Oculomotor Activity Research Articles

Parameters of oculomotor activity and cerebral hemodynamics in students with different types of autonomic reactivity while performing cognitive tasks

BACKGROUND: At the current state of human development, with the high rates of knowledge accumulation and accelerated social and technical evolution, studying the psychophysiological features of cognitive activity within a limited time is essential. AIM: To examine oculomotor activity and cerebral hemodynamics parameters in students with different types of autonomic reactivity while performing cognitive tasks. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study enrolled 110 students of the Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov (mean age, 19.0±0.5 years). To identify specific features of cognitive activity in various timing conditions, the type of autonomic nervous system reactivity was determined. Eye movements were tracked when solving cognitive tasks at various timing conditions. A rheoencephalogram was simultaneously recorded to assess cerebral hemodynamics. The efficiency of cognitive activity was assessed in various timing conditions with consideration of the identified individual typological features. RESULTS: The participants demonstrated different efficiency levels of cognitive activity when performing cognitive tasks at various timing conditions. Students with a sympathetic-tone type of autonomic reactivity revealed the most efficient and rapid processing of visual information under a time-constraint setting owing to the presence of a more stable relationship between oculomotor activity and cerebral hemodynamics parameters. Participants with parasympathetic-tone reactivity showed the lowest success rates in cognitive activity and the least stable relationships between oculomotor activity and cerebral hemodynamics. CONCLUSIONS: Young individuals with different types of autonomic reactivity exhibited general and specific alterations in cerebral hemodynamics and oculomotor activity when performing cognitive tasks under a time-constraint setting. They showed different efficiency levels of cognitive activity. Thus, human cognitive abilities under stress depend on the reactivity type of the nervous system. The specific changes in oculomotor reactions and cerebral hemodynamics parameters may be considered success markers of cognitive activity. The most successful cognitive activity under limited time conditions is ensured with a more stable statistical relationship between cerebral hemodynamics and oculomotor activity parameters. This is reflected in a stable factor model of visual cognitive activity, regardless of time limitations.

Исследование линейности цветовосприятия человека в графическом интерфейсе систем управления

The work is aimed at studying the process of human perception of visual information in conditions of interaction with a certain interface. The authors describe experimental research of the linearity of human colour perception in the graphical interface of control systems when observing colour pictograms in a conditional interface. To analyze the mechanism operation of the visual information perception, an information model of visual perception is used. Features of human perception of visual information can be of both an individual nature associated with a specific individual, and an external nature associated with the systemic interference of the operator’s direct interaction with the interface. The paper defines the factors of the study and describes the methodology for preparing stimulus material using the Processing programming language. As a tool for conducting the experiment, a software and hardware complex recording oculomotor activity Eye-tracker SMI RED 250 is used. The importance of creating effective user interfaces for control systems of complex objects and insufficient study of adapting interfaces to the features of human perception of visual information at the perceptual level of awareness determine the relevance of the study. The means of mathematical statistics process the obtained parametric data of the template for examining the stimulus material. The results got in the experiment allow concluding that the mechanism of human visual information perception, when the colour spot brightness decreases, remains sensitive to yellow colour the longest.

Pupillometry and autonomic nervous system responses to cognitive load and false feedback: an unsupervised machine learning approach.

