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PubMed2006

Cross-task repetition amnesia: Impaired recall of RSVP targets held in memory for a secondary task.

People often fail to select and encode the second of two targets presented within less than 500ms in rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP), an effect known as the attentional blink. We investigated how report of the two targets is affected when one of them is maintained in working memory for a secondary, memory-search task. The results showed that report of either target was impaired when it was a member of the memory set relative to when it was not. This effect was independent of both the temporal interval separating the RSVP target from the presentation of the memory set and the interval separating the targets. We propose that the deficit in recall occurs because the association between a target and the memory-search task interferes with the formation of a new association between that target and the following RSVP task, with the result that observers may be biased to ascribe the target only to the memory set.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2004

Frontal deficits in alcoholism: an ERP study.

Alcoholism is a major health problem afflicting people all over the world. Understanding the neural substrates of this addictive disorder may provide the basis for effective interventions. So-called "executive processes" play a role in cognitive functions like attention and working memory, and appear to be disrupted in alcoholism (Noel et al., 2001). Event related potentials (ERPs) provide an excellent, minimally invasive technique for exploring these neural deficits. The current study used the P300 in number sequencing task (modified version of the Petries & Milner, 1982) requiring working memory to compare a group of patients with alcoholism and frontal lobe lesions to patients with subcortical lesions and normal controls to assess the relationship of alcoholism to frontal lobe damage. The ERP paradigm was a Number Sequencing task. Electrophysiological results indicate that the frontal lesion group had significant P300 amplitude reduction and a similar trend for alcohol dependent group but not the subcortical group compared to the normal controls.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Imposing structure on a Corsi-type task: evidence for hierarchical organisation based on spatial proximity in serial-spatial memory.

Structure was imposed on a tapping task by requiring participants to reproduce sequences of responses to icons organised in spatial clusters. A first experiment featured sequences either segregated or not segregated by clusters. Accuracy was higher for sequences segregated by clusters. Moreover, inter-response times were longer at cluster boundaries than within cluster boundaries. To rule out possible confounding effects of movement length, this temporal pattern was replicated in a second experiment requiring a single response indicating the next sequential step, following the presentation of a portion of a previously practised sequence. These results suggest that sequence reproduction can be sustained by a hierarchical representation based on spatial proximity and provide a first indication of the role of spatial structure in serial-spatial memory.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Auditory location in the irrelevant sound effect: The effects of presenting auditory stimuli to either the left ear, right ear or both ears.

Two experiments used both irrelevant speech and tones in order to assess the effect of manipulating the spatial location of irrelevant sound. Previous research in this area had produced inconclusive results (e.g., Colle, 1980). The current study demonstrated a novel finding, that sound presented to the left ear produces the greatest level of disruption. These results were explained in terms of hemispheric specialisation for processing of some supra-linguistic components in the unattended sound. Results also supported previous research by demonstrating that both forms of irrelevant sound disrupted performance on serial memory tasks (Bridges & Jones, 1996; Colle & Welsh, 1976; Jones, Alford, Bridges, Tremblay, & Macken, 1999; Jones, Miles, & Page, 1990).

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2004

Inconsistency in serial choice decision and motor reaction times dissociate in younger and older adults.

Intraindividual variability (inconsistency) in reaction time (RT) latencies was investigated in a group of younger (M=25.46 years) and older (M=69.29 years) men. Both groups performed 300 trials in 2-, 4-, and 8-choice RT conditions where RTs for decision and motor components of the task were recorded separately. A dissociation was evident in that inconsistency was greater in older adults for decision RTs when task demands relating to the number of choices and fatigue arising from time-on-task were high. For younger persons, a weak trend toward greater inconsistency in motor RTs was evident. The results are consistent with accounts suggesting that inconsistency in neurobiological mechanisms increases with age, and that attentional lapses or fluctuations in executive control contribute to RT inconsistency.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Comparison of patients with Parkinson's disease or cerebellar lesions in the production of periodic movements involving event-based or emergent timing.

We have hypothesized a distinction between the processes required to control the timing of different classes of periodic movements. In one class, salient events mark successive cycles. For these movements, we hypothesize that the temporal goal is a requisite component of the task representation, what we refer to as event-based timing. In the other class, the successive cycles are produced continuously. For these movements, alternative control strategies can optimize performance, allowing timing to be emergent. In a previous study, patients with cerebellar lesions were found to be selectively impaired on event-based timing tasks; they were unimpaired on a continuously produced task. In the present study, patients with Parkinson's disease were tested on repetitive movement tasks in which timing was either event-based or emergent. Temporal variability on either type of task did not differ between on- and off-medication sessions for the Parkinson's patients nor did patient performance differ from that of controls. These results suggest that the basal ganglia play a minimal role in movement timing and that impairments on event-based timing tasks are specific to cerebellar damage.

