Dual-stream Rapid Serial Visual Presentation Research Articles

Bad words prevail: Negatively charged Chinese characters accelerate attentional selection and preoccupy cognitive resources for consolidation

Previous studies have produced contradictory findings regarding whether emotion exerts facilitative effects or inhibitory effects on perception. In the present study, we hypothesized that attention can be separated into the initial selection stage and the latter consolidation stage, and emotion plays a different role in each of these two stages. To test this hypothesis, we adopted the dual-stream rapid serial visual presentation paradigm (Goodbourn & Holcombe, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 41(2), 364–384, 2015), which provided separate measurements for selection latency (how delayed the attentional selection process is) and efficacy (how much information can be successfully consolidated for conscious report). The results suggested emotion’s dual role on perception. Firstly, the presence of negatively charged visual targets (which were Chinese characters in the present study) accelerated attention selection, and the acceleration effect could spread to different locations in the visual field. Secondly, negatively charged characters preoccupied attentional resources for consolidation, yielding location-specific facilitative and inhibitory effects.

How handedness influences perceptual and attentional processes during rapid serial visual presentation

Stimulus-driven orienting of visual attention is lateralized to the right hemisphere (RH). This lateralization has been studied in the dual-stream rapid serial visual presentation task (dual RSVP). In this task a second target (T2), hard to discern by being embedded in one of two lateral streams of rapidly changing distractors, is better identified on the left than on the right. This phenomenon is called the left visual field advantage (LVFA). Furthermore, in terms of event related potentials (ERPs), the N2pc component and visual evoked potentials (VEPs) are evoked earlier at the RH than at the left hemisphere (LH). All previous dual RSVP experiments were performed on right-handers. In the present study it was investigated how the LVFA and its neural correlates are modulated by handedness. To that end, the size of the LVFA and ERPs (VEPs and N2pc) were compared between right- and left-handers. VEPs were evoked earlier at the RH than the LH in right-handers but not in left-handers. Besides this effect, handedness modulated neither the size of the LVFA nor T2-evoked N2pc. Thus, the LVFA seems to be independent of handedness. Rather than for lateralization of attention, handedness might be relevant for lateralization of early visual perception processes.

Sex hormones modulate neurophysiological correlates of visual temporal attention

The functional cerebral asymmetry (FCA) in processing targets within rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) streams has been reported to fluctuate across the menstrual cycle, with identification of the second of two closely spaced targets being impaired when both targets occur in the left or the right hemifield stream during the luteal phase, while during the menstrual phase identification of the second target is only impaired for target pairs presented in the right hemifield stream. This fluctuation has been proposed to result from variations in estradiol levels. The current study used EEG to investigated whether the cycle-related fluctuation in RSVP target identification FCA relates to changes in early, stimulus-driven, bottom-up or in later, top down-driven aspects of FCA. While the former would be expected to become evident in the early visual evoked potentials (VEPs) P1 or N1, the latter would be evident in later event-related potentials (ERPs) such as N2pc or P3. Women performed a dual-stream RSVP task once during the menstrual phase and once during the follicular phase. Estradiol levels were determined from saliva samples. In contrast to previous findings, FCA in RSVP target identification was not affected by cycle phase. However, the impairment in second-target identification when targets where closely spaced was generally smaller during the menstrual phase than during the follicular phase. This effect was matched by shorter peak latencies of P1 VEPs for the menstrual phase, and by a reduction in the latency of the second-target P3 ERP for closely spaced relative to widely spaced target pairs, again for the menstrual phase. Results suggest that in a dual-stream RSVP setup, target identification, early stage stimulus processing, and target consolidation are affected by cycle phase, but that the asymmetry of these effects does not differ between menstrual and follicular phase. The observed cycle-related modulations in neurophysiology and behavior could relate to the effects of estradiol on the locus ceruleus norepinephrine (LC-NE) system, which is known to play a major role in arousal, attention and stress response.

Simultaneity and Temporal Order Judgments Exhibit Distinct Reaction Times and Training Effects.

