Stages Of Information Processing Research Articles

Research of Options for Constructing Information Management Systems Based on Network Models of Queuing Systems

The use of information management systems (IMSs) for the management of technical facilities is currently one of the directions for further improvement and increase in the effectiveness of the use of technical facilities in solving their target tasks. The existing modern IMSs are a set of hardware and software tools designed for collecting, processing and storing information and management. In the presence of a large amount of information and contradictory factors affecting the quality of management, making informed and timely decisions in the management process is impossible without the use of IMSs. The IMSs currently being developed are, for the most part, specialized systems and are designed to solve specific tasks. In this regard, the development and design of IMSs should be carried out taking into account the relationship with the target indicators and features of the management facilities, the results of a comprehensive analysis of information about the IMS elements in the process of functioning, and structural and algorithmic parameters that affect performance indicators. The use of mathematical models for the study of options for the construction of an IMS is the basis for the design and development of devices and subsystems of an IMS. The IMS models currently being developed make it possible to conduct research for single-stage management processes with the presence of similar service facilities in the system. At the same time, modern technical facilities and control systems are complex complexes with cyclically repeating control processes of various types of means. As a rule, such complexes have a set of parallel operating devices (control channels) that provide control of different types of objects at various stages of information processing. In this case, the structure of the IMS must be represented as a multiphase multichannel technical system in which the process of simultaneous management of several objects of various types takes place. In this regard, the purpose of the article is to develop a mathematical model of an IMS with two phases of management and the presence of an arbitrary number of serviced different types of management facilities. The basis of the model is a multiphase CFR network model with a limited waiting time for an application in the service queue. The study on the model allows choosing an option for building an IMS, in particular, choosing the optimal number of control channels for various types of objects according to the criterion of optimality and restrictions on the cost and time of management. An algorithm for selecting an option for building an IMS has been developed, and an example of calculating the number of control channels for managing three types of objects is given.

Pattern separation during encoding and Subsequent Memory Effect

Memory retrieval has been extensively studied in relation to the encoding processes that precede access to stored information. Event related potentials (ERP) research has compared brain potentials elicited during the study phase of successful and unsuccessful retrieval, finding greater activation for the subsequent retrieval information. In this work we were interested in exploring the neural markers associated to subsequent recognition when similar memories are subsequently encoded. We used a Subsequent Memory paradigm in which we manipulated the number of similar items within a category (2 or 6) that participants encoded. Manipulating the number of similar encoded items within a category allowed us to test whether encoding markers of subsequent recognition depend solely on memory trace strength or, on the contrary, successful recognition is influenced by subsequently presented similar memories, and consequently may not be reflected in higher activation in such cases. After a 20-minute period, participants performed a recognition task providing one of a three-option judgement: “old”, “similar” and “new”, which allowed us to test if the amplitude of ERP waveforms varied based on the similarity judgement of the unrecognized encoded item. We did not observe a significant parietal subsequent memory effect, however, old hits and similar false alarms were both significantly different from similar correct rejections and old false alarms in ERP retrieval. These findings suggest that differences in brain responses between conditions are specifically related to the retrieval process and not the encoding process, indicating potential differential effects on memory during retrieval. Moreover, it is also possible that differences in brain responses develop or change over the rest time between phases, influencing how these conditions manifest across different stages of information processing.

A p75 neurotrophin receptor-sparing nerve growth factor protects retinal ganglion cells from neurodegeneration by targeting microglia.

Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are the output stage of retinal information processing, via their axons forming the optic nerve (ON). ON damage leads to axonal degeneration and death of RGCs, and results in vision impairment. Nerve growth factor (NGF) signalling is crucial for RGC operations and visual functions. Here, we investigate a new neuroprotective mechanism of a novel therapeutic candidate, a p75-less, TrkA-biased NGF agonist (hNGFp) in rat RGC degeneration, in comparison with wild type human NGF (hNGFwt). Both neonate and adult rats, whether subjected or not to ON lesion, were treated with intravitreal injections or eye drops containing either hNGFp or hNGFwt. Different doses of the drugs were administered at days 1, 4 or 7 after injury for a maximum of 10days, when immunofluorescence, electrophysiology, cellular morphology, cytokine array and behaviour studies were carried out. Pharmacokinetic evaluation was performed on rabbits treated with hNGFp ocular drops. hNGFp exerted a potent RGC neuroprotection by acting on microglia cells, and outperformed hNGFwt in rescuing RGC degeneration and reducing inflammatory molecules. Delayed use of hNGFp after ON lesion resulted in better outcomes compared with treatment with hNGFwt. Moreover, hNGFp-based ocular drops were less algogenic than hNGFwt. Pharmacokinetic measurements revealed that biologically relevant quantities of hNGFp were found in the rabbit retina. Our data point to microglia as a new cell target through which NGF-induced TrkA signalling exerts neuroprotection of the RGC, emphasizing hNGFp as a powerful treatment to tackle retinal degeneration.

