Changes In Selective Attention Research Articles

Exercise caution: some methodological and theoretical considerations when examining improvements in attentional selectivity following exercise

ABSTRACT Numerous studies investigating the effects of a given laboratory or field intervention on attentional selectivity have evidenced their (positive) findings with improved performance in the Stroop task. In contrast to conclusions drawn in these studies, the present paper argues that the extent to which this improvement actually reflects an attentional/inhibitory boost is still relatively unknown. To evidence this claim, this paper first delimited conditions under which Stroop performance indicators can directly measure selective attention and its changes. It then assessed the use of these indicators in a specific and exemplary body of translational research investigating the link (correlational or causal) between physical activity/exercise and attentional selectivity with a result that only nine past studies (out of 52) actually used relevant indicators of physical activity/exercise-related changes in selective attention. The narrative review of these nine studies highlighted a substantial gap between what this body of research shows and the conclusions it draws. To mitigate this gap that is likely to concern all types of research aimed at boosting attentional selectivity, the paper also provided practical guidelines to allow future studies employing the Stroop task to draw more theoretically and empirically grounded inferences about the effects of any intervention on attentional selectivity.

Changes in selective attention to articulating mouth across infancy: Sex differences and associations with language outcomes.

Infants' attention to the mouth is thought to support language acquisition, yet this relation has been scantly tested longitudinally. This study assessed attention to the mouth and the eyes at 5.5 (n=91; Polish, 49% females) and 11months, between time-point changes and their associations with language development in infancy (11months) and toddlerhood (24months). Sex differences were also explored. Results showed an age-related increase in looking to the mouth, and the magnitude of this change was associated with productive language, but only in toddlerhood. By contrast, looking to the eyes did not change and its duration at 5.5months correlated with language development at 2years. Exploratory analyses showed that in females but not males, reduced mouth-looking was related to better language outcomes in toddlerhood. Thus, looking to the mouth in infancy likely plays a long-term role in language acquisition and is potentially modulated by participant sex.

A Single Session of SMR-Neurofeedback Training Improves Selective Attention Emerging from a Dynamic Structuring of Brain-Heart Interplay.

Research on sensorimotor rhythms (SMR) based on neurofeedback (NFb) emphasizes improvements in selective attention associated with SMR amplification. However, the long-term training proposed in most studies posed the question of acceptability, which led to the evaluation of the potential of a single NFb session. Based on cognitive and autonomic controls interfering with attention processes, we hypothesized changes in selective attention after a single SMR-NFb session, along with changes in brain–heart interplay, which are reflected in the multifractality of heartbeat dynamics. Here, young healthy participants (n = 35, 20 females, 21 ± 3 years) were randomly assigned either to a control group (Ctrl) watching a movie or to a neurofeedback (NFb) group performing a single session of SMR-NFb. A headset with EEG electrodes (positioned on C3 and C4) connected to a smartphone app served to guide and to evaluate NFb training efficacy. A Stroop task was performed for 8 min by each group before and after the intervention (movie vs. SMR-NFb) while collecting heart rate variability and C4-EEG for 20 min. When compared to Ctrl, the NFb group exhibited better Stroop performance, especially when facing incongruent trials. The multifractality and NFb training efficacy were identified as strong predictors of the gain in global Stroop performance, while multifractality was the only predictor regarding incongruent trials. We conclude that a single session of SMR-NFb improves selective attention in healthy individuals through the specific reorganization of brain–heart interplay, which is reflected in multifractal heartbeat dynamics.

