Article
Neurosciences
Sanjay Kumar, M. Jane Riddoch, Glyn W. Humphreys
Summary: Study shows that the possibility of action to an object facilitates attentional deployment, making target selection easier when action information is congruent with an object's use.
FRONTIERS IN HUMAN NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Biological
Roberto Dell'Acqua, Mattia Doro, Sabrina Brigadoi, Brandi Lee Drisdelle, Amour Simal, Valentina Baro, Pierre Jolicoeur
Summary: The N2pc event-related potential and its analogous component N2pcb were studied using two different algorithms, and both algorithms were found to properly estimate the components. Additionally, a new component called the posterior processing positivity (PPP) was discovered, which could be observed using a combination of features and showed that bilateral activity elicited by target-absent displays is an adequate baseline for its correct isolation.
Article
Psychology, Biological
Kristen S. Baker, Naohide Yamamoto, Alan J. Pegna, Patrick Johnston
Summary: This study investigated the interaction between prediction and attention in visual perception using event-related potentials. The findings revealed that incorrect predictions increase neural activity and that prediction and attention interact differently in different stages of visual perception.
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mihoko Kato, Irina Kolotuev, Alexandre Cunha, Shahla Gharib, Paul W. Sternberg
Summary: This study reveals the function of muscarinic receptor GAR-3 in epithelial cell migration in C. elegans, including receiving signals from cholinergic neurons, affecting migratory path, and determining migration direction. The experimental results suggest that the regulation of GAR-3 receptor in LC is accomplished by specific downstream signaling pathways, and there is a clear correlation between GAR-3 receptor activation level and LC migration direction.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Biological
Petia Kojouharova, Boglarka Nagy, Istvan Czigler, Zsofia Anna Gaal
Summary: The contextual cueing effect refers to the phenomenon in visual search where response time becomes faster when the same context is repeated compared to a new context. This study aimed to investigate if the mechanisms involved in this effect are age-dependent. The study was conducted with younger (N = 20, 12 women, 21.2 +/- 1.75 years) and older (N = 19, nine women, 67.05 +/- 3.94 years) adults. The results showed that both age groups exhibited a faster target identification in repeated configurations, indicating that the contextual cueing effect remained intact in older participants. The underlying mechanisms were found to differ between the two age groups, with younger adults showing early and intermediate loci related to attentional allocation and stimulus categorization, while older adults showed a late locus related to more efficient response organization.
Article
Neurosciences
Dongwei Li, Xiangsheng Luo, Jialiang Guo, Yuanjun Kong, Yiqing Hu, Yanbo Chen, Yu Zhu, Yufeng Wang, Li Sun, Yan Song
Summary: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder in children, characterized by impaired attentional orienting. This study used electroencephalography (EEG) to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying impaired attentional orienting in ADHD. The results showed smaller N2pc responses and lower decoding accuracy in ADHD children compared to typically developing children, suggesting inefficient neural encoding responses as the underlying cause of impaired attentional orienting in ADHD.
HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Daniel J. Foster, Zoey K. Bryant, P. Jeffrey Conn
Summary: Targeting specific muscarinic acetylcholine receptor subtypes may provide more comprehensive symptomatic relief for schizophrenia patients. Studies show that M1, M4, and M5 receptor subtypes modulate brain circuits and physiology underlying positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia.
BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Bingkun Li, Jialiang Guo, Chenguang Zhao, Xiangsheng Luo, Yuanjun Kong, Yanbo Chen, Hongyu Liu, Li Sun, Yan Song
Summary: This study investigated the role of anticipatory alpha oscillations, subsequent target-evoked N2pc component, and their relationship in attention problems in children with ADHD. The results showed that children with ADHD had difficulties in sustaining hemispheric alpha lateralization during the late stage of the cued period. The aberrant temporal relationship between cue alpha and target N2pc was related to symptom severity and behavioral performance in children with ADHD.
CLINICAL NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Wieske van Zoest, Christoph Huber-Huber, Matthew D. Weaver, Clayton Hickey
Summary: Research suggests that foreknowledge of distractor characteristics can reduce attentional selection and eye movement towards distractors, with this control being implemented through alpha oscillations in the visual cortex.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Experimental
Andrew Lowery, John J. McDonald
Summary: The study found that color words can reflexively capture spatial attention, even when their meaning is unrelated to the task at hand, suggesting that reading is not a fully automatic process.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY-GENERAL
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Wei Yang, Lijuan He
Summary: Hederagenin (HE) plays a protective role in inhibiting cell proliferation and improving fibrosis. The study reveals that HE protects against renal fibrosis by targeting the Muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M3.
Review
Chemistry, Medicinal
Edouard Montigne, David Balayssac
Summary: This scoping review provides an overview of studies on peripheral neuropathic pain (PNP) in rodent models, exploring compounds targeting cholinergic neurotransmission. The results highlight the potential of cholinergic compounds for the management of neuropathic pain, emphasizing the need for clinical trials.
