Types Of Stimuli Research Articles

Chilean brush-tailed mouse (Octodon degus): a diurnal precocial rodent as a new model to study visual receptive field properties of superior colliculus neurons.

Lab rodent species commonly used to study the visual system and its development (hamsters, rats, and mice) are crepuscular/nocturnal, altricial, and possess simpler visual systems than carnivores and primates. To widen the spectra of studied species, here we introduce an alternative model, the Chilean degu (Octodon degus). This diurnal, precocial Caviomorph rodent has a cone-enriched, well-structured retina, and well-developed central visual projections. To assess degus' visual physiological properties, we characterized the visual responses and receptive field (RF) properties of isolated neurons in the superficial layers of the superior colliculus (sSC). To facilitate comparison with studies in other rodent species, we used four types of stimuli: 1) a moving white square, 2) sinusoidal gratings, 3) an expanding black circle (looming), and 4) a stationary black circle. We found that as in other mammalian species, RF size increases from superficial to deeper SC layers. Compared with other lab rodents, degus sSC neurons had smaller RF sizes and displayed a broader range of spatial frequency (SF) tunings, including neurons tuned to high SF (up to 0.24 cycles/deg). Also, unlike other rodents, approximately half of sSC neurons exhibited linear responses to contrast. In addition, sSC units showed transient ON-OFF responses to stationary stimuli but increased their firing rates as a looming object increased in size. Our results suggest that degus have higher visual acuity, higher SF tuning, and lower contrast sensitivity than commonly used nocturnal lab rodents, positioning degus as a well-suited species for studies of diurnal vision that are more relevant to humans.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Rodent species commonly used to study vision are crepuscular/nocturnal, altricial, and possess simpler visual systems than diurnal mammals. Here we introduce an alternative model, the diurnal, precocial, Octodon degus, a Caviomorph rodent with a well-developed visual system. In this study, we characterize the visual responses of the degus' superior colliculus. Our results suggest that degus have higher visual acuity than nocturnal rodents, positioning degus as a well-suited species for studies of human-like diurnal vision.

Do emotional carryover effects carry over?

Existing research has demonstrated carryover effects whereby emotions generated in one context influence decisions in other, unrelated ones. We examine the carryover effect in relation to valuations of risky and ambiguous lotteries with a novel focus on the comparison of carryovers arising from a targeted stimulus (designed to elicit a specific emotion) with those arising from a naturalistic stimulus (designed to produce a more complex emotional response). We find carryover effects using both types of stimuli, but they are stronger for the naturalistic stimulus and in the context of ambiguity, providing a proof of concept that carryover effects can be observed when moving away from highly stylised settings. These effects are also gender specific with only males being susceptible. To probe the emotional foundations of the carryover effect, we conduct analysis relating individual self-reports of emotions to valuation behaviour. Our results cast doubt on some previously claimed links between specific incidental emotions and risk taking.

Development of the relationship between visual selective attention and auditory change detection.

Understanding the developmental trajectories of the auditory and visual systems is crucial to elucidate cognitive maturation and its associated relationships, which are essential for effectively navigating dynamic environments. Our one recent study has shown a positive correlation between the event-related potential (ERP) amplitudes associated with visual selective attention (posterior contralateral N2) and auditory change detection (mismatch negativity) in adults, suggesting an intimate relationship and potential shared mechanism between visual selective attention and auditory change detection. However, the evolution of these processes and their relationship over time remains unclear. In this study, we recorded electroencephalography signals from 118 participants (42 adults and 76 typically developing children) during separate visual localization and auditory-embedded fixation tasks. Further, we employed both ERP analysis and multivariate pattern machine learning to investigate developmental patterns. ERP amplitude and decoding accuracy provided convergent evidence underlying a linear developmental trajectory for visual selective attention and an inverted U-shaped trajectory for auditory change detection from childhood to adulthood. Importantly, our findings confirmed the established association of an N2pc-MMN in adults using a larger sample size, and further identified a positive correlation between decoding accuracy for visual target location and decoding accuracy for auditory stimulus type specifically in adults. However, both visual-auditory correlation effects were absent in children. Our study provides neurophysiological insights into the distinct developmental trajectories of visual selective attention and auditory change detection. It highlights that the close relationship between individual differences in the two processes emerges alongside their respective maturation and does not become evident until adulthood.

