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Recent theory suggests that both the orienting response and arousal inhibition play roles in the effect of the concealed information test (CIT). However, the neural signatures associated with these two processes remain unclear. To address this issue, participants were motivated to either conceal or reveal crime-related stimulus during CIT while EEG was recorded. By using a temporal principal component analysis, we found that crime-related stimuli produced a larger early P3 than crime-irrelevant stimuli in both the conceal condition and reveal condition. This result suggests that this early P3 reflects an orienting response. In addition, we found that crime-related stimuli elicited a larger frontal negative slow wave than crime-irrelevant stimuli in the conceal condition but not the reveal condition, which suggests that the frontal negative slow wave reflects the arousal inhibition process. These results provide crucial evidence for understanding the neural basis underlying CIT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concealed information test (CIT) is a highly valid method for the detection of concealed knowledge. It relies on differential physiological responses to critical compared to control items. Guilty individuals may however attempt to distort these reactions by using countermeasures (CMs). The present preregistered study compared two types of countermeasures: (a) a classical countermeasure designed to affect orientation to the critical items and, as such, skin conductance responses (SCRs), and (b) a novel countermeasure designed to affect inhibition attempts and, as such, the respiration line length (RLL) and heart rate (HR). The classical countermeasure reduced the SCR CIT effect, supporting the idea that guilty individuals can facilitate orientation. The novel countermeasure did not affect the RLL and HR measures. This suggests that guilty individuals might not be able to block their instinctive drive to inhibit physiological arousal. Thus, the RLL and HR seem more suitable for real-life cases where countermeasures are suspected. General Audience Summary: Everyone has something to hide. Although most secrets are trivial and innocent, some can pose a threat to society and need to be unveiled. Researchers have therefore developed the so-called concealed information test (CIT). This test checks whether individuals have knowledge of certain critical details (such as the murder weapon). Importantly, when faced with these details, a unique physiological response pattern occurs—skin conductance increases because we start sweating more heavily, while respiration and heart rate reduce. In light of this, one may wonder whether it is possible to willingly distort these physiological responses. In other words, can one fool the CIT and be classified as having "no knowledge"? To explore this question, the current experiment tested two distortion methods—each method was designed to affect a single cognitive process known to be involved in the CIT (namely, orienting and inhibition). As expected, skin conductance was affected by the first method. However, neither method affected respiration or heart rate. These results confirm the theoretical idea that different physiological measures in the CIT reflect different cognitive processes. Moreover, they suggest that respiration and heart rate are more robust to faking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although alpha‐band activity has long been a focus of psychophysiological research, its modulation by emotional value during picture perception has only recently been studied systematically. Here, we review these studies and report that the most consistent alpha oscillatory pattern indexing emotional processing is an enhanced desynchronization (ERD) over posterior sensors when viewing emotional compared with neutral pictures. This enhanced alpha ERD is not specific to unpleasant picture content, as previously proposed for other measures of affective response, but has also been observed for pleasant stimuli. Evidence suggests that this effect is not confined to the alpha band but that it also involves a desynchronization of the lower beta frequencies (8–20 Hz). The emotional modulation of alpha ERD occurs even after massive stimulus repetition and when emotional cues serve as task‐irrelevant distractors, consistent with the hypothesis that evaluative processes are mandatory in emotional picture processing. A similar enhanced ERD has been observed for other significant cues (e.g., conditioned aversive stimuli, or in anticipation of a potential threat), suggesting that it reflects cortical excitability associated with the engagement of the motivational systems. We review studies on alpha‐band activity during picture perception, and report that the most consistent alpha oscillatory pattern indexing emotional processing is an enhanced desynchronization (ERD) over posterior sensors when viewing emotional compared with neutral pictures. Consistent with other measures of emotional reactivity, alpha ERD is modulated by highly arousing picture contents, suggesting that it reflects cortical excitability associated with the engagement of the motivational systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent theory suggests that both the orienting response and arousal inhibition play roles in the effect of the concealed information test (CIT). However, the neural signatures associated with these two processes remain unclear. To address this issue, participants were motivated to either conceal or reveal crime-related stimulus during CIT while EEG was recorded. By using a temporal principal component analysis, we found that crime-related stimuli produced a larger early P3 than crime-irrelevant stimuli in both the conceal condition and reveal condition. This result suggests that this early P3 reflects an orienting response. In addition, we found that crime-related stimuli elicited a larger frontal negative slow wave than crime-irrelevant stimuli in the conceal condition but not the reveal condition, which suggests that the frontal negative slow wave reflects the arousal inhibition process. These results provide crucial evidence for understanding the neural basis underlying CIT.

