Temporal Orienting Research Articles

Temporal preparation and inhibitory deficit in fibromyalgia syndrome

Cognitive deficits in fibromyalgia may be specifically related to controlled processes, such as those measured by working memory or executive function tasks. This hypothesis was tested here by measuring controlled temporal preparation (temporal orienting) during a response inhibition (go no-go) task. Temporal orienting effects (faster reaction times for targets appearing at temporally attended vs. unattended moments) and response inhibition were impaired in fibromyalgia compared to the control group. It is concluded that frontal networks underlying attentional control (temporal orienting and response inhibition) can be a dysfunctional neurocognitive mechanism in fibromyalgia.

The Two Sides of Temporal Orienting

Would it be helpful to inform a driver about when a conflicting traffic situation is going to occur? We tested whether temporal orienting of attention could enhance executive control to select among conflicting stimuli and responses. Temporal orienting was induced by presenting explicit cues predicting the most probable interval for target onset, which could be short (400 ms) or long (1,300 ms). Executive control was measured both by flanker and Simon tasks involving conflict between incompatible responses and by the spatial Stroop task involving conflict between perceptual stimulus features. The results showed that temporal orienting facilitated the resolution of perceptual conflict by reducing the spatial Stroop effect, whereas it interfered with the resolution of response conflict by increasing flanker and Simon effects. Such opposite effects suggest that temporal orienting of attention modulates executive control through dissociable mechanisms, depending on whether the competition between conflicting representations is located at perceptual or response levels.

Functionally dissociating temporal and motor components of response preparation in left intraparietal sulcus

To optimise speed and accuracy of motor behaviour, we can prepare not only the type of movement to be made but also the time at which it will be executed. Previous cued reaction-time paradigms have shown that anticipating the moment in time at which this response will be made (“temporal orienting”) or selectively preparing the motor effector with which an imminent response will be made (motor intention or “motor orienting”) recruits similar regions of left intraparietal sulcus (IPS), raising the possibility that these two preparatory processes are inextricably co-activated. We used a factorial design to independently cue motor and temporal components of response preparation within the same experimental paradigm. By differentially cueing either ocular or manual response systems, rather than spatially lateralised responses within just one of these systems, potential spatial confounds were removed. We demonstrated that temporal and motor orienting were behaviourally dissociable, each capable of improving performance alone. Crucially, fMRI data revealed that temporal orienting activated the left IPS even if the motor effector that would be used to execute the response was unpredictable. Moreover, temporal orienting activated left IPS whether the target required a saccadic or manual response, and whether this response was left- or right-sided, thus confirming the ubiquity of left IPS activation for temporal orienting. Finally, a small region of left IPS was also activated by motor orienting for manual, though not saccadic, responses. Despite their functional independence therefore, temporal orienting and manual motor orienting nevertheless engage partially overlapping regions of left IPS, possibly reflecting their shared ontogenetic roots.

Can a regular context induce temporal orienting to a target sound?

It has been shown recently (Lange, 2009) that the N1 of the auditory event related potential (ERP) is attenuated when the eliciting stimulus predictably follows a regular vs. an irregular sequence. This may be a sign of temporal orienting induced by the regular sequence. Alternatively, the attenuated N1 may have been due to sensory predictability of target timing. The present study investigated whether presenting a regular sequence still attenuates target N1 when target timing is unpredictable. A regular (vs. irregular) tone sequence was presented prior to a target tone, which appeared unpredictably at one of three different time points after the sequence. For the regular sequence, targets either continued regularity (on-time targets) or were early or late with respect to this regular time point. ERPs to on-time targets were compared as a function of sequence regularity. Consistent with the assumption that N1 attenuation reflects sensory predictability of target timing, an attenuated N1 was not observed in the present study, where target timing was uncertain.