O CÉREBRO E A NEUROPLASTICIDADE FUNCIONAL

THE BRAIN AND FUNCTIONAL NEUROPLASTICITY ABSTRACT Neural plasticity, or neuroplasticity, is characterized by the ability of the nervous system to change its structure and function based on patterns of experience. This phenomenon can be evaluated and conceptualized both from a structural perspective that considers the synaptic configuration and from a functional perspective that takes into account behavior modification. The entirety of neuropsychological rehabilitation, as well as psychotherapies in general, is based on the belief that the human brain is a flexible and adaptable organ that can rebuild itself in response to new environmental demands or the restrictions induced by brain injuries. Considering this concept, how does functional neuroplasticity occur? Since the driven unit is no longer centered on neurons, but is conceived as an extensive network of synaptic connections between neuronal units, in addition to glial cells, it may change according to personal experience, i.e., the level of activity and the type of stimulus received. The human brain is made up of about 100 billion neurons. According to researchers, it is believed that neurogenesis, or the production of new neurons, is limited after birth. Given this concept, this research seeks to analyze the brain and its functional neuroplasticity. Whereas, triggered restitution is emphasized at the beginning and compensation acquires greater relevance over time. A developmental perspective is also useful, helping to identify the pathways in which self-actualization remains viable. The entire process of neuropsychological rehabilitation, and psychotherapy in general, is based on the belief that the human brain is a dynamic, adaptable organ, capable of self-acting in response to new environmental demands or functional limitations imposed by brain injury. This research analyzes concepts of injury mechanisms by examining the impact of functional recovery on neuropsychological rehabilitation from a dynamic perspective of the correlation between brain structure and function. The methodology used was qualitative through academic articles and bibliographical references. KEYWORDS: Neuroplasticity. Rehabilitation. Functional restoration. Presynaptic and postsynaptic neuron.

Emotion processing difficulties in ADHD: a Bayesian meta-analysis study.

We investigated whether there is an emotional processing deficit in ADHD and whether this only applies to specific emotional categories. In this PRISMA-compliant systematic review based on a pre-registered protocol ( https://osf.io/egp7d ), we searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO, ERIC, Scopus and Web of Science databases until 3rd December 2023, to identify empirical studies comparing emotional processing in individuals meeting DSM (version III to 5-TR) or ICD (version 9 or 10) criteria for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and in a non-psychiatric control group. Study quality was assessed with the Appraisal tool for Cross-Sectional Studies (AXIS). Eighty studies were included and meta-analysed (encompassing 6191 participants and 465 observations). Bayesian meta-analyses were conducted to compare individuals with ADHD and non-psychiatric controls on overall emotional processing measures (meta-analysis 1) and across emotional categories (meta-analysis 2). The type of stimulus employed, outcome measurement reported, age, sex, and medication status were analysed as moderators. We found poorer performance in both overall emotion processing (g = - 0.65) and across emotional categories (anger g = - 0.37; disgust g = - 0.24; fear g = - 0.37; sadness g = - 0.34; surprise g = - 0.26; happiness/positive g = - 0.31; negative g = - 0.20; neutral g = - 0.25) for individuals with ADHD compared to non-psychiatric controls. Scales items and accuracy outcome being the most effective moderators in detecting such differences. No effects of age, sex, or medication status were found. Overall, these results show that impaired emotional processing is a relevant feature of ADHD and suggest that it should be systematically assessed in clinical practice.

Approach–Avoidance Bias in Virtual and Real-World Simulations: Insights from a Systematic Review of Experimental Setups

