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PubMed1983

Initial stages of visual information processing in dyslexia.

Four experimental tasks were employed to explore the initial stages of visual information processing in a group of dyslexic boys and in a group of normal control subjects ranging in age from 8 to 14 years. Two tasks involved visual backward masking; the other two were temporal integration tasks. The backward-masking tasks yielded evidence of slower rates of visual information processing in dyslexic children; the temporal-integration tasks yielded evidence of longer duration of visible persistence in dyslexic children. This effect was most evident in situations in which sequential stimuli impinged on the same retinal location. Some age trends in the development of these effects are noted. It is suggested that the dyslexic visual system may take an unusually long period of time to recover from the aftereffects of neural activity evoked by an inducing stimulus.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1992

Attentional deficits in head-injured children: an information processing analysis.

Attentional problems of closed head-injured (CHI) children were examined using an information processing (IP) approach. Based on Sternberg's (1969) additive factor method (AFM), the study examined attentional processes in terms of four stages and their corresponding task variables. A visual-spatial choice reaction-time task was undertaken with two groups of CHI children (severe and mild to moderate) and corresponding matched control groups. Results indicated that for this task both the CHI and the normal children exhibited a similar mode of linear, sequential information processing. It was found that the severe group was impaired not only in terms of slowed motor execution but also in terms of response selection. This group showed no impairment on the feature extraction, stimulus identification, and motor adjustment stages of processing. No evidence of impairment on any of the stages was found for the mild group. The utility of the AFM and implications of these findings are discussed with reference to CHI children and to neuropsychological assessment and rehabilitation.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Depressive symptoms account for deficient information processing speed but not for impaired working memory in early phase multiple sclerosis (MS).

Depressive symptoms may influence neuropsychological functioning negatively. A substantial proportion of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients exhibit neuropsychological impairments and depressive symptomatology is more common in MS as compared to healthy controls and to other neurological diseases. The objectives of the present study were to assess information processing speed, working memory and executive functions in early phase MS and to investigate whether severity of depressive symptoms account for these aspects of cognition in MS. The patients show slowed information processing speed and impaired working memory, whereas executive functioning, as measured with the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, is unaffected. Depressive symptoms account for slowed information processing speed, but not for impaired working memory.

Adult↗

PubMed1986

[Visual information processing from the retina to the prefrontal cortex].

Studies on the neural bases of visual information processing were reviewed by tracing connections from the retina to the prefrontal cortex in the monkey; i.e., retina--lateral geniculate body (LGB)--striate cortex--prestriate cortex--inferotemporal (IT) cortex or posterior parietal (PP) cortex--prefrontal cortex. The retinotopy exists up to the level of prestriate cortex, but it is lost in the IT or PP cortex. A general tendency is observed that the later is the stage of information processing, the longer is the latency of cell activity changes, the larger is the size of receptive field, and more complex become trigger features. Small spot stimuli activate retinal ganglion cells or LGB cells while bars or edges with proper orientation are trigger stimuli for striate and some prestriate cells. In restricted prestriate areas, cells which are selective to color or movement are observed. IT cells are activated by complex pattern stimuli, while PP cells are selective to spatial aspects of the stimulus. Some prefrontal cells encode the meaning of the stimulus independent of its physical properties.

Animals↗

PubMed1997

Auditory information processing during acute insulin-induced hypoglycaemia in non-diabetic human subjects.

Acute insulin-induced hypoglycaemia impairs performance on tests of general mental ability in humans. It is recognized that different brain functions vary in their sensitivity to neuroglycopenia, but little is known about the effects of neuroglycopenia on specific brain processes. The effect of controlled hypoglycaemia on two aspects of auditory information processing (auditory temporal processing and simple auditory processing) was examined in a homogeneous group of 20 healthy non-diabetic human subjects. Auditory temporal processing (temporal order discrimination) and simple auditory processing (pitch discrimination, single-tone duration and single-tone loudness discrimination) tests were part of the Test of Basic Auditory Capabilities (TBAC). Two tests of general cognitive performance (Digit Symbol Substitution and Trail Making B) were included to provide a measure of general brain functioning during hypoglycaemia. Hypoglycaemia lead to a significant deterioration in auditory temporal processing (P < 0.01), and a deterioration in one of three tasks of simple auditory processing (discrimination of single-tone loudness, P < 0.05). Significant disruptions also occurred in both tests of general brain functioning. These results are congruent with other studies in human subjects, showing a disruptive effect of hypoglycaemia on visual information processing when examined under conditions of limited perceptual time, and they provide further evidence of the importance of sensory processing speed in basic perceptual and cognitive functions. The disruptive effect of moderate insulin-induced hypoglycaemia on auditory perception may have implications for insulin-treated diabetic humans exposed to this metabolic stress, because of the importance of hearing in everyday life.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed1995

Analysis of eyeblink activity during self-referent information processing in mild depression.

