scholarly journals Neurofeedback helps to reveal a relationship between context reinstatement and memory retrieval

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan T. deBettencourt ◽  
Nicholas B. Turk-Browne ◽  
Kenneth A. Norman
Keyword(s):  
Memory Retrieval ◽  
Feedback Loop ◽  
Closed Loop ◽  
Recall Test ◽  
Free Recall Test ◽  
Mental Context ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Brain Behavior ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractTheories of mental context and memory posit that successful mental context reinstatement enables better retrieval of memories from the same context, at the expense of memories from other contexts. To test this hypothesis, we had participants study lists of words, interleaved with task-irrelevant images from one category (e.g., scenes). Following encoding, participants were cued to mentally reinstate the context associated with a particular list, by thinking about the images that had appeared between the words. We measured context reinstatement with fMRI, and related this to performance on a free recall test that followed immediately afterwards. To increase sensitivity, we used a closed-loop neurofeedback procedure, whereby higher levels of context reinstatement (measured neurally) elicited increased visibility of the images from the studied context onscreen. Our goal was to create a positive feedback loop that amplified small fluctuations in mental context reinstatement, making it easier to experimentally detect a relationship between context reinstatement and recall. As predicted, we found that higher levels of neural context reinstatement were associated with better recall of words from the reinstated context, and worse recall of words from a different context. In a second experiment, we assessed the role of neurofeedback in identifying this brain-behavior relationship by presenting context images again but manipulating whether their visibility depended on neural context reinstatement. When neurofeedback was removed, the relationship between context reinstatement and memory retrieval disappeared. Together, these findings demonstrate a clear effect of context reinstatement on memory recall and suggest that neurofeedback can be a useful tool for characterizing brain-behavior relationships.Abbreviated titleNeurofeedback context

A robot made of robots: Emergent transport and control of a smarticle ensemble

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (34) ◽  
pp. eaax4316 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Savoie ◽  
Thomas A. Berrueta ◽  
Zachary Jackson ◽  
Ana Pervan ◽  
Ross Warkentin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Closed Loop ◽  
Model System ◽  
Closed Loop Control ◽  
Loop Control ◽  
Robot Locomotion ◽  
Active Particles ◽  
And Control ◽  
Functional Components ◽  
The Relationship

Robot locomotion is typically generated by coordinated integration of single-purpose components, like actuators, sensors, body segments, and limbs. We posit that certain future robots could self-propel using systems in which a delineation of components and their interactions is not so clear, becoming robust and flexible entities composed of functional components that are redundant and generic and can interact stochastically. Control of such a collective becomes a challenge because synthesis techniques typically assume known input-output relationships. To discover principles by which such future robots can be built and controlled, we study a model robophysical system: planar ensembles of periodically deforming smart, active particles—smarticles. When enclosed, these individually immotile robots could collectively diffuse via stochastic mechanical interactions. We show experimentally and theoretically that directed drift of such a supersmarticle could be achieved via inactivation of individual smarticles and used this phenomenon to generate endogenous phototaxis. By numerically modeling the relationship between smarticle activity and transport, we elucidated the role of smarticle deactivation on supersmarticle dynamics from little data—a single experimental trial. From this mapping, we demonstrate that the supersmarticle could be exogenously steered anywhere in the plane, expanding supersmarticle capabilities while simultaneously enabling decentralized closed-loop control. We suggest that the smarticle model system may aid discovery of principles by which a class of future “stochastic” robots can rely on collective internal mechanical interactions to perform tasks.

