Short-Term Memory Improvement After Simultaneous Interpretation Training

open4siSimultaneous interpretation (SI) is a cognitively demanding process that has been associated with enhanced memory and executive functions. It is unclear, however, if the previously evidenced interpreter advantages are developed through training and/or experience with SI or rather represent inherent characteristics that allow success in the field. The present study aimed to disentangle these possibilities through a longitudinal examination of students earning a Master of Conference Interpreting and two control populations. The students were tested at the beginning and end of their programs on measures of memory and executive functioning that have previously demonstrated an interpreter advantage. The results revealed no inherent advantage among the students of interpretation. However, an SI training-specific advantage was revealed in verbal short-term memory; the students of interpretation, but not the two control groups, showed a gain between the testing sessions. This controlled longitudinal study demonstrates that training in simultaneous interpretation is associated with cognitive changes.openBabcock, Laura; Capizzi, Mariagrazia; Arbula, Sandra; Vallesi, AntoninoBabcock, Laura; Capizzi, Mariagrazia; Arbula, Sandra; Vallesi, Antonin

How Life Experience Shapes Cognitive Control Strategies: The Case of Air Traffic Control Training

Although human flexible behavior relies on cognitive control, it would be implausible to assume that there is only one, general mode of cognitive control strategy adopted by all individuals. For instance, different reliance on proactive versus reactive control strategies could explain inter-individual variability. In particular, specific life experiences, like a highly demanding training for future Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs), could modulate cognitive control functions. A group of ATC trainees and a matched group of university students were tested longitudinally on task-switching and Stroop paradigms that allowed us to measure indices of cognitive control. The results showed that the ATCs, with respect to the control group, had substantially smaller mixing costs during long cue-target intervals (CTI) and a reduced Stroop interference effect. However, this advantage was present also prior to the training phase. Being more capable in managing multiple task sets and less distracted by interfering events suggests a more efficient selection and maintenance of task relevant information as an inherent characteristic of the ATC group, associated with proactive control. Critically, the training that the ATCs underwent improved their accuracy in general and reduced response time switching costs during short CTIs only. These results indicate a training-induced change in reactive control, which is described as a transient process in charge of stimulus-driven task detection and resolution. This experience-based enhancement of reactive control strategy denotes how cognitive control and executive functions in general can be shaped by real-life training and underlines the importance of experience in explaining inter-individual variability in cognitive functioning

The Psychological Science Accelerator’s COVID-19 rapid-response dataset

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on behavioral intentions and affective measures. The data collected (April to October 2020) included specific measures for each experimental study, a general questionnaire examining health prevention behaviors and COVID-19 experience, geographical and cultural context characterization, and demographic information for each participant. Each participant started the study with the same general questions and then was randomized to complete either one longer experiment or two shorter experiments. Data were provided by 73,223 participants with varying completion rates. Participants completed the survey from 111 geopolitical regions in 44 unique languages/dialects. The anonymized dataset described here is provided in both raw and processed formats to facilitate re-use and further analyses. The dataset offers secondary analytic opportunities to explore coping, framing, and self-determination across a diverse, global sample obtained at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be merged with other time-sampled or geographic data.Comision Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnologica (CONICYT) CONICYT FONDECYTEuropean Commission - United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI

Electrophysiological evidence for domain-general processes in task-switching

open5noopenCapizzi, Mariagrazia; Ambrosini, Ettore; Arbula, Sandra; Mazzonetto, Ilaria; Vallesi, AntoninoCapizzi, Mariagrazia; Ambrosini, Ettore; Arbula, Sandra; Mazzonetto, Ilaria; Vallesi, Antonin

Testing the domain-general nature of monitoring in the spatial and verbal cognitive domains