Abstract Respect is an emotion that promotes self-improvement, often experienced when recognizing superior traits in others. The present study aimed to investigate one of its action tendencies. Since previous studies have suggested that respected persons are role models, we hypothesized that respect prolongs the orienting response of paying attention to the persons and examined the related phasic decrease in heart rate (HR). We presented a stimulus (an episode followed by a photograph) about each participant's parents, teachers, affectively respected persons (other than parents and teachers), and the unknown persons as a control. Participants read the episode, looked at the photo, and rated the extent of experiencing respect. As a result, we found that the averaged HR across conditions declined during stimulus presentation but that the change scores of HRs from the minimum value increased only in the control condition: the HRs of the other conditions (parents, teachers, and affectively respected persons) did not recover. Furthermore, we confirmed a significant correlation between respect ratings and the reduction in HRs by performing a partial correlation analysis that controlled for familiarity with the persons. As a pilot study, these results suggest that respect elongates the orienting response.

The concealed information test (CIT) was designed to detect concealed knowledge. It does so by measuring differential physiological and behavioral responses to concealed, compared to control, items – i.e., the CIT effect. Although the CIT has gained extensive empirical support in laboratory studies, scientific validity requires also a theoretical understanding of the method's underlying mechanisms. In this article, we present a new theoretical perspective. Specifically, we elaborate and clarify several features of Orienting Response (OR) theory, which has been the dominant theory in this domain. Importantly, we suggest for the first time that the voluntary (rather than the involuntary) OR modulates the CIT effect. Second, we argue that motivational‐emotional accounts of the CIT effect are consistent with OR theory and cannot be considered as alternative approaches. Finally, we discuss some more recent developments which highlight the idea that different physiological measures reflect different underlying mechanisms – an idea dubbed as response fractionation. The present article shines a new light on the theoretical basis of the Concealed Information Test (CIT). We discuss orienting response (OR) theory, suggesting that the voluntary, rather than the involuntary OR modulates the CIT effect (i.e., unique responses to concealed items). Moreover, we argue that motivational‐emotional theories can be integrated within OR theory, and, emphasize the idea of response fractionation, suggesting that different mechanisms (orienting, and inhibition) drive the responding of different physiological measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When trying to conceal one's knowledge, various ocular changes occur. However, which cognitive mechanisms drive these changes? Do orienting or inhibition—two processes previously associated with autonomic changes—play a role? To answer this question, we used a Concealed Information Test (CIT) in which participants were either motivated to conceal (orienting + inhibition) or reveal (orienting only) their knowledge. While pupil size increased in both motivational conditions, the fixation and blink CIT effects were confined to the conceal condition. These results were mirrored in autonomic changes, with skin conductance increasing in both conditions while heart rate decreased solely under motivation to conceal. Thus, different cognitive mechanisms seem to drive ocular responses. Pupil size appears to be linked to the orienting of attention (akin to skin conductance changes), while fixations and blinks rather seem to reflect arousal inhibition (comparable to heart rate changes). This knowledge strengthens CIT theory and illuminates the relationship between ocular and autonomic activity. When trying to conceal one's knowledge, various ocular changes occur. This study shows that different ocular measures in the Concealed Information Test (CIT) are driven by different cognitive mechanisms. While pupil size is related to the orientation of attention, fixation and blink measures reflect arousal inhibition. These results underpin recent findings of a response fractionation in the CIT and elucidate the interplay of autonomic and ocular responses during recognition and concealment of information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When a perceived out-of-body experience (OBE) occurs an individual has the impression of consciously existing as an extrapersonal self somewhere out of or away from the physical body. This can consist of the perception of being in either a non-transcendental or transcendental environment. It can also occur spontaneously or it can be self-induced by an act of will. The focus of this article is on the spontaneous non-transcendental perceived OBE in cases where the experient has the impression of consciously existing as an extrapersonal self somewhere within the immediate environment of their physical body. It postulates that such an experience is frequently initiated as an adaptive orienting response to brain-interpreted physiological and/or psychological stress meant to bolster the probability for physical survival and psychological well-being during incidents of threat. The article further briefly discusses inconsistent occurrences, unconscious threat interpretations, threat interpretation mistakes, other types of non-transcendental perceived OBEs, and the possible nature of the spontaneous non-transcendental perceived OBE as consisting of a highly accurate simulated environment meant to recreate one’s surroundings in the moment of threat to boost the odds for survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive variation in mental aging is known to occur, due to age-related increases in the influences of environmental and genetic factors. We have previously established that cognitive training resulting from a high level of saturation of the intellectual environment of professional activity (scientific activity (SA), as compared with people not involved in professional scientific work (NSA) prevents age-related changes in several attention systems in nonpathological aging. As regards the role of genetic factors, cognitive capacities and the rate of their extinction in old age are significantly associated with polymorphisms of the serotonin transporter gene. According to the hypothesis that genetic factors have increasing influences on the background of declining cognitive reserves, the aim of the present work was to compare the effects of the STin2VNTR polymorphism of the serotonin transporter gene in relation to