This study was designed to assess characteristics of self-referent information processing in mildly depressed persons using the eyeblink response measured in a discrete-trial paradigm. 7 mildly depressed and 9 nondepressed subjects (classified by scores on Beck's inventory) performed a self-reference task for positive and negative trait adjectives. The eyeblink was suppressed before and during presentation of stimuli and a burst pattern of the eyeblink was observed just after exposure. The pattern of the eyeblink burst after trait adjectives could be interpreted to reflect cognitive effort, cognitive load, or amount of attentional resource. Present results suggested that depressed individuals should have less cognitive load or allocate less attentional resource to negative stimuli than to positive ones during self-referent information processing.

Blinking↗

PubMed1987

Social information processing and sociometric status: sex, age, and situational effects.

Theoretically based measures of social information-processing patterns in specific situations were developed and administered to popular, average, socially rejected, and socially neglected girls and boys in the first, third, and fifth grades (total n = 95). Measures included interpretations of peers' intentions, quantity and quality of responses generated to problematic stimuli, evaluations of responses, and enactments of particular responses. Three kinds of situations were generated empirically as stimuli: being teased, being provoked ambiguously, and initiating entry into a peer group. Deviant children (rejected and neglected) were found to respond deficiently compared to average and popular children, but only in the situation in which they were teased. Older children performed more competently than younger children in all three situations. Interactions among gender, sociometric status, and age also were found. Findings were interpreted as evidence of the elusiveness and complexity of social information-processing defects among low sociometric status children.

Age Factors↗

PubMed1984

Effects of scopolamine and nicotine on human rapid information processing performance.

In the first experiment, after a 10-min baseline test on a rapid information processing task, subjects received oral doses of either placebo, methscopolamine 1.2 mg, scopolamine 0.6 mg or scopolamine 1.2 mg, and 1 h later performed the task again for a 20-min period. Following scopolamine 1.2 mg, correct detections were significantly lower over the 20-min period, whereas no such decrement was observed in the other three conditions. In the second experiment a similar design was used to study the effects of nicotine 0.5 mg, 1.0 mg and 1.5 mg and placebo, except that post-drug testing was carried out 10 min after baseline due to the faster absorption of nicotine. Nicotine helped prevent both the decline in detections and the increase in reaction time which occurred over time in the placebo condition. These findings indicate that compounds with opposite effects on central cholinergic pathways produce opposite effects on the performance of a task involving rapid information processing, and are consistent with previous findings from this laboratory.

Afferent Pathways↗

PubMed2004

Neuropsychological and information processing performance and its relationship to white matter changes following moderate and severe traumatic brain injury: a preliminary study.

Reductions in information processing speed have frequently been reported following moderate and severe traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), consistent with the effects of diffuse white matter damage. Although the corpus callosum (CC) is a common site for diffuse damage following TBI, the effects of this damage on information processing speed have not been adequately examined. This study assessed a TBI group and a matched control group on tests of attention, memory, fluency, and set shifting ability, together with reaction time (RT) tasks requiring the inter- and intrahemispheric processing of visual and tactile information. The RT tasks were designed to target the cognitive functions that are likely to be affected by diffuse white matter damage, including damage to the CC. The TBI group demonstrated deficits in verbal and visual fluency and verbal memory. They were also slower on the visual and tactile RT tasks, were more affected by task complexity, and slower on RT tasks requiring the interhemispheric transfer of information. In fact, one of the interhemispheric tactile RT tasks proved to be the most discriminating of all the cognitive and RT measures. MRIs completed on a subset of TBI participants indicated that the mean CC measurements were 5% to 19% smaller than a normative control group, with the most atrophied areas being the isthmus and anterior midbody. Although white matter atrophy was moderately related to visual and tactile RT performance, and total hippocampal volume related to memory performance, CC area was not related to many of the tasks that were designed to tap interhemispheric processing. None of the standard cognitive tests correlated with outcome in the TBI group, but 1 of the tactile RT measures was significantly related to 2 measures of outcome.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Information processing in social phobia: a critical review.