Aged↗
PubMed2005

Auditory discrimination of anisochrony: influence of the tempo and musical backgrounds of listeners.

This study explored the influence of several factors, physical and human, on anisochrony's thresholds measured with an adaptive two alternative forced choice paradigm. The effect of the number and duration of sounds on anisochrony discrimination was tested in the first experiment as well as potential interactions between each of these factors and tempo. In the second experiment, the tempo or the inter onset interval (IOI) was varied systematically between 80 and 1000 ms. The results showed that just noticeable differences increase linearly and proportionally with IOI in accordance with Weber's law except for quickest tempo (IOI of 80 ms). The third experiment investigated the role of musical training on anisochrony thresholds obtained for different IOI. It focused on differential effects of musical experiences by comparing non-musicians, instrumentalists, and percussionists thresholds. The results of the present study replicated the findings of previous experiments regarding the adequacy of Weber's law for slow rhythm and provided evidence for its departure for fast tempos. Moreover, thresholds from percussionists seem distinguishable from the ones of other listeners by their highest sensitivity to temporal shifts suggesting therefore the necessity to control the nature of musical experiences. The results are discussed according to current models of time perception.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Time ordering in frontal lobe patients: a stochastic model approach.

Frontal lobe patients reproduced a sequence of capital letters or abstract shapes. Immediate and delayed reproduction trials allowed the analysis of short- and long-term memory for time order by means of suitable Markov chain stochastic models. Patients were as proficient as healthy subjects on the immediate reproduction trial, thus showing spared encoding and short-term memory. They failed, instead, on the delayed trials with capital letters, but not with random shapes, suggesting that their long-term memory impairment did not depend on primary deficits for ordering, but on inability to benefit from the organisational strategies that improve the retention and retrieval in normal subjects.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Temporal order judgment in mice.

A temporal order judgment task was developed for mice. After training male mice (C57BL6NCrj, n=15) to poke their noses into a hole, two stimuli (brief puffs of air) were delivered to the whiskers with a fixed interval of 750 ms in one of four orders: right (R)-left (L), L-R, L-L, and R-R. The mice were rewarded when they oriented their heads toward the first (n=5) or second (n=10) stimulus after a visual go signal. The mice were trained for up to 50 days. All mice met the criterion for task achievement (daily correct response rate >70% on 3 consecutive days) in response to unilateral stimuli (L-L and R-R), and 9 of the 15 mice met the criterion for task achievement in response to bilateral stimuli (L-R and R-L). The median periods for task achievement were 15 and 34 days for unilateral and bilateral stimuli, respectively. The correct response rate dropped to approximately the chance level after all whiskers had been removed. The nine successful mice were trained further and tested with smaller interstimulus intervals. The probability of right-first judgment plotted against the stimulation interval was fitted with a sigmoid function (r2=0.92) with asymptotes of 0.29 and 0.73 and a temporal resolution of 160 ms. The sigmoid curve was biased horizontally by 133 ms, reflecting the fact that stimuli delivered simultaneously were judged as left-first rather than right-first. The results show that mice can be trained to judge the temporal order of tactile stimuli delivered to whiskers and that such judgment might be lateralized to the right hemisphere.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Effects of paradoxical sleep deprivation on the performance of rats in a model of visual attention.

In the present work we sought to evaluate the effects of paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD) on the performance of rats in the five-choice serial reaction time task, a test designed to assess attentional function. Adult male Wistar rats were trained to detect a brief (1 s) light stimulus randomly presented in one of five locations in a box specially designed for the task. After achieving stable performance, the animals were submitted to 96 h of sleep deprivation by the platform technique, in which the rats are placed on top of small platforms in a tank filled with water. During sleep, particularly during the paradoxical stage, the loss of muscle tone make the animals fall into the water, thus awakening them and so depriving of sleep. Performance in the task was assessed daily during the 96 h deprivation period and also during seven recovery days afterwards. Paradoxical sleep deprivation reduced accuracy on the on the third (72 h) and fourth (96 h) days of sleep deprivation compared to home-cage controls, and this impairment reverted soon after the beginning of the recovery period. Sleep-deprived animals also showed an increase in omissions in the first day of PSD and a reduction on the number of trials started on the fourth day of sleep deprivation. No significant group differences were observed in premature and perseverative responses, correct response latency and reward latency. Our results thus indicate that paradoxical sleep deprivation impairs attentional function.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Attentional performance of C57BL/6 and DBA/2 mice in the 5-choice serial reaction time task.

