ERP Data Research Articles

Inhibition control and error processing in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: An event-related potentials study

We studied inhibitory control and error processing in a task requiring inhibition of a motor response. Behavioral and ERP indices were recorded in fourteen ADHD and fourteen healthy children aged between 6 and 10 years during the Stop signal task (SST). The ADHD group made more variable in RT and showed less accuracy, more omissions and choice errors. Also, the ADHD group had a tendency toward a lower probability of inhibition and a longer Stop signal reaction time. The ADHD group also displayed a flatter response inhibition slope compared to the control group. Smaller P1 in ADHD group reflected that the ADHD group has less efficient attention than the control group. Furthermore, the ADHD group showed normal ERN, reduced Pe (retrieved from response-locked epochs), and reduced LPW (retrieved from Stop signal-locked epochs), suggesting that they might be normal in early error monitoring process related to error detection, but show abnormal in later error monitoring process associated with a conscious evaluation of the error. Behavioral and ERP data of the present study show deficient selective attention, inhibitory control, and error processing in children of ADHD.

Event-related potentials: Search for positive and negative child-related schemata in individuals at low and high risk for child physical abuse

Objective The present investigation used event-related potentials (ERPs, N400 and N300) to determine the extent to which individuals at low and high risk for child physical abuse (CPA) have pre-existing positive and negative child-related schemata that can be automatically activated by ambiguous child stimuli. Methods ERP data were obtained from individuals at low ( n = 13) and high risk ( n = 12) for CPA and used in a procedure check, from which a sub-group of low-risk ( n = 7) and high-risk ( n = 7) individuals were selected for inclusion in the main study. ERP data were collected during the presentation of a priming paradigm consisting of non-child pictures (primes) and congruent and incongruent word descriptors (targets). ERP data also were collected during a second priming paradigm consisting of ambiguous child pictures (primes) and positive and negative word descriptors (targets). Data from this second paradigm were used to test the hypothesis that low-risk and high-risk individuals’ putative pre-existing child-related schemata (i.e., positive schemata in low-risk individuals and negative schemata in high-risk individuals) provide a context that influences whether targets (positive or negative word descriptors) are congruent or incongruent with ambiguous child picture primes. Results Analyses revealed the expected larger N400 waves in response to non-child picture, incongruent word pairs. There were no N400 differences between risk groups nor were there any risk group interactions, indicating that all participants responded in a similar manner to the non-child picture, congruent/incongruent word presentations. However, when ambiguous child picture primes were used with positive and negative word descriptors, low-risk individuals showed greater N400 and N300 responses to negative, relative to positive, word descriptors; whereas high-risk individuals showed no ERP differences with respect to positive and negative word descriptors. Conclusions ERP evidence supports the view that low-risk individuals have greater accessibility to pre-existing positive (relative to negative) child-related schemata, which may reduce the likelihood of negative child-related evaluations. In contrast, high-risk individuals have pre-existing positive and negative child-related schemata that are equally accessible. Hence, high-risk, relative to low-risk, individuals appear to have greater accessibility to negative child-related schemata that may increase the likelihood of negative child-related evaluations and attributions that have been linked to CPA risk.

Categorical processing of German vowel quantity.

The present study investigates the behavioral and neural processing of duration in the German vowel /a/ using synthesized disyllabic nonsense words. The vowel /a/ was chosen since its long and short cognates are differentiated merely on the basis of vowel duration, unlike high and mid vowels which have additional differences in formant structure. By means of an identification test a sharp category border was found at 105.9 ms in theduration continuum from short to long category associated with a local peak in reaction time. Furthermore, an adaptive discrimination test applied to the entire continuum showed a minimum of the just-noticeable-difference for vowel duration at the category border. In an MEG study, the continuumof the disyllabic words was presented in randomized order. Besides two P50-M100 complexes in response to the first and the second syllable, the ERP data showed a secondary M100-like peak in case vowel duration exceeded the duration of the short category, which was not observed in a duration-matched nonspeech control condition. This secondary M100 might be interpreted as an additional phonological “event” or “slot”, indicating a nonlinear categorical difference in the processing across short and long vowels.

