Mode Of Stimulus Presentation Research Articles

NEREC, an effective brain mapping protocol for combined language and long-term memory functions

Temporal lobe epilepsy can induce functional plasticity in temporoparietal networks involved in language and long-term memory processing. Previous studies in healthy subjects have revealed the relative difficulty for this network to respond effectively across different experimental designs, as compared to more reactive regions such as frontal lobes. For a protocol to be optimal for clinical use, it has to first show robust effects in a healthy cohort. In this study, we developed a novel experimental paradigm entitled NEREC, which is able to reveal the robust participation of temporoparietal networks in a uniquely combined language and memory task, validated in an fMRI study with healthy subjects. Concretely, NEREC is composed of two runs: (a) an intermixed language-memory task (confrontation naming associated with encoding in nonverbal items, NE) to map language (i.e., word retrieval and lexico-semantic processes) combined with simultaneous long-term verbal memory encoding (NE items named but also explicitly memorized) and (b) a memory retrieval task of items encoded during NE (word recognition, REC) intermixed with new items. Word recognition is based on both perceptual-semantic familiarity (feeling of 'know') and accessing stored memory representations (remembering). In order to maximize the remembering and recruitment of medial temporal lobe structures, we increased REC difficulty by changing the modality of stimulus presentation (from nonverbal during NE to verbal during REC). We report that (a) temporoparietal activation during NE was attributable to both lexico-semantic (language) and memory (episodic encoding and semantic retrieval) processes; that (b) encoding activated the left hippocampus, bilateral fusiform, and bilateral inferior temporal gyri; and that (c) task recognition (recollection) activated the right hippocampus and bilateral but predominant left fusiform gyrus. The novelty of this protocol consists of (a) combining two tasks in one (language and long-term memory encoding/recall) instead of applying isolated tasks to map temporoparietal regions, (b) analyzing NE data based on performances recorded during REC, (c) double-mapping networks involved in naming and in long-term memory encoding and retrieval, (d) focusing on remembering with hippocampal activation and familiarity judgment with lateral temporal cortices activation, and (e) short duration of examination and feasibility. These aspects are of particular interest in patients with TLE, who frequently show impairment of these cognitive functions. Here, we show that the novel protocol is suited for this clinical evaluation.

Phonological processing in speech perception: What do sonority differences tell us?

Previous research has associated the inferior frontal and posterior temporal brain regions with a number of phonological processes. In order to identify how these specific brain regions contribute to phonological processing, we manipulated subsyllabic phonological complexity and stimulus modality during speech perception using fMRI. Subjects passively attended to visual or auditory pseudowords. Similar to previous studies, a bilateral network of cortical regions was recruited during the presentation of visual and auditory stimuli. Moreover, pseudowords recruited a similar network of regions as words and letters. Few regions in the whole-brain results revealed neural processing differences associated with phonological complexity independent of modality of presentation. In an ROI analysis, the only region sensitive to phonological complexity was the posterior part of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFGpo), with the complexity effect only present for print. In sum, the sensitivity of phonological brain areas depends on the modality of stimulus presentation and task demands.

Chromaticity of unique white in illumination mode.

The chromaticity of unique white viewed in illumination mode and under dark adapted conditions was investigated for 3 luminance levels (200, 1000 and 2000 cd/m2) using a unique white setting method. Unique white was found to encompass a rather large region in color space located slightly below the blackbody locus and centered around a CCT of 6600 K. Luminance level was found to have no significant effect on the mean unique white chromaticity. The high and low end points of the CIE class A and B white regions respectively under- and overestimate the chromaticity region perceived as white. Agreement along the Duv direction was quite good. However, another Duv related limit associated with white lighting (|Duv|≤5.4e-3) was found to be on the small side, especially for chromaticity values below the blackbody locus. The results for unique white viewed in illumination mode were compared to those reported for object mode presentation. Overall they were very comparable, although a statistical analysis does show a (just) significant effect of stimulus presentation mode for high (il)luminance levels. However, no such effect could be established at the individual observer level. Therefore, it was concluded that unique white chromaticity is essentially the same for both illumination and object mode stimulus presentation, at least under dark adapted viewing conditions.

