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The effect of autistic traits on disembedding and mental rotation in neurotypical women and men. Sci Rep 2022; 12:4639. [PMID: 35302087 PMCID: PMC8931084 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-08497-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2021] [Accepted: 02/15/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent data has revealed dissociations between social and non-social skills in both autistic and neurotypical populations. In the present study, we investigated whether specific visuospatial abilities, such as figure disembedding and mental rotation, are differently related to social and non-social autistic traits, in neurotypical women and men. University students (N = 426) completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), figure disembedding and mental rotation of two-dimensional figures tasks. AQ social skills (AQ-social) and attention-to-details (AQ-attention) subscales were used as measures of social and non-social autistic traits, respectively. Mental rotation was affected by a significant interaction between sex, social and non-social traits. When non-social traits were above the mean (+ 1 SD), no sex differences in mental rotation were found. Instead, below this value, sex differences depended on the social traits, with men on average outperforming women at middle-to-high social traits, and with a comparable performance, and with women on average outperforming men, at lower social traits. A small positive correlation between figure disembedding and social traits was observed in the overall sample. These results are interpreted in terms of the hyper-systemizing theory of autism and contribute to the evidence of individual differences in the cognitive style of autistic people and neurotypical people with autistic traits.
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2
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Xiang ZQ, Huang YL, Luo GL, Ma HL, Zhang DL. Decreased Event-Related Desynchronization of Mental Rotation Tasks in Young Tibetan Immigrants. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:664039. [PMID: 34276324 PMCID: PMC8278785 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.664039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2021] [Accepted: 05/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study aimed to explore the cortical activity underlying mental rotation in high-altitude immigrants via the event-related desynchronization (ERD), the electroencephalogram time–frequency analysis, and source localization based on electroencephalographic data. When compared with the low-altitude individuals, the reaction time of mental rotation tasks was significantly slower in immigrants who had lived in high-altitude areas for 3 years. The time–frequency analysis showed that the alpha ERD and the beta ERD within the time window (400–700 ms) were decreased during the mental rotation tasks in these immigrants. The decreased ERD was observed at the parietal–occipital regions within the alpha band and at the central–parietal regions within the beta band. The decreased ERD might embody the sensorimotor-related cortical activity from hypoxia, which might be involved in cognitive control function in high-altitude immigrants, which provided insights into the neural mechanism of spatial cognition change on aspect of embodied cognition due to high-altitude exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zu-Qiang Xiang
- Department of Psychology, School of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yi-Lin Huang
- Department of Psychology, School of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Guang-Li Luo
- Department of Psychology, School of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China.,The Fourth Primary School of Qiaotou Town, Dongguan, China
| | - Hai-Lin Ma
- Plateau Brain Science Research Center, Tibet University, Lhasa, China.,Plateau Brain Science Research Center, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - De-Long Zhang
- Plateau Brain Science Research Center, Tibet University, Lhasa, China.,Plateau Brain Science Research Center, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
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3
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Zohdi H, Egli R, Guthruf D, Scholkmann F, Wolf U. Color-dependent changes in humans during a verbal fluency task under colored light exposure assessed by SPA-fNIRS. Sci Rep 2021; 11:9654. [PMID: 33958616 PMCID: PMC8102618 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-88059-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Accepted: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Light evokes robust visual and nonvisual physiological and psychological effects in humans, such as emotional and behavioral responses, as well as changes in cognitive brain activity and performance. The aim of this study was to investigate how colored light exposure (CLE) and a verbal fluency task (VFT) interact and affect cerebral hemodynamics, oxygenation, and systemic physiology as determined by systemic physiology augmented functional near-infrared spectroscopy (SPA-fNIRS). 32 healthy adults (17 female, 15 male, age: 25.5 ± 4.3 years) were exposed to blue and red light for 9 min while performing a VFT. Before and after the CLE, subjects were in darkness. We found that this long-term CLE-VFT paradigm elicited distinct changes in the prefrontal cortex and in most systemic physiological parameters. The subjects' performance depended significantly on the type of VFT and the sex of the subject. Compared to red light, blue evoked stronger responses in cerebral hemodynamics and oxygenation in the visual cortex. Color-dependent changes were evident in the recovery phase of several systemic physiological parameters. This study showed that the CLE has effects that endure at least 15 min after cessation of the CLE. This underlines the importance of considering the persistent influence of colored light on brain function, cognition, and systemic physiology in everyday life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hamoon Zohdi