C57BL/6 and DBA/2 were compared in the 5-choice serial reaction time task for differences in performance related to attention and impulsivity. The goal was to examine behavioural processes in mice that may relate to ADHD in humans. Groups of male mice were trained to nose-poke in response to a stimulus light presented randomly in one of five holes; correct responses were reinforced with food. During training the stimulus duration (SD) was reduced progressively from 60 to 0.5s. The C57BL/6 and DBA/2 mice did not differ during early stages of training when attentional demands were low (SD of 60, 10 or 5s). As task demands increased, strain differences emerged; C57BL/6 mice were more accurate than DBA/2 mice with stimuli of 2, 1 and 0.5s. DBA/2 mice also made more anticipatory (impulsive) responses during inter-trial intervals than C57BL/6 mice at SD of 5, 2, 1 and 0.5s. The ability to carry out the task was present in both strains of mice but they differed significantly in the levels of performance that were achieved. It is argued that the differences in accuracy and anticipatory responding were closely related and that the primary difference between the strains may be in impulsivity.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2006

Molecular order in concurrent response sequences.

We studied the order of emission of concurrently reinforced free-operant two-response sequences such as left-left (LL) and left-right (LR). The end of each sequence was demarcated by stimulus change. The use of demarcated sequences of responses, as opposed to individual responses, provides an expanded set of distinct, temporally ordered behaviour pairings to investigate (e.g., LL followed by LL, LL followed by LR, etc.); it is as well a real-life analogue. A sequential analysis of new and existing rat and pigeon data revealed patterns in both overall and post-reinforcer-only sequence emission order. These patterns were consistent across species and individuals, and they followed higher-order organising principles. We describe sequence non-repetition, last-response repetition, and the proportion and post-reinforcer effects, and relate them to existing molar and molecular behaviour principles. Beyond their immediate implications, our results illustrate the value of sequential analysis as a tool for the investigation of molar-molecular behavioural relations.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Symptoms of depression and cardiovascular reactions to acute psychological stress: evidence from a population study.

Depression and exaggerated cardiovascular reactivity are considered risk factors for cardiovascular disease, possibly as a result of common antecedents, such as altered autonomic nervous system function. We examined the association between depressive symptomatology and cardiovascular reactions to psychological stress in 1608 adults (875 women) comprising 3 distinct age cohorts: 24-, 44-, and 63-year olds. Depression was assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured at baseline and during the paced auditory serial arithmetic test. Depression scores were negatively associated with systolic blood pressure and heart rate reactions, after adjustment for likely confounders such as sex, cohort, occupational status, body mass index, stress task performance score, baseline cardiovascular activity, antidepressant, and antihypertensive medication. The direction of association was opposite to that which would be expected if excessive reactivity were to mediate the association between depression and cardiovascular disease outcomes or if they shared common antecedents.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Multiple time scales in serial production of force: a tutorial on power spectral analysis of motor variability.

We present a tutorial on a power spectral approach to variability in serial motor performance, describing as a case study two experiments on the form of the variance in two force production tasks. In Experiment 1 we examine grip force and load force in repetitive unimanual pulling; in Experiment 2, we describe repetitive bimanual pressing. In both experiments log-log plots of power spectral density of peak force of the responses in each stream against frequency (i.e. periodicity or repetition cycle defined with respect to the ordered succession of responses) were approximately linear with negative slopes which varied systematically with test conditions. We propose the two response streams in each experiment are associated with different levels of sustained attention and state a simple model involving summation of moving average processes on multiple time scales as a qualitative account of the changes in 1/f slope.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Synchronized brain activity during rehearsal and short-term memory disruption by irrelevant speech is affected by recall mode.