Features of voluntary attention of adult Internet users

The article is devoted to a general problem of digital technologies’ influence on cognitive processes, viz. long-term changes in selective attention of adult Internet users. The study is based on two postulates of a psychologist, Lev Vygotsky: the idea of an indirect structure of cultural functions and a genetic law that determines its decay as a comeback to a simpler organizational level. The study was carried out through a comparative analysis of the voluntary attention of adults who prefer different code systems: traditional printed or modern digital. Conventionally, we divided the participants into 2 groups: the readers (n=50, aged 46.18±6,71, 21 males and 29 females) and the Internet users (n=50, aged 45.38±5,86, 21 males and 29 females). The parameters were estimated via “The arrangement of the numbers” test. As starting points, we took the average results established in the pre-digital era, on one hand; and the indicators of attention of young, active Internet users (to clarify the results of the study, an additional group was comprised), on the other hand. The revealed empirical facts showed that the voluntary attention is significantly better in the group of the readers (p≤0.01). Their indicators are close to the norm of the “pre-digital” people. The indicators of the Internet users are closer to the one of young Internet users, both in accuracy (p≤0.05) and distribution (р>0.05). We suggest positing a significant deterioration of selective attention as a cognitive deformation phenomenon, which is expressed in the regression of higher mental functions to its more primitive levels

The Effect of Feedback on Attention Allocation in Category Learning: An Eye Tracking Study.

It has been suggested that category learning involves changes in attention allocation based on the relevance of input to the classification. Using eye-gaze measures, Rehder and Hoffman studied changes in attention allocation during category learning in a 5–4 category structure paradigm with four features of varying diagnosticity levels. In this paradigm, participants are tasked with classifying creatures into two groups through trial and error guided by feedback. While learners’ eye-gaze patterns have been studied as a function of feature diagnosticity levels throughout the learning process, they have not been evaluated in relation to performance and feedback. The present study borrowed and modified Rehder and Hoffman’s category paradigm and evaluated eye-gaze behavior as a function of the diagnosticity level of features, and the valence (positive vs. negative) of the preceding feedback during learning. Our results support Rehder and Hoffman’s observations that gaze on the low diagnosticity feature decreased from the beginning to the end of the task. When change in eye gaze behavior was evaluated in relation to feedback, change in fixation probability was found to be greater following negative feedback. The results indicate that in a category task that includes performance feedback, learning strategies as indicated by changes in selective attention to features are affected to some degree by the valence of the feedback on a preceding trial.

Effects of combining exercise with long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation on cognitive function in the elderly: a randomised controlled trial

Multifactorial lifestyle intervention is known to be more effective for ameliorating cognitive decline than single factor intervention; however, the effects of combining exercise with long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) on the elderlies' cognitive function remain unclear. We conducted a randomised, single-masked placebo-controlled trial in non-demented elderly Japanese individuals. Participants were randomly allocated to the exercise with LCPUFA, placebo, or no exercise with placebo (control) groups. Participants in the exercise groups performed 150 min of exercise per week, comprised resistance and aerobic training, for 24 weeks with supplements of either LCPUFA (docosahexaenoic acid, 300 mg/day; eicosapentaenoic acid, 100 mg/day; arachidonic acid, 120 mg/day) or placebo. Cognitive functions were evaluated by neuropsychological tests prior to and following the intervention. The per-protocol set analysis (n = 76) revealed no significant differences between the exercise and the control groups in changes of neuropsychological tests. Subgroup analysis for participants with low skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) corresponding to sarcopenia cut-off value showed changes in selective attention, while working memory in the exercise with LCPUFA group was better than in the control group. These findings suggest that exercise with LCPUFA supplementation potentially improves attention and working memory in the elderly with low SMI.

Auditory detection learning is accompanied by plasticity in the auditory evoked potential

Auditory detection can improve with practice. These improvements are often assumed to arise from selective attention processes, but longer-term plasticity as a result of training may also play a role. Here, listeners were trained to detect either an 861-Hz or 1058-Hz tone (counterbalanced across participants) presented in noise at SNRs varying from -10 to -24 dB. On the following day, they were tasked with detecting 861-Hz and 1058-Hz tones at an SNR of -21 dB. In between blocks of this active task, EEG was recorded during passive presentation of trained and untrained frequency tones in quiet. Detection accuracy and confidence ratings were higher for trials at listeners’ trained, than untrained-frequency (i.e., learning occurred). During passive exposure to sounds, the P2 component of the auditory evoked potential (∼150 – 200 ms post tone onset) was larger in amplitude for the trained compared to the untrained frequency. An analysis of global field power similarly yielded a stronger response for trained tones in the P2 time window. These effects were obtained during passive exposure, suggesting that training induced improvements in detection are not solely related to changes in selective attention. Rather, there may be an important role for changes in the long-term neural representations of sounds.

