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Küchenhoff S, Sorg C, Schneider SC, Kohl O, Müller HJ, Napiórkowski N, Menegaux A, Finke K, Ruiz-Rizzo AL. Visual processing speed is linked to functional connectivity between right frontoparietal and visual networks. Eur J Neurosci 2021; 53:3362-3377. [PMID: 33764572 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2021] [Accepted: 03/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Visual information processing requires an efficient visual attention system. The neural theory of visual attention (TVA) proposes that visual processing speed depends on the coordinated activity between frontoparietal and occipital brain areas. Previous research has shown that the coordinated activity between (i.e., functional connectivity and "inter-FC") cingulo-opercular (COn) and right-frontoparietal (RFPn) networks is linked to visual processing speed. However, how inter-FC of COn and RFPn with visual networks links to visual processing speed has not been directly addressed yet. Forty-eight healthy adult participants (27 females) underwent resting-state (rs-)fMRI and performed a whole-report psychophysical task. To obtain inter-FC, we analyzed the entire frequency range available in our rs-fMRI data (i.e., 0.01-0.4 Hz) to avoid discarding neural information. Following previous approaches, we analyzed the data across frequency bins (Hz): Slow-5 (0.01-0.027), Slow-4 (0.027-0.073), Slow-3 (0.073-0.198), and Slow-2 (0.198-0.4). We used the mathematical TVA framework to estimate an individual, latent-level visual processing speed parameter. We found that visual processing speed was negatively associated with inter-FC between RFPn and visual networks in Slow-5 and Slow-2, with no corresponding significant association for inter-FC between COn and visual networks. These results provide the first empirical evidence that links inter-FC between RFPn and visual networks with the visual processing speed parameter. These findings suggest that direct connectivity between occipital and right frontoparietal, but not frontoinsular, regions support visual processing speed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Svenja Küchenhoff
- General and Experimental Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Christian Sorg
- Department of Neuroradiology, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.,TUM-Neuroimaging Center, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Sebastian C Schneider
- General and Experimental Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.,Department of Neuroradiology, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.,TUM-Neuroimaging Center, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Oliver Kohl
- General and Experimental Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Hermann J Müller
- General and Experimental Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Natan Napiórkowski
- General and Experimental Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.,Hans-Berger-Clinic of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
| | - Aurore Menegaux
- General and Experimental Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.,Department of Neuroradiology, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.,TUM-Neuroimaging Center, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Kathrin Finke
- General and Experimental Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.,Hans-Berger-Clinic of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
| | - Adriana L Ruiz-Rizzo
- General and Experimental Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
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2
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Künstler ECS, Penning MD, Napiórkowski N, Klingner CM, Witte OW, Müller HJ, Bublak P, Finke K. Dual Task Effects on Visual Attention Capacity in Normal Aging. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1564. [PMID: 30233452 PMCID: PMC6129777 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2018] [Accepted: 08/06/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Older adults show higher dual task performance decrements than younger adults. While this is assumed to be related to attentional capacity reductions, the precise affected functions are not specified. Such specification is, however, possible based on the "theory of visual attention" (TVA) which allows for modeling of distinct attentional capacity parameters. Furthermore, it is unclear whether older adults show qualitatively different attentional effects or whether they show the same effects as younger adults experience under more challenging conditions. By varying the complexity of the secondary task, it is possible to address this question. In our study, participants performed a verbal whole report of briefly presented letter arrays. TVA-based fitting of report performance delivered parameters of visual threshold t0, processing speed C, and visual short-term memory (VSTM) storage capacity K. Furthermore, participants performed a concurrent motor task consisting of continuous tapping of a (simple or complex) sequence. Both TVA and tapping tasks were performed under single and dual task conditions. Two groups of 30 younger adults each performed either the simple or complex tapping, and a group of 30 older adults performed the simple tapping condition. In older participants, VSTM storage capacity declined under dual task conditions. While no such effect was found in younger subjects performing the simple tapping sequence under dual task conditions, the younger group performing the complex tapping task under dual task conditions also showed a significant VSTM capacity reduction. Generally, no significant effect on other TVA parameters or on tapping accuracy was found. Comparable goodness-of-fit measures were obtained for the TVA modeling data in single and dual tasks, indicating that tasks were executed in a qualitatively similar, continuous manner, although quantitatively less efficiently under dual- compared to single-task conditions. Taken together, our results show that the age-specific effects of motor-cognitive dual task interference are reflected by a stronger decline of VSTM storage capacity. They support an interpretation of VSTM as central attentional capacity, which is shared across visual uptake and concurrent motor performance. Capacity limits are reached earlier, and already under lower motor task complexity, in older compared to younger adults.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Melanie D. Penning
