105 research outputs found
Visual Clutter Causes High-Magnitude Errors
Perceptual decisions are often made in cluttered environments, where a target may be confounded with competing “distractor” stimuli. Although many studies and theoretical treatments have highlighted the effect of distractors on performance, it remains unclear how they affect thequality of perceptual decisions. Here we show that perceptual clutter leads not only to an increase in judgment errors, but also to an increase in perceived signal strength and decision confidence on erroneous trials. Observers reported simultaneously the direction and magnitude of the tilt of a target grating presented either alone, or together with vertical distractor stimuli. When presented in isolation, observers perceived isolated targets as only slightly tilted on error trials, and had little confidence in their decision. When the target was embedded in distractors, however, they perceived it to be strongly tilted on error trials, and had high confidence of their (erroneous) decisions. The results are well explained by assuming that the observers' internal representation of stimulus orientation arises from a nonlinear combination of the outputs of independent noise-perturbed front-end detectors. The implication that erroneous perceptual decisions in cluttered environments are made with high confidence has many potential practical consequences, and may be extendable to decision-making in general
Take a Ramble into Solution Spaces for Classification Problems in Neural Networks
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Pulmonary siRNA Delivery with Sophisticated Amphiphilic Poly(Spermine Acrylamides) for the Treatment of Lung Fibrosis
RNA interference (RNAi) is an efficient strategy to post-transcriptionally silence gene expression. While all siRNA drugs on the market target the liver, the lung offers a variety of currently undruggable targets, which can potentially be treated with RNA therapeutics. To achieve this goal, the synthesis of poly(spermine acrylamides) (P(SpAA) is reported herein. Polymers are prepared via polymerization of N-acryloxysuccinimide (NAS) and afterward this active ester is converted into spermine-based pendant groups. Copolymerizations with decylacrylamide are employed to increase the hydrophobicity of the polymers. After deprotection, polymers show excellent siRNA encapsulation to obtain perfectly sized polyplexes at very low polymer/RNA ratios. In vitro 2D and 3D cell culture, ex vivo and in vivo experiments reveal superior properties of amphiphilic spermine-copolymers with respect to delivery of siRNA to lung cells in comparison to commonly used lipid-based transfection agents. In line with the in vitro results, siRNA delivery to human lung explants confirm more efficient gene silencing of protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR2), a G protein-coupled receptor involved in fibrosis. This study reveals the importance of the balance between efficient polyplex formation, cellular uptake, gene knockdown, and toxicity for efficient siRNA delivery in vitro, in vivo, and in fibrotic human lung tissue ex vivo
Characterization of visual object representations in rat primary visual cortex
For most animal species, quick and reliable identification of visual objects is critical for survival. This applies also to rodents, which, in recent years, have become increasingly popular models of visual functions. For this reason in this work we analyzed how various properties of visual objects are represented in rat primary visual cortex (V1). The analysis has been carried out through supervised (classification) and unsupervised (clustering) learning methods. We assessed quantitatively the discrimination capabilities of V1 neurons by demonstrating how photometric properties (luminosity and object position in the scene) can be derived directly from the neuronal responses
Learning with a network of competing synapses
Competition between synapses arises in some forms of correlation-based
plasticity. Here we propose a game theory-inspired model of synaptic
interactions whose dynamics is driven by competition between synapses in their
weak and strong states, which are characterized by different timescales. The
learning of inputs and memory are meaningfully definable in an effective
description of networked synaptic populations. We study, numerically and
analytically, the dynamic responses of the effective system to various signal
types, particularly with reference to an existing empirical motor adaptation
model. The dependence of the system-level behavior on the synaptic parameters,
and the signal strength, is brought out in a clear manner, thus illuminating
issues such as those of optimal performance, and the functional role of
multiple timescales.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures; published in PLoS ON
The Spatial and Temporal Construction of Confidence in the Visual Scene
