Conflicting Sensory Information Sharpens the Neural Representations of Early Selective Visuospatial Attention.

Adaptive behaviors require the ability to resolve conflicting information caused by the processing of incompatible sensory inputs. Prominent theories of attention have posited that early selective attention helps mitigate cognitive interference caused by conflicting sensory information by facilitating the processing of task-relevant sensory inputs and filtering out behaviorally irrelevant information. Surprisingly, many recent studies that investigated the role of early selective attention on conflict mitigation have failed to provide positive evidence. Here, we examined changes in the selectivity of early visuospatial attention in male and female human subjects performing an attention-cueing Eriksen flanker task, where they discriminated the shape of a visual target surrounded by congruent or incongruent distractors. We used the inverted encoding model to reconstruct spatial representations of visual selective attention from the topographical patterns of amplitude modulations in alpha band oscillations in scalp EEG (∼8-12 Hz). We found that the fidelity of the alpha-based spatial reconstruction was significantly higher in the incongruent compared with the congruent condition. Importantly, these conflict-related modulations in the reconstruction fidelity occurred at a much earlier time window than those of the lateralized posterior event-related potentials associated with target selection and distractor suppression processes, as well as conflict-related modulations in the frontocentral negative-going wave and midline-frontal theta oscillations (∼3-7 Hz), thought to track executive control functions. Taken together, our data suggest that conflict resolution is supported by the cascade of neural processes underlying early selective visuospatial attention and frontal executive functions that unfold over time.

Do cultural differences emerge at different levels of representational hierarchy?

In prior research, Eastern and Western culture groups differ in memory specificity for objects. However, these studies used concrete object stimuli, which carry semantic information that may be confounded with culture. Additionally, the perceptual properties of the stimuli were not tightly controlled. Therefore, it cannot be precisely determined whether the observed cross-cultural differences are generalizable across different stimulus types and memory task demands. In prior studies, Americans demonstrated higher memory specificity than East Asians, but this may be due to Americans being more attuned to the low-level features that distinguish studied items from similar lures, rather than general memory differences. To determine whether this pattern of cross-cultural memory differences emerges irrespective of stimulus properties, we tested American and East Asian young adults using a recognition memory task employing abstract stimuli for which attention to conjunctions of features was critical for discrimination. Additionally, in order to more precisely determine the influence of stimulus and task on culture differences, participants also completed a concrete objects memory task identical to the one used in prior research. The results of the abstract objects task mirror the pattern seen in prior studies with concrete objects: Americans showed generally higher levels of recognition memory performance than East Asians for studied abstract items, whether discriminating them from similar or entirely new items. Results from the current concrete object task generally replicated this pattern. This suggests cross-cultural memory differences generalize across stimulus types and task demands, rather than reflecting differential sensitivity to low-level features or higher-level conjunctions.

The role of culture and semantic organization in working memory updating.

Westerners tend to relate items in a categorical manner, whereas Easterners focus more on functional relationships. The present study extended research on semantic organization in long-term memory to working memory. First, Americans' and Turks' preferences for categorical versus functional relationships were tested. Second, working memory interference was assessed using a 2-back working memory paradigm in which lure items were categorically and functionally related to targets. Next, a mediation model tested direct effects of culture and semantic organization on working memory task behaviour, and the indirect effect, whether semantic organization mediated the relationship between culture and working memory interference. Whereas Americans had slower response times to correctly rejecting functional lures compared to categorical lures, conditions did not differ for Turks. However, semantic organization did not mediate cultural difference in working memory interference. Across cultures, there was evidence that semantic organization affected working memory errors, with individuals who endorsed categorical more than functional pairings committing more categorical than functional errors on the 2-back task. Results align with prior research suggesting individual differences in use of different types of semantic relationships, and further that literature by indicating effects on interference in working memory. However, these individual differences may not be culture-dependent.

Cross-cultural comparison of the neural correlates of true and false memory retrieval.