Effects of task-set adoption on ERP correlates of controlled and automatic recognition memory

Successful memory retrieval depends not only on memory fidelity but also on the mental preparedness on the part of the subject. ERP studies of recognition memory have identified two topographically distinct ERP components, the FN400 old/new effect and the late posterior component (LPC) old/new effect, commonly associated with familiarity and recollection, respectively. Here we used a task-switching paradigm to examine the extent to which adoption of a retrieval task-set influences FN400 and LPC old/new effects, in light of the presumption that recollection, as a control process, relies on the adoption of a retrieval task-set, but that familiarity-based retrieval does not. Behavioral accuracy indicated that source memory (experiment 2), but not item recognition (experiment 1), improved with task-set adoption. ERP data demonstrated a larger LPC on stay trials when a task-set had been adopted even with a simple recognition memory judgment. We conclude that adopting a retrieval task-set impacts recollection memory but not familiarity. These data indicate that attentional state immediately prior to retrieval can influence objective measures of recollection memory.

ERP predictors of encoding and recognition memory

Event Abstract Back to Event ERP predictors of encoding and recognition memory Olga Marchenko1* 1 Center of Experimental Psychology MCUPE, Russia Congruency effect on encoding and recognition of words was studied. Experiment consisted of learning and test phases. Trials consisted of two words in learning phase. First word was name of some category (prime) and second word belonged to that or another category. Subjects were asked to answer as soon and as accurately as possible if second word belongs to category denoted by prime. Subjects were not aware that memory test will follow. It was shown that behavioural and ERP data for words on learning phase which were remembered later were different from these for words which were forgotten. On a test phase subjects explicitly were instructed to press one key if word was at learning phase in their opinion and press another key if not. Fact of being congruent or incongruent in study phase influenced also recollection on test phase. Thus behavioural and ERP data showed that congruency affected encoding and recognition processes. Events which precede word presentation could influence effectively of its encoding and recollection. When words are primed by name of category, representation of this category is activated which causes deeper processing of word meaning. It causes more effective memorising and recognition of these words. Funding: Supported by RFH Grant 11-36-00314. Keywords: brain oscillations, EEG Conference: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI), Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 25 Sep - 29 Sep, 2011. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster Sessions: Quantitative Analysis of EEG, MEG & Brain Oscillations Citation: Marchenko O (2011). ERP predictors of encoding and recognition memory. Conference Abstract: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2011.207.00122 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: 17 Nov 2011; Published Online: 28 Nov 2011. * Correspondence: Dr. Olga Marchenko, Center of Experimental Psychology MCUPE, Moscow, Russia, olga.marchenko@psyexp.ru 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 Olga Marchenko Google Olga Marchenko Google Scholar Olga Marchenko PubMed Olga Marchenko 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.

Event-related brain potentials to violations of arithmetic syntax represented by place value structure

Event Abstract Back to Event Event-related brain potentials to violations of arithmetic syntax represented by place value structure Denes Szucs1* and Fruzsina Soltesz1 1 University of Cambridge, United Kingdom We dissociated ERP markers of semantic (numerical distance) vs. syntactic (place value) incongruence in the domain of arithmetic. Participants verified additions with four-digit numbers. Semantic incongruencies elicited the N400 ERP effect. A centro-parietal (putative P600) effect to place-value violations was not related to arithmetic syntax. Rather, this effect was an enlarged P3b reflecting different surprise values of place value vs. non-place value violations. This potential confound should be considered in numerical cognition experiments. The latency of the N400 and P3a effects were differentially affected by place-value analysis. The amplitude of the P3a and that of a fronto-central positive effect (FP600) was sensitive to place value analysis and digit content. Results suggest that ERPs can index the syntactical analysis of multi-digit numbers. Both ERP and behavioral data confirmed that multi-digit numbers were decomposed into their constituent digits, rather than evaluated holistically. Keywords: Arithmetic syntax, Neural Bases Conference: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI), Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 25 Sep - 29 Sep, 2011. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster Sessions: Neural Bases of Arithmetics and Numerosity Citation: Szucs D and Soltesz F (2011). Event-related brain potentials to violations of arithmetic syntax represented by place value structure. Conference Abstract: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2011.207.00100 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: 16 Nov 2011; Published Online: 25 Nov 2011. * Correspondence: Dr. Denes Szucs, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, ds377@cam.ac.uk 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 Denes Szucs Fruzsina Soltesz Google Denes Szucs Fruzsina Soltesz Google Scholar Denes Szucs Fruzsina Soltesz PubMed Denes Szucs Fruzsina Soltesz 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.

