Response processing during visual search in normal aging: the need for more time to prevent cross talk between spatial attention and manual response selection

[Abstract] It is still not well known whether the age-related behavioural slowing observed during visual search is due to changes in the allocation of attention, in response activation patterns, or to a combination of both. To help in clarifying it, attention-related (N2 posterior contralateral; N2pc, and N2 central contralateral; N2cc) and response-related (Motor Potential; MP, and Reafferent Potential; RAP) event-related potentials (ERPs) were obtained in healthy young and older participants executing a visual search task. Age was associated with N2pc and N2cc longer latencies, earlier MP onsets and longer MP rise times. Lower N2pc, higher MP and lower RAP amplitudes were also observed. Results suggest that older participants need more time to allocate spatial attention onto the target (N2pc) and to prevent cross talk between response selection and attention direction (N2cc), and that they are slower and need higher cortical activation when preparing and executing correctly selected responses (MP).Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación; PSI2010-21427Xunta de Galicia; 10PXIB211220P

Oscillatory brain activity in the time frequency domain associated to change blindness and change detection awareness

Despite the importance of change detection (CD) for visual perception and for performance in our environment, observers often miss changes that should be easily noticed. In the present study, we employed time–frequency analysis to investigate the neural activity associated with CD and change blindness (CB). Observers were resented with two successive visual displays and had to look for a change in orientation in any one of four sinusoid gratings between both displays. Theta power increased widely over the scalp after the second display when a change was consciously detected. Relative to nochange and CD, CB was associated with a pronounced theta power enhancement at parietal-occipital and occipital sites and broadly distributed alpha power suppression during the processing of the prechange display. Finally, power suppressions in the beta band following the second display show that, even when a change is not consciously detected, it might be represented to a certain degree. These results showthe potential of time–frequency analysis to deepen our knowledge of the temporal curse of the neural events underlying CD. The results further reveal that the process resulting in CB begins even before the occurrence of the change itself.This study was supported by two grants from the Spanish MEC (SEJ2007-61397 and PSI2010-21427)

Response processing during visual search in normal aging: the need for more time to prevent cross talk between spatial attention and manual response selection

It is still not well known whether the age-related behavioural slowing observed during visual search is due to changes in the allocation of attention, in response activation patterns, or to a combination of both. To help in clarifying it, attention-related (N2 posterior contralateral; N2pc, and N2 central contralateral; N2cc) and response-related (Motor Potential; MP, and Reafferent Potential; RAP) event-related potentials (ERPs) were obtained in healthy young and older participants executing a visual search task. Age was associated with N2pc and N2cc longer latencies, earlier MP onsets and longer MP rise times. Lower N2pc, higher MP and lower RAP amplitudes were also observed. Results suggest that older participants need more time to allocate spatial attention onto the target (N2pc) and to prevent cross talk between response selection and attention direction (N2cc), and that they are slower and need higher cortical activation when preparing and executing correctly selected responses (MP).This study was supported by grants from the Spanish MICINN (PSI2010-21427) and Xunta de Galicia (10PXIB211220PR)S

Vertical asymmetries in pre-attentive detection of changes in motion direction

Stimulus localization affects visual motion processing. Vertical asymmetries favouring lower visual field have been reported in event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavioural studies under different attention conditions. However, there are no studies examining such asymmetries to non attended motion changes. The present study investigated whether the asymmetry in processing information from the upper and lower visual fields also affects the automatic detection of motion-direction changes as indexed by visual Mismatch Negativity (vMMN). We recorded vMMN to changes in sinusoidal gratings differing in motion direction presented in the periphery of visual field in three different locations: upper and lower (ULVF), upper (UVF) and lower (LVF) along the vertical meridian. The N2 component elicited to peripheral motion presented lower amplitudes when the UVF was stimulated. The vMMN elicited to infrequent motion-direction changes was present in all stimulation conditions. However, it was reduced to UVF stimulation. These results suggest that the visual system automatically detects motion-direction changes presented at both upper–lower visual fields; however they also indicate that the process is favoured when stimuli are presented in the LVF alone.Study supported by Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (grant SEJ2004-01377) and by the Galician Secretaría Xeral de I+D (grant PGIDIT05PXIC21101PN)S

Oscillatory Brain Activity in the Time Frequency Domain Associated to Change Blindness and Change Detection Awareness