What Can Physiology Tell Us about State of Interest?

The state of interest as a positive emotion is associated with the ability to comprehend new information and/or to better consolidate already perceived information, to increase the attention level to the object, to increase informational processing, and also to influence such processes as learning and motivation. The aim of this study was to reveal oculomotor correlates that can predict the locus of interest in cases of people perceiving educational information from different areas of knowledge presented as text or multimedia content. Sixty (60) volunteers participated in the study (50% males, mean age 22.20 ± 0.51). The stimuli consisted of 16 texts covering a wide range of topics, each accompanied by a comprehension question and an interest assessment questionnaire. It was found that the multimedia content type triggered more visual attention and gave an advantage in the early stages of information processing. The first fixation duration metric for the multimedia stimuli allowed u to characterize the subjective interest assessment. Overall, the results suggest the potential role of eye-tracking in evaluating educational content and it emphasizes the importance of developing solutions based on this method to enhance the effectiveness of the educational process.

Social anxiety modulating early processing for social threat words: an ERP study

ABSTRACT Even though some recent research revealed individuals with HSA typically display enhanced processing in the early stages of emotional information processing due to hypervigilance and vulnerability to negative stimuli, it is still unclear whether social anxiety affects the time course underlying processing bias for emotional stimuli. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the early stage of processing social threat stimuli in high social anxiety (HSA) individuals by recording RTs and EEG data in the emotional Stroop task. Behavioral data showed that the HSA group responded to the threat words faster than neutral words (i.e. negative bias), but no emotional effects in the low social anxiety (LSA) group. Although the P1 component did not show any early effects, ERP data exhibited an enhanced N170 for HSA than for LSA groups. Threat words elicited larger N170 than neutral words in the LSA group only; this emotion effect was not evident in the HSA group. These findings indicated that social anxiety modulates early processing for social threat words. This study revealed the neural mechanisms underlying early emotional processing in individuals with social anxiety, providing insights for the evaluation and intervention of social anxiety.

A methodological approach for data standardization and management of Open Data portals for scientific research groups: a case study on mobile and ubiquitous ecosystems

IntroductionIn the scientific research domain, the Open Science movement stands as a fundamental pillar for advancing knowledge and innovation globally. This article presents the design and implementation of the GITCE Open Data Ecosystem (GITCE-ODE) Research Data Management System (RDMS), developed by the Research Group on Emerging Computational Technologies (GITCE) at the Technological University of Panama, as a platform for the long-term storage, publication, and dissemination of research products.MethodsThe architecture of the GITCE-ODE RDMS encompasses the entire data engineering lifecycle, facilitating information processing stages such as extraction, transformation, loading (ETL), as well as the management and analysis of diverse datasets and metadata.ResultsCompliance with the FAIR principles ensures that published data and products are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable, promoting automation in the discovery and reuse of digital resources. Key considerations of the web portal include file format standardization, data categorization, treatment of semantic context, and organization of resources to ensure efficient management and administration of open research data.DiscussionThrough this platform, GITCE aims to foster collaboration, transparency, and accessibility in scientific research, contributing to the ongoing advancement of knowledge transfer and innovation.

Catch me if you can: how episodic and thematic multimodal news frames shape policy support by stimulating visual attention and responsibility attributions

Using media coverage of animal welfare as an example, this study examines how the perception of multimodal news frames shapes recipients’ visual attention, attributions of responsibility, emotions, and policy support. To investigate the mechanisms of multimodal-episodic versus thematic framing, we combined eye-tracking measurements with a pre-post survey experiment in which 143 participants were randomly assigned to an episodic or a thematic multimodal framing condition. The results show that episodic multimodal frames are viewed longer than thematic frames, elicit stronger individual and political responsibility attributions, and increase political support for stricter animal-welfare laws. Understanding multimodal framing as a multistep process, a serial mediation model reveals that episodic frames affect viewing time, which leads to stronger attributions of political responsibility and, in turn, stronger policy support. Our results support the idea of a complex interplay between subsequent stages of information perception and processing within a multimodal framing process.