Pupil dilation is controlled both by sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system branches. We hypothesized that the dynamic of pupil size changes under cognitive load with additional false feedback can predict individual behavior along with heart rate variability (HRV) patterns and eye movements reflecting specific adaptability to cognitive stress. To test this, we employed an unsupervised machine learning approach to recognize groups of individuals distinguished by pupil dilation dynamics and then compared their autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses along with time, performance, and self-esteem indicators in cognitive tasks. Cohort of 70 participants were exposed to tasks with increasing cognitive load and deception, with measurements of pupillary dynamics, HRV, eye movements, and cognitive performance and behavioral data. Utilizing machine learning k-means clustering algorithm, pupillometry data were segmented to distinct responses to increasing cognitive load and deceit. Further analysis compared clusters, focusing on how physiological (HRV, eye movements) and cognitive metrics (time, mistakes, self-esteem) varied across two clusters of different pupillary response patterns, investigating the relationship between pupil dynamics and autonomic reactions. Cluster analysis of pupillometry data identified two distinct groups with statistically significant varying physiological and behavioral responses. Cluster 0 showed elevated HRV, alongside larger initial pupil sizes. Cluster 1 participants presented lower HRV but demonstrated increased and pronounced oculomotor activity. Behavioral differences included reporting more errors and lower self-esteem in Cluster 0, and faster response times with more precise reactions to deception demonstrated by Cluster 1. Lifestyle variations such as smoking habits and differences in Epworth Sleepiness Scale scores were significant between the clusters. The differentiation in pupillary dynamics and related metrics between the clusters underlines the complex interplay between autonomic regulation, cognitive load, and behavioral responses to cognitive load and deceptive feedback. These findings underscore the potential of pupillometry combined with machine learning in identifying individual differences in stress resilience and cognitive performance. Our research on pupillary dynamics and ANS patterns can lead to the development of remote diagnostic tools for real-time cognitive stress monitoring and performance optimization, applicable in clinical, educational, and occupational settings.

Акцентуации характера у пациенток эстетической медицины как факторы восприятия своей внешности и основания для выбора стратегии взаимодействия при оказании услуг

<p><strong>Introduction</strong>. Perceptual processing of one's own face plays a role in reducing self-identity and sense of self. Despite extensive research into the ability to recognize other people's faces, self-face perception remains an understudied area. In this perceptual processing, our faces are influenced by the medical and psychophysiological conditions of the individual. For example, accentuation of character can affect the perception of one’s own face. Understanding these processes is important for developing a patient-centered approach, personalized strategies for supporting and treating patients with different characterological characteristics who seek aesthetic medicine services. <strong>Objective</strong>. The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between character accentuations and perception of one’s own face. <strong>Methods.</strong> The study involved 86 women aged from 20 to 65 years (mean age 39±13 years). Oculomotor activity was recorded using a Gazepoint HD 150 Hz eye tracker. To measure personality accentuations, a questionnaire developed by K. Leonhard and G. Shmishek in 1970 was used. <strong>Results.</strong> When examining one's own face, the characteristics of eye movements reflect the patients' attitude towards themselves, associated with certain psychological characteristics of the individual. Thus, women with dysthymic personality traits tend to scrutinize their appearance, while women with excitable personality traits tend to focus on the positive aspects of visual information. Pedantry correlates with the number of returns and fixations on attractive features, which may reflect a desire to maintain a positive sense of self. Exaltation is associated with the length of the scanning path, the number of saccades on attractive features, which also reflects a positive self-perception. The personal profiles of the study participants are characterized by accentuated traits, among which the hyperthymic and exalted type of character accentuation predominates.The patients were divided into subgroups depending on which areas of the face they looked at more often and for longer - attractive or problem areas of the face. The study showed that, depending on their predominant personality traits, patients either looked primarily at attractive features or focused on facial flaws. <strong>Conclusion</strong>. Based on the data presented, it was concluded that it is advisable to carry out express diagnostics of the psychological characteristics of patients at the initial appointment in a cosmetology clinic. An initial psychological examination of the patient provides important information about the characterological characteristics of the individual and the perception of attractive features and flaws of his face, which will allow the doctor to predict difficulties that may arise during further medical interventions, as well as improve the level of mutual understanding and communication between patients and the doctor.</p>

Gaze-Based Detection of Thoughts across Naturalistic Tasks Using a PSO-Optimized Random Forest Algorithm.

