What Happens in Between? Human Oscillatory Brain Activity Related to Crossmodal Spatial Cueing

Previous studies investigated the effects of crossmodal spatial attention by comparing the responses to validly versus invalidly cued target stimuli. Dynamics of cortical rhythms in the time interval between cue and target might contribute to cue effects on performance. Here, we studied the influence of spatial attention on ongoing oscillatory brain activity in the interval between cue and target onset. In a first experiment, subjects underwent periods of tactile stimulation (cue) followed by visual stimulation (target) in a spatial cueing task as well as tactile stimulation as a control. In a second experiment, cue validity was modified to be 50%, 75%, or else 25%, to separate effects of exogenous shifts of attention caused by tactile stimuli from that of endogenous shifts. Tactile stimuli produced: 1) a stronger lateralization of the sensorimotor beta-rhythm rebound (15–22 Hz) after tactile stimuli serving as cues versus not serving as cues; 2) a suppression of the occipital alpha-rhythm (7–13 Hz) appearing only in the cueing task (this suppression was stronger contralateral to the endogenously attended side and was predictive of behavioral success); 3) an increase of prefrontal gamma-activity (25–35 Hz) specifically in the cueing task. We measured cue-related modulations of cortical rhythms which may accompany crossmodal spatial attention, expectation or decision, and therefore contribute to cue validity effects. The clearly lateralized alpha suppression after tactile cues in our data indicates its dependence on endogenous rather than exogenous shifts of visuo-spatial attention following a cue independent of its modality

Neighborhood sociodemographic and environmental contexts and self-rated health among Brazilian adults: a multilevel study O contexto sociodemográfico e ambiental da vizinhança e autopercepção de saúde em adultos de um município do Sul do Brasil: um estudo multinível

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between sociodemographic and environmental contexts on self-rated health. A population-based cross-sectional study with a random sample of 38 neighborhoods (census tracts) and 1,100 adults was carried out. Data analysis used multilevel logistic regression. Data from the Brazilian Census of 2000, mean income, years of study of the head of household and mean number of residents per tract were R$955 (SD = 586), 8 years (SD = 3), and 746 residents (SD = 358) respectively. Higher prevalences of fair/poor self-rated health were found in neighborhoods with greater populations and lower income/schooling levels. After control for individual variables, the odds for fair/poor self-rated health was twice as high in more populous (OR = 2.04; 95$955,00 (DP = 586), 8 anos (DP = 3) e 746 (DP = 358), respectivamente. Após o controle por aspectos sociodemográficos, comportamentais e relacionados ao serviço no nível individual, as chances de relatar uma autopercepção de saúde como razoável ou ruim eram cerca de duas vezes maiores em vizinhanças mais populosas (OR = 2,04; IC95%: 1,15-3,61) e nas com baixa renda (RP = 2,29; IC95%: 1,16-4,50), quando comparadas às com baixo número de residentes e com alta renda. Resultados sugerem que a autopercepção de saúde depende das características do indivíduo e do contexto sociodemográfico em que ele vive