A considerable body of sensory research has addressed the rules governing simultaneity judgments (SJs) and temporal order judgments (TOJs). In principle, neural events that register stimulus-arrival-time differences at an early sensory stage could set the limit on SJs and TOJs alike. Alternatively, distinct limits on SJs and TOJs could arise from task-specific neural events occurring after the stimulus-driven stage. To distinguish between these possibilities, we developed a novel reaction-time (RT) measure and tested it in a perceptual-learning procedure. The stimuli comprised dual-stream Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) displays. Participants judged either the simultaneity or temporal order of red-letter and black-number targets presented in opposite lateral hemifield streams of black-letter distractors. Despite identical visual stimulation across-tasks, the SJ and TOJ tasks generated distinct RT patterns. SJs exhibited significantly faster RTs to synchronized targets than to subtly asynchronized targets; TOJs exhibited the opposite RT pattern. These task-specific RT patterns cannot be attributed to the early, stimulus-driven stage and instead match what one would predict if the limits on SJs and TOJs arose from task-specific decision spaces. That is, synchronized targets generate strong evidence for simultaneity, which hastens SJ RTs. By contrast, synchronized targets provide no information about temporal order, which slows TOJ RTs. Subtly asynchronizing the targets reverses this information pattern, and the corresponding RT patterns. In addition to investigating RT patterns, we also investigated training-transfer between the tasks. Training to improve SJ precision failed to improve TOJ precision, and vice versa, despite identical visual stimulation across tasks. This, too, argues against early, stimulus-driven limits on SJs and TOJs. Taken together, the present study offers novel evidence that distinct rules set the limits on SJs and TOJs.

Understanding how visual attention locks on to a location: Toward a computational model of the N2pc component.

Competing theories regarding the neural mechanism underlying the N2pc suggest that it reflects target enhancement or distractor suppression, but we suggest a different theory. In our study, participants viewed a bilateral dual-stream rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP). Each trial had either one or two targets (T1, T2) presented either in the same or different streams. We found that the N2pc elicited by T1 was not affected by an immediately following T2 at the same location. However, if T2 was on the opposite hemifield, a second N2pc was elicited. These results suggest that the N2pc reflects neural processes involved in localizing a target to initiate the deployment of attention, rather than the sustained enhancement of processing at that location or distractor inhibition. We have created a computational model of a convergent gradient-filter model of attention that reproduces the observed event-related potential traces and makes five testable predictions to be addressed in future work.

Hemispheric asymmetry in the auditory facilitation effect in dual-stream rapid serial visual presentation tasks.

Even though auditory stimuli do not directly convey information related to visual stimuli, they often improve visual detection and identification performance. Auditory stimuli often alter visual perception depending on the reliability of the sensory input, with visual and auditory information reciprocally compensating for ambiguity in the other sensory domain. Perceptual processing is characterized by hemispheric asymmetry. While the left hemisphere is more involved in linguistic processing, the right hemisphere dominates spatial processing. In this context, we hypothesized that an auditory facilitation effect in the right visual field for the target identification task, and a similar effect would be observed in the left visual field for the target localization task. In the present study, we conducted target identification and localization tasks using a dual-stream rapid serial visual presentation. When two targets are embedded in a rapid serial visual presentation stream, the target detection or discrimination performance for the second target is generally lower than for the first target; this deficit is well known as attentional blink. Our results indicate that auditory stimuli improved target identification performance for the second target within the stream when visual stimuli were presented in the right, but not the left visual field. In contrast, auditory stimuli improved second target localization performance when visual stimuli were presented in the left visual field. An auditory facilitation effect was observed in perceptual processing, depending on the hemispheric specialization. Our results demonstrate a dissociation between the lateral visual hemifield in which a stimulus is projected and the kind of visual judgment that may benefit from the presentation of an auditory cue.