Despite the importance of change detection (CD) for visual perception and for performance in our environment, observers often miss changes that should be easily noticed. In the present study, we employed time-frequency analysis to investigate the neural activity associated with CD and change blindness (CB). Observers were presented with two successive visual displays and had to look for a change in orientation in any one of four sinusoid gratings between both displays. Theta power increased widely over the scalp after the second display when a change was consciously detected. Relative to no-change and CD, CB was associated with a pronounced theta power enhancement at parietal-occipital and occipital sites and broadly distributed alpha power suppression during the processing of the prechange display. Finally, power suppressions in the beta band following the second display show that, even when a change is not consciously detected, it might be represented to a certain degree. These results show the potential of time-frequency analysis to deepen our knowledge of the temporal curse of the neural events underlying CD. The results further reveal that the process resulting in CB begins even before the occurrence of the change itself.This study was supported by two grants from the Spanish MEC (SEJ2007-61397 and PSI2010-21427)S

Le P3 en tant qu’index du niveau de performance de sujets âgés impliqués dans une tâche visuelle

Aim: To explore the possible changes in the parameters of the P3 event-related potential (ERP) component among groups of young and older healthy subjects characterized as either high- or low-performers in a visual attention task. Methods: Both conventional and single-trial analyses of the visual P3 component were performed on each group of subjects. Results: P3 component significantly increased in latency as a function of age. The high-performing older subjects showed the posterior predominance of P3, as in young subjects. However, the low-performing older subjects showed a significant P3 amplitude reduction at posterior locations and topographically more widespread activity. Furthermore, single-trial analysis showed that low-performing older subjects presented higher intertrial variability in P3 latency, few trials with P3 generation, and a reduced P3 amplitude in these trials in whom P3 was generated. Conclusion: These data suggest a specific decline in visual target processing in the low-performing older subjects, which would imply a reduction in these attentional brain resources that are allocated to correctly select the relevant stimuli. The implications of this finding for the actual compensation versus dedifferentiation debate in normal aging are discussedBut: Comparer les paramètres du composant P3 des potentiels évoqués dans un groupe de sujets jeunes en bonne santé et dans un groupe de sujets âgés classifiés en fonction de leur niveau d’exécution d’une tâche d’attention visuelle (meilleurs et moins bons exécuteurs). Méthodes: Des analyses conventionnelles et des analyses « en sweep unique » du composant P3 ont été réalisées dans chaque groupe de sujets. Résultats: Le temps de latence du composant P3 augmente de façon significative avec l’âge. Chez les sujets âgés meilleurs exécuteurs le P3 prédominait au niveau des régions postérieures, comme chez les sujets jeunes. Par contre, chez les sujets âgés moins bons exécuteurs, le P3 était significativement moins ample en postérieur et plus diffusément réparti sur le scalp. Les analyses « en sweep unique » ont montré que ces derniers présentaient une plus grande variabilité interessai en ce qui concerne le temps de latence de P3, moins de tests où le P3 était présent, ainsi qu’une réduction de l’amplitude de P3 dans les tests où il était présent. Conclusion: Ces données suggèrent l’existence d’un déficit du traitement visuel des stimuli chez les sujets âgés moins bons exécuteurs qui pourrait consister en une réduction des ressources cérébrales attentionnelles mobilisées pour sélectionner correctement le stimulus approprié. Nous discutons les implications de ces résultats dans le débat concernant la redistribution des aires corticales actives chez les sujets âgés (hypothèses de compensation versus dédifférentiation)This research was supported by grants from the Spanish MEC (SEJ2004-01377) and Xunta de Galicia (PGIDT05PXIC21101PN)S

Spatial inhibition of return promotes changes in Response-related mu and beta oscillatory patterns

The possible role that response processes play in Inhibition of Return (IOR), traditionally associated with reduced or inhibited attentional processing of spatially cued target stimuli presented at cue-target intervals longer than 300 ms, is still under debate. Previous psychophysiological studies on response-related Electroencephalographic (EEG) activity and IOR have found divergent results. Considering that the ability to optimize our behavior not only resides in our capacity to inhibit the focus of attention from irrelevant information but also to inhibit or reduce motor activation associated with responses to that information, it is conceivable that response processes are also affected by IOR. In the present study, time–frequency (T–F) analyses were performed on EEG oscillatory activity between 2 and 40 Hz to check whether spatial IOR affects response preparation and execution during a visuospatial attention task. To avoid possible spatial stimulus–response compatibility effects and their interaction with the IOR effects, the stimuli were presented along the vertical meridian of the visual field. The results differed between lower and upper visual fields. In the lower visual field spatial IOR was related to a synchronization in the pre-movement mu band at bilateral precentral and central electrodes, and in the post-movement beta band at contralateral precentral and central electrodes, which may be associated with an attention-driven reduction of somatomotor processing prior to the execution of responses to relevant stimuli presented at previously cued locations followed by a post-movement deactivation of motor areas. In the upper visual field, spatial IOR was associated with a decrease in desynchronization around response execution in the beta band at contralateral postcentral electrodes that might indicate a late (last moment) reduction of motor activation when responding to spatially cued targets. The present results suggest that different response processes are affected by spatial IOR depending on the visual field where the target is presented. 2015 IBRO. Published byThis study was supported by grants from the Spanish MICINN (PSI2010-21427), Spanish MINECO (PSI2014-53743-P), and Xunta de Galicia (10PXIB211220PR)S

