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Duehnen IM, Vogel S, Alexander N, Muehlhan M, Löw A, Jacobsen T, Wendt M. Flexible processing of distractor stimuli under stress. Sci Rep 2024; 14:10824. [PMID: 38734701 PMCID: PMC11088623 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-61162-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Acute stress is assumed to affect executive processing of stimulus information, although extant studies have yielded heterogeneous findings. The temporal flanker task, in which a target stimulus is preceded by a distractor of varying utility, offers a means of investigating various components involved in the adjustment of information processing and conflict control. Both behavioral and EEG data obtained with this task suggest stronger distractor-related response activation in conditions associated with higher predictivity of the distractor for the upcoming target. In two experiments we investigated distractor-related processing and conflict control after inducing acute stress (Trier Social Stress Test). Although the stressed groups did not differ significantly from unstressed control groups concerning behavioral markers of attentional adjustment (i.e., Proportion Congruent Effect), or event-related sensory components in the EEG (i.e., posterior P1 and N1), the lateralized readiness potential demonstrated reduced activation evoked by (predictive) distractor information under stress. Our results suggest flexible adjustment of attention under stress but hint at decreased usage of nominally irrelevant stimulus information for biasing response selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Imke M Duehnen
- Experimental Psychology Unit, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Helmut Schmidt University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Susanne Vogel
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human Science, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- ICAN Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Nina Alexander
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Markus Muehlhan
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human Science, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- ICAN Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Andreas Löw
- Experimental Psychology Unit, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Helmut Schmidt University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Jacobsen
- Experimental Psychology Unit, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Helmut Schmidt University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Mike Wendt
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human Science, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
- ICAN Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
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2
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Kouwenhoven M, Machado L. Age differences in inhibitory and working memory functioning: limited evidence of system interactions. NEUROPSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENT, AND COGNITION. SECTION B, AGING, NEUROPSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITION 2024; 31:524-555. [PMID: 37195032 DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2023.2214348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2022] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Debate persists regarding the nature of age-related deficits in inhibition, and whether inhibitory functioning depends on working memory systems. The current research aimed to measure age-related differences in inhibition and working memory, characterize the relationship between inhibitory functions and working memory performance, and determine how these relationships are affected by age. Toward these ends, we measured performance on a range of established paradigms in 60 young adults (18-30 years) and 60 older adults (60-88 years). Our findings support age-related increases in reflexive inhibition (based on the fixation offset effect and inhibition of return) and age-related decrements in volitional inhibition (based on several paradigms: antisaccade, Stroop, flanker, and Simon). This evidence of stronger reflexive inhibition combined with weaker volitional inhibition suggests that age-related deterioration of cortical structures may allow subcortical structures to operate less controlled. Regarding working memory, older adults had lower backward digit scores and lower forward and backward spatial scores. However, of the 32 analyses (16 in each age group) that tested for dependence of inhibitory functioning on working memory functioning, only one (in young adults) indicated that inhibition performance significantly depended on working memory performance. These results indicate that inhibition and working memory function largely independently in both age groups, and age-related working memory difficulties cannot account for age-related declines in inhibitory control.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Liana Machado
- Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Brain Research New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand
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3
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Attentional adjustment in priming tasks: control strategies depend on context. Cogn Process 2023; 24:1-23. [PMID: 36538134 PMCID: PMC9898381 DOI: 10.1007/s10339-022-01117-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Goal-directed behavior is assumed to require processes of attentional biasing to counter unwanted action tendencies elicited by distracting stimulus information. This is particularly so if stimulus categories that define the target and the distractor frequently reverse, requiring participants to respond to previously ignored stimulus categories and vice versa. In the current study, we investigated control strategies under such conditions. Specifically, we assessed trial-to-trial modulation of distractor-interference (i.e., congruency sequence effect, CSE) in a temporal flanker task associated with repetition versus alternation of the assignment of stimulus category (i.e., digits, letters) to targets and distractors (i.e., the character presented second or first, respectively) under conditions of a long SOA of 1000 ms (Experiment 1A) and 1200 ms (Experiment 1B). Whereas previous research, using a shorter SOA, suggested temporal-order control (i.e., the occurrence of a CSE in both repetition and-albeit less pronounced-alternation trials), lengthening the distractor-target SOA resulted in a CSE confined to repetition trials, suggesting strong or exclusive reliance on stimulus categories for attentional control (Experiment 1A and B). Adding a redundant stimulus feature (i.e., color), discriminating targets and distractors, eliminated the difference of CSE patterns in repetition and alternation trials (Experiment 2). Together, our results suggest that the strength of concurrently applied control strategies or the choice of a particular control strategy depend on contextual factors.