Prior work has shown Americans have higher levels of memory specificity than East Asians. Neuroimaging studies have not investigated mechanisms that account for cultural differences at retrieval. In this study, we use fMRI to assess whether mnemonic discrimination, distinguishing novel from previously encountered stimuli, accounts for cultural differences in memory. Fifty-five American and 55 Taiwanese young adults completed an object recognition paradigm testing discrimination of old targets, similar lures and novel foils. Mnemonic discrimination was tested by comparing discrimination of similar lures from studied targets, and results showed the relationship between activity in right fusiform gyrus and behavioural discrimination between target and lure objects differed across cultural groups. Parametric modulation analyses of activity during lure correct rejections also indicated that groups differed in left superior parietal cortex response to variations in lure similarity. Additional analyses of old vs. new activity indicated that Americans and Taiwanese differ in the neural activity supporting general object recognition in the hippocampus, left inferior frontal gyrus and middle frontal gyrus. Results are juxtaposed against comparisons of the regions activated in common across the two cultures. Overall, Americans and Taiwanese differ in the extent to which they recruit visual processing and attention modulating brain regions.

The Role of Autobiographical Resilience Memories in Emotion Regulation: An Account of Age Differences in Mnemonic and Positive Reappraisal.

A lifetime of resilience through emotionally challenging experiences may benefit older adults, lending to emotion regulation mastery with time. Yet the influence of autobiographical experiences on momentary reappraisal, the reinterpretation of negative stimuli as more positive, has never been empirically tested. This online study examined the extent to which associating life memories of resilience with novel negative scenarios enhanced reappraisal efficacy and reduced difficulty to reappraise. Younger and older adults reappraised negative images by associating reappraisals to freely selected autobiographical resilience memories, cued autobiographical resilience memories, or by finding situational silver linings without mnemonic association (control). Changes in image emotional intensity ratings revealed no difference across reappraisal conditions for younger adults, while older adults most effectively down-regulated emotional intensity using the control reappraisal strategy. Older adults found autobiographical memories more helpful for mood regulation and less difficult to implement, and identified greater similarities between novel negative scenarios and their memories than younger adults. Surprisingly, greater similarity between resilience memories and negative images was associated with lower reappraisal efficacy for both age groups. Findings demonstrate the age-equivalent benefits of utilizing reappraisals associated with past narratives of resilience and suggest a sacrifice of immediate hedonic benefit for disproportionately greater subjective benefits with age.

Functional connectivity with medial temporal regions differs across cultures during post-encoding rest.

Connectivity of the brain at rest can reflect individual differences and impact behavioral outcomes, including memory. The present study investigated how culture influences functional connectivity with regions of the medial temporal lobe. In this study, 46 Americans and 59 East Asians completed a resting state scan after encoding pictures of objects. To investigate cross-cultural differences in resting state functional connectivity, left parahippocampal gyrus (anterior and posterior regions) and left hippocampus were selected as seed regions. These regions were selected, because they were previously implicated in a study of cultural differences during the successful encoding of detailed memories. Results revealed that left posterior parahippocampal gyrus had stronger connectivity with temporo-occipital regions for East Asians compared with Americans and stronger connectivity with parieto-occipital regions for Americans compared with East Asians. Left anterior parahippocampal gyrus had stronger connectivity with temporal regions for East Asians than Americans and stronger connectivity with frontal regions for Americans than East Asians. Although connectivity did not relate to memory performance, patterns did relate to cultural values. The degree of independent self-construal and subjective value of tradition were associated with functional connectivity involving left anterior parahippocampal gyrus. Findings are discussed in terms of potential cultural differences in memory consolidation or more general trait or state-based processes, such as holistic versus analytic processing.

Spatial frequency impacts perceptual and attentional ERP components across cultures.

Culture impacts visual perception in several ways.To identify stages of perceptual processing that differ between cultures, we usedelectroencephalography measures of perceptual and attentional responses to simple visual stimuli.Gabor patches of higher or lower spatialfrequencywere presented at high contrast to 25 American and 31 East Asian participants while they were watching for the onset of aninfrequent, oddball stimulus. Region of interest and mass univariate analyses assessed how cultural background and stimuli spatial frequency affected the visual evoked response potentials. Across both groups, the Gabor of lower spatial frequency produced stronger evoked response potentials in the anterior N1 and P3 than did the higher frequency Gabor. The mass univariate analyses also revealed effects of spatial frequency, including a frontal negativity around 150 ms and a widespread posterior positivity around 300 ms. The effects of spatial frequency generally differed little across cultures; although there was some evidence for cultural differences in the P3 response to different frequencies at the Pz electrode, this effect did not emerge in the mass univariate analyses. We discuss these results in relation to those from previous studies, and explore the potential advantages of mass univariate analyses for cultural neuroscience.