How the visual brain detects emotional changes in facial expressions: Evidence from driven and intrinsic brain oscillations

The processing of facial expressions is often studied using static pictorial cues. Recent work, however, suggests that viewing changing expressions more robustly evokes physiological responses. Here, we examined the sensitivity of steady-state visual evoked potentials and intrinsic oscillatory brain activity to transient emotional changes in facial expressions. Twenty-two participants viewed sequences of grayscale faces periodically turned on and off at a rate of 17.5 Hz, to evoke flicker steady-state visual evoked potentials (ssVEPs) in visual cortex. Each sequence began with a neutral face (flickering for 2290 msec), immediately followed by a face from the same actor (also flickering for 2290 msec) with one of four expressions (happy, angry, fearful, or another neutral expression), followed by the initially presented neutral face (flickering for 1140 msec). The amplitude of the ssVEP and the power of intrinsic brain oscillations were analyzed, comparing the four expression-change conditions. We found a transient perturbation (reduction) of the ssVEP that was more pronounced after the neutral-to-angry change compared to the other conditions, at right posterior sensors. Induced alpha-band (8–13 Hz) power was reduced compared to baseline after each change. This reduction showed a central-occipital topography and was strongest in the subtlest and rarest neutral-to-neutral condition. Thus, the ssVEP indexed involvement of face-sensitive cortical areas in decoding affective expressions, whereas mid-occipital alpha power reduction reflected condition frequency rather than expression-specific processing, consistent with the role of alpha power changes in selective attention.

The redundancy effect in human causal learning: No evidence for changes in selective attention

Several recent papers have reported a difference in associative learning for two kinds of redundant cues, such that a blocked cue (e.g., X in A+ AX+) apparently forms a stronger association with the outcome than an uncorrelated cue (e.g., Y in BY+ CY-). This difference is referred to as the redundancy effect, and is of interest because it is contrary to the predictions of a number of popular learning models. One way of reconciling these models with the redundancy effect is to assume that the amount of attention paid to redundant cues changes as a result of experience, and that these changes in attention influence subsequent learning. Here, we present two experiments designed to evaluate this idea, in which we measured overt attention using an eye tracker while participants completed a learning task that elicited the redundancy effect. In both experiments, gaze duration was longer for uncorrelated cues than for blocked cues, but this difference disappeared when we divided gaze durations by trial durations. In Experiment 2, we failed to observe any difference in gaze duration when blocked and uncorrelated cues were subsequently presented together. While the observed difference in gaze duration for the two types of redundant cue may contribute to differences in learning during initial training, we suggest that the principal causes of the redundancy effect are likely to lie elsewhere.

Differential Contributions of Selective Attention and Sensory Integration to Driving Performance in Healthy Aging and Alzheimer's Disease.

Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) demonstrate deficits in cross-cortical feature binding distinct from age-related changes in selective attention. This may have consequences for driving performance given its demands on multisensory integration. We examined the relationship of visuospatial search and binding to driving in patients with early AD and elderly controls (EC). Participants (42 AD; 37 EC) completed search tasks requiring either luminance-motion (L-M) or color-motion (C-M) binding, analogs of within and across visual processing stream binding, respectively. Standardized road test (RIRT) and naturalistic driving data (CDAS) were collected alongside clinical screening measures. Patients performed worse than controls on most cognitive and driving indices. Visual search and clinical measures were differentially related to driving behavior across groups. L-M search and Trail Making Test (TMT-B) were associated with RIRT performance in controls, while C-M binding, TMT-B errors, and Clock Drawing correlated with CDAS performance in patients. After controlling for demographic and clinical predictors, L-M reaction time significantly predicted RIRT performance in controls. In patients, C-M binding made significant contributions to CDAS above and beyond demographic and clinical predictors. RIRT and C-M binding measures accounted for 51% of variance in CDAS performance in patients. Whereas selective attention is associated with driving behavior in EC, cross-cortical binding appears most sensitive to driving in AD. This latter relationship may emerge only in naturalistic settings, which better reflect patients' driving behavior. Visual integration may offer distinct insights into driving behavior, and thus has important implications for assessing driving competency in early AD. (JINS, 2018, 24, 486-497).

