The Representation of Action: Insights From Bimanual Coordination

ABSTRACT— The motor-program concept, emphasizing how actions are represented in the brain, helped bring the study of motor control into the realm of cognitive psychology. However, interest in representational issues was in limbo for much of the past 30 years, during which time the focus was on biomechanical and abstract accounts of the constraints underlying coordinated movement. We review recent behavioral and neuroscientific evidence that highlights multiple levels of constraints in bimanual coordination, with an emphasis on work demonstrating that a primary source of constraint arises from the manner in which action goals are represented.     

视觉词形加工：从脑区到神经通路

视觉词形加工是阅读机制中的重要环节。基于获得性阅读障碍的早期阅读“神经病学模型”对视觉词形加工的神经通路进行了描述。近年来,随着脑功能成像技术的发展和左梭状回中部视觉词形区的发现,研究者们对原有视觉词形加工的神经通路加以补充和修订,并提出了新的模型。该文对视觉词形加工障碍患者的神经心理学研究和正常人视觉词形加工的脑功能成像研究进行了总结,并讨论了研究的局限性,对今后该领域的发展方向进行展望     

伏隔核和中脑腹侧被盖区内食欲素在吗啡奖赏中的作用

实验采用条件性位置偏爱（CPP）模型考察中脑腹侧被盖区（VTA）和伏隔核壳区（NAcSh）内食欲素（orexin）在吗啡奖赏中的作用。Wistar大鼠分为盐水训练组和吗啡训练组。3轮吗啡（或盐水）匹配训练前,双侧VTA或NAcSh内给予OXR1拮抗剂SB334867（VTA: 0, 1, 5μg;NAcSh: 0, 1, 3μg）;或2轮吗啡（或盐水）匹配训练前NAcSh内给予orexin A（0, 2, 4, 6μg）,观察其对吗啡CPP建立的影响。结果表明,VTA内给予SB334867抑制吗啡CPP建立,并存在剂量效应关系;NAcSh内给予SB334867或orexin A均未影响吗啡CPP建立,而orexin A可增加吗啡处理大鼠的运动性。以上结果表明,VTA和NAcSh内的orexin在吗啡奖赏中扮演的角色不同,可能调控成瘾行为的不同成分     

大脑视觉词形区及其在阅读神经网络中的作用

大脑梭状回中部被认为是视觉词形加工区(Visual Word Form Area, VWFA)。近年来的研究对VWFA的功能提出了质疑, 研究者开始关注VWFA作为复杂阅读网络的一部分与其它脑区的动态联结机制, 主要集中在三个方面：一是梭状回中部对于视觉词形选择性敏感的本质; 二是它在词汇阅读的神经网络中的作用; 最后是语言经验对于VWFA认知神经功能的塑造作用。结合以上研究的最新进展, 文中指明从动态神经网络的角度揭示大脑功能成为今后认知神经科学研究的最新取向。     

Metaphor explanation attenuates the right-hand preference for depictive co-speech gestures that imitate actions

Differential activation levels of the two hemispheres due to hemispheric specialization for various linguistic processes might determine hand choice for co-speech gestures. To test this hypothesis, we compared hand choices for gesturing in 20 healthy right-handed participants during explanation of metaphorical vs. non-metaphorical meanings, on the assumption that metaphor explanation enhances the right hemisphere contribution to speech production. Hand choices were analyzed separately for: depictive gestures that imitate action ("character viewpoint gestures," [McNeill, D. (1992). Hand and mind. What gestures reveal about thought. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.]), depictive gestures that express motion, relative locations, and shape ("observer viewpoint gestures"), and "abstract deictic gestures." It was found that the right-hand over left-hand preference was significantly weaker in the metaphor condition than in the non-metaphor conditions for depictive gestures that imitated action. Findings suggest that the activation of the right hemisphere in the metaphor condition reduces the likelihood of left hemisphere generation of gestures that imitate action, thus attenuating the right-hand preference.     