the characteristics of attention in younger (19–35 years) and older (over 55 years) members of the SA (n = 157) and NSA (n = 158) groups. Measures of three attention systems (vigilance, orientation, and executive) were analyzed in the Attentional Network (ANT) Test, along with the hemispheric characteristics of the motor component of the orienting response to novelty depending on the 10/10 (rare allele 9 was excluded from analysis), 10/12, and 12/12 genotypes of the STin2VNTR polymorphism. Membership of the SA group eliminated age-related and genetic differences. Genetic differences were apparent in the older subjects of the NSA group and were characterized by larger values for vigilance and right-hemisphere orienting responses and decreases in the effectiveness of executive attention in individuals with the 10/10 genotype as compared with carriers of allele 12. These data suggest that older subjects with the 10/10 genotype may be more sensitive to the actions of external factors such as mental training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies were not able to show that presentation of change stimuli leads to dishabituation of the auditory evoked potential (AEP) component N1 for repeated stimuli. However, these change stimuli were usually themselves repeatedly presented. Here, we tested whether the presentation of non-repeating distractor stimuli ('novels') would lead to N1 dishabituation. The study sample consisted of 18 healthy participants who had to identify auditory target stimuli (´targets´) among repeated standard stimuli and rare novels. AEPs to standards were separately averaged, depending on the preceding stimulus (standards after standards, standards after targets, and standards after novels) and were compared by F statistics and Bayesian t -test. Moreover, N1 repetition effects within recording blocks were analyzed in single trial analyses. The analyses showed that targets elicited significantly larger N1 amplitudes than standards and standards elicited larger N1 amplitudes than novels. In contrast, the N1 amplitude to standards did not vary with the preceding stimulus. The single trial analyses revealed significant, but similar N1 amplitude decreases within the recording blocks for all standards. The current study revealed no evidence for N1 dishabituation, as the N1 amplitude for standards after novels was not increased as compared to the N1 for standards after standards. Thus, stimulus variation had no impact on the N1 of repeated standards, as also suggested by the single trial analyses. The lack of N1 dishabituation is at odds with the assumption that the N1 amplitude decrease after repeated stimulation results from habituation. • Previous studies failed to show auditory N1 dishabituation. • The null-findings might have been due to the repetition of the change stimuli. • We tested for N1 dishabituation after rare novel distractors. • Rare novel distractors did not lead to N1 dishabituation either. • Immediate N1 repetition effects are likely not resulting from habituation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was designed in order to analyze the effects of fear appeals on psychophysiological, subjective and behavioral responses on the target audience. Three messages on breast cancer, promoting regular mammography screening, elaborated in a similar way to those used by health promotion programs, were presented to ninety-eight women aged 49-50. Messages were of equal length, format and structure but varied in specific clues which distinguished their character (Threat, Surprise, and Standard/control). Psychophysiological reactions (heart rate and frequency of non-specific skin conductance responses) were recorded continuously during message exposure. Self-report measures and personality traits (STAI and EPQ-A) were obtained after viewing the stimulus. There were significant responses to the messages for all psychophysiological measures. The pattern of psychophysiological response, independent of the eliciting message, was significantly related to cancer preventive/detection behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Screening individuals for concealed information has traditionally been the purview of professional interrogators investigating crimes. However, the ability to detect when a person is hiding important information would have high value in many other applications if results could be reliably obtained using an automated and rapid interviewing system. Unfortunately, this ideal has thus far been stymied by practical limitations and inadequate scientific control in current interviewing systems. This study proposes a new class of systems, termedautonomous scientifically controlled screening systems(ASCSS), designed to detect individuals’ purposely hidden information about target topics of interest. These hidden topics of interest could cover a wide range, including knowledge of concealed weapons, privacy violations, fraudulent organizational behavior, organizational security policy violations, preemployment behavioral intentions, organizational insider threat, leakage of classified information, or even consumer product use information. ASCSS represent a systematic synthesis of structured interviewing, orienting theory, defensive response theory, noninvasive psychophysiological measurement, and behavioral measurement. To evaluate and enhance the design principles, we built a prototype automated screening kiosk system and configured it for a physical security screening scenario in which participants constructed and attempted to smuggle a fake improvised explosive device. The positive results provide support for the proposition that ASCSS may afford more widespread application of credibility assessment screening systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Cardiac responses to appetitive stimuli have been studied as indices of motivational states and attentional processes, the former being associated with cardiac acceleration and latter deceleration. Very few studies have examined heart rate changes in appetitive classical conditioning in humans. The current study describes the development and pilot testing of a classical conditioning task to assess cardiac responses to appetitive stimuli and cues that reliably precede them. Data from 18 adults were examined. They were shown initially neutral visual stimuli (putative CS) on a computer screen followed by pictures of high-caloric food (US). Phasic cardiac deceleration to food images was observed, consistent with an orienting response to motivationally significant stimuli. Similar responses were observed to non-appetitive stimuli when they were preceded by the cue associated with the food images, suggesting that attentional processes were engaged by conditioned stimuli. These autonomic changes provide significant information about classical conditioning effects in humans.

