反馈负波及其近10年理论解释

个体决策后的反馈对随后的结果监控和行为调整起着至关重要的作用。事件相关脑电位研究发现, 反馈负波(feedback-related negativity, FRN)是与决策后反馈加工过程紧密相关的脑电成分。近10年来关于FRN的理论解释, 在最初经典的强化学习理论和情绪动机假说的基础上又提出了反应-结果的预测模型、奖赏正波理论以及积极情绪启动模型。未来的研究应该立足于大样本, 采用互补的研究手段和多样的分析技术来探讨FRN的心理意义; 同时考虑将FRN作为奖赏加工的脑电指标, 研究社会互动情境下的人类行为。     

Physical home environment is associated with prefrontal cortical thickness in adolescents

Biologically embedded experiences alter developmental trajectories in ways that can influence health, learning, and/or behavior. These systematic differences in experiences may contribute to different biological outcomes as individuals grow and develop, including at the neural level. Previous studies of biologically embedded experiences on neurodevelopment have focused on large‐scale institutional or economic factors (e.g. socioeconomic status [SES]) and psychosocial factors (e.g. caregiving behavior). Less attention has focused on how the quality of the immediate home settings, such as the physical home environment (PHYS), influences neurodevelopment. Moreover, no study has investigated these effects in adolescents, who undergo significant physical maturation and neurodevelopment that may influence how they respond to their physical environments. The goal of the current study was to examine whether PHYS quality is biologically embedded in the developing adolescent brain as evidenced by cognitive achievement and cortical development in 56 (48% female) healthy adolescents (14–18 years (M = 16.83 years, SD = 1.17). Using in‐home assessments of the physical home environment, anatomical brain scans, and indices of academic achievement, we found that adolescents who have more physical problems in the home (e.g. structural hazards, crowding, excessive noise, poorly lit) have thinner prefrontal cortices, which was associated with lower levels of reading achievement, independent of SES and psychosocial factors. By conducting home visits to assess physical characteristics of adolescents’ home, we highlight a typically overlooked aspect of the home environment that has relevance for adolescents’ cognitive and brain development.     

人脑眶额皮质表征奖赏信息的进展

文章围绕人脑眶额皮质在表征奖赏信息上的核心作用展开,分别从人脑眶额皮质表征奖赏信息的共同神经表征和特异性神经表征特点,奖赏加工和该脑区局部形态特征之间的关系以及眶额皮质表征奖赏信息的时间动态性等角度对最近的重要研究进展进行了一定的梳理和概括。最后,文章讨论了未来研究需要解决的由奖赏类型多样性和脑区间奖赏信息整合复杂性带来的系列问题。     

数字加工的脑功能成像研究进展及其皮层定位

数字加工是人类最重要的认知功能之一。当前的脑功能成像研究有助于对数字加工与皮层之间的联系进行更精确的定位。基于对上世纪80年代来有关数字加工脑功能成像研究的主要成果的回顾,尤其是一些重要区域,如双侧顶叶与前额叶等在数字加工中的地位与作用,以及不同脑区之间的关系进行了探讨,并对一个广泛运用的数字加工神经机制模型进行了简要评述。在此基础上,对数字加工的皮层定位问题进行了简要的总结。     

时间认知神经科学研究进展

当前对时间认知的脑机制探讨有三个模型：特异化计时模型、分布网络模型和定域计时模型。在这些模型的框架下,时间认知的神经心理学研究集中探讨了小脑、基底神经节、前额叶在时间信息加工中的作用和大脑两半球在时间认知中的不对称性。小脑作为内部计时系统对时间控制具有重要作用,在周期性动作任务中,小脑对不连续动作计时具有特异性。基底神经节在时间加工任务中与小脑存在明显的作用分离,其具体机制还有待深入研究。前额叶的计时功能可能与注意和工作记忆对时间信息的获得、维持和组织有关。此外,还发现大脑右半球与时问信息的加工关系密切。     

The role of spatial configuration in tests of working memory explored with functional neuroimaging