Implicit and Explicit Processes in Risk Perception: Neural Antecedents of Perceived HIV Risk

Field studies on HIV risk suggest that people may rely on impressions they have about the safety of their partner at the dispense of more objective risk protection strategies. In this study, ERP recordings were used to investigate the brain mechanisms that give rise to such impressions. First, in an implicit condition, participants viewed a series of photographs of unacquainted persons while performing a task that did not mention HIV risk. Second, in an explicit condition, participants estimated the HIV risk for each presented person. Dense sensor EEG was recorded during the implicit and explicit conditions. In the analysis, explicit risk ratings were used to categorize ERP data from the implicit and explicit conditions into low and high HIV risk categories. The results reveal implicit ERP differences on the basis of subsequent ratings of HIV risk. Specifically, the processing of risky individuals was associated with an early occipital negativity (240–300 ms) and a subsequent central positivity between 430 and 530 ms compared to safe. A similar ERP modulation emerged in the explicit condition for the central positivity component between 430 and 530 ms. A subsequent late positive potential component between 550 and 800 ms was specifically enhanced for risky persons in the explicit rating condition while not modulated in the implicit condition. Furthermore, ratings of HIV risk correlated substantially with ratings of trustworthiness and responsibility. Taken together, these observations provide evidence for theories of intuitive risk perception, which, in the case of HIV risk, seem to operate via appearance-based stereotypic inferences.

Categorical processing of german vowel quantity

Event Abstract Back to Event Categorical processing of german vowel quantity Fabian Tomaschek1*, Hubert2 Truckenbrodt2 and Ingo Hertrich1 1 Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Reseach, Germany 2 ZAS, Germany The present study investigates the neural and behavioral processing of duration in the German Vowel /a/ using synthesized disyllabic nonsense words with different vowel durations. The vowel /a/ was chosen since its long and short cognates are differentiated in German merely on the basis of vowel duration, unlike high and mid vowels that have additional differences in formant structure. By means of an identification test a sharp category border was found at 105.9ms in the duration continuum from short to long category, associated with a local peak in response time. Furthermore, an adaptive discrimination test, applied to the entire continuum, showed a minimum of the just-noticeable-difference for vowel duration at the category border. In an MEG study, the continuum of the disyllabic words was presented in randomized order. Besides two M50-M100 complexes in response to the first and the second syllable, the ERP data showed a secondary M50/M100-like deflection in case vowel duration exceeded the duration of the short category, which was not observed in a duration-matched non-speech control condition. Furthermore, the amplitude strength of the M50 to the second syllable (M50-S2) in the speech stimulus was attenuated for prototypical vowel durations, but enhanced for ambiguous durations. In contrast to non-speech durations, the behavioral and neural data indicate a strong impact of phonological vowel categories on auditory processing in speech. The secondary positive/negative deflection might be interpreted as an additional phonological "event" or "slot", indicating a nonlinear categorical difference in the processing across short and long vowels. The attenuation and enhancement of the M50-S2 seem to reflect a phonological expectation for prototypical vowel duration. Keywords: Language, Vowel duration Conference: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI), Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 25 Sep - 29 Sep, 2011. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster Sessions: Neural Bases of Language Citation: Tomaschek F, Truckenbrodt H and Hertrich I (2011). Categorical processing of german vowel quantity. Conference Abstract: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2011.207.00199 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: 21 Nov 2011; Published Online: 28 Nov 2011. * Correspondence: Dr. Fabian Tomaschek, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Reseach, Tübingen, Germany, fabian.tomaschek@uni-tuebingen.de 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 Fabian Tomaschek Hubert2 Truckenbrodt Ingo Hertrich Google Fabian Tomaschek Hubert2 Truckenbrodt Ingo Hertrich Google Scholar Fabian Tomaschek Hubert2 Truckenbrodt Ingo Hertrich PubMed Fabian Tomaschek Hubert2 Truckenbrodt Ingo Hertrich 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.

