scholarly journals Eye movement-related confounds in neural decoding of visual working memory representations

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pim Mostert ◽  
Anke Marit Albers ◽  
Loek Brinkman ◽  
Larisa Todorova ◽  
Peter Kok ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Delay Period ◽  
Imagery Task ◽  
Neural Decoding ◽  
Neural Signals ◽  
Stable Representation ◽  
Neural Underpinnings

AbstractThe study of visual working memory (VWM) has recently seen revitalization with the emergence of new insights and theories regarding its neural underpinnings. One crucial ingredient responsible for this progress is the rise of neural decoding techniques. These techniques promise to uncover the representational contents of neural signals, as well as the underlying code and the dynamic profile thereof. Here, we aimed to contribute to the field by subjecting human volunteers to a combined VWM/imagery task, while recording and decoding their neural signals as measured by MEG. At first sight, the results seem to provide evidence for a persistent, stable representation of the memorandum throughout the delay period. However, control analyses revealed that these findings can be explained by subtle, VWM-specific eye movements. As a potential remedy, we demonstrate the use of a functional localizer, which was specifically designed to target bottom-up sensory signals and as such avoids eye movements, to train the neural decoders. This analysis revealed a sustained representation for approximately 1 second, but no longer throughout the entire delay period. We conclude by arguing for more awareness of the potentially pervasive and ubiquitous effects of eye movement-related confounds.Significance statementVisual working memory is an important aspect of higher cognition and has been subject of much investigation within the field of cognitive neuroscience. Over recent years, these studies have increasingly relied on the use of neural decoding techniques. Here, we show that neural decoding may be susceptible to confounds induced by stimulus-specific eye movements. Such eye movements during working memory have been reported before, and may in fact be a common phenomenon. Given the widespread use of neural decoding and the potentially contaminating effects of eye movements, we therefore believe that our results are of significant relevance for the field.

scholarly journals Eye Movement-Related Confounds in Neural Decoding of Visual Working Memory Representations

eNeuro ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. ENEURO.0401-17.2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pim Mostert ◽  
Anke Marit Albers ◽  
Loek Brinkman ◽  
Larisa Todorova ◽  
Peter Kok ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Neural Decoding ◽  
Memory Representations

scholarly journals Delay-period activity in frontal, parietal, and occipital cortex tracks noise and biases in visual working memory

PLoS Biology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. e3000854 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qing Yu ◽  
Matthew F. Panichello ◽  
Ying Cai ◽  
Bradley R. Postle ◽  
Timothy J. Buschman
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Delay Period

scholarly journals Eye-Movement does not reduce ratings of vividness and emotionality or the number of intrusive thoughts of unpleasant memories: Implications for Eye-Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Nicholas Arnott-Steel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Alternative Explanation ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Intrusive Thoughts ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Line Treatment ◽  
Front Line ◽  
Traumatic Memories

<p>Eye-Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy that incorporates the use of saccadic Eye-Movements (EM) to alleviate distress caused by traumatic memories. Although EMDR is recognised as a front-line treatment for individuals suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), the mechanisms underlying the efficacy of the EM component remain a point of contention. The aim of the current research was to investigate first, whether EM reduced ratings of memory vividness and emotionality by taxing Working Memory (WM) capacity, and second, to examine whether EM lowered the number of intrusive thoughts under two opposing suppression conditions. In two experiments, 244 non-clinical participants were asked to recall an unpleasant memory while simultaneously engaging in fast-EM, slow-EM or a no-EM control. Participants then received an instruction to intentionally avoid thinking about the memory, or to think about whatever came to mind. Relative to no-EM, fast-EM and slow-EM had no significant effect on vividness and emotionality ratings, nor did they influence the number of intrusive thoughts. In addition, the level of suppression intent had no impact on memory outcomes. Overall, the results from these two experiments oppose earlier findings in support of WM theory, and a significant body of research that has demonstrated the efficacy of the EM component. Implications for the EM component in EMDR are discussed, and an alternative explanation for EM is offered.</p>