Evaluating heart rate variability as a predictor of the influence of lying on memory.

Previous research suggests self-provided misinformation (lying) impairs memory for the truth, whereby more incorrect details are remembered compared to being truthful. The cognitive control processes evoked by inhibiting retrieval of truthful information may come at the expense of retaining that information in memory. Because lying requires quick adaptability to the situation, heart rate variability (HRV), reflecting cognitive control processes, is a useful metric of these cognitive demands. The present experiment extends previous research (Paige et al., 2019) and had participants complete a questionnaire orally in front of a panel while electrocardiography (ECG) data was collected. Participants were instructed to tell the truth for half of the questions and lie for the other half. For a subset of the questions, participants were instructed to elaborate on their response. After a delay, participants completed the same questionnaire on the computer, responding truthfully to all items. Results revealed that correct memory was lower for items participants previously lied about compared to truthful items. Although prior work suggests increased HRV is associated with increased cognitive control, HRV did not predict memory for truth or lie items. These findings are consistent with past literature showing that lying impairs memory for veridical information compared to truth-telling.

Age differences in Neural Activation to Face Trustworthiness: Voxel Pattern and Activation Level Assessments.

Judgment of trustworthiness is an important social ability. Many studies show neural activation differences to variations in face trustworthiness in brain reward regions. A previously published analysis of the present fMRI data showed that older adults' (OA) reward region activation responded significantly to trustworthiness in a set of older and younger faces, whereas younger adults' (YA) activation did not-a finding inconsistent with studies that used only younger faces. We hypothesized that voxel pattern analyses would be more sensitive to YA neural responses to trustworthiness in our set of faces, replicating YA neural discrimination in prior literature. Based on evidence for OA neural dedifferentiation, we also hypothesized that voxel pattern analyses would more accurately classify YA than OA neural responses to face trustworthiness. We reanalyzed the data with two pattern classification models and evaluated the models' performance with permutation testing. Voxel patterns discriminated face trustworthiness levels in both YA and OA reward regions, while allowing better classification of face trustworthiness for YA than OA, the reverse of previous results for neural activation levels. The moderation of age differences by analytic method shines a light on the possibility that voxel patterns uniquely index neural representations of the stimulus information content, consistent with findings of impaired representation with age.

Influence of self-referential mode on memory for aMCI patients.

One's concept of the self can act as a schema, in some cases facilitating memory performance but in other cases making memory more prone to errors. In this study, we attempted to induce long-lasting self-reference effects through an autobiographical mode in younger and older adults, as well as patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), predicting that a self-referential mode of thought would benefit memory. Participants first either recalled autobiographical memories or described three neutral photographs in a narrative condition. This was followed by a conventional self-referencing task. At retrieval, participants completed a recognition task. Contrary to our prediction, the self-referencing benefit emerged consistently under autobiographical and narrative modes across all groups. Although our findings indicate that self-referencing can benefit memory, it carries the risk of increasing false alarm rates when induced through an autobiographical mode and consequently the strategy should be utilized with caution.

Influence of age on the effects of lying on memory.

False memories are elicited from exposure to misleading information. It is possible that self-provided misinformation, or lying, has similar effects. We hypothesized that lying impairs memory for younger adults, as increased cognitive control, necessary to inhibit a truthful response, comes at the expense of retaining veridical information in memory. Because older adults show deficits in cognitive control, we hypothesized their memory is unaffected by lying. In the present study, participants made truthful and deceptive responses on a computer while EEG data were recorded. We investigated medial frontal negativity (MFN), an ERP component associated with deception and cognitive control, which may be differentially generated across age groups due to differences in cognitive control. Unexpectedly, results revealed that older adults showed reduced accurate memory for items to which they previously lied compared to younger adults. There were no age differences in correct memory for truth items. We did not find the expected MFN effect, however results revealed long-lasting negative slow waves (NSW) to lie items across age in the pre-response period and following the response cue, suggesting the role of working memory processes in deception. These findings demonstrate that lying is another source of misinformation and influences memory differently across the lifespan.