One key aspect of the human experience is our ongoing stream of thoughts. These thoughts can be broadly categorized into various dimensions, which are associated with different impacts on mood, well-being, and productivity. While the past literature has often identified eye movements associated with a specific thought dimension (task-relatedness) during experimental tasks, few studies have determined if these various thought dimensions can be classified by oculomotor activity during naturalistic tasks. Employing thought sampling, eye tracking, and machine learning, we assessed the classification of nine thought dimensions (task-relatedness, freely moving, stickiness, goal-directedness, internal-external orientation, self-orientation, others orientation, visual modality, and auditory modality) across seven multi-day recordings of seven participants during self-selected computer tasks. Our analyses were based on a total of 1715 thought probes across 63 h of recordings. Automated binary-class classification of the thought dimensions was based on statistical features extracted from eye movement measures, including fixation and saccades. These features all served as input into a random forest (RF) classifier, which was then improved with particle swarm optimization (PSO)-based selection of the best subset of features for classifier performance. The mean Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) values from the PSO-based RF classifier across the thought dimensions ranged from 0.25 to 0.54, indicating above-chance level performance in all nine thought dimensions across participants and improved performance compared to the RF classifier without feature selection. Our findings highlight the potential of machine learning approaches combined with eye movement measures for the real-time prediction of naturalistic ongoing thoughts, particularly in ecologically valid contexts.

Consequences of eye movements for spatial selectivity

What determines spatial tuning in the visual system? Standard views rely on the assumption that spatial information is directly inherited from the relative position of photoreceptors and shaped by neuronal connectivity.1,2 However, human eyes are always in motion during fixation,3,4,5,6 so retinal neurons receive temporal modulations that depend on the interaction of the spatial structure of the stimulus with eye movements. It has long been hypothesized that these modulations might contribute to spatial encoding,7,8,9,10,11,12 a proposal supported by several recent observations.13,14,15,16 A fundamental, yet untested, consequence of this encoding strategy is that spatial tuning is not hard-wired in the visual system but critically depends on how the fixational motion of the eye shapes the temporal structure of the signals impinging onto the retina. Here we used high-resolution techniques for eye-tracking17 and gaze-contingent display control18 to quantitatively test this distinctive prediction. We examined how contrast sensitivity, a hallmark of spatial vision, is influenced by fixational motion, both during normal active fixation and when the spatiotemporal stimulus on the retina is altered to mimic changes in fixational control. We showed that visual sensitivity closely follows the strength of the luminance modulations delivered within a narrow temporal bandwidth, so changes in fixational motion have opposite visual effects at low and high spatial frequencies. By identifying a key role for oculomotor activity in spatial selectivity, these findings have important implications for the perceptual consequences of abnormal eye movements, the sources of perceptual variability, and the function of oculomotor control.

Паттерны окуломоторной активности при восприятии различных направлений живописи: айтрекинг исследование

The introduction discusses the role of art in society. Art is one of the ways of learning and describing the world, and its role in the development of an integral personality is enormous. The theoretical analysis presents some research within the framework of neuroaesthetics. The choice of stimulus material for the study is discussed – paintings from five art movements: Realism, Impressionism, Modernism, Cubism, and Surrealism. It is suggested that in the process of viewing works of art from different movements, oculomotor activity (OMA) will be different. Empirical analysis showed differences in OMA parameters: blinking, fixations, and saccades, among students when they were presented with pictures of different art movements. It was found that the subjects showed emotional excitement while perceiving paintings from the Impressionist movement. Paintings of Modernism and Impressionism presented the least concentration of attention but the greatest interest. A high concentration of attention was observed during visual perception of realism pictures. The greatest cognitive load was detected at the time of presentation of cubist paintings. Rational perception and memory resources are more involved in the processing of Surreal pictures. In conclusion, the characteristic patterns of OMA in the perception of various art movements are noted. Research results may be useful in the practice of passive art therapy as part of psychoprophylaxis programs.

Проявления психологических защит в декодировании графических средств коммуникации у лиц с нарушением интеллекта

The communicative abilities of modern adolescents with intellectual disabilities relate to the integration of information and communication technologies using visual-graphic means into their daily life. The ongoing study considered the assumption that the specificity of perception of visual information as a component of the public communicative field is expressed in maladaptive protective response in persons with intellectual disability. Analysis of psychophysiological indicators of decoding of graphic means of communication by the oculography method in persons with intellectual disability was carried out in the context of manifestations of psychological defenses. The study involved 148 students of educational institutions in St. Petersburg (Russian Federation) with the diagnosis F70 according to ICD-10 “mild mental retardation” – 70 girls and 78 boys (mean age 15,03 ± 0,94). Different patterns of oculomotor activity in visual perception of pictograms at different manifestations of psychological defenses are noted in adolescents with intellectual disability. The choice of defense mechanisms, more distorting reality or displacing information was manifested in the reduced quality of interpretation of visual and information. The article emphasizes the importance of focusing on research and psychoprophylactic attention to individual user needs in decoding graphic communication elements according to cognitive capabilities. By addressing these factors, researchers and practitioners can better tailor communication technologies to meet the unique needs of this population.

