Spatial Cues Research Articles

Inhibition of Return without Attentional Capture in the Traditional Spatial Cueing Paradigm

Numerous studies using the spatial cueing paradigm have revealed various characteristics of attentional capture and inhibition of return (IOR). In my previous study, attentional capture was not observed while IOR was observed. Although this is evidence supporting the independence of attentional capture and IOR, I considered the possibility of a problem with the SOA conditions. In the previous study, the SOA condition for observing attentional capture was 150 msec, while some other previous studies used the 100 msec SOA condition. This slight difference may be the reason why attentional capture was not observed. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a difference between RTs in the 150 msec SOA condition and RTs in the 100 msec SOA condition. Based on previous research, it was expected that attentional functioning would not change significantly when SOA was changed from 100 msec to 150 msec. The results showed that there was no difference between RTs in the 150 msec SOA and the 100 msec SOA conditions. Moreover, robust IORs were observed in the 100 msec SOA with the absence of attentional capture. The results of this study provided additional evidence for the idea presented that attentional capture and IOR are caused by different mechanisms.

Incorporating multi-stage spatial visual cues and active localization offset for pancreas segmentation

Accurately segmenting pancreas or pancreatic tumor from limited computed tomography (CT) scans plays an essential role in making a precise diagnosis and planning the surgical procedure for clinicians. Although deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) have greatly advanced in automatic organ segmentation, there are still many challenges in solving the pancreas segmentation problem with small region and complex background. Many researchers have developed a coarse-to-fine scheme, which employ prediction from the coarse stage as a smaller input region for the fine stage. Despite this scheme effectiveness, most existing approaches handle two stages individually, and fail to identify the reliability of coarse stage predictions. In this work, we present a novel coarse-to-fine framework based on spatial contextual cues and active localization offset. The novelty lies in carefully designed two modules: Spacial Visual Cues Fusion (SVCF) and Active Localization OffseT (ALOT). The SVCF combines the correlations between all pixels in an image to optimize the rough and uncertain pixel prediction at the coarse stage, while ALOT dynamically adjusts the localization as the coarse stage iteration. These two modules work together to optimize the coarse stage results and provide high-quality input for the fine stage, thereby achieving inspiring target segmentation. Empirical results on NIH pancreas segmentation and MSD pancreatic tumor segmentation dataset show that our framework yields state-of-the-art results. The code will make available at https://github.com/PinkGhost0812/SANet.

Cascaded acquisition of spatial contextual cueing

Spatial contextual cueing refers to the facilitation of visual search when invariant spatial configurations of the target and distractors are learned. Using the instance theory of automatization and the reverse hierarchy theory of visual perceptual learning, this study explores the acquisition of spatial contextual cueing. The findings support the reverse hierarchy theory, which predicts that the acquisition of spatial contextual cueing progresses in an easy-to-difficult cascading manner. However, these findings are inconsistent with instance theory, which predicts that the acquisition of spatial contextual cueing in easy-half-repeated trials would keep pace with that in difficult-half-repeated trials. This study concludes that compared with instance theory, reverse hierarchy theory more plausibly explains the acquisition of spatial contextual cueing.

Abstract PR02: Factors modulating RAF dimerization downstream of RAS – A mechanistic overview