Background: Approach and avoidance bias (AAB) describes automatic behavioral tendencies to react toward environmental stimuli regarding their emotional valence. Traditional setups have provided evidence but often lack ecological validity. The study of the AAB in naturalistic contexts has recently increased, revealing significant methodological challenges. This systematic review evaluates the use of virtual reality (VR) and real-world setups to study the AAB, summarizing methodological innovations and challenges. Methods: We systematically reviewed peer-reviewed articles employing VR and real-world setups to investigate the AAB. We analyzed experimental designs, stimuli, response metrics, and technical aspects to assess their alignment with research objectives and identify limitations. Results: This review included 14 studies revealing diverse methodologies, stimulus types, and novel behavioral responses, highlighting significant variability in design strategies and methodological coherence. Several studies used traditional reaction time measures yet varied in their application of VR technology and participant interaction paradigms. Some studies showed discrepancies between simulated and natural bodily actions, while others showcased more integrated approaches that preserved their integrity. Only a minority of studies included control conditions or acquired (neuro)physiological data. Conclusions: VR offers a potential ecological setup for studying the AAB, enabling dynamic and immersive interactions. Our results underscore the importance of establishing a coherent framework for investigating the AAB tendencies using VR. Addressing the foundational challenges of developing baseline principles that guide VR-based designs to study the AAB within naturalistic contexts is essential for advancing the AAB research and application. This will ultimately contribute to more reliable and reproducible experimental paradigms and develop effective interventions that help individuals recognize and change their biases, fostering more balanced behaviors.

Reading words versus seeing font or handwriting style: a study of hemifield processing.

Tachistoscopic studies have established a right field advantage for the perception of visually presented words, which has been interpreted as reflecting a left hemispheric specialization. However, it is not clear whether this is driven by the linguistic task of word processing, or also occurs when processing properties such as the style and regularity of text. We had 23 subjects perform a tachistoscopic study while they viewed five-letter words in either computer font or handwriting. The task in one block was to respond if the word in the peripheral field matched a word just seen in the central field. In a second block with the same stimuli, the task was to respond if the style (handwriting or font) matched. We found a main effect of task: there was a right-field advantage for reading the word, but no field advantage for reporting the style of text. There was no effect of stimulus type and no interaction between task and stimulus type. We conclude that the field advantage for processing text is driven by the task, being specific for the processing the identity of the word and not the perception of the style of the text. We did not find evidence to support prior assertions that the type of text and its regularity influenced the field advantage during the word-reading task.

Integrating behavioral and neurophysiological insights: High trait anxiety enhances observational fear learning.

Observational fear learning delineates the process by which individuals learn about potential threats through observing others' reactions. Prior research indicates that individuals with high trait anxiety (HTA) manifest pronounced fear responses in direct fear learning scenarios. However, the specific influence of trait anxiety on observational fear learning remains insufficiently explored. This study aimed to fill this gap by examining 64 university students, divided equally between those with HTA and low trait anxiety (LTA), selected from an initial pool of 483 participants. Participants were subjected to observational fear learning tasks, and their behavioral responses, physiological reactions, and brain activations were recorded. Results demonstrated that HTA participants exhibited differentiated skin conductance responses to threat and safety stimuli during the observational fear acquisition phase, notwithstanding prior assurances against shock delivery. Furthermore, during the direct test phase, HTA participants reported significantly elevated fear and shock expectancy ratings for both types of stimuli, in contrast to their LTA counterparts. Neuroimaging data, derived via functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) revealed heightened medial prefrontal cortex activation in HTA participants when directly facing threats. This study systematically explores the influence of high trait anxiety on observational fear learning, uncovering that HTA individuals exhibit excessive fear responses. These findings highlight the critical role of trait anxiety as a significant risk factor in the development of anxiety disorders.

Psychometric characteristics of the n-back task: Construct validity across age and stimulus type, internal consistency, test-retest and alternate forms reliability

Abstract Age-related impairments are observed in a variety of cognitive constructs, including significant deteriorations in working memory (WM) performance. To measure the WM, the commonly used task in cognitive aging is the n-back. Despite its widespread use, however, its psychometric properties have not been sufficiently studied. Previous research has typically examined construct validity by correlating n-back task measures with other WM tasks and has primarily assessed reliability through test-retest, occasionally including split-half reliability. In this study, we comprehensively examined the psychometric properties of the n-back task by evaluating its construct validity across different age groups (younger and older adults) and stimulus types (verbal and non-verbal) and by assessing reliability through three methods: test-retest, split-half, and alternate forms. Our findings showed similar performance in verbal and non-verbal n-back tasks for both younger and older adults in terms of discrimination ability and reaction time. However, age-related differences favored younger adults, providing evidence for construct validity. In addition, the n-back measures were stable over time, consistent for two halves, and comparable for different forms, demonstrating task. This study provides the first evidence supporting the validity of the n-back task with regard to age and stimulus type, alongside its reliability. These findings have important implications for clinical research and practice, suggesting that the n-back task can be confidently utilized in neuropsychological assessments.

