Between-task competition for intentions and actions

People can switch quickly and flexibly from one task to another, but suffer the effects of between-task competition when they do so: After switching, they tend to be distracted by irrelevant stimulus information and hampered by incorrect actions associated with recently performed tasks. This competition results in performance costs of switching, as well as a bias against switching when there is choice over which task to perform, particularly when switching from a difficult task to an easier one. Two experiments investigated the locus of these between-task competition effects in voluntary task switching. Participants switched between an easy location classification and a harder shape classification, making two responses on each trial: the first to register their task choice, the second to perform the chosen task on a subsequently presented stimulus. The results indicated that participants chose to perform the difficult shape task more often than the easier location task, evidence that between-task competition affects intentions that are expressed independently of task-specific actions. The bias was stronger in participants with faster choice speed, suggesting that these influences are relatively automatic. Moreover, even though participants had unlimited time to choose and prepare a task before stimulus presentation, their subsequent performance was nonetheless sensitive to persisting effects of between-task competition. Altogether these results indicate the pervasive influence of between-task competition, which affects both the expression of global task intentions and the production of task-specific actions.     

创造性的生理研究新进展

创造性的生理基础很复杂。关于创造性生理基础的研究集中在大脑皮质激活与脑半球不对称两个方面。研究发现,大脑皮质激活状态对创造性有影响,低水平的皮质激活,特别是低水平的前额叶激活,较有利于创造性．研究还发现,创造性和左右半球不对称活动有关,处于创造状态时,右半球相对要比左半球激活程度更高。     

Differential effects of assisted cycling therapy on short-term and working memory of adolescents with Down syndrome

Persons with Down syndrome (DS) suffer from prefrontal cortex dysfunction and deficits in executive functions. The current study examined the effects assisted cycling therapy (ACT) on short-term (STM) and working memory (WM) in adolescents with DS. During ACT, the cadence of participants on a stationary bicycle was augmented with an electrical motor to 180% of the voluntary cadence. Participants completed eight weeks of ACT (n?=?17), eight weeks of voluntary cycling (VC) at their own preferred cadence (n?=?16), or eight weeks of no cycling (np?≥?.149) and working memory improved only in the ACT group (Hedge’s g?=?1.66; p?=?.003). The results indicate that assisted high-cadence cycling (i.e. ACT) produces superior neural benefits in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex compared to VC.     

Resting Frontal EEG Asymmetry and Personality Traits: A Meta‐analysis

Frontal asymmetry has been widely used as a marker of emotion, motivation, and psychopathology. When assessed during the resting state, it is regarded as an index of trait approach and withdrawal motivation. However, the replicability of these associations with personality is currently unclear. The present meta‐analysis seeks to provide a comprehensive quantitative review of the relationship between personality traits and resting electroencephalographic (EEG) frontal asymmetry. We distinguished five personality clusters: extraversion, neuroticism, impulsivity, anger, and defensiveness. Data from 79 independent samples with overall 5700 participants were included in the meta‐analysis. The results revealed that less than 0.4% of the variance in extraversion and neuroticism could be explained by resting frontal asymmetry. Similarly, a small effect was observed for trait anger, and a small‐sized to medium‐sized effect was observed for defensiveness, although the number of studies was very low. No significant effect emerged for impulsivity. The effects were further reduced after adjustment for publication bias. Given some evidence for heterogeneity, sub‐traits were analysed, and methodological moderators were investigated. Based on the results, we conclude that the validity of resting frontal asymmetry as a marker for personality is not supported. Finally, recommendations are given to increase the replicability of frontal asymmetry research. © 2019 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Seeing is Knowing: On the Predictive Accuracy of Self‐ and Informant Reports for Prosocial and Moral Behaviours

Under certain circumstances, well‐known others (so‐called informants) may possess unique insights into targets' personality traits beyond the targets' self‐views. Specifically, as proposed by the self–other knowledge asymmetry model, an incremental predictive ability of informants is most likely for traits and corresponding behaviours that are clearly visible to others and highly evaluative in nature. In two studies, we provide an empirical test of this proposition and extend prior research to one of the most important domains of interpersonal interaction: prosocial and moral behaviours. Specifically, we investigate the unique predictive power of informant reports in trait Honesty–Humility for fairness in the dictator game and dishonesty in a cheating paradigm. Importantly, while both these classes of behaviour are highly evaluative in nature, only fairness is clearly visible to others. Correspondingly, in line with the self–other knowledge asymmetry model, our results reveal unique predictive accuracy of informant reports for fairness. For dishonesty, by contrast, there was no conclusive evidence for incremental predictive power of informant reports. This implies that informants may indeed provide valuable information beyond targets' self‐reports on trait aspects driving fair behaviour, but that targets themselves are their own best experts when it comes to judging trait aspects driving dishonest behaviour. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Smoking reduces language lateralization: a dichotic listening study with control participants and schizophrenia patients