Abstract The RAS-RAF pathway is one of the most commonly dysregulated in human cancers. The activation of this pathway is tightly regulated with appropriate spatial and temporal signaling cues. The central step in activation of this pathway is the dimerization of RAF kinases. Recent advances in biochemical, enzymatic and structural characterization of various multiprotein complexes in this pathway provide insight into various modes of RAF activity modulation. Kinase RAF and its substrate MEK exist as a pre-formed complex prior to pathway activation. Multiple factors prevent MEK phosphorylation by RAF in this pre-formed complex, including phosphorylation of a Serine residue N-terminal to the kinase domain, which enables 14-3-3 to trap RAF as a monomer. One of our intriguing findings is that cellular ATP exerts a negative regulatory effect on RAF kinase and stabilizes the inactive conformation of RAF monomer. We characterize this negative regulatory effect of ATP of RAF kinase structurally by solving a RAF-ATP complex and enzymology. Upon membrane recruitment of RAF by RAS-GTP, dephosphorylation of the above-mentioned serine residue in RAF occurs by a multiprotein complex composed of phosphatase PP1C, a scaffolding protein SHOC2 and RAS-GTP. We solved the structure of this RAS-SHOC2-PP1C complex and performed a thorough enzymatic analysis of this complex for RAF dephosphorylation. Our results show that RAF specificity is determined by SHOC2 and RAS GTP is responsible for spatial localization both inactive RAF and SHOC2/PP1C to the membrane. This dephosphorylation results in RAF being stabilized as a dimer by 14-3-3, which now binds to phospho-serine residues C-terminal to the kinase domain (S729 in BRAF) in 2 RAF molecules. We solve a structure of the RAF-14-3-3 complex. 14-3-3 induced RAF dimerization increases activity of RAF ~500 fold. Further, oncogenic mutations in RAF and MEK occur basally in tumors, and additional mutations are induced upon pathway inhibitor treatment in the clinic, especially for recent KRAS-G12C treatments. These mutations include RAF mutations that either activate or inactivate the kinase activity of the mutated RAF, but nevertheless result in pathway activation. Our data suggests that these mutations appear to tilt the RAF monomer-dimer equilibrium towards RAF dimer. The molecular mechanism of how the MEK mutations active the pathway in poorly understood. Biochemical and structural characterization of these mutations occurring in MEK kinases suggests that the mechanism of activation is also likely functioning via promoting RAF dimerization. This RAF dimer promotion appears to mechanistically work by relieving the negative regulatory effect of RAF by ATP to result in the “just-right” amount of pathway activation to sustain tumor growth. A comprehensive understanding of the various factors modulating RAF dimerization in the context of normal cell and cancer cells that depend on this pathway can pave the way for more precise interventions for treatment of cancers that depend on the RAS pathway. Citation Format: Jawahar Sudhamsu, Nicholas Liau, Timothy Wendorff, Saeed Izadi, Luca Gerosa. Factors modulating RAF dimerization downstream of RAS – A mechanistic overview [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Targeting RAS; 2023 Mar 5-8; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2023;21(5_Suppl):Abstract nr PR02.

Using Virtual Replicas to Improve Mixed Reality Remote Collaboration.

In this paper, we explore how virtual replicas can enhance Mixed Reality (MR) remote collaboration with a 3D reconstruction of the task space. People in different locations may need to work together remotely on complicated tasks. For example, a local user could follow a remote expert's instructions to complete a physical task. However, it could be challenging for the local user to fully understand the remote expert's intentions without effective spatial referencing and action demonstration. In this research, we investigate how virtual replicas can work as a spatial communication cue to improve MR remote collaboration. This approach segments the foreground manipulable objects in the local environment and creates corresponding virtual replicas of physical task objects. The remote user can then manipulate these virtual replicas to explain the task and guide their partner. This enables the local user to rapidly and accurately understand the remote expert's intentions and instructions. Our user study with an object assembly task found that using virtual replica manipulation was more efficient than using 3D annotation drawing in an MR remote collaboration scenario. We report and discuss the findings and limitations of our system and study, and present directions for future research.

Attentional biases toward auditory weight-related information among females with weight dissatisfaction.

Although there is substantial evidence of visual attentional biases in processing weight-related information among individuals with weight dissatisfaction, few studies have examined auditory attentional biases in these individuals. The identification of attentional biases may provide an impetus for interventions to reduce distress, negative body image, and pathological eating patterns among weight-dissatisfied individuals. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the attentional biases, as well as the neural consequences, toward auditory weight-related information among weight-dissatisfied young females. In this experiment, young female participants were assigned to an experimental group with high weight dissatisfaction (HWD) and a control group with low weight dissatisfaction (LWD) according to the levels of weight dissatisfaction. Using a spatial cueing paradigm, auditory fatness-related, thinness-related, and neutral household words were presented laterally as cue stimuli, followed by visual stimuli presented at either the cued or uncued location. The results revealed that auditory fatness-related words elicited significantly larger N2ac amplitudes than auditory thinness-related and neutral words in the HWD group. However, for the LWD group, thinness-related words elicited a significantly larger N2ac than fatness-related and neutral words. These results suggest an orienting attentional bias toward auditory fatness-related body words among females with HWD and an orienting attentional bias toward auditory thinness-related words among females with LWD.

