Cognitive Neuroscience Methods Research Articles

Understanding Human Cognition Through Computational Modeling.

One important goal of cognitive science is to understand the mind in terms of its representational and computational capacities, where computational modeling plays an essential role in providing theoretical explanations and predictions of human behavior and mental phenomena. In my research, I have been using computational modeling, together with behavioral experiments and cognitive neuroscience methods, to investigate the information processing mechanisms underlying learning and visual cognition in terms of perceptual representation and attention strategy. In perceptual representation, I have used neural network models to understand how the split architecture in the human visual system influences visual cognition, and to examine perceptual representation development as the results of expertise. In attention strategy, I have developed the Eye Movement analysis with Hidden Markov Models method for quantifying eye movement pattern and consistency using both spatial and temporal information, which has led to novel findings across disciplines not discoverable using traditional methods. By integrating it with deep neural networks (DNN), I have developed DNN+HMM to account for eye movement strategy learning in human visual cognition. The understanding of the human mind through computational modeling also facilitates research on artificial intelligence's (AI) comparability with human cognition, which can in turn help explainable AI systems infer humans' belief on AI's operations and provide human-centered explanations to enhance human-AI interaction and mutual understanding. Together, these demonstrate the essential role of computational modeling methods in providing theoretical accounts of the human mind as well as its interaction with its environment and AI systems.

The convergence of naturalistic paradigms and cognitive neuroscience methods to investigate memory and its development

Studies that involve lab-based stimuli (e.g., words, pictures) are fundamental in the memory literature. At the same time, there is growing acknowledgment that memory processes assessed in the lab may not be analogous to how memory operates in the real world. Naturalistic paradigms can bridge this gap and over the decades a growing proportion of memory research has involved more naturalistic events. However, there is significant variation in the types of naturalistic studies used to study memory and its development, each with various advantages and limitations. Further, there are notable gaps in how often different types of naturalistic approaches have been combined with cognitive neuroscience methods (e.g., fMRI, EEG) to elucidate the neural processes and substrates involved in memory encoding and retrieval in the real world. Here we summarize and discuss what we identify as progressively more naturalistic methodologies used in the memory literature (movie, virtual reality, staged-events inside and outside of the lab, photo-taking, and naturally occurring event studies). Our goal is to describe each approach’s benefits (e.g., naturalistic quality, feasibility), limitations (e.g., viability of neuroimaging method for event encoding versus event retrieval), and discuss possible future directions with each approach. We focus on child studies, when available, but also highlight past adult studies. Although there is a growing body of child memory research, naturalistic approaches combined with cognitive neuroscience methodologies in this domain remain sparse. Overall, this viewpoint article reviews how we can study memory through the lens of developmental cognitive neuroscience, while utilizing naturalistic and real-world events.

Research on the Aesthetic Value of Piano Playing Art Based on Multiple Intelligences Theory

Abstract In this study, a new exploration of a classic problem in the field of music aesthetics was carried out through the research methods of cognitive neuroscience and the brain mechanism of the formation of artistic aesthetic value in piano performance based on the theory of multiple intelligences was analyzed. In terms of EEG signal preprocessing, an EEG signal preprocessing method based on baseline average was proposed. In terms of EEG feature extraction, a decision-level feature fusion method is proposed, which uses SVM as the base classifier to extract time-domain, frequency-domain and nonlinear features, respectively, train the base classifier, and integrate the output of multiple basic classifiers through decision fusion. A feature fusion method based on music and ERP was also proposed to predict the response of subjects after listening to a piano performance. Based on DS evidence theory, emotion recognition and classification were carried out using EEG and music features from the perspective of decision-making level fusion. The results showed that piano performance mainly activated the left inferior frontal gyrus, right precentral gyrus, left auxiliary motor area, right superior parietal gyrus, cerebellar Crus1 area, right lingual gyrus and left inferior occipital gyrus, with peak t values of 4.67, 4.8, 5.76, 5.16, 7.02, 7.12 and 8.3, respectively. The activation of auxiliary motor areas, cerebellum, inferior frontal gyrus and other areas indicates that the artistic beauty felt by listening to piano performance can enhance people’s creativity, and the activation of the right superior occipital gyrus can enhance people’s imagination.

