Cognitive Resource Allocation Research Articles

In the eye of the listener: Pupil dilation elucidates discourse processing

The current study investigated cognitive resource allocation in discourse processing by means of pupil dilation and behavioral measures. Short question–answer dialogs were presented to listeners. Either the context question queried a new information focus in the successive answer, or else the context query was corrected in the answer sentence (correction information). The information foci contained in the answer sentences were either adequately highlighted by prosodic means or not. Participants had to judge the adequacy of the focus prosody with respect to the preceding context question. Prosodic judgment accuracy was higher in the conditions bearing adequate focus prosody than in the conditions with inadequate focus prosody. Latency to peak pupil dilation was longer when new information foci were perceived compared to correction foci. Moreover, for the peak dilation, an interaction of focus type and prosody was found. Post hoc statistical tests revealed that prosodically adequate correction focus positions were processed with smaller peak dilation in comparison to all other dialog conditions. Thus, pupil dilation and results of a principal component analysis suggest an interaction of focus type and focus prosody in discourse processing.

Increased "default mode" activity in adolescents prenatally exposed to cocaine.

Prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) is associated with attention/arousal dysregulation and possible inefficiencies in some cognitive functions. However, the neurobiological bases of these teratogenic effects have not been well characterized. Because activities in the default mode network (DMN) reflect intrinsic brain functions that are closely associated with arousal regulation and cognition, alterations in the DMN could underlie cognitive effects related to PCE. With resting-state and task activation functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), this study investigated the possible PCE related changes in functional brain connectivity and brain activation in the DMN. In the resting state, the PCE group was found to have stronger functional connectivity in the DMN, as compared to the nonexposed controls. During a working memory task with emotional distracters, the PCE group exhibited less deactivation in the DMN and their fMRI signal was more increased by emotional arousal. These data revealed additional neural effects related to PCE, and consistent with previous findings, indicate that PCE may affect behavior and functioning by increasing baseline arousal and altering the excitatory/inhibitory balancing mechanisms involved in cognitive resource allocation.

Channel Gain Map Tracking via Distributed Kriging

A collaborative algorithm is developed to estimate the channel gains of wireless links in a geographical area. The spatiotemporal evolution of shadow fading is characterized by judiciously extending an experimentally verified spatial-loss field model. Kriged Kalman filtering (KKF), which is a tool with widely appreciated merits in spatial statistics and geosciences, is adopted and implemented in a distributed fashion to track the time-varying shadowing field using a network of radiometers. The novel distributed KKF requires only local message passing yet achieves a global view of the radio frequency environment through consensus iterations. Numerical tests demonstrate superior tracking accuracy of the collaborative algorithm compared with its noncollaborative counterpart. Furthermore, the efficacy of the global channel gain knowledge obtained is showcased in the context of cognitive radio resource allocation.

Cognitive radio resource allocation based on combined chaotic genetic algorithm

The combined chaotic genetic algorithm for cognitive radio resource allocation is proposed, and corresponding combined chaotic sequence generator is designed. Simulations are conducted by using the combined chaotic genetic algorithm, the particle swarm optimization algorithm, the simulated annealing algorithm, and the simple genetic algorithm, thereby analyzing the multi-users, cognitive radio resource allocation. The results show that the combined chaotic genetic algorithm has advantages of fast convergence rate, vast search space and global convergence. The combined chaotic genetic algorithm has better performance than the other three algorithms in terms of cognitive radio resource allocation, there by reducing the bit error rate and the transmission power consumption of the system. Besides, it also has a faster convergence rate.

Cognitive radio resource allocation based on coupled chaotic genetic algorithm

A coupled chaotic genetic algorithm for cognitive radio resource allocation which is based on genetic algorithm and coupled Logistic map is proposed. A fitness function for cognitive radio resource allocation is provided. Simulations are conducted for cognitive radio resource allocation by using the coupled chaotic genetic algorithm, simple genetic algorithm and dynamic allocation algorithm respectively. The simulation results show that, compared with simple genetic and dynamic allocation algorithm, coupled chaotic genetic algorithm reduces the total transmission power and bit error rate in cognitive radio system, and has faster convergence speed.

ATTENTIONAL AND CONFUSIONAL STATES

The term attention refers to the preferential allocation of cognitive and neural resources to events that have become behaviorally relevant. Attention is modulated by the bottom-up influence of the ascending reticular activating system and the top-down influence of association and limbic cortices. Focal lesions that interfere with the bottom-up or top-down regulation of attention, or multifocal partial lesions that interrupt multiple domain-specific processing pathways, can disrupt the attentional matrix and give rise to the acute confusional state syndrome.