Cultural differences in categorical memory errors persist with age.

OBJECTIVES: This cross-sectional experiment examined the influence of aging on cross-cultural differences in memory errors. Previous research revealed that Americans committed more categorical memory errors than Turks; we tested whether the cognitive constraints associated with aging impacted the pattern of memory errors across cultures. Furthermore, older adults are vulnerable to memory errors for semantically-related information, and we assessed whether this tendency occurs across cultures. METHODS: Younger and older adults from the US and Turkey studied word pairs, with some pairs sharing a categorical relationship and some unrelated. Participants then completed a cued recall test, generating the word that was paired with the first. These responses were scored for correct responses or different types of errors, including categorical and semantic. RESULTS: The tendency for Americans to commit more categorical memory errors emerged for both younger and older adults. In addition, older adults across cultures committed more memory errors, and these were for semantically-related information (including both categorical and other types of semantic errors). CONCLUSION: Heightened vulnerability to memory errors with age extends across cultural groups, and Americans' proneness to commit categorical memory errors occurs across ages. The findings indicate some robustness in the ways that age and culture influence memory errors.

Older adults' neural activation in the reward circuit is sensitive to face trustworthiness.

We examined older adult (OA) and younger adult (YA) neural sensitivity to face trustworthiness in reward circuit regions, previously found to respond to trustworthiness in YA. Interactions of face trustworthiness with age revealed effects exclusive to OA in the amygdala and caudate, and an effect that was not moderated by age in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). OA, but not YA, showed a nonlinear amygdala response to face trustworthiness, with significantly stronger activation response to high than to medium trustworthy faces, and no difference between low and medium or high. This may explain why an earlier study investigating OA amygdala activation to trustworthiness failed to find a significant effect, since only the linear low versus high trustworthiness difference was assessed. OA, but not YA, also showed significantly stronger activation to high than to low trustworthy faces in the right caudate, indicating a positive linear effect, consistent with previous YA research, as well as significantly stronger activation to high than to medium but not low trustworthy faces in the left caudate, indicating a nonlinear effect. Activation in dACC across both age groups showed a positive linear effect consistent with previous YA research. Finally, OA rated the faces as more trustworthy than did YA across all levels of trustworthiness. Future research should examine whether the null effects for YA were due to our inclusion of older faces. Research also should investigate possible implications of our findings for more ecologically valid OA responses to people who vary in facial trustworthiness.

Cross-cultural differences in item and background memory: examining the influence of emotional intensity and scene congruency.

After viewing a scene, individuals differ in what they prioritise and remember. Culture may be one factor that influences scene memory, as Westerners have been shown to be more item-focused than Easterners (see Masuda, T., & Nisbett, R. E. (2001). Attending holistically versus analytically: Comparing the context sensitivity of Japanese and Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 922-934). However, cultures may differ in their sensitivity to scene incongruences and emotion processing, which may account for cross-cultural differences in scene memory. The current study uses hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to examine scene memory while controlling for scene congruency and the perceived emotional intensity of the images. American and East Asian participants encoded pictures that included a positive, negative, or neutral item placed on a neutral background. After a 20-min delay, participants were shown the item and background separately along with similar and new items and backgrounds to assess memory specificity. Results indicated that even when congruency and emotional intensity were controlled, there was evidence that Americans had better item memory than East Asians. Incongruent scenes were better remembered than congruent scenes. However, this effect did not differ by culture. This suggests that Americans' item focus may result in memory changes that are robust despite variations in scene congruency and perceived emotion.

Culture impacts the magnitude of the emotion-induced memory trade-off effect.

The present study assessed the extent to which culture impacts the emotion-induced memory trade-off effect. This trade-off effect occurs because emotional items are better remembered than neutral ones, but this advantage comes at the expense of memory for backgrounds such that neutral backgrounds are remembered worse when they occurred with an emotional item than with a neutral one. Cultures differ in their prioritisation of focal object versus contextual background information, with Westerners focusing more on objects and Easterners focusing more on backgrounds. Americans, a Western culture, and Turks, an Eastern-influenced culture, incidentally encoded positive, negative, and neutral items placed against neutral backgrounds, and then completed a surprise memory test with the items and backgrounds tested separately. Results revealed a reduced trade-off for Turks compared to Americans. Although both groups exhibited an emotional enhancement in item memory, Turks did not show a decrement in memory for backgrounds that had been paired with emotional items. These findings complement prior ones showing reductions in trade-off effects as a result of task instructions. Here, we suggest that a contextual-focus at the level of culture can mitigate trade-off effects in emotional memory.