Impaired visual and verbal statistical learning in children with Dyslexia in a transparent orthography

Abstract Recent research suggests that performance on Statistical Learning (SL) tasks may be lower in children with dyslexia in deep orthographies such as English. However, it is debated whether the observed difficulties may vary depending on the modality and stimulus of the task, opening a broad discussion about whether SL is a domain-general or domain-specific construct. Besides, little is known about SL in children with dyslexia who learn transparent orthographies, where the transparency of grapheme-phoneme correspondences might reduce the reliance on implicit learning processes. The present study investigates the impact of SL in Spanish, a transparent orthography, among 50 children aged 9 to 12 years, with and without dyslexia. For this purpose, we used four SL tasks to evaluate two modalities (auditory/visual) and two stimulus type (verbal/nonverbal) and evaluated both accuracy and response times on each condition. The findings reveal that children with dyslexia in Spanish exhibit lower performance on SL tasks (accuracy) compared to the control group, regardless of the modality and stimulus type used. However, children with dyslexia struggle the most with tasks that involve visual material. This indicates that children with dyslexia in transparent orthographies have particular difficulties in extracting distributional probabilistic information in the absence of explicit learning instructions. Notably, difficulties were more pronounced in visual tasks involving verbal stimuli. The present results help to better understand the underlying mechanisms involved in reading acquisition in children with dyslexia.

Verbal Encoding Strategies in Visuo-Spatial Working Memory.

Visual working memory and verbal storage are often investigated independently of one another. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that naming visual stimuli can provide an advantage in performance during visual working memory tasks. On the other hand, there is also evidence that labeling could lead to biases in recall. Here, we present an exploratory investigation of verbal labels associated with the memorization of simple visuo-spatial stimuli, and how the use of these labels informs recall behavior of the same stimuli in a separate working memory task. English-speaking participants performed a working memory task with orientation and location stimuli, followed by a separate naming task featuring the same stimuli. We found a diverse set of labels employed frequently and with a consistent distribution across stimulus types, the stimulus space, and among participants. The use of individual spatial words, predicted class 1 cardinal biases in memory (i.e. the observation that cardinal stimuli are more accurately recalled than non-cardinal ones). Conversely, words expressing uncertainty (e.g. 'slightly', 'near') predicted class 2 cardinal bias (i.e. recall biases away from the cardinal planes). This relationship between word use and recall biases is consistent with shared representational resources that are used for both visuo-spatial and verbal working memory.

Synthesis and Characterization of Novel pH-Responsive Aminated Alginate Derivatives Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering and Drug Delivery.

The aims of this study are to synthesize new derivatives of sodium alginate that improve the inherent properties, such as hydrogel strengthening, and create environmental sensitivity, such as pH sensitivity, for use in drug delivery. Today, hydrogels, due to outstanding properties such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, mechanical properties, and response to stimuli properties, are widely used as harmless biomaterials in various fields in drug delivery, wound dressing, and tissue engineering. Stimulus-sensitive polymers significantly respond to slight changes in their environment. Different types of stimuli are used to influence the properties of polymers, the most important of which are temperature and pH because these are two vital factors in the human body; hence, temperature-sensitive and pHsensitive hydrogels have been extensively studied. The ability to absorb water and swell the hydrogel is due to hydrophilic chains in the hydrogel network, and water absorption by hydrogel can be controlled by response to the stimuli. Since hydrogels mimic human tissue, the ability to retain water in them is essential. As a result, it is considered in many biomedical drug delivery systems. Stimulusresponsive swelling can control diffusion out of and into the hydrogel network, which allows temporal and spatial control of drug release. When a drug is loaded onto a biodegradable and stimulisensitive hydrogel, the drug delivery system has the added advantage of sustained release of the drug, which reduces side effects. In this study, two different hydrocarbons, [1,3-diaminopropane (DAP)] as a short-chain hydrocarbon, and [1,7-diaminoheptane (DAH)] as a long-chain hydrocarbon were grafted onto three types ofsodium alginate (SA), through amide bond linkages. The hydrogel copolymer matrices were compared with sodium alginate (SA) beads. The graft copolymers were characterized using FTIR, 1HNMR, XRD spectroscopy, elemental analysis (CHNS) and thermal analysis (TGA, DTA and DSC). An environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) was used to investigate the surface morphology of hydrogels. Effects of variables such as the length of hydrocarbon chains cross-linked to alginate, temperature, pH, and cross-linkers on the properties of hydrogels investigated in the temperature range of 2-70 ˚C and two different pH values (4.4 and 7.4). The results showed that when the hydrocarbon chain length of diamines decreases, the extent of cross-linking and strength of the hydrogels are increased. Other results suggest that the hydrogels obtained from high-viscosity alginate derivatives had positive pH sensitivity. Hydrogels prepared in this study demonstrated good mechanical and swelling ratios that are necessary for wound dressing. DAP-g-SA and DAH-g-SA pH-sensitive hydrogels were successfully synthesized through amide bond linkages. The new synthesis derivatives showed lower swelling levels at low pH (4.4). In contrast, their swelling levels at higher pH (7.4) were significantly enhanced. Higher swelling degree could be obtained at high pH. pH-responsive hydrogels are especially useful for various biological applications due to their unique feature of controlled swelling, biodegradability, biocompatibility, and fluid retention in their network structures. pH-responsive hydrogels, as intelligent systems, can be used in controlled-release drug delivery systems such as insulin delivery.

