Complexity of geometrical problems as a function of field-(in)dependency and (a)symmetry of geometry diagrams: an ERP study

Auditory event-related electroencephalographic potentials in borderline personality disorder

Limited role of phonology in reading Chinese two-character compounds: Evidence from an ERP study

Results from previous event-related potential (ERP) studies of semantic richness and concreteness effects have been mixed. Feature production norms have been used to derive one measure of semantic richness, the number of listed semantic features (NOF) for a given concept. Whereas some ERP studies have found evidence for a semantic richness continuum from abstract concepts, to concrete concepts with few features, to concrete concepts with several features, other studies have not. The present study assessed the effects of NOF (within concrete concepts) and concreteness (concrete vs. abstract concepts), on ERP amplitudes and behavioural decision latencies during a concrete/abstract decision task. It is important we also manipulated object domain, which has been found to influence ERP amplitude and topography. High and low NOF concepts were selected from animal and nonliving thing categories and all four conditions were matched on several potential confounds. We show that although decision latencies support a semantic richness continuum, electrophysiological activity does not. Whereas concrete concepts produce a larger negativity than abstract concepts, low NOF concepts are associated with larger negativities than high NOF concepts. We also replicate an increased posterior positivity for processing animal concepts, and report an interaction between object domain and semantic richness such that the NOF effect is larger within animal concepts.

Different visual stimuli can capture and shift attention into different directions. Few studies have explored differences in brain response due to directional (DS) and non-directional visual stimuli (nDS). To explore the latter, event-related potentials (ERP) and contingent negative variation (CNV) during a visuomotor task were evaluated in 19 adults. To examine the relation between task performance and ERPs, the participants were divided into faster (F) and slower (S) groups based on their reaction times (RTs). Moreover, to reveal ERP modulation within the same subject, each recording from the single participants was subdivided into F and S trials based on the specific RT. ERP latencies were analysed between conditions ((DS, nDS); (F, S subjects); (F, S trials)). Correlation was analysed between CNV and RTs. Our results reveal that the ERPs’ late components are modulated differently by DS and nDS conditions in terms of amplitude and location. Differences in ERP amplitude, location and latency, were also found according to subjects’ performance, i.e., between F and S subjects and trials. In addition, results show that the CNV slope is modulated by the directionality of the stimulus and contributes to motor performance. A better understanding of brain dynamics through ERPs could be useful to explain brain states in healthy subjects and to support diagnoses and personalized rehabilitation in patients with neurological diseases.

The evaluation of building facades is one of the most important elements in built environments for helping architects and professionals to develop future designs. The form or shape of windows in building facades has direct impacts on perceivers’ affective state and emotions. To understand the impacts of geometric windows on the subject’s feedback and cortical activity, psychophysics experiments and electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings were measured from the participants. Our behavioral results show a distinguished categorization of the window shapes as pleasant and unpleasant stimuli. The rectangular, square, circular and semi-circular arch were determined as the pleasant window shapes, while the triangular and triangular arch window shapes were distinguished as unpleasant. Furthermore, event-related potential (ERP) components (N1, P2 and P3) were investigated to determine the influence of window shapes on the local brain activity. To measure reliable cortical responses, a Butterworth notch filter (50 Hz), band pass filter (0.1–60 Hz) and ADJUST filter were employed to remove the artifacts. The electrophysiological results show increased activity for the unpleasant in comparison to the pleasant windows (p < 0.05, Rank-Sum test) in both frontal (for P2 component) and posterio-occipital (ERP amplitudes; the N1 through to the P3 peak) channels. The ERP amplitudes of the right hemisphere were significantly larger than in the left hemisphere, not only in response to the unpleasant (p < 0.001) but also to the pleasant window stimuli (p < 0.001, Signed-Rank test). However, the unpleasant stimuli evoked significantly larger ERP amplitude than the pleasant stimuli. Moreover, the significant ERPP2 amplitude was more distinguished for unpleasant (p = 0.01, Signed-Rank test) than pleasant windows (p = 0.01, Rank-Sum test) between frontal and central cortical lobes. Overall, our behavioral and electrophysiological studies demonstrate a distinguished categorization of pleasant and unpleasant window shapes and more significant ERP modulations in the right than left hemisphere for unpleasant windows compared to pleasant ones.