Magical Thinking and Memory: Distinctiveness Effect for TV Commercials with Magical Content

2011 ◽  
Vol 109 (2) ◽  
pp. 369-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene Subbotsky ◽  
Jayne Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Free Recall ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Recall Test ◽  
Free Recall Test ◽  
Magical Thinking ◽  
Television Advertisements ◽  
Adolescents And Adults ◽  
Tv Commercials ◽  
Distinctiveness Effect

The aim of this study was to examine whether memorizing advertised products of television advertisements with magical effects (i.e., talking animals, inanimate objects which turn into humans, objects that appear from thin air or instantly turn into other objects) is easier than memorizing products of advertisements without such effects, by testing immediate and delayed retention. Adolescents and adults viewed two films containing television advertisements and were asked to recall and recognize the films' characters, events, and advertised products. Film 1 included magical effects, but Film 2 did not. On a free-recall test, no differences in the number of items recalled were noted for the two films. On the immediate recognition test, adolescents, but not adults, showed significantly better recognition for the magical than the nonmagical film. When this test was repeated two weeks later, results were reversed: adults, but not adolescents, recognized a significantly larger number of items from the magical film than the nonmagical one. These results are interpreted to accentuate the role of magical thinking in cognitive processes.

Individual differences in the relationship between episodic detail generation and resting state functional connectivity vary with age

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Matijevic ◽  
Jessica R. Andrews-Hanna ◽  
Aubrey Anne Ladd Wank ◽  
Lee Ryan ◽  
Matthew D. Grilli
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Brain Behavior ◽  
The Relationship

The ability to generate episodic details while recollecting autobiographical events is believed to depend on a collection of brain regions that form a posterior medial network (PMN). How age-related differences in episodic detail generation relate to the PMN, however, remains unclear. The present study sought to examine individual differences, and the role of age, in PMN resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) associations with episodic detail generation. Late middle-aged and older adults (N = 41, ages 52-81), and young adults (N = 21, ages 19-35) were asked to describe recent personal events, and these memory narratives were coded for episodic, semantic and ‘miscellaneous’ details. Independent components analysis and regions-of-interest analyses were used to assess rsFC within anterior PMN connections (hippocampal and medial prefrontal) and posterior PMN connections (hippocampal, parahippocampal and parieto-occipital). Compared to younger adults, older adults produced memory narratives with lower episodic specificity (ratio of episodic:total details) and a greater amount of semantic detail. Among the older adults, episodic detail amounts and episodic specificity were reduced with increasing age. There were no significant age differences in PMN rsFC. Stronger anterior PMN rsFC was related to lower episodic detail in the older adult group, but not in the young. Among the older adults, increasing age brought on an association between increased anterior PMN rsFC and reduced episodic specificity. The present study provides evidence that functional connectivity within the PMN, particularly anterior PMN, tracks individual differences in the amount of episodic details retrieved by older adults. Furthermore, these brain-behavior relationships appear to be age-specific.

scholarly journals The Moderating Role of Education on the Relationship Between Perceived Stereotype Threat and False Memory in Aging

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Laure Gilet ◽  
Christelle Evrard ◽  
Jean-Michel Galharret ◽  
Fabienne Colombel
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Stereotype Threat ◽  
Recall Test ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
False Memories ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Moderating Role

Studies regularly show that an age-based stereotype threat impairs older adults’ performance on memory tasks. Results regarding stereotype threat effects on false memories are less clear. Some studies suggest that education may moderate the relationship between an age-related stereotype threat and episodic memory performance in older adults. The present study aimed at examining the moderating role of education on the relationship between perceived stereotype threat (PST) and false memories in older adults. With this aim, 82 adults between 60 and 70 years of age performed a Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) task followed by a free recall test and completed questionnaires assessing both their perception of an age-based stereotype threat and their education level. Regression analyses showed no effect of PST on the production of critical lures. However, as was expected, our results showed that in higher educated older adults, as the perception of stereotype increases, the production of critical lures increases. These results confirm the moderating role of education and highlight its key role in the relationship between the age-based stereotype threat and older adults’ susceptibility to false memories.

Choosing a Markov blanket

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Parr
Keyword(s):  
Markov Blanket ◽  
Target Article ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract This commentary focuses upon the relationship between two themes in the target article: the ways in which a Markov blanket may be defined and the role of precision and salience in mediating the interactions between what is internal and external to a system. These each rest upon the different perspectives we might take while “choosing” a Markov blanket.