Is simpler better? Semantic content modulates the emotional prosody perception in Mandarin-speaking children with autism spectrum disorder.

It is still under debate whether and how semantic content will modulate the emotional prosody perception in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study aimed to investigate the issue using two experiments by systematically manipulating semantic information in Chinese disyllabic words. The present study explored the potential modulation of semantic content complexity on emotional prosody perception in Mandarin-speaking children with ASD. Two emotional prosody identification tasks were designed, in which different levels of prosodic and lexical complexity were incrementally included in four stimulus types: pseudo-words, semantically-neutral words, semantics-prosody congruent, and incongruent emotion words. Twenty-four children with ASD and twenty-two typically developing (TD) children were required to focus on the prosodic channel to label emotions while ignoring the semantic information. Emotionally neutral semantic content exerted little negative influence on the ASD group's accuracy, while semantic-prosodic incongruence in emotion-label words had dramatic adverse impacts. Although distinct emotional prosody identification patterns were observed across the two groups, the confusion matrices suggested that the participants with ASD had developed similar patterns in identifying the five prosodies. Children with ASD demonstrated a stronger adverse impact from the incremental complexity in the overlap between prosody and lexical cues. However, notably, they have tended to develop a typical emotional prosody recognition pattern. Thus, the poorer performance in the ASD group might originate from the possible developmental delay in suppressing semantic interference rather than from inherent emotion-specific impairments.

Moving beyond word frequency based on tally counting: AI-generated familiarity estimates of words and phrases are an interesting additional index of language knowledge.

This study investigates the potential of large language models (LLMs) to estimate the familiarity of words and multi-word expressions (MWEs). We validated LLM estimates for isolated words using existing human familiarity ratings and found strong correlations. LLM familiarity estimates performed even better in predicting lexical decision and naming performance in megastudies than the best available word frequency measures. We then applied LLM estimates to MWEs, also finding their effectiveness in measuring familiarity for these expressions. We have created a list of more than 400,000 English words and MWEs with LLM-generated familiarity estimates, which we hope will be a valuable resource for researchers. There is also a cleaned-up list of nearly 150,000 entries, excluding lesser-known stimuli, to streamline stimulus selection. Our findings highlight the advantages of LLM-based familiarity estimates, including their better performance than traditional word frequency measures (particularly for predicting word recognition accuracy), their ability to generalize to MWEs, availability for large lists of words, and ease of obtaining new estimates for all types of stimuli.

Differential effects of threat types on attentional processes: a comparison of snakes and blood-injury-injection stimuli.