Children and overtourism: a cognitive neuroscience experiment to reflect on exposure and behavioural consequences

As tourism research has paid limited attention to children, this study investigates children’s reactions to tourism development, focusing on their unique viewpoints on the World Heritage Site of Dubrovnik, Croatia. It employed cognitive neuroscience methods with 397 participants, revealing that, despite their preference for sustainable tourism scenarios, children exhibit a notable fixation on images emblematic of overtourism and associated challenges, particularly overcrowding. When exposed to sustainable tourism photographs, there was an observable increase in physiological arousal, albeit not as pronounced as when confronted with an overtourism scenario. Intriguingly, regardless of the scenario, children predominantly expressed neutral emotions. Within the sustainable tourism context, gender differences manifest as girls exhibiting lower levels of place attachment. Furthermore, inner-city residents exhibit diminished levels of nature connectedness, and emotions are indirectly linked to nature connectedness, place attachment, or pro-environmental behaviour. Conversely, in the unsustainable scenario, older children and inner-city residents exhibited a heightened sense of neutrality towards overtourism-related concerns, whereas those outside the inner city displayed a stronger affinity for nature connectedness. Positive emotions were negatively associated with nature connectedness and pro-environmental behaviour but positively associated with place attachment. Accordingly, this study advocates a more inclusive and sustainable future through children’s empowerment in tourism development.

Special Subsection Afterword: ESP Research and Cognitive Neuroscience: Possibly Incompatible - But Methodologically Complementary

This commentary considers the fields of extrasensory perception (ESP) research and cognitive neuroscience, discussing points of conflict and domains where they may be complementary. ESP research challenges the assumption in cognitive neuroscience that the mind is the product of known physical processes in the brain. Cognitive neuroscience methods and tools applied to ESP research could benefit and bridge the gap between the two fields. Firstly, concurrently studying subjective experiences and neural activity during ESP tasks would allow us to better characterize subjective states typically associated with ESP. Secondly, similarities between mind-wandering and free-response ESP experimental designs allow us to speculate on the potential implication of the default-mode network during the percipient’s experience. Finally, tools developed in computational neurolinguistics and natural language processing may become valuable to automatize judging procedures in free-response ESP paradigms such as remote viewing. Despite potentially incompatible assumptions about the mind and the brain, ESP research can gain new insights from cognitive neuroscience methods and approaches and can contribute in its own way to the study of human subjective experiences and cognition.

A virtual reality paradigm with dynamic scene stimuli for use in memory research.

Episodic memory may essentially be memory for one's place within a temporally unfolding scene from a first-person perspective. Given this, pervasively used static stimuli may only capture one small part of episodic memory. A promising approach for advancing the study of episodic memory is immersing participants within varying scenes from a first-person perspective. We present a pool of distinct scene stimuli for use in virtual environments and a paradigm that is implementable across varying levels of immersion on multiple virtual reality (VR) platforms and adaptable to studying various aspects of scene and episodic memory. In our task, participants are placed within a series of virtual environments from a first-person perspective and guided through a virtual tour of scenes during a study phase and a test phase. In the test phase, some scenes share a spatial layout with studied scenes; others are completely novel. In three experiments with varying degrees of immersion, we measure scene recall, scene familiarity-detection during recall failure, the subjective experience of déjà vu, the ability to predict the next turn on a tour, the subjective sense of being able to predict the next turn on a tour, and the factors that influence memory search and the inclination to generate candidate recollective information. The level of first-person immersion mattered to multiple facets of episodic memory. The paradigm presents a useful means of advancing mechanistic understanding of how memory operates in realistic dynamic scene environments, including in combination with cognitive neuroscience methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging and electrophysiology.

