Resting EEG in alpha and beta bands predicts individual differences in attentional blink magnitude

Accuracy for a second target (T2) is reduced when it is presented within 500 ms of a first target (T1) in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) - an attentional blink (AB). There are reliable individual differences in the magnitude of the AB. Recent evidence has shown that the attentional approach that an individual typically adopts during a task or in anticipation of a task, as indicated by various measures, predicts individual differences in the AB deficit. It has yet to be observed whether indices of attentional approach when not engaged in a goal-directed task are also relevant to individual differences in the AB. The current studies investigated individual differences in the AB by examining their relationship with attention at rest using quantitative measures of EEG. Greater levels of alpha at rest were associated with larger AB magnitudes, where greater levels of beta at rest were associated with smaller AB magnitudes. Furthermore, individuals with more beta than alpha demonstrated a smaller AB effect than individuals with more alpha than beta. Our results suggest that greater attentional engagement at rest, when not engaged in a goal-directed task, is associated with smaller AB magnitudes.     

Gender characteristics of cerebral hemodynamics during complex cognitive functioning

Functional Transcranial Doppler sonography (fTCD) has been applied to assess peak mean cerebral blood flow velocity (MFV) with a high temporal resolution during cognitive activation. Yet, little attention has been devoted to gender-related alterations of MFV, including spectral analysis. In healthy subjects, fTCD was used to investigate a series of cerebral hemodynamic parameters in the middle cerebral arteries (MCA) during the Trail Making Tests (TMT), a means of selective attention and complex cognitive functioning. In females, there was a frequency peak at 0.375 Hz in both MCA, and we observed a dynamic shift in hemispheric dominance during that condition. Further, after the start phase, there was an MFV decline during complex functioning for the entire sample. These novel results suggest condition-specific features of cerebral hemodynamics in females, and it adds to the notion that gender is a fundamental confounder of brain physiology.     

Integrating covariates into circumplex structures: an extension procedure for Browne’s circular stochastic process model

Circumplex structures are elements of various psychological domains. Most work focuses on assessing the circular ordering of circumplex indicators and their relationships with covariates. In this article, an extension procedure for Browne’s circumplex model is presented. Our approach models the relationships among circumplex indicators and the relationships of covariates with a latent circumplex simultaneously without affecting the circumplex indicators’ positions on the circumplex. The approach builds upon Browne’s Fourier series parameterization of a correlation function, which is used to model the latent circumplex correlation structure. It extends the shape of the correlation function to the profile of each covariate’s correlations with the circumplex. The model is specified in the framework of structural equation modeling, thereby making it possible to test various hypotheses. Procedures are presented for deriving interval estimates for the parameters that relate the covariates to the circumplex. The model is compared to other approaches for assessing the relationships of a circumplex with covariates. The results of the exemplary applications and a simulation study were in favor of the suggested model. The approach is furthermore illustrated with a real-data example, focusing on the relationships between the interpersonal circumplex and the rivalry and admiration aspects of narcissism.     

Age-related Assessment of Postural Control Development: A Cross-sectional Study in Children and Adolescents

Abstract

The aim of this study was to outline an age-dependent range of posturography measures obtained from healthy children. One hundred and fifty healthy 4–18-year-old children underwent video Head Impulse Test and static posturography testing. Surface, length and power spectra values were compared between each group of pupils and 32 healthy adults. As well as a significant (p?<?0.025) increase in surface and length, when compared to healthy adults, increased values within the low/middle frequency domain and within the high frequency domain were also observed in 4–13 and 4–7-year-old children, respectively. In conclusion, although the nature of postural control development remains largely undetermined, this study represents a first attempt to outline an age-dependent normal range of the relative contribution of inputs in typically developing children.     

Atomic configurations of twin boundaries and twinning dislocation in superconductor Y0.6Na0.4Ba2Cu2.7Zn0.3O7− δ

Two types of twin boundaries in superconductor Y_0.6Na_0.4Ba₂Cu_2.7Zn_0.3O_{7? δ} , the cation-centered and oxygen-centered types, and the associated twinning dislocation have been studied by high-resolution electron microscopy. The structure map projected in the [001] direction was obtained from a single image by means of the image deconvolution technique. In this map, all columns of metallic atoms appear as individual black dots, and hence the two types of twin boundaries are distinguished from each other at atomic level. It is seen that the twinning dislocation occurs when the two types of twin boundaries meet each other. The structure model of the twinning dislocation together with the two types of twin boundaries has been derived straightforwardly based on the positions of black dots seen in the deconvoluted image.     

