Kinesthesia in a sustained-attention driving task

This study investigated the effects of kinesthetic stimuli on brain activities during a sustained-attention task in an immersive driving simulator. Tonic and phasic brain responses on multiple timescales were analyzed using time-frequency analysis of electroencephalographic (EEG) sources identified by independent component analysis (ICA). Sorting EEG spectra with respect to reaction times (RT) to randomly introduced lane-departure events revealed distinct effects of kinesthetic stimuli on the brain under different performance levels. Experimental results indicated that EEG spectral dynamics highly correlated with performance lapses when driving involved kinesthetic feedback. Furthermore, in the realistic environment involving both visual and kinesthetic feedback, a transitive relationship of power spectra between optimal-, suboptimal-, and poor-performance groups was found predominately across most of the independent components. In contrast to the static environment with visual input only, kinesthetic feedback reduced theta-power augmentation in the central and frontal components when preparing for action and error monitoring, while strengthening alpha suppression in the central component while steering the wheel. In terms of behavior, subjects tended to have a short response time to process unexpected events with the assistance of kinesthesia, yet only when their performance was optimal. Decrease in attentional demand, facilitated by kinesthetic feedback, eventually significantly increased the reaction time in the suboptimal-performance state. Neurophysiological evidence of mutual relationships between behavioral performance and neurocognition in complex task paradigms and experimental environments, presented in this study, might elucidate our understanding of distributed brain dynamics, supporting natural human cognition and complex coordinated, multi-joint naturalistic behavior, and lead to improved understanding of brain-behavior relations in operating environments. © 2014 Elsevier Inc

An EEG-based perceptual function integration network for application to drowsy driving

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Drowsy driving is among the most critical causes of fatal crashes. Thus, the development of an effective algorithm for detecting a driver's cognitive state demands immediate attention. For decades, studies have observed clear evidence using electroencephalography that the brain's rhythmic activities fluctuate from alertness to drowsiness. Recognition of this physiological signal is the major consideration of neural engineering for designing a feasible countermeasure. This study proposed a perceptual function integration system which used spectral features from multiple independent brain sources for application to recognize the driver's vigilance state. The analysis of brain spectral dynamics demonstrated physiological evidenced that the activities of the multiple cortical sources were highly related to the changes of the vigilance state. The system performances showed a robust and improved accuracy as much as 88% higher than any of results performed by a single-source approach

Revealing spatio-spectral electroencephalographic dynamics of musical mode and tempo perception by independent component analysis.

BackgroundMusic conveys emotion by manipulating musical structures, particularly musical mode- and tempo-impact. The neural correlates of musical mode and tempo perception revealed by electroencephalography (EEG) have not been adequately addressed in the literature.MethodThis study used independent component analysis (ICA) to systematically assess spatio-spectral EEG dynamics associated with the changes of musical mode and tempo.ResultsEmpirical results showed that music with major mode augmented delta-band activity over the right sensorimotor cortex, suppressed theta activity over the superior parietal cortex, and moderately suppressed beta activity over the medial frontal cortex, compared to minor-mode music, whereas fast-tempo music engaged significant alpha suppression over the right sensorimotor cortex.ConclusionThe resultant EEG brain sources were comparable with previous studies obtained by other neuroimaging modalities, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET). In conjunction with advanced dry and mobile EEG technology, the EEG results might facilitate the translation from laboratory-oriented research to real-life applications for music therapy, training and entertainment in naturalistic environments

Mind over chatter: plastic up-regulation of the fMRI alertness network by EEG neurofeedback

EEG neurofeedback (NFB) is a brain-computer interface (BCI) approach used to shape brain oscillations by means of real-time feedback from the electroencephalogram (EEG), which is known to reflect neural activity across cortical networks. Although NFB is being evaluated as a novel tool for treating brain disorders, evidence is scarce on the mechanism of its impact on brain function. In this study with 34 healthy participants, we examined whether, during the performance of an attentional auditory oddball task, the functional connectivity strength of distinct fMRI networks would be plastically altered after a 30-min NFB session of alpha-band reduction (n=17) versus a sham-feedback condition (n=17). Our results reveal that compared to sham, NFB induced a specific increase of functional connectivity within the alertness/salience network (dorsal anterior and mid cingulate), which was detectable 30 minutes after termination of training. Crucially, these effects were significantly correlated with reduced mind-wandering 'on-task' and were coupled to NFB-mediated resting state reductions in the alpha-band (8-12 Hz). No such relationships were evident for the sham condition. Although group default-mode network (DMN) connectivity was not significantly altered following NFB, we observed a positive association between modulations of resting alpha amplitude and precuneal connectivity, both correlating positively with frequency of mind-wandering. Our findings demonstrate a temporally direct, plastic impact of NFB on large-scale brain functional networks, and provide promising neurobehavioral evidence supporting its use as a noninvasive tool to modulate brain function in health and disease

Significance of beta-band oscillations in Autism Spectrum Disorders during motor response inhibition tasks: a MEG study

In Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), impaired response inhibition and lack of adaptation are hypothesized to underlie core ASD symptoms, such as social communication and repetitive, stereotyped behavior. Thus, the aim of the present study was to compare neural correlates of inhibition, post-error adaptation, and reaction time variability in ASD and neuro-typical control (NTC) participants by investigating possible differences in error-related changes of oscillatory MEG activity. Twelve male NTC (mean age 20.3 ± 3.7) and fourteen male patients with ASD (mean age 17.8 ± 2.9) were included in the analysis. Subjects with ASD showed increased error-related reaction time variability. MEG analysis revealed decreased beta power in the ASD group in comparison to the NTC group over the centro-parietal channels in both, the pre-stimulus and post-response interval. In the ASD group, mean centro-parietal beta power negatively correlated with dimensional autism symptoms. In both groups, false alarms were followed by an early increase in temporo-frontal theta to alpha power; and by a later decrease in alpha to beta power at central and posterior sensors. Single trial correlations were additionally studied in the ASD group, who showed a positive correlation of pre-stimulus beta power with post-response theta, alpha, and beta power, particularly after hit trials. On a broader scale, the results deliver important insights into top-down control deficits that may relate to core symptoms observed in ASD

Translation of EEG spatial filters from resting to motor imagery using independent component analysis.

Electroencephalogram (EEG)-based brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) often use spatial filters to improve signal-to-noise ratio of task-related EEG activities. To obtain robust spatial filters, large amounts of labeled data, which are often expensive and labor-intensive to obtain, need to be collected in a training procedure before online BCI control. Several studies have recently developed zero-training methods using a session-to-session scenario in order to alleviate this problem. To our knowledge, a state-to-state translation, which applies spatial filters derived from one state to another, has never been reported. This study proposes a state-to-state, zero-training method to construct spatial filters for extracting EEG changes induced by motor imagery. Independent component analysis (ICA) was separately applied to the multi-channel EEG in the resting and the motor imagery states to obtain motor-related spatial filters. The resultant spatial filters were then applied to single-trial EEG to differentiate left- and right-hand imagery movements. On a motor imagery dataset collected from nine subjects, comparable classification accuracies were obtained by using ICA-based spatial filters derived from the two states (motor imagery: 87.0%, resting: 85.9%), which were both significantly higher than the accuracy achieved by using monopolar scalp EEG data (80.4%). The proposed method considerably increases the practicality of BCI systems in real-world environments because it is less sensitive to electrode misalignment across different sessions or days and does not require annotated pilot data to derive spatial filters

Effects of the adhd syndrome on the frequency composition of ERPs revealed by independent component analysis

In this study, we investigated the frequency characteristics of independent components (ICs) of event-related potentials (ERPs) recorded in persons with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and normal adults under conditions of continuous performance test (CPT). A group of 50 participants (10 ADHD subjects and 40 ones with no attention disorders) was examined. Independent component analysis was applied to the recorded signals. For ERP extraction, averages for each group of ICs, which were time-locked to the onset of stimuli, were calculated. Several frequency characteristics (704 items) were extracted from different ERPs in each IC. Eight features of the brain signals had a significant (P < 0.001) correlation with the participants’ clinical presentation, which is consistent with the results of previous studies. The revealed promising relation can be used for further evaluation of the sustained attention level.У роботі вивчали частотні характеристики пов’язаних з подією ЕЕГ-потенціалів (ППП) у дорослих тестованих з наявністю синдрому дефіциту уваги й гіперактивності (ADHD) та його відсутністю (норма) в умовах тесту безперервного виконання (continuous performance test, CPT). Дослідження були проведені на 50 добровольцях (10 тестованих з наявністю ADHD і 40 практично здорових людей). Для вивчення ППП використовували методику незалежного компонентного аналізу. Середні величини для кожної групи незалежних компонентів (НК), „прив’язаних” до моменту пред’явлення стимулу, розраховували, щоб описати ППП. У кожному НК у складі різних ППП було виділено низку частотних особливостей (усього 704 риси). Як виявилося, вісім таких рис досліджуваних ППП вірогідно (P < < 0.001) корелювали з клінічними характеристиками тестованих, що узгоджується з результатами, отриманими в попередніх роботах. Наші дані можуть бути використані для об’єктивної оцінки рівня підт римуваної уваги