Cognitive resource allocation for neural activity underlying mathematical cognition: a multi-method study

Mathematical cognition requires the allocation of computation resources, where math-specific computations are assumed to take place in the parietal cortex and math-supportive computations in the frontal cortex. Because the pupil dilation has a higher temporal resolution than functional MRI (fMRI), the study investigated to which extent the pupil dilation can help to identify cognitive resource allocation for neural activity underlying math-specific and math-supportive cognition. Combining pupillometry and event-related fMRI, we administered a multiplication verification paradigm to 15 healthy participants asking them to solve easy, moderate, and difficult multiplication tasks. The results revealed that (1) behavioral and pupil dilation data increased parametrically with task difficulty; (2) mental multiplication with increasing difficulty recruited a fronto-parietal circuit comprising left pre-supplementary motor area, left precentral gyrus, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and bilateral intraparietal sulcus (IPS); and (3) pupil dilation was sensitive to cognitive resource allocation for neural activity underlying math-specific cognition in the bilateral IPS, implicating a strong reliance on numerical quantity processing during multiplication. In conclusion, the pupil dilation could be used in mathematics education as an easily acquired peripheral physiological indicator (without relying on fMRI) that might lead to a better understanding of dynamical changes in learning arithmetic abilities as a function of training, experience, and development. On a broader level, its application allows to obtain useful insights into learning disabilities such as dyscalculia, and further improve rehabilitation programs with appropriate intervention structures.

Hostile attribution biases for relationally provocative situations and event-related potentials

This exploratory study investigates how hostile attribution biases for relationally provocative situations may be related to neurocognitive processing using the P300 event-related potential. Participants were 112 (45 women) emerging adults enrolled in a large, public university in upstate New York. Participants completed self-report measures on relational aggression and hostile attribution biases and performed an auditory perseveration task to elicit the P300. It was found that hostile attribution biases for relational provocation situations was associated with a larger P300 amplitude above and beyond the role of hostile attribution biases for instrumental situations, relational aggression, and gender. Larger P300 amplitude is interpreted to reflect greater allocation of cognitive resources or enhanced “attending” to salient stimuli. Implications for methodological approaches to studying aggression and hostile attribution biases and for theory are discussed, as well as implications for the fields of developmental psychology and psychopathology.

When Words Collide Online: How Writing Style and Video Intensity Affect Cognitive Processing of Online News

This experiment explored how the writing style of online news, defined as inverted pyramid versus narrative, affects the cognitive processing of accompanying video clips. Forty seven participants read 4 online news stories and viewed the accompanying video clips. Results suggested that reading inverted pyramid stories may require allocation of more cognitive resources to encoding a related video clip. Recognition for story details was more accurate for stories in narrative than inverted pyramid style. Results are discussed in terms of a distinction between cognitive processing involved in “getting there” versus “being there” during exposure to online news.

Smoking Reduces Conflict-Related Anterior Cingulate Activity in Abstinent Cigarette Smokers Performing a Stroop Task

Prior research suggests that abrupt initiation of abstinence from cigarette smoking reduces neural cognitive efficiency. When cognitive efficiency is high, processing speed and accuracy are maximized with minimal allocation of cognitive resources. The study presented here tested the effects of resumption of smoking on cognitive response conflict after overnight abstinence from smoking, hypothesizing that smoking would enhance cognitive efficiency. Twenty paid research volunteers who were chronic cigarette smokers abstained from smoking overnight (>12 h) before undergoing fMRI while performing a color-word Stroop task during two separate test sessions: one that did not include smoking before testing and another one that did. Statistical analyses were performed by modeling the Stroop effect (incongruent >congruent) BOLD response within a collection of a priori regions of interest that have consistently been associated with cognitive control. Behavioral assessment alone did not reveal any significant differences in the Stroop effect between the two sessions. BOLD activations, however, indicated that in the right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), smokers had significantly less task-related activity following smoking (p<0.02). In contrast, the right middle frontal gyrus exhibited significantly greater activity after smoking as compared to the no-smoking session (p<0.003). Exaggerated neural activity in the ACC during nicotine withdrawal may reflect a compensatory mechanism by which cognitive control networks expend excessive energy to support selective attention processes. Resumption of smoking may enhance cognitive control in smokers, involving a reduction in ACC response conflict activity together with improvement in conflict resolution involving the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

Rumination and impaired resource allocation in depression.