- University of Bern, Institute of Complementary and Integrative Medicine, Fabrikstrasse 8, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Rahel Egli
- University of Bern, Institute of Complementary and Integrative Medicine, Fabrikstrasse 8, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Daniel Guthruf
- University of Bern, Institute of Complementary and Integrative Medicine, Fabrikstrasse 8, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Felix Scholkmann
- University of Bern, Institute of Complementary and Integrative Medicine, Fabrikstrasse 8, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
- Biomedical Optics Research Laboratory, Neonatology Research, Department of Neonatology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, 8091, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Ursula Wolf
- University of Bern, Institute of Complementary and Integrative Medicine, Fabrikstrasse 8, 3012, Bern, Switzerland.
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4
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Capizzi R, Fisher M, Biagianti B, Ghiasi N, Currie A, Fitzpatrick K, Albertini N, Vinogradov S. Testing a Novel Web-Based Neurocognitive Battery in the General Community: Validation and Usability Study. J Med Internet Res 2021; 23:e25082. [PMID: 33955839 PMCID: PMC8138705 DOI: 10.2196/25082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2020] [Revised: 01/04/2021] [Accepted: 03/16/2021] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In recent years, there has been increased interest in the development of remote psychological assessments. These platforms increase accessibility and allow clinicians to monitor important health metrics, thereby informing patient-centered treatment. OBJECTIVE In this study, we report the properties and usability of a new web-based neurocognitive assessment battery and present a normative data set for future use. METHODS A total of 781 participants completed a portion of 8 tasks that captured performance in auditory processing, visual-spatial working memory, visual-spatial learning, cognitive flexibility, and emotional processing. A subset of individuals (n=195) completed a 5-question survey measuring the acceptability of the tasks. RESULTS Between 252 and 426 participants completed each task. Younger individuals outperformed their older counterparts in 6 of the 8 tasks. Therefore, central tendency data metrics were presented using 7 different age bins. The broad majority of participants found the tasks interesting and enjoyable and endorsed some interest in playing them at home. Only 1 of 195 individuals endorsed not at all for the statement, "I understood the instructions." Older individuals were less likely to understand the instructions; however, 72% (49/68) of individuals over the age of 60 years still felt that they mostly or very much understood the instructions. CONCLUSIONS Overall, the tasks were found to be widely acceptable to the participants. The use of web-based neurocognitive tasks such as these may increase the ability to deploy precise data-informed interventions to a wider population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riley Capizzi
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Melissa Fisher
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Bruno Biagianti
- Department of Research and Development, Posit Science Corporation, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Neelufaer Ghiasi
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Ariel Currie
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Karrie Fitzpatrick
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Nicholas Albertini
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Sophia Vinogradov
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
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5
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Müller T, Hesse FW, Meyerhoff HS. Two people, one graph: the effect of rotated viewpoints on accessibility of data visualizations. Cogn Res Princ Implic 2021; 6:31. [PMID: 33847833 PMCID: PMC8044278 DOI: 10.1186/s41235-021-00297-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2021] [Accepted: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
In co-located, multi-user settings such as multi-touch tables, user interfaces need to be accessible from multiple viewpoints. In this project, we investigated how this goal can be achieved for depictions of data in bar graphs. We designed a laboratory task in which participants answered simple questions based on information depicted in bar graphs presented from differently rotated points of view. As the dependent variable, we measured differences in response onsets relative to the standard viewpoint (i.e., upright graphs). In Experiment 1, we manipulated graph and label orientation independently of each other. We observed that rotations of the labels rather than rotations of the graph itself pose a challenge for accessing depicted information from rotated viewpoints. In Experiment 2, we studied whether replacing word labels with pictographs could overcome the detrimental effects of rotated labels. Rotated pictographs were less detrimental than rotated word labels, but performance was still worse than in the unrotated baseline condition. In Experiment 3, we studied whether color coding could overcome the detrimental effects of rotated labels. Indeed, for multicolored labels, the detrimental effect of label rotation was in the negligible range. We discuss the implications of our findings for the underlying psychological theory as well as for the design of depicted statistical information in multi-user settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tjark Müller
- Eberhardt-Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Leibniz-Institut Für Wissensmedien, Schleichstr. 6, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Friedrich W Hesse
- Eberhardt-Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- FernUniversität Hagen, Hagen, Germany
- Leibniz-Institut Für Wissensmedien, Schleichstr. 6, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Hauke S Meyerhoff
- Leibniz-Institut Für Wissensmedien, Schleichstr. 6, 72076, Tübingen, Germany.