Temporal preparation, response inhibition and impulsivity

Temporal preparation and impulsivity involve overlapping neural structures (prefrontal cortex) and cognitive functions (response inhibition and time perception), however, their interrelations had not been investigated. We studied such interrelations by comparing the performance of groups with low vs. high non-clinical trait impulsivity during a temporal preparation go no-go task. This task measured, in less than 10 min, how response inhibition was influenced both by temporal orienting of attention (guided by predictive temporal cues) and by sequential effects (produced by repetition/alternation of the duration of preparatory intervals in consecutive trials). The results showed that sequential effects produced dissociable patterns of temporal preparation as a function of impulsivity. Sequential effects facilitated both response speed (reaction times – RTs – to the go condition) and response inhibition (false alarms to the no-go condition) selectively in the low impulsivity group. In the high impulsivity group, in contrast, sequential effects only improved RTs but not response inhibition. We concluded that both excitatory and inhibitory processing may be enhanced concurrently by sequential effects, which enables the temporal preparation of fast and controlled responses. Impulsivity could hence be related to less efficient temporal preparation of that inhibitory processing.

Alpha band oscillations track temporal orienting of attention

AbstractIntroduction: Recent investigations using field-potential recordings in visual and auditory cortices have shown that oscillatory activity in neuronal ensembles become entrained to the timing of rhythmically presented stimuli according to their modality and location (Lakatos, Chen et al. 2007; Lakatos, Karmos et al. 2008; Lakatos, O'Connell et al. 2009). In spite of the evidence showing the role of brain oscillations on forming predictions about forthcoming sensory events (for a review (Engel, Fries et al. 2001), little is known about the role of such oscillations in the temporal orienting of attention (Nobre 2001; Coull and Nobre 2008). To test the effect of temporal orienting of attention on early perceptual processing, motor selection, and anticipatory low frequency oscillation (alpha waves), we analysed EEG data from healthy adults participants who were performing a visual perceptual discrimination task of targets preceded by rhythmic spatio-temporal cues. Methods: EEG was recorded continuously from 30 healthy, right-handed participants [mean age, 23.9 years (SD, 4.9 years); range, 19–32 years; 9 males], using a 34 Ag/AgCl electrodes at 1000Hz (AFZ ground, right mastoid reference) in an electrically shielded room. The task consisted of rhythmic stimuli that cued participants to the time and location that a subsequent target stimulus would occur after an occlusion (Fig. 1). At the beginning of each trial, a stimulus (ball - diameter:1.0°) appeared on the upper (50%) or lower (50%) left side of the screen and moved across the screen in a diagonal spatial trajectory of seven steps (200 ms for each step). Temporal orienting was induced by manipulating the SOA of each stimuli in three different conditions: fast (400 ms), slow (800 ms) and neutral, where the SOA within a trial was unpredictable, and varied randomly between 300-900 ms. Upon reaching an “occluder”, the ball disappeared for 600 (short occlusion) or 1400ms (long occlusion). When it reappeared on the right-hand side of the occluder, it contained an upright or tilted cross (200 ms, for which participants were required to discriminate the target, using a button-press response with either their right or left hand accordingly. The time-frequency analysis was performed in unfiltered continuous data, epoched from -700 to 1800 ms relative to the beginning of the occlusion period. Data from 12 participants had to be excluded from the analysis due to excessive artifacts in the EEG recordings or poor behavioural performance (accuracy < 60%). A multitaper time–frequency transformation was applied to all electrodes in each trial. This transformation produced an estimation of oscillatory power for each time sample and frequencies between 4 and 20 Hz. Alpha power (8 to 14 Hz) values were extracted from the epochs and submitted to a repeated-measures. All frequency analysis was done using Fieldtrip package ("http://www.ru.nl/fcdonders/fieldtrip/":http://www.ru.nl/fcdonders/fieldtrip/) for MATLAB (MatWorks). Results: To test the effect of reorienting of attention in time we analyzed alpha band oscillations during the long occlusion period. In this way we can observed the reorienting effect in the invalid (fast) trials, when participants have to shift their attention to the long occlusion given that the target did not appear after the expected cued (short) interval. This result reveals an alpha desynchronization preceding the expected target (blue dashed line). When comparing these oscillations within the same period for the slow (valid) rhythm, we observed that this desynchronization in alpha is only present when preceding by a fast, but not slow, rhythm [F(1,17) = 3.85; p = 0.029]. As can be observed in Figure 2, in the valid condition (slow rhythm) there is also a desynchronization of alpha preceding the cued late target. However, if we compare the alpha oscillations preceding the appearance of the later presented target for the valid and invalid temporal cues, no significant difference is observed [F(1,17) = 0.31; p = 0.905]. Conclusion: Our findings support the hypothesis that temporal orienting can also modulate brain oscillations, specifically in the alpha range. Importantly, we showed that in the invalid (fast) condition, in which participants were prepared for a target presentation after a short occlusion, there was also a preparation for the presentation of the later target. This indicates that participants were able to reorient their attention to the second interval given that the target fail to appear after the short (expected) occlusion.