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Natan Napiórkowski
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Carsten M. Klingner
- Hans Berger Department of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
| | - Otto W. Witte
- Hans Berger Department of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
| | - Hermann J. Müller
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Peter Bublak
- Hans Berger Department of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
| | - Kathrin Finke
- Hans Berger Department of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
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3
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Tünnermann J, Scharlau I. Stuck on a Plateau? A Model-Based Approach to Fundamental Issues in Visual Temporal-Order Judgments. Vision (Basel) 2018; 2:E29. [PMID: 31735892 PMCID: PMC6835551 DOI: 10.3390/vision2030029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2018] [Revised: 06/07/2018] [Accepted: 07/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans are incapable of judging the temporal order of visual events at brief temporal separations with perfect accuracy. Their performance-which is of much interest in visual cognition and attention research-can be measured with the temporal-order judgment (TOJ) task, which typically produces S-shaped psychometric functions. Occasionally, researchers reported plateaus within these functions, and some theories predict such deviation from the basic S shape. However, the centers of the psychometric functions result from the weakest performance at the most difficult presentations and therefore fluctuate strongly, leaving the existence and exact shapes of plateaus unclear. This study set out to investigate whether plateaus disappear if the data accuracy is enhanced, or if we are "stuck on a plateau", or rather with it. For this purpose, highly accurate data were assessed by model-based analysis. The existence of plateaus is confidently confirmed and two plausible mechanisms derived from very different models are presented. Neither model, however, performs well in the presence of a strong attention manipulation, and model comparison remains unclear on the question of which of the models describes the data best. Nevertheless, the present study includes the highest accuracy in visual TOJ data and the most explicit models of plateaus in TOJ studied so far.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Tünnermann
- Psychology, Paderborn University, 33098 Paderborn, Germany
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Abstract
The theory of visual attention (TVTVA) provides a formal framework for the assessment of visual attention and related processes. Its center is a mathematical model of visual encoding processes and discretely defined components of attention. Building on this model, TVTVA offers quantitative and process-related explanations for a variety of phenomena in the domain of visual attention. Because the theory relies on very general assumptions which might hold true for other domains of sensory processing, we tested its possible explanatory value for tactile processing in mice. Reanalyzing published data of temporal-order judgments by mice, we show how a TVTVA-based analysis identifies the processes which drive observable behavior and that it comes to conclusions quite different from those of conventional analyses of temporal-order judgments. According to this analysis, despite the same overall capacity dedicated to the task, some mice assume attentional biases toward one side, possibly to optimize their overall performance. We suggest that TVTVA's concepts provide a powerful point of vantage to find explanations for observable behavior where conventional analysis easily leads to dead ends.
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Abstract
Visuospatial attention and short-term memory allow us to prioritize, select, and briefly maintain part of the visual information that reaches our senses. These cognitive abilities are quantitatively accounted for by Bundesen's theory of visual attention (TVA; Bundesen, 1990). Previous studies have suggested that TVA-based assessments are sensitive to inter-individual differences in spatial bias, visual short-term memory capacity, top-down control, and processing speed in healthy volunteers as well as in patients with various neurological and psychiatric conditions. However, most neuropsychological assessments of attention and executive functions, including TVA-based assessment, make use of alphanumeric stimuli and/or are performed verbally, which can pose difficulties for individuals who have troubles processing letters or numbers. Here we examined the reliability of TVA-based assessments when stimuli are used that are not alphanumeric, but instead based on line-drawings of fruits and vegetables. We compared five TVA parameters quantifying the aforementioned cognitive abilities, obtained by modeling accuracy data on a whole/partial report paradigm using conventional alphabet stimuli versus the food stimuli. Significant correlations were found for all TVA parameters, indicating a high parallel-form reliability. Split-half correlations assessing internal reliability, and correlations between predicted and observed data assessing goodness-of-fit were both significant. Our results provide an indication that line-drawings of fruits and vegetables can be used for a reliable assessment of attention and short-term memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tianlu Wang
- Department of Brain and Cognition, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Celine R. Gillebert