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Kuroki M, Fukui T. Visual Hand Recognition in Hand Laterality and Self-Other Discrimination Tasks: Relationships to Autistic Traits and Positive Body Image. Front Psychol 2020; 11:587080. [PMID: 33343460 PMCID: PMC7744968 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.587080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2020] [Accepted: 11/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In a study concerning visual body part recognition, a "self-advantage" effect, whereby self-related body stimuli are processed faster and more accurately than other-related body stimuli, was revealed, and the emergence of this effect is assumed to be tightly linked to implicit motor simulation, which is activated when performing a hand laterality judgment task in which hand ownership is not explicitly required. Here, we ran two visual hand recognition tasks, namely, a hand laterality judgment task and a self-other discrimination task, to investigate (i) whether the self-advantage emerged even if implicit motor imagery was assumed to be working less efficiently and (ii) how individual traits [such as autistic traits and the extent of positive self-body image, as assessed via the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2), respectively] modulate performance in these hand recognition tasks. Participants were presented with hand images in two orientations [i.e., upright (egocentric) and upside-down (allocentric)] and asked to judge whether it was a left or right hand (an implicit hand laterality judgment task). They were also asked to determine whether it was their own, or another person's hand (an explicit self-other discrimination task). Data collected from men and women were analyzed separately. The self-advantage effect in the hand laterality judgment task was not revealed, suggesting that only two orientation conditions are not enough to trigger this motor simulation. Furthermore, the men's group showed a significant positive correlation between AQ scores and reaction times (RTs) in the laterality judgment task, while the women's group showed a significant negative correlation between AQ scores and differences in RTs and a significant positive correlation between BAS-2 scores and dprime in the self-other discrimination task. These results suggest that men and women differentially adopt specific strategies and/or execution processes for implicit and explicit hand recognition tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mayumi Kuroki
- Graduate School of Systems Design, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hino, Japan
| | - Takao Fukui
- Graduate School of Systems Design, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hino, Japan
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7
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Rahe M, Quaiser-Pohl C. Cubes or Pellets in Mental-Rotation Tests: Effects on Gender Differences and on the Performance in a Subsequent Math Test. Behav Sci (Basel) 2019; 10:E12. [PMID: 31878056 PMCID: PMC7016669 DOI: 10.3390/bs10010012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2019] [Revised: 12/16/2019] [Accepted: 12/19/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
In mental rotation, males consistently outperform females in performance and confidence. Both can affect math anxiety. In the present study, 107 undergraduate students (85 female) solved a mental-rotation test either with cube (C-MRT) or pellet (P-MRT) figures as stimulus material, then reported their confidence in their ability in the test, and solved a math test. Males performed better than females in both test versions: In the C-MRT, with a large effect, and in the P-MRT, with a small effect, and reported higher scores in their confidence. In math test performance, males scored higher than females when they solved the math test after the C-MRT but not after the P-MRT. The interactions of gender and stimulus material were not significant. Correlations between confidence and math test performance were large for males and not significant for females. Stereotype threat and lift effects are discussed as possible reasons for the varying effects of the stimulus material on the MRT performance of male and female participants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martina Rahe
- Institute of Psychology, University of Koblenz-Landau, 56070 Koblenz, Germany;
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8
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Slone LK, Moore DS, Johnson SP. Object exploration facilitates 4-month-olds' mental rotation performance. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0200468. [PMID: 30091988 PMCID: PMC6084896 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0200468] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2018] [Accepted: 06/27/2018] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
How do infants learn to mentally rotate objects, to imagine them rotating through different viewpoints? One possibility is that development of infants' mental rotation (MR) is facilitated by visual and manual experience with complex objects. To evaluate this possibility, eighty 4-month-olds (40 females, 40 males) participated in an object exploration task with Velcro "sticky mittens" that allow infants too young to grasp objects themselves to nonetheless explore those objects manually as well as visually. These eighty infants also participated in a visual habituation task designed to test MR. Half the infants (Mittens First group) explored the object prior to the MR task, and the other half afterwards (Mittens Second group), to examine the role of immediate prior object experience on MR performance. We compared performance of male and female infants, but found little evidence for sex differences. However, we found an important effect of object exploration: The infants in the Mittens First group who exhibited the highest levels of spontaneous object engagement showed the strongest evidence of MR, but there were no consistent correlations between these measures for infants in the Mittens Second group. These findings suggest an important contribution from object experience to development of MR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren K. Slone