Alpha band oscillations track temporal orienting of attention

Alpha band oscillations track temporal orienting of attention

Temporal orienting deficit after prefrontal damage

The aim of this study was to explore, for the first time in patients, the neural bases of temporal orienting of attention as well as the interrelations with two other effects of temporal preparation: the foreperiod effect and sequential effects. We administered an experimental task to a group of 14 patients with prefrontal lesion, a group of 15 control subjects and a group of 7 patients with a basal ganglia lesion. In the task, a cue was presented (a short versus long line) to inform participants about the time of appearance (early versus late) of a target stimulus, and the duration of the cue-target time intervals (400 versus 1400 ms) was manipulated. In contrast to the control group, patients with right prefrontal lesion showed a clear deficit in the temporal orienting effect. The foreperiod effect was also affected in the group of patients with prefrontal lesion (without lateralization of the deficit), whereas sequential effects were preserved. The group of basal ganglia patients did not show deficits in any of the effects. These findings support the voluntary and strategic nature of the temporal orienting and foreperiod effects, which depend on the prefrontal cortex, as well as the more automatic nature of sequential effects, which do not depend on either prefrontal cortex or frontobasal circuits.

The Attentional Boost Effect: Transient increases in attention to one task enhance performance in a second task

Recent work on event perception suggests that perceptual processing increases when events change. An important question is how such changes influence the way other information is processed, particularly during dual-task performance. In this study, participants monitored a long series of distractor items for an occasional target as they simultaneously encoded unrelated background scenes. The appearance of an occasional target could have two opposite effects on the secondary task: It could draw attention away from the second task, or, as a change in the ongoing event, it could improve secondary task performance. Results were consistent with the second possibility. Memory for scenes presented simultaneously with the targets was better than memory for scenes that preceded or followed the targets. This effect was observed when the primary detection task involved visual feature oddball detection, auditory oddball detection, and visual color-shape conjunction detection. It was eliminated when the detection task was omitted, and when it required an arbitrary response mapping. The appearance of occasional, task-relevant events appears to trigger a temporal orienting response that facilitates processing of concurrently attended information (Attentional Boost Effect).

The Two Sides of Temporal Orienting: Facilitating Perceptual Selection, Disrupting Response Selection

The Two Sides of Temporal Orienting: Facilitating Perceptual Selection, Disrupting Response Selection

Mental fatigue and temporal preparation in simple reaction-time performance

Performance decrements attributed to mental fatigue have been found to be especially pronounced in tasks that involve the voluntary control of attention. Here we explored whether mental fatigue from prolonged time on task (TOT) also impairs temporal preparation for speeded action in a simple reaction-time task. Temporal preparation is enabled by a warning signal presented before the imperative stimulus and usually results in shorter reaction time (RT). When the delay between warning and imperative stimuli – the foreperiod (FP) – varies between trials, responses are faster with longer FPs. This pattern has been proposed to arise from either voluntary attentional processes (temporal orienting) or automatic trial-to-trial learning (trace conditioning). The former account suggests a selective RT increase on long-FP trials with fatigue; the latter account suggests no such change. Over a work period of 51 min, we found the typical increase in overall RT but no selective RT increase after long FPs. This additivity indicates that TOT-induced mental fatigue generally reduces cognitive efficiency but leaves temporal preparation under time uncertainty unaffected. We consider this result more consistent with the trace-conditioning account of temporal preparation.