Eye movements track prioritized auditory features in selective attention to natural speech.

Over the last decades, cognitive neuroscience has identified a distributed set of brain regions that are critical for attention. Strong anatomical overlap with brain regions critical for oculomotor processes suggests a joint network for attention and eye movements. However, the role of this shared network in complex, naturalistic environments remains understudied. Here, we investigated eye movements in relation to (un)attended sentences of natural speech. Combining simultaneously recorded eye tracking and magnetoencephalographic data with temporal response functions, we show that gaze tracks attended speech, a phenomenon we termed ocular speech tracking. Ocular speech tracking even differentiates a target from a distractor in a multi-speaker context and is further related to intelligibility. Moreover, we provide evidence for its contribution to neural differences in speech processing, emphasizing the necessity to consider oculomotor activity in future research and in the interpretation of neural differences in auditory cognition.

Айтрекинг-исследование особенностей перцептивной деятельности дошкольников с нарушением слуха при взаимодействии с визуальным учебным материалом в процессе обучения

<p>The article is devoted to the analysis of oculomotor activity observed during the perception of visual educational material in children with hearing impairment. The need to revise traditional methods and develop new approaches to the rehabilitation and education of children with hearing impairment is associated with the increasing technological capabilities of cochlear implantation. Previous research demonstrates that children with hearing impairments have visual attentional characteristics during a learning task compared to their hearing peers. It becomes relevant to identify how visual clarity can be built into the process of teaching children with hearing impairment and perceived by them as representing the material being presented. With the help of eye-tracking, it became possible to track the change in the nature of perceptual activity in children with hearing impairment with different forms of visual stimulus educational material. The question is raised about the influence of visual cues on the success of solving problems in children with hearing impairment and how they direct the attention of children with hearing impairment, reducing cognitive load, providing depth of information processing. In order to fix the restructuring of the perceptual activity of preschool children with hearing impairment under the influence of learning influence during the experiment, we monitored the dependence of the specificity of the child's eye movements on the form of visual presentation of educational material. The study sample consisted of 9 cochlear-implanted preschool children with sensorineural hearing loss from 4 to 6 years. Eye movement was recorded using a portable eye tracker in the form factor of Pupil Labs glasses. 4 series of experiments were proposed using the educational task "classification of objects". In 4 series of the experiment, the presence explicit and hidden prompts changed, the black-and-white and color solution of the most stimulating educational material changed. It has been shown that the use of different types of cue stimuli and color scheme leads to a shift in visual attention to the target area, facilitates processing, leads to more intensive processing of stimuli, and reduces the time we need to respond to information occurring in this given space.</p>

Пиктограммы как метод невербальной коммуникации для подростков с нарушением интеллектуального развития

The article deals with the main features of communication of children and adolescents with impaired intellec-tual development. A comparative study of the nonverbal alternative communication perception was conducted with the participation of adolescents with impaired intellectual development (N = 92) and with normal intelli-gence (N = 92). Participants were asked to perform a pictograph translation task in a verbal context. The results of the study of pictogram perception in a verbal context indicate passive thinking and impaired cognitive com-ponent of thinking in persons with impaired intellectual development. The analysis of oculomotor activity during pictogram perception suggests a shorter duration of the lexical processing activation. Conclusion dwells upon the fact that the effectiveness of nonverbal graphic means of communication for persons with impaired intel-lectual development is twofold: nonverbal means of communication are able to expand the communicative abilities of this group, but it is necessary to take into account their cognitive characteristics when using methods of graphic alternative communication.

Videoocular assessment of eye movement activity in an ataxia-telangiectasia: a case study.

Ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by progressive neurological deficits, including prominent oculomotor dysfunction. We report 5 cases of eye movement assessment in children 9-15years old with A-T. Three different oculomotor tasks (gaze holding, visually guided saccades and visual search) were used, and video-oculography was performed. Additionally, the scale for the assessment and rating of ataxia(SARA) score was used to assess severity of the cerebellar ataxia. Unstable gaze holding, nystagmus and saccadic intrusions were found. In addition to psychophysiological assessment results, we provide quantitative analysis of oculomotor activity, revealing a specific abnormal oculomotor pattern, consisting of (i) marked saccade hypermetria, (ii) unstable gaze holding, and (iii) gaze-evoked nystagmus. Our study opens the prospect to evaluate efficacy and safety of alternative methods for supporting the patient and improving his/her life quality.

Этнокультурные и конфликтологические аспекты восприятия интернет-мемов: результаты эксперимента с использованием айтрекинга

Background. The development of media communication technologies leads to the new ways of information exchange. Content takes compact forms which requires to transform cognitive sphere in order to better operate with the emerging forms of information. Memosphere seems to be one of the directions in the development of modern media content, in which ethnocultural, social, value and cognitive features of perception unfold. Objective. The study is aimed at identifying the characteristics of perception and cognitive processing of the meme as the most relevant media form. Ethnocultural aspect of processing and identification of a meme is revealed, as well as the peculiarities of the perception of memes under the condition of a conflict between the ethnocultural identity of the respondent and the memosphere in which a specific meme originated. Methods. The experimental study included two series in which cultural specifics of cognitive activity in respondents when perceiving memes belonging to the Russian and Chinese memospheres were analyzed. Registration of oculomotor activity was carried out with an SMI RED 250 Hz tracker, hardware and software “SMI Gaze & Eye-tracking System” were applied. The experimental task involved visual analysis of polycode text (image), followed by an assessment of the origin of the meme (Russian or Chinese media sphere), as well as by marking the most subjectively significant image elements. Respondents' self-reports on the key features in meme identification were subjected to content analysis. IBM SPSS Statistics 26 was used in statistical analysis of the data obtained. Study Participants. 39 respondents took part in the experimental study: undergraduates at the Faculty of Journalism, Lomonosov Moscow State University, average age 24.7 years (SD = 4.1), including 21 citizens of the Russian Federation and 18 citizens of the People's Republic of China. Results. Respondents from the two groups successfully completed the task of meme identification in 64% of cases. The text in Russian was designated as the most informative element of the meme in both groups. Data on eye movements revealed a general tendency towards focal perception of the stimulus among respondents from Russia and towards sliding viewing among students from China. The origin of the stimulus shows weaker effect on the characteristics of oculomotor activity. For Russian memes, successful identification is associated with a shorter scanning path, and for Chinese memes, on the contrary, with a longer scanning path, which suggests the existence of an optimal visual scanning method for the culture-specific graphic structure of a meme. Conclusions. The results showed that ethnocultural features are manifested both at the level of constructing memes and at the level of their perception and cognitive processing by respondents. The conflict of perception manifests itself in the impossibility to interpret ethnocultural references, which leads to a misunderstanding of the meaning and is reflected in the parameters of the respondents’ oculomotor activity.

Features of oculomotor activity (eye movement) in patients with schizophrenia in recognizing essential signs using the example of the "Exclusion of the 4th superfluous" technique