- Department of Brain and Cognition, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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Gögler N, Papazova I, Oviedo-Salcedo T, Filipova N, Strube W, Funk J, Müller HJ, Finke K, Hasan A. Parameter-Based Evaluation of Attentional Impairments in Schizophrenia and Their Modulation by Prefrontal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation. Front Psychiatry 2017; 8:259. [PMID: 29238310 PMCID: PMC5712554 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2017] [Accepted: 11/14/2017] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Attentional dysfunctions constitute core cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia, but the precise underlying neurocognitive mechanisms remain to be elucidated. METHODS In this randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled study, we applied, for the first time, a theoretically grounded modeling approach based on Bundesen's Theory of Visual Attention (TVA) to (i) identify specific visual attentional parameters affected in schizophrenia and (ii) assess, as a proof of concept, the potential of single-dose anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS; 20 min, 2 mA) to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to modulate these attentional parameters. To that end, attentional parameters were measured before (baseline), immediately after, and 24 h after the tDCS intervention in 20 schizophrenia patients and 20 healthy controls. RESULTS At baseline, analyses revealed significantly reduced visual processing speed and visual short-term memory storage capacity in schizophrenia. A significant stimulation condition × time point interaction in the schizophrenia patient group indicated improved processing speed at the follow-up session only in the sham condition (a practice effect), whereas performance remained stable across the three time points in patients receiving verum stimulation. In healthy controls, anodal tDCS did not result in a significant change in attentional performance. CONCLUSION With regard to question (i) above, these findings are indicative of a processing speed and short-term memory deficit as primary sources of attentional deficits in schizophrenia. With regard to question (ii), the efficacy of single-dose anodal tDCS for improving (speed aspects of visual) cognition, it appears that prefrontal tDCS (at the settings used in the present study), rather than ameliorating the processing speed deficit in schizophrenia, actually may interfere with practice-dependent improvements in the rate of visual information uptake. Such potentially unexpected effects of tDCS ought to be taken into consideration when discussing its applicability in psychiatric populations. The study was registered at http://apps.who.int/trialsearch/Trial2.aspx?TrialID=DRKS00011665.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadine Gögler
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany
| | - Irina Papazova
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany
| | - Tatiana Oviedo-Salcedo
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany
| | - Nina Filipova
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Strube
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany
| | - Johanna Funk
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany
| | - Hermann J Müller
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany
| | - Kathrin Finke
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany.,Hans-Berger-Department of Neurology, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Alkomiet Hasan
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany
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Krüger A, Tünnermann J, Scharlau I. Fast and Conspicuous? Quantifying Salience With the Theory of Visual Attention. Adv Cogn Psychol 2016; 12:20-38. [PMID: 27168868 PMCID: PMC4862317 DOI: 10.5709/acp-0184-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2015] [Accepted: 02/16/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Particular differences between an object and its surrounding cause salience,
guide attention, and improve performance in various tasks. While much research
has been dedicated to identifying which feature dimensions contribute to
salience, much less regard has been paid to the quantitative strength of the
salience caused by feature differences. Only a few studies systematically
related salience effects to a common salience measure, and they are partly
outdated in the light of new findings on the time course of salience effects. We
propose Bundesen’s Theory of Visual Attention (TVA) as a theoretical basis for
measuring salience and introduce an empirical and modeling approach to link this
theory to data retrieved from temporal-order judgments. With this procedure, TVA
becomes applicable to a broad range of salience-related stimulus material. Three
experiments with orientation pop-out displays demonstrate the feasibility of the
method. A 4th experiment substantiates its applicability to the luminance
dimension.
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Chechlacz M, Gillebert CR, Vangkilde SA, Petersen A, Humphreys GW. Structural Variability within Frontoparietal Networks and Individual Differences in Attentional Functions: An Approach Using the Theory of Visual Attention. J Neurosci 2015; 35:10647-58. [PMID: 26224851 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0210-15.2015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Visuospatial attention allows us to select and act upon a subset of behaviorally relevant visual stimuli while ignoring distraction. Bundesen's theory of visual attention (TVA) (Bundesen, 1990) offers a quantitative analysis of the different facets of attention within a unitary model and provides a powerful analytic framework for understanding individual differences in attentional functions. Visuospatial attention is contingent upon large networks, distributed across both hemispheres, consisting of several cortical areas interconnected by long-association frontoparietal pathways, including three branches of the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF I-III) and the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF). Here we examine whether structural variability within human frontoparietal networks mediates differences in attention abilities as assessed by the TVA. Structural measures were based on spherical deconvolution and tractography-derived indices of tract volume and hindrance-modulated orientational anisotropy (HMOA). Individual differences in visual short-term memory (VSTM) were linked to variability in the microstructure (HMOA) of SLF II, SLF III, and IFOF within the right hemisphere. Moreover, VSTM and speed of information processing were linked to hemispheric lateralization within the IFOF. Differences in spatial bias were mediated by both variability in microstructure and volume of the right SLF II. Our data indicate that the microstructural and macrostrucutral organization of white matter pathways differentially contributes to both the anatomical lateralization of frontoparietal attentional networks and to individual differences in attentional functions. We conclude that individual differences in VSTM capacity, processing speed, and spatial bias, as assessed by TVA, link to variability in structural organization within frontoparietal pathways.
