Event-related Potential Correlates Research Articles

Event-related potential correlates of implicit processing of own- and other-race faces in children

Human adults typically experience difficulties in recognizing and discriminating individual faces belonging to racial groups other than their own. The origin of this “other-race” effect is set in infancy, but the understanding of its developmental course is fragmented. We aimed to access the mechanisms of the other-race effect in childhood by unraveling the neural time course of own- and other-race face processing during a masked priming paradigm. White 6- and 7-year-old children (N = 19) categorized fully visible Asian (other-race) or White (own-race) target faces according to gender. Target faces were preceded by masked same-identity or different-identity prime faces, matching the target for race and gender. We showed an early priming effect on the N100 component, with larger amplitude to different-face pairs than to same-face pairs, and a later race effect on the N200 component, with larger amplitude to own-race face pairs than to other-race face pairs. Critically, race did not interact with priming at any processing stage (P100, N100, P200, N200, or P300). Our results suggest that race could have a temporally limited impact on face processing and that the implicit and unconscious identity processing of own- and other-race faces could be similar in 6- and 7-year-olds, depicting an immature other-race effect during childhood.

The role of the eye region for neural correlates of familiar face recognition: The N250r reveals no evidence for eye-centred face representations

ABSTRACT Humans recognize familiar faces highly accurately. However, it is unclear precisely what information is stored in the underlying long-term face representations. While some have emphaszsed the importance of the eye region, other evidence has shown that faces are processed as integrated wholes. We examined the role of the eye region in activating familiar face representations using the N250r, an event-related potential correlate of repetition priming. We presented blur chimeras, i.e., spatially low-pass filtered faces with unfiltered eye regions, and observed a clear N250r which was absent for fully blurred faces (Experiments 1 and 2). However, we observed a similar N250r for chimeras with unfiltered eye or mouth regions (Experiment 3), indicating that the effect is not exclusive to the eyes. We conclude that the efficient activation of face representations is not specifically facilitated by detailed information from the eye region, and that face representations are not centred around the eyes.

A meta-analysis of event-related potential correlates of recognition memory

A meta-analysis of event-related potential correlates of recognition memory

Event-related potential correlates of social anxiety on working memory performance-an investigation of individual differences

Event-related potential correlates of social anxiety on working memory performance-an investigation of individual differences

Deep learning on independent spatial EEG activity patterns delineates time windows relevant for response inhibition.

Inhibitory control processes are an important aspect of executive functions and goal-directed behavior. However, the mostly correlative nature of neurophysiological studies was not able to provide insights which aspects of neural dynamics can best predict whether an individual is confronted with a situation requiring the inhibition of a response. This is particularly the case when considering the complex spatio-temporal nature of neural processes captured by EEG data. In the current study, we ask whether independent spatial activity profiles in the EEG data are useful to predict whether an individual is confronted with a situation requiring response inhibition. We combine independent component analysis (ICA) with explainable artificial intelligence approaches (EEG-based deep learning) using data from a Go/Nogo task (N = 255 participants). We show that there are four dissociable spatial activity profiles important to classify Go and Nogo trials as revealed by deep learning. Of note, for all of these four independent activity profiles, neural activity in the time period between 300 and 550 ms after stimulus presentation was most informative. Source localization analyses further revealed regions in the pre-central gyrus (BA6), the middle frontal gyrus (BA10), the inferior frontal gyrus (BA46), and the insular cortex (BA13) were associated with the isolated spatial activity profiles. The data suggest concomitant processes being reflected in the identified time window. This has implications for the ongoing debate on the functional significance of event-related potential correlates of inhibitory control.

Event-related brain potentials of temporal generalization: The P300 span marks the transition between time perception and time estimation.