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington IN, United States of America
| | - David S. Moore
- Psychology Field Group, Pitzer College and Claremont Graduate University, Claremont CA, United States of America
| | - Scott P. Johnson
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA, United States of America
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9
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Reber J, Tranel D. Sex differences in the functional lateralization of emotion and decision making in the human brain. J Neurosci Res 2017; 95:270-278. [PMID: 27870462 DOI: 10.1002/jnr.23829] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2016] [Revised: 06/16/2016] [Accepted: 06/20/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Dating back to the case of Phineas Gage, decades of neuropsychological research have shown that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is crucial to both real-world social functioning and abstract decision making in the laboratory (see, e.g., Stuss et al., ; Bechara et al., 1994; Damasio et al., ). Previous research has shown that the relationship between the laterality of individuals' vmPFC lesions and neuropsychological performance is moderated by their sex, whereby there are more severe social, emotional, and decision-making impairments in men with right-side vmPFC lesions and in women with left-side vmPFC lesions (Tranel et al., 2005; Sutterer et al., 2015). We conducted a selective review of studies examining the effect of vmPFC lesions on emotion and decision making and found further evidence of sex-related differences in the lateralization of function not only in the vmPFC but also in other neurological structures associated with decision making and emotion. This Mini-Review suggests that both sex and laterality effects warrant more careful consideration in the scientific literature. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin Reber
- Departments of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Neurology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
| | - Daniel Tranel
- Departments of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Neurology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
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10
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Yamazaki M, Tamura K. The menstrual cycle affects recognition of emotional expressions: an event-related potential study. F1000Res 2017; 6:853. [PMID: 28868136 PMCID: PMC5558101 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.11563.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/08/2017] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Several studies have investigated the relationship between behavioral changes and the menstrual cycle in female subjects at a reproductive age. The present study investigated the relationship between the menstrual cycle and emotional face recognition by measuring the N170 component of ERPs. Methods: We measured N170 of twelve women in both follicular phase and late luteal phase who were presented with human facial expressions as stimuli (happy and angry). Results: In the follicular phase, participants showed a significantly larger response to happy male facial expressions. In the late luteal phase, participants had longer reaction times to all emotional stimuli, and a significantly reduced response to happy faces, especially happy male facial expressions (P<0.001). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the menstrual cycle modulates early visual cognitive processing, and highlight the importance of considering the menstrual cycle phase in studies that investigate emotion and cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madoka Yamazaki
- Division of Health Science, Daito Bunka University, 560 Iwadono, Higashimatsuyama, Saitama, 355-8501, Japan
| | - Kyoko Tamura
- Division of Health Science, Daito Bunka University, 560 Iwadono, Higashimatsuyama, Saitama, 355-8501, Japan
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11
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Jakob L, Bojanić L, Tsvetanova DD, Buabang EK, de Bles NJ, Sarafoglou A, Dijkzeul A, Del Pino R. Study Protocol on Cognitive Performance in Bulgaria, Croatia, and the Netherlands: The Normacog Brief Battery. Front Psychol 2016; 7:1658. [PMID: 27833575 PMCID: PMC5081388 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01658] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2016] [Accepted: 10/11/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The Normacog Brief Battery (NBB) provides a comprehensive overview of an individual's cognitive functioning within a short amount of time. It was originally developed for the Spanish population in Spain. However, there is a considerable need for brief batteries in clinical neuropsychological assessment, especially in eastern European countries. Cultural background and other individual characteristics-such as age, level of education, and