An Evaluation of the Effect of Auditory Emotional Stimuli on Interval Timing

Emotions modulate cognitive processes, including those involved in the perception of time. A number of studies have demonstrated that the emotional modulation of interval timing can be described in terms of an attentional or an arousal-based mechanism, depending on the exact task setup. In this paper, two temporal generalization experiments with auditory emotional stimuli as distractors are presented. These experiments are modeled after the work by Lui et al. (PLoS One, 2011, 6, e218292011) who, using visual distractors, provided evidence for an attentional account of emotion-regulated modulation of the perception of time. Experiment 1 replicates the findings of Lui et al., and thus generalizes their work to auditory stimuli. However, Experiment 2, in setup highly similar to Experiment 1, failed to find any effects of emotional modulation on interval timing. These results indicate that emotional effects on interval timing, although often reported, might not be as ubiquitous as earlier research has (implicitly) suggested

Stimulus- and Neural-Referred Visual Receptive Field Properties following Hemispherectomy:A Case Study Revisited

Contains fulltext : 208072.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Functional connectivity of the Precuneus reflects effectiveness of visual restitution training in chronic hemianopia

Contains fulltext : 222045.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

An Evaluation of the Effect of Auditory Emotional Stimuli on Interval Timing

Emotions modulate cognitive processes, including those involved in the perception of time. A number of studies have demonstrated that the emotional modulation of interval timing can be described in terms of an attentional or an arousal-based mechanism, depending on the exact task setup. In this paper, two temporal generalization experiments with auditory emotional stimuli as distractors are presented. These experiments are modeled after the work by Lui et al. (PLoS One, 2011, 6, e218292011) who, using visual distractors, provided evidence for an attentional account of emotion-regulated modulation of the perception of time. Experiment 1 replicates the findings of Lui et al., and thus generalizes their work to auditory stimuli. However, Experiment 2, in setup highly similar to Experiment 1, failed to find any effects of emotional modulation on interval timing. These results indicate that emotional effects on interval timing, although often reported, might not be as ubiquitous as earlier research has (implicitly) suggested

An Evaluation of the Effect of Auditory Emotional Stimuli on Interval Timing

Emotions modulate cognitive processes, including those involved in the perception of time. A number of studies have demonstrated that the emotional modulation of interval timing can be described in terms of an attentional or an arousal-based mechanism, depending on the exact task setup. In this paper, two temporal generalization experiments with auditory emotional stimuli as distractors are presented. These experiments are modeled after the work by Lui et al. (PLoS One, 2011, 6, e218292011) who, using visual distractors, provided evidence for an attentional account of emotion-regulated modulation of the perception of time. Experiment 1 replicates the findings of Lui et al., and thus generalizes their work to auditory stimuli. However, Experiment 2, in setup highly similar to Experiment 1, failed to find any effects of emotional modulation on interval timing. These results indicate that emotional effects on interval timing, although often reported, might not be as ubiquitous as earlier research has (implicitly) suggested.</p

Visual field reconstruction in hemianopia using fMRI based mapping techniques

Purpose: A stroke that includes the primary visual cortex unilaterally leads to a loss of visual field (VF) representation in the hemifield contralateral to the damage. While behavioral procedures for measuring the VF, such as perimetry, may indicate that a patient cannot see in a particular area, detailed psychophysical testing often detects the ability to perform detection or discrimination of visual stimuli (“blindsight”). The aim of this study was to determine whether functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) could be used to determine whether perimetrically blind regions of the VF were still represented in VF maps reconstructed on the basis of visually evoked neural activity. Methods: Thirteen patients with hemianopia and nine control participants were scanned using 3T MRI while presented with visual stimulation. Two runs of a dynamic “wedge and ring” mapping stimulus, totaling approximately 10 min, were performed while participants fixated centrally. Two different analysis approaches were taken: the conventional population receptive field (pRF) analysis and micro-probing (MP). The latter is a variant of the former that makes fewer assumptions when modeling the visually evoked neural activity. Both methods were used to reconstruct the VF by projecting modeled activity back onto the VF. Following a normalization step, these “coverage maps” can be compared to the VF sensitivity plots obtained using perimetry. Results: While both fMRI-based approaches revealed regions of neural activity within the perimetrically “blind” sections of the VF, the MP approach uncovered more voxels in the lesioned hemisphere in which a modest degree of visual sensitivity was retained. Furthermore, MP-based analysis indicated that both early (V1/V2) and extrastriate visual areas contributed equally to the retained sensitivity in both patients and controls. Conclusion: In hemianopic patients, fMRI-based approaches for reconstructing the VF can pick up activity in perimetrically blind regions of the VF. Such regions of the VF may be particularly amenable for rehabilitation to regain visual function. Compared to conventional pRF modeling, MP reveals more voxels with retained visual sensitivity, suggesting it is a more sensitive approach for VF reconstruction

rTMS treatment of visual hallucinations using a connectivity- based targeting method - A case-study

Visual hallucinations (VH) are difficult to treat because pharmacological interventions are only partially effective and associated with many adverse effects. One of the alternative non-pharmacological treatments for VH is repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). However, identifying optimal stimulation sites for rTMS is challenging. To determine whether a connectivity-based targeting approach based on resting state (rs) fMRI data can be used to identify regions that may serve as effective rTMS targets. We acquired rs-fMRI scans pre-rTMS and post-rTMS in a single patient with retinitis pigmentosa (near blindness), Parkinson’s disease (PD) and had therapy-resistant VH. Rs-fMRI data were analyzed using fast Eigenvector Centrality Mapping (ECM). A target area was selected based on high ECM values and relative accessibility for rTMS. Subsequently, the patient was stimulated with 1 Hz rTMS during 5 days, followed by 30 Hz theta-burst stimulation during another 5 days. Distributions of surrogate and bootstrap data were used to statistically evaluate the effect of rTMS. The bilateral supplementary motor areas (SMA) were selected as rTMS target areas. When pre-rTMS were compared to post-rTMS, different ECM values were found in the SMA, precuneus, occipital pole and hippocampus. Clinical evaluation and follow-up showed that the intensity and frequency of the VH were decreased after rTMS. Our connectivity-based targeting approach applied to rs-fMRI data seems to be successful in identifying an optimal target area for rTMS on a single subject basis. Our results show changes in the connectivity pattern, both in the target area and associated hubs involved in VH pathogenesis