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Effects of Natural Scene Inversion on Visual-evoked Brain Potentials and Pupillary Responses: A Matter of Effortful Processing of Unfamiliar Configurations. Neuroscience 2023; 509:201-209. [PMID: 36462569 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2022.11.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2022] [Revised: 11/17/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
The inversion of a picture of a face hampers the accuracy and speed at which observers can perceptually process it. Event-related potentials and pupillary responses, successfully used as biomarkers of face inversion in the past, suggest that the perception of visual features, that are organized in an unfamiliar manner, recruits demanding additional processes. However, it remains unclear whether such inversion effects generalize beyond face stimuli and whether indeed more mental effort is needed to process inverted images. Here we aimed to study the effects of natural scene inversion on visual evoked potentials and pupil dilations. We simultaneously measured responses of 47 human participants to presentations of images showing upright or inverted natural scenes. For inverted scenes, we observed relatively stronger occipito-temporo-parietal N1 peak amplitudes and larger pupil dilations (on top of an initial orienting response) than for upright scenes. This study revealed neural and physiological markers of natural scene inversion that are in line with inversion effects of other stimulus types and demonstrates the robustness and generalizability of the phenomenon that unfamiliar configurations of visual content require increased processing effort.
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2
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Strauch C, Wang CA, Einhäuser W, Van der Stigchel S, Naber M. Pupillometry as an integrated readout of distinct attentional networks. Trends Neurosci 2022; 45:635-647. [PMID: 35662511 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2022.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2022] [Revised: 04/15/2022] [Accepted: 05/09/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
The course of pupillary constriction and dilation provides an easy-to-access, inexpensive, and noninvasive readout of brain activity. We propose a new taxonomy of factors affecting the pupil and link these to associated neural underpinnings in an ascending hierarchy. In addition to two well-established low-level factors (light level and focal distance), we suggest two further intermediate-level factors, alerting and orienting, and a higher-level factor, executive functioning. Alerting, orienting, and executive functioning - including their respective underlying neural circuitries - overlap with the three principal attentional networks, making pupil size an integrated readout of distinct states of attention. As a now widespread technique, pupillometry is ready to provide meaningful applications and constitutes a viable part of the psychophysiological toolbox.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christoph Strauch
- Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
| | - Chin-An Wang
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, National Central University, Taoyuan City, Taiwan; Cognitive Intelligence and Precision Healthcare Center, National Central University, Taoyuan City, Taiwan
| | - Wolfgang Einhäuser
- Physics of Cognition Group, Chemnitz University of Technology, Chemnitz, Germany
| | | | - Marnix Naber
- Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
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3
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Brascamp JW, de Hollander G, Wertheimer MD, DePew AN, Knapen T. Separable pupillary signatures of perception and action during perceptual multistability. eLife 2021; 10:66161. [PMID: 34378532 PMCID: PMC8378849 DOI: 10.7554/elife.66161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2020] [Accepted: 08/11/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The pupil provides a rich, non-invasive measure of the neural bases of perception and cognition and has been of particular value in uncovering the role of arousal-linked neuromodulation, which alters both cortical processing and pupil size. But pupil size is subject to a multitude of influences, which complicates unique interpretation. We measured pupils of observers experiencing perceptual multistability-an ever-changing subjective percept in the face of unchanging but inconclusive sensory input. In separate conditions, the endogenously generated perceptual changes were either task-relevant or not, allowing a separation between perception-related and task-related pupil signals. Perceptual changes were marked by a complex pupil response that could be decomposed into two components: a dilation tied to task execution and plausibly indicative of an arousal-linked noradrenaline surge, and an overlapping constriction tied to the perceptual transient and plausibly a marker of altered visual cortical representation. Constriction, but not dilation, amplitude systematically depended on the time interval between perceptual changes, possibly providing an overt index of neural adaptation. These results show that the pupil provides a simultaneous reading on interacting but dissociable neural processes during perceptual multistability, and suggest that arousal-linked neuromodulator release shapes action but not perception in these circumstances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan W Brascamp
- Michigan State University, Department of Psychology, East Lansing, United States.,Michigan State University, Neuroscience Program, East Lansing, United States
| | - Gilles de Hollander
- Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Michael D Wertheimer
- Michigan State University, Department of Psychology, East Lansing, United States
| | - Ashley N DePew
- Michigan State University, Department of Psychology, East Lansing, United States
| | - Tomas Knapen
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.,Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, Royal Academy of Sciences, Amsterdam, Netherlands
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4
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English MCW, Maybery MT, Visser TAW. Autistic-traits, not anxiety, modulate implicit emotional guidance of attention in neurotypical adults. Sci Rep 2019; 9:18376. [PMID: 31804549 PMCID: PMC6895229 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-54813-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2019] [Accepted: 11/13/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Although autistic and anxious traits are positively correlated, high levels of autistic traits are associated with poorer emotional guidance of attention (EGA) whilst high levels of anxious traits are associated with greater EGA. In order to better understand how these two trait dimensions influence EGA, we simultaneously examined the effects of anxiety and autistic traits in neurotypical adults on target identification in an attentional blink task. Analyses indicated that implicit EGA is attenuated in individuals with higher levels of autistic traits, but largely unaffected by variation in anxious traits. Our results suggest that anxiety plays a comparatively limited role in modulating implicit EGA and reinforces the importance of disentangling correlated individual differences when exploring the effects of personality, including emotional predisposition, on attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael C W English
- University of Western Australia, School of Psychological Science, Perth, Australia.