Previous research on the visual processing of threats has largely overlooked the Q8 distinct effects of various types of threats, despite evidence suggesting unique brain activation patterns for specific fears. Our study examines the differential effects of threat types on attentional processes, focusing on snakes and blood-injury-injection (BII) stimuli. We sought to test whether these two types of threat stimuli, as taskirrelevant distractors, would lead to similar effects in a visual search task. Participants were exposed to emotionally charged stimuli of varying arousal (medium and high) and neutral pictures of low arousal as task-irrelevant distractors while performing a primary visual search task. We found that BII-related distractor pictures interfered with attention to the primary task, resulting in slower reaction times compared to snake pictures. In addition, BII-related medium arousal stimuli decreased, but high arousal facilitated both orienting and executive attentional performance. Exploratory analysis of personality traits revealed differential effects of trait anxiety and disgust sensitivity, highlighting the unique mechanisms underlying fear responses. In addition, participants who used adaptive emotion regulation strategies showed better performance in overcoming the interference of threat stimuli on attention. These findings underscore the importance of considering individual differences and emotion regulation strategies in fear research and provide insight into the complex interplay between threat perception and attentional processes.

Oligoadenine Strand Functionalized Polyacrylamide Hydrogel Film Exhibiting pH-Triggered High-Degree Inverse Shape Deformations.

Smart shape-memory DNA hydrogels, which can respond to various types of external stimuli and undergo macroscopic shape deformations, have shown great potential in various applications. By constructing free-standing films, the deformation and response properties of these hydrogels can be further enhanced, and visualized deformation can be achieved. However, DNA hydrogels that can exhibit rapid and high-degree shape deformations, such as the inverse shape deformations, are still lacking. Herein, free-standing oligoadenine strand-functionalized polyacrylamide hydrogel films were developed that can exhibit rapid and high-degree of inverse shape deformation upon cyclic pH changes. The oligoadenine strands exhibit a pH-stimulated reversible conformational transition between a flexible single-stranded state and parallel duplex A-motif structures, resulting in their role change in the film from negatively charged side chains to "head-to-head" crosslinking structures, driving a high degree of inverse shape deformation with a relative bending angle change of 223.7%, which is more than 5 times that of a film driven by pH-responsive i-motif structures, facilitating the development of bilayer hydrogel film actuators with potential in flexible sensors and robots.

GUIA DE ADAPTAÇÃO PARA USO CLÍNICO DOS VIDEOGAMES COMERCIAIS NA REABILITAÇÃO MOTORA DE CRIANÇAS COM TRANSTORNO DO ESPECTRO AUTISTA: RELATO DE PESQUISA

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has motor alterations, being the exergaming (EXG) a possible therapeutic resource, with positives effects, but it is not described how to adapt it for clinical use. The objective is to describe the adaptation needed to use the EXG in children with ASD, the basics criteria the children with ASD needs to fulfill to execute the EXG and to create a checklist for the use of EXG in clinical practice, based on the research experience. It is a research clinical report from the execution of a randomized controlled clinical trial, in which the EXG was used to treat gait of children with ASD. The report was based on the observation, the research records, the previous professional experience to perform the adaptations, suggest the clinical criteria, and elaborate the checklist. Initially, we trained the game gesture (visual clue, verbal commands). During the game, the strategies were: positive reinforcement, movement conduction, observation of the execution of the therapist. Environment adaptation: single tatami, sonorization, adequation of the sensory stimulus (type, time and intensity), and acoustic and spatial isolation. The mains criteria for using the EXG in children with ASD: imitation capacity, to obey commands and triangular attention. The EXG can be used in children with ASD, since they are able to imitate, obey commands and triangulate attention. It is necessary to adapt to the environment, dose the stimulus and utilize strategies of teaching to be possible to create immersion, realize the movements and have fun with the game. Received: 2024/10/08 Reformulated: 2024/12/09 Accepted: 2024/12/12

Semantic Context Effects in Picture and Sound Naming: Evidence from Event-related Potentials and Pupillometric Data.