Distinct patterns of monocular advantage for facial emotions in social anxiety

Individuals with social anxiety often exhibit atypical processing of facial expressions. Previous research in social anxiety has primarily emphasized cognitive bias associated with face processing and the corresponding abnormalities in cortico-limbic circuitry, yet whether social anxiety influences early perceptual processing of emotional faces remains largely unknown. We used a psychophysical method to investigate the monocular advantage for face perception (i.e., face stimuli are better recognized when presented to the same eye compared to different eyes), an effect that is indicative of early, subcortical processing of face stimuli. We compared the monocular advantage for different emotional expressions (neutral, angry and sad) in three groups (N = 24 per group): individuals clinically diagnosed with social anxiety disorder (SAD), individuals with high social anxiety in subclinical populations (SSA), and a healthy control (HC) group of individuals matched for age and gender. Compared to SSA and HC groups, we found that individuals with SAD exhibited a greater monocular advantage when processing neutral and sad faces. While the magnitudes of monocular advantages were similar across three groups when processing angry faces, individuals with SAD performed better in this condition when the faces were presented to different eye. The former findings suggest that social anxiety leads to an enhanced role of subcortical structures in processing nonthreatening expressions. The latter findings, on the other hand, likely reflect an enhanced cortical processing of threatening expressions in SAD group. These distinct patterns of monocular advantage indicate that social anxiety altered representation of emotional faces at various stages of information processing, starting at an early stage of the visual system.

Association between physical health and neurocognition in first-episode schizophrenia

IntroductionImpaired cognition is a core feature of schizophrenia that is evident early in the first episode and is frequently accompanied by compromised physical health. Although physical health confers benefits to cognition, it remains unclear whether physical activity, body mass index (BMI) and cardiorespiratory fitness are associated with neurocognition in first episode schizophrenia patients. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in stimulus categorization and motor response selection processes between first-episode schizophrenia patients compared to age-matched controls and explore associations between physical health and these stages of information processing.MethodsFourteen young adult patients receiving care following a first episode of psychosis and a matched sample of nonpsychiatric controls completed a visual oddball task from which the P3 and LRP (lateralized readiness potential) event-related potential (ERP) components were extracted to assess stimulus categorization and response selection processes, respectively. Physical activity, aerobic fitness, and BMI were correlated with ERP measures.ResultsCompared with controls, patients had lower physical activity levels and longer P3 and LRP latencies. Regardless of stimulus probability, patients had reduced accuracy and slower reaction times relative to controls. In patients, marginal associations were found between physical activity and P3 difference waveform amplitude, and BMI was negatively associated with parent P3 waveform amplitude.DiscussionThe present findings suggest that cognitive impairment in first-episode schizophrenia spans both stimulus- and response-related stages of information processing, and may be targeted through physical activity interventions.

Why does advertising work? exploring the neural mechanism of concreteness and emotional effects of donation advertising slogans

Advertising is methods to encourage donations, and text is one of the most crucial fundamental elements in advertising. Therefore, we chose advertising slogans as the focus of this study. The main goal of this research is to investigate how the emotional and concrete aspects of advertising slogans can impact information processing procedures and neural mechanisms, ultimately influencing advertising effectiveness. We conducted a two-factor experiment with a 2 × 2 design, using the ERPs experimental paradigm. The results reveal that slogans with an emotionally positive appeal outperformed in terms of advertising memory (recognition response time) and audience intention (liking, acting, and sharing). Emotional-negative advertising slogans performed better in eliciting early attention (P1). Concrete advertising slogans excelled in enhancing advertising memory (recognition response time, correct recognition rate), as well as in the later stages of information processing stage (N400 and LPC). Furthermore, abstract advertising slogans performed better in capturing early attention (P2) and influencing action intention. We introduce a framework comprising five distinct phases for individuals to process the advertising slogans and emphasize the foundational role of emotions in individual cognition and the processing of advertising. These findings uncover the underlying mechanism behind the effectiveness of donation advertising and provide valuable insights for the design of philanthropic advertising practices.