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Abstract
The human attention system helps us cope with a complex environment by supporting the selective processing of information relevant to our current goals. Understanding the perceptual, cognitive, and neural mechanisms that mediate selective attention is a core issue in cognitive neuroscience. One prominent model of selective attention, known as load theory, offers an account of how task demands determine when information is selected and an account of the efficiency of the selection process. However, load theory has several critical weaknesses that suggest that it is time for a new perspective. Here we review the strengths and weaknesses of load theory and offer an alternative biologically plausible computational account that is based on the neural theory of visual attention. We argue that this new perspective provides a detailed computational account of how bottom-up and top-down information is integrated to provide efficient attentional selection and allocation of perceptual processing resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barry Giesbrecht
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and The Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California
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Abstract
Temporal expectation is expectation with respect to the timing of an event such as the appearance of a certain stimulus. In this paper, temporal expectancy is investigated in the context of the theory of visual attention (TVA), and we begin by summarizing the foundations of this theoretical framework. Next, we present a parametric experiment exploring the effects of temporal expectation on perceptual processing speed in cued single-stimulus letter recognition with unspeeded motor responses. The length of the cue-stimulus foreperiod was exponentially distributed with one of six hazard rates varying between blocks. We hypothesized that this manipulation would result in a distinct temporal expectation in each hazard rate condition. Stimulus exposures were varied such that both the temporal threshold of conscious perception (t0 ms) and the perceptual processing speed (v letters s(-1)) could be estimated using TVA. We found that the temporal threshold t0 was unaffected by temporal expectation, but the perceptual processing speed v was a strikingly linear function of the logarithm of the hazard rate of the stimulus presentation. We argue that the effects on the v values were generated by changes in perceptual biases, suggesting that our perceptual biases are directly related to our temporal expectations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Signe Vangkilde
- Department of Psychology, Center for Visual Cognition, University of Copenhagen, , Øster Farimagsgade 2A, 1353 Copenhagen K, Denmark
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Wiegand I, Töllner T, Habekost T, Dyrholm M, Müller HJ, Finke K. Distinct neural markers of TVA-based visual processing speed and short-term storage capacity parameters. Cereb Cortex 2013; 24:1967-78. [PMID: 23535180 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bht071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
An individual's visual attentional capacity is characterized by 2 central processing resources, visual perceptual processing speed and visual short-term memory (vSTM) storage capacity. Based on Bundesen's theory of visual attention (TVA), independent estimates of these parameters can be obtained from mathematical modeling of performance in a whole report task. The framework's neural interpretation (NTVA) further suggests distinct brain mechanisms underlying these 2 functions. Using an interindividual difference approach, the present study was designed to establish the respective ERP correlates of both parameters. Participants with higher compared to participants with lower processing speed were found to show significantly reduced visual N1 responses, indicative of higher efficiency in early visual processing. By contrast, for participants with higher relative to lower vSTM storage capacity, contralateral delay activity over visual areas was enhanced while overall nonlateralized delay activity was reduced, indicating that holding (the maximum number of) items in vSTM relies on topographically specific sustained activation within the visual system. Taken together, our findings show that the 2 main aspects of visual attentional capacity are reflected in separable neurophysiological markers, validating a central assumption of NTVA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iris Wiegand
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich 80802, Germany Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Planegg-Martinsried 82152, Germany
| | - Thomas Töllner
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich 80802, Germany
| | - Thomas Habekost
- Center for Visual Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, DK-1353 CopenhagenK, Denmark
| | - Mads Dyrholm
- Center for Visual Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, DK-1353 CopenhagenK, Denmark
| | - Hermann J Müller
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich 80802, Germany Department of Psychology, Birkbeck College, London WC1E 7HX, UK
| | - Kathrin Finke
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich 80802, Germany Neuro-Cognitive Psychology und Center for Interdisciplinary Research, University Bielefeld, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
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