测谎中反馈加工的认知神经机制：一项ERP研究

在一个模拟“杀人——侦探”游戏情境中,被试先完成模拟杀人任务,在随后的测谎阶段使用有反馈的ERP测谎范式,以反馈的形式告知被试测谎结果（“+0.5”或“-2”,分别代表“撒谎逃过检测”或“撒谎被发现”）时的脑内时程动态变化。结果发现,在反馈出现后的200～300ms时间段,表示“撒谎被抓住”比“撒谎逃过检测”的反馈信息诱发了一个更正性的ERP成分（P200-300）,在300～400ms时间段,两种反馈诱发的ERP成分（P300）没有差异,而在450～500ms时间段, “撒谎逃过检测”比“撒谎被抓住”的反馈信息诱发了一个更负性的ERP成分（N500）,负性反馈没有诱发FRN。这些结果表明：P200-300、P300和N500都是与加工测谎结果信息有关的ERP成分。P200-300可能对测谎结果的效价（正性或负性）敏感;P300可能反映被试对测谎结果主观意义大小的评价;而N500可能反映测谎结果所导致的大脑皮层兴奋程度。     

Reasoning from transitive premises: An EEG study

Neuroimaging studies have contributed to a major advance in understanding the neural and cognitive mechanisms underpinning deductive reasoning. However, the dynamics of cognitive events associated with inference making have been largely neglected. Using electroencephalography, the present study aims at describing the rapid sequence of processes involved in performing transitive inference (A B; B C therefore “A C”; with AB meaning “A is to the left of B”). The results indicate that when the second premise can be integrated into the first one (e.g. A B; B C) its processing elicits a P3b component. In contrast, when the second premise cannot be integrated into the first premise (e.g. A B; D C), a P600-like components is elicited. These ERP components are discussed with respect to cognitive expectations.     

COMT多态性与连续3-back任务相关ERP的关联研究

不同COMT基因型被试者,进行连续3-back任务测试,以探讨被试者工作记忆能力的变化情况。抽取21名不同COMT基因型被试者,观测被试者在连续工作记忆任务中记忆能力和脑电生理的差异。结果表明,Val/Met基因型被试者P300波幅显著低于Val/Val型,Met/Met型被试者的P300波幅居中。Val/Met型被试者显示了最差记忆任务成绩,被试者的P300波幅和记忆能力相关。COMT基因多态性和3-back任务事件相关电位相关联,工作记忆任务的灵活性和稳定性及其交互作用受到遗传因素的调控。     

Are depictive gestures like pictures? commonalities and differences in semantic processing

Conversation is multi-modal, involving both talk and gesture. Does understanding depictive gestures engage processes similar to those recruited in the comprehension of drawings or photographs? Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded from neurotypical adults as they viewed spontaneously produced depictive gestures preceded by congruent and incongruent contexts. Gestures were presented either dynamically in short, soundless video-clips, or statically as freeze frames extracted from gesture videos. In a separate ERP experiment, the same participants viewed related or unrelated pairs of photographs depicting common real-world objects. Both object photos and gesture stimuli elicited less negative ERPs from 400 to 600 ms post-stimulus when preceded by matching versus mismatching contexts (dN450). Object photos and static gesture stills also elicited less negative ERPs between 300 and 400 ms post-stimulus (dN300). Findings demonstrate commonalities between the conceptual integration processes underlying the interpretation of iconic gestures and other types of image-based representations of the visual world.     

The clinical utility of the auditory P300 latency subcomponent event-related potential in preclinical diagnosis of patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease

The present meta-analysis investigated the clinical utility of the auditory P300 latency event-related potential in differentiating patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and unaffected controls. Effect size estimates were computed from mean P300 latency measurements at midline electrodes between patients and unaffected controls using the random effects restricted maximum likelihood model. The effects of clinical and ERP/EEG methological variables were assessed in a moderator analysis. P300 latency was found to be significantly prolonged in patients with AD (and MCI) compared to unaffected controls. Shortened P300 latencies were observed when comparing patients with MCI to patients with AD. Clinically relevant differences in P300 latency effect sizes were associated with mean age, interstimulus interval, stimulus difference, target frequency, reference electrode, and sampling rate. The meta-analytic findings provide robust statistical evidence for the use of the auditory P300 latency subcomponent as a biological marker of prodromal AD.     

Pre-stimulus alpha predicts inattentional blindness

Pre- and post-stimulus oscillatory activity between 8 and 12 hertz, referred to as the alpha-band, correlates with conscious visual awareness of stimuli across a variety of psychophysical tasks. Within an EEG-adapted inattentional blindness task, the current study sought to examine whether this relationship holds for conscious awareness of stimuli under conditions of inattentional blindness. Noticing rates of the task-irrelevant unexpected stimulus were correlated with a significant decrease in alpha power over bilateral parietal-occipital areas during the pre-stimulus interval, and a significant decrease in alpha power over parietal-occipital regions in the right hemisphere during the post-stimulus interval. Findings are taken to imply alpha-band neural activity represents a valid correlate of consciousness that is not confounded by task relevancy or the need for report.