The effects of fine motor movement and tactile stimulation on the math problem solving of students with attention problems

This study evaluated the effectiveness of fine motor physical activity with tactile stimulation during two conditions of math problem solving, visual and auditory. Eight 4th and 5th grade students with attention problems participated. Using an alternating treatments design, students solved as many math story problems as they could, presented on worksheets or verbally during two conditions, with and without tactile stimulation during 20 min. Motor behavior, recorded from videotape, and number of correctly completed word problems were measured. Results suggest that fine motor manipulation of a tactile stimulation object reduced excessive motor movement and increased task completion of students with attention problems.     

动画呈现速度对多媒体学习效果影响的眼动研究

多媒体学习过程中,动画学习材料的呈现速度是影响学习效果的一个重要因素。基于认知负荷理论,已有研究对动画速度是否影响多媒体学习中的注意转换和学习效果存在不一致的结论。研究采用闪电形成原理动画作为实验材料,操纵慢速、正常速度和快速三个速度水平,利用Eyelink 1000眼动仪记录学习过程中的眼睛注视,探讨多媒体学习中动画呈现速度对学习效果和注意转换的影响。结果发现,在记忆测验的成绩上,慢速水平的迁移测验成绩要好于正常速度和快速;慢速在注视次数、眼跳次数、任务相关区停留时间和进出兴趣区次数这些总体眼动指标上比其他两组显著要高,但是对相关指标按时间进行加权后发现,只在兴趣区停留时间上慢速和快速长于正常速度。结论认为多媒体学习过程中,动画呈现速度会影响学习的理解效果,但是对识记不产生影响;材料呈现速度影响知识深层次加工,它独立于学习者的注意转换。并且材料呈现速度对学习者眼动的影响是微弱的。     

物理大小和面积的无意识空间表征

意识水平的研究发现,数字量的比较机制与物理刺激比较的机制是一样的;在无意识水平上的研究发现,数字加工存在无意识语义启动现象。我们假设,在数字的物理特性的比较任务中可能存在无意识启动效应和类SNARC效应。实验一的数字比较任务和数字的物理大小比较任务发现,在33毫秒的无意识启动条件下,数字语义比较任务和数字物理大小比较任务中都发现了类SNARC效应、启动效应以及Stroop效应。实验二的数字覆盖面积比较任务中发现,在33毫秒的启动水平,数字比较与数字覆盖面积的比较任务中均存在SNARC效应、Stroop效应和启动效应。     

计算机时代的书写心理学

计算机的普及使人们阅读及书写的能力降低, 这引发了社会对书写的关注。书写涉及大量高级神经活动, 与认知、人格、疾病等均有关联, 对个体发展也具有重要作用。现代书写心理学通过使用书写板等设备, 实现了对书写过程及结果的量化研究, 发现了书写速度、压力、握笔等指标与智力、认知负荷等的一些关联。未来对书写过程的研究可以进一步深入; 测量方面的研究成果可以应用到日常人机交互及教学、司法等实践中; 还可以研究用书写促进个体认知及人格发展的具体途径。     

Pupil Diameter May Reflect Motor Control and Learning

Non–luminance-mediated changes in pupil diameter have been used since the first studies by Darwin in 1872 as indicators of clinical, cognitive, and arousal states. However, the relation between processes involved in motor control and changes in pupil diameter remains largely unknown. Twenty participants attempted to compensate random walks of a cursor with a computer mouse to restrain its trajectory within a target circle while the authors recorded their pupil diameters. Two conditions allowed the authors to experimentally manipulate the motor and cognitive components of the task. First, the step size of the cursor's random walk was either large or small leading to 2 task difficulties (difficult or easy). Second, they instructed participants to imagine controlling the cursor by moving the mouse, but without actually moving it (task modality: imagined movement or real movement condition). Task difficulty and modality allowed the authors to show that pupil diameters reflect processes involved in motor control and in the processing of feedback, respectively. Furthermore, the authors also demonstrate that motor learning can be quantified by pupil size. This noninvasive approach provides a promising method for investigating not only motor control, but also motor imagery, a research field of growing importance in sports and rehabilitation.