Visual attention and developmental dyslexia. Parameter-based assessment of disordered and intact components of visual attention.

Egetemeir J, Finke K, Stenneken P. Visual attention and developmental dyslexia. Parameter-based assessment of disordered and intact components of visual attention. In: 18th Annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) - Meeting Program. 2011: 84

The brain basis of real-life joint action. An investigation with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)

Egetemeir J, Stenneken P, Fallgatter AJ, Herrmann MJ. The brain basis of real-life joint action. An investigation with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). In: Workshop on new perspectives on joint action and task sharing. 2010

Joint action in a nearly natural situation. An investigation with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).

Egetemeir J, Stenneken P, Fallgatter AJ, Herrmann MJ. Joint action in a nearly natural situation. An investigation with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). In: 17th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) - Meeting Program. 2010: 277

Visuelle Aufmerksamkeit und Dyslexie. Parameterbasierte Untersuchung von gestörten und intakten Komponenten visueller Aufmerksamkeit.

Egetemeir J, Finke K, Stenneken P. Visuelle Aufmerksamkeit und Dyslexie. Parameterbasierte Untersuchung von gestörten und intakten Komponenten visueller Aufmerksamkeit. In: Petermann F, Koglin U, eds. 47. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Psychologie 26. bis 30. September 2010. Abstracts. Lengerich: Pabst; 2010: 135

Exploring the neural basis of real-life joint action: Measuring brain activation during joint table setting with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)

Many every-day life situations require two or more individuals to execute actions together. Assessing brain activation during naturalistic tasks to uncover relevant processes underlying such real-life joint action situations has remained a methodological challenge. In the present study, we introduce a novel joint action paradigm that enables the assessment of brain activation during real-life joint action tasks using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). We monitored brain activation of participants who coordinated complex actions with a partner sitting opposite them. Participants performed table setting tasks, either alone (solo action) or in cooperation with a partner (joint action), or they observed the partner performing the task (action observation). Comparing joint action and solo action revealed stronger activation (higher [oxy-Hb]-concentration) during joint action in a number of areas. Among these were areas in the inferior parietal lobule (IPL) that additionally showed an overlap of activation during action observation and solo action. Areas with such a close link between action observation and action execution have been associated with action simulation processes. The magnitude of activation in these IPL areas also varied according to joint action type and its respective demand on action simulation. The results validate fNIRS as an imaging technique for exploring the functional correlates of interindividual action coordination in real-life settings and suggest that coordinating actions in real-life situations requires simulating the actions of the partner

The role of the prefrontal cortex in maintenance and interference control processes of working memory assessed with multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy

Egetemeir J, Huter TJ, Pauli P, Fallgatter AJ, Herrmann MJ. The role of the prefrontal cortex in maintenance and interference control processes of working memory assessed with multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy. Journal of Psychophysiology. 2006;20(2):139-140

Brain activation during joint action measured with functional near-infrared spectroscopy

Egetemeir J, Stenneken P, Koehler S, Fallgatter AJ, Herrmann MJ. Brain activation during joint action measured with functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Psychophysiology. 2009;46(S1):s33

My parietal cortex 'knows' what you are doing: the human mirror neuron system measured by fNIRS

Koehler S, Egetemeir J, Stenneken P, Pauli P, Fallgatter AJ, Herrmann MJ. My parietal cortex 'knows' what you are doing: the human mirror neuron system measured by fNIRS. In: 49th Annual Meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research. Poster Session Abstracts. Psychophysiology. Vol 46. 2009: S33

Slow perceptual processing at the core of developmental dyslexia: A parameter-based assessment of visual attention

The cognitive causes as well as the neurological and genetic basis of developmental dyslexia, a complex disorder of written language acquisition, are intensely discussed with regard to multiple-deficit models. Accumulating evidence has revealed dyslexics’ impairments in a variety of tasks requiring visual attention. The heterogeneity of these experimental results, however, points to the need for measures that are sufficiently sensitive to differentiate between impaired and preserved attentional components within a unified framework. This first parameter-based group study of attentional components in developmental dyslexia addresses potentially altered attentional components that have recently been associated with parietal dysfunctions in dyslexia. We aimed to isolate the general attentional resources that might underlie reduced span performance, i.e., either a deficient working memory storage capacity, or a slowing in visual perceptual processing speed, or both. Furthermore, by analysing attentional selectivity in dyslexia, we addressed a potential lateralized abnormality of visual attention, i.e., a previously suggested rightward spatial deviation compared to normal readers. We investigated a group of high-achieving young adults with persisting dyslexia and matched normal readers in an experimental whole report and a partial report of briefly presented letter arrays. Possible deviations in the parametric values of the dyslexic compared to the control group were taken as markers for the underlying deficit. The dyslexic group showed a striking reduction in perceptual processing speed (by 26% compared to controls) while their working memory storage capacity was in the normal range. In addition, a spatial deviation of attentional weighting compared to the control group was confirmed in dyslexic readers, which was larger in participants with a more severe dyslexic disorder. In general, the present study supports the relevance of perceptual processing speed in disorders of written language acquisition and demonstrates that the parametric assessment provides a suitable tool for specifying the underlying deficit within a unitary framework

The human execution/observation matching system investigated with a complex everyday task: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) study

The investigation of brain areas involved in the human execution/observation matching system (EOM) has been limited to restricted motor actions when using common neuroimaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). A method which overcomes this limitation is functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). In the present study, we explored the cerebral responses underlying action execution and observation during a complex everyday task. We measured brain activation of 39 participants during the performance of object-related reaching, grasping and displacing movements, namely setting and clearing a table, and observation of the same task from different perspectives. Observation of the table-setting task activated parts of a network matching those activated during execution of the task. Specifically, observation from an egocentric perspective led to a higher activation in the inferior parietal cortex than observation from an allocentric perspective, implicating that the viewpoint also influences the EOM during the observation of complex everyday tasks. Together these findings suggest that fNIRS is able to overcome the restrictions of common imaging methods by investigating the EOM with a naturalistic task