Effects of rhythmic stimulus presentation on oscillatory brain activity: the physiology of cueing in Parkinson's disease.

The basal ganglia play an important role in beat perception and patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) are impaired in perception of beat-based rhythms. Rhythmic cues are nonetheless beneficial in gait rehabilitation, raising the question how rhythm improves movement in PD. We addressed this question with magnetoencephalography recordings during a choice response task with rhythmic and non-rhythmic modes of stimulus presentation. Analyses focused on (i) entrainment of slow oscillations, (ii) the depth of beta power modulation, and (iii) whether a gain in modulation depth of beta power, due to rhythmicity, is of predictive or reactive nature. The results show weaker phase synchronisation of slow oscillations and a relative shift from predictive to reactive movement-related beta suppression in PD. Nonetheless, rhythmic stimulus presentation increased beta modulation depth to the same extent in patients and controls. Critically, this gain selectively increased the predictive and not reactive movement-related beta power suppression. Operation of a predictive mechanism, induced by rhythmic stimulation, was corroborated by a sensory gating effect in the sensorimotor cortex. The predictive mode of cue utilisation points to facilitation of basal ganglia-premotor interactions, contrasting with the popular view that rhythmic stimulation confers a special advantage in PD, based on recruitment of alternative pathways.

An ERP study on L2 syntax processing: When do learners fail?

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) can reveal online processing differences between native speakers and second language (L2) learners during language comprehension. Using the P600 as a measure of native-likeness, we investigated processing of grammatical gender agreement in highly proficient immersed Romance L2 learners of Dutch. We demonstrate that these late learners consistently fail to show native-like sensitivity to gender violations. This appears to be due to a combination of differences from the gender marking in their L1 and the relatively opaque Dutch gender system. We find that L2 use predicts the effect magnitude of non-finite verb violations, a relatively regular and transparent construction, but not that of gender agreement violations. There were no effects of age of acquisition, length of residence, proficiency or offline gender knowledge. Additionally, a within-subject comparison of stimulus modalities (written vs. auditory) shows that immersed learners may show some of the effects only in the auditory modality; in non-finite verb violations, an early native-like N400 was only present for auditory stimuli. However, modality failed to influence the response to gender. Taken together, the results confirm the persistent problems of Romance learners of Dutch with online gender processing and show that they cannot be overcome by reducing task demands related to the modality of stimulus presentation.

The Influence of Diglossia on Different Types of Phonological Abilities in Arabic

The present study examined the impact of diglossia, a characteristic of the Arabic language, on the developmentof phonological abilities in the spoken and the literary language forms. Participants were 571 children from 10grade levels (1-7, 9, 11 and 12), which were recruited from 10 schools by taking into account two importantfactors: the accent factor (Bedouins, Druze and Arabs) and the geographical factor (south, Haifa, center andnorth). All participant were administered phonemic segmentation and phonemic deletion tasks, each comprisedof two types of stimulus: spoken and literary words. The results indicated an opposite effects of the stimuluswhere in the phonemic segmentation tasks, an advantage was found for the spoken stimulus over the literary andin the phonemic deletion task, the advantage was recorded in the literary stimulus. In addition, a significant maineffect of grade was found for both tasks. An interaction between grade and the type of stimulus was observedonly in the phonemic deletion task. These differences between the two tasks may suggest that they are processeddifferently via the auditory and the visual modality. In addition, our findings provide evidence concerns thedevelopmental capacity of phonemic awareness. The results, as a whole, support the notion that the effect oflexical distance on phonological awareness depends on modes of stimulus presentation.