Neuroticism focuses attention: evidence from SSVEPs

Neuroticism and negative affect have been associated with an increase in attentional investment and the greater processing of irrelevant stimuli. Previous research proposes the overinvestment of attention and a focused mental state as the mechanism of this effect. We investigated the neural correlates of this idea using a dual-stream rapid serial visual presentation paradigm with centrally presented, overlapping streams of letters that changed at different frequencies. Participants attended one stream at a time. We predicted that the more focused cognitive style associated with higher neuroticism would be reflected in the overinvestment of attention in the irrelevant stream of to-be-ignored letters, in particular, when the ignored stream was the more salient one. This was expected to lead to a smaller difference in power between the attended and unattended frequencies. Results showed that power differences between attended and unattended streams were negatively correlated with neuroticism scores in direct support of our hypothesis. Exploratory correlations also showed that extraversion was positively related to the attention difference. As extraversion has been contrasted to neuroticism and linked to increased cognitive flexibility and control in previous studies, it is possible that this trait may help in disengagement from salient stimuli. Together, these results provide the first neural correlates of the focused cognitive style idea. That the effect of extraversion is seen in the centro-parietal region and the effect of neuroticism is seen in the occipital region, indicate that these personality traits may affect the hierarchy of visual information processing. These findings provide new insight into the influence of personality traits on attention mechanisms and open up questions regarding the relationship between neuroticism, extraversion and information processing.

Deployment and release of interhemispheric inhibition in dual-stream rapid serial visual presentation

When one of the two hemispheres directs visuospatial attention to some contralateral location, this may imply that inhibition is exerted on the other hemisphere. In the dual rapid serial visual presentation task, two targets (T1 and T2) occur among two different visual streams, rapidly presented left and right. We replaced the standard letter distractors in one stream by “easy symbols” (ESy; easily distinguished from targets), to facilitate T1 identification. If interhemispheric inhibition is deployed and released, this facilitation of one hemisphere's task should reduce its inhibitory effect on the other hemisphere, leading to improved T2 identification by the other hemisphere. This prediction was confirmed in three experiments. Furthermore, event-related EEG potentials did not only show a constant bias of allocated attention between ESy and standard streams, with letters evoking visual potentials earlier than ESy, but also short-term enlargement of this effect in the pair of distractors that followed T1. Taken together, these results support the notion of interhemispheric inhibition in visuospatial attention.

Direction of association between targets in a RSVP task influences priming at very short but not long SOAs

When two targets are presented using rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) and the interval between the targets is 200-500 ms, detection or identification of the second target is impaired. This impairment in second target report is known as the attentional blink (AB). This study sought to examine the impact of the direction of target association on priming during an AB task using very short and long SOAs. Two experiments were conducted using dual-stream RSVP tasks and targets that either shared an associative relationship or were unrelated to one another. The direction of association between the targets was also varied so that associatively related targets were presented in the forward (strongest association from target 1 to target 2) or backward directions of association (strongest association from target 2 to target 1). In Experiment 1 very short SOAs between targets (27-213 ms) were used. Priming was evident at the same SOAs for both targets presented in the backward direction of association. However, for targets presented in the forward direction of association, priming occurred for target 1 and target 2 at different SOAs. Experiment 2 used longer SOAs between targets (107 to 535 ms) and it was determined that while direction of association between the targets did not affect priming, there was a larger priming effect for target 2 than for target 1. The results of the two experiments indicate that direction of association between targets influences priming in RSVP tasks that use very short but not long SOAs. The results are discussed in relation to the two-stage response competition model of Potter et al. (J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 28:1149-1162, 2002).

On the asymmetric interaction between hemispheres during the dual-stream rsvp task: evidence from N2pc, P3, and distractor-evoked veps