The research is devoted to the study of the specifics of oculomotor activity of patients with schizophrenia when solving the cognitive task of searching for common (similar) signs in 4 stimulus images and, on this basis, the exclusion of 1 superfluous object on the cards of the "Exclusion of the 4th superfluous" technique. Oculomotor activity is a reliable biomarker of both conscious and unconscious cognitive processes, and eye movement patterns serve as a quantitative (objective) characteristic of the process of perception, attention and thinking in real time. When solving cognitive tasks, the subject of study was the mental processes of patients with schizophrenia: comparison, classification, generalization, abstraction, which were revealed in the responses of patients in the "Exclusion of the fourth superfluous" technique. The respondents' answers were analyzed depending on the level of generalization: by categorical and functional criteria, by specific situational criteria, and latent criteria. To assess the characteristics of oculomotor activity, the AI tracker method was used using a hardware and software complex for contactless registration of human oculomotor activity. To assess the characteristics of mental activity, the “Exclusion of the fourth superfluous" technique was used. Patients with schizophrenia demonstrate difficulties in the recognition process, there is an emphasis on individual parts of the image, as well as: chaotic movements of the gaze between objects and their details. This indicates the need for a longer time period for image recognition, as well as difficulties in analyzing and identifying common essential features of objects (images), as a result of which schizophrenia patients carry out mental generalization operations based on a variety of, more often insignificant and latent signs, which is reflected in making the "wrong" decision. The study of eye movement during the solution of such mental tasks has shown that the characteristics of the gaze during the search for common features reflect the mental acts of comparison and generalization of essential features and can provide objective information about the difficulties and violations of the produced. As a result of the study, it was concluded that the features of oculomotor activity in patients with schizophrenia are closely related to disorders of cognitive processing of visual information at early levels of the thought process. Eye movements in solving cognitive tasks accompany the mental process of searching and selecting significant features from the general background of diverse visual information and reflect the difficulties of its selection.

Modulating role of stress on dynamics of eye-movement during Schulte tables completion

Perception processes might alter in stressful conditions, which supposedly impacts the oculomotor activity during visual search tasks. In this study we used Schulte tables in order to assess visual attention and changes in eye-movement patterns in a stressful situation. Nineteen normotypical respondents (mean age 18.36, SD 0.7, all female) took part in the experiment. Data was recorded with Eyelink 1000+ of the left eye at the rate of 500 hz with the head stabilized. They were presented with three Schulte tables and clicked on numbers in the 1st in ascending order, the 2nd in descending order and the 3rd in alternation. The experimental group completed the tasks with metronome and with the aim of the fastest completion. The control group completed without limitation in time. The success of completion was measured by the correct order of mouse clicks. The Spearman’s correlations between the points of efficiency of task completion and oculomotor data in experimental group in the 3rd alternation table were obtained: the efficiency was higher when fewer fixation count (r=-.802, p=.005), saccade count (r=-.802, p=.005) and returns (r=-.620, p=.050) were executed. Also, the saccade amplitude positively correlates with the participants’ efficiency (r=.815, p=.004). The mean discrepancy of optimal scan-path and factual scan-path was calculated for each respondent and negatively correlated with efficiency (r=-.802, p=.005) demonstrated that following the most optimal path increased the performance success. Moreover, we conducted an analysis to determine the mean dispersion of the total absolute change in speed (TACS) across two axes through mathematical calculations. The findings indicated that TACS exhibited a statistically significant difference solely in relation to the 1st Schulte table when comparing the control and experimental groups using a t-test (p=.04). Consequently, the outcomes suggest that under stressful conditions, TACS is decreased, which represents equal speed of saccades. In conclusion, the results demonstrate that in stressful situations with higher cognitive load the precision of task completion is higher when fewer saccades, fixations and returns are performed as well as following the most optimal scan path.

Айтрекинговое исследование восприятия художественной народной росписи на примере гжели и хохломы

Introduction. Folk art is the basis of spiritual and moral education. Given that folk art is entering our lives in a new way, the chosen topic is relevant. Theoretical analysis. Gzhel and Khokhloma have accompanied the development of artistic taste over the centuries. It is known about the influence of art on the psycho-emotional state of a person, an indicator of which is oculomotor activity. Eye movements can be used as indicators of the perceptual process. Empirical analysis. The characteristic values of blinking, fixations and saccades were revealed during the perception of images of Gzhel and Khokhloma, taking into account the preference for one or another folk art. It has been established that those who prefer Gzhel use a contemplative strategy of observation, while those who choose Khokhloma use a research one. Also, when considering blue-white images, persons who have chosen Gzhel use a rational way of perception, and when perceiving gold images, they use an emotional one. Participants who preferred Khokhloma showed an inverse ratio of perception methods. Conclusion. When considering folk art, different ways of processing information are actualized among people who prefer Gzhel and Khokhloma. The identified features of oculomotor activity will make it possible to use these types of folk art in art therapy when conducting additional research.

