenly you hear the siren of an ambulance. This unexpected sound involuntarily captures your attention and interferes with ongoing performance. We tested whether this type of distraction involves a spatial shift of attention. We measured behavioral data and magnetoencephalographic alpha power during a cross-modal paradigm that combined an exogenous cueing task and a distraction task. In each trial, a task-irrelevant sound preceded a visual target (left or right). The sound was usually the same animal sound (i.e., standard sound). Rarely, it was replaced by an unexpected environmental sound (i.e., deviant sound). Fifty percent of the deviants occurred on the same side as the target, and 50% occurred on the opposite side. Participants responded to the location of the target. As expected, responses were slower to targets that followed a deviant compared to a standard. Crucially, this distraction effect was mitigated by the spatial relationship between the targets and the deviants: responses were faster when targets followed deviants on the same versus different side, indexing a spatial shift of attention. This was further corroborated by a posterior alpha power modulation that was higher in the hemisphere ipsilateral (vs. contralateral) to the location of the attention-capturing deviant. We suggest that this alpha power lateralization reflects a spatial attention bias. Overall, our data support the contention that spatial shifts of attention contribute to deviant distraction.},
note = {_eprint: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/psyp.14353},
keywords = {DATAPixx2, PROPixx, RESPONSEPixxMRI, SOUNDPixx},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Imagine you are focusing on the traffic on a busy street to ride your bike safely when suddenly you hear the siren of an ambulance. This unexpected sound involuntarily captures your attention and interferes with ongoing performance. We tested whether this type of distraction involves a spatial shift of attention. We measured behavioral data and magnetoencephalographic alpha power during a cross-modal paradigm that combined an exogenous cueing task and a distraction task. In each trial, a task-irrelevant sound preceded a visual target (left or right). The sound was usually the same animal sound (i.e., standard sound). Rarely, it was replaced by an unexpected environmental sound (i.e., deviant sound). Fifty percent of the deviants occurred on the same side as the target, and 50% occurred on the opposite side. Participants responded to the location of the target. As expected, responses were slower to targets that followed a deviant compared to a standard. Crucially, this distraction effect was mitigated by the spatial relationship between the targets and the deviants: responses were faster when targets followed deviants on the same versus different side, indexing a spatial shift of attention. This was further corroborated by a posterior alpha power modulation that was higher in the hemisphere ipsilateral (vs. contralateral) to the location of the attention-capturing deviant. We suggest that this alpha power lateralization reflects a spatial attention bias. Overall, our data support the contention that spatial shifts of attention contribute to deviant distraction.
2.
Sharp, Poppy; Gutteling, Tjerk; Melcher, David; Hickey, Clayton
Spatial Attention Tunes Temporal Processing in Early Visual Cortex by Speeding and Slowing Alpha Oscillations Journal Article
In: Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 42, no. 41, pp. 7824–7832, 2022, ISSN: 0270-6474, 1529-2401, (Publisher: Society for Neuroscience Section: Research Articles).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: PROPixx, RESPONSEPixxMRI
@article{sharp_spatial_2022,
title = {Spatial Attention Tunes Temporal Processing in Early Visual Cortex by Speeding and Slowing Alpha Oscillations},
author = {Poppy Sharp and Tjerk Gutteling and David Melcher and Clayton Hickey},
url = {https://www.jneurosci.org/content/42/41/7824},
doi = {10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0509-22.2022},
issn = {0270-6474, 1529-2401},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-10-01},
urldate = {2023-12-21},
journal = {Journal of Neuroscience},
volume = {42},
number = {41},
pages = {7824–7832},
abstract = {The perception of dynamic visual stimuli relies on two apparently conflicting perceptual mechanisms: rapid visual input must sometimes be integrated into unitary percepts but at other times must be segregated or parsed into separate objects or events. Though they have opposite effects on our perceptual experience, the deployment of spatial attention benefits both operations. Little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying this impact of spatial attention on temporal perception. Here, we record magnetoencephalography (MEG) in male and female humans to demonstrate that the deployment of spatial attention for the purpose of segregating or integrating visual stimuli impacts prestimulus oscillatory activity in retinotopic visual brain areas where the attended location is represented. Alpha band oscillations contralateral to an attended location are therefore faster than ipsilateral oscillations when stimuli appearing at this location will need to be segregated, but slower in expectation of the need for integration, consistent with the idea that α frequency is linked to perceptual sampling rate. These results demonstrate a novel interaction between temporal visual processing and the allocation of attention in space.
SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Our environment is dynamic and visual input therefore varies over time. To make sense of continuously changing information, our visual system balances two complementary processes: temporal segregation in order to identify changes, and temporal integration to identify consistencies in time. When we know that a circumstance requires use of one or the other of these operations, we are able to prepare for this, and this preparation can be tracked in oscillatory brain activity. Here, we show how this preparation for temporal processing can be focused spatially. When we expect to integrate or segregate visual stimuli that will appear at a specific location, oscillatory brain activity changes in visual areas responsible for the representation of that location. In this way, spatial and temporal mechanisms interact to support adaptive, efficient perception.},
note = {Publisher: Society for Neuroscience
Section: Research Articles},
keywords = {PROPixx, RESPONSEPixxMRI},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The perception of dynamic visual stimuli relies on two apparently conflicting perceptual mechanisms: rapid visual input must sometimes be integrated into unitary percepts but at other times must be segregated or parsed into separate objects or events. Though they have opposite effects on our perceptual experience, the deployment of spatial attention benefits both operations. Little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying this impact of spatial attention on temporal perception. Here, we record magnetoencephalography (MEG) in male and female humans to demonstrate that the deployment of spatial attention for the purpose of segregating or integrating visual stimuli impacts prestimulus oscillatory activity in retinotopic visual brain areas where the attended location is represented. Alpha band oscillations contralateral to an attended location are therefore faster than ipsilateral oscillations when stimuli appearing at this location will need to be segregated, but slower in expectation of the need for integration, consistent with the idea that α frequency is linked to perceptual sampling rate. These results demonstrate a novel interaction between temporal visual processing and the allocation of attention in space.
SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Our environment is dynamic and visual input therefore varies over time. To make sense of continuously changing information, our visual system balances two complementary processes: temporal segregation in order to identify changes, and temporal integration to identify consistencies in time. When we know that a circumstance requires use of one or the other of these operations, we are able to prepare for this, and this preparation can be tracked in oscillatory brain activity. Here, we show how this preparation for temporal processing can be focused spatially. When we expect to integrate or segregate visual stimuli that will appear at a specific location, oscillatory brain activity changes in visual areas responsible for the representation of that location. In this way, spatial and temporal mechanisms interact to support adaptive, efficient perception.
SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Our environment is dynamic and visual input therefore varies over time. To make sense of continuously changing information, our visual system balances two complementary processes: temporal segregation in order to identify changes, and temporal integration to identify consistencies in time. When we know that a circumstance requires use of one or the other of these operations, we are able to prepare for this, and this preparation can be tracked in oscillatory brain activity. Here, we show how this preparation for temporal processing can be focused spatially. When we expect to integrate or segregate visual stimuli that will appear at a specific location, oscillatory brain activity changes in visual areas responsible for the representation of that location. In this way, spatial and temporal mechanisms interact to support adaptive, efficient perception.
3.
Hauswald, Anne; Keitel, Anne; Chen, Ya-Ping; Rösch, Sebastian; Weisz, Nathan
Degradation levels of continuous speech affect neural speech tracking and alpha power differently Journal Article
In: European Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 55, no. 11-12, pp. 3288–3302, 2022, ISSN: 1460-9568, (_eprint: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ejn.14912).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: RESPONSEPixxMRI, SOUNDPixx, VPixxProgram
@article{hauswald_degradation_2022,
title = {Degradation levels of continuous speech affect neural speech tracking and alpha power differently},
author = {Anne Hauswald and Anne Keitel and Ya-Ping Chen and Sebastian Rösch and Nathan Weisz},
url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ejn.14912},
doi = {10.1111/ejn.14912},
issn = {1460-9568},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-01-01},
urldate = {2023-12-21},
journal = {European Journal of Neuroscience},
volume = {55},
number = {11-12},
pages = {3288–3302},