While it is well-established that monitoring the environment for the occurrence of relevant events represents a key executive function, it is still unclear whether such a function is mediated by domain-general or domain-specific mechanisms. We investigated this issue by combining event-related potentials (ERPs) with a behavioral paradigm in which monitoring processes (non-monitoring vs. monitoring) and cognitive domains (spatial vs. verbal) were orthogonally manipulated in the same group of participants. They had to categorize 3-dimensional visually presented words on the basis of either spatial or verbal rules. In monitoring blocks, they additionally had to check whether the word displayed a specific spatial configuration or whether it contained a certain consonant. The behavioral results showed slower responses for both spatial and verbal monitoring trials compared to non-monitoring trials. The ERP results revealed that monitoring did not interact with domain, thus suggesting the involvement of common underlying mechanisms. Specifically, monitoring acted on lower-level perceptual processes (as expressed by an enhanced visual N1 wave and a sustained posterior negativity for monitoring trials) and on higher-level cognitive processes (involving larger positive modulations by monitoring trials over frontal and parietal scalp regions). The source reconstruction analysis of the ERP data confirmed that monitoring was associated with increased activity in visual areas and in right prefrontal and parietal regions (i.e., superior and inferior frontal gyri and posterior parietal cortex), which previous studies have linked to spatial and temporal monitoring. Our findings extend this research by supporting the domain-general nature of monitoring in the spatial and verbal domains

Domain-independent neural underpinning of task-switching: an fMRI investigation

The ability to shift between different tasks according to internal or external demands, which is at the core of our behavioral flexibility, has been generally linked to the functionality of left fronto-parietal regions. Traditionally, the left and right hemispheres have also been associated with verbal and spatial processing, respectively. We therefore investigated with functional MRI whether the processes engaged during task-switching interact in the brain with the domain of the tasks to be switched, that is, verbal or spatial. Importantly, physical stimuli were exactly the same and participants\u2019 performance was matched between the two domains. The fMRI results showed a clearly left-lateralized involvement of fronto-parietal regions when contrasting task-switching vs. single task blocks in the context of verbal rules. A more bilateral pattern, especially in the prefrontal cortex, was instead observed for switching between spatial tasks. Moreover, while a conjunction analysis showed that the core regions involved in task-switching, independently of the switching context, were localized both in left inferior prefrontal and parietal cortices and in bilateral supplementary motor area, a direct analysis of functional lateralization revealed that hemispheric asymmetries in the frontal lobes were more biased toward the left side for the verbal domain than for the spatial one and vice versa. Overall, these findings highlight the role of left fronto-parietal regions in task-switching, above and beyond the specific task requirements, but also show that hemispheric asymmetries may be modulated by the more specific nature of the tasks to be performed during task-switching

Dissociating Explicit and Implicit Timing in Parkinson\u2019s Disease Patients: Evidence from Bisection and Foreperiod Tasks

A consistent body of literature reported that Parkinson\u2019s disease (PD) is marked by severe deficits in temporal processing. However, the exact nature of timing problems in PD patients is still elusive. In particular, what remains unclear is whether the temporal dysfunction observed in PD patients regards explicit and/or implicit timing. Explicit timing tasks require participants to attend to the duration of the stimulus, whereas in implicit timing tasks no explicit instruction to process time is received but time still affects performance. In the present study, we investigated temporal ability in PD by comparing 20 PD participants and 20 control participants in both explicit and implicit timing tasks. Specifically, we used a time bisection task to investigate explicit timing and a foreperiod task for implicit timing. Moreover, this is the first study investigating sequential effects in PD participants. Results showed preserved temporal ability in PD participants in the implicit timing task only (i.e., normal foreperiod and sequential effects). By contrast, PD participants failed in the explicit timing task as they displayed shorter perceived durations and higher variability compared to controls. Overall, the dissociation reported here supports the idea that timing can be differentiated according to whether it is explicitly or implicitly processed, and that PD participants are selectively impaired in the explicit processing of time