This review critically discusses the empirical evidence for information-processing biases in social phobia. Distortions in attention, interpretation, and memory processes are analyzed as they apply to individuals with social phobia. The literature provides evidence for a specific attentional bias towards socially threatening stimuli and a specific interpretational/judgment bias towards self-relevant social information. However, there is little evidence to suggest that social phobia is associated with a memory bias for socially threatening stimuli. Furthermore, the relationship between the empirical evidence from information processing studies and the cognitive model of social phobia by Clark and Wells (1995) will be discussed.

Attention↗

PubMed1991

Slowness of information processing after traumatic head injury.

One of the main aftereffects of traumatic head injury is slowness of information processing. In the present study, it was hypothesized that an important causal mechanism is a problem in the activation of information stored in memory; this is thought to be due to a reduced redundancy of these representations. An experimental drawing task was employed in which the degree of familiarity and motor complexity of the items was varied. It was expected that increasing the novelty of a task would be more detrimental for the patients than increasing motor complexity. Ten head-injured patients and 10 matched control subjects participated. Task execution was recorded on-line on a graphic digitizer. The results were in accordance with the hypothesis: That is, novelty but not motor complexity had a crucial influence on the speed of information processing. The implications of the results for therapy are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

Hemispheric asymmetry for visual information processing.

The left and right hemispheres of humans do not handle all aspects of visual information processing with equal ability. This is illustrated by a review of research concerning the processing of global versus local stimulus properties, low versus high spatial frequencies, and coordinate versus categorical spatial relationships. In general, the right hemisphere is dominant for processing global aspects of visual stimuli that are carried by low spatial frequencies, for the processing of coordinate spatial relationships and, perhaps, for extracting information from the magnocellular visual pathway. In something of a complementary manner, the left hemisphere is dominant for processing local aspects of visual stimuli that are carried by high spatial frequencies and, perhaps, for processing categorical spatial relationships and for extracting information from parvocellular visual pathway. Consideration is given to developmental mechanisms that may underlie the emergence of hemispheric asymmetry for these interrelated aspects of visual information processing.

Brain↗

PubMed1997

A study of verbal and spatial information processing using event-related potentials and positron emission tomography.

The activated cerebral regions and the timing of information processing in the hemispheres was investigated using event-related potentials (ERP) and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) as the neurophysiological indicators. Seven men and one woman (age 19-27 years) were asked to categorize two-syllable Japanese nouns (verbal condition) and to judge the difference between pairs of rectangles (spatial condition), both tests presented on a monochrome display. In the electroencephalogram (EEG) session, EEG were recorded from 16 electrode sites, with linked earlobe electrodes as reference. In the positron emission tomography (PET) session, rCBF were measured by the 15O-labeled H2O bolus injection method. Regions of interest were the frontal, temporal, parietal, occipital and central lobes, and the entire cerebral hemispheres. When the subtracted voltages of the ERP in homologous scalp sites were compared for the verbal and spatial conditions, the significant differences were at F7.F8 and T5.T6 (the 10-20 system). The latencies of the differences at T5.T6 were around 200, 250 and 320 ms. A significant difference in rCBF between the verbal and spatial conditions was found only in the temporal region. It was concluded that early processing of information, that is, registration and simple recognition, may be performed mainly in the left temporal lobe for verbal information and in the right for spatial information.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

Interpersonal problem solving and information processing in schizophrenia.

Cognitive models of interpersonal problem solving have been proposed for, but infrequently tested on, samples of schizophrenia subjects. This study undertook to examine the relationships between the receiving, processing, and sending skills that comprise one model of interpersonal problem solving with information processing and social cue perception. Twenty-six patients with a DSM-III-R diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder completed measures of interpersonal problem solving, social cue perception, visual vigilance, verbal memory, conceptual flexibility, and psychiatric symptoms. Significant and robust relationships were found between sensitivity to social cues and receiving, processing, and sending skills. Only recognition and recall memory, of the various other information-processing measures, were found to be related to any of the three problem-solving skills. Associations between problem solving and cognitive deficits did not seem to be attributable to psychiatric symptoms. Implications of these findings for understanding and remediating the problem-solving deficits of schizophrenia patients are discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed1980

Neurons in the dorsal rostral pons process information about changes in venous return and in arterial pressure.