When a picture is repeatedly named in the context of semantically related pictures, (homogeneous context) responses are slower than when the picture is repeatedly named in the context of unrelated pictures (heterogeneous context). This semantic interference effect in blocked-cyclic naming plays an important role in devising theories of word production. Wöhner, Mädebach, and Jescheniak [2021; Wöhner, S., Mädebach, A., & Jescheniak, J. D. Naming pictures and sounds: Stimulus type affects semantic context effects. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 47, 716-730, 2021] have shown that the effect is substantially larger when participants name environmental sounds than when they name pictures. We investigated possible reasons for this difference, using EEG and pupillometry. The behavioral data replicated Wöhner and colleagues. ERPs were more positive in the homogeneous compared with the heterogeneous context over central electrode locations between 140-180 msec and 250-350 msec for picture naming and between 250 and 350 msec for sound naming, presumably reflecting semantic interference during semantic and lexical processing. The later component was of similar size for pictures and sounds. ERPs were more negative in the homogeneous compared with the heterogeneous context over frontal electrode locations between 400 and 600 msec only for sounds. The pupillometric data showed a stronger pupil dilation in the homogeneous compared with the heterogeneous context only for sounds. The amplitudes of the late ERP negativity and pupil dilation predicted naming latencies for sounds in the homogeneous context. The latency of the effects indicates that the difference in semantic interference between picture and sound naming arises at later, presumably postlexical processing stages closer to articulation. We suggest that the processing of the auditory stimuli interferes with phonological response preparation and self-monitoring, leading to enhanced semantic interference.

Feature derivation and classification of auditory-motor coupling dynamics in healthy and neurologically impaired adults.

The use of auditory stimuli in rehabilitation to target walking has been evidenced in persons with neurological conditions. The methodologies focus on the synchronisation of persons' steps to auditory stimuli showing that the type of stimuli and tempi significantly affect the synchronisation. However, the dynamic of the interaction over time between the motor system and the auditory stimuli, i.e., when steps are aligned (termed as locking) and not aligned (termed as unlocking) to the beat of the stimuli, remains unclear. Quantifying these dynamics would assist in the development of personalised rehabilitation. Nevertheless, it is currently challenging given the variability of responses per individual over time. We propose a methodological solution to quantify the dynamics of the step-to-beat coupling over time within an experimental paradigm where healthy (n = 7) and neurological impaired (n = 6) participants walk three minutes to music and metronomes at various tempi. We applied window partitioning within the time series to account for the changing pattern. To classify data into locked and unlocked events, features of fluctuation and trend were derived on which two statistical tests (circular statistical test and slope test) were done, respectively. Based on the ground truth, the performance of our proposed method yielded high accuracy (91%), precision (90%) and recall (97%). The standard deviation of the inter-step intervals was then modelled across the label and experimental factors. The proposed method is suitable for quantifying fine-grained observation of the dynamics of auditory-motor coupling in adult healthy and neurological impaired participants, with the potential of designing personalised rehabilitation.

Evaluation of Gluma® and MI Varnish™ for In-Office Treatment of Dentinal Hypersensitivity: An Observational Study.

Introduction In their routine practice, dentists frequently encounter dentinal hypersensitivity, which is caused by the pulpal nerves' increased excitability due to fluid movement in the dentinal tubules. It is treated in-office using dentin desensitizers, which reduce hypersensitivity by obstructing the open tubules or desensitizing the free nerve endings present within the tubules. However, no substance or treatment plan has ever been proven to be the gold standard for the efficient treatment of dentinal hypersensitivity. Aim The aim of the study was to compare the effectiveness of two treatments for in-office dentinal hypersensitivity: Gluma®, a primer made of glutaraldehyde and hydroxyl ethyl methacrylate (HEMA), and MI Varnish™, a varnish made of 5% sodium fluoride and casein phosphopeptides. Settings and design This is an institutional, observational study. Methods and material A total of 19 patients with 64 teeth having dentinal hypersensitivity were observed. After isolation, tactile stimulus by an explorer, evaporative stimulus by a blast of air, and thermal stimulus by cotton soaked with propane-butane-isobutane were placed on the surface of the tooth, and the score was determined using the visual analog scale (VAS). The teeth were divided into groups (group A: Gluma; group B: MI Varnish) and respective desensitizer materials were applied, just after scaling and root planing and recording VAS scores. VAS scores were recorded immediately after scaling and root planing and at three and six weeks post-operatively. Paired t-test and Student's t-test (p<0.05) were used for statistical analysis. Results Both groups showed a significant reduction in VAS to all types of stimuli with time, compared to baseline (p<0.05). But at six weeks, patients in group B showed less increase in VAS score than did the patients in group A (p<0.05) for all types of stimuli. Conclusions MI Varnish was persistent and comparatively efficacious in reducing dentinal hypersensitivity than Gluma. But, longer durational clinical studies with larger sample sizes required to confirm the outcomes.