Article
Psychology, Biological
Michal Bola, Marta Paz, Lucja Doradzinska, Anna Nowicka
Summary: The self-prioritization mechanism operates early and automatically, unaffected by mere visual familiarity. The self-face image automatically captures attention, both consciously and unconsciously. These results provide further evidence for efficient unconscious processing of faces, and for dissociation between attention and consciousness.
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Marlon Millard, Jonas Kilian, Marius Ozenil, Mariella Mogeritsch, Verena Schwingenschloegl-Maisetschlaeger, Wolfgang Holzer, Marcus Hacker, Thierry Langer, Verena Pichler
Summary: Our research group has identified a new compound as a starting point for designing muscarinic acetylcholine receptor ligands. We have developed promising compounds with favorable drug-like attributes and potential CNS activity. These compounds have the potential for radiolabeling applications.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Leigh C. Walker, Kade L. Huckstep, Howard C. Becker, Christopher J. Langmead, Andrew J. Lawrence
Summary: Emerging evidence suggests muscarinic acetylcholine receptors are potential targets for treating alcohol use disorder. This review integrates findings from medicinal chemistry, molecular biology, addiction, and learning/cognition fields to explore the potential of muscarinic receptor ligands in treating cognitive dysfunction, motivation to consume alcohol, and relapse associated with alcohol use disorder. The dysfunctional role of cholinergic system in alcohol use disorder is discussed, along with the potential therapeutic targets of specific muscarinic receptors, particularly M-4 and M-5 receptors. The use of subtype-selective allosteric modulators is proposed as a strategy to target these receptors, and the potential repurposing of muscarinic receptor modulators for alcohol use disorder is highlighted.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Development Studies
Angela J. Dean, Fiona J. Newton, Robyn E. Gulliver, Kelly S. Fielding, Helen Ross
Summary: Water management increasingly focuses on addressing stormwater pollution and involving community members in adopting pollution-reduction measures and supporting water sensitive urban design. However, communities' limited understanding of these innovations and their perceived incompatibility with their lifestyle and local geography are significant barriers to their adoption.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Anna Jackson, Glenn A. Melvin, Melissa Mulraney, Stephen P. Becker, Mark A. Bellgrove, Jon Quach, Delyse Hutchinson, Elizabeth M. Westrupp, Alicia Montgomery, Emma Sciberras
Summary: This study investigated home learning difficulties in Australian children with ADHD during COVID-19 restrictions, and found that anxiety symptoms and inattention symptoms were associated with learning difficulties. The results support the need to continue pre-pandemic supports to assist with ADHD symptoms.
CHILD PSYCHIATRY & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Angela J. Dean, Kerrie A. Wilson
Summary: The loss and degradation of nature can lead to hopelessness and despair, but fostering hope and optimism can motivate engagement in conservation actions without undermining the recognition of conservation challenges. This finding is important for increasing conservation engagement.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Psychology
Anthony M. Harris, Claire Bradley, Sera Yijing Yoo, Jason B. Mattingley
Summary: Spatial cues that mismatch the colour of a subsequent target cause slower response, and the source of this effect is currently unknown. Two possible sources are attentional signal suppression and object-file updating. By correlating brain activity with the magnitude of the effect, researchers found a negative correlation, contradicting the suppression account and supporting the object-file updating account.
ATTENTION PERCEPTION & PSYCHOPHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Psychiatry
Tracey Chau, Jeggan Tiego, Louise Brown, David Coghill, Laura Jobson, Alicia Montgomery, Cammi Murrup-Stewart, Emma Sciberras, Tim J. Silk, Megan Spencer-Smith, Nicole Stefanac, Daniel P. Sullivan, Mark A. Bellgrove
Summary: This paper examines the structural validity of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The results show that the internal consistency of the questionnaire is higher for teachers than for parents. The purported five-factor structure of the questionnaire did not hold true for both parent- and teacher-reported versions, indicating that it is not a valid measure for emotional and behavioural problems in this population.
AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Helen J. Mayfield, Rachel Eberhard, Christopher Baker, Umberto Baresi, Michael Bode, Anthea Coggan, Angela J. Dean, Felicity Deane, Evan Hamman, Diane Jarvis, Barton Loechel, Bruce M. Taylor, Lillian Stevens, Karen Vella, Kate J. Helmstedt
Summary: Governments use policy instruments to encourage landholders to adopt land management practices that reduce environmental impacts. However, the implementation of these instruments and landholders' complex behavioral responses make it difficult to measure and predict adoption rates, which limits the ability of governments to select the optimal combination of policy instruments.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & POLICY
(2023)
Article
Psychology
Lydia Barnes, Dragan Rangelov, Jason B. B. Mattingley, Alexandra Woolgar
Summary: This study examined whether participants are sensitive to information that is currently irrelevant but will be relevant in a future task step. The results showed that participants' reporting of the target direction was influenced by future-relevant information, as well as the historical relevance of the distractors and the immediate demands of each task step.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY-HUMAN PERCEPTION AND PERFORMANCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Xuqian Li, Dragan Rangelov, Jason B. Mattingley, Lena Oestreich, Delphine Levy-Bencheton, Michael J. O'Sullivan
Summary: This study identified the relationship between the microstructure of white matter association tracts and the precision of visual working memory. The bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) I, SLF II, and SLF III, along with the bilateral inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF), play a specific role in mediating the precision of visual working memory. Individual differences in axonal density in a network comprising the bilateral inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) and SLF III and right SLF II, along with a supporting network located elsewhere in the brain, form a common system for visual working memory.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Matthew F. Tang, Ehsan Kheradpezhouh, Conrad C. Y. Lee, J. Edwin Dickinson, Jason B. Mattingley, Ehsan Arabzadeh
Summary: The response of cortical neurons to sensory stimuli is influenced by past events and expectation of future events. In this study, researchers investigated how expectation affects orientation selectivity in the primary visual cortex of male mice. They found that neurons enhanced their response to unexpected stimuli, both in awake and anaesthetized mice. A computational model was used to show that trial-to-trial variability in neuronal responses was best characterized when adaptation and expectation effects were combined.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Emma K. Church, Kerrie A. Wilson, Angela J. Dean
Summary: Diverse solutions are needed to reduce human impacts on nature, and fostering individual stewardship behaviours is one of them. Social capital plays a crucial role in influencing different types of stewardship behaviours, including lifestyle, social, on-ground, and citizenship behaviours. However, the associations between different components of social capital and these behaviours vary.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Rebecca West, William Harrison, Natasha Matthews, Jason Mattingley, David Sewell
Summary: This study investigates the computational processes involved in deriving confidence in decision-making. It finds that a class of models that assesses evidence strength and sensory uncertainty provides the best account of confidence in both visual and auditory decisions.
PLOS COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Psychiatry
Sidhant Chopra, Ashlea Segal, Stuart Oldham, Alexander Holmes, Kristina Sabaroedin, Edwina R. Orchard, Shona M. Francey, Brian O'Donoghue, Vanessa Cropley, Barnaby Nelson, Jessica Graham, Lara Baldwin, Jeggan Tiego, Hok Pan Yuen, Kelly Allott, Mario Alvarez-Jimenez, Susy Harrigan, Ben D. Fulcher, Kevin Aquino, Christos Pantelis, Stephen J. Wood, Mark Bellgrove, Patrick D. Mcgorry, Alex Fornito
Summary: This study investigated gray matter changes in different stages of psychotic illness and found that brain network architecture plays a crucial role in constraining these changes. The results suggest that white matter fibers are important conduits for the spread of pathology in psychiatric disorders, and the anterior hippocampus may serve as an epicenter of early brain pathology.
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Margaret Jane Moore, Luke Hearne, Nele Demeyere, Jason B. Mattingley
Summary: Visuospatial neglect is a common post-stroke cognitive impairment. This study found anatomical differences between right and left egocentric neglect, suggesting damage to a hemispherically asymmetric attention network. Additionally, both egocentric and allocentric neglect were associated with damage across the dorsal and ventral attention networks, challenging the commonly asserted dichotomy between these networks.
BRAIN STRUCTURE & FUNCTION
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Experimental
Emily J. A-Izzeddin, Jason B. Mattingley, William J. Harrison
Summary: Humans have well-documented priors for features in nature that guide visual perception. Despite the variability of visual features between scenes, these priors do not significantly challenge visuo-cognitive function and therefore require the use of context-specific information. This study investigates the trade-off between longer-term priors and immediate contextual information in perceptual inference, showing that observers' performance can be approximated by a model that uses priors for low-level image statistics.
Article
Neurosciences
Ashlea Segal, Linden Parkes, Kevin Aquino, Seyed Mostafa Kia, Thomas Wolfers, Barbara Franke, Martine Hoogman, Christian F. Beckmann, Lars T. Westlye, Ole A. Andreassen, Andrew Zalesky, Ben J. Harrison, Christopher G. Davey, Carles Soriano-Mas, Narcis Cardoner, Jeggan Tiego, Murat Yucel, Leah Braganza, Chao Suo, Michael Berk, Sue Cotton, Mark A. Bellgrove, Andre F. Marquand, Alex Fornito
Summary: Traditional case-control research often ignores the substantial individual heterogeneity among people with mental illness. This study provides a comprehensive, multiscale characterization of gray matter volume differences in six mental disorders. The results show that individual deviations in regional gray matter volume are highly heterogeneous, but some of these deviations are embedded within common functional circuits and networks.
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