To examine pathways in the brain stem that process information from cardiovascular receptors we tested, in cats anesthetized with chloralose/urethane, 76 neurons in the locus coeruleus and locus subcoeruleus for their response to hemodynamic perturbations. The experiments were designed to define processing of information from arterial baroreceptors and from atrial receptors. We have modified the activity of baroreceptors and/or atrial receptors using partial constriction of the supradiaphragmatic inferior vena cava, with and without stabilization of arterial pressure and have modified the activity of atrial receptors directly using volume pulsation of the right atrium (+/- ml, 1 Hz, 3 min). The activity of 26 neurons increased and the activity of two neurons decreased in response to constriction of the vena cava. A quantitative analysis indicates that the behavior of these neurons is related in part to changes in arterial pressure and in part to changes in other pressures, such as atrial pressure. None of the neurons stimulated by constriction of the vena cava responded to volume pulsation of the right atrium. However, 6 of 9 responsive neurons tested responded also to contriction of the vena cava during stabilization of arterial pressure. Under this condition the neurons must be responding to changes in the activity of cardiovascular receptors other than arterial baroreceptors. The results suggest strongly that neurons in the locus coeruleus and locus subcoeruleus process information about changes in venous return and in arterial pressure. It is hypothesized that the responsive neurons may mediate changes in the release of pituitary hormones and in behavioral arousal in response to hemodynamic change.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The P300 component of the event-related brain potential as an index of information processing.

Studies of event-related brain potentials (ERPs) have shown that attributes of the ERP can be used as dependent variables in the study of human information processing. These variables can complement the information gained from the study of overt, skeletal responses. The manner in which the P300 component of the EPR can be used to study human information processing is illustrated in this report. Specifically, we show that through an analysis of the covariation of the latency of P300 component and reaction time, it is possible to examine the relation between the probability of a stimulus and the speed of response to that stimulus. Our data indicate that increased in the probability of a stimulus reduce reaction time by decreasing both stimulus-evaluation and response-production times. We also examine changes in reaction time and P300 latency induced by the match or mismatch between two stimuli presented consecutively, again as a function of probability. Models of the effects of stimulus matching on reaction time are evaluated.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

Aggression in boys with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder: methylphenidate effects on naturalistically observed aggression, response to provocation, and social information processing.

High and low-aggressive boys with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were compared and the effects of methylphenidate were examined on measures from three domains of aggression: (1) directly observed verbal and nonverbal aggressive behaviors exhibited in the context of a day treatment program, (2) aggressive responding when provoked during a laboratory task, and (3) social information processing patterns exhibited on tasks designed to tap the putative cognitive components of aggression. The high-aggressive (HA) and low-aggressive (LA) subgroups differed significantly on observational measures of aggression and on the laboratory provocation task, but the HA group showed more deviant cognitions on only one of the numerous measures of social information processing. Regarding medication effects on the direct observation measures, methylphenidate decreased aggression for both subgroups. On the laboratory provocation task, methylphenidate had only minimal effects. Significant drug effects were obtained on only two recall social information processing measures.

Aggression↗

PubMed2004

Dynamics of sensory thalamocortical synaptic networks during information processing states.

The thalamocortical network consists of the pathways that interconnect the thalamus and neocortex, including thalamic sensory afferents, corticothalamic and thalamocortical pathways. These pathways are essential to acquire, analyze, store and retrieve sensory information. However, sensory information processing mostly occurs during behavioral arousal, when activity in thalamus and neocortex consists of an electrographic sign of low amplitude fast activity, known as activation, which is caused by several neuromodulator systems that project to the thalamocortical network. Logically, in order to understand how the thalamocortical network processes sensory information it is essential to study its response properties during states of activation. This paper reviews the temporal and spatial response properties of synaptic pathways in the whisker thalamocortical network of rodents during activated states as compared to quiescent (non-activated) states. The evidence shows that these pathways are differentially regulated via the effects of neuromodulators as behavioral contingencies demand. Thus, during activated states, the temporal and spatial response properties of pathways in the thalamocortical network are transformed to allow the processing of sensory information.

Animals↗