abstract = {Making sense of a poor auditory signal can pose a challenge. Previous attempts to quantify speech intelligibility in neural terms have usually focused on one of two measures, namely low-frequency speech-brain synchronization or alpha power modulations. However, reports have been mixed concerning the modulation of these measures, an issue aggravated by the fact that they have normally been studied separately. We present two MEG studies analyzing both measures. In study 1, participants listened to unimodal auditory speech with three different levels of degradation (original, 7-channel and 3-channel vocoding). Intelligibility declined with declining clarity, but speech was still intelligible to some extent even for the lowest clarity level (3-channel vocoding). Low-frequency (1–7 Hz) speech tracking suggested a U-shaped relationship with strongest effects for the medium-degraded speech (7-channel) in bilateral auditory and left frontal regions. To follow up on this finding, we implemented three additional vocoding levels (5-channel, 2-channel and 1-channel) in a second MEG study. Using this wider range of degradation, the speech-brain synchronization showed a similar pattern as in study 1, but further showed that when speech becomes unintelligible, synchronization declines again. The relationship differed for alpha power, which continued to decrease across vocoding levels reaching a floor effect for 5-channel vocoding. Predicting subjective intelligibility based on models either combining both measures or each measure alone showed superiority of the combined model. Our findings underline that speech tracking and alpha power are modified differently by the degree of degradation of continuous speech but together contribute to the subjective speech understanding.},
note = {_eprint: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ejn.14912},
keywords = {RESPONSEPixxMRI, SOUNDPixx, VPixxProgram},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Making sense of a poor auditory signal can pose a challenge. Previous attempts to quantify speech intelligibility in neural terms have usually focused on one of two measures, namely low-frequency speech-brain synchronization or alpha power modulations. However, reports have been mixed concerning the modulation of these measures, an issue aggravated by the fact that they have normally been studied separately. We present two MEG studies analyzing both measures. In study 1, participants listened to unimodal auditory speech with three different levels of degradation (original, 7-channel and 3-channel vocoding). Intelligibility declined with declining clarity, but speech was still intelligible to some extent even for the lowest clarity level (3-channel vocoding). Low-frequency (1–7 Hz) speech tracking suggested a U-shaped relationship with strongest effects for the medium-degraded speech (7-channel) in bilateral auditory and left frontal regions. To follow up on this finding, we implemented three additional vocoding levels (5-channel, 2-channel and 1-channel) in a second MEG study. Using this wider range of degradation, the speech-brain synchronization showed a similar pattern as in study 1, but further showed that when speech becomes unintelligible, synchronization declines again. The relationship differed for alpha power, which continued to decrease across vocoding levels reaching a floor effect for 5-channel vocoding. Predicting subjective intelligibility based on models either combining both measures or each measure alone showed superiority of the combined model. Our findings underline that speech tracking and alpha power are modified differently by the degree of degradation of continuous speech but together contribute to the subjective speech understanding.
4.
Suess, Nina; Hartmann, Thomas; Weisz, Nathan
Differential attention-dependent adjustment of frequency, power and phase in primary sensory and frontoparietal areas Journal Article
In: Cortex, vol. 137, pp. 179–193, 2021, ISSN: 0010-9452.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: PROPixx, RESPONSEPixxMRI, SOUNDPixx
@article{suess_differential_2021,
title = {Differential attention-dependent adjustment of frequency, power and phase in primary sensory and frontoparietal areas},
author = {Nina Suess and Thomas Hartmann and Nathan Weisz},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010945221000320},
doi = {10.1016/j.cortex.2021.01.008},
issn = {0010-9452},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-04-01},
urldate = {2023-12-21},
journal = {Cortex},
volume = {137},
pages = {179–193},
abstract = {Continuously prioritizing behaviourally relevant information from the environment for improved stimulus processing is a crucial function of attention. In the current MEG study, we investigated how ongoing oscillatory activity of both sensory and non-sensory brain regions are differentially impacted by attentional focus. Low-frequency phase alignment of neural activity in primary sensory areas, with respect to attended/ignored features has been suggested to support top-down prioritization. However, phase adjustment in frontoparietal regions has not been widely studied, despite general implication of these in top-down selection of information. To investigate this, we let participants perform an established intermodal selective attention task, where low-frequency auditory (1.6 Hz) and visual (1.8 Hz) stimuli were presented simultaneously. We instructed them to either attend to the auditory or to the visual stimuli and to detect targets while ignoring the other stimulus stream. As expected, the strongest phase adjustment was observed in primary sensory regions for auditory and for visual stimulation, independent of attentional focus. We found greater differences in phase locking between attended and ignored stimulation for the visual modality. Interestingly, auditory temporal regions show small but significant attention-dependent neural entrainment even for visual stimulation. Extending findings from invasive recordings in non-human primates, we demonstrate an effect of attentional focus on the phase of the entrained oscillations in auditory and visual cortex which may be driven by phase locked increases of induced power. While sensory areas adjusted the phase of the respective stimulation frequencies, attentional focus adjusted the peak frequencies in nonsensory areas. Spatially these areas show a striking overlap with core regions of the dorsal attention network and the frontoparietal network. This suggests that these areas prioritize the attended modality by optimally exploiting the temporal structure of stimulation. Overall, our study complements and extends previous work by showing a differential effect of attentional focus on entrained oscillations (or phase adjustment) in primary sensory areas and frontoparietal areas.},
