External Information Processing Research Articles

Positive and Negative Retinotopic Codes in the Human Hippocampus.

The hippocampus is thought to coordinate sensory-mnemonic information streams in the brain, representing both the apex of the visual processing hierarchy and the central hub of mnemonic processing. Yet, the mechanisms underlying sensory-mnemonic interactions in the hippocampus are poorly understood. Recent work in cortex suggests that a retinotopic code - typically thought to be exclusive to visual areas - may help organize internal and external information at the cortical apex via opponent interactions. Here, we leverage high-resolution 7T functional MRI to test whether a bivalent retinotopic code structures activity within the human hippocampus and mediates hippocampal-cortical interactions. In seven densely-sampled individuals, we defined the retinotopic preferences of individual voxels within the hippocampus and cortex during a visual mapping task, as well as their functional connectivity during independent runs of resting-state fixation. Our findings reveal a robust retinotopic code in the hippocampus, characterized by stable population receptive fields (pRFs) with consistent preferred visual field locations across experimental runs. Notably, this retinotopic code is comprised of roughly equal proportions of positive and negative pRFs, aligning with the hypothesized role of negative pRFs in mnemonic processing. Finally, the signed amplitude of hippocampal pRFs predicts functional connectivity between retinotopic hippocampal and cortical voxels. Taken together, these results suggest that retinotopic coding may scaffold internal mnemonic and external sensory information processing within the hippocampus, and across hippocampal-cortical interactions.

Opposing neural processing modes alternate rhythmically during sustained auditory attention

During continuous tasks, humans show spontaneous fluctuations in performance, putatively caused by varying attentional resources allocated to process external information. If neural resources are used to process other, presumably “internal” information, sensory input can be missed and explain an apparent dichotomy of “internal” versus “external” attention. In the current study, we extract presumed neural signatures of these attentional modes in human electroencephalography (EEG): neural entrainment and α-oscillations (~10-Hz), linked to the processing and suppression of sensory information, respectively. We test whether they exhibit structured fluctuations over time, while listeners attend to an ecologically relevant stimulus, like speech, and complete a task that requires full and continuous attention. Results show an antagonistic relation between neural entrainment to speech and spontaneous α-oscillations in two distinct brain networks—one specialized in the processing of external information, the other reminiscent of the dorsal attention network. These opposing neural modes undergo slow, periodic fluctuations around ~0.07 Hz and are related to the detection of auditory targets. Our study might have tapped into a general attentional mechanism that is conserved across species and has important implications for situations in which sustained attention to sensory information is critical.

Distinct dynamic connectivity profiles promote enhanced conscious perception of auditory stimuli

The neuroscience of consciousness aims to identify neural markers that distinguish brain dynamics in healthy individuals from those in unconscious conditions. Recent research has revealed that specific brain connectivity patterns correlate with conscious states and diminish with loss of consciousness. However, the contribution of these patterns to shaping conscious processing remains unclear. Our study investigates the functional significance of these neural dynamics by examining their impact on participants’ ability to process external information during wakefulness. Using fMRI recordings during an auditory detection task and rest, we show that ongoing dynamics are underpinned by brain patterns consistent with those identified in previous research. Detection of auditory stimuli at threshold is specifically improved when the connectivity pattern at stimulus presentation corresponds to patterns characteristic of conscious states. Conversely, the occurrence of these conscious state-associated patterns increases after detection, indicating a mutual influence between ongoing brain dynamics and conscious perception. Our findings suggest that certain brain configurations are more favorable to the conscious processing of external stimuli. Targeting these favorable patterns in patients with consciousness disorders may help identify windows of greater receptivity to the external world, guiding personalized treatments.