Spectro-temporal Unfolding of Temporal Orienting of Attention

AbstractAll behaviors unfold over time, therefore, our ability to perceive and adapt our behavior according to the temporal constraints of our environment is likely a fundamental requirement for successful behavior (Nobre et al., 2007). Temporal preparation has been defined as our ability to anticipate and prepare an optimal response to forthcoming events in our environment (Nobre et al., 2007). Temporal preparation requires integration of different types of temporal information. On the one hand, information can be provided by temporal predictions, i.e. temporal orienting of attention. On the other hand, information can be afforded by the duration of the previous temporal events, namely the sequential effects (e.g., Capizzi et al., 2012). In this project we are focusing in the time-frequency analysis during the delay period (i.e., foreperiod) from the cue onset until the target onset at the short interval. We followed the results of Capizzi et al.’s (2013) study which showed that the CNV component was increased in the delay period when the previous foreperiod was short as compared to long (Cappizi et al., 2013).Recent studies are concerned with the question of how oscillatory brain activity can provide a mechanism for regulating our temporal behavior (Cravo et al., 2011; Praamstra & Pope, 2007; Rohenkohl & Nobre, 2011). Oscillatory brain activity may be one of the mechanisms underlying the operation of different brain areas during cognitive functions (Buzsaki, 2006). When brain activity is recorded at the level of neural populations, the activity assumes a rhythmic temporal structure. Spectral analysis or time-frequency analysis is the study of brain rhythms. Using time-frequency analysis one can characterize the modulation of certain brain rhythms as those unfold in time. Additionally, different brain regions can engage in synchronized brain activity in certain frequency bands. Such synchronization may support inter-areal communication, which is likely fundamental to many of the cognitive functions producing behavior. Studying brain rhythms therefore has the potential of revealing mechanisms underlying cognitive function and behavior (Fries, 2009).Previous studies in the field of temporal preparation (Cravo et al., 2011; Rohenkohl & Nobre, 2011) have investigated oscillatory brain activity and how it is modulated over the time intervals in which target events are expected. Specifically, desynchronization of low frequency power (<30Hz) has been documented following the time course of predictable time intervals. In this project, we were interested in investigating the spectro-temporal profile of both temporal orienting and the sequential effects during the preparatory interval (foreperiod). Time/frequency analyses was focused on epochs locked to the cue onset and compared EEG activity related to early vs. late temporal expectations (temporal orienting) and EEG activity related to previous short vs. previous long foreperiods (sequential effects).With the aforementioned approach we aim to clarify whether or not sequential effects and temporal orienting effects are mediated by the same brain activity. The behavioral data from the previous study of Capizzi et al. (2012) indicated that temporal orienting and sequential effects are different aspects of temporal preparation and that sequential effects are related to automatic rather than to controlled processing unlike the temporal orienting effect. Time frequency analysis was performed in a total of fourteen subjects; cue locked analysis showed that when an early cue is followed by a short interval there is higher power in lower frequencies as compared to the power when a late cue is followed by a short interval. These results signify a difference in the power representation of the temporal preparation for explicit cuing compared when temporal preparation is guided by the presentation of a regular rhythm suggesting the involvement of dissociable mechanism

Task-switching preparation across semantic and spatial domains: An event-related potential study

Previous event-related potential (ERP) studies have identified the specific electrophysiological markers of advance preparation in cued task-switching paradigms. However, it is not yet completely clear whether there is a single task-independent preparatory mechanism for task-switching or whether preparation for a switch can be selectively influenced by the domain of the task to be performed. To address this question, we employed a cued-task switching paradigm requiring participants to repeat or to switch between a semantic and a spatial task. The behavioural results showed a significant switch cost for both domains. The ERP findings, however, revealed that switch and repeat trials for semantic and spatial domains differed in the amplitude modulation of an early P2 and a sustained negativity both expressed over fronto-central scalp regions. Further differences between the two domains also emerged over posterior-parietal electrodes. This pattern of data thus shows that advance preparation in task-switching can be selectively modulated by the domain of the task to be performed

Bayesian modeling of temporal expectations in the human brain

The brain predicts the timing of forthcoming events to optimize processes in response to them. Temporal predictions are driven by both our prior expectations on the likely timing of stimulus occurrence and the information conveyed by the passage of time. Specifically, such predictions can be described in terms of the hazard function, that is, the conditional probability that an event will occur, given it has not yet occurred. Events violating expectations cause surprise and often induce updating of prior expectations. While it is well-known that the brain is able to track the temporal hazard of event occurrence, the question of how prior temporal expectations are updated is still unsettled. Here we combined a Bayesian computational approach with brain imaging to map updating of temporal expectations in the human brain. Moreover, since updating is usually highly correlated with surprise, participants performed a task that allowed partially differentiating between the two processes. Results showed that updating and surprise differently modulated activity in areas belonging to two critical networks for cognitive control, the fronto-parietal (FPN) and the cingulo-opercular network (CON). Overall, these data provide a first computational characterization of the neural correlates associated with updating and surprise related to temporal expectation