Cardiac responses to appetitive stimuli have been studied as indices of motivational states and attentional processes, the former being associated with cardiac acceleration and latter deceleration. Very few studies have examined heart rate changes in appetitive classical conditioning in humans. The current study describes the development and pilot testing of a classical conditioning task to assess cardiac responses to appetitive stimuli and cues that reliably precede them. Data from 18 adults were examined. They were shown initially neutral visual stimuli (putative CS) on a computer screen followed by pictures of high-caloric food (US). Phasic cardiac deceleration to food images was observed, consistent with an orienting response to motivationally significant stimuli. Similar responses were observed to non-appetitive stimuli when they were preceded by the cue associated with the food images, suggesting that attentional processes were engaged by conditioned stimuli. These autonomic changes provide significant information about classical conditioning effects in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Increasing perceptual load alters behavioral outcomes in post-stroke fatigue (PSF). While the effect of perceptual load on top-down attentional processing is known, here we investigate if increasing perceptual load modulates bottom-up attentional processing in a fatigue dependent manner., Methods: In this cross-sectional observational study, in 29 first-time stroke survivors with no clinical depression, an auditory oddball task consisting of target, standard, and novel tones was performed in conditions of low and high perceptual load. Electroencephalography was used to measure auditory evoked potentials. Perceived effort was rated using the visual analog scale at regular intervals during the experiment. Fatigue was measured using the fatigue severity scale. The effect of fatigue and perceptual load on behavior (response time, accuracy, and effort rating) and auditory evoked potentials (amplitude and latency) was examined using mixed model ananlysis of variances (ANOVA)., Results: Response time was prolonged with greater perceptual load and fatigue. There was no effect of load or fatigue on accuracy. Greater effort was reported with higher perceptual load both in high and low fatigue. p300a amplitude of auditory evoked potentials (AEP) for novel stimuli was attenuated in high fatigue with increasing load when compared to low fatigue. Latency of p300a was longer in low fatigue with increasing load when compared to high fatigue. There were no effects on p300b components, with smaller N100 in high load conditions., Interpretation: High fatigue specific modulation of p300a component of AEP with increasing load is indicative of distractor driven alteration in orienting response, suggestive of compromise in bottom-up selective attention in PSF., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

The study examined how individual words occurring in mediated messages affect listeners' emotional and cognitive responses. Scripts from actual radio advertisements were altered by replacing original words with target words that varied in valence—either positive, negative, or neutral. The scripts were then reproduced by nonprofessional speakers. Real-time processing of the target words was examined through the use of psychophysiological measures of dynamic emotional and cognitive responses collected from subjects (n = 55) and time-locked to the stimuli. Recognition memory provided a measure of encoding efficiency. As predicted, listeners had greater frown muscle responses following the onset of negatively valenced words compared with positively valenced words. Results also showed that positively valenced words elicited orienting responses in listeners but negatively valenced words did not. Recognition data show that positively valenced words were encoded better than neutrally valenced words, followed by negatively valenced words, which was consistent with the finding for the impact of emotional words on orienting responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The event-related visual occipito-temporal N700 component is sensitive to stimulus probabilities. • Visual P1, N1, N700, but not P3, showed larger amplitudes to rare than frequently presented letters. • N700 sensitivity to probabilities might reflect an orienting response on the level of visual cortex. To examine whether the occipito-temporal visual N700 component of the event-related potential is sensitive to stimulus probabilities. P1, N1, P3, and, in particular, the occipito-temporal N700 component of the event-related potential were analysed in response to frequent and rare non-target letters of a continuous performance task in 200 healthy adolescents. Additionally, amplitude habituation with time was examined for the occipito-temporal N700 and N1 components. The visual P1, N1, and occipito-temporal N700 components were significantly larger in response to rare letters than to frequent letters, whereas the P3 component demonstrated no amplitude difference. Over time, the occipito-temporal N700 amplitude decreased in response to the rare letters, while the N1 amplitude increased, to both, frequent and rare letters. This study provides first evidence that the visual occipito-temporal N700 is sensitive to stimulus probabilities, suggesting an enhanced post-processing of rare stimuli in secondary visual areas. The distinct habituation patterns of occipito-temporal N700 and N1 amplitudes distinguish repetition effects on stimulus post-processing (N700) from those on perception (N1). The enhanced N700 component to rare stimuli might reflect an orienting response and underlying attentional processes. The N700 sensitivity to stimulus probabilities should be examined in patient groups with attentional deficits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the standard Hughson-Westlake hearing tests (Carhart and Jerger 1959), patient responses like a button press, raised hand, or verbal response are used to assess detection of brief test signals such as tones of