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Bermeitinger C, Eckert D. Moving distractors and moving targets: combining a response priming task with moving prime stimuli and a flanker task. JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/20445911.2022.2029458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - David Eckert
- Department of Psychology, University of Hildesheim, Hildesheim, Germany
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Bermeitinger C, Kalbfleisch L, Schäfer K, Lim A, Goymann H, Reuter L, Janssen SMJ. Response Priming with Horizontally and Vertically Moving Primes: A Comparison of German, Malaysian, and Japanese Subjects. Adv Cogn Psychol 2020; 16:131-149. [PMID: 32665804 PMCID: PMC7341111 DOI: 10.5709/acp-0291-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Response priming refers to the finding that a prime preceding a target influences the response to the target. With German subjects, horizontally moving dots as primes, and static arrows as targets, there are typically faster responses to compatible (i.e., prime and target are associated with the same response) as compared to incompatible targets (i.e., positive compatibility effect, PCE) with short stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). In contrast, with longer SOAs, subjects respond faster to incompatible as compared to compatible targets (i.e., negative compatibility effect, NCE). In the present study, we extended the evidence by adding vertically oriented materials. Furthermore, we tested subjects from Malaysia and Japan, where the vertical orientation is more present in daily life, and compared them to German subjects to investigate whether the amount of experience with one orientation influences the compatibility effects on this orientation. Overall, we found pronounced PCEs in the short SOA (i.e., 150 ms) but only reduced PCEs in the longer SOAs (i.e., 350, 550, and 750 ms) across all countries and orientations. There were no differences between the German and Malaysian samples, but the Japanese sample showed larger PCEs in the longer SOAs compared to both other samples. Furthermore, we found larger PCEs for horizontal than vertical materials in the short SOA and larger PCEs for vertical than horizontal materials in the longer SOAs. We discuss our findings in light of theories and findings on compatibility effects as well as attentional mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Alfred Lim
- University of Nottingham Malaysia, Malaysia
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6
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Machado L, Devine A. Endogenous modulation of compatibility effects: an Investigation into the temporal dynamics. VISUAL COGNITION 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2019.1611684] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Liana Machado
- Department of Psychology and Brain Health Research Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Amy Devine
- Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Cambridge Assessment English, Cambridge, UK
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Jost K, Wendt M, Luna-Rodriguez A, Löw A, Jacobsen T. The time course of distractor-based response activation with predictable and unpredictable target onset. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2019; 83:297-307. [PMID: 30712104 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-019-01149-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2018] [Accepted: 01/23/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Electrophysiological recording in a temporal flanker task (i.e., distractors preceding the targets) has demonstrated that distractor processing is adjusted to the overall utility of the distractors. Under high utility, that is, distractors are predictive of the target/response, distractors immediately activate the corresponding response (as indicated by the lateralized readiness potential, LRP). This activation has been shown to be markedly postponed when the target predictably occurs delayed. To investigate the occurrence and time course of distractor-related response activation under conditions of unpredictable target onset, we randomly varied the stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA) between distractors and targets and recorded the distractor-evoked LRP. When the distractor utility was high, an LRP occurred shortly after distractor presentation. In case of a long SOA the time course of this LRP was characterized by a drop back to baseline and a subsequent re-activation that reached a substantial level before target onset. These results suggest that distractor processing is characterized by sophisticated adjustments to experienced utility and temporal constraints of the task as well as by further control processes that regulate premature response activation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kerstin Jost
- Department of Psychology, Brandenburg Medical School, Neuruppin, Germany.