EEG coherence as a measure of synchronization of brain activity was used to investigate effects of irrelevant speech. In a delayed serial recall paradigm 21 healthy participants retained verbal items over a 10-s delay with and without interfering irrelevant speech. Recall after the delay was varied in two modes (spoken vs. written). Behavioral data showed the classic irrelevant speech effect and a superiority of written over spoken recall mode. Coherence, however, was more sensitive to processing characteristics and showed interactions between the irrelevant speech effect and recall mode during the rehearsal delay in theta (4-7.5 Hz), alpha (8-12 Hz), beta (13-20 Hz), and gamma (35-47 Hz) frequency bands. For gamma, a rehearsal-related decrease of the duration of high coherence due to presentation of irrelevant speech was found in a left-lateralized fronto-central and centro-temporal network only in spoken but not in written recall. In theta, coherence at predominantly fronto-parietal electrode combinations was indicative for memory demands and varied with individual working memory capacity assessed by digit span. Alpha coherence revealed similar results and patterns as theta coherence. In beta, a left-hemispheric network showed longer high synchronizations due to irrelevant speech only in written recall mode. EEG results suggest that mode of recall is critical for processing already during the retention period of a delayed serial recall task. Moreover, the finding that different networks are engaged with different recall modes shows that the disrupting effect of irrelevant speech is not a unitary mechanism.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Heat stress, plasma concentrations of adrenaline, noradrenaline, 5-hydroxytryptamine and cortisol, mood state and cognitive performance.

The primary aims of this paper were to examine the effect of heat stress on working memory, choice reaction time and mood state, and to investigate the relationship between heat induced changes in plasma concentrations of selected neurotransmitters and hormones, and cognition. Heat stress resulted in a deterioration of performance on a central executive task (random movement generation) but not on verbal and spatial recall, and choice reaction time tasks. Perceptions of vigour decreased and fatigue increased following exposure to heat stress. Plasma concentrations of cortisol and 5-hydroxytryptamine significantly increased following exposure to heat. Regression analyses showed that percent body mass loss and change from baseline (Delta) concentrations of cortisol, post-exposure to heat, were significant predictors of Delta random movement generation and Delta fatigue. A secondary purpose was to examine the effect of recovery on cognition and mood. Following recovery, the performance of the central executive task was poorer than pre-treatment. Mood states, catecholamines and 5-hydroxytryptamine concentrations returned to pre-treatment values, but cortisol fell to a level significantly lower. Regression correlations showed that Delta adrenaline and Delta scores, post-recovery, on the central executive task were significantly correlated. Delta noradrenaline correlated significantly with Delta fatigue. It was concluded that heat stress results in deterioration in the performance of central executive tasks and perceptions of mood state, and that this can be predicted by changes in body mass loss and plasma concentrations of the hormones cortisol and adrenaline.

5-Hydroxytryptophan↗
PubMed2005

Incentive effects on cardiovascular reactivity in active coping with unclear task difficulty.

Two experiments with a total of 96 participants assessed cardiovascular response in active coping. The studies were run in 2x2 designs and manipulated the clarity of task difficulty (clear vs. unclear) and incentive value (low vs. high) of a memory task, which was either easy (Experiment 1) or extremely difficult (Experiment 2). In accordance with the theoretical predictions of motivational intensity theory [Brehm, J.W., Self, E.A., 1989. The intensity of motivation. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 40, 109-131; Wright, R.A., 1996. Brehm's theory of motivation as a model of effort and cardiovascular response. In: Gollwitzer, P.M., Bargh, J.A. (Eds.), The Psychology of Action: Linking Cognition and Motivation to Behaviour, Guilford, New York, pp. 424-453], systolic reactivity varied directly with incentive value when task difficulty was unclear. In contrast, when task difficulty was clear, incentives had no influence and cardiovascular reactivity was low. These findings provide the first evidence for the predictions of motivational intensity theory with regard to unclear task difficulty and complete past research that has focused on the effects of fixed and unfixed task difficulty on cardiovascular reactivity.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2005

Relationship of P300 single-trial responses with reaction time and preceding stimulus sequence.

Variation of single-trial P300 responses was studied both in relation to reaction times and to the preceding stimulus sequence in an auditory oddball paradigm. Single-trial responses were estimated with the Subspace regularization method that is based on Bayesian estimation and linear modeling. The results of the single-trial method were compared to those of averaging. Both methods showed that the latency of the P300 was shorter and its amplitude larger for faster than slower reaction times. The P300 latency was shorter for target tones that were preceded by a large number of standard tones compared to those preceded by a small number of standard tones. The P300 amplitude was statistically significantly affected by the stimulus sequence only when analyzed with conventional averaging. In-depth analysis of standard deviations showed that the variability of the P300 single-trial latencies could explain the differences between the two methods. Specifically, the regression analysis showed that the latency correlated negatively with the number of preceding standard tones and positively with the reaction time, whereas the P300 amplitude correlated positively with the number of the preceding standard stimuli and negatively with the reaction time. The analysis of the single-trial responses gives information about the behavior of the P300 component that is lost with conventional averaging. The method used in this study is independent of subjective decision making and can be used to model changes in the dynamical behavior of the P300 component objectively.

Adult↗