Visually supported short-term auditory memory in children with developmental language disorder (DLD)

BackgroundDevelopmental language disorder (DLD) is an impairment that disturbs the ability to acquire and make use of native language. The exact cognitive and neuronal brain underpinnings of the disorder are still a matter of investigation.Material and methodsThe relationship between the audiovisual phonemic short-term memory and particular language abilities was examined among 7–9 year-old children with DLD as well as in a gender, age, and IQ-matched control group. Children were assessed with a standard language battery and the Stanford–Binet scale (SB5). Subsequently, they performed a short-term memory task requiring immediate recall of sequences composed of syllables presented audiovisually.ResultsThere were lower levels of audiovisual phonemic memory among children with DLD. They performed significantly worse than matched typically developing (TD) children in the experimental task and their performance was correlated with scores obtained in each language subtest. In contrast, we did not find between-group differences in visual short-term operational memory measured on the SB5 scale.ConclusionsThe present experiment replicated previous findings about short-term phonemic memory impairment in the DLD population. We found that memory impairment also occurs even if phoneme information is presented simultaneously in the auditory and visual domains. It appears that non-linguistic spatial cues accompanying phoneme stimuli do not overcome phonemic short-term memory impairment.

Choice between decision-making strategies in human route-following

To follow a prescribed route, we must decide which way to turn at intersections. To do so, we can memorize either the serial order of directions or the associations between spatial cues and directions (“at the drug store, turn left”). Here, we investigate which of these two strategies is used if both are available. In Task S, all intersections looked exactly alike, and participants therefore had to use the serial order strategy to decide which way their route continued. In Task SA, each intersection displayed a unique spatial cue, and participants therefore could use either strategy. In Task A, each intersection displayed a unique cue, but the serial order of cues varied between trips, and participants therefore had to use the associative cue strategy. We found that route-following accuracy increased from trip to trip, was higher on routes with 12 rather than 18 intersections, and was higher on Task SA than on the other two tasks, both with 12 and with 18 intersections. Furthermore, participants on Task SA acquired substantial knowledge about the serial order of directions as well as about cue–direction associations, both with 12 and with 18 intersections. From this we conclude that, when both strategies were available, participants did not pick the better one but rather used both. This represents dual encoding, a phenomenon previously described for more elementary memory tasks. We further conclude that dual encoding may be implemented even if the memory load is not very high (i.e., even with only 12 intersections).

Optimizing Augmented Reality Cueing Strategies for Freezing of Gait in Parkinson Disease: Interim Results of the ELIMINATE FoG Study (P2-11.008)

