Representational pseudoneglect: lateralised biases in attentional orienting in the absence of vision in healthy ageing participants.

Pseudoneglect is the tendency to be biased towards the left side of space in tasks of a spatial nature. A non-visual form of the bias referred to as ‘representational pseudoneglect’ has been observed when people generate a mental representation of a stimulus in the complete absence of visual input - participants pay more attention to the left-hand side of the mental representation. The aim of this thesis was to advance our understanding of representational pseudoneglect by exploring the bias across lifespan using different modes of non-visual presentation (touch vs. audition vs. visual imagery). In Experiments 1 and 2 healthy participants aged 3 to 96 years used touch alone without vision to bisect wooden rods at the perceived centre. All participants (with the exception of some adolescents) showed leftward biases on tactile rod bisection and significant gender and age effects were found. In Experiments 3 to 10 healthy young adults listened to aural-verbal descriptions of abstract patterns or real-world scenes without vision and formed a mental representation of the spatial layout that was described. A leftward bias was consistently found for a relative judgement task along with a significant effect of monaural presentation and start side, but no lateralised bias for memory recall regardless of ‘mental mapping’ ability or method of response. In Experiment 11 participants eye movements were recorded while they visually processed and then memorised natural real-world scenes; again there was no lateralised memory or eye movement bias. Experiment 12 showed that a secondary task increased the magnitude of visuo-spatial pseudoneglect for children and adults under certain conditions. This thesis argues that purely representational forms of pseudoneglect clearly exist in healthy participants and that: 1) the results can be explained in terms of contralateral attentional orienting by the right hemisphere, 2) extraneous variables (gender; physical or imagined starting position) can mediate representational pseudoneglect, and 3) current models of cognitive ageing need to provide for a cognitive bias that can be enhanced by age

Left-ear-driven representational pseudoneglect for mentally represented real-word scenes created from aural-verbal description

The current research explored pseudoneglect for the mental representation of real-world scenes generated from aural-verbal description in the complete absence of direct visual processing. Healthy participants listened binaurally or monaurally to aural-verbal descriptions of novel real-world scenes with familiar landmarks (e.g., 'shop', 'cafe', 'school') to be imagined on the left- or right-hand side. Participants were asked to mentally represent the street scene using a visuospatial template though it was up to participants how they mentally represented each individual landmark within the street (i.e., in terms of colour and size). There were two main tasks: a relative judgement task (which side of the street contains the most landmarks?) and a recall task (recall the landmarks on the left vs. right side of the street). When stimuli were presented monaurally to the left ear (favouring the activation of the right hemisphere) participants demonstrated representational pseudoneglect and showed a bias towards responding that there were more landmarks on the left compared to the right. However, this did not lead to enhanced recall for left side landmarks. When stimuli were presented binaurally or monaurally to the right ear, there was no evidence of representational pseudoneglect for the relative judgement or recall task. The current study discusses how the use of monaural presentation may boost right hemisphere activation in aural-verbal experimental paradigms designed to explore representational pseudoneglect.Joanna L. Brooks, Maria A. Brandimont

Making a stronger case for comparative research to investigate the behavioral and neurological bases of three-dimensional navigation

The rich diversity of avian natural history provides exciting possibilities for comparative research aimed at understanding three-dimensional navigation. We propose some hypotheses relating differences in natural history to potential behavioral and neurological adaptations possessed by contrasting bird species. This comparative approach may offer unique insights into some of the important questions raised by Jeffery et al

Making a stronger case for comparative research to investigate the behavioral and neurological bases of three-dimensional navigation

The rich diversity of avian natural history provides exciting possibilities for comparative research aimed at understanding three-dimensional navigation. We propose some hypotheses relating differences in natural history to potential behavioral and neurological adaptations possessed by contrasting bird species. This comparative approach may offer unique insights into some of the important questions raised by Jeffery et al

Neolithic land-use in the Dutch wetlands: estimating the land-use implications of resource exploitation strategies in the Middle Swifterbant Culture (4600-3900 BCE)