Human subjects can report many items of a cluttered field a few hundred milliseconds after stimulus presentation. This memory decays rapidly and after a second only 3 or 4 items can be stored in working memory. Here we compared the dynamics of objective performance with a measure of subjective report and we observed that 1) Objective performance beyond explicit subjective reports (blindsight) was significantly more pronounced within a short temporal interval and within specific locations of the visual field which were robust across sessions 2) High confidence errors (false beliefs) were largely confined to a small spatial window neighboring the cue. The size of this window did not change in time 3) Subjective confidence showed a moderate but consistent decrease with time, independent of all other experimental factors. Our study allowed us to asses quantitatively the temporal and spatial access to an objective response and to subjective reports
Manipulation of Pre-Target Activity on the Right Frontal Eye Field Enhances Conscious Visual Perception in Humans
The right Frontal Eye Field (FEF) is a region of the human brain, which has been consistently involved in visuo-spatial attention and access to consciousness. Nonetheless, the extent of this cortical site’s ability to influence specific aspects of visual performance remains debated. We hereby manipulated pre-target activity on the right FEF and explored its influence on the detection and categorization of low-contrast near-threshold visual stimuli. Our data show that pre-target frontal neurostimulation has the potential when used alone to induce enhancements of conscious visual detection. More interestingly, when FEF stimulation was combined with visuo-spatial cues, improvements remained present only for trials in which the cue correctly predicted the location of the subsequent target. Our data provide evidence for the causal role of the right FEF pre-target activity in the modulation of human conscious vision and reveal the dependence of such neurostimulatory effects on the state of activity set up by cue validity in the dorsal attentional orienting network
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Full field electroretinogram in autism spectrum disorder
Purpose
To explore early findings that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have reduced scotopic ERG b-wave amplitudes.
Methods
Dark adapted (DA) ERGs were acquired to a range of flash strengths, (-4.0 to 2.3 log phot cd.s.m-2), including and extending the ISCEV standard, from two subject groups: (ASD) N=11 and (Control) N=15 for DA and N=14 for light adapted (LA) ERGs who were matched for mean age and range. Naka-Rushton curves were fitted to DA b-wave amplitude growth over the first limb (-4.0 to -1.0 log phot cd.s.m-2). The derived parameters (Vmax, Km and n) were compared between groups. Scotopic 15 Hz flicker ERGs (14.93Hz) were recorded to 10 flash strengths presented in ascending order from -3.0 to 0.5 log Td.s to assess the slow and fast rod pathways respectively. LA ERGs were acquired to a range of flash strengths, (-0.5 to 1.0 log phot cd.s.m-2). Photopic 30 Hz, flicker ERGs, oscillatory potentials (OPs) and the responses to prolonged 120 ms ON- OFF stimuli were also recorded.
Results
For some individuals the DA b-wave amplitudes fell below the control 5th centile of the controls with up to four ASD participants (36%) at the 1.5 log phot cd.s.m-2 flash strength and two (18%) ASD participants at the lower -2 log phot cd.s.m-2 flash strength. However, across the thirteen flash strengths there were no significant group differences for b-wave amplitude’s growth (repeated measures ANOVA p=0.83). Nor were there any significant differences between the groups for the Naka-Rushton parameters (p>0.09). No group differences were observed in the 15Hz scotopic flicker phase or amplitude (p>0.1), DA ERG a- wave amplitude or time to peak (p>26). The DA b-wave time to peak at 0.5 log phot cd.s.m-2 were longer in the ASD group (corrected p=0.04). The single ISCEV LA 0.5 log phot cd.s.m-2 (p0.08) to the single flash stimuli although there was a significant interaction between group and flash strength for the b-wave amplitude (corrected p=0.006). The prolonged 120 ms ON-responses were smaller in the ASD group (corrected p=0.003), but the OFF response amplitude (p>0.6) and ON and OFF times to peaks (p>0.4) were similar between groups. The LA OPs showed an earlier bifurcation of OP2 in the younger ASD participants, however no other differences were apparent in the OPs or 30Hz flicker waveforms.
Conclusion
Some ASD individuals show subnormal DA ERG b-wave amplitudes. Under LA conditions the b-wave is reduced across the ASD group along with the ON response of the ERG. These exploratory findings, suggest there is altered cone-ON bipolar signalling in ASD
RNAs competing for microRNAs mutually influence their fluctuations in a highly non-linear microRNA-dependent manner in single cells
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