| | - Murray T Maybery
- University of Western Australia, School of Psychological Science, Perth, Australia
| | - Troy A W Visser
- University of Western Australia, School of Psychological Science, Perth, Australia
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5
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Kret ME, De Dreu CKW. Pupil-mimicry conditions trust in partners: moderation by oxytocin and group membership. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 284:rspb.2016.2554. [PMID: 28250181 PMCID: PMC5360920 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.2554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2016] [Accepted: 02/08/2017] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Across species, oxytocin, an evolutionarily ancient neuropeptide, facilitates social communication by attuning individuals to conspecifics' social signals, fostering trust and bonding. The eyes have an important signalling function; and humans use their salient and communicative eyes to intentionally and unintentionally send social signals to others, by contracting the muscles around their eyes and pupils. In our earlier research, we observed that interaction partners with dilating pupils are trusted more than partners with constricting pupils. But over and beyond this effect, we found that the pupil sizes of partners synchronize and that when pupils synchronously dilate, trust is further boosted. Critically, this linkage between mimicry and trust was bound to interactions between ingroup members. The current study investigates whether these findings are modulated by oxytocin and sex of participant and partner. Using incentivized trust games with partners from ingroup and outgroup whose pupils dilated, remained static or constricted, this study replicates our earlier findings. It further reveals that (i) male participants withhold trust from partners with constricting pupils and extend trust to partners with dilating pupils, especially when given oxytocin rather than placebo; (ii) female participants trust partners with dilating pupils most, but this effect is blunted under oxytocin; (iii) under oxytocin rather than placebo, pupil dilation mimicry is weaker and pupil constriction mimicry stronger; and (iv) the link between pupil constriction mimicry and distrust observed under placebo disappears under oxytocin. We suggest that pupil-contingent trust is parochial and evolved in social species in and because of group life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariska E Kret
- Leiden Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands .,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Carsten K W De Dreu
- Leiden Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands.,Center for Experimental Economics and Political Decision Making, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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6
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Landi SM, Freiwald WA. Two areas for familiar face recognition in the primate brain. Science 2017; 357:591-595. [PMID: 28798130 PMCID: PMC5612776 DOI: 10.1126/science.aan1139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2017] [Accepted: 07/06/2017] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Familiarity alters face recognition: Familiar faces are recognized more accurately than unfamiliar ones and under difficult viewing conditions when unfamiliar face recognition fails. The neural basis for this fundamental difference remains unknown. Using whole-brain functional magnetic resonance imaging, we found that personally familiar faces engage the macaque face-processing network more than unfamiliar faces. Familiar faces also recruited two hitherto unknown face areas at anatomically conserved locations within the perirhinal cortex and the temporal pole. These two areas, but not the core face-processing network, responded to familiar faces emerging from a blur with a characteristic nonlinear surge, akin to the abruptness of familiar face recognition. In contrast, responses to unfamiliar faces and objects remained linear. Thus, two temporal lobe areas extend the core face-processing network into a familiar face-recognition system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sofia M Landi
- The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA.