varying pitch and level. Because of its reliance on voluntary responses, Hughson-Westlake audiometry is not suitable for patients who cannot follow instructions reliably, such as pre-lingual infants (Northern and Downs 2002). As an alternative approach, we explored the use of the pupillary dilation response (PDR), a short-latency component of the orienting response evoked by novel stimuli, as an indicator of sound detection. The pupils of 31 adult participants (median age 24 years) were monitored with an infrared video camera during a standard hearing test in which they indicated by button press whether or not they heard narrowband noises centered at 1, 2, 4, and 8 kHz. Tests were conducted in a quiet, carpeted office. Pupil size was summed over the first 1750 ms after stimulus delivery, excluding later dilations linked to expenditure of cognitive effort (Kahneman and Beatty 1966; Kahneman et al. 1969). The PDR yielded thresholds comparable to the standard test at all center frequencies tested, suggesting that the PDR is as sensitive as traditional methods of assessing detection. We also tested the effects of repeating a stimulus on the habituation of the PDR. Results showed that habituation can be minimized by operating at near-threshold stimulus levels. At sound levels well above threshold, the PDR habituated but could be recovered by changing the frequency or sound level, suggesting that the PDR can also be used to test stimulus discrimination. Given these features, the PDR may be useful as an audiometric tool or as a means of assessing auditory discrimination in those who cannot produce a reliable voluntary response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Honeybees show lateral asymmetry in both learning about odors associated with reward and recalling memory of these associations. We have extended this research to show that bees exhibit lateral biases in their initial response to odors: viz., turning toward the source of an odor presented on their right side and turning away from it when presented on their left side. The odors we presented were the main component of the alarm pheromone, isoamyl acetate (IAA), and four floral scents. The significant bias to turn toward IAA odor on the right and away from it on the left is, we argue, a lateralization of the fight-flight response elicited by this pheromone. It contrasts to an absence of any asymmetry in the turning response to an odor of the flowers on which the bees had been feeding prior to testing: to this odor they turned toward when it was presented on either the left or right side. Lemon and orange odors were responded to differently on the left and right sides (toward on the right, away on the left), but no asymmetry was found in responses to rose odor. Our results show that side biases are present even in the initial, orienting response of bees to certain odors.

Listeners exhibit orienting responses to voice changes in audio messages. However, the impact of pitch similarity between voices on the nature of the OR has not been explored. We conducted a 3 (Vocal Pitch) × 2 (Location of Change in Message) × 2 (Repetition) within-subjects experiment to address this question. Four non-professional announcers were selected based on differences in vocal pitch. Twelve radio commercials were produced using these announcers to include a single voice change—with either Low-, Medium-, or High-Pitch Differences. The voice changes occurred either within the first or last 20 seconds of the commercial. Heart rate and recognition memory data were collected from 41 subjects. Results show that vocal-pitch difference between speakers impacts automatic attention allocation via the orienting response, and recognition memory for the message is thereby affected. Furthermore, results suggest that having voice changes occur early in an audio message produces the best attentional result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of information concealment is more relevant than ever in this day and age. Using a modified concealed-information test (CIT), we aimed to unmask this process by investigating both the decision and the attempt to conceal information in 38 students. The attempt to conceal (vs. reveal) information induced a differential physiological response pattern within subjects—whereas skin conductance increased in both conditions, respiration and heart rate were suppressed only in the conceal condition—confirming the idea that these measures reflect different underlying mechanisms. The decision to conceal (vs. reveal) information induced enhanced anticipatory skin conductance responses. To our knowledge, this is the first study that observed such anticipatory responses in an information-concealment paradigm. Together, these findings imply that our physiological responses reflect, to some degree, both the decision and the attempt to conceal information. In addition to strengthening CIT theory, this knowledge sheds novel light on anticipatory responding in decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We determined the latencies of orienting responses during a preferential looking task in children with normal vision and in children with visual impairments between 6 and 12 years old, and assessed the feasibility of scoring grating detection in these populations with video‐based eye tracking. Methods: Children performed a computerized preferential looking test, while a remote eye tracker measured the children's eye movements. The stimuli consisted of a 2 × 2 grid, with three uniform grey fields and one target field consisting of a black‐and‐white square wave grating. The grating was presented randomly at one of the four locations. The spatial frequencies (1.05, 2.11 and 7.02 cyc/deg) were randomly interleaved, with 10 trials per spatial frequency. Three different methods were used to score the accuracy of the responses: (1) primary saccade ends on target, (1) gaze 50% of the presentation time on target, and (3) a combination of method 1 and 2 (i.e. primary saccade ends on target, and/or gaze 50% of the presentation time on target). Results: The combined scoring