| | - Mike Wendt
- Faculty of Human Sciences, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Aquiles Luna-Rodriguez
- Experimental Psychology Unit, Helmut-Schmidt-University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Andreas Löw
- Experimental Psychology Unit, Helmut-Schmidt-University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Jacobsen
- Experimental Psychology Unit, Helmut-Schmidt-University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
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8
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Activation, Inhibition, or Something Else: An Exploratory Study on Response Priming Using Moving Dots as Primes in Middle-Aged and Old Adults. J Aging Res 2018; 2018:7432602. [PMID: 30018823 PMCID: PMC6029502 DOI: 10.1155/2018/7432602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2018] [Accepted: 05/14/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Response priming refers to the finding that a prime stimulus preceding a target stimulus influences the response to the following target stimulus. With young subjects, using moving dot stimuli as primes indicated faster responses to compatible targets (i.e., prime and target are associated with the same response) with short stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). In contrast, with longer SOAs, participants responded faster to incompatible targets. In the present study, we extended the evidence by comparing middle-aged (50-65 years) and old (66-87 years) adults. With two different motion types, the result found in young participants was replicated in the middle-aged adults. In contrast, old adults showed large positive compatibility effects with the short SOA but neither activation nor inhibition effects with the longer SOA. We discuss our findings in light of several theoretical accounts (i.e., inhibitory deficit, deautomatization, evaluation window account, attention, rapid decay).
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9
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Prevailing theories of consciousness are challenged by novel cross-modal associations acquired between subliminal stimuli. Cognition 2018; 175:169-185. [PMID: 29544152 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2018.02.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2017] [Revised: 01/07/2018] [Accepted: 02/08/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
While theories of consciousness differ substantially, the 'conscious access hypothesis', which aligns consciousness with the global accessibility of information across cortical regions, is present in many of the prevailing frameworks. This account holds that consciousness is necessary to integrate information arising from independent functions such as the specialist processing required by different senses. We directly tested this account by evaluating the potential for associative learning between novel pairs of subliminal stimuli presented in different sensory modalities. First, pairs of subliminal stimuli were presented and then their association assessed by examining the ability of the first stimulus to prime classification of the second. In Experiments 1-4 the stimuli were word-pairs consisting of a male name preceding either a creative or uncreative profession. Participants were subliminally exposed to two name-profession pairs where one name was paired with a creative profession and the other an uncreative profession. A supraliminal task followed requiring the timed classification of one of those two professions. The target profession was preceded by either the name with which it had been subliminally paired (concordant) or the alternate name (discordant). Experiment 1 presented stimuli auditorily, Experiment 2 visually, and Experiment 3 presented names auditorily and professions visually. All three experiments revealed the same inverse priming effect with concordant test pairs associated with significantly slower classification judgements. Experiment 4 sought to establish if learning would be more efficient with supraliminal stimuli and found evidence that a different strategy is adopted when stimuli are consciously perceived. Finally, Experiment 5 replicated the unconscious cross-modal association achieved in Experiment 3 utilising non-linguistic stimuli. The results demonstrate the acquisition of novel cross-modal associations between stimuli which are not consciously perceived and thus challenge the global access hypothesis and those theories embracing it.