Factors structure of psychological readiness in elite wrestlers men and women

The article examines the factor structure of the psychological readiness of highly qualified wrestlers. 24 highly qualified athletes specializing in women's wrestling and 33 highly qualified athletes specializing in freestyle wrestling were examined. All athletes are members of national teams of Ukraine. Consent was obtained from all athletes to participate in research and to use the results for scientific purposes. The psycho-emotional state (according to Lüscher's color test), the state of neurodynamic functions (balance and mobility of nervous processes) and the state of cognitive functions (assessment of non-verbal and verbal intelligence, working memory, logical and analytical thinking and the level of manifestation of stress resistance) were investigated using hardware- software computer complex "Multipsychometer - 05".
 It is shown that the psychological readiness of highly qualified wrestlers consists of five factors: perception of external information; mental state; the quality and speed of processing non-verbal information and making an optimal decision. Among highly qualified wrestlers, five factors ensuring psychological readiness were also found: perception of external information; mental state; making the optimal decision; speed of perception and level of stress resistance. According to the research results, it can be concluded that in order to optimize the psychological readiness of highly qualified wrestlers, it is necessary to have an appropriate level of the state of the system of perception, processing of external information and making an optimal decision. Accordingly, the optimization of psychological readiness in highly qualified wrestlers is ensured by the ability to make optimal decisions with different types of perception and a high level of stress resistance.

The Role of the Human Cerebellum for Learning from and Processing of External Feedback in Non-Motor Learning: A Systematic Review

This review aimed to systematically identify and comprehensively review the role of the cerebellum in performance monitoring, focusing on learning from and on processing of external feedback in non-motor learning. While 1078 articles were screened for eligibility, ultimately 36 studies were included in which external feedback was delivered in cognitive tasks and which referenced the cerebellum. These included studies in patient populations with cerebellar damage and studies in healthy subjects applying neuroimaging. Learning performance in patients with different cerebellar diseases was heterogeneous, with only about half of all patients showing alterations. One patient study using EEG demonstrated that damage to the cerebellum was associated with altered neural processing of external feedback. Studies assessing brain activity with task-based fMRI or PET and one resting-state functional imaging study that investigated connectivity changes following feedback-based learning in healthy participants revealed involvement particularly of lateral and posterior cerebellar regions in processing of and learning from external feedback. Cerebellar involvement was found at different stages, e.g., during feedback anticipation and following the onset of the feedback stimuli, substantiating the cerebellum’s relevance for different aspects of performance monitoring such as feedback prediction. Future research will need to further elucidate precisely how, where, and when the cerebellum modulates the prediction and processing of external feedback information, which cerebellar subregions are particularly relevant, and to what extent cerebellar diseases alter these processes.

IMDE-UGAN: Improved Memetic Direction Exploitation Optimized U-Net Generative Adversarial Network for Classification of Diabetic Retinopathy

The most important human organ is the eye which is essential for the processing and absorbing of external visual information. Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the primary factor contributing to the global increase in blindness. To maintain eye health, people have been paying lots of attention to the problem. However, there are still lots of people who have eye problems all around the world. Thus, we proposed the Improved Memetic Direction Exploitation Optimized U-Net Generative Adversarial Network (IMDE-optimized U-Net GAN) model for DR grading. Also, for Multimodal Optimization Problems (MMOPs), a Niching Competition-based Memetic Direction Exploitation (NC-MDE) method is proposed with adaptive local search operations. Additionally, SPatially-ADaptivE (SPADE)-based conditional GANs are used to segment DR. The U-Net GAN model is used to categorize DR images. In the discriminator design, the standard classification network is modified to create the decoder-encoder network known as U-Net. The complete network error of the U-Net GAN architecture is modeled using the IMDE archives. The various performance metrics are used in the method for testing the proposed including accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, and ROC curve. As a result, the proposed method achieves 98.89% of accuracy, 98.54% for sensitivity, and specificity, it achieves 98.67%.

