8,943 research outputs found
When the ignored gets bound: sequential effects in the flanker task
Recent research on attentional control processes in the Eriksen flanker task has focused on the so-called congruency sequence effect a.k.a. the Gratton effect, which is the observation of a smaller flanker interference effect after incongruent than after congruent trials. There is growing support for the view that in this paradigm, the congruency sequence effect is due to repetition of the target or response across trials. Here, results from two experiments are presented that separate the contributions of target, flanker, and response repetition. The results suggest that neither response repetition alone nor conflict is necessary to produce the effect. Instead, the data reveal that only flanker repetition is sufficient to produce congruency sequence effects. In other words, information that is associated with a response irrespective whether it is relevant for the current trial is bound to response representations. An account is presented in which the fleeting event files are the activated part of the task set in which flankers, targets, and response representations are associatively linked and updated through conflict-modulated reinforcement learning
Short-term memory as a working memory control process
Aben et al. (2012) take issue with the unthoughtful use of the terms “working memory” (WM) and “short-term memory” (STM) in the cognitive and neuroscientific literature. Whereas I agree that neuroscientists using the term WM to refer to sustained neural activation and cognitive psychologists using the terms interchangeably reflects that the field has lost control over its own dictionary, the recommendations to develop more tasks does not seem to get to the heart of the matter. Here, I argue in favor of a theoretical approach to the constructs of WM and STM, as the terms have become as impure as the tasks that purport to measure the constructs
Quantitative study of long-term solar and climatic changes
Long term variations in the diameter and the shape of the Sun were studied. Daily observations of the Sun's diameter made at the Greenwich Observatory between 1836 and 1953 were analysed and interpreted. The data was converted into digital form and then screened and processed. It was found that the horizontal diameter of the Sun measured at Greenwich appears to have decreased systematically between 1880 and 1953 at a rate of 1.2 plus or minus 0.6 minutes of arc per century
Semantic similarity dissociates shortfrom long-term recency effects: testing a neurocomputational model of list memory
The finding that recency effects can occur not only in immediate free recall (i.e., short-term recency) but also in the continuous-distractor task (i.e., long-term recency) has led many theorists to reject the distinction between short- and long-term memory stores. Recently, we have argued that long-term recency effects do not undermine the concept of a short-term store, and we have presented a neurocomputational model that accounts for both short- and long-term recency and for a series of dissociations between these two effects. Here, we present a new dissociation between short- and long-term recency based on semantic similarity, which is predicted by our model. This dissociation is due to the mutual support between associated items in the short-term store, which takes place in immediate free recall and delayed free recall but not in continuous-distractor free recall
Computational investigations of cognitive impairment in Huntington's Disease
Book synopsis: Huntington's Disease is one of the well-studied neurodegenerative conditions, a quite devastating and
currently incurable one. It is a brain disorder that causes certain types of neurons to become damaged,
causing various parts of the brain to deteriorate and lose their function. This results in uncontrolled
movements, loss of intellectual capabilities and behavioural disturbances. Since the identification of the
causative mutation, there have been many significant developments in understanding the cellular and
molecular perturbations. This book, "Huntington's Disease - Core Concepts and Current Advances", was
prepared to serve as a source of up-to-date information on a wide range of issues involved in Huntington's
Disease. It will help the clinicians, health care providers, researchers, graduate students and life science
readers to increase their understanding of the clinical correlates, genetic aspects, neuropathological findings,
cellular and molecular events and potential therapeutic interventions involved in HD. The book not only serves
reviewed fundamental information on the disease but also presents original research in several disciplines,
which collectively provide comprehensive description of the key issues in the area
A computational approach to developing cost-efficient adaptive-threshold algorithms for EEG neuro feedback
In electroencephalography (EEG) neurofeedback protocols,
trainees receive feedback about the spectral power of the target
brain wave oscillation and are tasked to increase or decrease this
feedback signal compared to a predetermined threshold. In a recent
computational analysis of a neurofeedback protocol it was shown that
the placement of the threshold has a major impact on the learning
rate and that placed too low or too high leads to no learning or even
unlearning, respectively. However, the optimal threshold placement is
not known in real-life scenarios. Here, these analyses were extended
to assess whether an adaptive-mean threshold procedure could lead
to faster learning curves. The results indicate that such a procedure is
indeed superior to a fixed-mean procedure and that the distribution
of asymptotic EEG power values converges to that obtained with
the optimal-threshold procedure. Surprisingly, the adaptive-mean
procedure leads to thresholds that are higher than the optimal one,
which is explained through the increase in threshold lagging behind
the increase in the likelihood of activation of the target neurons. To
date, no computational model was used to compute the cost-efficiency
of EEG neurofeedback procedures. The current simulation (within
the specific reinforcement schedule) demonstrated a 35% reduction
in training time, which could translate into sizeable financial savings.
This study demonstrates the utility of computational methods in
neurofeedback research and opens up further developments that
tackle specific neurofeedback protocols to assess their real-life cost-
efficiency
The neurobiology of circadian rhythms
Purpose of review
There is growing awareness of the importance of circadian rhythmicity in various research fields. Exciting developments are ongoing in the field of circadian neurobiology linked to sleep, food intake, and memory. With the current knowledge of critical ‘clock genes’ (genes found to be involved in the generation of circadian rhythms) and novel techniques for imaging cyclic events in brain and peripheral tissue, this field of research is rapidly expanding. We reviewed only some of the highlights of the past year, and placed these findings into a mutual circadian perspective.
Recent findings
Recent findings on the organization of the circadian clock systems are addressed, ranging from the retina to the suprachiasmatic nucleus and peripheral organs. Novel developments in sleep, food intake, and memory research linked to circadian aspects are discussed.
Summary
The neurobiology of circadian rhythms is pivotal to the orchestration of the temporal organization of an individual’s physiology and behavior. Endogenous circadian timing systems underlie coupling and uncoupling mechanisms of many neuronal and physiological processes, the latter possibly inducing health risks to the organism. The integration of sleep, food intake and memory in a circadian setting has clear potential as a systems neurobiology line of research.
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