Lapses in Responsiveness: Characteristics and Detection from the EEG

Performance lapses in occupations where public safety is paramount can have disastrous consequences, resulting in accidents with multiple fatalities. Drowsy individuals performing an active task, like driving, often cycle rapidly between periods of wake and sleep, as exhibited by cyclical variation in both EEG power spectra and task performance measures. The aim of this project was to identify reliable physiological cues indicative of lapses, related to behavioural microsleep episodes, from the EEG, which could in turn be used to develop a real-time lapse detection (or better still, prediction) system. Additionally, the project also sought to achieve an increased understanding of the characteristics of lapses in responsiveness in normal subjects. A study was conducted to determine EEG and/or EOG cues (if any) that expert raters use to detect lapses that occur during a psychomotor vigilance task (PVT), with the subsequent goal of using these cues to design an automated system. A previously-collected dataset comprising physiological and performance data of 10 air traffic controllers (ATCs) was used. Analysis showed that the experts were unable to detect the vast majority of lapses based on EEG and EOG cues. This suggested that, unlike automated sleep staging, an automated lapse detection system needed to identify features not generally visible in the EEG. Limitations in the ATC dataset led to a study where more comprehensive physiological and performance data were collected from normal subjects. Fifteen non-sleep-deprived male volunteers aged 18-36 years were recruited. All performed a 1-D continuous pursuit visuomotor tracking task for 1 hour during each of two sessions that occurred between 1 and 7 weeks apart. A video camera was used to record head and facial expressions of the subject. EEG was recorded from electrodes at 16 scalp locations according to the 10-20 system at 256 Hz. Vertical and horizontal EOG was also recorded. All experimental sessions were held between 12:30 and 17:00 hours. Subjects were asked to refrain from consuming stimulants or depressants, for 4 h prior to each session. Rate and duration were estimated for lapses identified by a tracking flat spot and/or video sleep. Fourteen of the 15 subjects had one or more lapses, with an overall rate of 39.3 ± 12.9 lapses per hour (mean ± SE) and a lapse duration of 3.4 ± 0.5 s. The study also showed that lapsing and tracking error increased during the first 30 or so min of a 1-h session, then decreased during the remaining time, despite the absence of external temporal cues. EEG spectral power was found to be higher during lapses in the delta, theta, and alpha bands, and lower in the beta, gamma, and higher bands, but correlations between changes in EEG power and lapses were low. Thus, complete lapses in responsiveness are a frequent phenomenon in normal subjects - even when not sleep-deprived - undertaking an extended, monotonous, continuous visuomotor task. This is the first study to investigate and report on the characteristics of complete lapses of responsiveness during a continuous tracking task in non-sleep-deprived subjects. The extent to which non-sleep-deprived subjects experience complete lapses in responsiveness during normal working hours was unexpected. Such findings will be of major concern to individuals and companies in various transport sectors. Models based on EEG power spectral features, such as power in the traditional bands and ratios between bands, were developed to detect the change of brain state during behavioural microsleeps. Several other techniques including spectral coherence and asymmetry, fractal dimension, approximate entropy, and Lempel-Ziv (LZ) complexity were also used to form detection models. Following the removal of eye blink artifacts from the EEG, the signal was transformed into z-scores relative to the baseline of the signal. An epoch length of 2 s and an overlap of 1 s (50%) between successive epochs were used for all signal processing algorithms. Principal component analysis was used to reduce redundancy in the features extracted from the 16 EEG derivations. Linear discriminant analysis was used to form individual classification models capable of detecting lapses using data from each subject. The overall detection model was formed by combining the outputs of the individual models using stacked generalization with constrained least-squares fitting used to determine the optimal meta-learner weights of the stacked system. The performance of the lapse detector was measured both in terms of its ability to detect lapse state (in 1-s epochs) and lapse events. Best performance in lapse state detection was achieved using the detector based on spectral power (SP) features (mean correlation of φ = 0.39 ± 0.06). Lapse event detection performance using SP features was moderate at best (sensitivity = 73.5%, selectivity = 25.5%). LZ complexity feature-based detector showed the highest performance (φ = 0.28 ± 0.06) out of the 3 non-linear feature-based detectors. The SP+LZ feature-based model had no improvement in performance over the detector based on SP alone, suggesting that LZ features contributed no additional information. Alpha power contributed the most to the overall SP-based detection model. Analysis showed that the lapse detection model was detecting phasic, rather than tonic, changes in the level of drowsiness. The performance of these EEG-based lapse detection systems is modest. Further research is needed to develop more sensitive methods to extract cues from the EEG leading to devices capable of detecting and/or predicting lapses

Decoding Neural Activity to Assess Individual Latent State in Ecologically Valid Contexts

There exist very few ways to isolate cognitive processes, historically defined via highly controlled laboratory studies, in more ecologically valid contexts. Specifically, it remains unclear as to what extent patterns of neural activity observed under such constraints actually manifest outside the laboratory in a manner that can be used to make an accurate inference about the latent state, associated cognitive process, or proximal behavior of the individual. Improving our understanding of when and how specific patterns of neural activity manifest in ecologically valid scenarios would provide validation for laboratory-based approaches that study similar neural phenomena in isolation and meaningful insight into the latent states that occur during complex tasks. We argue that domain generalization methods from the brain-computer interface community have the potential to address this challenge. We previously used such an approach to decode phasic neural responses associated with visual target discrimination. Here, we extend that work to more tonic phenomena such as internal latent states. We use data from two highly controlled laboratory paradigms to train two separate domain-generalized models. We apply the trained models to an ecologically valid paradigm in which participants performed multiple, concurrent driving-related tasks. Using the pretrained models, we derive estimates of the underlying latent state and associated patterns of neural activity. Importantly, as the patterns of neural activity change along the axis defined by the original training data, we find changes in behavior and task performance consistent with the observations from the original, laboratory paradigms. We argue that these results lend ecological validity to those experimental designs and provide a methodology for understanding the relationship between observed neural activity and behavior during complex tasks