There has been a long-standing debate on where on the time axis the transition between time perception and time estimation (i.e., the cognitive reconstruction of time) can be located. According to Fraisse (1984), time perception applies to intervals < 300 ms, whereas intervals > 1 s are subject to time estimation. While there is good empirical evidence for this notion, it might be possible to further pinpoint the threshold. In two experiments, an auditory temporal generalization (TG) task in the range of 400 ms was used to compare event-related potentials (ERPs) with findings from an analogous task using standard durations in the range of 200 ms. As an ERP correlate of actively processed durations around 400 ms, offset latency of a medial central/centroparietal contingent negative variation (CNV) was identified. Thus, durations of around 400 ms may be coded as the duration of mental processes and, hence, are cognitively reconstructed (time estimation). This contrasts with again replicated ERP correlates of TG in the 200-ms range, which involve amplitude modulations of stationary P300/P500 components and suggest an immediate evaluation of durations around 200 ms. It is concluded that the P300 span may denote the transition between time perception and time estimation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Can the elderly take the action? – The influence of unitization induced by action relationships on the associative memory deficit

Healthy aging is associated with intact familiarity, whereas recollection, usually supporting associative memory, is attenuated. Accordingly, associative memory shows a stronger age-related decline than item memory. One approach to alleviate age-related associative memory deficits is to increase the contribution of familiarity to associative memory by creating encoding conditions that allow to integrate separate stimuli to an entity (unitization). The current study investigated whether bottom-up unitization can reduce age-related differences in associative memory. Younger (YA) and older adults (OA) studied associations between semantically unrelated objects, spatially arranged in a way that an action between these two objects is possible (unitized, e.g., emptying a bottle into a sneaker) or not (non-unitized). At test, participants distinguished intact from recombined and new object pairs. As expected, we found larger age differences for associative memory than for item memory. Additionally, the presence of action relationships supports memory performance in both age groups. In the event-related potentials (ERP) of the test phase, we observed an age-related attenuation of recollection and preserved familiarity independent of the action relationship condition. Considering comparisons including the recombined pairs, the ERP correlate of associative familiarity (i.e., intact vs. recombined) was present in OA for action-related pairs, whereas for YA, there was no evidence for enhanced familiarity for action-related pairs. In the late time window, ERP evidence for recollection for intact action-related object pairs was obtained independent of age group. In conclusion, both age groups benefited from unitization by action relationships but by different mechanisms. While YA show no associative familiarity for action-related object pairs but a general reliance on recollection for associations in action-related and –unrelated pairs, OA seem to rely more on familiarity for the specific arrangement of action-related pairs.

Event-related potential correlates of affective response inhibition in bipolar I disorder: Comparison with schizophrenia

BackgroundIndividuals with bipolar I disorder (BD) have difficulty inhibiting context-inappropriate responses. The neural mechanisms contributing to these difficulties, especially in emotional contexts, are little understood. This study aimed to inform mechanisms of impaired impulsivity control in response to emotion in BD, and whether response inhibition indices are altered to a similar degree in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SZ). We examined alterations to behavioral performance and event-related potentials (ERPs) during inhibition to affective stimuli in BD, relative to healthy control participants (HC) and SZ. MethodsSixty-six participants with BD, 32 participants with SZ, and 48 HC completed a Go/No-Go task with emotional face stimuli while electroencephalography was recorded. Behavioral signal detection metrics (perceptual sensitivity, response bias) and ERPs (N200, P300) were compared across groups. ResultsRelative to HC, participants with BD showed reduced (1) discrimination of Go vs. No-Go stimuli (i.e., emotional vs. neutral faces), and (2) P300 amplitudes elicited by emotional faces. Results similarly extended to SZ: BD and SZ groups did not differ on behavioral performance nor ERP amplitudes. LimitationsAspects of the Go/No-Go task design may have limited findings, and medication effects on ERP amplitudes in patient samples cannot be fully ruled out. ConclusionsFindings suggest the difficulty participants with BD and SZ experienced on the current affective response inhibition task lied largely in discriminating between facial expressions. Difficulties with discriminating emotional from neutral expressions may contribute to difficulties with appropriate behavioral responding in social-affective contexts for individuals with BD and SZ.

