Event-related potential correlates of stimulus equivalence classes: A study of task order of the equivalence based priming probes with respect to the stimulus equivalence tests, and among the distinct trial types with each other

This study investigates the influences of: 1) the task order of two stimulus equivalence classes (SEC) probes, and 2) the possible differences within the equivalence trial types. These factors were analyzed together on both behavioral and event-related potentials (ERP) data. Two groups of normal subjects participated in two successive sessions. In the first session, all participants were trained in the baseline relations among visual stimuli (pseudo-words). In the second session, one group performed the matching-to-sample (MTS) equivalence tests before the equivalence-relatedness-priming (EBRP) task, while the other group performed both tasks in reverse order. In the EBRP task related trial types included trained, symmetrical and equivalence relationships while the unrelated trial types included the same stimuli but without relationships. Event related potentials were recorded separately for related and unrelated conditions during the EBRP task. Results showed that response times to related trials were shorter than those to unrelated ones. At the electrophysiological level, two late waveforms were sensitive to the differences among the stimulus pairs of the EBRP task: Both waveforms were larger for the unrelated than the related conditions. Conversely, there were no main influences of the task order or of the trial types with each other. These results provide evidence that 1) the EBRP task exhibits priming effects among the SEC stimuli, 2) the behavioral and electrophysiological effects were similar regardless of whether the EBRP task was done before or after the MTS tests, and 3) there were no differences within the baseline and derived trial types in the EBRP task.Fil: Menendez, Joaquin. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Haro Sanchez, Federico Miguel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Polti, Ignacio. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología; ArgentinaFil: Idesis, Sebastián. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología; ArgentinaFil: Avellaneda, Matías Alejandro. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Tabullo, Angel Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ciencias Humanas, Sociales y Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Iorio, Alberto Andres. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; Argentin

Dataset for The effect of attention and working memory on the estimation of elapsed time

Datasets and supplementary information. Polti, I., Martin, B., van Wassenhove, V. (2018). The effect of attention and working memory on the estimation of elapsed time. Scientific Reports, 8(1): 6690. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-25119-

Les bouffées d’ondes cérébrales dîtes « alpha » indiqueraient le temps épisodique

International audienceWe seldom intently measure how long life experiences last, yet we seemingly remember them fairly. Research has revealed, across species, the existence of neurons that can track time over the course of seconds to minutes. Herein, we asked, using magnetoencephalography (MEG), whether a neural signature of time-tracking could be found in human participants. Participants were instructed to stay quietly awake with no further instructions (retrospective timing) or to estimate how much time will pass (prospective timing). At the end of the recording, they were all asked to report how much time had passed. When not instructed to attend to the passage of time, the relative duration of α bursts (α: 7-14 Hz) during the recording linearly predicted participants’ retrospective time estimates. This relation did not hold when participants timed prospectively. In a control study, the relative duration of α bursts with retrospective timin was preserved even when participants were engaged in a visual counting task. At the time scale of minutes, we thus report evidence that the relative time of spontaneous oscillatory burstiness is a good predictor of retrospective time and conclude that in the absence of overt attention to time, α bursts embody discrete states of awareness for episodic timing

The effect of attention and working memory on the estimation of elapsed time

Abstract Psychological models of time perception involve attention and memory: while attention typically regulates the flow of events, memory maintains timed events or intervals. The precise, and possibly distinct, roles of attention and memory in time perception remain debated. In this behavioral study, we tested 48 participants in a prospective duration estimation task while they fully attended to time or performed a working memory (WM) task. We report that paying attention to time lengthened perceived duration in the range of seconds to minutes, whereas diverting attention away from time shortened perceived duration. The overestimation due to attending to time did not scale with durations. To the contrary, increasing WM load systematically decreased subjective duration and this effect scaled with durations. Herein, we discuss the dissociation between attention and WM in timing and scalar variability from the perspective of Bayesian models of time estimations