sex-are shown to influence both cognition and patients' performance on neuropsychological tests. Therefore, it is important to develop understanding of how and why culture impacts on cognitive testing and determine which sociodemographic variables affect cognitive performance. The current study aims to translate, adapt, and standardize the NBB in Bulgaria, Croatia, and the Netherlands, and to analyze the effect of sex, age, and education level on cognitive performance between these three countries. This brief battery assesses eleven cognitive domains, including those most currently relevant in cognition such as premorbid intelligence, attention, executive function, processing speed, and memory. The translation and adaptation of the battery for different cultures will be done using the back-translation process. After exclusion criteria, the current study will include a total sample of 300 participants (≥18 years old). The samples of 100 participants per country will be balanced through the consideration of their age and level of education. Effects of the sociodemographic variables (age, level of education, and sex) on cognitive performance are expected. Furthermore, this relationship is expected to differ across countries. A multivariate hierarchical linear regression will be used and exploratory analysis will be carried out to investigate further effects. The results will be particularly valuable for future research and assessment in cognitive performance. The growing demand for accurate and fast neuropsychological assessment shows the importance of creating a universal brief assessment tool for wider cross-cultural application.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lea Jakob
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Croatian Studies, University of Zagreb Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Lana Bojanić
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb Zagreb, Croatia
| | | | - Eike K Buabang
- Institute of Psychology, Leiden University Leiden, Netherlands
| | | | | | - Annet Dijkzeul
- Department of Psychology, Utrecht University Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Rocio Del Pino
- Department of Methods and Experimental Psychology, University of Deusto Bilbao, Spain
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12
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Skogsberg K, Grabowecky M, Wilt J, Revelle W, Iordanescu L, Suzuki S. A relational structure of voluntary visual-attention abilities. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 2015; 41:761-89. [PMID: 25867505 DOI: 10.1037/a0039000] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Many studies have examined attention mechanisms involved in specific behavioral tasks (e.g., search, tracking, distractor inhibition). However, relatively little is known about the relationships among those attention mechanisms. Is there a fundamental attention faculty that makes a person superior or inferior at most types of attention tasks, or do relatively independent processes mediate different attention skills? We focused on individual differences in voluntary visual-attention abilities using a battery of 11 representative tasks. An application of parallel analysis, hierarchical-cluster analysis, and multidimensional scaling to the intertask correlation matrix revealed 4 functional clusters, representing spatiotemporal attention, global attention, transient attention, and sustained attention, organized along 2 dimensions, one contrasting spatiotemporal and global attention and the other contrasting transient and sustained attention. Comparison with the neuroscience literature suggests that the spatiotemporal-global dimension corresponds to the dorsal frontoparietal circuit and the transient-sustained dimension corresponds to the ventral frontoparietal circuit, with distinct subregions mediating the separate clusters within each dimension. We also obtained highly specific patterns of gender difference and of deficits for college students with elevated attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder traits. These group differences suggest that different mechanisms of voluntary visual attention can be selectively strengthened or weakened based on genetic, experiential, and/or pathological factors.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Joshua Wilt
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University
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13
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Tlauka M. The processing of object identity information by women and men. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0118984. [PMID: 25756200 PMCID: PMC4355073 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0118984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2014] [Accepted: 01/08/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The study examined whether women excel at tasks which require processing the identity of objects information as has been suggested in the context of the well-known object location memory task. In a computer-simulated task, university students were shown simulated indoor and outdoor house scenes. After studying a scene the students were presented with two images. One was the original image and the other a modified version in which one object was either rotated by ninety degrees or substituted with a similar looking object. The participants were asked to indicate the original image. The main finding was that no sex effect was obtained in this task. The female and male students did not differ on a verbal ability test, and their 2D:4D ratios were found to be comparable.
