scholarly journals Restricted attentional capacity within but not between sensory modalities

Nature ◽  
10.1038/42947 ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 387 (6635) ◽  
pp. 808-810 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Duncan ◽  
Sander Martens ◽  
Robert Ward
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Capacity ◽  
Sensory Modalities

scholarly journals Attentional capacity for processing concurrent stimuli is larger across sensory modalities than within a modality

2006 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 541-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Durk Talsma ◽  
Tracy J. Doty ◽  
Roy Strowd ◽  
Marty G. Woldorff
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Capacity ◽  
Sensory Modalities

Reaction Time and Brain Waves in Omitted Stimulus Tasks

2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar H. Hernández ◽  
Muriel Vogel-Sprott
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Young Male ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Auditory Stimuli ◽  
Motor Action ◽  
Cognitive Component ◽  
Sensory Modalities ◽  
Two Measures ◽  
Somatosensory Stimuli

A missing stimulus task requires an immediate response to the omission of a regular recurrent stimulus. The task evokes a subclass of event-related potential known as omitted stimulus potential (OSP), which reflects some cognitive processes such as expectancy. The behavioral response to a missing stimulus is referred to as omitted stimulus reaction time (RT). This total RT measure is known to include cognitive and motor components. The cognitive component (premotor RT) is measured by the time from the missing stimulus until the onset of motor action. The motor RT component is measured by the time from the onset of muscle action until the completion of the response. Previous research showed that RT is faster to auditory than to visual stimuli, and that the premotor of RT to a missing auditory stimulus is correlated with the duration of an OSP. Although this observation suggests that similar cognitive processes might underlie these two measures, no research has tested this possibility. If similar cognitive processes are involved in the premotor RT and OSP duration, these two measures should be correlated in visual and somatosensory modalities, and the premotor RT to missing auditory stimuli should be fastest. This hypothesis was tested in 17 young male volunteers who performed a missing stimulus task, who were presented with trains of auditory, visual, and somatosensory stimuli and the OSP and RT measures were recorded. The results showed that premotor RT and OSP duration were consistently related, and that both measures were shorter with respect to auditory stimuli than to visual or somatosensory stimuli. This provides the first evidence that the premotor RT is related to an attribute of the OSP in all three sensory modalities.

scholarly journals How do we measure attention? Using factor analysis to establish construct validity of neuropsychological tests

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Treviño ◽  
Xiaoshu Zhu ◽  
Yi Yi Lu ◽  
Luke S. Scheuer ◽  
Eliza Passell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Object Tracking ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Neuropsychological Tests ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Digit Symbol ◽  
Attentional Capacity ◽  
Spatial Span

AbstractWe investigated whether standardized neuropsychological tests and experimental cognitive paradigms measure the same cognitive faculties. Specifically, do neuropsychological tests commonly used to assess attention measure the same construct as attention paradigms used in cognitive psychology and neuroscience? We built on the “general attention factor”, comprising several widely used experimental paradigms (Huang et al., 2012). Participants (n = 636) completed an on-line battery (TestMyBrain.org) of six experimental tests [Multiple Object Tracking, Flanker Interference, Visual Working Memory, Approximate Number Sense, Spatial Configuration Visual Search, and Gradual Onset Continuous Performance Task (Grad CPT)] and eight neuropsychological tests [Trail Making Test versions A & B (TMT-A, TMT-B), Digit Symbol Coding, Forward and Backward Digit Span, Letter Cancellation, Spatial Span, and Arithmetic]. Exploratory factor analysis in a subset of 357 participants identified a five-factor structure: (1) attentional capacity (Multiple Object Tracking, Visual Working Memory, Digit Symbol Coding, Spatial Span), (2) search (Visual Search, TMT-A, TMT-B, Letter Cancellation); (3) Digit Span; (4) Arithmetic; and (5) Sustained Attention (GradCPT). Confirmatory analysis in 279 held-out participants showed that this model fit better than competing models. A hierarchical model where a general cognitive factor was imposed above the five specific factors fit as well as the model without the general factor. We conclude that Digit Span and Arithmetic tests should not be classified as attention tests. Digit Symbol Coding and Spatial Span tap attentional capacity, while TMT-A, TMT-B, and Letter Cancellation tap search (or attention-shifting) ability. These five tests can be classified as attention tests.