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7
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Attention holding elicited by direct-gaze faces is reflected in saccadic peak velocity. Exp Brain Res 2017; 235:3319-3332. [DOI: 10.1007/s00221-017-5059-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2017] [Accepted: 08/04/2017] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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8
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Klamer S, Milian M, Erb M, Rona S, Lerche H, Ethofer T. Face-name association task reveals memory networks in patients with left and right hippocampal sclerosis. NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL 2017; 14:174-182. [PMID: 28180076 PMCID: PMC5279692 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2017.01.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2016] [Revised: 01/17/2017] [Accepted: 01/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
We aimed to identify reorganization processes of episodic memory networks in patients with left and right temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) due to hippocampal sclerosis as well as their relations to neuropsychological memory performance. We investigated 28 healthy subjects, 12 patients with left TLE (LTLE) and 9 patients with right TLE (RTLE) with hippocampal sclerosis by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using a face-name association task, which combines verbal and non-verbal memory functions. Regions-of-interest (ROIs) were defined based on the group results of the healthy subjects. In each ROI, fMRI activations were compared across groups and correlated with verbal and non-verbal memory scores. The face-name association task yielded activations in bilateral hippocampus (HC), left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), left superior frontal gyrus (SFG), left superior temporal gyrus, bilateral angular gyrus (AG), bilateral medial prefrontal cortex and right anterior temporal lobe (ATL). LTLE patients demonstrated significantly less activation in the left HC and left SFG, whereas RTLE patients showed significantly less activation in the HC bilaterally, the left SFG and right AG. Verbal memory scores correlated with activations in the left and right HC, left SFG and right ATL and non-verbal memory scores with fMRI activations in the left and right HC and left SFG. The face-name association task can be employed to examine functional alterations of hippocampal activation during encoding of both verbal and non-verbal material in one fMRI paradigm. Further, the left SFG seems to be a convergence region for encoding of verbal and non-verbal material. Memory networks in patients with hippocampal sclerosis were compared to controls. Verbal and nonverbal memory correlated with activations in both HC and left SFG Patients with left hippocampal sclerosis activated less in the left HC and left SFG. Patients with right-sided lesion activated less in both HC, left SFG and right AG. Left SFG seems to be convergence region for encoding of verbal + nonverbal material.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silke Klamer
- Department of Neurology and Epileptology, University Hospital Tübingen and Hertie Institute of Clinical Brain Research, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Monika Milian
- Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Michael Erb
- Department of Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Sabine Rona
- Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Holger Lerche
- Department of Neurology and Epileptology, University Hospital Tübingen and Hertie Institute of Clinical Brain Research, Tübingen, Germany; Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Thomas Ethofer
- Department of Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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9
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Chen L, Yuan X, Xu Q, Wang Y, Jiang Y. Subliminal Impending Collision Increases Perceived Object Size and Enhances Pupillary Light Reflex. Front Psychol 2016; 7:1897. [PMID: 27994567 PMCID: PMC5133426 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2016] [Accepted: 11/21/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Fast detection of ambient danger is crucial for the survival of biological entities. Previous studies have shown that threatening information can bias human visual perception and enhance physiological reactions. It remains to be delineated whether the modulation of threat on human perceptual and physiological responses can take place below awareness. To probe this issue, we adopted visual looming stimuli and created two levels of threat by varying their motion trajectories to the observers, such that the stimuli could move in a path that either collided with the observers' heads or just nearly missed. We found that when the observers could not explicitly discriminate any difference between the collision and the near-miss stimuli, the visual stimuli on the collision course appeared larger and evoked greater pupil constrictions than those on the near-miss course. Furthermore, the magnitude of size overestimation was comparable to when the impending collision was consciously perceived. Our findings suggest that threatening information can bias human visual perception and strengthen pupil constrictions independent of conscious representation of the threat, and imply the existence of the subcortical visual pathway dedicated to automatically processing threat-related signals in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lihong Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China
| | - Xiangyong Yuan
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing, China
| | - Qian Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China
| | - Ying Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing, China
| | - Yi Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China
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10