While the importance of the prefrontal cortex for "higher-order" cognitive functions is largely undisputed, no consensus has been reached regarding the fractionation of functions within this region. Several recent functional neuroimaging studies have suggested that the mid-ventrolateral frontal cortex may play an important role in various aspects of human memory. Thus, similar patterns of activation have been observed in this region during analogous spatial, verbal and visual span tasks. In the present study, however, activation was observed in a more dorsolateral region of the lateral frontal cortex during a modified version of the spatial span task, which differed only in the spatial configuration of the array employed. The results of a supplementary behavioral study, designed to investigate this effect further, suggest that in spatial memory tasks certain stimulus configurations may encourage subjects to adopt mnemonic strategies, which may depend upon dorsolateral, rather than ventrolateral, regions of the frontal cortex. These findings shed further light on the functional relationship between dorsal and ventral regions of the lateral frontal cortex and, more specifically, how the "executive" processes assumed to be dependent upon these regions might contribute to aspects of human memory.     

从儿童赌博任务看热执行功能的发展

为考察热执行功能的发展,本研究通过儿童赌博任务检测了60名3～4岁儿童(男女各半)的情感决策。实验结果表明,3岁和4岁儿童在此任务上存在显著的年龄差异,4岁组在各试验组的分数呈上升趋势,他们在试验组2、尤其在试验组4和5中选择有利纸牌的次数显著多于3岁儿童,这反映出情感决策在3～4岁期间发展迅速。此外,儿童在此任务上的成绩存在很多可变性,可能掩盖了性别差异,因而,尽管男孩在最后两个试验组的成绩优于女孩,但性别差异在统计上并不显著。     

Integrated memory for objects, places, and temporal order: evidence for episodic-like memory in mice

Human episodic memory refers to the recollection of an unique past experience in terms of what happened, and where and when it happened. Factoring out the issue of conscious recollection, episodic memory, even at the behavioral level, has been difficult to demonstrate in non-human mammals. Although, it was previously shown that rodents can associate what and when or what and where information given on unique trials, it proved to be difficult to demonstrate memory for what, where, and when simultaneously in mammals, without using extensive training procedures, which might induce semantic rather than episodic memory recall. Towards the goal of an animal model of human episodic memory we designed an three-trial object exploration task in which different versions of the novelty-preference paradigm were combined to subsume (a) object recognition memory, (b) the memory for locations in which objects were explored, and (c) the temporal order memory for object presented at distinct time points. We found that mice spent more time exploring two "old familiar" objects relative to two "recent familiar" objects, reflecting memory for what and when and concomitantly directed more exploration at a spatially displaced "old familiar" object relative to a stationary "old familiar" object, reflecting memory for what and where. These results suggest that during a single test trial the mice were able to (a) recognize previously explored objects, (b) remember the location in which particular objects were previously encountered, and (c) to discriminate the relative recency in which different objects were presented. According to the currently discussed behavioral criteria for episodic-like memory in animals, our results suggest that mice are capable to form such higher order memories.     

Neurocognitive mechanisms underlying the experience of flow

Recent theoretical and empirical work in cognitive science and neuroscience is brought into contact with the concept of the flow experience. After a brief exposition of brain function, the explicit-implicit distinction is applied to the effortless information processing that is so characteristic of the flow state. The explicit system is associated with the higher cognitive functions of the frontal lobe and medial temporal lobe structures and has evolved to increase cognitive flexibility. In contrast, the implicit system is associated with the skill-based knowledge supported primarily by the basal ganglia and has the advantage of being more efficient. From the analysis of this flexibility/efficiency trade-off emerges a thesis that identifies the flow state as a period during which a highly practiced skill that is represented in the implicit system's knowledge base is implemented without interference from the explicit system. It is proposed that a necessary prerequisite to the experience of flow is a state of transient hypofrontality that enables the temporary suppression of the analytical and meta-conscious capacities of the explicit system. Examining sensory-motor integration skills that seem to typify flow such as athletic performance, writing, and free-jazz improvisation, the new framework clarifies how this concept relates to creativity and opens new avenues of research.