My experiences gained from teaching planar and spatial geometry at grammar school (providing upper secondary education – ISCED 3) and Euclidean, descriptive, and computational geometry at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics in the Czech Republic show serious gaps in students’ understanding of geometry and in students’ spatial abilities. This brings me to the idea to analyze the current content of mathematics with respect to geometric tasks. Firstly, I focus on upper secondary school education (specifically on grammar schools) because geometry which is taught there represents the basics for university studies too.The analysis is done with the intention of identifying what spatial abilities are required to solve certain types of geometric tasks. Furthermore, my aim is to investigate concrete students’ problems in geometry and introduce several approaches, new types of geometric exercises, and activities which could help students to achieve better results in understanding of geometry.The research on geometric content in Czech upper secondary school education is conducted in two steps:- The search and the collection of learning outcomes in the national curriculum documents for Czech upper secondary school education.- The search and the collection of geometric content in Czech textbooks for upper secondary school education.Afterwards, the geometric content is analyzed according to types of spatial abilities which are required for finding the solution. This means that I am examining and discussing standard solving methods which are introduced to student. The basic two categories of spatial abilities what I consider are spatial visualization and spatial orientation. Students’ results are continuously measured in my instructions and I am comparing their success in these different types of geometric exercises. I am dealing with these explorations at the present time and gathering the results to answer following research questions. I will summarize some results in the paper.- What is the geometric content in Czech upper secondary school education?- What types of spatial abilities are mostly used in Czech mathematics textbook in solutions of geometric exercises?- Is there any difference in students’ success rate if they solve spatial visualization or spatial orientation tasks?On the ground of my research I am determining innovative training methods and new geometric tasks which can improve students’ spatial abilities. Spatial abilities on a good level are very important to succeed in solving of various geometric problems and even to orient ourselves in the environment and to solve everyday tasks.Regarding the future work, I plan to extend my research to international level and compare educational content of geometry in several countries.

A Clinical Electrophysiological Study of Emotional Lability in Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

The relationship between spatial and mathematical ability is controversial. Thus, the current study conducted a meta-analysis of 73 studies, with 263 effect sizes to explore the relationship between spatial and mathematical ability. Furthermore, we explored potential factors that moderate this relationship. Results showed that the relationship between mathematical and spatial ability was not simply linear. Specifically, logical reasoning had a stronger association with spatial ability than numerical or arithmetic ability with spatial ability. Intrinsic-dynamic, intrinsic-static, extrinsic-dynamic, extrinsic-static spatial ability, and visual–spatial memory showed comparable associations with mathematical ability. The association between spatial and mathematical ability showed no differences between children, adolescents, and adults and no differences between typically developing individuals and individuals with developmental disabilities. The implications of these findings for theory and practice are discussed.

Age-changed normative auditory event-related potential value in children in Taiwan

