| 1. |
- Abbafati, Cristiana, et al.
(author)
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- 2020
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Eklund, Rasmus, et al.
(author)
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Is auditory awareness negativity confounded by performance?
- 2020
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In: Consciousness and Cognition. - : Elsevier BV. - 1053-8100 .- 1090-2376. ; 83
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Research suggests that the electrophysiological correlates of consciousness are similar in hearing as in vision: the auditory awareness negativity (AAN) and the late positivity (LP). However, from a recently proposed signal-detection perspective, these correlates may be confounded by performance, as the strength of the internal responses differs between aware and unaware trials. Here, we tried to apply this signal-detection approach to correct for performance in an auditory discrimination and detection task (N = 28). A large proportion of subjects had to be excluded because even a small response bias distorted the correction. For the remaining subjects, the correction mainly increased noise in the measurement. Furthermore, the signal-detection approach is theoretically problematic because it may isolate post-perceptual processes and eliminate awareness-related activity. Therefore, we conclude that AAN and LP are not confounded by performance and that the contrastive analysis identifies both as correlates of awareness.
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| 4. |
- Eklund, Rasmus, et al.
(author)
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The early but not the late neural correlate of auditory awareness reflects lateralized experiences
- 2021
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In: Neuropsychologia. - : Elsevier BV. - 0028-3932 .- 1873-3514. ; 158
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Theories disagree as to whether it is the early or the late neural correlate of awareness that plays a critical role in phenomenal awareness. According to recurrent processing theory, early activity in primary sensory areas corresponds closely to phenomenal awareness. In support, research with electroencephalography found that in the visual and somatosensory modality, an early neural correlate of awareness is contralateral to the perceived side of stimulation. Thus, early activity is sensitive to the perceived side of visual and somatosensory stimulation. Critically, it is unresolved whether this is true also for hearing. In the present study (N = 26 students), Bayesian analyses showed that the early neural correlate of awareness (auditory awareness negativity, AAN) was stronger for contralateral than ipsilateral electrodes whereas the late correlate of auditory awareness (late positivity, LP) was not lateralized. These findings demonstrate that the early but not the late neural correlate of auditory awareness reflects lateralized experiences. Thus, these findings imply that AAN is a more suitable NCC than LP because it correlates more closely with lateralized experiences.
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| 5. |
- Qin, Nan, et al.
(author)
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Effects of selective attention on the C1 ERP component : A systematic review and meta-analysis
- 2022
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In: Psychophysiology. - : Wiley. - 0048-5772 .- 1469-8986. ; 59:12
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The C1 event-related potential (ERP) captures the earliest stage of feedforward processing in the primary visual cortex (V1). An ongoing debate is whether top-down selective attention can modulate the C1. One side of the debate pointed out that null findings appear to outnumber positive findings; thus, selective attention does not seem to influence the C1. However, this suggestion is not based on a valid approach to summarizing evidence across studies. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis investigating the effects of selective attention on the C1, involving 47 experiments and 794 subjects in total. Despite heterogeneity across studies, results suggested that attention has a moderate effect on the C1 (Cohen's $$ dz= 0.33, p < .0001); that is, C1 amplitude is larger for visual stimuli that are attended than unattended. These results suggest that C1 is affected by top-down selective attention.
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| 6. |
- Sbarra, AN, et al.
(author)
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Mapping routine measles vaccination in low- and middle-income countries
- 2021
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-4687 .- 0028-0836. ; 589:7842, s. 415-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The safe, highly effective measles vaccine has been recommended globally since 1974, yet in 2017 there were more than 17 million cases of measles and 83,400 deaths in children under 5 years old, and more than 99% of both occurred in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)1–4. Globally comparable, annual, local estimates of routine first-dose measles-containing vaccine (MCV1) coverage are critical for understanding geographically precise immunity patterns, progress towards the targets of the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP), and high-risk areas amid disruptions to vaccination programmes caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)5–8. Here we generated annual estimates of routine childhood MCV1 coverage at 5 × 5-km2pixel and second administrative levels from 2000 to 2019 in 101 LMICs, quantified geographical inequality and assessed vaccination status by geographical remoteness. After widespread MCV1 gains from 2000 to 2010, coverage regressed in more than half of the districts between 2010 and 2019, leaving many LMICs far from the GVAP goal of 80% coverage in all districts by 2019. MCV1 coverage was lower in rural than in urban locations, although a larger proportion of unvaccinated children overall lived in urban locations; strategies to provide essential vaccination services should address both geographical contexts. These results provide a tool for decision-makers to strengthen routine MCV1 immunization programmes and provide equitable disease protection for all children.
