266 research outputs found

    Cortical Coupling Reflects Bayesian Belief Updating in the Deployment of Spatial Attention

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    The deployment of visuospatial attention and the programming of saccades are governed by the inferred likelihood of events. In the present study, we combined computational modeling of psychophysical data with fMRI to characterize the computational and neural mechanisms underlying this flexible attentional control. Sixteen healthy human subjects performed a modified version of Posner's location-cueing paradigm in which the percentage of cue validity varied in time and the targets required saccadic responses. Trialwise estimates of the certainty (precision) of the prediction that the target would appear at the cued location were derived from a hierarchical Bayesian model fitted to individual trialwise saccadic response speeds. Trial-specific model parameters then entered analyses of fMRI data as parametric regressors. Moreover, dynamic causal modeling (DCM) was performed to identify the most likely functional architecture of the attentional reorienting network and its modulation by (Bayes-optimal) precision-dependent attention. While the frontal eye fields (FEFs), intraparietal sulcus, and temporoparietal junction (TPJ) of both hemispheres showed higher activity on invalid relative to valid trials, reorienting responses in right FEF, TPJ, and the putamen were significantly modulated by precision-dependent attention. Our DCM results suggested that the precision of predictability underlies the attentional modulation of the coupling of TPJ with FEF and the putamen. Our results shed new light on the computational architecture and neuronal network dynamics underlying the context-sensitive deployment of visuospatial attention. Copyright \ua9 2015 Vossel et al

    Spatial attention, precision, and Bayesian inference: a study of saccadic response speed

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    Inferring the environment's statistical structure and adapting behavior accordingly is a fundamental modus operandi of the brain. A simple form of this faculty based on spatial attentional orienting can be studied with Posner's location-cueing paradigm in which a cue indicates the target location with a known probability. The present study focuses on a more complex version of this task, where probabilistic context (percentage of cue validity) changes unpredictably over time, thereby creating a volatile environment. Saccadic response speed (RS) was recorded in 15 subjects and used to estimate subject-specific parameters of a Bayesian learning scheme modeling the subjects' trial-by-trial updates of beliefs. Different response models-specifying how computational states translate into observable behavior-were compared using Bayesian model selection. Saccadic RS was most plausibly explained as a function of the precision of the belief about the causes of sensory input. This finding is in accordance with current Bayesian theories of brain function, and specifically with the proposal that spatial attention is mediated by a precision-dependent gain modulation of sensory input. Our results provide empirical support for precision-dependent changes in beliefs about saccade target locations and motivate future neuroimaging and neuropharmacological studies of how Bayesian inference may determine spatial attention. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Pres

    Cholinergic Stimulation Enhances Bayesian Belief Updating in the Deployment of Spatial Attention

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    The exact mechanisms whereby the cholinergic neurotransmitter system contributes to attentional processing remain poorly understood. Here, we applied computational modeling to psychophysical data (obtained from a spatial attention task) under a psychopharmacological challenge with the cholinesterase inhibitor galantamine (Reminyl). This allowed us to characterize the cholinergic modulation of selective attention formally, in terms of hierarchical Bayesian inference. In a placebo-controlled, within-subject, crossover design, 16 healthy human subjects performed a modified version of Posner's location-cueing task in which the proportion of validly and invalidly cued targets (percentage of cue validity, % CV) changed over time. Saccadic response speeds were used to estimate the parameters of a hierarchical Bayesian model to test whether cholinergic stimulation affected the trial-wise updating of probabilistic beliefs that underlie the allocation of attention or whether galantamine changed the mapping from those beliefs to subsequent eye movements. Behaviorally, galantamine led to a greater influence of probabilistic context (% CV) on response speed than placebo. Crucially, computational modeling suggested this effect was due to an increase in the rate of belief updating about cue validity (as opposed to the increased sensitivity of behavioral responses to those beliefs). We discuss these findings with respect to cholinergic effects on hierarchical cortical processing and in relation to the encoding of expected uncertainty or precision. \ua9 2014 the authors

    Deconstructing the architecture of dorsal and ventral attention systems with dynamic causal modelling