“My friend, my friend, free try, free try”: An investigation of peddling activities through implicit self-theory

Hawking and peddling activities are common in tourist attractions to elicit tourist patronage. These controversial practices add vibes to the destination for some but are considered annoying to others. Based on the implicit theories, this paper aims to explore how the lay beliefs of individuals affect customer perceptions towards these practices and the tourist destination. Forty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted at hawking sites in Macao to examine how individuals with divergent mindsets react towards a spectrum of characteristics associated with peddling activities. The findings reveal that entity and incremental theorists form distinct evaluations, encompassing factors such as risk assessment, meaning attribution, experience connections, brand recognition, signalling, and stereotypes. These perceptions are developed throughout different information processing stages, including attention allocation, encoding, retrieval, and reasoning. These results provide insights for businesses and DMOs in administering peddling activities by ensuring accurate information, promoting fair practices and enforcing a trustworthy judicial system.

Disrupted properties of functional brain networks in major depressive disorder during emotional face recognition: an EEG study via graph theory analysis.

Previous neuroimaging studies have revealed abnormal brain networks in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) in emotional processing. While any cognitive task consists of a series of stages, little is yet known about the topology of functional brain networks in MDD for these stages during emotional face recognition. To address this problem, electroencephalography (EEG)-based functional brain networks of MDD patients at different stages of facial information processing were investigated in this study. First, EEG signals were collected from 16 patients with MDD and 18 age-, gender-, and education-matched normal subjects when performing an emotional face recognition task. Second, the global field power (GFP) method was employed to divide group-averaged event-related potentials into different stages. Third, using the phase transfer entropy (PTE) approach, the brain networks of MDD patients and normal individuals were constructed for each stage in negative and positive face processing, respectively. Finally, we compared the topological properties of brain networks of each stage between the two groups using graph theory approaches. The results showed that the analyzed three stages of emotional face processing corresponded to specific neurophysiological phases, namely, visual perception, face recognition, and emotional decision-making. It was also demonstrated that depressed patients showed abnormally decreased characteristic path length at the visual perception stage of negative face recognition and normalized characteristic path length in the stage of emotional decision-making during positive face processing compared to healthy subjects. Furthermore, while both the MDD and normal groups' brain networks were found to exhibit small-world network characteristics, the brain network of patients with depression tended to be randomized. Moreover, for patients with MDD, the centro-parietal region may lose its status as a hub in the process of facial expression identification. Together, our findings suggested that altered emotional function in MDD patients might be associated with disruptions in the topological organization of functional brain networks during emotional face recognition, which further deepened our understanding of the emotion processing dysfunction underlying MDD.

Electrophysiological correlates of self-related processing in adults with autism.

The term "self-bias" refers to the human propensity to prioritize self- over other-related stimuli and is believed to influence various stages of the processing stream. By means of event-related potentials (ERPs), it was recently shown that the self-bias in a shape-label matching task modulates early as well as later phases of information processing in neurotypicals. Recent claims suggest autism-related deficits to specifically impact later stages of self-related processing; however, it is unclear whether these claims hold based on current findings. Using the shape-label matching task while recording ERPs in individuals with autism can clarify which stage of self-related processing is specifically affected in this condition. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the temporal course of self-related processing in adults with and without autism. Thirty-two adults with autism and 27 neurotypicals completed a shape-label matching task while ERPs were concomitantly recorded. At the behavioral level, results furnished evidence for a comparable self-bias across groups, with no differences in task performance between adults with and without autism. At the ERP level, the two groups showed a similar self-bias at early stages of self-related information processing (the N1 component). Conversely, the autism group manifested a lessened differentiation between self- and other-related stimuli at later stages (the parietal P3 component). In line with recent claims of later phases of self-related processing being altered in autism, we found an equivalent self-bias between groups at an early, sensory stage of processing, yet a strongly diminished self-bias at a later, cognitive stage in adults with autism.