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| 7. |
- Szychowska, Malina, 1991-
(author)
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Effects of visual load on auditory processing
- 2020
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In daily life, people need to be able to focus on a task while ignoring any task-irrelevant background noise. For example, people who work in an open-space office may have to work on a report while ignoring the background talk among co-workers. Theories of attention argue that processing of task-irrelevant auditory information should become attenuated when attentional capacity is exhausted by task-relevant stimuli, for example a visual task. According to early-filter theory, top-down attenuation of auditory responses is possible at various stages of the auditory pathway through multiple recurrent loops. Furthermore, the adaptive filtering model of selective attention suggests that filtering occurs early when concurrent visual tasks are demanding (e.g., high load) and late when tasks are easy (e.g., low load).The main aim of this thesis was to investigate whether auditory processing is attenuated during concurrent visual load manipulation, and if so, at which stage of the auditory pathway. Recurrent loops that are present throughout the entire auditory pathway should allow top-down modulation of even earliest responses, especially when accompanied by a highly demanding task. Recording these auditory responses during concurrent visual tasks with different levels of load could potentially show at which stages of auditory processing the filtering happens when the task demands are high or low, or there is no task at all.This thesis tested the effects of visual load manipulation on the responses originating from different stages of the auditory pathway: mismatch negativity (MMN) to duration in Study I, MMN to frequency in Study III, auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs) to a 40-Hz modulation frequency in Study IV, and ASSRs to 20-, 40-, and 80-Hz modulation frequencies in Study V. Additionally, Study II compared different control conditions (cascade vs. no-repetition control) for evoking MMN to find a design that reduces confounds in the MMN. Results of Study II showed that cascade and no-repetition control are comparable control conditions for evoking MMN.For the effects of visual load manipulation on auditory MMN (low vs. high load), results showed moderate evidence for the effect of load on duration MMN and moderate evidence for no effect of load on frequency MMN. However, results for the duration MMN might be confounded by physical differences between the low load and high load conditions in the visual task, and by a biased oddball paradigm used to evoke the MMN. Thus, it is most likely that auditory MMN is not affected by visual load (low vs. high).For the effects of visual load on ASSRs (no, low, and high load), results showed moderate to strong evidence for no effects of load manipulation on ASSRs, but some comparisons were inconclusive. The convincing evidence obtained in Studies IV and V points to the robustness of ASSRs against visual load manipulation.Because it is most likely that neither MMN nor ASSRs are affected by visual load manipulation, results presented in this thesis support the idea that attentional resources are modality specific. Because it is possible that filtering occurs at one stage of auditory processing and does not change with the concurrent task demands, the present results do not rule out the early-filter theory. However, results are inconsistent with the adaptive filtering model because filtering of task-irrelevant responses does not vary with the demands of the concurrent task.
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| 8. |
- Szychowska, Malina, 1991-, et al.
(author)
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Visual load does not decrease the auditory steady‐state response to 40‐Hz amplitude‐modulated tones
- 2020
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In: Psychophysiology. - : Wiley. - 0048-5772 .- 1469-8986. ; 57:12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The auditory pathway consists of multiple recurrent loops of afferent and efferent connections that extend from the cochlea up to the prefrontal cortex. The early-filter theory proposes that these loops allow topdown filtering of early and middle latency auditory responses. Furthermore, the adaptive filtering model suggests that filtering of irrelevant auditory stimuli should start lower in the pathway during more demanding tasks. If so, the 40-Hz auditory steady state responses (ASSRs) to irrelevant sounds should be affected by top-down crossmodal attention to a visual task, and effects should vary with the load of the visual task. Because few studies have examined this possibility, we conducted two preregistered studies that manipulated visual load (Study 1: N = 43, Study 2: N = 45). Study 1 used two levels (low and high), and Study 2 used four levels (no, low, high, and very high). Subjects were asked to ignore a 500-Hz taskirrelevant tone that was amplitude-modulated to evoke 40-Hz ASSRs. Results from Bayesian analyses provided moderate to extreme support for no effect of load (or of task) on ASSRs. Results also supported no interaction with time (i.e., over blocks, over minutes, or with changes in ASSRs that were synchronized with the onset of the visual stimuli). Further, results provided moderate support for no correlation between effects of load and working memory capacity. Because the present findings support the robustness of ASSRs against manipulations of crossmodal attention, they are not consistent with the adaptive filtering model.
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| 9. |
- Szychowska, Malina, 1991-, et al.
(author)
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Visual load effects on the auditory steady state responses to 20-, 40-, and 80-Hz amplitude-modulated tones
- 2021
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In: Physiology & Behavior. - : Elsevier BV. - 0031-9384. ; 228
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Ignoring background sounds while focusing on a visual task is a necessary ability in everyday life. If attentional resources are shared between modalities, processing of task-irrelevant auditory information should become attenuated when attentional capacity is exhausted by visual demands. According to earlyfilter theory, top-down attenuation of auditory responses is possible at various stages of the auditory pathway through multiple recurrent loops. Furthermore, the adaptive filtering model of selective attention suggests that filtering occurs early when concurrent visual tasks are demanding (e.g., high load) and late when tasks are easy (e.g., low load). This study examined effects of visual load on auditory steady state responses (ASSRs) to determine where in the auditory pathway the filtering occurs. Subjects performed a visual task with three levels of load (no, low, and high) while ignoring task-irrelevant sounds. The auditory stimuli were 500-Hz tones amplitude-modulated at 20 Hz, 40 Hz, or 80 Hz to target different processing stages of the auditory pathway. Results from bayesian analyses suggest that ASSRs are unaffected by visual load. These findings also suggest that attentional resources are modality specific and that the attentional filter of auditory processing does not vary with visual task demands.