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    Attentional orientation to a spatial cue and reorientation-after invalid cueing-are mediated by two distinct networks in the human brain. A bilateral dorsal frontoparietal network, comprising the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and the frontal eye fields (FEF), controls the voluntary deployment of attention and may modulate visual cortex in preparation for upcoming stimulation. In contrast, reorienting attention to invalidly cued targets engages a right-lateralized ventral frontoparietal network comprising the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) and ventral frontal cortex. The present fMRI study investigated the functional architecture of these two attentional systems by characterizing effective connectivity during lateralized orienting and reorienting of attention, respectively. Subjects performed a modified version of Posner's location-cueing paradigm. Dynamic causal modeling (DCM) of regional responses in the dorsal and ventral network, identified in a conventional (SPM) whole-brain analysis, was used to compare different functional architectures. Bayesian model selection showed that top-down connections from left and right IPS to left and right visual cortex, respectively, were modulated by the direction of attention. Moreover, model evidence was highest for a model with directed influences from bilateral IPS to FEF, and reciprocal coupling between right and left FEF. Invalid cueing enhanced forward connections from visual areas to right TPJ, and directed influences from right TPJ to right IPS and IFG (inferior frontal gyrus). These findings shed further light on the functional organization of the dorsal and ventral attentional network and support a context-sensitive lateralization in the top-down (backward) mediation of attentional orienting and the bottom-up (forward) effects of invalid cueing

    Dementia in late-onset epilepsy: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study

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    OBJECTIVE: To determine the risk of dementia after the development of late-onset epilepsy. METHODS: We used data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) cohort study, which started in 1987 to 1989 with 15,792 mostly Black and White men and women from 4 US communities. We identified late-onset epilepsy (LOE; seizures starting at age 67 or later) from linked Medicare claims data. We used a Cox proportional hazards regression model to evaluate associations between LOE and dementia through 2017 as ascertained from neuropsychological testing, interviews, and hospital discharge surveillance, and we used multinomial logistic regression to assess the risk of dementia and mild cognitive impairment in the subset with full neuropsychological assessments available. We adjusted for demographics and vascular and Alzheimer disease risk factors. RESULTS: Of 9,033 ARIC participants with sufficient Medicare coverage data (4,980 [55.1%] female, 1993 [22.1%] Black), 671 met the definition of LOE. Two hundred seventy-nine (41.6%) participants with and 1,408 (16.8%) without LOE developed dementia (p < 0.001). After a diagnosis of LOE, the adjusted hazard ratio for developing subsequent dementia was 3.05 (95% confidence interval 2.65-3.51). The median time to dementia ascertainment after the onset of LOE was 3.66 years (quartile 1-3, 1.28-8.28 years). INTERPRETATION: The risk of incident dementia is substantially elevated in individuals with LOE. Further work is needed to explore causes for the increased risk of dementia in this growing population

    Pharmacological Fingerprints of Contextual Uncertainty

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    Successful interaction with the environment requires flexible updating of our beliefs about the world. By estimating the likelihood of future events, it is possible to prepare appropriate actions in advance and execute fast, accurate motor responses. According to theoretical proposals, agents track the variability arising from changing environments by computing various forms of uncertainty. Several neuromodulators have been linked to uncertainty signalling, but comprehensive empirical characterisation of their relative contributions to perceptual belief updating, and to the selection of motor responses, is lacking. Here we assess the roles of noradrenaline, acetylcholine, and dopamine within a single, unified computational framework of uncertainty. Using pharmacological interventions in a sample of 128 healthy human volunteers and a hierarchical Bayesian learning model, we characterise the influences of noradrenergic, cholinergic, and dopaminergic receptor antagonism on individual computations of uncertainty during a probabilistic serial reaction time task. We propose that noradrenaline influences learning of uncertain events arising from unexpected changes in the environment. In contrast, acetylcholine balances attribution of uncertainty to chance fluctuations within an environmental context, defined by a stable set of probabilistic associations, or to gross environmental violations following a contextual switch. Dopamine supports the use of uncertainty representations to engender fast, adaptive responses. \ua9 2016 Marshall et al