Impaired eye movements in Parkinson's disease and their relationship to top–down and bottom–up neural processing

AbstractIntroductionEye movement disorder in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) is less likely to appear when observing complex images compared with simple images. However, in case of auditory stimuli, meaningful stimuli can promote PD movement. Thus, we measured visual search movements with an eye tracker to investigate whether visual search changes in PD depending on the meaningfulness of visual stimuli; additionally, we measured event‐related potentials (ERPs) to neurophysiologically examine visual information processing in PD.MethodsData from 11 patients with cognitively unimpaired PD and 10 neurologically healthy individuals (controls) were used in this study. We simultaneously measured eye tracking and ERPs during the observation of three types of images: operation, noun, and meaningless figures. We compared intergroup differences in visual search parameters, such as saccade count, fixation time, and saccade amplitude, as well as in ERPs vertex‐to‐vertex amplitudes and latency among P1, N1, P2, and N2 at the posterior regions. These ERPs reflect different stages of visual information processing and provide insights into the underlying neural mechanisms of visual search in PD.ResultsAll visual search parameters were consistently smaller in the PD group than in the control group, regardless of visual stimulus. The saccade count in the PD group was significantly lower than in the control group for operation and meaningless figures but not for noun figures. Further, P1 and N1 amplitudes—bottom–up processing—were smaller in PD group when viewing operation figures and N2 amplitudes—top–down processing—were larger in PD group when viewing operation and meaningless figures.ConclusionsPD's visual search movements may change depending on the meaningfulness of visual stimuli. Further, the abnormal visual search movements in PD may be due to insufficient bottom–up processing and excessive top–down processing.Plain Language SummaryParkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that can cause eye movement disorders. People with PD may have difficulty searching for and processing visual information. In this study, we investigated how meaningfulness affects visual search movements and visual information processing in people with PD. We measured eye movements and brain activity in response to different types of visual stimuli, including meaningful and meaningless images, and compared them to a group of healthy control participants. Our results showed that PD patients had fewer eye movements and different brain activity patterns compared to healthy controls, regardless of the meaningfulness of the visual stimuli. However, we also found that the meaningfulness of visual stimuli had an effect on visual search movements in PD patients. This suggests that meaningfulness can impact the way people with PD process visual information. Understanding these differences could help in the development of new therapies to improve visual processing in people with PD.

Clarifying directional dependence among measures of early auditory processing and cognition in schizophrenia: leveraging Gaussian graphical models and Bayesian networks.

Research using latent variable models demonstrates that pre-attentive measures of early auditory processing (EAP) and cognition may initiate a cascading effect on daily functioning in schizophrenia. However, such models fail to account for relationships among individual measures of cognition and EAP, thereby limiting their utility. Hence, EAP and cognition may function as complementary and interacting measures of brain function rather than independent stages of information processing. Here, we apply a data-driven approach to identifying directional relationships among neurophysiologic and cognitive variables. Using data from the Consortium on the Genetics of Schizophrenia 2, we estimated Gaussian Graphical Models and Bayesian networks to examine undirected and directed connections between measures of EAP, including mismatch negativity and P3a, and cognition in 663 outpatients with schizophrenia and 630 control participants. Chain structures emerged among EAP and attention/vigilance measures in schizophrenia and control groups. Concerning differences between the groups, object memory was an influential variable in schizophrenia upon which other cognitive domains depended, and working memory was an influential variable in controls. Measures of EAP and attention/vigilance are conditionally independent of other cognitive domains that were used in this study. Findings also revealed additional causal assumptions among measures of cognition that could help guide statistical control and ultimately help identify early-stage targets or surrogate endpoints in schizophrenia.

The enhanced emotional negativity bias in parents of atypically developing children: Evidence from an event-related potentials study.

Parents of atypically developing children such as parents of children with ASD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and intellectual disability experience higher levels of parenting stress than parents of typically developing children. However, whether they possess enhanced emotional negativity bias was unclear. In the present study, 28 parents of typically developing children and 29 parents of atypically developing children were recruited. The emotional Stroop task and event-related potentials were adopted to measure their emotional negativity bias, in which participants were required to respond to the borders' color of face pictures. Behaviorally, the impact of parenting stress on emotional negativity bias was not found. At the electrophysiological level, the P2 differential amplitude (negative minus positive) was greater in parents of atypically developing children than in parents of typically developing children, reflecting an enhanced early attentional bias toward negative faces. N2 amplitude for the emotionally negative face was smaller than the positive face in parents of atypically developing children, indicating a too weak attentional control to inhibit distractors. Furthermore, sustained attention to negative faces was observed in parents of atypically developing children, that is, the emotionally negative face elicited greater frontal P3 (300 ~ 500 ms) than the positive faces. These findings revealed that compared to parents of typically developing children, parents of atypically developing children owned an enhanced emotional negativity bias at the early and late stages of information processing.

Effects of a Passive Back-Support Exosuit on Postural Control and Cognitive Performance During a Fatigue-Inducing Posture Maintenance Task.