Neurophysiological mechanisms of cognition in the developing brain: Insights from intracranial EEG studies

The quest to understand how the development of the brain supports the development of complex cognitive functions is fueled by advances in cognitive neuroscience methods. Intracranial EEG (iEEG) recorded directly from the developing human brain provides unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution for mapping the neurophysiological mechanisms supporting cognitive development. In this paper, we focus on episodic memory, the ability to remember detailed information about past experiences, which improves from childhood into adulthood. We review memory effects based on broadband spectral power and emphasize the importance of isolating narrowband oscillations from broadband activity to determine mechanisms of neural coordination within and between brain regions. We then review evidence of developmental variability in neural oscillations and present emerging evidence linking the development of neural oscillations to the development of memory. We conclude by proposing that the development of oscillations increases the precision of neural coordination and may be an essential factor underlying memory development. More broadly, we demonstrate how recording neural activity directly from the developing brain holds immense potential to advance our understanding of cognitive development.

Argue Position on Whether Aesthetic Experience can be Scientifically Measured

Whether aesthetic experience can be scientifically measured has always been a controversial topic. In the field of cognitive neuroscience, researchers are more convinced that aesthetic experience can be scientifically measured. This paper first analyses the view that aesthetic experience cannot be measured scientifically and presents arguments against it. Then it goes further to demonstrate why this paper argues that aesthetic experience can be measured scientifically by drawing on the theories and research methods of cognitive neuroscience.

The influence of error detection and error significance on neural and behavioral correlates of error processing in a complex choice task

Error detection and error significance form essential mechanisms that influence error processing and action adaptation. Error detection often is assessed by an immediate self-evaluation of accuracy. Our study used cognitive neuroscience methods to elucidate whether self-evaluation itself influences error processing by increasing error significance in the context of a complex response selection process. In a novel eight-alternative response task, our participants responded to eight symbol stimuli with eight different response keys and a specific stimulus-response assignment. In the first part of the experiment, the participants merely performed the task. In the second part, they also evaluated their response accuracy on each trial. We replicated variations in early and later stages of error processing and action adaptation as a function of error detection. The additional self-evaluation enhanced error processing on later stages, probably reflecting error evidence accumulation, whereas earlier error monitoring processes were not amplified. Implementing multivariate pattern analysis revealed that self-evaluation influenced brain activity patterns preceding and following the response onset, independent of response accuracy. The classifier successfully differentiated between responses from the self- and the no-self-evaluation condition several hundred milliseconds before response onset. Subsequent exploratory analyses indicated that both self-evaluation and the time on task contributed to these differences in brain activity patterns. This suggests that in addition to its effect on error processing, self-evaluation in a complex choice task seems to have an influence on early and general processing mechanisms (e.g., the quality of attention and stimulus encoding), which is amplified by the time on task.

Effectiveness of Electricity-Saving Communication Campaigns: Neurophysiological Approach

Public communication campaigns are among the tools for promoting electricity saving. A crucial task in the process of creating a campaign is to design a simple message to effectively reach the average consumer. It is a beneficial practice to create alternative messages and pretest them to find the most effective. The research methodology during pretesting includes both quantitative and qualitative methods. However, it is believed that the outcomes obtained with the use of conventional techniques are not fully reliable. Therefore, the following question arises: What additional research methods should be applied at the stage of testing the message of a communication campaign so that its effectiveness can be assessed more reliably and/or improved even before its broadcast? In this study, we aim to present the possibility of applying cognitive neuroscience methods in conjunction with a questionnaire to experimentally check the effectiveness of the message using the example of selected electricity-saving communication campaigns. The key results of this study indicate that merging conscious and subconscious reactions to media messages allows us to gain new knowledge that can be used in the future to improve the communication campaign effectiveness. Our investigation showed the benefits that can be obtained by synergizing traditional research methods with neuroscientific approaches.