Negative Valence in Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Relationship Between Amygdala Activity, Selective Attention, and Co-occurring Anxiety

BackgroundA critical agenda of the National Institutes of Health Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative is establishing whether domains within the RDoC matrix are truly transdiagnostic. Rates of anxiety disorders are elevated in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but it is unclear whether the same mechanisms contribute to anxiety in individuals with and without ASD. As changes in selective attention are a hallmark of anxiety disorders in non-ASD samples, the identification of these changes in ASD would support the transdiagnostic nature of anxiety. MethodsThis functional magnetic resonance imaging study focused on the negative valence domain from RDoC (manifest as anxiety symptoms) in youth with ASD (n = 38) and typically developing control participants (n = 25). The task required selective attention toward and away from social information (faces) with negative and neutral affect. Participants underwent in-depth characterization for both anxiety and ASD symptoms. ResultsDimensional and categorical measures of anxiety were significantly related to increased amygdala activation—evidence of enhanced attentional capture by social information. ConclusionsThis pattern fits with decades of research among non-ASD samples using selective attention and attentional bias paradigms, suggesting that anxiety in ASD shares mechanisms with anxiety alone. Overall, results from this study support the transdiagnostic nature of the negative valence domain from RDoC and increase the likelihood that anxiety in ASD should be responsive to interventions targeting maladaptive responses to negative information.

How do selective attentional processes contribute to maintenance and recall in children's working memory capacity?

The development of working memory capacity is considered from the perspective of the active maintenance of items in primary memory (PM) and a cue-dependent search component, secondary memory (SM). Using free recall, plus a more novel serial interleaved items task, age-related increases in PM estimates were evident in both paradigms. In addition to this, age-related improvements in attentional selectivity were observed, indexed by the recall of target and non-target information respectively. To further characterize PM, presentation modality was varied in the serial interleaved items task (auditory, visual and dual presentation). Developmental differences were found in the effectiveness of presentation formats. Older children’s recall was enhanced by the combination of labeled visual items and enduring auditory information, whilst the same format was detrimental to younger children’s recall of target information. The present results show how estimates of PM and SM in children relate to the development of working memory capacity, but measurement of these constructs in children is not straightforward. Data also points to age-related changes in selective attention, which in turn contributes to children’s ability to process and maintain information in working memory.

Four minutes of in-class high-intensity interval activity improves selective attention in 9- to 11-year olds.

The amount of time allocated to physical activity in schools is declining. Time-efficient physical activity solutions that demonstrate their impact on academic achievement-related outcomes are needed to prioritize physical activity within the school curricula. "FUNtervals" are 4-min, high-intensity interval activities that use whole-body actions to complement a storyline. The purpose of this study was to (i) explore whether FUNtervals can improve selective attention, an executive function posited to be essential for learning and academic success; and (ii) examine whether this relationship is predicted by students' classroom off-task behaviour. Seven grade 3-5 classes (n = 88) were exposed to a single-group, repeated cross-over design where each student's selective attention was compared between no-activity and FUNtervals days. In week 1, students were familiarized with the d2 test of attention and FUNterval activities, and baseline off-task behaviour was observed. In both weeks 2 and 3 students completed the d2 test of attention following either a FUNterval break or a no-activity break. The order of these breaks was randomized and counterbalanced between weeks. Neither motor nor passive off-task behaviour predicted changes in selective attention following FUNtervals; however, a weak relationship was observed for verbal off-task behaviour and improvements in d2 test performance. More importantly, students made fewer errors during the d2 test following FUNtervals. In supporting the priority of physical activity inclusion within schools, FUNtervals, a time efficient and easily implemented physical activity break, can improve selective attention in 9- to 11-year olds.