Comparisons of Auditory Steady State Response and Behavioral Air Conduction and Bone Conduction Thresholds for Infants and Adults With Normal Hearing

To improve understanding of normal responses in infants by comparing air conduction (AC) and bone conduction (BC) auditory thresholds using both the auditory steady state response (ASSR) and behavioral testing methods in normal-hearing infants (6 to 18 months of age) and adults. At present, there are no correction factors available for estimating BC behavioral thresholds from BC ASSR thresholds, which is a barrier to clinical implementation of the ASSR. In addition, previous studies have reported infant-adult differences in AC and BC sensitivity, which suggest a "maturational" air-bone gap (ABG) that is not attributable to a conductive pathology; no study has yet compared AC and BC thresholds for either ASSR or behavioral methods in the same individuals. The objectives of the present study are: (1) to compare BC thresholds between methods and provide the initial step toward positing correction factors to predict BC behavioral thresholds, (2) to directly compare AC and BC thresholds to provide an accurate estimate of the maturational ABG, (3) to determine preliminary normal levels for BC and AC ASSRs to exponentially amplitude modulated stimuli, and (4) to investigate infant-adult differences in AC and BC thresholds using ASSRs and behavioral assessment tools. Participants were 23 infants (6.5 to 19.0 months of age) and 12 adults (17 to 50 years of age) with normal hearing. Thresholds were estimated at 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz using air- and bone-conducted stimuli for ASSRs and behavioral testing. The ASSR stimuli were exponential envelope modulated (amplitude modulation [AM]) at modulation frequencies of 78, 85, 93, and 101 Hz for 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz, respectively, presented simultaneously. Frequency-modulated (warble tone) stimuli were used for behavioral testing for both infants and adults, respectively. All stimuli were calibrated in dB HL. Thresholds were compared across frequency and between stimulus presentation modes, between age groups and assessment method. Normal levels for AC and BC ASSRs to AM stimuli were also calculated. The findings indicated that BC thresholds were, on average, 7 to 16 dB poorer for ASSR compared with visual reinforcement audiometry (VRA), but varied widely across infants. For infants, mean ABGs of 14 to 17 dB were found for low-frequency ASSR thresholds but mean ABGs for VRA thresholds were less than 10 dB. The preliminary normal levels for ASSR AM stimuli at 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz, respectively, were: (i) AC: 30, 30, 20, and 20 dB HL, and (ii) BC: 20, 20, 30, and 30 dB HL. There was a tendency for infant and adult ASSR thresholds to differ for BC, but not for AC. Behavioral thresholds for AC and BC were similar between infants and adults and across frequency. Infant-adult and AC-BC threshold differences are greater for ASSRs compared with behavioral measures. The results support the presence of a clinically significant maturational ABG in the low frequencies for infant ASSRs but not for VRA. The findings also show a significant offset between BC ASSR and BC VRA thresholds and large intersubject variability.

Working memory deficits in boys with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): An examination of orthographic coding and episodic buffer processes

The episodic buffer component of working memory was examined in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and typically developing peers (TD). Thirty-two children (ADHD = 16, TD = 16) completed three versions of a phonological working memory task that varied with regard to stimulus presentation modality (auditory, visual, or dual auditory and visual), as well as a visuospatial task. Children with ADHD experienced the largest magnitude working memory deficits when phonological stimuli were presented via a unimodal, auditory format. Their performance improved during visual and dual modality conditions but remained significantly below the performance of children in the TD group. In contrast, the TD group did not exhibit performance differences between the auditory- and visual-phonological conditions but recalled significantly more stimuli during the dual-phonological condition. Furthermore, relative to TD children, children with ADHD recalled disproportionately fewer phonological stimuli as set sizes increased, regardless of presentation modality. Finally, an examination of working memory components indicated that the largest magnitude between-group difference was associated with the central executive. Collectively, these findings suggest that ADHD-related working memory deficits reflect a combination of impaired central executive and phonological storage/rehearsal processes, as well as an impaired ability to benefit from bound multimodal information processed by the episodic buffer.