The Dutch wetlands witness the gradual adoption of Neolithic novelties by foraging societies during the Swifterbant period. Recent analyses provide new insights into the subsistence palette of Middle Swifterbant societies. Small-scale livestock herding and cultivation are in evidence at this time, but their importance if unclear. Within the framework of PAGES Land-use at 6000BP project, we aim to translate the information on resource exploitation into information on land-use that can be incorporated into global climate modelling efforts, with attention for the importance of agriculture. A reconstruction of patterns of resource exploitation and their land-use dimensions is complicated by methodological issues in comparing the results of varied recent investigations. Analyses of organic residues in ceramics have attested to the cooking of aquatic foods, ruminant meat, porcine meat, as well as rare cases of dairy. In terms of vegetative matter, some ceramics exclusively yielded evidence of wild plants, while others preserve cereal remains. Elevated δ15N values of human were interpreted as demonstrating an important aquatic component of the diet well into the 4th millennium BC. Yet recent assays on livestock remains suggest grazing on salt marshes partly accounts for the human values. Finally, renewed archaeozoological investigations have shown the early presence of domestic animals to be more limited than previously thought. We discuss the relative importance of exploited resources to produce a best-fit interpretation of changing patterns of land-use during the Middle Swifterbant phase. Our review combines recent archaeological data with wider data on anthropogenic influence on the landscape. Combining the results of plant macroremains, information from pollen cores about vegetation development, the structure of faunal assemblages, and finds of arable fields and dairy residue, we suggest the most parsimonious interpretation is one of a limited land-use footprint of cultivation and livestock keeping in Dutch wetlands between 4600 and 3900 BCE.NWOVidi 276-60-004Human Origin

Ways and Capacity in Archaeological Data Management in Serbia

Over the past year and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire world has witnessed inequalities across borders and societies. They also include access to archaeological resources, both physical and digital. Both archaeological data creators and users spent a lot of time working from their homes, away from artefact collections and research data. However, this was the perfect moment to understand the importance of making data freely and openly available, both nationally and internationally. This is why the authors of this paper chose to make a selection of data bases from various institutions responsible for preservation and protection of cultural heritage, in order to understand their policies regarding accessibility and usage of the data they keep. This will be done by simple visits to various web-sites or data bases. They intend to check on the volume and content, but also importance of the offered archaeological heritage. In addition, the authors will estimate whether the heritage has adequately been classified and described and also check whether data is available in foreign languages. It needs to be seen whether it is possible to access digital objects (documents and the accompanying metadata), whether access is opened for all users or it requires a certain hierarchy access, what is the policy of usage, reusage and distribution etc. It remains to be seen whether there are public API or whether it is possible to collect data through API. In case that there is a public API, one needs to check whether datasets are interoperable or messy, requiring data cleaning. After having visited a certain number of web-sites, the authors expect to collect enough data to make a satisfactory conclusion about accessibility and usage of Serbian archaeological data web bases

Taphonomy, environment or human plant exploitation strategies?: Deciphering changes in Pleistocene-Holocene plant representation at Umhlatuzana rockshelter, South Africa

The period between ~40 and 20 ka BP encompassing the Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA) transition has long been of interest because of the associated technological change. Understanding this transition in southern Africa is complicated by the paucity of archaeological sites that span this period. With its occupation sequence spanning the last ~70,000 years, Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter is one of the few sites that record this transition. Umhlatuzana thus offers a great opportunity to study past environmental dynamics from the Late Pleistocene (MIS 4) to the Late Holocene, and past human subsistence strategies, their social organisation, technological and symbolic innovations. Although organic preservation is poor (bones, seeds, and charcoal) at the site, silica phytoliths preserve generally well throughout the sequence. These microscopic silica particles can identify different plant types that are no longer visible at the site because of decomposition or burning to a reliable taxonomical level. Thus, to trace site occupation, plant resource use, and in turn reconstruct past vegetation, we applied phytolith analyses to sediment samples of the newly excavated Umhlatuzana sequence. We present results of the phytolith assemblage variability to determine change in plant use from the Pleistocene to the Holocene and discuss them in relation to taphonomical processes and human plant gathering strategies and activities. This study ultimately seeks to provide a palaeoenvironmental context for modes of occupation and will shed light on past human-environmental interactions in eastern South Africa.NWOVidi 276-60-004Human Origin