method was most reliable to determine whether children could resolve the gratings. Children with visual impairments had significantly lower accuracies than children with normal vision with all three scoring methods. In addition, saccade latencies decreased with age and were significantly longer (62 ± 15 ms) in children with visual impairments. Conclusion: The use of eye tracking to assess grating detection with a preferential looking task in clinical populations provides valuable additional information, including objective detection measures and developmental delays in saccade latencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional neuroimaging studies suggest that the insular cortex—and more especially the anterior insula (aI)—is involved in attentional processes and plays a crucial role in the "salience network". However, its specific role in attentional processing remains unclear, which is partly attributable to the low temporal resolution of non-invasive neuroimaging techniques. This study aims to examine the spatio-temporal dynamics of visual target processing using intracranial EEG recorded directly from the insula. Eight epileptic patients (four women, age 18–44 years) completed a three-stimulus visual oddball task during the extraoperative invasive intracranial EEG (iEEG) monitoring of their drug-resistant seizures. Depth electrodes were implanted in ten insular lobes (5 left and 5 right) and provided a total of 59 recording contacts in the insula. Event-related potentials (ERPs) and high-gamma-band responses (GBRs) were processed offline. Permutation analyses were performed to compare ERP signals across conditions during the P300 (225–400) interval, and modulations of GBRs (70−150 Hz) were computed for separate 100 ms time windows (from 0 to 1000 ms post-stimulus) and compared across conditions using non-parametric Wilcoxon test. Target stimuli were associated with a P300 (250–338 ms) component for 39% of contacts implanted in the aI, most probably reflecting voluntary attentional processing. Amplitude was significantly greater for target than for standard stimuli for all of these contacts, and was greater than for novel stimuli for 72%. In the posterior insula (pI), 16% of contacts showed preferential responses to target stimulus in the P300 interval. Increased GBRs in response to targets were observed in 53% of aI contacts (from ≈ 200 to 300 ms) and in 43% of pI contacts (from ≈ 400 to 500 ms). This study is the first to characterize the spatio-temporal dynamics of visual target processing in the insula using iEEG. Results suggest that visual targets elicit a P300 in the aI which corresponds in latency to the P3b component, suggesting that this region is involved in top–down processing of task-relevant information. GBRs to visual targets occur earlier in the aI than in the pI, further characterizing their respective roles in voluntary attentional processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sensation seeking is characterized by a strong need for novelty and has been associated with various risk-taking behaviors. Using the extreme between-group design, the current study investigated the electrophysiological mechanisms underlying habituation to novelty processing in sensation seeking. Twenty high sensation seekers (HSS) and 20 low sensation seekers (LSS) performed an auditory oddball task while their EEG was recorded. The results revealed that both the novelty P3 and midfrontal theta power decreased from the first to the second half for LSS but not for HSS. Additionally, this reduced vigilance was predicted by the experience-seeking subcomponent of sensation seeking. Together, our findings are supportive of an abnormal habituation to novel events in the sensation-seeking trait. • We tested habituation to novelty in sensation seeking with novelty P3 and theta. • Sensation seeking was associated with a lack of habituation to novel events. • The absence of habituation was driven by a reduced vigilance in the first half. • Our findings are supportive of a hypoactive avoidance system in sensation seeking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Spontaneous blinking is a non-invasive indicator known to reflect dopaminergic influence over frontal cortex and attention allocation in perceptual tasks. 38 participants watched eighteen short film clips (2 min), designed to elicit specific affective states, and arranged in six different emotional categories, while their eye movements were recorded from the vertical electroculogram. The largest blink rate inhibition, reflecting greater attention allocation to the movie, was observed during the presentation of Erotic clips, excerpts on wilderness depicting beautiful landscapes (Scenery), as well as clips showing crying characters (Compassion). Instead, the minimum blink rate inhibition was found for Fear clips, which induced a defensive response with stimulus rejection. Blink rate across time evidenced how Compassion clips elicited early inhibition while Sadness clips induced a slower, later inhibition. Correlation analyses also revealed a negative correlation (r < −0.40) between total blink rate recorded during Erotic and Compassion clips and self-reported interest. Overall, the main variable explaining blink rate was emotional Valence. Results suggest that blink modulation is related with the motivational relevance and biological significance of the stimuli, tracking their differential recruitment of attentional resources. Furthermore, they provide a solid background for studying the emotion-attention patterns and their deficits also in clinical samples (e.g., neurological and psychiatric patients) using spontaneous blinking as a not-interfering psychophysiological measure. Highlights • Blink rate (BR) was used to measure attention allocation under emotional stimulation. • Movies of 6 emotional categories were presented while BR was measured in 5 intervals. • BR attention-related inhibition was found in the first interval compared to baseline. • Fear clips induced higher and Erotic lower (i.e. larger attention) blink rates. • Compassion vs Sadness