Event-related potential correlates of visuo-tactile motion processing in congenitally deaf humans

The impact of congenital deafness on the development of vision has been investigated to a considerable degree. However, whether multisensory processing is affected by auditory deprivation has often remained largely overlooked. To fill this gap, we investigated the consequences of a profound auditory deprivation from birth on visuo-tactile processing. While the electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded, dynamic visuo-tactile stimuli with a congruent or an incongruent motion direction were presented to a group of congenitally deaf native signers (N = 21) and matched hearing controls (N = 21). Standard stimuli were moving continuously for 200 ms either upwards or downwards, whereas the motion of deviant stimuli was interrupted in one of the two modalities. Participants were asked to detect deviant stimuli, moving in a predefined direction while ignoring deviants moving in the non-target direction. Behaviorally, deaf individuals committed more false alarms than hearing controls in the incongruent condition, that is, they responded more often when deviants moved in the non-target motion direction. ERPs (140–164 ms) of the deaf group were more anteriorly distributed for the visuo-tactile stimulation in comparison to hearing controls. Moreover, visuo-tactile motion congruency effects emerged with a later latency in the deaf group (350–450 ms) than in the hearing control group (200–280 ms). These findings suggest altered selection strategies and neural correlates for visuo-tactile motion processing as a result of congenital deafness.

Prospective memory in bilinguals and monolinguals: ERP and behavioural correlates of prospective processing in bilinguals

Prospective memory (PM) allows us to form intentions and execute them in the future. Successful retrieval of prospective intentions depends on adequate context monitoring and disengagement from the ongoing task. These processes are also central in predicting incoming language information and guiding language production in bilinguals. We investigated if different bilingual experiences (early/late bilinguals, monolinguals) modulate performance in PM tasks that varied in attentional requirements (focal vs. non-focal). Behavioural and event-related potential (ERP) results indicated that early bilinguals differed from late bilinguals and monolinguals in how they performed the prospective task. Specifically, they showed larger differences between the ongoing activity and the prospective task in the N300 and P3b components when performing the more difficult non-focal PM task, indicating that they engaged in monitoring/updating to adapt to the task’s demands. These differences were not observed in late bilinguals and monolinguals, suggesting that prospective processing is dependent on the bilingual experience.

The ERP correlate of episodic recollection is a neurocognitive determinant of subjective memory complaints: Implications on their predictive validity.

Objective: Subjective memory complaints (SMCs) seem to be a promising marker of cognitive decline and progressing dementia in healthy older adults. However, SMCs have not been invariably related to memory performance, probably because objective tests do not always target the specific neurocognitive processes that underlie SMCs. This study disentangles the neurocognitive basis of memory-specific SMCs by investigating their dependence on episodic recollection which relies on the hippocampal relational memory system as well as their predictive value for memory tests that target such processes. Method: In 29 healthy participants, aged 52-70 years, we assessed SMCs, using the Memory Assessment Clinics Self-Rating Scale (MAC-S), episodic recollection and associated event-related potentials (ERPs), the Verbal Learning and Memory Test (VLMT), which assesses hippocampal functions, as well as depressive symptomology, using Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI). We used correlational and regression models to estimate the association of SMCs with recollection and VLMT performance, independent of age, depressive symptomology, and the P300, an ERP correlate of attentional processes. Results: The ERP correlate of source-recollection significantly accounted for 9% unique variance in SMCs. Moreover, SMCs explained unique proportions of variance in several VLMT measures (ΔR 2 ranging from .07 to .17). Conclusions: SMCs are partially determined by malfunctioning of the hippocampal relational memory system. In line with this, SMCs predict performance in objective memory tests if they also target hippocampally dependent processes. The study emphasizes the prognostic relevance of SMCs as episodic memory decline is an important preclinical marker for the development of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Repetition attenuates the influence of recency on recognition memory: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence