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14
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McNamara A, Moakes K, Aston P, Gavin C, Sterr A. The importance of the derivative in sex-hormone cycles: a reason why behavioural measures in sex-hormone studies are so mercurial. PLoS One 2014; 9:e111891. [PMID: 25426968 PMCID: PMC4245079 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0111891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2013] [Accepted: 10/08/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
To study the dynamic changes in cognition across the human menstrual cycle, twenty, healthy, naturally-cycling women undertook a lateralized spatial figural comparison task on twelve occasions at approximately 3-4 day intervals. Each session was conducted in laboratory conditions with response times, accuracy rates, eye movements, salivary estrogen and progesterone concentrations and Profile of Mood states questionnaire data collected on each occasion. The first two sessions of twelve for the response variables were discarded to avoid early effects of learning thereby providing 10 sessions spread across each participant's complete menstrual cycle. Salivary progesterone data for each participant was utilized to normalize each participant's data to a standard 28 day cycle. Data was analysed categorically by comparing peak progesterone (luteal phase) to low progesterone (follicular phase) to emulate two-session repeated measures typical studies. Neither a significant difference in reaction times or accuracy rates was found. Moreover no significant effect of lateral presentation was observed upon reaction times or accuracy rates although inter and intra individual variance was sizeable. We demonstrate that hormone concentrations alone cannot be used to predict the response times or accuracy rates. In contrast, we constructed a standard linear model using salivary estrogen, salivary progesterone and their respective derivative values and found these inputs to be very accurate for predicting variance observed in the reaction times for all stimuli and accuracy rates for right visual field stimuli but not left visual field stimuli. The identification of sex-hormone derivatives as predictors of cognitive behaviours is of importance. The finding suggests that there is a fundamental difference between the up-surge and decline of hormonal concentrations where previous studies typically assume all points near the peak of a hormonal surge are the same. How contradictory findings in sex-hormone research may have come about are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam McNamara
- School of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
| | - Kaylee Moakes
- School of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
| | - Philip Aston
- Department of Mathematics, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
| | - Christine Gavin
- Department of Mathematics, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
| | - Annette Sterr
- School of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
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Commodari E. Preschool teacher attachment and attention skills. SPRINGERPLUS 2014; 2:673. [PMID: 24386619 PMCID: PMC3872284 DOI: 10.1186/2193-1801-2-673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2013] [Accepted: 12/02/2013] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Attention underlies and energizes all cognitive and behavioral activities. Many studies showed that the quality of child attachment (both to parental and non parental figures) influences cognitive functions and attention. This study aimed to investigate the relationships among attachment to preschool teachers and attention in a sample of preschoolers. In particular, the study analyzed whether child attachment security to preschool teachers influences the different aspects of their attention skills. In addition, gender- and age-related differences in attention and teacher attachment were explored. Research was conducted using two standardized instruments: the Attention and Concentration Battery, and the Attachment Q Sort. Participants were 279 children (147 male, 132 female) who attended two preschools in a town in Southern Italy. Descriptive analyses, t-tests analyses, and correlation and regression analyses were carried out. Findings highlighted several interesting points concerning the relationships that occur among attachment to preschool teachers and attention. Children with secure attachments presented higher reaction time and better auditory, visual, and visual spatial selectivity and maintenance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Commodari
- Department of Educational Processes, Unversity of Catania, Catania, 95127 Italy