Effects of stimulus presentation mode and subcortical laterality in speech-evoked auditory brainstem responses

Objective: Speech-evoked auditory brainstem responses (ABR) are sensitive to the manipulation of stimulus parameters, including how the stimulus is presented, i.e. monaurally or binaurally. Therefore, this parametric study was designed to compare the effect of binaural and monaural stimuli presentation on speech-evoked ABR features in the parallel assessment of subcortical asymmetry of speech stimuli acoustic elements. Design: Electrophysiological responses to the speech syllable /da/ were recorded within three stimulus presentation modes. Study sample: Forty-eight normal hearing monolingual Persian speakers were included in the current study as volunteer cases. Results: Shorter right ear latency was observed for peaks A and E, but the overall response timing was comparable within different stimulus presentation modes. Binaural stimulation generally led to larger response than monaural stimulation and affected the encoding of speech spectral elements. Moreover, no significant interpeak interval difference was observed in the sustained portion of responses. Response to the right and left ear stimulation was highly correlated, and a symmetrical pattern was observed between the two ears. Conclusions: The timing of speech-evoked responses is not related to the stimulus presentation mode; however, binaural stimulation produces more robust responses. Lateral asymmetry in the representation of speech elements was not considerable at the brainstem level.

Blocked versus randomized presentation modes differentially modulate feedback-related negativity and P3b amplitudes

ObjectiveElectrophysiological studies on feedback processing typically use a wide range of feedback stimuli which might not always be comparable. The current study investigated whether two indicators of feedback processing – feedback-related negativity (FRN) and P3b – differ for feedback stimuli with explicit (facial expressions) or assigned valence information (symbols). In addition, we assessed whether presenting feedback in either a trial-by-trial or a block-wise fashion affected these ERPs. MethodsEEG was recorded in three experiments while participants performed a time estimation task and received two different types of performance feedback. ResultsOnly P3b amplitudes varied consistently in response to feedback type for both presentation types. Moreover, the blocked feedback type presentation yielded more distinct FRN peaks, higher effect sizes, and a significant relation between FRN amplitudes and behavioral task performance measures. ConclusionBoth stimulus type and presentation mode may provoke systematic changes in feedback-related ERPs. The current findings point at important potential confounds that need to be controlled for when designing FRN or P3b studies. SignificanceStudies investigating P3b amplitudes using mixed types of stimuli have to be interpreted with caution. Furthermore, we suggest implementing a blocked presentation format when presenting different feedback types within the same experiment.

Parietal EEG alpha suppression time of memory retrieval reflects memory load while the alpha power of memory maintenance is a composite of the visual process according to simultaneous and successive Sternberg memory tasks

The present study investigated EEG alpha activity during visual Sternberg memory tasks using two different stimulus presentation modes to elucidate how the presentation mode affected parietal alpha activity. EEGs were recorded from 10 healthy adults during the Sternberg tasks in which memory items were presented simultaneously and successively. EEG power and suppression time (ST) in the alpha band (8–13Hz) were computed for the memory maintenance and retrieval phases. The alpha activity differed according to the presentation mode during the maintenance phase but not during the retrieval phase. Results indicated that parietal alpha power recorded during the maintenance phase did not reflect the memory load alone. In contrast, ST during the retrieval phase increased with the memory load for both presentation modes, indicating a serial memory scanning process, regardless of the presentation mode. These results indicate that there was a dynamic transition in the memory process from the maintenance phase, which was sensitive to external factors, toward the retrieval phase, during which the process converged on the sequential scanning process, the Sternberg task essentially required.

Modality-match effect in false recognition

In the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, participants falsely recall or recognize a nonpresented word (critical lure), highly associated with previously studied words. As numerous DRM studies have found a robust false memory effect at the behavioural level, event-related potentials (ERPs) studies have searched for possible overlapping in brain electrical activity between true and false memory. Using the DRM paradigm, the present experiment manipulated the sensory modality of stimulus presentation (auditory vs. visual) in the study phase to analyse the effect of modality match between study and test on true and false recognition. Words were therefore presented either visually or auditorily at study and always visually at test. True recognition was found to be significantly higher in the modality 'match' condition (visual-visual) than in the 'mismatch' condition (auditory-visual), whereas there was no modality-match effect on false recognition of critical lures. A general, overlapping was found between ERP correlates of true and false recognition: FN400 (300-500 ms), left-parietal (400-800 ms) and late right-frontal (1000-1500 ms) old/new effects were similar for both studied words and critical lures. No sensory modality-match effect was associated with FN400 or left-parietal old/new effects. Only the late right-frontal activity was modulated by modality manipulation, with significantly more positive ERPs in the modality-match condition. Sensory modality match of stimulus presentation, therefore, dissociated true and false recognition memory only at the behavioural level but not at the ERP level. Overall, true and false recognition memories seem to share common underlying processes.