Neural Modulation by Rhythm Induced Temporal Expectations

AbstractTime is an essential dimension of our experience, framing human behaviour at scales ranging from the millisecond organization of motor actions to circadian rhythms cycle, and beyond. Nevertheless, the mechanisms by which the brain keeps time and uses temporal information to organise behaviour remain unknown. Whereas the principles of the organisation of spatial cognition in the human brain are emerging, the same is not true for temporal cognition. The current study tested the influence of temporal expectations on attentional orienting to moving targets. In this task, a ball appeared at the left side of a screen and moved across the screen in steps following either a regular or irregular rhythm. After reaching an occluding band, the ball was temporarily occluded. When the ball reappeared, it contained either an upright (50%) or tilted (50%) cross. The task involved making a speeded perceptual discrimination about the target stimulus that reappears after the occlusion. The results indicated a strong behaviour benefit from temporal orienting. We recorded ERPs elicited by reappearance of the target stimulus, and investigated how temporal expectations influenced perceptual (e.g., visual P1 potential) and motor (lateralised readiness potential) stages of neural processing. The results showed that temporal expectations facilitated both early visual (P1) as well as motor (LRP) potentials. We are currently comparing induced frequency activity during the pre-occlusion and occlusion periods to look for modulation of rhythmic activity in lower frequency bands related to visual (alpha) and motor (mu) processing.

Neural Modulation by Regularity and Passage of Time

The current study tested whether multiple rhythms could flexibly induce temporal expectations (temporal orienting) and whether these expectations interact with temporal expectations associated with the passage of time (foreperiod effects). A visual stimulus that moved following a regular rhythm was temporarily occluded for a variable duration (occlusion foreperiod). The task involved making a speeded perceptual discrimination about the target stimulus that reappeared after the occlusion. Temporal-orienting effects were measured by comparing performance and event-related potentials on conditions in which the timing for target reappearance was predictable (valid) versus unpredictable (invalid) according to the rhythm. Foreperiod effects were measured by comparing conditions in which the target was occluded for progressively longer periods of time (short, medium, and long foreperiods) and hence were increasingly predictable. The results showed strong interactions between temporal orienting and foreperiod effects during the facilitation of behavior and neural activity associated with late perceptual and response selection processes. Temporal orienting attenuated the N2 amplitude and decreased the P3 latency only at short foreperiods. Temporal preparation related to foreperiod effects abolished temporal orienting effects at medium and long foreperiods. Likewise, foreperiod effects attenuated the N1 and N2 amplitudes and decreased the P3 latency only in the invalid orienting condition as preparation related to temporal orienting abolished foreperiod effects in the valid condition. This high degree of neural overlap between the effects of temporal orienting driven by rhythms and foreperiod effects associated with the passage of time suggests the involvement of a common mechanism for temporal preparation.

Using Time-To-Contact information to assess potential collision modulates both visual and temporal prediction networks

Accurate estimates of the time-to-contact (TTC) of approaching objects are crucial for survival. We used an ecologically valid driving simulation to compare and contrast the neural substrates of egocentric (head-on approach) and allocentric (lateral approach) TTC tasks in a fully factorial, event-related fMRI design. Compared to colour control tasks, both egocentric and allocentric TTC tasks activated left ventral premotor cortex/frontal operculum and inferior parietal cortex, the same areas that have previously been implicated in temporal attentional orienting. Despite differences in visual and cognitive demands, both TTC and temporal orienting paradigms encourage the use of temporally predictive information to guide behaviour, suggesting these areas may form a core network for temporal prediction. We also demonstrated that the temporal derivative of the perceptual index tau (tau-dot) held predictive value for making collision judgements and varied inversely with activity in primary visual cortex (V1). Specifically, V1 activity increased with the increasing likelihood of reporting a collision, suggesting top–down attentional modulation of early visual processing areas as a function of subjective collision. Finally, egocentric viewpoints provoked a response bias for reporting collisions, rather than no-collisions, reflecting increased caution for head-on approaches. Associated increases in SMA activity suggest motor preparation mechanisms were engaged, despite the perceptual nature of the task.