Sequence Memory in the Hippocampal–Entorhinal Region

Episodic memories are constructed from sequences of events. When recalling such a memory, we not only recall individual events, but we also retrieve information about how the sequence of events unfolded. Here, we focus on the role of the hippocampal–entorhinal region in processing and remembering sequences of events, which are thought to be stored in relational networks. We summarize evidence that temporal relations are a central organizational principle for memories in the hippocampus. Importantly, we incorporate novel insights from recent studies about the role of the adjacent entorhinal cortex in sequence memory. In rodents, the lateral entorhinal subregion carries temporal information during ongoing behavior. The human homologue is recruited during memory recall where its representations reflect the temporal relationships between events encountered in a sequence. We further introduce the idea that the hippocampal–entorhinal region might enable temporal scaling of sequence representations. Flexible changes of sequence progression speed could underlie the traversal of episodic memories and mental simulations at different paces. In conclusion, we describe how the entorhinal cortex and hippocampus contribute to remembering event sequences—a core component of episodic memory

Respuesta Electrodérmica y Conductual Frente a Palabras Emocionales en Español en Hablantes Nativos

The present study aimed to validate a Spanish-word database that elicits different levels of emotional response. To control subjects’ engagement to the stimuli, an emotional Stroop task was administered to Spanish-speaking population. In order to assess to which extent valence and emotionality are automatically processed when reading a word, participants’ reaction time was recorded as a complement of their electrodermal response. These measurements were used to rank the words into two different lists, conforming the set of Spanish-words. The reaction time to negative words were only significantly slower to reaction times of positive ones (and not to the neutral ones). We found that words with a negative emotional content elicited higher skin conductance responses (SCR) and longer reaction time than those with neutral and positive emotional content. These findings are consistent with previous literature and therefore supports word’s emotionality of the implemented database. l; Emoción, Stroop emocional; Conductancia de la piel; Población hispano-hablante.El presente trabajo tuvo como objetivo validar una base de palabras en español que elicitaran diferentes niveles de respuesta emocional. Para controlar el compromiso de los sujetos con los estímulos, se administró una tarea de Stroop emocional a una población de hispanohablantes nativos. Se midió el tiempo de reacción y la respuesta electrodérmica de los sujetos. Posterior al experimento se interrogó a los participantes por la valencia emocional de cada estímulo evaluado. Finalmente, estas medidas se utilizaron para jerarquizar las palabras en dos listas, elaborando una base final de 30 palabras en español. Se encontró que las palabras con valencia negativa elicitaron mayores respuestas de conductancia de la piel y tiempos de reacción más lentos en comparación con las palabras de valencia neutra y positiva. Estos datos son consistentes con los reportados por la literatura y, por lo tanto, respaldan la emocionalidad elicitada por las palabras de la base implementada

Electrodermal and behavioral response to emotional Spanish words in native speakers

The present study aimed to validate a Spanish-word database that elicits different levels of emotional response. To control subjects’ engagement to the stimuli, an emotional Stroop task was administered to Spanish-speaking population. In order to assess to which extent valence and emotionality are automatically processed when reading a word, participants’ reaction time was recorded as a complement of their electrodermal response. These measurements were used to rank the words into two different lists, conforming the set of Spanish-words. The reaction time to negative words were only significantly slower to reaction times of positive ones (and not to the neutral ones). We found that words with a negative emotional content elicited higher skin conductance responses (SCR) and longer reaction time than those with neutral and positive emotional content. These findings are consistent with previous literature and therefore supports word’s emotionality of the implemented databasen.El presente trabajo tuvo como objetivo validar una base de palabras en español que elicitaran diferentes niveles de respuesta emocional. Para controlar el compromiso de los sujetos con los estímulos, se administró una tarea de Stroop emocional a una población de hispanohablantes nativos. Se midió el tiempo de reacción y la respuesta electrodérmica de los sujetos. Posterior al experimento se interrogó a los participantes por la valencia emocional de cada estímulo evaluado. Finalmente, estas medidas se utilizaron para jerarquizar las palabras en dos listas, elaborando una base final de 30 palabras en español. Se encontró que las palabras con valencia negativa elicitaron mayores respuestas de conductancia de la piel y tiempos de reacción más lentos en comparación con las palabras de valencia neutra y positiva. Estos datos son consistentes con los reportados por la literatura y, por lo tanto, respaldan la emocionalidad elicitada por las palabras de la base implementad