keywords = {PROPixx, RESPONSEPixxMRI, SOUNDPixx},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Continuously prioritizing behaviourally relevant information from the environment for improved stimulus processing is a crucial function of attention. In the current MEG study, we investigated how ongoing oscillatory activity of both sensory and non-sensory brain regions are differentially impacted by attentional focus. Low-frequency phase alignment of neural activity in primary sensory areas, with respect to attended/ignored features has been suggested to support top-down prioritization. However, phase adjustment in frontoparietal regions has not been widely studied, despite general implication of these in top-down selection of information. To investigate this, we let participants perform an established intermodal selective attention task, where low-frequency auditory (1.6 Hz) and visual (1.8 Hz) stimuli were presented simultaneously. We instructed them to either attend to the auditory or to the visual stimuli and to detect targets while ignoring the other stimulus stream. As expected, the strongest phase adjustment was observed in primary sensory regions for auditory and for visual stimulation, independent of attentional focus. We found greater differences in phase locking between attended and ignored stimulation for the visual modality. Interestingly, auditory temporal regions show small but significant attention-dependent neural entrainment even for visual stimulation. Extending findings from invasive recordings in non-human primates, we demonstrate an effect of attentional focus on the phase of the entrained oscillations in auditory and visual cortex which may be driven by phase locked increases of induced power. While sensory areas adjusted the phase of the respective stimulation frequencies, attentional focus adjusted the peak frequencies in nonsensory areas. Spatially these areas show a striking overlap with core regions of the dorsal attention network and the frontoparietal network. This suggests that these areas prioritize the attended modality by optimally exploiting the temporal structure of stimulation. Overall, our study complements and extends previous work by showing a differential effect of attentional focus on entrained oscillations (or phase adjustment) in primary sensory areas and frontoparietal areas.
5.
Fabius, Jasper H.; Fracasso, Alessio; Acunzo, David J.; der Stigchel, Stefan Van; Melcher, David
Low-Level Visual Information Is Maintained across Saccades, Allowing for a Postsaccadic Handoff between Visual Areas Journal Article
In: Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 40, no. 49, pp. 9476–9486, 2020, ISSN: 0270-6474, 1529-2401, (Publisher: Society for Neuroscience Section: Research Articles).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: PROPixx, RESPONSEPixxMRI
@article{fabius_low-level_2020,
title = {Low-Level Visual Information Is Maintained across Saccades, Allowing for a Postsaccadic Handoff between Visual Areas},
author = {Jasper H. Fabius and Alessio Fracasso and David J. Acunzo and Stefan Van der Stigchel and David Melcher},
url = {https://www.jneurosci.org/content/40/49/9476},
doi = {10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1169-20.2020},
issn = {0270-6474, 1529-2401},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-12-01},
urldate = {2023-12-21},
journal = {Journal of Neuroscience},
volume = {40},
number = {49},
pages = {9476–9486},
abstract = {Experience seems continuous and detailed despite saccadic eye movements changing retinal input several times per second. There is debate whether neural signals related to updating across saccades contain information about stimulus features, or only location pointers without visual details. We investigated the time course of low-level visual information processing across saccades by decoding the spatial frequency of a stationary stimulus that changed from one visual hemifield to the other because of a horizontal saccadic eye movement. We recorded magnetoencephalography while human subjects (both sexes) monitored the orientation of a grating stimulus, making spatial frequency task irrelevant. Separate trials, in which subjects maintained fixation, were used to train a classifier, whose performance was then tested on saccade trials. Decoding performance showed that spatial frequency information of the presaccadic stimulus remained present for ∼200 ms after the saccade, transcending retinotopic specificity. Postsaccadic information ramped up rapidly after saccade offset. There was an overlap of over 100 ms during which decoding was significant from both presaccadic and postsaccadic processing areas. This suggests that the apparent richness of perception across saccades may be supported by the continuous availability of low-level information with a “soft handoff” of information during the initial processing sweep of the new fixation.
SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Saccades create frequent discontinuities in visual input, yet perception appears stable and continuous. How is this discontinuous input processed resulting in visual stability? Previous studies have focused on presaccadic remapping. Here we examined the time course of processing of low-level visual information (spatial frequency) across saccades with magnetoencephalography. The results suggest that spatial frequency information is not predictively remapped but also is not discarded. Instead, they suggest a soft handoff over time between different visual areas, making this information continuously available across the saccade. Information about the presaccadic stimulus remains available, while the information about the postsaccadic stimulus has also become available. The simultaneous availability of both the presaccadic and postsaccadic information could enable rich and continuous perception across saccades.},
note = {Publisher: Society for Neuroscience
Section: Research Articles},
keywords = {PROPixx, RESPONSEPixxMRI},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Experience seems continuous and detailed despite saccadic eye movements changing retinal input several times per second. There is debate whether neural signals related to updating across saccades contain information about stimulus features, or only location pointers without visual details. We investigated the time course of low-level visual information processing across saccades by decoding the spatial frequency of a stationary stimulus that changed from one visual hemifield to the other because of a horizontal saccadic eye movement. We recorded magnetoencephalography while human subjects (both sexes) monitored the orientation of a grating stimulus, making spatial frequency task irrelevant. Separate trials, in which subjects maintained fixation, were used to train a classifier, whose performance was then tested on saccade trials. Decoding performance showed that spatial frequency information of the presaccadic stimulus remained present for ∼200 ms after the saccade, transcending retinotopic specificity. Postsaccadic information ramped up rapidly after saccade offset. There was an overlap of over 100 ms during which decoding was significant from both presaccadic and postsaccadic processing areas. This suggests that the apparent richness of perception across saccades may be supported by the continuous availability of low-level information with a “soft handoff” of information during the initial processing sweep of the new fixation.
SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Saccades create frequent discontinuities in visual input, yet perception appears stable and continuous. How is this discontinuous input processed resulting in visual stability? Previous studies have focused on presaccadic remapping. Here we examined the time course of processing of low-level visual information (spatial frequency) across saccades with magnetoencephalography. The results suggest that spatial frequency information is not predictively remapped but also is not discarded. Instead, they suggest a soft handoff over time between different visual areas, making this information continuously available across the saccade. Information about the presaccadic stimulus remains available, while the information about the postsaccadic stimulus has also become available. The simultaneous availability of both the presaccadic and postsaccadic information could enable rich and continuous perception across saccades.
SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Saccades create frequent discontinuities in visual input, yet perception appears stable and continuous. How is this discontinuous input processed resulting in visual stability? Previous studies have focused on presaccadic remapping. Here we examined the time course of processing of low-level visual information (spatial frequency) across saccades with magnetoencephalography. The results suggest that spatial frequency information is not predictively remapped but also is not discarded. Instead, they suggest a soft handoff over time between different visual areas, making this information continuously available across the saccade. Information about the presaccadic stimulus remains available, while the information about the postsaccadic stimulus has also become available. The simultaneous availability of both the presaccadic and postsaccadic information could enable rich and continuous perception across saccades.
6.
Giari, Giuliano; Leonardelli, Elisa; Tao, Yuan; Machado, Mayara; Fairhall, Scott L.
Spatiotemporal properties of the neural representation of conceptual content for words and pictures – an MEG study Journal Article
In: NeuroImage, vol. 219, pp. 116913, 2020, ISSN: 1053-8119.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: PROPixx, RESPONSEPixxMRI
@article{giari_spatiotemporal_2020,
title = {Spatiotemporal properties of the neural representation of conceptual content for words and pictures – an MEG study},
author = {Giuliano Giari and Elisa Leonardelli and Yuan Tao and Mayara Machado and Scott L. Fairhall},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811920303992},
doi = {10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116913},
issn = {1053-8119},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-10-01},
urldate = {2023-12-21},
journal = {NeuroImage},
volume = {219},
pages = {116913},