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10
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Bermeitinger C, Hackländer RP. Response priming with motion primes: negative compatibility or congruency effects, even in free-choice trials. Cogn Process 2018; 19:351-361. [PMID: 29478143 DOI: 10.1007/s10339-018-0858-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2017] [Accepted: 02/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
How actions are chosen, and what they are influenced by, has been the focus of several research traditions. Influences on actions are often studied using compatibility paradigms, such as response priming. Here, a first stimulus (i.e., the prime) is presented shortly before a second stimulus (i.e., the target) which has to be classified. Reaction times to the target are often reduced when primes and targets are compatible compared to incompatible primes and targets-i.e., a positive compatibility effect (PCE). There are, however, some conditions in which reliably negative compatibility effects (NCEs), with faster reactions to incompatible targets, are found. Actions in real life are often influenced by perceived motion and are less determined by following (target) stimuli as it is the case in typical response priming studies with predetermined stimulus-response mappings. Thus, in the current experiment we used motion primes in forced-choice trials (with >> and << as targets) as well as in free-choice trials (with <> and >< as targets). Essentially, we found PCEs in the short-SOA condition and NCEs in the long-SOA condition. The pattern was not qualified by task (i.e., forced choice/free choice). The results provide evidence that NCEs with motion primes are found even without strong links between target stimuli and responses and that especially PCEs can be found with simpler and smaller targets than have been used in previous experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina Bermeitinger
- Department of Psychology, University of Hildesheim, Unversitaetsplatz 1, 31141, Hildesheim, Germany.
| | - Ryan P Hackländer
- Department of Psychology, University of Hildesheim, Unversitaetsplatz 1, 31141, Hildesheim, Germany
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11
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Abstract
In response priming, responses are typically faster and more accurate if the prime calls for the same response as the target (i.e., compatible trials) than when primes and targets trigger different responses (i.e., incompatible trials). With moving rows-of-dots as primes for static arrow targets, participants instead responded faster to incompatible targets with longer SOAs (stimulus onset asynchrony, > 200 ms). Until now, it is unclear whether this effect is specific to the material. In the present research, a single moving dot was used as a prime. Further, we analyzed compatibility effects depending on reaction times (RTs). Positive compatibility effects in reaction times were found with an SOA of 147 ms and even with a relatively long SOA of 360 ms; for very long SOAs (800-1,200 ms), negative effects were found. We interpreted this as evidence that the specific type of motion is irrelevant for the occurrence of a negative compatibility effect.
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12
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On the nature of the delayed "inhibitory" cueing effects generated by uninformative arrows at fixation. Psychon Bull Rev 2014; 20:593-600. [PMID: 23361390 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-013-0376-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
When the interval between a spatially uninformative arrow and a visual target is short (<500 ms), response times (RTs) are fastest when the arrow points to the target. When this interval exceeds 500 ms, there is a near-universal absence of an effect of the arrow on RTs. Contrary to this expected pattern of results, Taylor and Klein (J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 26:1639-1656, 2000) observed that RTs were slowest when a to-be-localized visual target occurred in the direction of a fixated arrow presented 1 s earlier (i.e., an "inhibitory" Cueing effect; ICE). Here we examined which factor(s) may have allowed the arrow to generate an ICE. Our experiments indicated that the ICE was a side effect of subthreshold response activation attributable to a task-induced association between the arrow and a keypress response. Because the cause of this ICE was more closely related to subthreshold keypress activation than to oculomotor activation, we considered that the effect might be more similar to the negative compatibility effect (NCE) than to inhibition of return (IOR). This similarity raises the possibility that classical IOR, when caused by a spatially uninformative peripheral onset event and measured by a keypress response to a subsequent onset, might represent, in part, another instance of an NCE. Serendipitously, we discovered that context (i.e., whether an uninformative peripheral onset could occur at the time of an uninformative central arrow) ultimately determined whether the "inhibitory" aftermath of automatic response activation would affect output or input pathways.