Pigeons integrate past knowledge across sensory modalities

Advanced inferring abilities that are used for predator recognition and avoidance have been documented in a variety of animal species that produce alarm calls. In contrast, evidence for cognitive abilities that underpin predation avoidance in nonalarm-calling species is restricted to associative learning of heterospecific alarm calls and predator presence. We investigated cognitive capacities that underlie the perception and computation of external information beyond associative learning by addressing contextual information processing in pigeons, Columba livia, a bird species without specific alarm calls. We used a habituation/dishabituation paradigm across sensory modes to test pigeons' context-dependent inferring abilities. The birds reliably took previous knowledge about predator presence into account and responded with predator-specific scanning behaviour only if predator presence was not indicated before or if the perceived level of urgency increased. Hence, pigeons' antipredator behaviour was not based on the physical properties of displayed stimuli or their referential content alone but on contextual information, indicated by the kind and order of stimulus presentation and different sensory modes.

The mental representations of fractions: adults' same-different judgments.

Two experiments examined whether the processing of the magnitude of fractions is global or componential. Previously, some authors concluded that adults process the numerators and denominators of fractions separately and do not access the global magnitude of fractions. Conversely, others reported evidence suggesting that the global magnitude of fractions is accessed. We hypothesized that in a fraction matching task, participants automatically extract the magnitude of the components but that the activation of the global magnitude of the whole fraction is only optional or strategic. Participants carried out same/different judgment tasks. Two different tasks were used: a physical matching task and a numerical matching task. Pairs of fractions were presented either simultaneously or sequentially. Results showed that participants only accessed the representation of the global magnitude of fractions in the numerical matching task. The mode of stimulus presentation did not affect the processing of fractions. The present study allows a deeper understanding of the conditions in which the magnitude of fractions is mentally represented by using matching tasks and two different modes of presentation.

Emotion and magnitude perception: number and length bisection

Studies of the effect of emotional stimuli on time perception have shown that a threatening stimulus produces a temporal lengthening effect compared to a non-threatening stimulus. In order to better understand the mechanisms underlying this emotion-related time distortion, the present study examined distortions in the judgment of other quantities – number and length – under the same emotional conditions as those previously used for time. However, the nature of the presentation of quantities was manipulated by using a sequential and a non-sequential presentation. The participants were thus given a number or a length bisection task in a sequential or a non-sequential modality of stimulus presentation. In each condition, the participants completed trials in which the probe stimulus was followed by either an aversive stimulus or a non-aversive stimulus. The results showed that the quantities were judged longer, with the set of dots judged bigger and the line judged longer, on the trials which contained aversive stimulus, but only when these quantities were presented sequentially. In comparison with the time distortions obtained in time bisection, these distortions in the bisection judgment of sequentially presented quantities suggests that emotion affected the dynamic process of accumulation of information in working memory.

Single-trial linear correlation analysis: application to characterization of stimulus modality effects

A key objective in systems and cognitive neuroscience is to establish associations between behavioral measures and concurrent neuronal activity. Single-trial analysis has been proposed as a novel method for characterizing such correlates by first extracting neural components that maximally discriminate trials on a categorical variable, (e.g., hard vs. easy, correct vs. incorrect etc.), and then correlate those components to a continues dependent variable of interest, e.g., reaction time, difficulty Index, etc. However, often times in experiment design it is difficult to either define meaningful categorical variables, or to record enough trials for the method to extract the discriminant components. Experiments designed for the study of the effects of stimulus presentation modality in working memory provide such a scenario, as will be exemplified. In this paper, we proposed a new approach to single-trial analysis in which we directly extract neural activity that maximally correlates to single-trial manual response times; eliminating the need to define an arbitrary categorical variable. We demonstrate our method on real electroencephalography (EEG) data recordings from the study of stimulus presentation modality effect (SPME).