Depression is characterized by a range of cognitive deficits that theorists posit are due to the resource capturing properties of rumination. The present study was designed to examine the relation between rumination and resource allocation in depression. Twenty-five depressed and 25 nondepressed participants completed a modified dual-task version of the recency-probes task, which assesses the controlled allocation of cognitive resources by comparing performance across low- and high-interference conditions. In low-interference conditions, participants performed either the recency-probes task or a tracking task, which required participants to track specific stimuli across trials (i.e., no dual-task interference). In the high-interference condition, participants performed both the recency-probes task and the tracking task, which required the controlled allocation of resources to resolve dual-task interference. Depressed participants performed significantly worse than did their nondepressed counterparts in only the high-interference condition; performance of the 2 groups was comparable in the low-interference conditions. Furthermore, the degree to which depressed participants were impaired in the high-interference condition was correlated .74 with rumination. These findings suggest that an association between rumination and impairments in resource allocation underlies the cognitive difficulties experienced by depressed individuals.

Resource allocation and fluid intelligence: Insights from pupillometry

Thinking is biological work and involves the allocation of cognitive resources. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of fluid intelligence on the allocation of cognitive resources while one is processing low-level and high-level cognitive tasks. Individuals with high versus average fluid intelligence performed low-level choice reaction time tasks and high-level geometric analogy tasks. We combined behavioral measures to examine speed and accuracy of processing with pupillary measures that indicate resource allocation. Individuals with high fluid intelligence processed the low-level choice reaction time tasks faster than normal controls. The task-evoked pupillary responses did not differ between groups. Furthermore, individuals with high fluid intelligence processed the high-level geometric analogies faster, more accurately, and showed greater pupil dilations than normal controls. This was only true, however, for the most difficult analogy tasks. In addition, individuals with high fluid intelligence showed greater preexperimental pupil baseline diameters than normal controls. These results indicate that individuals with high fluid intelligence have more resources available and thus can solve more demanding tasks. Moreover, high fluid intelligence appears to be accompanied by more task-free exploration.

Lesion neuroanatomy of the Sustained Attention to Response task

The Sustained Attention to Response task is a classical neuropsychological test that has been used by many centres to characterize the attentional deficits in traumatic brain injury, ADHD, autism and other disorders. During the SART a random series of digits 1-9 is presented repeatedly and subjects have to respond to each digit (go trial) except the digit '3' (no-go trial). Using voxel-based lesion symptom mapping (VLSM) in a consecutive series of 44 ischemic unifocal non-lacunar hemispheric stroke patients we determined the neuroanatomy of 4 SART parameters: commission and omission error rate, reaction time variability and post-error slowing. Lesions of the right inferior frontal gyrus significantly increased commission error rate. Lesions of the middle third of the right inferior frontal sulcus (IFS) reduced post-error slowing, a measure of how well subjects can utilize errors to adjust cognitive resource allocation. Omissions and reaction time variability had less localising value in our sample. To conclude, commission errors and post-error slowing in the SART mainly probe right inferior frontal integrity.

The Influence of Responsibility on the Regret Intensity: An ERP Study

Regret is defined as an emotion that occurs when the outcome is worse than it could have been had one made a different choice. Its neural mechanism has become a hot area in social cognitive neuroscience. The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) has been shown to play a key role in the experience of regret. Researchers propose that regret feeling and activities of OFC could be influenced by the degree of responsibility in choice process. Prior behavioral research indicated that responsibility influenced the regret feeling about incorrect decisions. But to date the relationship between responsibility magnitude and regret intensity has not been explored. Whether an individual would experience gradually augmented regret as a result of the increment of responsibility is the core question in our study. The responsibility level is the main independent factor in the current experiment. According to the theory of responsibility diffusion, the levels of responsibility could be manipulated by the number of people responsible for an incorrect choice on a trial-by-trial basis. The more individuals shall make a decision, the weaker sense of responsibility they would feel. We also intend to explore this effect by investigating temporal process, brain activities, as well as self-reported ratings. Thus, the special components of ERPs, including fERN and P300, were measured in a gamble task fulfilled by three participants together. We hypothesized that the amplitudes of fERN would be significantly different between the condition of taking responsibility alone and the other conditions. An ERP experiment with 15 undergraduates (8 males, 7 females) was conducted to test the hypothesis. The result of each trial was displayed by an equilateral triangle. There were three levels of responsibility: 1(the participant made the wrong choice by his/her own); 1/2 (the participant and one of the collaborators made the wrong choice); 1/3 (all three participants made the wrong choice). Participants' event-related potential data during the presence of the triangle, as well as the self-reported ratings were analyzed off-line. The fERN was calculated as the voltage difference between the most negative peak between 250-350ms and the preceding positive peak after the appearance of feedback, while the amplitude of P300 was calculated as the mean amplitude between 350-550ms. The brain electrical source analysis technique (BESA) was also conducted to estimate the dipole sources of fERN and P300. Participants' sense of responsibility was much higher in the wrong choice alone condition than the other conditions and the evaluation of counterfactual thinking became higher as the magnitude of responsibility went larger. The amplitude of fERN was distinctively larger in the wrong choice alone condition than the other conditions, indicating that binary evaluation was also influenced by top-down modulations. On the other hand, the P300 amplitude was inversely related to the number of people responsible for an incorrect choice. This is consistent with the notion that their personal accountability for the consequences of a choice influences the allocation of attentional and cognitive resources to the task. Sourcing analysis showed that fERN might be generated from brain regions near the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and right sub-gyral, while the P300 was related to the precuneus and medial frontal gyrus. The result confirms our hypothesis that increment of responsibility leads to stronger regret feelings. It also implies that error-related processing could be modulated by responsibility magnitude, which in turn regulates feelings of post-decision regret.