<h3>Objective:</h3> To improve augmented reality (AR) cueing strategies in combatting freezing of gait (FoG) in Parkinson Disease (PD), and to create the first clinically effective non-rhythmic spatial AR cue using a novel, versatile cueing strategy. <h3>Background:</h3> FoG is a common symptom of PD that can interrupt daily living and cause devastating falls. Previous research demonstrated benefits of AR cueing on FoG, but those cues were not feasible for real-world applications, required attentional demands that cause social disruption, or relied on adherence to a rhythm. Non-rhythmic spatial AR cues are promising in terms of versatility and user-friendliness but have not proven effective in reducing FoG, possibly due to limited AR field-of-view of prior headsets. The Magic Leap 2 (ML2) is a new AR headset with the largest AR field-of-view to date. This hardware presents a fresh opportunity to test spatial AR cueing strategies. PD cueing products have begun to hit market; clinical guidance is needed on their use. <h3>Design/Methods:</h3> 36 PD patients will complete walking tasks in AR hallways wearing accelerometers and the ML2. The first intervention will utilize a proven physical cue to test cue-responsiveness. AR cue conditions will be randomized in order: no cue (control), constant, user hand-triggered as-needed, user eye-triggered as-needed, examiner-triggered as-needed. Our cue consists of two concentric circles with radii based on stride length; this shape allows use on turns and straight paths. This is a single-center, within-subjects, unblinded study. FoG and gait parameters will be collected via the ML2, accelerometers, and video, and compared between the test arms. <h3>Results:</h3> Sessions begin November 2022. Data from the first 50% of participants will be presented. <h3>Conclusions:</h3> Initial comparisons of cueing strategies and lessons on ML2 usability (this is the first clinical trial to use this headset) will be used to adapt the study, including a re-analysis of sample size. <b>Disclosure:</b> Mr. Baugher has nothing to disclose. Mr. Kaya has nothing to disclose. Mrs. Scelina has nothing to disclose. Miss Ghosh has nothing to disclose. Miss Amato has nothing to disclose. Dr. Baker has received personal compensation in the range of $0-$499 for serving on a Scientific Advisory or Data Safety Monitoring board for Enspire DBS. The institution of Dr. Baker has received research support from St Jude/Abbott. The institution of Dr. Baker has received research support from NIH. Dr. Baker has received intellectual property interests from a discovery or technology relating to health care. Dr. Fernandez has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Consultant for Abbvie. Dr. Fernandez has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Consultant for Cerevel. Dr. Fernandez has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Consultant for Amneal. Dr. Fernandez has received personal compensation in the range of $10,000-$49,999 for serving as an Editor, Associate Editor, or Editorial Advisory Board Member for Elsevier. The institution of Dr. Fernandez has received research support from Biogen. The institution of Dr. Fernandez has received research support from Michael J Fox Founda. The institution of Dr. Fernandez has received research support from Roche. The institution of Dr. Fernandez has received research support from Parkinson Foundation. The institution of Dr. Fernandez has received research support from UCB. Dr. Fernandez has received publishing royalties from a publication relating to health care. Dr. Fernandez has received personal compensation in the range of $10,000-$49,999 for serving as a Steering Committee/Advisory Committee Member with Parkinson Study Group. The institution of Dr. Alberts has received research support from NIH. Dr. Alberts has received intellectual property interests from a discovery or technology relating to health care. Dr. Alberts has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Member, Health and Wellness Council with Peloton Interactive. The institution of Prof. Szewczyk has received research support from NASA. The institution of Prof. Szewczyk has received research support from NASA. The institution of Dr. Liao has received research support from American Parkinson Disease Association.

Semantic Priming from Uncued Distractors in Alzheimer’s Disease

ABSTRACT Research Question Are semantic impairments in Alzheimer's disease (AD) partially due to deficits in spatial attention? Methods and Results In a target detection task, both older adults (OAs) and AD individuals were facilitated by valid spatial cues, but only OAs were impaired by invalid cues compared to neutral. In a reading task, spatial cues validly or invalidly cued the location of pictures, which were related or unrelated to subsequent, centrally presented, words. OAs showed semantic priming only after valid cues, whereas AD individuals showed priming after valid and invalid cues. Discussion Failure to inhibit uncued locations results in processing of potentially distracting semantic information in AD.

Emergence of division of labor in tissues through cell interactions and spatial cues

Most cell types in multicellular organisms can perform multiple functions. However, not all functions can be optimally performed simultaneously by the same cells. Functions incompatible at the level of individual cells can be performed at the cell population level, where cells divide labor and specialize in different functions. Division of labor can arise due to instruction by tissue environment or through self-organization. Here, we develop a computational framework to investigate the contribution of these mechanisms to division of labor within a cell-type population. By optimizing collective cellular task performance under trade-offs, we find that distinguishable expression patterns can emerge from cell-cell interactions versus instructive signals. We propose a method to construct ligand-receptor networks between specialist cells and use it to infer division-of-labor mechanisms from single-cell RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and spatial transcriptomics data of stromal, epithelial, and immune cells. Our framework can be used to characterize the complexity of cell interactions within tissues.

When landmarks are not enough

Including geometric spatial cues in an environment can help reverse the difficulties with spatial navigation experienced by children and older adults.

Deficiency of object-based attention specific to the gaze cue is independent of top-down attentional strategies.