Frontal and parietal contributions to arithmetic fact retrieval: A parametric analysis of the problem‐size effect

The goal of the present study was to investigate the neuroanatomical basis of arithmetic fact retrieval. The rationale was that areas playing a crucial role in arithmetic fact retrieval should show a systematic increase of activation with increasing retrieval effort. To achieve this goal, we utilized the problem-size effect as this is known to be systematically related to retrieval effort. In contrast to many previous studies, we here took a parametric approach to account for the continuous increase of retrieval effort with problem size. BOLD signals were modeled with problem size as parametric regressor and negative slow waves of the EEG were categorized into six levels of problem size. The fMRI data showed that activation in the angular gyrus and ACC/SMA increased parametrically with problem size. The ERP data showed a systematic amplitude increase with increasing problem size, especially at fronto-central electrodes. Consistent with the fMRI data, source modeling localized this effect to the ACC. While these findings support previous notions about the crucial role of the angular gyrus during fact retrieval, they also provide evidence that the medial frontal cortex is involved when single-digit multiplications are solved. Thus, both parietal and frontal structures seem to be integral parts of a system that enables and controls arithmetic fact retrieval.

Integrated CAD Software with ERP Interface for Steel Portal Frames

Steel portal frames have been widely designed and constructed in China since the end of the last century, and in recent years ERP management software systems have been used by more and more steel structure fabricators/constructors. This paper introduces the program principles and techniques of the development of integrated CAD software with ERP interface for the detailing design of steel portal frame structure, including the frame work, data structure, 3D modeling algorithm and automatic output of 2D drawings/ERP source data. In the system, steel members and connectors are modeled and visualized as 3D objects. All information, involving geometry, material, manufacturing, fabrication, installation, ERP data requirements and so on, are embedded in these 3D objects for the purpose of parametric modeling and subsequent data output. 3D solid model acts as the kernel of the system. Connectors of joints are classified and organized by way of logic hierarchy, 3D model of joint are assembled abide by the structural and geometric dependency relationship between connectors. The ERP data interface is embedded in the system. The raw data are directly extracted from the 3D model, then formatted and fed to certain ERP system.

The different effect of negative emotion induced by background music on verbal and spatial working memory: evidence from ERP study

Objective To investigate the different effect of negative emotion induced by background music on verbal and spatial working memory. Methods Fifteen participants were exposed in relaxing or horrible background music and did the working memory task. After each emotional condition, the 9-point Self Assessment Manikin scale was registered. n-back paradigm was employed as WM task and the WM task contained two different types, the verbal WM and spatial WM. In the same time,The ERPs during each emotional condition was recorded,and the anterior LPC and posterior P300 were analyzed. Results The valence,arousal and dominance were 5.40±0.91,3.93 ±0.79 and 5.33 ± 1.29 in relaxing condition,while the same dimensionalities in negative condition were 2.00 ± 0.75,6.47 ± 0.99 and 2.33 ± 0.89. The self reported data showed that horrible background music induced the negative emotional state, which were observed from the decrease of valence (t(14)= 15. 902, P ＜0.01) and dominance (t(14) =6.708, P＜0.01) while the increase of arousal (t (14)=9.906, P＜0.01). The ERP data showed,there was a main effect in emotion with anterior LPC (F (1.14)= 7.37, P ＜ 0.01) and in both verbal and spatial WM,the amplitude of LPC were reduced in negative emotional condition. However, there was an interaction of emotion and type on amplitude of P300 (F (1.14)= 11.25, P ＜ 0.01), selective influence of negative emotion in spatial WM were seen (F (1.14)= 12.43, P＜0.01). Conclusion The WM was influenced by negative emotion induced by negative background music ,and the spatial WM was more vulnerable to negative emotion. Key words: Event related potential; Music; Negative emotional state; Working memory