Individual differences in some (but not all) medial prefrontal regions reflect cognitive demand while regulating unpleasant emotion

The present study investigated the premise that individual differences in autonomic physiology could be used to specify the nature and consequences of information processing taking place in medial prefrontal regions during cognitive reappraisal of unpleasant pictures. Neural (blood oxygenation level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging) and autonomic (electrodermal [EDA], pupil diameter, cardiac acceleration) signals were recorded simultaneously as twenty-six older people (ages 64–66 years) used reappraisal to increase, maintain, or decrease their responses to unpleasant pictures. EDA was higher when increasing and lower when decreasing compared to maintaining. This suggested modulation of emotional arousal by reappraisal. By contrast, pupil diameter and cardiac acceleration were higher when increasing and decreasing compared to maintaining. This suggested modulation of cognitive demand. Importantly, reappraisal-related activation (increase, decrease>maintain) in two medial prefrontal regions (dorsal medial frontal gyrus and dorsal cingulate gyrus) was correlated with greater cardiac acceleration (increase, decrease>maintain) and monotonic changes in EDA (increase>maintain>decrease). These data indicate that these two medial prefrontal regions are involved in the allocation of cognitive resources to regulate unpleasant emotion, and that they modulate emotional arousal in accordance with the regulatory goal. The emotional arousal effects were mediated by the right amygdala. Reappraisal-related activation in a third medial prefrontal region (subgenual anterior cingulate cortex) was not associated with similar patterns of change in any of the autonomic measures, thus highlighting regional specificity in the degree to which cognitive demand is reflected in medial prefrontal activation during reappraisal.

99 Increased Allocation of Cognitive Resources for Selective Attention in IBS Patients

99 Increased Allocation of Cognitive Resources for Selective Attention in IBS Patients

Reward-Dependent Modulation of Working Memory in Lateral Prefrontal Cortex

Although research implicates lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) in executive control and goal-directed behavior, it remains unclear how goals influence executive processes. One possibility is that goal-relevant information, such as expected rewards, could modulate the representation of information relating to executive control, thereby ensuring the efficient allocation of cognitive resources. To investigate this, we examined how reward modulated spatial working memory. Past studies investigating spatial working memory have focused on dorsolateral PFC, but this area only weakly connects with areas processing reward. Ventrolateral PFC has better connections in this regard. Thus, we contrasted the functional properties of single neurons in ventrolateral and dorsolateral PFC as two subjects performed a task that required them to hold spatial information in working memory under different expectancies of reward for correct performance. We balanced the order of presentation of spatial and reward information so we could assess the neuronal encoding of the two pieces of information independently and conjointly. Neurons in ventrolateral PFC encoded both spatial and reward information earlier, stronger and in a more sustained manner than neurons in dorsolateral PFC. Within ventrolateral PFC, spatial selectivity was more prevalent on the inferior convexity than within the principal sulcus. Finally, when reward increased spatial selectivity, behavioral performance improved, whereas when reward decreased spatial selectivity, behavioral performance deteriorated. These results suggest that ventrolateral PFC may be a locus whereby information about expected rewards can modulate information in working memory. The pattern of results is consistent with a role for ventrolateral PFC in attentional control.

Memory for images intense enough to draw an administration's attention: Television and the “war on terror”

In the recent United States-led "war on terror," including ongoing engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan, news organizations have been accused of showing a negative view of developments on the ground. In particular, news depictions of casualties have brought accusations of anti-Americanism and aiding and abetting the terrorists' cause. In this study, video footage of war from television news stories was manipulated to investigate the effects of negative compelling images on cognitive resource allocation, physiological arousal, and recognition memory. Results of a within-subjects experiment indicate that negatively valenced depictions of casualties and destruction elicit greater attention and physiological arousal than positive and low-intensity images. Recognition memory for visual information in the graphic negative news condition was highest, whereas audio recognition for this condition was lowest. The results suggest that negative, high-intensity video imagery diverts cognitive resources away from the encoding of verbal information in the newscast, positioning visual images and not the spoken narrative as a primary channel of viewer learning.