Reconfigurable multifunctional neuromorphic memristor fabricated from two-dimensional ReSe2 ferroelectric nanosheet films

Memristor-based neuromorphic computing is beneficial for artificial intelligence to process external information autonomously with high speed and high efficiency. Two-dimensional (2D) layered van der Waals rhenium selenide (ReSe2) has optoelectronic and semiconductor properties, but its ferroelectricity has not been confirmed fully experimentally and the application exploration is currently limited. Here, we experimentally confirmed the room-temperature ferroelectricity of 2D ReSe2 and proposed a reconfigurable ReSe2 memristor that can realize multiple functions. The device can realize the conductance bidirectional regulation, and under the action of electrical signals, it exhibits the high 0.99 and 0.98 linearity and accurate bidirectional update of weights. Under the complementary effect of ReSe2 ferroelectric polarization flipping and interface defects, the device exhibits the memcapacitor and memristor reconfigurable behavior and multiple functions such as visible light perception, logical “OR” calculation, and long/short-term synaptic plasticity. In addition, the six-layer convolutional neural network built based on ReSe2 memristors can perform feature extraction and classification recognition of handwritten digital pictures, and its recognition accuracy can reach 97.04%. In addition to obtain substantial experimental evidence for the ferroelectricity of 2D ReSe2, this work also provides a new avenue for the implementation of ReSe2 ferroelectric memristors in the neuromorphic computing system with the front-end sensing and back-end processing.

Environmental scanning, cross‐functional coordination and the adoption of green strategies: An information processing perspective

Information processing theory was applied to explore how external information processing and internal information sharing affect a firm's choice of a green strategy. Analyses of two datasets from Chinese manufacturing firms reveal that environment scanning and inter‐functional coordination are important drivers for the adoption of a green strategy. Specifically, firms that engage in extensive environment scanning tend to adopt reactive as opposed to proactive green strategies, whereas firms with effective inter‐functional coordination mechanisms tend to adopt proactive rather than reactive green strategies. An entrepreneurial orientation plays a complementary role in a firm's choice of green strategy. It increases the likelihood that a firm will adopt proactive rather than reactive green strategies, and it further strengthens the influences of environment scanning and inter‐functional coordination. Overall, these findings offer significant implications for firms regarding how and under what conditions they should adopt green strategies.

Pupil-linked arousal correlates with neural activity prior to sensorimotor decisions

Objective. Sensorimotor decisions require the brain to process external information and combine it with relevant knowledge prior to actions. In this study, we explore the neural predictors of motor actions in a novel, realistic driving task designed to study decisions while driving. Approach. Through a spatiospectral assessment of functional connectivity during the premotor period, we identified the organization of visual cortex regions of interest into a distinct scene processing network. Additionally, we identified a motor action selection network characterized by coherence between the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Main results. We show that steering behavior can be predicted from oscillatory power in the visual cortex, DLPFC, and ACC. Power during the premotor periods (specific to the theta and beta bands) correlates with pupil-linked arousal and saccade duration. Significance. We interpret our findings in the context of network-level correlations with saccade-related behavior and show that the DLPFC is a key node in arousal circuitry and in sensorimotor decisions.

Development of officials of spatial orientation in training young football players

Despite the introduction of the latest methods of training in football, the direction - tactical thinking remains in the sphere of constant attention and innovation. The choice of tactical solutions, keeping in mind the elements of a tactical task, timely focusing on actions and changes on the field today are the decisive factors for victory in football. Game activity in conditions of a sharp time limit encourages the player to use the skills of so- called panoramic orientation. Spatial orientation exercises are combined with both life-kinetics exercises and spatial thinking exercises, creating a possible space for improving the player's tactical actions on the field. Testing of spatial orientation and speed reaction to some extent determines the direction of training of young football players. In combination with the elements of working memory, the football player has the opportunity to maintain the speed of team actions. We observed significant differences in the effects of training in the interaction of life-kinetics and exercises on spatial thinking. In the combination of psychological and physical stress, we determined the improvement of both physical and certain cognitive abilities of football players. The ability to optimize the cognitive functions of the brain - that is, the ability to understand, learn, study, perceive, perceive and process external information. The positive side of life-kinetics is that, while setting certain complex tasks, it does not physically overload the players and they do not get tired. Spatial thinking is a component in optimizing the training of tactics in player training.