Studies of recognition memory often demonstrate a recency effect on behavioral performance, whereby response times (RTs) are faster for stimuli that were previously presented recently as opposed to more remotely in the past. One account of this relationship between performance and presentation lag posits that memories are accessed by serially searching backward in time, such that RT indicates the self-terminating moment of such a process. Here, we investigated the conditions under which this serial search gives way to more efficient means of retrieving memories. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during a continuous recognition task, in which subjects made binary old/new judgments to stimuli that were each presented up to four times across a range of lags. Stimulus repetition and shorter presentation lag both gave rise to speeded RTs, consistent with previous findings, and we novelly extend these effects to a robust latency measure of the left parietal ERP correlate of retrieval success. Importantly, the relationship between repetition and recency was further elucidated, such that repetition attenuated lag-related differences that were initially present in both the behavioral and neural latency data. These findings are consistent with the idea that an effortful search through recent memory can quickly be abandoned in favor of relying on more efficient "time-independent" cognitive processes or neural signals.

ERP and MEG correlates of visual consciousness: The second decade

The first decade of event-related potential (ERP) research had established that the most consistent correlates of the onset of visual consciousness are the early visual awareness negativity (VAN), a posterior negative component in the N2 time range, and the late positivity (LP), an anterior positive component in the P3 time range. Two earlier extensive reviews ten years ago had concluded that VAN is the earliest and most reliable correlate of visual phenomenal consciousness, whereas LP probably reflects later processes associated with reflective/access consciousness. This article provides an update to those earlier reviews. ERP and MEG studies that have appeared since 2010 and directly compared ERPs between aware and unaware conditions are reviewed, and important new developments in the field are discussed. The result corroborates VAN as the earliest and most consistent signature of visual phenomenal consciousness, and casts further doubt on LP as an ERP correlate of phenomenal consciousness.

Event-related potential correlates of auditory feedback control of vocal production in experienced singers.

Considerable evidence has shown that experienced singers are capable of voluntarily suppressing vocal compensations for consistent pitch perturbations in auditory feedback. Our recent behavioral study found that singers also compensated for brief pitch perturbations to a lesser degree than nonsingers in an involuntary manner. In the present event-related potential study, we investigated the neural correlates of involuntary vocal pitch regulation in experienced singers. All participants were instructed to vocalize the vowel sounds while their voice was unexpectedly shifted in pitch by -50 and -200 cents. The results revealed decreased cortical N1 and P2 responses to pitch perturbations and reduced involuntary vocal compensations for singers when compared to nonsingers. Moreover, larger vocal responses were significantly correlated with smaller cortical P2 responses for nonsingers, whereas this brain-behavior relationship did not exist for singers. These findings demonstrate that the cortical processing of involuntary auditory-motor integration for vocal pitch regulation can be shaped as a function of singing experience, suggesting that experienced singers may be less influenced by auditory feedback and rely more on somatosensory feedback or feedforward control as a consequence of singing training as compared to nonsingers.

Age differences in the neural correlates of the specificity of recollection: An event-related potential study

In young adults, the neural correlates of successful recollection vary with the specificity (or amount) of information retrieved. We examined whether the neural correlates of recollection are modulated in a similar fashion in older adults. We compared event-related potential (ERP) correlates of recollection in samples of healthy young and older adults (N = 20 per age group). At study, participants were cued to make one of two judgments about each of a series of words. Subsequently, participants completed a memory test for studied and unstudied words in which they first made a Remember/Know/New (RKN) judgment, followed by a source memory judgment when a word attracted a ‘Remember’ (R) response. In young adults, the ‘left parietal effect’ – a putative ERP correlate of successful recollection – was largest for test items endorsed as recollected (R judgment) and attracting a correct source judgment, intermediate for items endorsed as recollected but attracting an incorrect or uncertain source judgment, and, relative to correct rejections, absent for items endorsed as familiar only (K judgment). In marked contrast, the left parietal effect was not detectable in older adults. Rather, regardless of source accuracy, studied items attracting an R response elicited a sustained, centrally maximum negative-going deflection relative to both correct rejections and studied items where recollection failed (K judgment). A similar retrieval-related negativity has been described previously in older adults, but the present findings are among the few to link this effect specifically to recollection. Finally, relative to correct rejections, all classes of correctly recognized old items elicited an age-invariant, late-onsetting positive deflection that was maximal over the right frontal scalp. This finding, which replicates several prior results, suggests that post-retrieval monitoring operations were engaged to an equivalent extent in the two age groups. Together, the present results suggest that there are circumstances where young and older adults engage qualitatively distinct retrieval-related processes during successful recollection.