scholarly journals The Independent Evolution of Dorsal Pallia in Multiple Vertebrate Lineages

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Georg F. Striedter ◽  
R. Glenn Northcutt
Keyword(s):  
Olfactory Bulbs ◽  
Sensory Inputs ◽  
Independent Evolution ◽  
Sensory Modalities ◽  
Olfactory Input ◽  
Cartilaginous Fishes

Comparative neurobiologists have long wondered when and how the dorsal pallium (e.g., mammalian neocortex) evolved. For the last 50 years, the most widely accepted answer has been that this structure was already present in the earliest vertebrates and, therefore, homologous between the major vertebrate lineages. One challenge for this hypothesis is that the olfactory bulbs project throughout most of the pallium in the most basal vertebrate lineages (notably lampreys, hagfishes, and lungfishes) but do not project to the putative dorsal pallia in teleosts, cartilaginous fishes, and amniotes (i.e., reptiles, birds, and mammals). To make sense of these data, one may hypothesize that a dorsal pallium existed in the earliest vertebrates and received extensive olfactory input, which was subsequently lost in several lineages. However, the dorsal pallium is notoriously difficult to delineate in many vertebrates, and its homology between the various lineages is often based on little more than its topology. Therefore, we suspect that dorsal pallia evolved independently in teleosts, cartilaginous fishes, and amniotes. We further hypothesize that the emergence of these dorsal pallia was accompanied by the phylogenetic restriction of olfactory projections to the pallium and the expansion of inputs from other sensory modalities. We do not deny that the earliest vertebrates may have possessed nonolfactory sensory inputs to some parts of the pallium, but such projections alone do not define a dorsal pallium.

scholarly journals Dissections of Larval, Pupal and Adult Butterfly Brains for Immunostaining and Molecular Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Yi Peng Toh ◽  
Emilie Dion ◽  
Antónia Monteiro
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Rna Extraction ◽  
Fruit Fly ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Large Set ◽  
Bicyclus Anynana ◽  
Lepidopteran Species ◽  
Sensory Modalities ◽  
Olfactory Preferences ◽  
Adult Butterfly

Butterflies possess impressive cognitive abilities, and investigations into the neural mechanisms underlying these abilities are increasingly being conducted. Exploring butterfly neurobiology may require the isolation of larval, pupal, and/or adult brains for further molecular and histological experiments. This procedure has been largely described in the fruit fly, but a detailed description of butterfly brain dissections is still lacking. Here, we provide a detailed written and video protocol for the removal of Bicyclus anynana adult, pupal, and larval brains. This species is gradually becoming a popular model because it uses a large set of sensory modalities, displays plastic and hormonally controlled courtship behaviour, and learns visual mate preference and olfactory preferences that can be passed on to its offspring. The extracted brain can be used for downstream analyses, such as immunostaining, DNA or RNA extraction, and the procedure can be easily adapted to other lepidopteran species and life stages.

Prevalence and Phenomenology of Sensory Experiences of a Deceased Spouse: A Survey of Bereaved Older Adults

2021 ◽  
pp. 003022282110162
Author(s):  
Karina S. Kamp ◽  
Edith Maria Steffen ◽  
Andrew Moskowitz ◽  
Helle Spindler
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Danish Population ◽  
Sensory Experiences ◽  
Grief Process ◽  
Sensory Modalities ◽  
Potential Resource

Sensory and quasi-sensory experiences of the deceased (SED), also called bereavement hallucinations, are common in bereavement, but research detailing these experiences is limited. Methods: An in-depth survey of SED was developed based on existing research, and 310 older adults from the general Danish population participated in the study 6–10 months after their spouse died. Results: SED were reported by 42% of the participants with wide-ranging phenomenological features across sensory-modalities. In particular, seeing and hearing the deceased spouse was experienced as very similar to the couple’s everyday contacts before death. SED were endorsed as positive by a majority of experiencers, and the experiences were often shared with family and friends. Discussion: SED are conceptualized as social and relational phenomena, which may comfort the surviving spouse in late-life bereavement, but also provide tangible help to some experiencers. In clinical practice, SED may be considered a potential resource for the therapeutic grief process.

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