How words anchor categorization: conceptual flexibility with labeled and unlabeled categories‡

abstractLabeled categories are learned faster, and are subsequently more robust than categories learned without labels. The label feedback hypothesis (Lupyan, 2012) accounts for these effects by introducing a word-driven top-down modulation of perceptual processes involved in categorization. By testing categorization flexibility with and without labels, we demonstrate the ways in which labels do and do not modulate category representations. In Experiment 1, transfer involved a change in selective attention, and results indicated that labels did not impact relearning. In Experiment 2, when transfer involved a change in the behavioral response to categories whose structures did not change, a reversal shift, learning the categories with labels speeded recovery. We take this finding as evidence that the augmentation of perceptual processes by words is on the one hand fairly weak without explicit reinforcement, but on the other allows for category representations to be more abstract, allowing greater flexibility in behavior.

The Effect of Approach/Avoidance Training on Alcohol Consumption Is Mediated by Change in Alcohol Action Tendency

Training people to respond to alcohol images by making avoidance joystick movements can affect subsequent alcohol consumption, and has shown initial efficacy as a treatment adjunct. However, the mechanisms that underlie the training’s efficacy are unknown. The present study aimed to determine 1) whether the training’s effect is mediated by a change in action tendency or a change in selective attention, and 2) whether the training’s effect is moderated by individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC). Three groups of social drinkers (total N = 74) completed either approach-alcohol training, avoid-alcohol training or a sham-training on the Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT). Participants’ WMC was assessed prior to training, while their alcohol-related action tendency and selective attention were assessed before and after the training on the recently developed Selective-Attention/Action Tendency Task (SA/ATT), before finally completing an alcohol taste-test. There was no significant main effect of approach/avoidance training on alcohol consumption during the taste-test. However, there was a significant indirect effect of training on alcohol consumption mediated by a change in action tendency, but no indirect effect mediated by a change in selective attention. There was inconsistent evidence of WMC moderating training efficacy, with moderation found only for the effect of approach-alcohol training on the AAT but not on the SA/ATT. Thus approach/avoidance training affects alcohol consumption specifically by changing the underlying action tendency. Multiple training sessions may be required in order to observe more substantive changes in drinking behaviour.

The spatiotemporal dynamics of scene gist recognition.

Viewers can rapidly extract a holistic semantic representation of a real-world scene within a single eye fixation, an ability called recognizing the gist of a scene, and operationally defined here as recognizing an image's basic-level scene category. However, it is unknown how scene gist recognition unfolds over both time and space-within a fixation and across the visual field. Thus, in 3 experiments, the current study investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of basic-level scene categorization from central vision to peripheral vision over the time course of the critical first fixation on a novel scene. The method used a window/scotoma paradigm in which images were briefly presented and processing times were varied using visual masking. The results of Experiments 1 and 2 showed that during the first 100 ms of processing, there was an advantage for processing the scene category from central vision, with the relative contributions of peripheral vision increasing thereafter. Experiment 3 tested whether this pattern could be explained by spatiotemporal changes in selective attention. The results showed that manipulating the probability of information being presented centrally or peripherally selectively maintained or eliminated the early central vision advantage. Across the 3 experiments, the results are consistent with a zoom-out hypothesis, in which, during the first fixation on a scene, gist extraction extends from central vision to peripheral vision as covert attention expands outward.