abstract = {The entwined nature of perceptual and conceptual processes renders an understanding of the interplay between perceptual recognition and conceptual access a continuing challenge. Here, to disentangle perceptual and conceptual processing in the brain, we combine magnetoencephalography (MEG), picture and word presentation and representational similarity analysis (RSA). We replicate previous findings of early and robust sensitivity to semantic distances between objects presented as pictures and show earlier (textasciitilde105 msec), but not later, representations can be accounted for by contemporary computer models of visual similarity (AlexNet). Conceptual content for word stimuli is reliably present in two temporal clusters, the first ranging from 230 to 335 msec, the second from 360 to 585 msec. The time-course of picture induced semantic content and the spatial location of conceptual representation were highly convergent, and the spatial distribution of both differed from that of words. While this may reflect differences in picture and word induced conceptual access, this underscores potential confounds in visual perceptual and conceptual processing. On the other hand, using the stringent criterion that neural and conceptual spaces must align, the robust representation of semantic content by 230–240 msec for visually unconfounded word stimuli significantly advances estimates of the timeline of semantic access and its orthographic and lexical precursors.},
keywords = {PROPixx, RESPONSEPixxMRI},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The entwined nature of perceptual and conceptual processes renders an understanding of the interplay between perceptual recognition and conceptual access a continuing challenge. Here, to disentangle perceptual and conceptual processing in the brain, we combine magnetoencephalography (MEG), picture and word presentation and representational similarity analysis (RSA). We replicate previous findings of early and robust sensitivity to semantic distances between objects presented as pictures and show earlier (textasciitilde105 msec), but not later, representations can be accounted for by contemporary computer models of visual similarity (AlexNet). Conceptual content for word stimuli is reliably present in two temporal clusters, the first ranging from 230 to 335 msec, the second from 360 to 585 msec. The time-course of picture induced semantic content and the spatial location of conceptual representation were highly convergent, and the spatial distribution of both differed from that of words. While this may reflect differences in picture and word induced conceptual access, this underscores potential confounds in visual perceptual and conceptual processing. On the other hand, using the stringent criterion that neural and conceptual spaces must align, the robust representation of semantic content by 230–240 msec for visually unconfounded word stimuli significantly advances estimates of the timeline of semantic access and its orthographic and lexical precursors.
7.
Hartmann, Thomas; Weisz, Nathan
Auditory cortical generators of the Frequency Following Response are modulated by intermodal attention Journal Article
In: NeuroImage, vol. 203, pp. 116185, 2019, ISSN: 1053-8119.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: DATAPixx2, PROPixx, RESPONSEPixxMRI
@article{hartmann_auditory_2019,
title = {Auditory cortical generators of the Frequency Following Response are modulated by intermodal attention},
author = {Thomas Hartmann and Nathan Weisz},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811919307761},
doi = {10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116185},
issn = {1053-8119},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-12-01},
urldate = {2023-12-21},
journal = {NeuroImage},
volume = {203},
pages = {116185},
abstract = {The efferent auditory system suggests that brainstem auditory regions could also be sensitive to top-down processes. In electrophysiology, the Frequency Following Response (FFR) to speech stimuli has been used extensively to study brainstem areas. Despite seemingly straight-forward in addressing the issue of attentional modulations of brainstem regions by means of the FFR, the existing results are inconsistent. Moreover, the notion that the FFR exclusively represents subcortical generators has been challenged. We aimed to gain a more differentiated perspective on how the generators of the FFR are modulated by either attending to the visual or auditory input while neural activity was recorded using magnetoencephalography (MEG). In a first step our results confirm the strong contribution of also cortical regions to the FFR. Interestingly, of all regions exhibiting a measurable FFR response, only the right primary auditory cortex was significantly affected by intermodal attention. By showing a clear cortical contribution to the attentional FFR effect, our work significantly extends previous reports that focus on surface level recordings only. It underlines the importance of making a greater effort to disentangle the different contributing sources of the FFR and serves as a clear precaution of simplistically interpreting the FFR as brainstem response.},
keywords = {DATAPixx2, PROPixx, RESPONSEPixxMRI},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The efferent auditory system suggests that brainstem auditory regions could also be sensitive to top-down processes. In electrophysiology, the Frequency Following Response (FFR) to speech stimuli has been used extensively to study brainstem areas. Despite seemingly straight-forward in addressing the issue of attentional modulations of brainstem regions by means of the FFR, the existing results are inconsistent. Moreover, the notion that the FFR exclusively represents subcortical generators has been challenged. We aimed to gain a more differentiated perspective on how the generators of the FFR are modulated by either attending to the visual or auditory input while neural activity was recorded using magnetoencephalography (MEG). In a first step our results confirm the strong contribution of also cortical regions to the FFR. Interestingly, of all regions exhibiting a measurable FFR response, only the right primary auditory cortex was significantly affected by intermodal attention. By showing a clear cortical contribution to the attentional FFR effect, our work significantly extends previous reports that focus on surface level recordings only. It underlines the importance of making a greater effort to disentangle the different contributing sources of the FFR and serves as a clear precaution of simplistically interpreting the FFR as brainstem response.