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Peschke C, Hilgetag CC, Olk B. Influence of Stimulus Type on Effects of Flanker, Flanker Position, and Trial Sequence in a Saccadic Eye Movement Task. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2013; 66:2253-67. [PMID: 23565974 DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2013.777464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Using the flanker paradigm in a task requiring eye movement responses, we examined how stimulus type (arrows vs. letters) modulated effects of flanker and flanker position. Further, we examined trial sequence effects and the impact of stimulus type on these effects. Participants responded to a central target with a left- or rightward saccade. We reasoned that arrows, being overlearned symbols of direction, are processed with less effort and are therefore linked more easily to a direction and a required response than are letters. The main findings demonstrate that (a) flanker effects were stronger for arrows than for letters, (b) flanker position more strongly modulated the flanker effect for letters than for arrows, and (c) trial sequence effects partly differed between the two stimulus types. We discuss these findings in the context of a more automatic and effortless processing of arrow relative to letter stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Peschke
- School of Humanities & Social Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen, Bremen, Germany
- Department of Computational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Claus C. Hilgetag
- Department of Computational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Health Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Bettina Olk
- School of Humanities & Social Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen, Bremen, Germany
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Martin EA, Becker TM, Cicero DC, Kerns JG. Examination of affective and cognitive interference in schizophrenia and relation to symptoms. JOURNAL OF ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY 2013; 122:733-744. [PMID: 24016013 PMCID: PMC6095466 DOI: 10.1037/a0033956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
The nature of emotion deficits in schizophrenia and anhedonia is still unclear, and understanding the nature of these deficits could help improve treatment of chronic symptoms and functional disability. An important mechanism in emotional functioning is attention to affective information. People with schizophrenia (n = 48) and a nonpsychiatric comparison group (n = 28) completed an affective interference task, a task used to assess attention to affective information. Given that the affective interference task also involves prepotent response inhibition, participants also completed a very similar, but nonaffective, cognitive interference task that involves prepotent inhibition but does not require attention to affective information. Results revealed that people with schizophrenia exhibited decreased affective interference on trials with a shorter length of time between the onset of the cue and onset of the target but increased cognitive interference at all time lengths between the cue and target onsets used in the study. In addition, decreased affective interference was associated with increased anhedonia and increased reports of wanting to ignore positive emotions. In contrast, increased cognitive interference was associated with increased communication disturbances and alogia. Overall, these results suggest that there may be a decrease in attention to affective information in schizophrenia and that affective interference is related to anhedonia. At the same time, these results provide further evidence of cognitive control prepotent inhibition deficits in schizophrenia, which are related to communication disturbances and alogia.
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Abstract
Research suggests that regular aerobic exercise has the potential to improve executive functioning, even in healthy populations. The purpose of this review is to elucidate which components of executive functioning benefit from such exercise in healthy populations. In light of the developmental time course of executive functions, we consider separately children, young adults, and older adults. Data to date from studies of aging provide strong evidence of exercise-linked benefits related to task switching, selective attention, inhibition of prepotent responses, and working memory capacity; furthermore, cross-sectional fitness data suggest that working memory updating could potentially benefit as well. In young adults, working memory updating is the main executive function shown to benefit from regular exercise, but cross-sectional data further suggest that task-switching and post error performance may also benefit. In children, working memory capacity has been shown to benefit, and cross-sectional data suggest potential benefits for selective attention and inhibitory control. Although more research investigating exercise-related benefits for specific components of executive functioning is clearly needed in young adults and children, when considered across the age groups, ample evidence indicates that regular engagement in aerobic exercise can provide a simple means for healthy people to optimize a range of executive functions.