The musical meter induces cross-modal attentional effects

Event Abstract Back to Event The musical meter induces cross-modal attentional effects Johanna Trost1* and D. Schön2 1 University of Geneva, Switzerland 2 Institut des Neurosciences Cognitives de la Méditérrannée, France The goal of this study was to see whether music listening affects visual perception and motor preparation via metrical/attentional entrainment. Psychological models of meter perception describe the metrical structure in terms of attentional cycles. In order to test the validity of these models, we designed an experiment wherein subjects with musical expertise listened to metrically structured music and were instructed to perform simultaneously a visual speeded-response discrimination task. The instances in time used to present visual stimuli were manipulated in such a way to co-occur with notes having different levels in the hierarchy of the musical metrical structure (going from very strong to very weak level). Reaction times (RT) and electrophysiological data (ERP) were recorded time locked to the visual stimuli. Behavioral results show that the metrical structure has an impact on reaction times to visual stimuli. Indeed, subjects responded faster to stimuli that appeared simultaneously to a strong beat in the meter than to stimuli that appeared simultaneously to a weaker position in the metrical hierarchy. Eletrophysiological data confirm and precise behavioral results showing that musical meter influences the amplitude and latency of early (N1) and late ERP components (N270) to visual stimuli. While the effects on latter component probably reflect differences due to motor preparation, the modulation of the N1 (peaking around 100 msec after stimulus onset and generate in the primary visual cortex) can be interpreted in terms of early visual discrimination differences. Overall, behavioral and electrophysiological results demonstrate that stimulus discrimination and motor response are modified as a function of the musical structure. These results give therefore evidence for cross-modal attentional effects between audition and vision. Listening to music implicitly influences our temporal orienting of attention, and this in turn affects processing of visual stimuli. Conference: 10th International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience, Bodrum, Turkey, 1 Sep - 5 Sep, 2008. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Abstracts Citation: Trost J and Schön D (2008). The musical meter induces cross-modal attentional effects. Conference Abstract: 10th International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.09.2009.01.086 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 02 Dec 2008; Published Online: 02 Dec 2008. * Correspondence: Johanna Trost, University of Geneva, Lausanne 1015 Vaud, Switzerland, johanna.trost@medecine.unige.ch Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Johanna Trost D. Schön Google Johanna Trost D. Schön Google Scholar Johanna Trost D. Schön PubMed Johanna Trost D. Schön Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

La percepción del tiempo: una revisión desde la Neurociencia Cognitiva <BR>Time perception: A review from Cognitive Neuroscience

We present a review on the cognitive processes, structures and cerebral mechanisms underlying temporal processing, with special attention being paid to tasks involving temporal estimation of intervals of several hundreds of milliseconds. The main findings in Cognitive Neuroscience regarding time reveal the existence of brain systems specialized for timing tasks. Specifically, time perception involves subcortical structures such as the cerebellum and basal ganglia, which function is automatic timing. They are connected to cortical areas such as prefrontal and parietal cortex, thus carrying out controlled processes such as the accumulation and storage of temporal pulses generated by the internal clock. Finally, perception of time is related to another main cognitive process such as attention, emphasising the attentional mechanism of temporal orienting, which allows the anticipation and preparation to the future occurrence of relevant events.