clips elicited across intervals early vs late blink inhibition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Honeybees show lateral asymmetry in both learning about odors associated with reward and recalling memory of these associations. We have extended this research to show that bees exhibit lateral biases in their initial response to odors: viz., turning toward the source of an odor presented on their right side and turning away from it when presented on their left side. The odors we presented were the main component of the alarm pheromone, isoamyl acetate (IAA), and four floral scents. The significant bias to turn toward IAA odor on the right and away from it on the left is, we argue, a lateralization of the fight-flight response elicited by this pheromone. It contrasts to an absence of any asymmetry in the turning response to an odor of the flowers on which the bees had been feeding prior to testing: to this odor they turned toward when it was presented on either the left or right side. Lemon and orange odors were responded to differently on the left and right sides (toward on the right, away on the left), but no asymmetry was found in responses to rose odor. Our results show that side biases are present even in the initial, orienting response of bees to certain odors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • Humans require direct perceptual clues to deal with unexpected situations. • Automation requiring high cognitive input during unexpected situations is unsafe. • Perception is central in recovery from an orienting response. • Increased transport automation requires increased skill acquisition, not a decrease. Abstract Recovered flight data and voice recordings indicate that the crash of Air France flight 447 in 2009 was caused by a combination of human error, degradation of flight automation, lack of clear information available to the flight crew and suboptimal teamwork. This article reviews insights from the main AF447 accident analyses on the basis of the theory of affordance and in the context of the system-approach to risk. Despite the availability of clear recovery procedures, in the ergonomic design of an Airbus a degradation in flight automation requires increased human cognitive input. Yet, under stress the human ability to access higher cognitive resources is significantly reduced. When startled, humans require direct perceptual clues to understand what is happening. In AF447 such clues were not available while the initial incident escalated into an accident. The implications of these observations for pilot training and for transport automation design are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown that structural features such as voice changes, jingle onsets, and production effects in a radio broadcast elicit cardiac orienting responses. In fact, the voice change has been shown to reliably elicit orienting without habituation after several repetitions. However, repeated onsets of two other auditory structural features—jingles and production effects—did result in habituation when the participant was exposed to them embedded in an audio production absent a central cognitive task. This article presents two experiments testing the possibility that adding a central task prevents the development of a robust neural model of the auditory structural features necessary for habituation. In both studies, results show that adding a primary cognitive task eliminated habituation to jingles and production effects. However, varying the cognitive load of the primary task across two levels of difficulty had no significant effect on habituation.

Pupils respond to three distinct kinds of stimuli: they constrict in response to brightness (the pupil light response), constrict in response to near fixation (the pupil near response), and dilate in response to increases in arousal and mental effort, either triggered by an external stimulus or spontaneously. In this review, I describe these three pupil responses, how they are related to high-level cognition, and the neural pathways that control them. I also discuss the functional relevance of pupil responses, that is, how pupil responses help us to better see the world. Although pupil responses likely serve many functions, not all of which are fully understood, one important function is to optimize vision either for acuity (small pupils see sharper) and depth of field (small pupils see sharply at a wider range of distances), or for sensitivity (large pupils are better able to detect faint stimuli); that is, pupils change their size to optimize vision for a particular situation. In many ways, pupil responses are similar to other eye movements, such as saccades and smooth pursuit: like these other eye movements, pupil responses have properties of both reflexive and voluntary action, and are part of active visual exploration.

Short-term memory load can impair attentional control, but prior work shows that the extent of the effect ranges from being very general to very specific. One factor for the mixed results may be reliance on point estimates of memory load effects on attention. Here we used auditory attention gradients as an analog measure to map-out the impact of short-term memory load over space. Verbal or spatial information was maintained during an auditory spatial attention task and compared to no-load. Stimuli were presented from five virtual locations in the frontal azimuth plane, and subjects focused on the midline. Reaction times progressively increased for lateral stimuli, indicating an attention gradient. Spatial load further slowed responses at lateral locations, particularly in the left hemispace, but had little effect at midline. Verbal memory load had no (Experiment 1), or a minimal (Experiment 2) influence on reaction times. Spatial and verbal load increased switch costs between memory encoding and attention tasks relative to the no load condition. The findings show that short-term memory influences the distribution of auditory attention over space; and that the specific pattern depends on the type of information in short-term memory.