Effects of pupil size as manipulated through ipRGC activation on visual processing

The size of the eyes’ pupils determines how much light enters the eye and also how well this light is focused. Through this route, pupil size shapes the earliest stages of visual processing. Yet causal effects of pupil size on vision are poorly understood and rarely studied. Here we introduce a new way to manipulate pupil size, which relies on activation of intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) to induce sustained pupil constriction. We report the effects of both experimentally induced and spontaneous changes in pupil size on visual processing as measured through EEG. We compare these to the effects of stimulus intensity and covert visual attention, because previous studies have shown that these factors all have comparable effects on some common measures of early visual processing, such as detection performance and steady-state visual evoked potentials; yet it is still unclear whether these are superficial similarities, or rather whether they reflect similar underlying processes. Using a mix of neural-network decoding, ERP analyses, and time-frequency analyses, we find that induced pupil size, spontaneous pupil size, stimulus intensity, and covert visual attention all affect EEG responses, mainly over occipital and parietal electrodes, but—crucially—that they do so in qualitatively different ways. Induced and spontaneous pupil-size changes mainly modulate activity patterns (but not overall power or intertrial coherence) in the high-frequency beta range; this may reflect an effect of pupil size on oculomotor activity and/ or visual processing. In addition, spontaneous (but not induced) pupil size tends to correlate positively with intertrial coherence in the alpha band; this may reflect a non-causal relationship, mediated by arousal. Taken together, our findings suggest that pupil size has qualitatively different effects on visual processing from stimulus intensity and covert visual attention. This shows that pupil size as manipulated through ipRGC activation strongly affects visual processing, and provides concrete starting points for further study of this important yet understudied earliest stage of visual processing.

Оценка информационно-управляющего поля кабины пилотов с использованием нейронных сетей и методов

<p>The paper deals with the methodology of estimating the cockpit information and control field using indicators of oculomotor activity and a probabilistic neural network, which is used to calculate the final estimate of the considered display version. This methodology was tested on the universal prototyping bench basis with the participation of pilots. The using of this methodology contributes to the rapid and qualitative ergonomic assessment of the cockpit information and control field, which in turn increases the efficiency of human-machine interaction and, as a consequence, the safety of air transportation.</p>

An active inference model of hierarchical action understanding, learning and imitation.

We advance a novel active inference model of the cognitive processing that underlies the acquisition of a hierarchical action repertoire and its use for observation, understanding and imitation. We illustrate the model in four simulations of a tennis learner who observes a teacher performing tennis shots, forms hierarchical representations of the observed actions, and imitates them. Our simulations show that the agent's oculomotor activity implements an active information sampling strategy that permits inferring the kinematic aspects of the observed movement, which lie at the lowest level of the action hierarchy. In turn, this low-level kinematic inference supports higher-level inferences about deeper aspects of the observed actions: proximal goals and intentions. Finally, the inferred action representations can steer imitative responses, but interfere with the execution of different actions. Our simulations show that hierarchical active inference provides a unified account of action observation, understanding, learning and imitation and helps explain the neurobiological underpinnings of visuomotor cognition, including the multiple routes for action understanding in the dorsal and ventral streams and mirror mechanisms.

An Eye Tracking Based Framework for Safety Improvement of Offshore Operations.

Offshore drilling operations consist of complex and high-risk processes. Lack of situational awareness in drilling operations has become an important human factor issue that causes safety accidents. Prolonged work shifts and fatigue are some of the crucial issues that impact performance. Eye tracking technology can be used to distinguish the degree of awareness or alertness of participants that might be related to fatigue or onsite distractions. Oculomotor activity can be used to obtain visual cues that can quantify the drilling operators' situational awareness that might enable us to develop warning alarms to alert the driller. Such systems can help reduce accidents and save non-productive time. In this paper, eye movement char-acteristics were investigated to differentiate the situational awareness between a representa-tive expert and a group of novices using a scenario-based Virtual Reality Drilling Simulator. Significant visual oculomotor activity differences were identified between the expert and the novices that indicate an eye-tracking based system can detect the distraction and alert-ness exhibited by the workers. Results show promise on developing a framework which implements a real-time eye tracking technology in various drilling operations at drilling rigs and Real Time Operation Centers to improve process safety.