Feedback timing modulates interactions between feedback processing and memory encoding: Evidence from event-related potentials.

Feedback-based learning relies on a procedural learning system driven by reward prediction errors (RPEs). The processing of temporally delayed feedback is supported by brain structures associated with declarative memory processes, but it is still unknown how delayed feedback processing and memory encoding interact. In this study, a subsequent memory paradigm was employed to investigate how the incidental encoding of feedback pictures presented with a short (SD, 500 ms) or long (LD, 6500 ms) delay in a probabilistic learning task affects the event-related potential (ERP) correlate of RPEs (i.e., the feedback-related negativity; FRN). In an ensuing test phase, a surprise recognition memory test for the feedback pictures was conducted. FRN amplitudes measured in the feedback-locked ERPs recorded during the learning phase (FRNpeak) and in the negative minus positive feedback difference wave (FRNdiff) were compared for subsequently remembered and forgotten feedback pictures. Feedback processing as reflected in the FRNpeak was diminished for remembered LD feedback pictures, indicating that delayed feedback processing and memory encoding competed for similar neural processing resources. As evidenced by large FRNdiff amplitudes in the SD condition, the evaluation of shortly delayed feedback strongly relied on the procedural learning system. A complementary model-based single trial analysis was conducted to validate models of the functional significance of the FRN. Consistent with previous studies, feedback-locked N170 and P300 amplitudes were sensitive to feedback delay. In the test phase, memory for LD feedback pictures was better than for SD pictures and accompanied by a late old-new effect, presumably reflecting extended recollective processing.

Encoding focus does not affect recollection of action memories: Event related potential (ERP) and modeling evidence

Prior work using word stimuli has uncovered evidence that encoding focus (i.e., self-focus or other-focus) alters non-diagnostic recollection and the putative ERP correlate of recollection (i.e., the Late Positive Component or LPC; Leynes and Mok, 2017, Brain & Cognition). The present study examined the generality of these effects by testing memory for actions. Participants viewed videos of either a male actor or female actor completing simple actions (e.g., Ride the Elevator; Climb the Stairs). Participants judged how much fun it would be to personally perform the action under the self-focus encoding condition, whereas they rated how much fun the actor had while performing the action in the other-focus encoding condition. At test, participants made source judgments regarding who (i.e., male or female) performed the action. Self- and other-focus encoding had similar effects on all behavioral measures including parameters from Dual Process Signal Detection and Unequal Variance Signal Detection models. Experiment 2 recorded brain activity (event-related potentials) and found that self- and other-focus encoding produced similar recognition and LPC amplitudes. These results suggest that encoding focus did not affect the amount of non-diagnostic recollection because both action types promoted strong recollection. Such results are additional evidence that action memory creates more complex traces as compared with typical lab-based stimuli (i.e., pictures or words) and identifies an important boundary condition for encoding focus effects on recollection.

Properties of familiar face representations: Only contrast positive faces contain all information necessary for efficient recognition.