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English MCW, Maybery MT, Visser TAW. Threatening faces fail to guide attention for adults with autistic-like traits. Autism Res 2016; 10:311-320. [PMID: 27385675 DOI: 10.1002/aur.1658] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2015] [Revised: 05/26/2016] [Accepted: 05/28/2016] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Individuals diagnosed with autistic spectrum conditions often show deficits in processing emotional faces relative to neurotypical peers. However, little is known about whether similar deficits exist in neurotypical individuals who show high-levels of autistic-like traits. To address this question, we compared performance on an attentional blink task in a large sample of adults who showed low- or high-levels of autistic-like traits on the Autism Spectrum Quotient. We found that threatening faces inserted as the second target in a rapid serial visual presentation were identified more accurately among individuals with low- compared to high-levels of autistic-like traits. This is the first study to show that attentional blink abnormalities seen in autism extend to the neurotypical population with autistic-like traits, adding to the growing body of research suggesting that autistic-related patterns of behaviors extend into a subset of the neurotypical population. Autism Res 2017, 10: 311-320. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael C W English
- School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Murray T Maybery
- School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Troy A W Visser
- School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
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11
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Frässle S, Krach S, Paulus FM, Jansen A. Handedness is related to neural mechanisms underlying hemispheric lateralization of face processing. Sci Rep 2016; 6:27153. [PMID: 27250879 PMCID: PMC4890016 DOI: 10.1038/srep27153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2016] [Accepted: 05/16/2016] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
While the right-hemispheric lateralization of the face perception network is well established, recent evidence suggests that handedness affects the cerebral lateralization of face processing at the hierarchical level of the fusiform face area (FFA). However, the neural mechanisms underlying differential hemispheric lateralization of face perception in right- and left-handers are largely unknown. Using dynamic causal modeling (DCM) for fMRI, we aimed to unravel the putative processes that mediate handedness-related differences by investigating the effective connectivity in the bilateral core face perception network. Our results reveal an enhanced recruitment of the left FFA in left-handers compared to right-handers, as evidenced by more pronounced face-specific modulatory influences on both intra- and interhemispheric connections. As structural and physiological correlates of handedness-related differences in face processing, right- and left-handers varied with regard to their gray matter volume in the left fusiform gyrus and their pupil responses to face stimuli. Overall, these results describe how handedness is related to the lateralization of the core face perception network, and point to different neural mechanisms underlying face processing in right- and left-handers. In a wider context, this demonstrates the entanglement of structurally and functionally remote brain networks, suggesting a broader underlying process regulating brain lateralization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Frässle
- Translational Neuromodeling Unit (TNU), Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich Ð Zurich, CH-8032 Zurich, Switzerland.,Laboratory for Multimodal Neuroimaging (LMN), Department of Psychiatry, University of Marburg, D-35039 Marburg, Germany.,Department of Child- and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Marburg, D-35039 Marburg, Germany
| | - Sören Krach
- Social Neuroscience Lab
- SNL, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Lübeck, D-23538 Lübeck, Germany
| | - Frieder Michel Paulus
- Social Neuroscience Lab
- SNL, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Lübeck, D-23538 Lübeck, Germany
| | - Andreas Jansen
- Laboratory for Multimodal Neuroimaging (LMN), Department of Psychiatry, University of Marburg, D-35039 Marburg, Germany.,Core Facility Brainimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Marburg, D-35039 Marburg, Germany
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12
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Pupillometry of taste: Methodological guide – from acquisition to data processing - and toolbox for MATLAB. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014. [DOI: 10.20982/tqmp.10.2.p179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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13
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Abstract
Significantly above-chance detection of stimuli presented within the field defect of patients with postgeniculate lesions is termed "blindsight." It has been proposed that those with blindsight are more likely to benefit from visual rehabilitation by repeated stimulation, leading to increased visual sensitivity within their field defect. Establishing the incidence of blindsight and developing an objective and reliable method for its detection are of great interest. Sudden onsets of a grating pattern in the absence of any change in light flux result in a transient constriction of the pupil, termed "pupil grating response." The existence of pupil grating responses for stimuli presented within the blindfield has previously been reported in a hemianopic patient and two monkeys with removal of the primary visual cortex unilaterally. Here, we have systematically investigated the presence of a spatial channel of processing at a range of spatial frequencies using a psychophysical forced-choice technique and obtained the corresponding pupil responses in the blindfield of 19 hemianopic patients. In addition, in 13 cases we determined the pupil responses in a sighted field location that matched the blindfield eccentricities. Our findings demonstrate that blindfield pupil responses are similar to those for the sighted field, but attenuated in amplitude. Pupillometry correctly characterized the presence or absence of a significant psychophysical response and thus is worth measuring in the cortically blindfields as a predictor of intact psychophysical capacity. The incidence of blindsight where detection performance had been investigated psychophysically over a range of spatial frequencies was 70%.