Intelligence Offloading and the Neurosimulation of Developmental Agents

Cognitive offloading occurs when environmental affordances expand cognitive capacity while facilitating spatial and social behaviors. Capacity-related constraints are also important, particularly as embodied agents come online during development. Vast differences in brain size and offloading capacity exist across the tree of life. We take from multiple perspectives to understand the proportional contributions of internal models (brain) and externalized processing (offloading) in developing embodied computational agents. As developing nervous systems scale with body size and/or functional importance, offloading is also driven by neural capacity. Cognitive capacity is ultimately determined by various innate and environmental constraints. We propose a similar model for computationally developing cognitive agents. A regulatory model of cognition is proposed as a means to build cognitive systems that interface with biologically-inspired substrates. Multiple tradeoffs result from energetic, innate, and informational constraints, and determine the proportion of internal to external information processing capacity. As growth of a biologically-inspired substrate accelerates or decelerates over developmental time, it changes the acquisitional capacity of the agent. Our agent’s capacity limitations determine externalization potential, which is characterized by three parameters and two mathematical functions. The neurosimulation approach to intelligence offloading can be applied to a broad range of agent-based models and Artificial Intelligences.

The Ponto-Geniculo-Occipital (PGO) Waves in Dreaming: An Overview.

Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is the main sleep correlate of dreaming. Ponto-geniculo-occipital (PGO) waves are a signature of REM sleep. They represent the physiological mechanism of REM sleep that specifically limits the processing of external information. PGO waves look just like a message sent from the pons to the lateral geniculate nucleus of the visual thalamus, the occipital cortex, and other areas of the brain. The dedicated visual pathway of PGO waves can be interpreted by the brain as visual information, leading to the visual hallucinosis of dreams. PGO waves are considered to be both a reflection of REM sleep brain activity and causal to dreams due to their stimulation of the cortex. In this review, we summarize the role of PGO waves in potential neural circuits of two major theories, i.e., (1) dreams are generated by the activation of neural activity in the brainstem; (2) PGO waves signaling to the cortex. In addition, the potential physiological functions during REM sleep dreams, such as memory consolidation, unlearning, and brain development and plasticity and mood regulation, are discussed. It is hoped that our review will support and encourage research into the phenomenon of human PGO waves and their possible functions in dreaming.

A New Protocol to Study Mind-Wandering for Air Traffic Controllers

Abstract: Although mind-wandering decreases processing of external information, it remains understudied in air traffic controllers (ATCOs), who must constantly attend to external information. Using autobiographical memory retrieval, we propose an innovative protocol to mimic the moment when ATCOs start mind-wandering. A total of 16 participants performed an ATCO simulation task while we triggered attentional switches toward their inner world using memory probes and recorded eye movements with eye-tracking glasses and a camcorder. We successfully induced one to five spontaneous memories for half of the participants and showed the impact on response times ( Mdn = +0.74 s) to clear flight level. Preliminary results suggest that autobiographical memory could be used to identify a temporal ocular marker – particularly gaze aversion, also positively related to self-reported mind-wandering – to detect the attentional switch.

Switching between External and Internal Attention in Hippocampal Networks.