It is difficult to recognize the identity of a face presented in negative contrast. This difficulty, however, is substantially reduced when only the eye region is contrast positive in an otherwise negative face image, and recognition of these so-called contrast chimeras approaches performance with full positive faces. This apparently similar accuracy has led researchers to suggest that familiar face representations are built around the eye region. The present study used the N250r, an event-related brain potential correlate of repetition priming, to examine whether chimera recognition is similarly efficient as positive face recognition. In a series of 3 experiments, we found a clear N250r for positive but reduced or even absent repetition effects for negative and chimera faces. This finding held true independent of whether the same basic pictures of familiar faces were used as prime and target stimuli (Experiment 1) or not (Experiments 2 and 3). Similar results were also obtained independent of whether positive, negative or chimera primes preceded full positive targets (Experiments 1 and 2) or targets in the same respective contrast format (Experiment 3). These results indicate that only positive faces contain all information necessary for optimal face recognition and that even though contrast chimeras are recognized highly accurately, the underlying processes work less efficiently as compared with normal face recognition. We conclude that familiar face representations are not built around the eyes but comprise detailed information from other regions of the face. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Event-related potential correlates of recognition memory in asymptomatic individuals with CADASIL

Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is the most common form of hereditary stroke disorder and is caused by mutations of the NOTCH3 gene. Cognitive decline in CADASIL is characterized by early impairments of attention, memory, and executive functions. Studying asymptomatic individuals with CADASIL offers a unique genetic model to understand preclinical vascular cognitive impairment and dementia. This study aimed at examine whether early preclinical physiological changes could be observed in asymptomatic individuals with CADASIL, who will go on to develop vascular cognitive impairment and dementia later in life. Twenty-nine individuals (mean age: 54.1 years old) were included in the study; five CADASIL NOTCH3 mutation carriers and twenty-five age-matched non-carriers. Participants underwent a comprehensive clinical evaluation and neuropsychological testing. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during a picture recognition memory task. Analyses focused on the early frontal effect and parietal effect ERP components associated with familiarity and recollection memory. There were no differences between groups in behavioral performance during recognition memory discrimination or cognitive performance. Compared to non-carriers, CADASIL carriers had decreased amplitudes in both ERP components for hits and correct rejections. Among mutation carriers, lower amplitude at 500–600 ms in the left parietal region of interest for correct rejections was correlated with worse performance on measures of semantic fluency and inhibitory control. We conclude that cognitively unimpaired CADASIL carriers showed abnormalities in the neural correlates of recognition memory, years before clinical onset. Early disruptions of fronto-subcortical networks may explain preclinical changes in brain function during recognition memory. This work also demonstrates the potential usefulness of ERP brain correlates as preclinical markers of vascular dementia.

Neural activity reveals effects of aging on inhibitory processes during word retrieval

ABSTRACTWord retrieval difficulties are one of the most frustrating problems for older adults. Poorer access to phonological representation of the target word has been postulated as the underlying deficit, supported by findings of improved word retrieval after phonological priming. To better understand aging effects in the underlying neurophysiology associated with word retrieval, this study examined electrophysiological correlates of phonological priming and word retrieval in adults. Young, middle-aged, and older adults viewed pictures that were preceded by pseudo-word primes that either shared initial phonemes with or were unrelated to the picture’s name. Participants made phonological judgments regarding the prime and picture prior to naming the picture. Behavioral and event-related potential correlates of phonological priming and word retrieval were recorded. All groups benefitted similarly from phonological priming, evidenced by faster phonological judgment response times and increased ease of word retrieval for primed pictures, indexed by the N400 priming effect. The peak latency of the N2, however, showed an incremental delay with age. High correlation between N2 peak latency and clinical measures of inhibition suggested an age-related delay in the inhibition of primed lexical competitors. Taken together, our results indicated intact activation of phonological representation of the picture’s name but age-related delays in inhibition of primed competitors. Interestingly, our findings revealed that delays in inhibiting lexical competitors may begin as early as middle age, highlighting the importance of including multiple age groups to better represent the aging trajectory.