Internet-Based Attention Bias Modification for Social Anxiety: A Randomised Controlled Comparison of Training towards Negative and Training Towards Positive Cues

Biases in attention processes are thought to play a crucial role in the aetiology and maintenance of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). The goal of the present study was to examine the efficacy of a programme intended to train attention towards positive cues and a programme intended to train attention towards negative cues. In a randomised, controlled, double-blind design, the impact of these two training conditions on both selective attention and social anxiety were compared to that of a control training condition. A modified dot probe task was used, and delivered via the internet. A total of 129 individuals, diagnosed with SAD, were randomly assigned to one of these three conditions and took part in a 14-day programme with daily training/control sessions. Participants in all three groups did not on average display an attentional bias prior to the training. Critically, results on change in attention bias implied that significantly differential change in selective attention to threat was not detected in the three conditions. However, symptoms of social anxiety reduced significantly from pre- to follow-up-assessment in all three conditions (dwithin = 0.63–1.24), with the procedure intended to train attention towards threat cues producing, relative to the control condition, a significantly greater reduction of social fears. There were no significant differences in social anxiety outcome between the training condition intended to induce attentional bias towards positive cues and the control condition. To our knowledge, this is the first RCT where a condition intended to induce attention bias to negative cues yielded greater emotional benefits than a control condition. Intriguingly, changes in symptoms are unlikely to be by the mechanism of change in attention processes since there was no change detected in bias per se. Implications of this finding for future research on attention bias modification in social anxiety are discussed.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT01463137

Attention Influences Single Unit and Local Field Potential Response Latencies in Visual Cortical Area V4

Many previous studies have demonstrated that changes in selective attention can alter the response magnitude of visual cortical neurons, but there has been little evidence for attention affecting response latency. Small latency differences, though hard to detect, can potentially be of functional importance, and may also give insight into the mechanisms of neuronal computation. We therefore reexamined the effect of attention on the response latency of both single units and the local field potential (LFP) in primate visual cortical area V4. We find that attention does produce small (1-2 ms) but significant reductions in the latency of both the spiking and LFP responses. Though attention, like contrast elevation, reduces response latencies, we find that the two have different effects on the magnitude of the LFP. Contrast elevations increase and attention decreases the magnitude of the initial deflection of the stimulus-evoked LFP. Both contrast elevation and attention increase the magnitude of the spiking response. We speculate that latencies may be reduced at higher contrast because stronger stimulus inputs drive neurons more rapidly to spiking threshold, while attention may reduce latencies by placing neurons in a more depolarized state closer to threshold before stimulus onset.

Associative blocking to reward-predicting cues is attenuated in ketamine users but can be modulated by images associated with drug use

Blocking is an associative learning process that is attenuated in schizophrenia, can be modulated by cue salience and is accompanied by changes in selective attention. Repeated exposure to ketamine can model aspects of schizophrenia, and frequent users selectively attend to images of the drug. This study aimed to establish whether (1) ketamine users show attenuated blocking to reward-predicting cues and (2) drug cues can modulate blocking and cause overshadowing of neutral cues that are equally predictive of reward in these individuals. Ketamine users (n = 18) and polydrug controls (n = 16) were assessed on the Drug Cue Reward Prediction Error Task, which indexes blocking and overshadowing to neutral and drug-related cues following Pavlovian reward conditioning. Schizotypy, depression, drug history and ketamine dependence were also assessed. Compared to controls, ketamine users showed elevated delusional, schizotypal and depressive symptoms, and a reduction in blocking as evidenced by higher accuracy to blocked cues. Drug-related cues were resistant to blocking and seen as more important for earning money by ketamine users compared to controls. Both groups showed overshadowing of neutral cues by drug cues, and ketamine users gave both of these cues higher importance ratings than controls. These findings provide the first evidence that (1) glutamatergic perturbation is linked to a reduction in blocking and (2) blocking can be modulated by the presence of drug-related cues. The ability of drug cues to bias selective learning about 'alternative rewards' has implications for contingency management based addiction treatments.

Age-Related Changes in Selective Attention in the Very Old: A Bottom-Up or Top-Down Problem? (IN4-2.005)

Age-Related Changes in Selective Attention in the Very Old: A Bottom-Up or Top-Down Problem? (IN4-2.005)