This study investigated whether modes of attentional selection (location-based or object-based) are modulated by the cue type, specifically social cues such as eye gaze and pointing fingers, or by a non-social cue, such as an arrow. Earlier studies have demonstrated that the object-based attention effect was found only with arrow cues when presenting a spatial cue at either end of a rectangle: gaze cues did not yield object-based facilitation. We examined whether this deficiency of object-based attention is generalized to social cues such as pointing fingers. We measured the reaction times to the target at each cued location, an opposite side of a cued location in the same object, or the location in a different object equidistant from the cued location for each cue. Results indicated that only the gaze cue weakened the object-based attention effect, even under the condition of participants' voluntary extension of their attentional focus. The pointing cue induced sufficient object-based facilitation, as did the arrow cue. These results suggest that the deficiency of object-based attention was observed only for the gaze cue, and that it would be caused by a factor that is unique to the gaze cue, which narrows the attentional focus.

Feasibility of Virtual Reality-Based Auditory Localization Training With Binaurally Recorded Auditory Stimuli for Patients With Single-Sided Deafness.

To train participants to localize sound using virtual reality (VR) technology, appropriate auditory stimuli that contain accurate spatial cues are essential. The generic head-related transfer function that grounds the programmed spatial audio in VR does not reflect individual variation in monaural spatial cues, which is critical for auditory spatial perception in patients with single-sided deafness (SSD). As binaural difference cues are unavailable, auditory spatial perception is a typical problem in the SSD population and warrants intervention. This study assessed the applicability of binaurally recorded auditory stimuli in VR-based training for sound localization in SSD patients. Sixteen subjects with SSD and 38 normal-hearing (NH) controls underwent VR-based training for sound localization and were assessed 3 weeks after completing training. The VR program incorporated prerecorded auditory stimuli created individually in the SSD group and over an anthropometric model in the NH group. Sound localization performance revealed significant improvements in both groups after training, with retained benefits lasting for an additional 3 weeks. Subjective improvements in spatial hearing were confirmed in the SSD group. By examining individuals with SSD and NH, VR-based training for sound localization that used binaurally recorded stimuli, measured individually, was found to be effective and beneficial. Furthermore, VR-based training does not require sophisticated instruments or setups. These. suggest that this technique represents a new therapeutic treatment for impaired sound localization.

Timing a fake punch: Inhibitory effects in a boxing-specific spatial attention task

The ability to respond quickly and accurately to spatial cues is of great importance to performance on any task where quick decision-making is required. The two main effects of spatial attention are priming, when a response to a target is facilitated after being cued at the same location, and inhibition of return (IOR), when the response to the target is slower to the cued area. Whether priming or IOR occurs is largely dependent on the length of the interval between the cue and the target. To determine whether these effects are relevant to dueling sports with deceptive actions we created a boxing-specific task that mimicked combinations of feints and punches. Altogether, we recruited 20 boxers and 20 non-boxers and found significantly longer reaction times to a punch thrown on the same side as a fake punch after a 600 ms interval, consistent with the IOR effect. We also found a moderate positive correlation between years of training and the magnitude of the IOR effect. This latter finding indicates that even athletes trained to avoid deception can be as susceptible as novices if the timing of the feint is right. Finally, our approach highlights the benefits of studying IOR using more sport specific settings, broadening the scope of the field.

Statistically Optimal Cue Integration During Human Spatial Navigation.

In 2007, Cheng and colleagues published their influential review wherein they analyzed the literature on spatial cue interaction during navigation through a Bayesian lens, and concluded that models of optimal cue integration often applied in psychophysical studies could explain cue interaction during navigation. Since then, numerous empirical investigations have been conducted to assess the degree to which human navigators are optimal when integrating multiple spatial cues during a variety of navigation-related tasks. In the current review, we discuss the literature on human cue integration during navigation that has been published since Cheng et al.'s original review. Evidence from most studies demonstrate optimal navigation behavior when humans are presented with multiple spatial cues. However, applications of optimal cue integration models vary in their underlying assumptions (e.g., uninformative priors and decision rules). Furthermore, cue integration behavior depends in part on the nature of the cues being integrated and the navigational task (e.g., homing versus non-home goal localization). We discuss the implications of these models and suggest directions for future research.