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Wyatt N, Machado L. Evidence inhibition responds reactively to the salience of distracting information during focused attention. PLoS One 2013; 8:e62809. [PMID: 23646147 PMCID: PMC3640003 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0062809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2013] [Accepted: 03/26/2013] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Along with target amplification, distractor inhibition is regarded as a major contributor to selective attention. Some theories suggest that the strength of inhibitory processing is proportional to the salience of the distractor (i.e., inhibition reacts to the distractor intensity). Other theories suggest that the strength of inhibitory processing does not depend on the salience of the distractor (i.e., inhibition does not react to the distractor intensity). The present study aimed to elucidate the relationship between the intensity of a distractor and its subsequent inhibition during focused attention. A flanker task with a variable distractor-target stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA) was used to measure both distractor interference and distractor inhibition. We manipulated the intensity of the distractor in two separate ways, by varying its distance from the target (Experiment 1) and by varying its brightness (Experiment 2). The results indicate that more intense distractors were associated with both increased interference and stronger distractor inhibition. The latter outcome provides novel support for the reactive inhibition hypothesis, which posits that inhibition reacts to the strength of distractor input, such that more salient distractors elicit stronger inhibition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie Wyatt
- Department of Psychology and Brain Health Research Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Liana Machado
- Department of Psychology and Brain Health Research Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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17
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Machado L, Guiney H, Struthers P. Identity-based inhibitory processing during focused attention. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2012; 66:138-59. [PMID: 22928521 DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2012.701651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Recent data suggest that the operating principles governing inhibition of distractor-related activity may deviate from dominant models describing inhibitory processing during selective attention. Here we aimed to gain a better understanding of these data in order to determine whether they actually defy premises of current models. In addition to providing evidence against noninhibitory accounts of the data (see especially Experiment 6), the results support three main novel findings that challenge current theories. First, the data provide evidence that inhibition overpowered excitation from ongoing external input (Experiments 1-4), which suggests that inhibitory control processes are more powerful than current models indicate. Second, negative effects emerged even when targets appeared alone (Experiment 5), which suggests that selection does not play an essential role in triggering inhibitory processing. Third, relatively early distractor-related activity was affected, which supports a role for inhibition prior to action control (Experiment 3). These findings suggest a need to revise current models describing inhibition of distracting information during selective attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liana Machado
- Department of Psychology and Brain Health Research Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
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18
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Enhancement of perceptual representations by endogenous attention biases competition in response selection. Atten Percept Psychophys 2012; 73:2514-27. [PMID: 21826553 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-011-0188-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Perception and response selection are core processes in the generation of overt behavior. Selective attention is known to facilitate behavioral performance by altering perceptual processes. It remains unclear, however, whether selective attention can aid the resolution of response conflict, and if so, at what stage of processing this takes place. In two experiments, an endogenous cuing task was combined with a flanker task to assess the interaction of selective attention with response selection. The results of Experiment 1 show that cuing reduces the flanker-congruency effect when the cue and flanker are presented in close temporal proximity to each other. The results of Experiment 2 demonstrate that pre- but not post-cuing the target reduced the congruency effect, showing that selective attention can affect performance, but is ineffective once stimulus processing has proceeded to response selection. Our results provide evidence that selective attention can aid the resolution of response conflict by altering early perceptual processing stages.
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19
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Response priming with apparent motion primes. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2012; 77:371-87. [DOI: 10.1007/s00426-012-0436-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2011] [Accepted: 04/02/2012] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Maylor EA, Birak KS, Schlaghecken F. Inhibitory motor control in old age: evidence for de-automatization? Front Psychol 2011; 2:132. [PMID: 21734899 PMCID: PMC3122077 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2011] [Accepted: 06/06/2011] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
To examine age-related effects on high-level consciously controlled and low-level automatically controlled inhibitory processes, the Simon task was combined with the masked prime task in a hybrid procedure. Young and older adults responded to the identity of targets (left/right key-press to left-/right-pointing arrows) that appeared on the left/right of the screen and were preceded by left-/right-pointing backward-masked arrow primes at fixation. Responses were faster and more accurate when the target was congruent with its location than incongruent (Simon effect), and when the target was incompatible with the prime than compatible (negative compatibility effect; NCE). The Simon effect was disproportionately larger, and the NCE disproportionately delayed, in older adults compared to young adults, indicating both high- and low-level inhibitory control deficits with aging. Moreover, the two effects were additive in young adults, but interactive in older adults, providing support for the dedifferentiation hypothesis of aging. Specifically, older adults’ prime-related inhibitory control appeared improved on incongruent relative to congruent trials, suggesting that impaired automatic control was substituted by high-level, non-automatic processes.