Objective: Event related potentials (ERPs) are phenomena that produce alterations on the spectral power of different bands synced with stimuli presentation. Such a perspective overlooks that the spectral power time series present spontaneous oscillations, the dynamics of which have been associated with the state of health and could be also linked to superior processes such as attention, memory, or cognition. In this work, amplitude of the ERP has been associated with dynamics of the power spectral density (PSD) time series. Approach: Data from a public P3 speller database were analyzed. Statistics about latency, amplitude and scalp distribution of the ERP confirm correct task realization. The spectral power over alpha, beta and gamma bands were correlated with ERP amplitude, considering such estimations time-locked with stimuli presentation. Additionally, PSD time series over the same bands were constructed using a sliding window not synced with stimulation. From these time series, a scaling exponent was computed using a detrended fluctuation analysis approach, and such indices were correlated with ERP amplitude of all registered electrodes. Main results: The correlation between ERP amplitude and scaling exponents of PSD series achieve statistical significance in almost all channels and for all analyzed bands (excepting alpha at C4). In particular, beta and gamma PSD series achieve R2 values above 0.6 for Cz. Meanwhile, the correlation analysis with time-locked PSD achieves a statistically significant relationship with ERP amplitude () but with a coefficient of determination (R2) below 0.2, only for gamma and alpha over the C4 and Pz channels. Significance: The ERP amplitude and scaling exponent of the PSD time series show an anticorrelated behavior, suggesting that larger ERP amplitudes are elicited when the PSD series are less autocorrelated, similar to white noise, further suggesting that the processes involved in the generation of such dynamics could be related to the mechanisms of cognitive responses.

Recognition memory was studied In the normal subjects and patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) using continuous auditory and visual recognition memory tasks and event-related potentials (ERPs). In both auditory and visual tasks, the accuracy of old/new responses for words or faces was decreased in normal elderly subjects and decreases even in patients with PD compared to the normal young subjects. In the auditory task, ERP repetition effects were found in the normal young subjects at lags 0,1 and 6, while no repetition effects were evident for lag 6 repetition in the normal elderly subjects and patients with PD. There was a significant difference in ERP amplitudes for new words between normal elderly subjects and patients with PD. In the visual task, both normal groups showed the ERP repetition effect for lag 0 repetition, while the effect in the PD group was not noted even for the lag 0 repetition. The PD patients showed a more positive ERP amplitude than control subjects. Our data suggest that recognition memory for both auditory and visual stimuli declines in normal advancing age and declines even more in patients with PD. In addition, recognition memory deficits in PD may result, at least partly from the impairment of context integration process.

Electrophysiological basis of reading related phonological impairment in Chinese speakers with schizophrenia: An ERP study

Theory of mind in schizotypy: A behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) study

Event-related potentials (ERPs) provide an exquisite means to measure the extent of processing of external stimuli during the sleep period. This study examines ERPs elicited by stimuli with physical characteristics akin to environmental noise encountered during sleep. Brief duration 40, 60 or 80 dB sound pressure level (SPL) tones were presented either rapidly (on average every two seconds) or slowly (on average every 10 seconds). The rates of presentation and intensity of the stimuli were similar to those observed in environmental studies of noise. ERPs were recorded from nine young adults during sleep and wakefulness. During wakefulness, the amplitude of an early negative ERP, N1, systematically increased as intensity level increased. A later positivity, the P3a, was apparent following the loudest 80 dB stimulus regardless of the rate of stimulus presentation; it was also apparent following the 60 dB stimulus, when stimuli were presented slowly. The appearance of the N1-P3a deflections suggests that operations of the central executive controlling ongoing cognitive activity was interrupted, forcing subjects to become aware of the obtrusive task-irrelevant stimuli. The auditory stimuli elicited very different ERP patterns during sleep. During non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, the ERP was characterized by an enhanced (relative to wakefulness) early positivity, P2, followed by a very prominent negativity, the N350. Both deflections systematically varied in amplitude with stimulus intensity level; in addition, N350 was much larger when stimuli were presented at slow rates. The N350, a sleep-specific ERP, is thought to reflect the inhibition of processing of potentially sleep-disrupting stimulus input. During rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, a small amplitude N1 was apparent in the ERP, but only for the loudest, 80 dB stimulus. A small (nonsignificant) P3a-like deflection was also visible following the 80 dB stimulus, but only when stimuli were presented slowly. The findings of the present study offer, on one hand, an explanation of the means by which consciousness is prevented during sleep but also, on the other hand, an explanation of how sleep can be disrupted and possibly reversed, leading to an awakening.

On the physiology of cognitive decline in type 1 diabetes