An event-related brain potential study of arithmetic syntax

Number cognition is important both for the society and for the individual. The disorder of number cognition (developmental dyscalculia) can have major impact on individual life quality. Several children and adults experience problems with one aspect of ‘arithmetic syntax’, the representation of place value structure. Here we provide the first cognitive neuroscience investigation of place value representation. Our study systematically contrasted semantic (the numerical distance effect) and syntactic (place value structure) violations in a mental addition verification task. Participants verified additions with four-digit numbers. Semantic incongruencies elicited the N400 ERP effect. A centro-parietal (putative P600) effect to place-value violations was not related to arithmetic syntax. Rather, this effect was an enlarged P3b reflecting different surprise values of place value vs. non-place value violations. This potential confound should be considered in numerical cognition experiments. The latency of the N400 and P3a effects were differentially affected by place-value analysis. The amplitude of the P3a and that of a fronto-central positive effect (FP600) was sensitive to place value analysis and digit content. Results suggest that ERPs can index the syntactical analysis of multi-digit numbers. Both ERP and behavioral data confirmed that multi-digit numbers were decomposed into their constituent digits, rather than evaluated holistically. These findings enable the detailed investigation of place value representation in both normal and dyscalculic populations.

Processing fractions and proportions: An fMRI study

Number cognition is important both for the society and for the individual. The disorder of number cognition (developmental dyscalculia) can havemajor impact on individual life quality. Several children and adults experience problemswith one aspect of ‘arithmetic syntax’, the representation of place value structure. Here we provide the first cognitive neuroscience investigation of place value representation. Our study systematically contrasted semantic (the numerical distance effect) and syntactic (place value structure) violations in a mental addition verification task. Participants verified additions with fourdigit numbers. Semantic incongruencies elicited theN400 ERP effect. A centro-parietal (putative P600) effect to place-value violationswas not related to arithmetic syntax. Rather, this effect was an enlarged P3b reflecting different surprise values of place value vs. non-place value violations. This potential confound should be considered in numerical cognition experiments. The latency of the N400 and P3a effects were differentially affected byplace-value analysis. The amplitude of the P3a and that of a fronto-central positive effect (FP600) was sensitive to place value analysis and digit content. Results suggest that ERPs can index the syntactical analysis of multi-digit numbers. Both ERP and behavioral data confirmed thatmulti-digit numberswere decomposed into their constituent digits, rather than evaluated holistically. These findings enable the detailed investigation of place value representation in both normal and dyscalculic populations.

Spatial cueing in time–space synesthetes: An event-related brain potential study

Some people report that they consistently and involuntarily associate time events, such as months of the year, with specific spatial locations; a condition referred to as time–space synesthesia. The present study investigated the manner in which such synesthetic time–space associations affect visuo-spatial attention via an endogenous cuing paradigm. Reaction times and ERPs were recorded as 12 time–space synesthetes and 12 control participants did a peripheral target detection task, cued by three different types of centrally presented cues: arrows pointing left or right, direction words “left” or “right”, and month names associated with either the left or the right side of the synesthete’s mental calendar (e.g., “October” or “May”). Cues were followed by probes on the left or right side of the screen, and participants responded to the probes with button presses. Behavioral and ERP data suggested that for synesthetes, month words functioned more effectively as cues to direct attention in space. In synesthetes but not controls, a comparison of ERPs to probes cued by months revealed effects of cue validity on the P3b component peaking 370 ms post-onset and on the subsequent positive slow wave (pSW) observed 600–900 ms post-onset (both larger for invalid probes). No effects of cue validity were observed on early visual potentials (N1) for probes cued by months. The findings suggest that in these time–space synesthetes cue validity influenced post-perceptual processes, such as stimulus evaluation and categorization, with no evidence for enhanced visual processing.