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Machado L, Guiney H, Mitchell A. Famous faces demand attention due to reduced inhibitory processing. PLoS One 2011; 6:e20544. [PMID: 21655232 PMCID: PMC3105087 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0020544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2011] [Accepted: 05/03/2011] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
People have particular difficulty ignoring distractors that depict faces. This phenomenon has been attributed to the high level of biological significance that faces carry. The current study aimed to elucidate the mechanism by which faces gain processing priority. We used a focused attention paradigm that tracks the influence of a distractor over time and provides a measure of inhibitory processing. Upright famous faces served as test stimuli and inverted versions of the faces as well as upright non-face objects served as control stimuli. The results revealed that although all of the stimuli elicited similar levels of distraction, only inverted distractor faces and non-face objects elicited inhibitory effects. The lack of inhibitory effects for upright famous faces provides novel evidence that reduced inhibitory processing underlies the mandatory nature of face processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liana Machado
- Department of Psychology and Brain Health Research Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
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22
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Prediction of collision events: an EEG coherence analysis. Clin Neurophysiol 2011; 122:891-6. [PMID: 21354364 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2011.01.047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2010] [Revised: 01/26/2011] [Accepted: 01/31/2011] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE A common daily-life task is the interaction with moving objects for which prediction of collision events is required. To evaluate the sources of information used in this process, this EEG study required participants to judge whether two moving objects would collide with one another or not. In addition, the effect of a distractor object is evaluated. METHODS The measurements included the behavioural decision time and accuracy, eye movement fixation times, and the neural dynamics which was determined by means of EEG coherence, expressing functional connectivity between brain areas. RESULTS Collision judgment involved widespread information processing across both hemispheres. When a distractor object was present, task-related activity was increased whereas distractor activity induced modulation of local sensory processing. Also relevant were the parietal regions communicating with bilateral occipital and midline areas and a left-sided sensorimotor circuit. CONCLUSIONS Besides visual cues, cognitive and strategic strategies are used to establish a decision of events in time. When distracting information is introduced into the collision judgment process, it is managed at different processing levels and supported by distinct neural correlates. SIGNIFICANCE These data shed light on the processing mechanisms that support judgment of collision events; an ability that implicates higher-order decision-making.
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Zeischka P, Deroost N, Maetens K, Soetens E. Reduced congruency effects only for repeated spatial irrelevant information. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2010. [DOI: 10.1080/09541440903361967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Martin EA, Kerns JG. Social anhedonia associated with poor evaluative processing but not with poor cognitive control. Psychiatry Res 2010; 178:419-24. [PMID: 20493541 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2009.08.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2009] [Revised: 06/27/2009] [Accepted: 08/27/2009] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Emotion researchers have distinguished between automatic vs. controlled processing of evaluative information. There is suggestive evidence that social anhedonia might be associated with problems in controlled evaluative processing. The current study examined whether college students with elevated social anhedonia would exhibit an increased processing effect on tasks involving either evaluative processing or cognitive control. On an evaluative processing task, affective primes and targets could be either congruent or incongruent and participants judged the valence of targets. On a cognitive control task, participants completed the color-naming Stroop task. Compared to control participants (n=47), people with elevated social anhedonia (n=27) exhibited an increased evaluative processing effect as they were slower and made more errors for incongruent than for congruent trials on the evaluative processing task. In contrast, there were no group differences on the Stroop task or on a semantic priming task. Overall, these results suggest that people with elevated social anhedonia might have problems with some aspects of evaluative processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth A Martin
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, United States
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Contributions of human parietal and frontal cortices to attentional control during conflict resolution: a 1-Hz offline rTMS study. Exp Brain Res 2010; 205:131-8. [DOI: 10.1007/s00221-010-2336-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2009] [Accepted: 06/13/2010] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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26
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Kerns JG, Berenbaum H. Affective processing in overwhelmed individuals: Strategic and task considerations. Cogn Emot 2010. [DOI: 10.1080/02699930902927664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Machado L, Devine A, Wyatt N. Distractibility with advancing age and Parkinson's disease. Neuropsychologia 2009; 47:1756-64. [PMID: 19397871 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.02.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2008] [Revised: 02/05/2009] [Accepted: 02/08/2009] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Liana Machado
- Department of Psychology and Brain Health and Repair Research Centre, University of Otago, New Zealand.
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