A Working Memory Explanation for the Effects of Eye Movements in EMDR

2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 247-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Maxfield ◽  
William T. Melnyk ◽  
Gordon C. A. Hayman
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Mechanisms Of Action ◽  
Emotional Intensity ◽  
Attention Tasks ◽  
Memory Resources ◽  
Negative Memories

Research has consistently demonstrated that performance is degraded when participants engage in two simultaneous tasks that require the same working memory resources. This study tested predictions from working memory theory to investigate the effects of eye movement (EM) on the components of autobiographical memory. In two experiments, 24 and 36 participants, respectively, focused on negative memories while engaging in three dual-attention EM tasks of increasing complexity. Compared to No-EM, Slow-EM and Fast-EM produced significantly decreased ratings of image vividness, thought clarity, and emotional intensity, and the more difficult Fast-EM resulted in larger decreases than did Slow-EM. The effects on emotional intensity were not consistent, with some preliminary evidence that a focus on memory-related thought might maintain emotional intensity during simple dual-attention tasks (Slow-EM, No-EM). The findings of our experiments support a working memory explanation for the effects of EM dual-attention tasks on autobiographical memory. Implications for understanding the mechanisms of action in EMDR are discussed.

Distribution of Targets in 400 Eye-Movement Desensitization Cases

2003 ◽  
Vol 92 (3) ◽  
pp. 717-722 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Hassard
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Cognitive Change ◽  
Memory Recovery ◽  
Dose Effects

In a series of 400 patients undergoing Eye-movement Desensitization (EMD), patients rarely reported more than nine flashbacks or other focal targets, which may indicate the working memory limit. Eye-movement desensitization may operate by freeing working memory capacity, enabling cognitive change and memory recovery to occur. Complete EMD treatment may require sufficient eye movements to free up working memory capacity. Patients given less than this requirement may not be adequately treated. This may account for variable results in evaluations of eye-movement desensitization. Such possible dose effects may be important in this therapy.

Interference with Rehearsal in Spatial Working Memory in the Absence of Eye Movements

1996 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 940-949 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary M. Smyth
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Spatial Encoding ◽  
Rehearsal Strategy ◽  
The Right ◽  
Attention Shifts

We have previously argued that rehearsal in spatial working memory is interfered with by spatial attention shifts rather than simply by movements to locations in space (Smyth & Scholey, 1994). It is possible, however, that the stimuli intended to induce attention shifts in our experiments also induced eye movements and interfered either with an overt eye movement rehearsal strategy or with a covert one. In the first experiment reported here, subjects fixated while they maintained a sequence of spatial items in memory before recalling them in order. Fixation did not affect recall, but auditory spatial stimuli presented during the interval did decrease performance, and it was further decreased if the stimuli were categorized as coming from the right or the left. A second experiment investigated the effects of auditory spatial stimuli to which no response was ever required and found that these did not interfere with performance, indicating that it is the spatial salience of targets that leads to interference. This interference from spatial input in the absence of any overt movement of the eyes or limbs is interpreted in terms of shifts of spatial attention or spatial monitoring, which Morris (1989) has suggested affects spatial encoding and which our findings suggest also affects reactivation in rehearsal.

scholarly journals The cost of making an eye movement: A direct link between visual working memory and saccade execution

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martijn J. Schut ◽  
Nathan Van der Stoep ◽  
Albert Postma ◽  
Stefan Van der Stigchel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Direct Link ◽  
The Cost

Movement and Attention in Visual Working Memory

1986 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 689-703 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. G. Quinn ◽  
G. E. Ralston
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Arm Movements ◽  
Spatial Code ◽  
Performance Decrement ◽  
Interference Effects ◽  
Initial Information ◽  
Per Se ◽  
A Performance

Three experiments that adopt an interference technique to investigate the involvement of movement in the production of a spatial code are described. Arm movements rather than the more commonly employed eye movements are used to provide initial information about the sorts of movements relevant to the code and to allow an empirical separation of the contributions of movement and attention. The results confirm the interference effects of incompatible movement on the generation of the spatial code and show that movement per se rather than attention to the movement can cause a performance decrement.

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