Neural variability fingerprint predicts individuals’ information security violation intentions

As the weakest links in information security defense are the individuals in an organizations, it is important to understand their information security behaviors. In the current study, we tested whether the neural variability pattern could predict an individual's intention to engage in information security violations. Because cognitive neuroscience methods can provide a new perspective into psychological processes without common methodological biases or social desirability, we combined an adapted version of the information security paradigm (ISP) with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology. While completing an adapted ISP task, participants underwent an fMRI scan. We adopted a machine learning method to build a neural variability predictive model. Consistent with previous studies, we found that people were more likely to take actions under neutral conditions than in minor violation contexts and major violation contexts. Moreover, the neural variability predictive model, including nodes within the task control, default mode, visual, salience and attention networks, can predict information security violation intentions. These results illustrate the predictive value of neural variability for information security violations and provide a new perspective for combining ISP with the fMRI technique to explore a neural predictive model of information security violation intention.

The bright side and dark side of daydreaming predict creativity together through brain functional connectivity.

Daydreaming and creativity have similar cognitive processes and neural basis. However, few empirical studies have examined the relationship between daydreaming and creativity using cognitive neuroscience methods. The present study explored the relationship between different types of daydreaming and creativity and their common neural basis. The behavioral results revealed that positive constructive daydreaming is positively related to creativity, while poor attentional control is negatively related to it. Machine learning framework was adopted to examine the predictive effect of daydreaming‐related brain functional connectivity (FC) on creativity. The results demonstrated that task FCs related to positive constructive daydreaming and task FCs related to poor attentional control both predicted an individual's creativity score successfully. In addition, task FCs combining the positive constructive daydreaming and poor attentional control also had significant predictive effect on creativity score. Furthermore, predictive analysis based on resting‐state FCs showed similar patterns. Both of the subscale‐related FCs and combined FCs had significant predictive effect on creativity score. Further analysis showed the task and the resting‐state FCs both mainly located in the default mode network, central executive network, salience network, and attention network. These results showed that daydreaming was closely related to creativity, as they shared common FC basis.

The neuroscience of advanced scientific concepts

Cognitive neuroscience methods can identify the fMRI-measured neural representation of familiar individual concepts, such as apple, and decompose them into meaningful neural and semantic components. This approach was applied here to determine the neural representations and underlying dimensions of representation of far more abstract physics concepts related to matter and energy, such as fermion and dark matter, in the brains of 10 Carnegie Mellon physics faculty members who thought about the main properties of each of the concepts. One novel dimension coded the measurability vs. immeasurability of a concept. Another novel dimension of representation evoked particularly by post-classical concepts was associated with four types of cognitive processes, each linked to particular brain regions: (1) Reasoning about intangibles, taking into account their separation from direct experience and observability; (2) Assessing consilience with other, firmer knowledge; (3) Causal reasoning about relations that are not apparent or observable; and (4) Knowledge management of a large knowledge organization consisting of a multi-level structure of other concepts. Two other underlying dimensions, previously found in physics students, periodicity, and mathematical formulation, were also present in this faculty sample. The data were analyzed using factor analysis of stably responding voxels, a Gaussian-naïve Bayes machine-learning classification of the activation patterns associated with each concept, and a regression model that predicted activation patterns associated with each concept based on independent ratings of the dimensions of the concepts. The findings indicate that the human brain systematically organizes novel scientific concepts in terms of new dimensions of neural representation.

Symposium Title: Innovative Brain Recording Methods in Cognitive and Social Neuroscience

Symposium Title: Innovative Brain Recording Methods in Cognitive and Social Neuroscience

Multivariate pattern analysis and the search for neural representations

Multivariate pattern analysis, or MVPA, has become one of the most popular analytic methods in cognitive neuroscience. Since its inception, MVPA has been heralded as offering much more than regular univariate analyses, for—we are told—it not only can tell us which brain regions are engaged while processing particular stimuli, but also which patterns of neural activity represent the categories the stimuli are selected from. We disagree, and in the current paper we offer four conceptual challenges to the use of MVPA to make claims about neural representation. Our view is that the use of MVPA to make claims about neural representation is problematic.