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14
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Scott LS, Fava E. The own-species face bias: A review of developmental and comparative data. VISUAL COGNITION 2013. [DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2013.821431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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15
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Yerys BE, Ruiz E, Strang J, Sokoloff J, Kenworthy L, Vaidya CJ. Modulation of attentional blink with emotional faces in typical development and in autism spectrum disorders. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2013; 54:636-43. [PMID: 23176580 PMCID: PMC4129376 DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.12013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The attentional blink (AB) phenomenon was used to assess the effect of emotional information on early visual attention in typically developing (TD) children and children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The AB effect is the momentary perceptual unawareness that follows target identification in a rapid serial visual processing stream. It is abolished or reduced for emotional stimuli, indicating that emotional information has privileged access to early visual attention processes. METHODS We examined the AB effect for faces with neutral and angry facial expressions in 8- to 14-year-old children with and without an ASD diagnosis. RESULTS Children with ASD exhibited the same magnitude AB effect as TD children for both neutral and angry faces. CONCLUSIONS Early visual attention to emotional facial expressions was preserved in children with ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin E. Yerys
- Center for Autism Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA,Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders, Children’s National Medical Center, Washington DC,Children’s Research Institute, Children’s National Medical Center, Washington DC
| | - Ericka Ruiz
- Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, Georgetown University, Washington DC
| | - John Strang
- Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders, Children’s National Medical Center, Washington DC,Children’s Research Institute, Children’s National Medical Center, Washington DC
| | - Jennifer Sokoloff
- Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders, Children’s National Medical Center, Washington DC,Children’s Research Institute, Children’s National Medical Center, Washington DC
| | - Lauren Kenworthy
- Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders, Children’s National Medical Center, Washington DC,Children’s Research Institute, Children’s National Medical Center, Washington DC
| | - Chandan J. Vaidya
- Children’s Research Institute, Children’s National Medical Center, Washington DC,Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, Georgetown University, Washington DC,Department of Psychology, Georgetown University, Washington DC
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16
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Jainta S, Vernet M, Yang Q, Kapoula Z. The Pupil Reflects Motor Preparation for Saccades - Even before the Eye Starts to Move. Front Hum Neurosci 2011; 5:97. [PMID: 22046154 PMCID: PMC3202225 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2011.00097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2011] [Accepted: 08/19/2011] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The eye produces saccadic eye movements whose reaction times are perhaps the shortest in humans. Saccade latencies reflect ongoing cortical processing and, generally, shorter latencies are supposed to reflect advanced motor preparation. The dilation of the eye's pupil is reported to reflect cortical processing as well. Eight participants made saccades in a gap and overlap paradigm (in pure and mixed blocks), which we used in order to produce a variety of different saccade latencies. Saccades and pupil size were measured with the EyeLink II. The pattern in pupil dilation resembled that of a gap effect: for gap blocks, pupil dilations were larger compared to overlap blocks; mixing gap and overlap trials reduced the pupil dilation for gap trials thereby inducing a switching cost. Furthermore, saccade latencies across all tasks predicted the magnitude of pupil dilations post hoc: the longer the saccade latency the smaller the pupil dilation before the eye actually began to move. In accordance with observations for manual responses, we conclude that pupil dilations prior to saccade execution reflect advanced motor preparations and therefore provide valid indicator qualities for ongoing cortical processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Jainta
- IRIS Group, Physiopathology of Binocular Motor Control and Vision, CNRS UMR8194, University Paris V, European Hospital Georges Pompidou Paris, France
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17
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Pollak DD, Rogan MT, Egner T, Perez DL, Yanagihara TK, Hirsch J. A translational bridge between mouse and human models of learned safety. Ann Med 2010; 42:115-22. [PMID: 20121549 DOI: 10.3109/07853890903583666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Learned safety is established by negatively correlating the occurrence of a neutral stimulus and a noxious stimulus, which renders the previously neutral stimulus a 'safety signal'. While the neurophysiological and molecular mechanisms have been characterized in mice, it is currently not known how the neural substrates involved compare between mice and people. METHODS Here we attempt to adapt the original animal protocol to humans and use functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine neural responses to the conditioned stimulus in safety conditioned and fear conditioned subjects. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was used in a parallel group of subjects as a first approach to delineate the underlying neural circuitry. RESULTS Learned safety is associated with dampened amygdala and increased dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and caudate responses and paralleled by pupillary constriction. A neural connection between the amygdala and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is suggested by DTI. CONCLUSION We present a translational bridge between mouse and human models of learned safety in which cellular and molecular insights from animal experiments are extended to the human neural circuitry. This study provides an example of how animal experiments can be used to inform and target human studies, which in turn can corroborate results obtained in experimental animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela D Pollak
- Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
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