Temporal attention enhances early visual processing: A review and new evidence from event-related potentials

Two fundamental cognitive functions, selective attention and processing of time, have been simultaneously explored in recent studies of temporal orienting of attention. A temporal-orienting procedure may consist of a temporal analogue to the Posner's paradigm, such that symbolic cues indicate the most probable moment for target arrival. Behavioral measures suggest that performance is improved for events appearing at expected vs. unexpected moments. However, there is no agreement on the locus of stimulus processing at which temporal attention operates. Thus, it remains unclear whether early perceptual or just late motor processes can be modulated. This article reviews current ERP research on temporal orienting, with an emphasis on factors that might determine the modulation of temporal orienting at early stages of processing. We conclude that: First, late components (N2 and P300) are consistently modulated by temporal orienting, which suggests attentional preparation of decision and/or motor processes. Second, early components (e.g., N1) seem to be modulated only when the task is highly demanding in perceptual processing. Hence, we conducted an ERP experiment which aimed to observe a modulation of early visual processing by using a perceptually demanding task, such as letter discrimination. The results show, for the first time, that targets appearing at attended moments elicited a larger P1 component than unattended targets. Moreover, temporal attention modulated the amplitude and latency of N2 and P300 components. This suggests that temporal orienting of attention not only modulates late motor processing, but also early visual processing when perceptually demanding tasks are used.

The attentional mechanism of temporal orienting: determinants and attributes

A review of traditional research on preparation and foreperiod has identified strategic (endogenous) and automatic (exogenous) factors probably involved in endogenous temporal-orienting experiments, such as the type of task, the way by which temporal expectancy is manipulated, the probability of target occurrence and automatic sequential effects, yet their combined impact had not been investigated. These factors were manipulated within the same temporal-orienting procedure, in which a temporal cue indicated that the target could appear after an interval of either 400 or 1,400 ms. We observed faster reaction times for validly versus invalidly cued targets, that is, endogenous temporal-orienting effects. The main results were that the probability of target occurrence (catch-trial proportion) modulated temporal orienting, such that the attentional effects at the short interval were independent of catch trials, whereas at the long interval the effects were only observed when catch trials were present. In contrast, the interval duration of the previous trial (i.e., exogenous sequential effects) did not influence endogenous temporal orienting. A flexible and endogenous mechanism of attentional orienting in time can account for these results. Despite the contribution of other factors, the use of predictive temporal cues was sufficient to yield attentional facilitation based on temporal expectancy.

Attentional preparation based on temporal expectancy modulates processing at the perceptual level

Research that uses simple response time tasks and neuroimaging has emphasized that attentional preparation based on temporal expectancy modulates processing at motor levels. A novel approach was taken to study whether the temporal orienting of attention can also modulate perceptual processing. A temporal-cuing paradigm was used together with a rapid serial visual presentation procedure, in order to maximize the processing demands of perceptual analysis. Signal detection theory was applied in order to examine whether temporal orienting affects processes related to perceptual sensitivity or to response criterion (indexed by d' and beta measures, respectively). If temporal orienting implies perceptual preparation, we would expect to observe an increase in perceptual sensitivity (d') when a target appeared at expected, rather than unexpected, time intervals. Indeed, our behavioral results opened the possibility that focusing attention on time intervals not only enhances motor processing, as has been shown by previous research, but also might improve perceptual processing.

Endogenous temporal orienting of attention in detection and discrimination tasks.

Endogenous temporal-orienting effects were studied using a cuing paradigm in which the cue indicated the time interval during which the target was most likely to appear. Temporal-orienting effects were defined by lower reaction times (RTs) when there was a match between the temporal expectancy for a target (early or late) and the time interval during which the target actually appeared than when they mismatched. Temporal-orienting effects were found for both early and late expectancies with a detection task in Experiment 1. However, catch trials were decisive in whether temporal-orienting effects were observed in the early-expectancy condition. No temporal-orienting effects were found in the discrimination task. In Experiments 2A and 2B, temporal-orienting effects were observed in the discrimination task; however, they were larger when temporal expectancy was manipulated between blocks, rather than within blocks.