Attentional Modulation of Change Detection ERP Components by Peripheral Retro-Cueing

Change detection is essential for visual perception and performance in our environment. However, observers often miss changes that should be easily noticed. A failure in any of the processes involved in conscious detection (encoding the pre-change display, maintenance of that information within working memory, and comparison of the pre and post change displays) can lead to change blindness. Given that unnoticed visual changes in a scene can be easily detected once attention is drawn to them, it has been suggested that attention plays an important role on visual awareness. In the present study, we used behavioral and electrophysiological (ERPs) measures to study whether the manipulation of retrospective spatial attention affects performance and modulates brain activity related to the awareness of a change. To that end, exogenous peripheral cues were presented during the delay period (retro-cues) between the first and the second array using a one-shot change detection task. Awareness of a change was associated with a posterior negative amplitude shift around 228–292 ms (“Visual Awareness Negativity”), which was independent of retrospective spatial attention, as it was elicited to both validly and invalidly cued change trials. Change detection was also associated with a larger positive deflection around 420–580 ms (“Late Positivity”), but only when the peripheral retro-cues correctly predicted the change. Present results confirm that the early and late ERP components related to change detection can be functionally dissociated through manipulations of exogenous retro-cueing using a change blindness paradigmThis work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) grant PSI2014-53743-PS

Vertical asymmetries and inhibition of return: effects of spatial and non-spatial cueing on behavior and visual ERPs

[Abstract] The mechanisms underlying inhibition of return (IOR) are still under debate. Besides the probable implication of several processes in its generation, a reason for this uncertainty may be related to experimental factors affecting the presence, time course, and magnitude of IOR. Two of them may be related to the arrangement of the stimuli in the visual field that could cause possible interactions between IOR and response conflict effects (horizontal arrangements) or between IOR and perceptual asymmetries (vertical arrangement). The purpose of the present study was to explore location and color cueing effects with a vertical arrangement of stimuli, free of S–R compatibility effects. To examine this possibility, a cue-back task with stimuli in the vertical meridian was employed. Targets could randomly and equiprobably appear at cued or uncued locations, or with cued or uncued color. These cueing effects were analyzed on behavior and ERPs separately for upper and lower visual fields (UVF and LVF). Under location cueing, behavioral responses were slower (spatial IOR) in both hemifields. In the ERPs, N1 reductions were observed in both visual fields although with different modulations in their latency and scalp distribution. In the P3 rising beginning, posterior negative deflections in the LVF (Nd) and anterior positive deflections (Pd) in the UVF were observed. Under color cueing, P3 amplitude was reduced in the UVF accompanied by no behavioral effects. These results suggest that different patterns of brain activation can be obtained in upper and lower visual fields under spatial- and non-spatial cueing conditions.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad; PSI2010-21427Xunta de Galicia; 10PXIB211220P

Vertical asymmetries and inhibition of return: Effects of spatial and non-spatial cueing on behavior and visual ERPs

Themechanisms underlying inhibition of return (IOR) are still under debate. Besides the probable implication of several processes in its generation, a reason for this uncertainty may be related to experimental factors affecting the presence, time course, and magnitude of IOR. Two of them may be related to the arrangement of the stimuli in the visual field that could cause possible interactions between IOR and response conflict effects (horizontal arrangements) or between IOR and perceptual asymmetries (vertical arrangement). The purpose of the present studywas to explore location and color cueing effects with a vertical arrangement of stimuli, free of S–R compatibility effects. To examine this possibility, a cue-back task with stimuli in the vertical meridian was employed. Targets could randomly and equiprobably appear at cued or uncued locations, or with cued or uncued color. These cueing effects were analyzed on behavior and ERPs separately for upper and lower visual fields (UVF and LVF). Under location cueing, behavioral responses were slower (spatial IOR) in both hemifields. In the ERPs, N1 reductions were observed in both visual fields although with different modulations in their latency and scalp distribution. In the P3 rising beginning, posterior negative deflections in the LVF (Nd) and anterior positive deflections (Pd) in the UVF were observed. Under color cueing, P3 amplitude was reduced in the UVF accompanied by no behavioral effects. These results suggest that different patterns of brain activation can be obtained in upper and lower visual fields under spatial- and non-spatial cueing conditions.This study was supported by grants from the Spanish MICINN (PSI2010-21427) and Xunta de Galicia (10PXIB211220PR). S.D. was supported by an Isidro Parga Pondal contract (Xunta de Galicia, Spain)S