Hemispheric specialization influences stimulus processing and behavioural control, affecting responses to relevant stimuli. However, most sensory input is irrelevant and must be filtered out to prevent interference with task-relevant behaviour, a process known as habituation. Despite habituation's vital role, little is known about hemispheric specialization for this brain function. We conducted an experiment with domestic chicks, an elite animal model to study lateralization. They were exposed to distracting visual stimuli while feeding when using binocular or monocular vision. Switching the viewing eye after habituation, we examined if habituation was confined to the stimulated hemisphere or shared across hemispheres. We found that both hemispheres learned equally to ignore distracting stimuli. However, embryonic light stimulation, influencing hemispheric specialization, revealed an asymmetry in interhemispheric transfer of the irrelevant information discarded via habituation. Unstimulated chicks exhibited a directional bias, with the right hemisphere failing to transfer distracting stimulus information to the left hemisphere, while transfer from left to right was possible. Nevertheless, embryonic light stimulation counteracted this asymmetry, enhancing communication from the right to the left hemisphere and reducing the pre-existing imbalance. This sharing extends beyond hemisphere-specific functions and encompasses a broader representation of irrelevant events.

Cognitive and emotional processes are influenced by interoception (homeostatic somatic feedback), particularly when physiological arousal is unexpected and discrepancies between predicted and experienced interoceptive signals may engender anxiety. Due to the vulnerability for comorbid psychological symptoms in forms of orthostatic intolerance (OI), this study investigated psychophysiological contributions to emotional symptomatology in 20 healthy control participants (13 females, mean age 36 ± 8 years), 20 postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) patients (18 females, mean age 38 ± 13 years) and 20 vasovagal syncope (VVS) patients (15 females, mean age 39 ± 12 years). We investigated indices of emotional orienting responses (OR) to randomly presented neutral, pleasant and unpleasant images in the supine position and during the induced interoceptive threat of symptom provocation of head-up tilt (HUT). PoTS and VVS patients produced greater indices of emotional responsivity to unpleasant images and, to a lesser degree, pleasant images, during interoceptive threat. Our findings are consistent with biased deployment of response-focused emotion regulation (ER) while patients are symptomatic, providing a mechanistic underpinning of how pathological autonomic overexcitation predisposes to anxiogenic traits in PoTS and VVS patients. This hypothesis may improve our understanding of why orthostasis exacerbates cognitive symptoms despite apparently normal cerebral autoregulation, and offer novel therapeutic targets for behavioural interventions aimed at reducing comorbid cognitive-affective symptoms in PoTS and VVS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Posterror slowing (PES) is the observation that people respond slower on trials subsequent to error commissions than on trials subsequent to correct responses. Different accounts have been proposed to explain PES. On the one hand, it has been suggested that PES arises from an adaptive increase in cognitive control following error commission, thereby making people more cautious after making an error. On the other hand, PES has been attributed to an orienting response, indicating that attention is shifted toward the error. In the present study we tested these accounts by investigating the effects of error commission in both flanker and switch tasks on two task-evoked cardiac measures: the interbeat interval—that is, the interval between two consecutive R peaks—and the RZ interval—that is, the interval between the R peak and the Z point—as measured using electro- and impedance cardiography, respectively. These measures allowed us to measure cardiac deceleration (autonomic orienting) and cardiac effort mobilization, respectively. Our results revealed a shorter RZ interval during posterror trials, indicating increased effort mobilization following errors. In addition, we replicated earlier studies that have shown cardiac slowing during error trials. However, multilevel analyses showed that only the posterror decrease in RZ interval predicted posterror reaction times, whereas there was no positive relationship between error-related cardiac deceleration and posterror reaction times. Our results suggest that PES is related to increased cardiac effort, supporting a cognitive-control account of PES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rare occurrence of a sound deviating from the auditory background tends to trigger attentional orienting. While some sympathetic physiological responses can be used to index this orienting response, findings surrounding the pupillary dilation response (PDR) as a proxy for the orienting response are conflicting. The current study was tailor-designed to examine whether the PDR satisfies specific criteria of an orienting response index, namely the classic habituation pattern and a sensitivity to the size of the deviation. The PDR decrement to a repeated standard sound, recovery to a deviant sound, and dishabituation to the re-presentation of the standard were assessed for small and large deviations embedded in irrelevant auditory sequences. The PDR not only showed habituation and dishabituation, but also recovered in correspondence with the magnitude of the acoustic deviation. This consistency between variations of the PDR and orienting response's properties indicates that the PDR is a valid index of the auditory orienting response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]