    Beliefs about bad people are volatile

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    People form moral impressions rapidly, effortlessly and from a remarkably young age1,2,3,4,5. Putatively \u2018bad\u2019 agents command more attention and are identified more quickly and accurately than benign or friendly agents5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12. Such vigilance is adaptive, but can also be costly in environments where people sometimes make mistakes, because incorrectly attributing bad character to good people damages existing relationships and discourages forming new relationships13,14,15,16. The ability to accurately infer the moral character of others is critical for healthy social functioning, but the computational processes that support this ability are not well understood. Here, we show that moral inference is explained by an asymmetric Bayesian updating mechanism in which beliefs about the morality of bad agents are more uncertain (and therefore more volatile) than beliefs about the morality of good agents. This asymmetry seems to be a property of learning about immoral agents in general, as we also find greater uncertainty for beliefs about the non-moral traits of bad agents. Our model and data reveal a cognitive mechanism that permits flexible updating of beliefs about potentially threatening others, a mechanism that could facilitate forgiveness when initial bad impressions turn out to be inaccurate. Our findings suggest that negative moral impressions destabilize beliefs about others, promoting cognitive flexibility in the service of cooperative but cautious behaviour

    Direction and magnitude of nicotine effects on the fMRI BOLD response are related to nicotine effects on behavioral performance

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    Considerable variability across individuals has been reported in both the behavioral and fMRI blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response to nicotine. We aimed to investigate (1) whether there is a heterogeneous effect of nicotine on behavioral and BOLD responses across participants and (2) if heterogeneous BOLD responses are associated with behavioral performance measures. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study, 41 healthy participants (19 smokers)—drawn from a larger population-based sample—performed a visual oddball task after acute challenge with 1 mg nasal nicotine. fMRI data and reaction time were recorded during performance of the task. Across the entire group of subjects, we found increased activation in the anterior cingulate cortex, middle frontal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, post-central gyrus, planum temporal and frontal pole in the nicotine condition compared with the placebo condition. However, follow-up analyses of this difference in activation between the placebo and nicotine conditions revealed that some participants showed an increase in activation while others showed a decrease in BOLD activation from the placebo to the nicotine condition. A reduction of BOLD activation from placebo to nicotine was associated with a decrease in reaction time and reaction time variability and vice versa, suggesting that it is the direction of BOLD response to nicotine which is related to task performance. We conclude that the BOLD response to nicotine is heterogeneous and that the direction of response to nicotine should be taken into account in future pharmaco-fMRI research on the central action of nicotine

    Top-down control is not lost in the attentional blink: evidence from intact endogenous cuing.

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    The attentional blink (AB) refers to the finding that performance on the second of two targets (T1 and T2) is impaired when the targets are presented at a target onset asynchrony (TOA) of less than 500 ms. One account of the AB assumes that the processing load of T1 leads to a loss of top-down control over stimulus selection. The present study tested this account by examining whether an endogenous spatial cue that indicates the location of a following T2 can facilitate T2 report even when the cue and T2 occur within the time window of the AB. Results from three experiments showed that endogenous cuing had a significant effect on T2 report, both during and outside of the AB; this cuing effect was modulated by both the cue-target onset asynchrony and by cue validity, while it was invariant to the AB. These results suggest that top-down control over target selection is not lost during the AB. © 2007 Springer-Verlag

    Follow the sign! Top-down contingent attentional capture of masked arrow cues

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    Arrow cues and other overlearned spatial symbols automatically orient attention according to their spatial meaning. This renders them similar to exogenous cues that occur at stimulus location. Exogenous cues trigger shifts of attention even when they are presented subliminally. Here, we investigate to what extent the mechanisms underlying the orienting of attention by exogenous cues and by arrow cues are comparable by analyzing the effects of visible and masked arrow cues on attention. In Experiment 1, we presented arrow cues with overall 50% validity. Visible cues, but not masked cues, lead to shifts of attention. In Experiment 2, the arrow cues had an overall validity of 80%. Now both visible and masked arrows lead to shifts of attention. This is in line with findings that subliminal exogenous cues capture attention only in a top-down contingent manner, that is, when the cues fit the observer’s intentions
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