Long-term depression in neurons involves temporal and ultra-structural dynamics of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate relying on PIP5K, PTEN and PLC

Synaptic plasticity involves proper establishment and rearrangement of structural and functional microdomains. Yet, visualization of the underlying lipid cues proved challenging. Applying a combination of rapid cryofixation, membrane freeze-fracturing, immunogold labeling and electron microscopy, we visualize and quantitatively determine the changes and the distribution of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) in the plasma membrane of dendritic spines and subareas thereof at ultra-high resolution. These efforts unravel distinct phases of PIP2 signals during induction of long-term depression (LTD). During the first minutes PIP2 rapidly increases in a PIP5K-dependent manner forming nanoclusters. PTEN contributes to a second phase of PIP2 accumulation. The transiently increased PIP2 signals are restricted to upper and middle spine heads. Finally, PLC-dependent PIP2 degradation provides timely termination of PIP2 cues during LTD induction. Together, this work unravels the spatial and temporal cues set by PIP2 during different phases after LTD induction and dissects the molecular mechanisms underlying the observed PIP2 dynamics.

Cueing effect of attention among nurses with different anxiety levels: an EEG study.

The attention to cueing among nurses with anxiety affects their nursing quality seriously. Nevertheless, the neural mechanism of attention under anxiety among nurses has not been revealed. In this study, we utilized the event-related potential (ERP) and functional brain networks to investigate the neural mechanism of the cueing attention differences between anxiety and non-anxiety nurse groups (AG-20 nurses; NAG-20 nurses) in the spatial cueing task. The results revealed that in the invalid cues (144 trials), longer reaction times, larger P2 amplitudes, and more linkages between the right frontal and parietal areas were found in AG compared to NAG. In the valid cues (288 trials), there were no significant behavioral and neural differences between the two groups. The AG in the invalid cues showed slower response times, larger P2 and N5 amplitudes, and denser linkages originating from the occipital cortex than those in the valid cues. The convolutional neural network was trained for discriminating between the anxiety nurses and the normal ones, with the average accuracy being 0.76. The findings provided a potential physiological biomarker to predict the anxiety group who need to give more psychological attention. Nurse leaders maybe get more information for offering solutions to retain mental health among nurses.

Importance of ipsilateral residual hearing for spatial hearing by bimodal cochlear implant users

Bimodal cochlear implant (CI) listeners have difficulty utilizing spatial cues to segregate competing speech, possibly due to tonotopic mismatch between the acoustic input frequency and electrode place of stimulation. The present study investigated the effects of tonotopic mismatch in the context of residual acoustic hearing in the non-CI ear or residual hearing in both ears. Speech recognition thresholds (SRTs) were measured with two co-located or spatially separated speech maskers in normal-hearing adults listening to acoustic simulations of CIs; low frequency acoustic information was available in the non-CI ear (bimodal listening) or in both ears. Bimodal SRTs were significantly better with tonotopically matched than mismatched electric hearing for both co-located and spatially separated speech maskers. When there was no tonotopic mismatch, residual acoustic hearing in both ears provided a significant benefit when maskers were spatially separated, but not when co-located. The simulation data suggest that hearing preservation in the implanted ear for bimodal CI listeners may significantly benefit utilization of spatial cues to segregate competing speech, especially when the residual acoustic hearing is comparable across two ears. Also, the benefits of bilateral residual acoustic hearing may be best ascertained for spatially separated maskers.

Dense light field reconstruction based on epipolar focus spectrum

Existing light field (LF) representations, such as epipolar plane image (EPI) and sub-aperture images, do not consider the structural characteristics across the views, so they usually require additional disparity and spatial structure cues for follow-up tasks. Besides, they have difficulties dealing with occlusions or large disparity scenes. To this end, this paper proposes a novel Epipolar Focus Spectrum (EFS) representation by rearranging the EPI spectrum. Different from the classical EPI representation where an EPI line corresponds to a specific depth, there is a one-to-one mapping from the EFS line to the view. By exploring the EFS sampling task, the analytical function is derived for constructing a non-aliasing EFS. To demonstrate its effectiveness, we develop a trainable EFS-based pipeline for light field reconstruction, where a dense light field can be reconstructed by compensating the missing EFS lines given a sparse light field, yielding promising results with cross-view consistency, especially in the presence of severe occlusion and large disparity. Experimental results on both synthetic and real-world datasets demonstrate the validity and superiority of the proposed method over SOTA methods.