The Attentional Blink Reveals Serial Working Memory Encoding: Evidence from Virtual and Human Event-related Potentials

Observers often miss a second target (T2) if it follows an identified first target item (T1) within half a second in rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP), a finding termed the attentional blink. If two targets are presented in immediate succession, however, accuracy is excellent (Lag 1 sparing). The resource sharing hypothesis proposes a dynamic distribution of resources over a time span of up to 600 msec during the attentional blink. In contrast, the ST(2) model argues that working memory encoding is serial during the attentional blink and that, due to joint consolidation, Lag 1 is the only case where resources are shared. Experiment 1 investigates the P3 ERP component evoked by targets in RSVP. The results suggest that, in this context, P3 amplitude is an indication of bottom-up strength rather than a measure of cognitive resource allocation. Experiment 2, employing a two-target paradigm, suggests that T1 consolidation is not affected by the presentation of T2 during the attentional blink. However, if targets are presented in immediate succession (Lag 1 sparing), they are jointly encoded into working memory. We use the ST(2) model's neural network implementation, which replicates a range of behavioral results related to the attentional blink, to generate "virtual ERPs" by summing across activation traces. We compare virtual to human ERPs and show how the results suggest a serial nature of working memory encoding as implied by the ST(2) model.

Statistical decision theory and the allocation of cognitive resources in multiple object tracking

Event Abstract Back to Event Statistical decision theory and the allocation of cognitive resources in multiple object tracking Multiple object tracking (MOT) is a common task used to investigate the limitations on human visual attention. However, the nature of these limitations is still unclear. In the current study, we define an ideal observer for the multiple object tracking task and test hypotheses about human limitations based on the correspondence between human performance and the observer's performance. Because the agent optimally allocates its resources, this approach allows us to estimate what resources limit human performance in MOT without making additional heuristic assumptions. MOT is computationally identical to an 'aircraft tracking' problem. Our ideal observer model observes the initial locations and labels of some number of objects, and then obtains unlabeled measurements for a series of time-steps. Its goal is to solve the correspondence problem at each time-step, determining which object label generated which observation. We implemented an online solution to this problem using a Rao-Blackwellized particle filter. Unmodified, this ideal observer was able to solve MOT tasks substantially better than humans, but it still showed many commonly observed phenomena in human MOT. For example, tracking performance suffered as object speed increased, as the number of objects in the display increased, and as the unpredictability of the object trajectories increased. However, the unmodified model did not match another phenomenon: the tradeoff between the number of targets that human observers can track and the speed of the targets. Fitting this phenomenon requires that some limit on the MOT system be allocated flexibly. We tested three potential limits on our optimal algorithm (based loosely on the literature on human MOT): 1)Limited computation. Perhaps a central processing bottleneck dictates that only some number of object state estimates may be updated within a certain amount of time. A limit on the computational resources necessary for inference in the model (e.g. by limiting the number of particles available in the particle filter) is analogous to this type of limit on state updates. 2)Limited measurement fidelity. 'Attention' is hypothesized to improve the precision of observation. Thus, a limit on measurement fidelity is analogous to hypothesizing a fixed amount of 'attention' which may be distributed across the visual field. 3)Limited memory fidelity. Most attention tasks also require some component of working memory storage. Thus, limiting the precision with which state estimates propagate through time amounts to imposing a storage limit in working memory. Our results suggest that limiting measurement fidelity or memory fidelity (but not limiting computation) produced a pattern of performance in our ideal observer corresponding to the speed/number of objects tradeoff. However, the potential increase in measurement precision due to 'attention' required to match human data is far larger than that observed in human experiments. Thus, only limitations on memory fidelity may be considered a viable candidate for the restriction on human performance. We conclude that human MOT performance is limited by the fidelity with which state estimates are stored and propagated through time: working memory. Time permitting, we will also discuss new evidence reflecting the flexibility of human resource allocation. Conference: Computational and systems neuroscience 2009, Salt Lake City, UT, United States, 26 Feb - 3 Mar, 2009. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Oral Presentations Citation: (2009). Statistical decision theory and the allocation of cognitive resources in multiple object tracking. Front. Syst. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: Computational and systems neuroscience 2009. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.06.2009.03.232 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 03 Feb 2009; Published Online: 03 Feb 2009. Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Google Google Scholar PubMed Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.