Neural underpinnings of co-speech gesture perception in schizophrenia: A review

Impaired communication is one of the key features of schizophrenia. Therefore, an investigation of the disease’s nature calls for a better understanding of the neural underpinnings of not only verbal communication but also the lesser-studied non-verbal communication. Spontaneous gestures accompanying oral speech are one of the most important channels for the transmission of non-verbal information. Poor gesture performance in schizophrenia is well documented, but data on the relevant neurophysiological and neuroanatomical aberrations have been obtained only recently. Compared to gesture performance, the perception of gestures provides more opportunities for neurophysiological study, as it does not require a participant’s active movement during measurements or the development of time-consuming expert annotations for each participant’s gestures. At the same time, the brain mechanisms of gesture perception in schizophrenia are understudied. In this review, the existing evidence is analyzed, and future perspectives for studying the brain correlates of spontaneous gesture perception in schizophrenia are discussed. To clarify the context of such studies, we briefly describe data on the brain organization of co-speech gestures, the perception of such gestures in healthy individuals, and the cognitive and social neuroscience methods through which such data may be obtained.

Cognitive Neuroscience Methods in Enhancing Health Literacy.

The aim of the article is to identify the usefulness of cognitive neuroscience methods in assessing the effectiveness of social advertising and constructing messages referring to the generally understood health promotion, which is to contribute to the development of health awareness, and hence to health literacy. The presented research has also proven useful in the field of managing the processes that improve the communication between the organization and its environment. The researchers experimentally applied cognitive neuroscience methods, mainly EEG measurements, including a metric which is one of the most frequently used to measure the reception of advertising messages, i.e., frontal asymmetry. The purpose of the study was to test cognitive responses as expressed by neural indices (memorization, interest) to the reception of an advertisement for the construction of a hospice for adults. For comparative purposes, a questionnaire survey was also conducted. The research findings have confirmed that there are significant differences in remembering the advertisement in question by different groups of recipients (women/men). They also indicate a different level of interest in the advertisement, which may result from different preferences of the recipients concerning the nature of ads. The obtained results contribute to a better understanding of how to design advertising messages concerning health, so that they increase the awareness of the recipients’ responsibility for their own health and induce specific behavior patterns aimed at supporting health-related initiatives, e.g., donating funds for building hospices or performing preventive tests. In this respect, the study findings help improve the organizations’ communication with their environment, thus enhancing their performance. The study has also confirmed the potential and innovativeness of cognitive neuroscience methods as well as their considerable possibilities for application in this field.

Planning an experiment in a virtual environment reality as a place of research on human behaviour using methods of neuroscience measurement – bibliometric analysis and methodological approach

The methods used in cognitive neuroscience allow through measurement methods to analyze the behavior of subjects. In the opinion of the authors, the application of the experiment in a virtual environment and the measurement of brain activity can obtain a detailed analysis of the information and knowledge of the subject. For this to happen, however, it is important that the entire course of the study is carried out in accordance with the assumptions, without errors that could affect the incorrect interpretation of the results obtained. Planning an experiment focuses on planning all the details involved in carrying out the study (Hicks, 1973, Goodwin, 2008). Therefore, in the course of the research, the authors sought information on the methodology of experimental research carried out in a virtual reality environment with the use of selected tools of cognitive neuroscience, including in particular the use of virtual reality (VR), electroencephalograph (EEG) and eye tracking. Valuable knowledge and information on this topic can be found, among others, in the publication of B Rey, M Alcañiz in the article "Research in neuroscience and virtual reality" [1] in which the importance of the implementation of research in virtual reality is highlighted. The authors believe that VR is an ideal tool to "generate controlled environments the can be used to observe human behavior. Different aspects can be analyzed from a neuroscience perspective, including perception, control of movement, learning, memory, and emotional aspects. " However, in order to assess the extent to which the experimental method in combination with technology allows for reliable information and knowledge management, it was necessary to look at considerations of the research methodology. Therefore, as the first stage, a bibliometric study was adopted, the analysis of the content contained in three databases such as WoS, Scopus, and Google Scholar. The analyses carried out showed a small percentage of publications presenting the methodology of implementation of an experimental study in VR treated as an environment in which research is carried out, within which the aforementioned methods of measurement from the field of neuroscience were applied. Based on the analysis, the authors, on the basis of selected materials in which the research processes have been well-grounded in methodology, as well as on their own research experience, will present the stages of design and implementation of an experimental study carried out in the virtual reality environment using the indicated methods of cognitive neuroscience. Based on a case study, they presented the activities carried out in the course of analyzed events, as well as pointed to potential errors that may occur in the course of research. A supermarket was taken as the virtual location of the study.