ERP evidence of hemispheric independence in visual word recognition

This study examined the capability of the left hemisphere (LH) and the right hemisphere (RH) to perform a visual recognition task independently as formulated by the Direct Access Model ( Fernandino, Iacoboni, & Zaidel, 2007). Healthy native Hebrew speakers were asked to categorize nouns and non-words (created from nouns by transposing two middle letters) into man-made and natural categories while their performance and ERPs were recorded. The stimuli were presented parafoveally to the right and left visual fields. As predicted by the Direct Access Model, ERP data showed that both the left hemisphere and right hemisphere were able to differentiate between words and non-words as early as 170 ms post-stimulus; these results were significant only for the contralaterally presented stimuli. The N1 component, which is considered to reflect orthographic processing, was larger in both hemispheres in response to the contralateral than the ipsilateral presented stimuli. This finding provides evidence for the RH capability to access higher level lexical information at the early stages of visual word recognition, thus lending weight to arguments for the relatively independent nature of this process.

Perceptual organization and visual search processes during target detection task performance in schizophrenia, as revealed by fMRI

BackgroundPast studies of perceptual organization in schizophrenia have demonstrated impairments binding fragmented stimulus components into unified representations. ERP and fMRI data indicate that even under conditions of adequate behavioral task performance, significant and meaningful changes in cortical and subcortical activation are present. Here, we examined, using fMRI, activation differences on a visual task wherein feature grouping was a precursor to the formation of distinct groups in the service of target location and identification. MethodFourteen schizophrenia patients and 16 healthy controls completed a target detection task with 2 conditions: one in which target–distractor grouping facilitates detection (the Isolated condition) and one in which it hinders detection (the Embedded condition). Stimuli were blocked by condition. Accuracy and RT data were obtained in addition to fMRI data. ResultsPatients and controls did not differ significantly in accuracy or RT in either condition. Within this context, controls demonstrated greater recruitment of brain regions involved in visual–spatial processing, and the groups differed in activity in areas known to support visual search, visual analysis, decision making and response generation. ConclusionThese findings are consistent with past data indicating reduced processing of stimulus organization, and the subsequent use of inefficient visual search strategies, even under conditions when behavioral performance is at a high level and matches that of healthy controls.

Speech versus non-speech as irrelevant sound: Controlling acoustic variation

Functional differences between speech and non-speech within the irrelevant sound effect were investigated using repeated and changing formats of irrelevant sounds in the form of intelligible words and unintelligible signal correlated noise (SCN) versions of the words. Event-related potentials were recorded from 25 females aged between 18 and 25 while they completed a serial order recall task in the presence of irrelevant sound or silence. As expected and in line with the changing-state hypothesis both words and SCN produced robust changing-state effects. However, words produced a greater changing-state effect than SCN indicating that the spectral detail inherent within speech accounts for the greater irrelevant sound effect and changing-state effect typically observed with speech. ERP data in the form of N1 amplitude was modulated within some irrelevant sound conditions suggesting that attentional aspects are involved in the elicitation of the irrelevant sound effect.