To evaluate the effectiveness of passive back-support exosuit on postural control and cognitive performance during a fatigue-inducing posture maintenance task. Wearable support systems (exoskeletons/exosuits) reduce physical demands but may also influence postural control and cognitive performance by reducing muscular fatigue. Eighteen participants visited on two different days to test an exosuit system and performed dual-task cognitive assessments based on human information processing (information acquisition, information integration, and action implementation) while maintaining a 35° trunk flexion posture for 16minutes. Center-of-pressure (CoP), cognitive performance, and perceived workload were recorded, while erector spinae muscle activity was captured to quantify muscle fatigue. The exosuit was effective in reducing erector spinae muscle fatigue during the static posture maintenance task (61% less in Δmedian frequency: -9.5Hz (EXO-Off) versus -3.7Hz (EXO-On)). The fatigue-inducing task increased CoP velocity as a function of time (29% greater: 9.3mm/sec (pre) versus 12.0mm/sec (post)), and exosuit use decreased CoP velocity (23% less: 12.1mm/sec (EXO-Off) versus 9.4mm/sec (EXO-On)). The exosuit was also effective at mitigating cognitive degradation, as evidenced by a higher hit-to-signal ratio (8% greater: 81.3 (EXO-Off) versus 87.9 (EXO-On)) in the information integration task and reducing perceived workload in all stages of human information processing. Exosuit provided benefits of postural control and information integration processing during a 16-min static posture maintenance task. Torso exoskeletons/suits can have positive implications for occupations with concurrent physical and cognitive demands.

Research on Optimization of Traffic Management in Smart Tourism Cities for Sustainable Development

Abstract In order to accelerate the efficiency of urban traffic operation in tourism and maximize the efficiency of urban traffic operation. This paper conducts systematic research on urban traffic conditions and proposes the construction of an intelligent urban traffic management system. First of all, the system structure is designed from the whole, and the system is divided into the information collection stage, the information processing stage, and the information release stage to clarify the functions that the system needs to realize. The design of the system includes queries for road conditions, bus transfer, walking navigation, and background management of each functional module. By building a good system development environment, system functions can be realized in code. Visitor satisfaction was evaluated using the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method, and simulation experiments were carried out to evaluate the system’s optimization effect. The satisfaction of tourists in terms of convenience and comfort is improved compared with that before the use of the system. After the implementation of the intelligent traffic management system, the delay time of the intersection with the most complex road conditions in peak hour E is reduced by 19.8 s. The delay time in the peak hour is reduced by 4 s. It shows that the system improves the satisfaction of tourists in terms of convenience and comfort reduces the possibility of congestion for the tourists and the residents to travel, and improves the utilization rate of the road. The utilization rate of the road.

Psychological effects of anti-Arab politics on American and Arab peoples' views of each other.

Disparaging rhetoric about Arab people was prevalent during Donald Trump's political rise in the United States. Although this rhetoric was intended to energize conservative Americans, it also echoed throughout many liberal parts of the United States and around the world. In this research, we experimentally examined the effects of such rhetoric on American and Arab people's attitudes and visual representations of each other before and after Trump was elected. Although people overwhelmingly reported not liking the negative rhetoric, the rhetoric alone did not influence explicit and implicit intergroup biases in either location, as measured by feeling thermometers and Implicit Association Tests. However, the election outcome moderated the way rhetoric influenced how American and Arab people visually represented each other. Our research sheds light on nuanced effects of global politics on various information processing stages within intergroup perception.

Crossmodal Associations and Working Memory in the Brain.

Crossmodal associations between stimuli from different sensory modalities could emerge in non-synesthetic people and be stored in working memory to guide goal-directed behaviors. This chapter reviews a plethora of studies in this field to summarize where, when, and how crossmodal associations and working memory are processed. It has been found that in those brain regions that are traditionally considered as unimodal primary sensory areas, neural activity could be influenced by crossmodal sensory signals at temporally very early stage of information processing. This phenomenon could not be due to feedback projections from higher level associative areas. Sequentially, neural processes would then occur in associative cortical areas including the posterior parietal cortex and prefrontal cortex. Neural oscillations in multiple frequency bands may reflect brain activity in crossmodal associations, and it is likely that neural synchrony is related to potential neural mechanisms underlying these processes. Primary sensory areas and associative areas coordinate together through neural synchrony to fulfil crossmodal associations and to guide working memory performance.