Neuroscience and the Model Penal Code's Mens Rea Categories

This Essay addresses recent research and commentary regarding the potential contributions of cognitive neuroscience to law. For the first time, cognitive neuroscience methods have been brought to bear on the Model Penal Code’s (MPC’s) culpable–mental state categories through a neuroimaging study seeking to identify the neural correlates of knowledge and recklessness. Subsequently, this study has been presented as a paradigm for utilizing cognitive neuroscience to answer important legal questions. However, the original experiment appears to suffer serious experimental-design and conceptual limitations, belying subsequent advocacy for the legal utility of cognitive neuroscience. This Essay methodically details these limitations and argues that the original study does not seem to have actually elicited knowledge or recklessness in subjects or, even if it did, did not elicit them in discrete enough fashion to permit identification of the mental states’ neural correlates. The Essay also contends, more broadly, that cognitive neuroscience appears inapt for investigating the propriety of the MPC’s mens rea delineations since these are articulated in purely psychological-behavioral terms: mental states are the only requisites. Only psychological-behavioral manifestations provide base evidence of mental states’ existences. And psychological-behavioral research, not cognitive neuroscience, is the most direct way to investigate the practical, moral, and legal appropriateness of the MPC’s mental states by illuminating how individuals experience them, identify them in others, or employ them to dispense blame and punishment. Ultimately, recent cognitive neuroscience research does not appear to reveal anything of legal significance regarding the MPC. And, more broadly and contrary to recent assertions, cognitive neuroscience has substantial limitations when it comes to producing legally relevant information. Going forward, psychological-behavioral research should be given primacy in cognitive science investigations of MPC concepts. Cognitive neuroscience studies, on the other hand, should be treated with exceptional skepticism.

Can’t Stop the Feeling: Influence of Incidental Emotions on Manager’s Willingness to Delegate to AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) based technologies provide manifold opportunities to augment managerial decision-making. Managers can delegate decisions to the increasingly available and capable AI-enabled decision-making systems. This study looks into the managerial willingness to do so with a particular emphasis on the influence of emotions on the manager’s choice to hand over strategic decisions to AI. Prior research has shown that both cognitive and emotional aspects influence decision-making. Furthermore, we know that emotions induced by technology influence a system’s adoption and use. However, despite the acknowledged relevance of emotions, prior research has not yet emphasised the impact of incidental emotions – emotions triggered by events unrelated to the decision or the AI-enabled system use – on decision-making and delegation. Using an experimental research design enhanced by data collected through cognitive neuroscience methods, we analyse the impact of positive, incidental emotions and their states valence and arousal on a manager’s willingness to delegate a strategic decision to an AI-enabled system. The findings reveal that positive incidental emotions, as well as high values of valence, positively impact a managers willingness to delegate strategic decisions to an AI-enabled system. The paper concludes by discussing the study’s implications for technology adoption and managerial decision delegation by highlighting the relevance of emotional factors in managers’ adoption of AI and the additional value of neuroscientific data.