Meditation experience predicts less negative appraisal of pain: Electrophysiological evidence for the involvement of anticipatory neural responses

The aim of mindfulness meditation is to develop present-focused, non-judgmental, attention. Therefore, experience in meditation should be associated with less anticipation and negative appraisal of pain. In this study we compared a group of individuals with meditation experience to a control group to test whether any differences in the affective appraisal of pain could be explained by lower anticipatory neural processing. Anticipatory and pain-evoked ERPs and reported pain unpleasantness were recorded in response to laser stimuli of matched subjective intensity between the two groups. ERP data were analysed after source estimation with LORETA. No group effects were found on the laser energies used to induce pain. More experienced meditators perceived the pain as less unpleasant relative to controls, with meditation experience correlating inversely with unpleasantness ratings. ERP source data for anticipation showed that in meditators, lower activity in midcingulate cortex relative to controls was related to the lower unpleasantness ratings, and was predicted by lifetime meditation experience. Meditators also reversed the normal positive correlation between medial prefrontal cortical activity and pain unpleasantness during anticipation. Meditation was also associated with lower activity in S2 and insula during the pain-evoked response, although the experiment could not disambiguate this activity from the preceding anticipation response. Our data is consistent with the hypothesis that meditation reduces the anticipation and negative appraisal of pain, but effects on pain-evoked activity are less clear and may originate from preceding anticipatory activity. Further work is required to directly test the causal relationship between meditation, pain anticipation, and pain experience.

Negative Emotion Interferes with Behavioral Inhibitory Control: An ERP Study

Considerable studies have shown that emotional processes interact with behavioral inhibitory control (Shafritz, Collins, Blumberg, 2006; Goldstein, et al., 2007). However, how visual induced emotion influences behavioral inhibitory control remains unknown. Specifically, whether emotion of different valences influences behavioral inhibitory control similarly or positive and negative emotions impact this control in different ways remains undetermined. Based on previous studies reporting different effects of positive and negative emotions on cognitive processes (Rowe, Hirsh and Anderson, 2007), the present study hypothesize that the inducement of negative emotion may impair behavioral control while that of positive emotion promotes the achievement of the control. Using a two-choice oddball task (standard vs. deviant ratio: 85%:15%) and event-related potential measures (ERPs), the present study investigated the effect of emotion on behavioral inhibitory control. ERPs were recorded for standard stimuli, positive, neutral and negative deviant stimuli while subjects classify deviant and standard stimuli by pressing different keys, irrespective of the emotionality of deviants. All stimuli were emotionally evocative scenes taken from Chinese Affective Picture System. Response times for negative deviant stimuli were longer than those for neutral and positive deviants. ERP data showed significant amplitude differences between deviant and standard conditions during 240-300ms and 350-550ms intervals, suggesting that the present task is valid in inducing processes of behavioral inhibitory control. In the deviant-standard difference ERPs that purely index effect of this control, there were pronounced deviant-related N2 and P3 components in 240-300ms and 350-550ms intervals respectively. The deviant-related N2 during negative condition was larger than that during neutral condition, while deviant-related P3 was less pronounced in response to negative stimuli than in response to neutral stimuli. In contrast, the N2 was smaller while the P3 was larger during positive versus neutral conditions. Additionally, the peak latencies of N2 and P3 components were delayed during negative compared to neutral conditions. To summarize, the present study demonstrated a significant influence of emotion valence on processes of behavioral inhibitory control in both behavioral and electrophysiological levels. Negative emotion impairs processes of the response conflict monitoring and subsequent behavioral inhibition, while positive emotion may promote these processes.

Event-related brain potentials to violations of arithmetic syntax represented by place value structure

We dissociated ERP markers of semantic (numerical distance) vs. syntactic (place value) incongruence in the domain of arithmetic. Participants verified additions with four-digit numbers. Semantic incongruencies elicited the N400 ERP effect. A centro-parietal (putative P600) effect to place value violations was not related to arithmetic syntax. Rather, this effect was an enlarged P3b reflecting different surprise values of place value vs. non-place value violations. This potential confound should be considered in numerical cognition experiments. The latency of the N400 and P3a effects were differentially affected by place value analysis. The amplitude of the P3a and that of a fronto-central positive effect (FP600) was sensitive to place value analysis and digit content. Results suggest that ERPs can index the syntactical analysis of multi-digit numbers. Both ERP and behavioral data confirmed that multi-digit numbers were decomposed into their constituent digits, rather than evaluated holistically.