Schizophrenia has been associated with deficits in functional brain lateralization. According to some authors, the reduction of asymmetry could even promote this psychosis. At the same time, schizophrenia is accompanied by a high prevalence of nicotine dependency compared to any other population. This association is very interesting, because sex-dependent effects of smoking in auditory language asymmetries have been reported recently, and the verbal domain is also one major focus in cognitive deficit studies of schizophrenia. Thus, the altered laterality pattern in schizophrenia could, at least in part, result from secondary artefacts due to smoking rather than being a pure cause of the disease itself. To test this hypothesis, the present study examined auditory language lateralization in 67 schizophrenia patients and in 72 healthy controls in a phonemic and an emotional dichotic listening task. Our findings replicate previous research, in that smoking reduces language lateralization in men in phonemic dichotic listening. In addition, we show that smoking also reduces laterality in women in the emotional dichotic listening task. Thus, smoking alters phonemic and emotional language asymmetries differentially for men and women, with a stronger effect for men in the left hemisphere phonemic task, and a stronger effect for women in the right hemisphere emotional task. Together, these findings point towards an effect of smoking which is possibly independent of sex and hemisphere. Importantly, by testing equal numbers of smoking and non-smoking patients and controls, we found no schizophrenia-associated asymmetry effect. Possible neurobiological mechanisms with which smoking may alter auditory microcircuits and thereby diminish left-right differences are discussed.     

Linguistic correlates of asymmetric motor symptom severity in Parkinson’s Disease

Asymmetric motor severity is common in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and provides a method for examining the neurobiologic mechanisms underlying cognitive and linguistic deficits associated with the disorder. In the present research, PD participants (N = 31) were assessed in terms of the asymmetry of their motor symptoms. Interviews with the participants were analyzed with the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) program. Three measures of linguistic complexity – the proportion of verbs, proportion of function words, and sentence length – were found to be affected by symptom asymmetry. Greater left-side motor severity (and hence greater right-hemisphere dysfunction) was associated with the production of significantly fewer verbs, function words, and shorter sentences. Hence, the production of linguistic complexity in a natural language context was associated with relatively greater right hemisphere involvement. The potential neurobiological mechanisms underlying this effect are discussed.     

MRI对儿童难治性、局灶性癫痫的临床诊断及预后判断

癫痫外科的临床病理研究表明,儿童局灶性皮质发育不良(FCD)及海马硬化是儿童难治性局灶性癫痫常见的致病因素。但在术前的常规的MRI检查中,这些结构上的异常经常被忽视,从而造成延误诊断。临床医生在阅片判断上的失误可能是一个原因,但癫痫的影像专业知识的不全面是重要因素。本文结合MRI技术在癫痫临床诊断领域的应用进展,阐述了儿童难治性、局灶性癫痫患者MRI影像中可能出现的结构性病变;重点阐述了临床易于忽视的局灶性皮质发育不良(FCD)及海马硬化的MRI研究、应用进展。     

面孔-词Stroop范式中的情绪冲突效应研究

为探究面孔-词Stroop范式中的情绪冲突效应,本实验给被试呈现两种时长（150ms或1500ms）的刺激,令其分别完成对面孔-词Stroop范式中的“面孔任务”和“词任务”。结果发现：只有“面孔任务”中出现Stroop效应,产生情绪冲突,而在“词任务”中未出现Stroop效应;当呈现时间为150ms时,情绪词影响情绪面孔加工从而引发个体的情绪冲突,出现Stroop效应;当呈现时间为1500ms时,“面孔任务”中的Stroop效应消失。这提示了呈现时间是影响面孔-词Stroop范式中情绪冲突效应的一个重要因素。     

趋近和回避动机的区分及其对心理病理学的影响

趋近和回避是动机的两种最基本形式, 反映着个体与环境的相互作用方式, 是个体适应环境的核心机能。回避动机保证了个体的生存, 趋近动机则促进个体的成长。两类动机系统在前额叶皮层呈不对称偏侧化分布, 趋近动机与左侧额叶皮层激活相连, 回避动机与右侧额叶皮层激活相连。Youngstorm 和Izard等认为两类动机系统失调可能与一系列的情绪和行为问题有关, 如躁狂、抑郁、焦虑和儿童多动症等。这一观点已得到一些相关研究和临床研究证实。建议未来研究关注趋近-回避动机区分与情绪和认知功能研究的融合, 进一步检验趋近-回避动机系统失调模型, 并加强趋近和回避动机系统的可塑性研究。