Everyday experience requires processing external signals from the world around us and internal information retrieved from memory. To do both, the brain must fluctuate between states that are optimized for external versus internal attention. Here, we focus on the hippocampus as a region that may serve at the interface between these forms of attention and ask how it switches between prioritizing sensory signals from the external world versus internal signals related to memories and thoughts. Pharmacological, computational, and animal studies have identified input from the cholinergic basal forebrain as important for biasing the hippocampus toward processing external information, whereas complementary research suggests the dorsal attention network (DAN) may aid in allocating attentional resources toward accessing internal information. We therefore tested the hypothesis that the basal forebrain and DAN drive the hippocampus toward external and internal attention, respectively. We used data from 29 human participants (17 female) who completed two attention tasks during fMRI. One task (memory-guided) required proportionally more internal attention, and proportionally less external attention, than the other (explicitly instructed). We discovered that background functional connectivity between the basal forebrain and hippocampus was stronger during the explicitly instructed versus memory-guided task. In contrast, DAN-hippocampus background connectivity was stronger during the memory-guided versus explicitly instructed task. Finally, the strength of DAN-hippocampus background connectivity was correlated with performance on the memory-guided but not explicitly instructed task. Together, these results provide evidence that the basal forebrain and DAN may modulate the hippocampus to switch between external and internal attention.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT How does the brain balance the need to pay attention to internal thoughts and external sensations? We focused on the human hippocampus, a region that may serve at the interface between internal and external attention, and asked how its functional connectivity varies based on attentional states. The hippocampus was more strongly coupled with the cholinergic basal forebrain when attentional states were guided by the external world rather than retrieved memories. This pattern flipped for functional connectivity between the hippocampus and dorsal attention network, which was higher for attention tasks that were guided by memory rather than external cues. Together, these findings show that distinct networks in the brain may modulate the hippocampus to switch between external and internal attention.

Intelligence across humans and machines: a joint perspective.

This paper aims to address the divergences and contradictions in the definition of intelligence across different areas of knowledge, particularly in computational intelligence and psychology, where the concept is of significant interest. Despite the differences in motivation and approach, both fields have contributed to the rise of cognitive science. However, the lack of a standardized definition, empirical evidence, or measurement strategy for intelligence is a hindrance to cross-fertilization between these areas, particularly for semantic-based applications. This paper seeks to equalize the definitions of intelligence from the perspectives of computational intelligence and psychology, and offer an overview of the methods used to measure intelligence. We argue that there is no consensus for intelligence, and the term is interchangeably used with similar, opposed, or even contradictory definitions in many fields. This paper concludes with a summary of its central considerations and contributions, where we state intelligence is an agent's ability to process external and internal information to find an optimum adaptation (decision-making) to the environment according to its ontology and then decode this information as an output action.

Flexible Changes in Attentional Focus and Task Rules Rely on A Shared Set of Frontoparietal Oscillatory Dynamics.

Flexible changes in behavior can involve changes in the processing of external information (i.e., shifts in attention between different stimuli) or internal information (i.e., shifts in task rules stored in memory). However, it is unclear if different types of flexible change rely on separate, domain-specific neural processes or on a domain-general system, which enables flexible actions independent of the type of change needed. In the current study, participants performed a task switching procedure while we measured neural oscillations via EEG. Importantly, we independently manipulated the need to switch attention between 2 types of stimuli, as well as the need to switch between two sets of stimuli-response rules stored in memory. Both attentional and rule switches significantly increased error rates and RTs. On a neural level, both types of changes were associated with a widespread decrease in alpha power, predominantly over the parietal cortex. Attentional switches and rule switches showed a subadditive interaction effect on both participants' performance as well as on their alpha power reactivity. This indicates that implementing both changes at the same time was more efficient than implementing each individual change separately. Independent of the presence or absence of either attentional or rule switches, higher frontal theta power and lower parietal/posterior alpha power predicted faster responses on correct trials. Our study suggests that flexible behavior relies on domain-general frontal and parietal oscillatory dynamics, which enable efficient implementation of goal-directed actions independent of which aspects of the task change.

Redirected Attention and Impaired Recognition Memory during Exhaustive Cycling Has Implications for Information Processing Models of Effort-Regulation.

Twenty male participants performed two laboratory ramped cycling tests beginning at 50 W and increasing by 0.25 W/s until volitional exhaustion. Ratings of perceived exertion, heart rate and respiratory gas exchange measures were recorded during the first test. During the second test, participants listened to a list of spoken words presented through headphones at a rate of one word every 4 s. Afterwards, their recognition memory for the word pool was measured. Recognition memory performance was found to have strong negative correlations with perceived exertion (p < 0.0001), percentage of peak power output (p < 0.0001), percentage of heart rate reserve (p < 0.0001), and percentage of peak oxygen uptake (p < 0.0001). The results show that, as the physiological and psychophysiological stress of cycling intensified, recognition memory performance deteriorated. This might be due to impairment of memory encoding of the spoken words as they were presented, or because of a diversion of attention away from the headphones, perhaps towards internal physiological sensations as interoceptive sources of attentional load increase with exercise intensity. Information processing models of pacing and performance need to recognise that an athlete's capacity to attend to and process external information is not constant, but changes with exercise intensity.