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| 10. |
- Wiens, Stefan
(author)
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Dissociation Between Speech and Emotion Effects in Short-Term Memory : A Data Reanalysis
- 2021
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In: Meta-Psychology. - : Linnaeus University. - 2003-2714. ; 5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Performance in visual serial recall tasks is often impaired by irrelevant auditory distracters. The duplex-mechanism account of auditory distraction states that if the distracters provide order cues, these interfere with the processing of the order cues in the serial recall task (interference by process). In contrast, the unitary account states that distracters capture only attention on a general level (attentional distraction) without interfering specifically withorder processing. Marsh et al. (2018, Journal of Experimental Psychology-Learning Memory and Cognition, 44, 882-897) reported finding a dissociation between the effects of serial recall tasks and those of a missing-item task on the disruptive effects of speech and of emotional words, as predicted by the duplex-mechanism account. Critically, the reported analyses did not test specifically for the claimed dissociation. Therefore, I reanalyzed the Marsh et al. data and conducted the appropriate analyses. I also tested the dissociation more directly and added a Bayesian hypothesis test to measure the strength of the evidence for a dissociation. Results provided strong evidence for a dissociation (i.e., crossover interaction) between effects of speech and of emotion. Because the duplex-mechanism account predicts this dissociation between speech effects (interference by process) and emotion effects (attentionaldiversion) whereas the unitary account does not, Marsh et al.’s data support the duplex-mechanism account. However, to show that this dissociation is robust, researchers are advised to replicate this dissociation in an adversarial registered report.
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| 11. |
- Wiens, Stefan, et al.
(author)
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Electrophysiological correlates of in vivo and virtual reality exposure therapy in spider phobia
- 2022
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In: Psychophysiology. - : Wiley. - 0048-5772 .- 1469-8986. ; 59:12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Specific phobia can be treated successfully with exposure therapy. Although exposure therapy has strong effects on self-reported ratings and behavioral avoidance, effects on measures derived from electroencephalography (EEG) are scant and unclear. To fill this gap, spider-phobic individuals received either in-vivo or virtual reality exposure treatment. Patients were tested twice (one week before and after treatment), and control subjects once. In each session, EEG was recorded to spider pictures as well as other positive, negative, and neutral pictures. During EEG recording, participants performed a simple detection task while task-irrelevant pictures were shown in the background. The task was used to reduce potential confounding effects from shifts of attention. After the task, subjects were shown the pictures again and rated each in terms of their emotional reaction (arousal and pleasantness). The results showed that before treatment, patients rated spiders as more negative than did control subjects. Patients also showed elevated early posterior negativity (EPN) and late positive potential (LPP) to spiders. After treatment, the negative emotional ratings of spiders were substantially reduced. Critically, Bayesian analyses suggested that EPN and LPP were unaffected by treatment and that the treatment groups did not differ in their responses (EPN, LPP, and ratings). These findings suggest that the effects of in vivo and virtual reality exposure therapy are similar and that the initial stages of motivated attention (EPN and LPP) are unaffected by treatment.
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| 12. |
- Wiens, Stefan, et al.
(author)
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Neural electrophysiological correlates of detection and identification awareness
- 2023
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In: Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience. - : Springer Nature. - 1530-7026 .- 1531-135X. ; 23:5, s. 1303-1321
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Humans have conscious experiences of the events in their environment. Previous research from electroencephalography (EEG) has shown visual awareness negativity (VAN) at about 200 ms to be a neural correlate of consciousness (NCC). However, when considering VAN as an NCC, it is important to explore which particular experiences are associated with VAN. Recent research proposes that VAN is an NCC of lower-level experiences (detection) rather than higher-level experiences (identification). However, previous results are mixed and have several limitations. In the present study, the stimulus was a ring with a Gabor patch tilting either left or right. On each trial, subjects rated their awareness on a three-level perceptual awareness scale that captured both detection (something vs. nothing) and identification (identification vs. something). Separate staircases were used to adjust stimulus opacity to the detection threshold and the identification threshold. Bayesian linear mixed models provided extreme evidence (BF10 = 131) that VAN was stronger at the detection threshold than at the identification threshold. Mean VAN decreased from - 2.12 microV [- 2.86, - 1.42] at detection to - 0.46 microV [- 0.79, - 0.11] at identification. These results strongly support the claim that VAN is an NCC of lower-level experiences of seeing something rather than of higher-level experiences of specific properties of the stimuli. Thus, results are consistent with recurrent processing theory in that phenomenal visual consciousness is reflected by VAN. Further, results emphasize that it is important to consider the level of experience when searching for NCC.
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