Event Abstract Back to Event On the asymmetric interaction between hemispheres during the dual-stream rsvp task: evidence from N2pc, P3, and distractor-evoked veps Kamila Smigasiewicz1*, Julius Weinrich1 and Rolf Verleger1 1 University of Lubeck, Germany In dual-stream Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (dual-RSVP), the second target (T2) is worse identified in the right than in the left hemifield. This asymmetry might reflect different abilities of each hemisphere in isolation, or some kind of interaction between hemispheres. In order to differentiate between those two possibilities, we replaced the usual letter distractors by a small set of standard keyboard signs in one of the two streams. If the two hemispheres act in isolation, then T2 identification should improve in the hemisphere contralateral to easy distractors. If there is an interaction between hemispheres, then T2 identification should additionally improve in the hemisphere ipsilateral to easy distractors. In two experiments, only right T2 benefited from easy distracters, displayed either on the right or on the left side whereas left T2 did not. Therefore, when task conditions are less demanding the left hemisphere is probably released from inhibition exerted by the right hemisphere. Additionally, we studied neural correlates of the left visual field advantage using event-related potentials. N2pc latency was always shorter after left than after right T2, independently of the side of easy distractors. Additionally, easy distractors speeded N2pc latency with right T2 and generally tended to increase N2pc amplitude. Similarly, P3 amplitude reflected T2 identification rates, being larger after left than right T2 in the standard condition and being increased after right T2 independently of the side of easy distractors. Surprisingly, distractor-evoked visual potentials were slowed down by easy distractors, presented both on the left or right side. These results suggest that the left visual field advantage in RSVP is reflected in N2pc latency and P3 amplitude. Keywords: Cognition, dual-RSVP Conference: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI), Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 25 Sep - 29 Sep, 2011. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster Sessions: Neurophysiology of Cognition and Attention Citation: Smigasiewicz K, Weinrich J and Verleger R (2011). On the asymmetric interaction between hemispheres during the dual-stream rsvp task: evidence from N2pc, P3, and distractor-evoked veps. Conference Abstract: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2011.207.00468 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: 25 Nov 2011; Published Online: 28 Nov 2011. * Correspondence: Dr. Kamila Smigasiewicz, University of Lubeck, Lubeck, Germany, k.smigasiewicz@gmail.com 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 Kamila Smigasiewicz Julius Weinrich Rolf Verleger Google Kamila Smigasiewicz Julius Weinrich Rolf Verleger Google Scholar Kamila Smigasiewicz Julius Weinrich Rolf Verleger PubMed Kamila Smigasiewicz Julius Weinrich Rolf Verleger 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.

Left visual-field advantage in the dual-stream RSVP task and reading-direction: A study in three nations

In the dual-stream Rapid Serial Visual Presentation task, a stream of stimuli containing two target stimuli is rapidly presented left and right. In previous studies, the second target was better identified in the left than in the right hemifield. In all those studies, alphanumeric stimuli were used both as targets and distracters. We examined to what extent this left visual-field advantage is dependent on reading-direction. The task was performed by Germans (with Latin characters), Israelis (with Latin and Hebrew characters) and Taiwanese (with Latin and Chinese characters). If caused by overlearnt associative links between Latin characters and left-to-right reading, the prominent left visual-field bias should be reversed in Hebrew and disappear in Chinese. Furthermore, if caused by direction of reading in the participant's native language, the left visual-field advantage in Latin conditions should be larger in Germans than in Israelis and Taiwanese. A left visual-field advantage was always observed, though slightly smaller in Hebrew and in Chinese, and there was no difference in the Latin conditions between the three nations. Therefore, it seems that the left visual-field advantage in speeded target identification is not primarily caused by the left-to-right reading-direction, but may be a combined effect resulting from the asymmetric organization of general mechanisms of visual processing and from stimulus-induced preferences.

Visual-field asymmetry in dual-stream RSVP

The attentional blink (AB) refers to a decrement in detecting the occurrence of a probe item if it closely follows a previous target item in rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP). In the present study we presented target and probe stimuli in two parallel RSVP streams, one in each visual field, in order to address the question of whether the AB might differ between the cerebral hemispheres. The characteristic AB, with reduced detection of the probe at post-target Lags 2–5, but no such deficit at Lag 1 (Lag 1 sparing), was observed when target and probe were both in the right visual field. When they were both presented in the left visual field the AB was attenuated. When the target and probe were in opposite visual fields, probe detection was again reduced when it was in the left visual field, and there was no Lag 1 sparing. The left-visual-field advantage in performing the AB task may reflect a general right-hemispheric specialization for attentional processing.