The Influence of Consumer Purchases on Purchase-Related Happiness: A Serial Mediation of Commitment and Selective Information Processing.

In the literature on material and experiential purchases, it has consistently been demonstrated that the relationship between the consumer's purchase type and purchase-related happiness favors experiential purchases. This research aims to extend the literature by examining how experiential purchases lead to greater purchase-related happiness due to the individual's processing of external information, especially in the online review context. An experiment was conducted to show that experiential purchases lead to greater commitment to decisions and a higher relative reliance on positive reviews (as opposed to negative reviews) than material purchases. The results of a serial mediation test indicate that such differences lead to greater purchase-related happiness. Based on these findings, we can deepen our understanding of the relationship between purchase type and purchase-related happiness from the perspective of information processing.

Cognitive functions and special working capacity in elite boxers

Background and Study Aim. In the basis of the boxer's power qualities is the ability to perceive and process external information. Therefore, in order to ensure the proper training of qualified boxers, there is a need to monitor the functional state of the boxer’s organism. The relationship between cognitive functions and special working capacity of elite boxers were studied.&#x0D; Material and Methods. The level of special working capacity was studied by the test of punching a boxer for 8 s at maximum speed. Cognitive functions (verbal and nonverbal intelligence, and word memory) were studied using the "Multipsychometer-05" hardware-software. 26 elite boxers, aged 18-24, were tested.&#x0D; Results. The research results showed that groups of boxers with different levels of special working capacity differ in terms of accuracy and efficiency when performing a cognitive task with verbal stimuli. The resulted that the high level of special working capacity of elite boxers is provided by the manifestation of verbal intelligence. Besides, the special working capacity is related with activation of mental functions of attention, speed of visual perception, operational and logical thinking. At the same time, significantly higher values of decision latency in this group of boxers indicate a slowdown in the processing of nonverbal information in boxers with a high level of special working capacity to work. It can be noted that the special working capacity of boxers has a direct relationship with quality and inverse relationship with the speed of information processing. The speed of memorizing verbal information is better in boxers with a high level of special working capacity. This fact indicates the importance of the verbal factor for the assimilation of special information in the training of boxers. The best values of accuracy and efficiency indicate the relationship of special working capacity in skilled boxers with the quality and volume of memorized verbal information.&#x0D; Conclusions. The special working capacity of elite boxers has a direct relationship with quality and inverse relationship with the speed of information processing. The elite boxers with a high level of special working capacity have a better speed of verbal information memorizing.

An epifluidic electronic patch with spiking sweat clearance for event-driven perspiration monitoring

Sensory neurons generate spike patterns upon receiving external stimuli and encode key information to the spike patterns, enabling energy-efficient external information processing. Herein, we report an epifluidic electronic patch with spiking sweat clearance using a sensor containing a vertical sweat-collecting channel for event-driven, energy-efficient, long-term wireless monitoring of epidermal perspiration dynamics. Our sweat sensor contains nanomesh electrodes on its inner wall of the channel and unique sweat-clearing structures. During perspiration, repeated filling and abrupt emptying of the vertical sweat-collecting channel generate electrical spike patterns with the sweat rate and ionic conductivity proportional to the spike frequency and amplitude over a wide dynamic range and long time (> 8 h). With such ‘spiking’ sweat clearance and corresponding electronic spike patterns, the epifluidic wireless patch successfully decodes epidermal perspiration dynamics in an event-driven manner at different skin locations during exercise, consuming less than 0.6% of the energy required for continuous data transmission. Our patch could integrate various on-skin sensors and emerging edge computing technologies for energy-efficient, intelligent digital healthcare.