Attention shifts the language network reflecting paradigm presentation

Objectives: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a reliable and non-invasive method with which to localize language function in pre-surgical planning. In clinical practice, visual stimulus presentation is often difficult or impossible, due to the patient's restricted language or attention abilities. Therefore, our aim was to investigate modality-specific differences in visual and auditory stimulus presentation.Methods: Ten healthy subjects participated in an fMRI study comprising two experiments with visual and auditory stimulus presentation. In both experiments, two language paradigms (one for language comprehension and one for language production) used in clinical practice were investigated. In addition to standard data analysis by the means of the general linear model (GLM), independent component analysis (ICA) was performed to achieve more detailed information on language processing networks.Results: GLM analysis revealed modality-specific brain activation for both language paradigms for the contrast visual > auditory in the area of the intraparietal sulcus and the hippocampus, two areas related to attention and working memory. Using group ICA, a language network was detected for both paradigms independent of stimulus presentation modality. The investigation of language lateralization revealed no significant variations. Visually presented stimuli further activated an attention-shift network, which could not be identified for the auditory presented language.Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that the visually presented language stimuli additionally activate an attention-shift network. These findings will provide important information for pre-surgical planning in order to preserve reading abilities after brain surgery, significantly improving surgical outcomes. Our findings suggest that the presentation modality for language paradigms should be adapted on behalf of individual indication.

Sensory modality of smoking cues modulates neural cue reactivity

Behavioral experiments have demonstrated that the sensory modality of presentation modulates drug cue reactivity. The present study on nicotine addiction tested whether neural responses to smoking cues are modulated by the sensory modality of stimulus presentation. We measured brain activation using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 15 smokers and 15 nonsmokers while they viewed images of smoking paraphernalia and control objects and while they touched the same objects without seeing them. Haptically presented, smoking-related stimuli induced more pronounced neural cue reactivity than visual cues in the left dorsal striatum in smokers compared to nonsmokers. The severity of nicotine dependence correlated positively with the preference for haptically explored smoking cues in the left inferior parietal lobule/somatosensory cortex, right fusiform gyrus/inferior temporal cortex/cerebellum, hippocampus/parahippocampal gyrus, posterior cingulate cortex, and supplementary motor area. These observations are in line with the hypothesized role of the dorsal striatum for the expression of drug habits and the well-established concept of drug-related automatized schemata, since haptic perception is more closely linked to the corresponding object-specific action pattern than visual perception. Moreover, our findings demonstrate that with the growing severity of nicotine dependence, brain regions involved in object perception, memory, self-processing, and motor control exhibit an increasing preference for haptic over visual smoking cues. This difference was not found for control stimuli. Considering the sensory modality of the presented cues could serve to develop more reliable fMRI-specific biomarkers, more ecologically valid experimental designs, and more effective cue-exposure therapies of addiction.

Memory processes in learning disability subtypes of children born preterm

The purpose of this study was to evaluate immediate auditory and visual memory processes in learning disability subtypes of 40 children born preterm. Three subgroups of children were examined: (a) primary language disability group (n = 13), (b) perceptual-motor disability group (n = 14), and (c) no learning disability diagnosis group without identified language or perceptual-motor learning disability (n = 13). Between-group comparisons indicate no significant differences in immediate auditory or visual memory performances between language and perceptual-motor learning disability groups. Within-group comparisons revealed that both learning disability groups performed significantly lower on a task of immediate memory when the mode of stimulus presentation and mode of response were visual.

Attention Tests in Different Stimulus Presentation Modes

Tests of attention are frequently used in clinical psychology, neuropsychology, and other applied settings. Depending on the assessment tradition, attention tests are designed and administered differently. Among other aspects, assessment traditions enable testtakers to conduct the tests at either their own pace or at a pace set by the test developer, and apply either rows of stimuli or single stimuli. The current study systematically varied these aspects and examined how these variations affected the structure of attention tests and their correlation with reasoning. A facet model was established that included a facet related to the way attention tests are designed and administered as well as a facet related to the attention ability assessed. Results revealed that both facets explained variance in test performance. Moreover, results revealed that the facet-related test design and administration yielded higher correlations with reasoning than the ability facet. A specific combination of pace and stimulus configuration showed the highest correlations with the applied reasoning tests. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.