Staring Down Death

Crisis ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 212-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Joiner ◽  
Melanie A. Hom ◽  
Megan L. Rogers ◽  
Carol Chu ◽  
Ian H. Stanley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Clinical Utility ◽  
Blink Rate ◽  
Specific Task ◽  
Careful Planning ◽  
Eye Blink ◽  
Eye Blinks ◽  
Potential Clinical Utility ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract. Background: Lowered eye blink rate may be a clinically useful indicator of acute, imminent, and severe suicide risk. Diminished eye blink rates are often seen among individuals engaged in heightened concentration on a specific task that requires careful planning and attention. Indeed, overcoming one’s biological instinct for survival through suicide necessitates premeditation and concentration; thus, a diminished eye blink rate may signal imminent suicidality. Aims: This article aims to spur research and clinical inquiry into the role of eye blinks as an indicator of acute suicide risk. Method: Literature relevant to the potential connection between eye blink rate and suicidality was reviewed and synthesized. Results: Anecdotal, cognitive, neurological, and conceptual support for the relationship between decreased blink rate and suicide risk is outlined. Conclusion: Given that eye blinks are a highly observable behavior, the potential clinical utility of using eye blink rate as a marker of suicide risk is immense. Research is warranted to explore the association between eye blink rate and acute suicide risk.

Parenting Behaviors and Anxiety in Young Adults

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 170-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin N. Stevens ◽  
Joseph R. Bardeen ◽  
Kyle W. Murdock
Keyword(s):  
Effortful Control ◽  
Parenting Behaviors ◽  
Protective Role ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Parental Overprotection ◽  
High Control ◽  
Development Of Anxiety ◽  
The Relationship

Parenting behaviors – specifically behaviors characterized by high control, intrusiveness, rejection, and overprotection – and effortful control have each been implicated in the development of anxiety pathology. However, little research has examined the protective role of effortful control in the relation between parenting and anxiety symptoms, specifically among adults. Thus, we sought to explore the unique and interactive effects of parenting and effortful control on anxiety among adults (N = 162). Results suggest that effortful control uniquely contributes to anxiety symptoms above and beyond that of any parenting behavior. Furthermore, effortful control acted as a moderator of the relationship between parental overprotection and anxiety, such that overprotection is associated with anxiety only in individuals with lower levels of effortful control. Implications for potential prevention and intervention efforts which specifically target effortful control are discussed. These findings underscore the importance of considering individual differences in self-regulatory abilities when examining associations between putative early-life risk factors, such as parenting, and anxiety symptoms.

Social Support, Emotional Intelligence, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole L. Hofman ◽  
Austin M. Hahn ◽  
Christine K. Tirabassi ◽  
Raluca M. Gaher
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Protective Factors ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Events ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract. Exposure to traumatic events and the associated risk of developing Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms is a significant and overlooked concern in the college population. It is important for current research to identify potential protective factors associated with the development and maintenance of PTSD symptoms unique to this population. Emotional intelligence and perceived social support are two identified protective factors that influence the association between exposure to traumatic events and PTSD symptomology. The current study examined the mediating role of social support in the relationship between emotional intelligence and PTSD symptoms. Participants included 443 trauma-exposed university students who completed online questionnaires. The results of this study indicated that social support mediates the relationship between emotional intelligence and reported PTSD symptoms. Thus, emotional intelligence is significantly associated with PTSD symptoms and social support may play an integral role in the relationship between emotional intelligence and PTSD. The current study is the first to investigate the role of social support in the relationship between emotional intelligence and PTSD symptoms. These findings have important treatment and prevention implications with regard to PTSD.

Coping Humor as a Mediator Between Emotional Intelligence and Job Satisfaction

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 155-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peizhen Sun ◽  
Jennifer J. Chen ◽  
Hongyan Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Satisfaction Scale ◽  
Primary School Teachers ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Regulation Of Emotion ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Overall Job Satisfaction

Abstract. This study investigated the mediating role of coping humor in the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and job satisfaction. Participants were 398 primary school teachers in China, who completed the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale, Coping Humor Scale, and Overall Job Satisfaction Scale. Results showed that coping humor was a significant mediator between EI and job satisfaction. A further examination revealed, however, that coping humor only mediated two sub-dimensions of EI (use of emotion and regulation of emotion) and job satisfaction. Implications for future research and limitations of the study are discussed.

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