Confidence Moderates the Role of Control Beliefs in the Context of Age-Related Changes in Misinformation Susceptibility.

Background/Study Context: The present experiment investigated the role of confidence and control beliefs in susceptibility to the misinformation effect in young and older adults. Control beliefs are perceptions about one's abilities or competence and the extent to which one can influence performance outcomes. It was predicted that level of control beliefs would influence misinformation susceptibility and overall memory confidence. METHODS: Fifty university students (ages 18-26) and 37 community-dwelling older adults (ages 62-86) were tested. Participants viewed a video, answered questions containing misinformation, and then completed a source-recognition test to determine whether the information presented was seen in the video, the questionnaire only, both, or neither. For each response, participants indicated their level of confidence. RESULTS: The relationship between control beliefs and memory performance was moderated by confidence. That is, individuals with lower control beliefs made more errors as confidence decreased. Additionally, the relationship between confidence and memory performance differed by age, with greater confidence related to more errors for young adults. CONCLUSION: Confidence is an important factor in how control beliefs and age are related to memory errors in the misinformation effect. This may have implications for the legal system, particularly with eyewitness testimony. The confidence of an individual should be considered if the eyewitness is a younger adult.

Similarity to the self influences cortical recruitment during impression formation.

Prior work has shown that whether or not someone is similar to the self influences person memory--a type of self-reference effect for others. In this study, we were interested in understanding the neural regions supporting the generation of impressions and subsequent memory for targets who vary in similarity to the self. Participants underwent fMRI scanning while forming positive or negative impressions of face-behavior pairs. We tested participants' memory for their generated impressions and then back-sorted the impression trials (encoding) into different levels of self-similarity (high, medium, low) using a self-similarity posttest that came after recognition. Extending prior behavioral work, our data confirmed our hypothesis that memory would be highest for self-similar others and lowest for self-dissimilar others. Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) activity increased with self-similarity (high > medium > low) to targets, regardless of later memory for them. An analysis of regions supporting impression memory revealed a double dissociation within medial temporal lobe regions: for similar others, amygdala recruitment supported memory, whereas for dissimilar others, hippocampal activation supported memory. These results suggest that self-similarity influences evaluation and memory for targets but also affects the underlying neural resources engaged when thinking about others who vary in self-similarity.

Using warnings to reduce categorical false memories in younger and older adults.

Warnings about memory errors can reduce their incidence, although past work has largely focused on associative memory errors. The current study sought to explore whether warnings could be tailored to specifically reduce false recall of categorical information in both younger and older populations. Before encoding word pairs designed to induce categorical false memories, half of the younger and older participants were warned to avoid committing these types of memory errors. Older adults who received a warning committed fewer categorical memory errors, as well as other types of semantic memory errors, than those who did not receive a warning. In contrast, young adults' memory errors did not differ for the warning versus no-warning groups. Our findings provide evidence for the effectiveness of warnings at reducing categorical memory errors in older adults, perhaps by supporting source monitoring, reduction in reliance on gist traces, or through effective metacognitive strategies.

Ageing and the group-reference effect in memory.

The present study examines age differences in the memory benefits from group-referncing. While prior work establishes that the memory performance of younger and older adults similarly benefits from relating information to the self, this study assessed whether those benefits extend to referencing a meaningful group membership. Young and older adult participants encoded trait words by judging whether each word describes themselves, describes their group membership (selected for each age group), or is familiar. After a retention interval, participants completed a surprise recognition memory test. The results indicate that group-referencing increased recognition memory performance compared to the familiarity judgements for both young and older groups. However, the group-reference benefit is limited, emerging as smaller than the benefit from self-referencing. These results challenge previous findings of equivalent benefits for group-referencing and self-referencing, suggesting that such effects may not prevail under all conditions, including for older adults. The findings also highlight the need to examine the mechanisms of group-referencing that can lead to variability in the group-reference effect.