MINDING QUANTA AND COSMOLOGY

The revolution in science inaugurated by quantum physics has made us aware of the role of observation in the construction of data. Eugene Wigner remarked that in quantum physics we no longer have observables (invariants), only observations. Tongue in cheek, I asked him whether that meant that quantum physics is really psychology, expecting a gruff reply to my sassiness. Instead, Wigner beamed understanding and replied "Yes, yes, that's exactly correct." David Bohm pointed out that were we to look at the cosmos without the lenses of our telescopes we would see a hologram. I extend Bohm's insight to the lens in the optics of the eye. The receptor processes of the ear and skin work in a similar fashion. Without these lenses and lenslike operations all of our perceptions would be entangled as in a hologram. Furthermore, the retina absorbs quanta of radiation so that quantum physics uses the very perceptions that become formed by it. In turn, higher-order brain systems send signals to the sensory receptors so that what we perceive is often as much a result of earlier rather than just immediate experience. This influence from inside out becomes especially relevant to our interpretation of how we experience the contents and bounds of cosmology that come to us by way of radiation.     

Analytic Expressions for the BCDMEM Model of Recognition Memory

We introduce a Fourier transformation technique that enables one to derive closed-form expressions of performance measures (e.g., hit and false alarm rates) of simulation-based models of recognition memory. Application of the technique is demonstrated using the bind cue decide model of episodic memory (BCDMEM; [Dennis, S., & Humphreys, M.S. (2001). A context noise model of episodic word recognition. Psychological Review, 108(2), 452-478]). In addition to reducing the time required to test the model, which for models like BCDMEM can be excessive, asymptotic expressions of the measures reveal heretofore unknown properties of the model, such as model predictions being dependent on vector length.     

Children born with very low birth weight show difficulties with sustained attention but not response inhibition

Children born with very low birth weight perform poorly on executive function and attention measures. Any difficulties with sustained attention may underpin impairments in performance on tasks measuring higher order cognitive control. Previous sustained attention research in very low birth weight cohorts has used tasks that involve arousing stimuli, potentially spoiling the measure of sustained attention. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of very low birth weight and normal birth weight children on a well-controlled task of sustained attention. The Fixed and Random versions of the Sustained Attention to Response Task were given to 17 very low birth weight and 18 normal birth weight children. The very low birth weight group performed the Fixed and Random Sustained Attention to Response Tasks in a similar manner as the normal birth weight group on all measures except for the omission error and Slow Frequency Area under the Spectra variables on the Fixed Sustained Attention to Response Task. These measures index lapses in sustained attention that may be underpinned by declining arousal. The very low birth weight group showed no response inhibition deficits. Omission errors and slow-timescale response-time variability on predictable tasks may thus present sensitive indices of difficulties with sustained attention and arousal associated with premature birth and low birth weight.     

How Do Artificial Neural Networks Classify Musical Triads? A Case Study in Eluding Bonini's Paradox

How might artificial neural networks (ANNs) inform cognitive science? Often cognitive scientists use ANNs but do not examine their internal structures. In this paper, we use ANNs to explore how cognition might represent musical properties. We train ANNs to classify musical chords, and we interpret network structure to determine what representations ANNs discover and use. We find connection weights between input units and hidden units can be described using Fourier phase spaces, a representation studied in musical set theory. We find the total signal coming through these weighted connection weights is a measure of the similarity between two Fourier structures: the structure of the hidden unit's weights and the structure of the stimulus. This is surprising because neither of these Fourier structures is computed by the hidden unit. We then show how output units use such similarity measures to classify chords. However, we also find different types of units—units that use different activation functions—use this similarity measure very differently. This result, combined with other findings, indicates that while our networks are related to the Fourier analysis of musical sets, they do not perform Fourier analyses of the kind usually described in musical set theory. Our results show Fourier representations of music are not limited to musical set theory. Our results also suggest how cognitive psychologists might explore Fourier representations in musical cognition. Critically, such theoretical and empirical implications require researchers to understand how network structure converts stimuli into responses.