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Christie GJ, Cook CM, Ward BJ, Tata MS, Sutherland J, Sutherland RJ, Saucier DM. Mental rotational ability is correlated with spatial but not verbal working memory performance and P300 amplitude in males. PLoS One 2013; 8:e57390. [PMID: 23437381 PMCID: PMC3577737 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2012] [Accepted: 01/24/2013] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
This study investigated how both sex and individual differences in a mental rotation test (MRT) influence performance on working memory (WM). To identify the neural substrate supporting these differences, brain electrical activity was measured using the event-related potential technique. No significant sex differences were observed in a test of verbal WM, however males were significantly faster than females to respond to probe stimuli in a test of spatial WM. This difference was no longer significant after controlling for differences in MRT score, suggesting that rotational ability mediates performance in the spatial memory task for both sexes. A posterior P300 was observed in both tasks as participants encoded information into memory, however the amplitude of the P300 correlated with RT in the spatial task but not in the verbal task. Individual differences in the MRT also correlated with RT and with the amplitude of the P300, but again only in the spatial task. After splitting the analysis by sex, partial correlations controlling for MRT revealed that for males, individual differences in rotational ability completely mediated the correlation between the P300 and RT in the spatial task. This mediating effect was not observed for the female participants. The results therefore suggest a relatively stronger association in males between innate mental rotational ability, spatial memory performance, and brain electrophysiological processes supporting spatial memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory J. Christie
- Department of Neuroscience, Canadian Centre for Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Charles M. Cook
- Department of Neuroscience, Canadian Centre for Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
| | - Brian J. Ward
- Department of Neuroscience, Canadian Centre for Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
| | - Matthew S. Tata
- Department of Neuroscience, Canadian Centre for Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
| | - Janice Sutherland
- Department of Neuroscience, Canadian Centre for Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
| | - Robert J. Sutherland
- Department of Neuroscience, Canadian Centre for Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
| | - Deborah M. Saucier
- Department of Neuroscience, Canadian Centre for Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
- Faculty of Science, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
- * E-mail:
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Koscik T, O'Leary D, Moser DJ, Andreasen NC, Nopoulos P. Sex differences in parietal lobe morphology: relationship to mental rotation performance. Brain Cogn 2008; 69:451-9. [PMID: 18980790 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2008.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 124] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2008] [Revised: 09/15/2008] [Accepted: 09/23/2008] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of the human brain have reported evidence for sexual dimorphism. In addition to sex differences in overall cerebral volume, differences in the proportion of gray matter (GM) to white matter (WM) volume have been observed, particularly in the parietal lobe. To our knowledge there have been no studies examining the relationship between the sex differences in parietal lobe structure and function. The parietal lobe is thought to be involved in spatial ability, and particularly involved in mental rotation. The purpose of this study is to examine whether sex differences in parietal lobe structure are present, and if present to relate these differences to performance on the mental rotations test (MRT). We found that women had proportionately greater gray matter volume in the parietal lobe compared to men, and this morphologic difference was disadvantageous for women in terms of performance on the MRT. In contrast, we found that men compared to women had proportionately greater parietal lobe surface area, and this morphologic difference was associated with a performance advantage for men on mental rotation. These findings support the possibility that the sexual dimorphism in the structure of the parietal lobe is a neurobiological substrate for the sex difference in performance on the mental rotations test.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim Koscik
- University of Iowa Neuroscience Graduate Program Drive, Department of Neurology, 200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
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