Three key questions to move towards a theoretical framework of visuospatial perspective taking.

What would a theory of visuospatial perspective taking (VSPT) look like? Here, ten researchers in the field, many with different theoretical viewpoints and empirical approaches, present their consensus on the three big questions we need to answer in order to bring this theory (or these theories) closer.

Top-down and bottom-up contributions to memory performance in OCD: A multilevel meta-analysis with clinical implications.

Despite extensive coverage of a relationship between memory performance and executive function in the obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) literature, the relative contributions of specific aspects of executive control have remained elusive. We, therefore, extend our previous multilevel meta-analysis (Persson et al., 2021), where demand on executive function was the most significant determinant of memory deficits in OCD, and provide a finer-grained analysis of executive control via a segregation into top-down (attentional control, maintenance and updating, planning) and bottom-up (perceptual integration, perceptual salience) contributions. Our multilevel meta-analytic approach allowed us to accommodate the interdependency of 255 effect sizes from 131 studies, totaling 4,101 OCD patients. Results revealed that maintenance and updating (top-down) and perceptual integration (bottom-up) predicted memory performance generally, and specifically in those with clinical OCD. Exploratory analyses suggested that this effect may be somewhat different among subclinical OCD groups; however, these findings should be considered with conceptual and analytical caveats in mind. We explain these results via deficient sensory (perceptual integration) and working memory (maintenance and updating) gating mechanisms and propose a model to accommodate their expression in OC symptoms. In conclusion, our meta-analysis has expanded understanding of cognitive performance in OCD and identifies the possibility of untapped cognitive targets for intervention. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Dissociating visual perspective taking and belief reasoning using a novel integrated paradigm: A preregistered online study.

There is considerable conceptual overlap between Level-2 Visual Perspective Taking (VPT-2) and Belief Reasoning; both cognitive processes require us to represent another's viewpoint and experience of reality while inhibiting our own egocentric representations. This study investigated if these facets of mentalising are distinct from one another in the general adult population. To do so, we developed a novel "Seeing-Believing Task" with which to compare VPT-2 and true belief (TB) reasoning directly - one in which both judgement types refer to the same state of reality, requiring identical responses, and where self and other perspectives can be dissociated. Across three preregistered online experiments, this task demonstrated consistent differences between these two cognitive processes; specifically, TB judgements were associated with slower response times than VPT-2. This suggests that VPT-2 and TB reasoning are at least partly distinct psychological processes. Further, the greater cognitive effort required for TB reasoning is unlikely to be explained by differences in mnemonic processing. We suggest, therefore, that VPT-2 and TB reasoning differ in the complexity of social processing involved and we discuss theoretical implications based on minimal vs. full-blown Theory of Mind. Future research must attempt to test these conjectures.

A proof-of-concept study exploring the effects of impulsivity on a gamified version of the stop-signal task in children.

This proof-of-concept study provides an appraisal of a remotely administered gamified Stop-Signal Task (gSST) for future use in studies using child sample. Performance on the standard Stop-Signal (SST) task has been shown previously to differentiate attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder groups from controls. As is the case with the SST, it was envisaged that those with greater impulsivity would perform worse than those with lower levels of impulsivity in the gSST. The potential advantage of the gSST is that it could be perceived as less monotonous than the original SST and has the potential to provide higher data quality in child samples, however future research will need to be conducted to determine this. The gSST was administered remotely via video chat to 30 child participants within a community sample aged 8-12 to investigate the effect of ADHD symptoms and intrinsic motivation on gSST performance. Qualitative data was collected based on feedback from participants to gain insight into how the gSST was received by participants. A positive correlation was observed between impulsive/hyperactivity and gSST performance, however there was insufficient evidence to suggest that impulsivity predicted performance. With regards to accuracy, results suggested that impulsivity level significantly predicted the rate of go-omission errors. No relationships were observed between intrinsic motivation inventory (IMI) subscales and performance or IMI and impulsivity. Nevertheless, mean IMI scores were overarchingly high for each of the IMI subscales, suggesting that regardless of performance and/or level of impulsive behaviour, the child sample obtained in this study demonstrated high levels of intrinsic motivation, which was supported by the predominantly positive subjective feedback provided by the child participants. The present study provides some evidence based on quantitative and qualitative results for the efficacy of gSST for use with children. Future research with a larger sample of children is warranted to examine how performance on the SST and gSST compare/differ.

It's not what you do, it's the way that you do it: An experimental task delineates among passive, reactive and interactive styles of behaviour on social networking sites.

Studies have produced vastly disparate findings when exploring relationships between social networking site (SNS) usage and psychosocial well-being. These inconsistencies might reflect a lack of consideration for how people use SNS; specifically, while meaningful interactions are suggested to foster positive feelings, the passive consumption of others' feeds is proposed to have negative effects on users' well-being. To facilitate the empirical evaluation of these claims, the present study developed a computerised task to measure styles of usage on a mock SNS platform. Administering this Social Network Site Behaviour Task (SNSBT) online to 526 individuals, we identified three dissociable usage styles that extend the active-passive dichotomy employed frequently in the literature: passive use (consuming content posted by others), reactive use (reacting to others' content), and interactive use (interacting with others through content sharing). Furthermore, our data reveal that these usage styles differ on several measures of psychosocial variables employed frequently in the disparate literature: more interactive users reported greater feelings of social connectedness and social capital than passive or reactive users. Importantly, however, our results also reveal the multi-dimensional nature of usage styles, with online network size and time spent on SNS platforms serving as potentially confounding influences on some psychosocial measures. These findings not only advance our understanding of SNS behaviour by providing empirical support for theoretic propositions, but also demonstrate the utility of the SNSBT for experimental investigations into the psychosocial outcomes of different SNS usage styles.

Take my advice: Physiological measures reveal that intrinsic emotion regulation is more effective under external guidance.

Research into emotion regulation (ER) has focused primarily on the intra-personal process through which we regulate our own emotions intrinsically. More recently, however, studies have begun to explore the inter-personal nature of intrinsic ER - that is, how we regulate our emotions under the guidance of others. Preliminary evidence suggests that ER might be more effective when implemented in an inter- compared with an intra-personal manner, but these findings are based almost exclusively on self-reported ratings that capture only the subjective experience of emotions. The current study therefore investigated whether this apparent superiority of inter-personal intrinsic ER could be replicated and extended to physiological measures of affective reactions - namely, various metrics of electrodermal activity. In a within-subjects design, a sufficiently powered sample (N = 146) were required to down-regulate their emotional reactions to negatively valenced images using an ER strategy they had chosen themselves intra-personally or one that had been recommended to them inter-personally. Physiological responses converged to demonstrate the greater effectiveness of inter- over intra-personal ER in decreasing negative affective reactions, despite subjective ratings suggesting that participants perceived the opposite to be true. The superiority of inter- over intra-personal ER in physiological recordings was unrelated to individuals' perceptions of their ability to regulate their own emotions, however, and so it remains to be seen if and how such benefits extend to clinical populations.

Investigating age differences in the influence of joint attention on working memory.

Previous research has demonstrated that older adults make limited use of social cues as compared to younger adults. This has been investigated by testing the influence of gaze cues on attentional processes, with findings showing significantly smaller gaze-cuing effects for older than younger adults. Here, we aimed to investigate whether this would also result in age-related differences in the influence of gaze cues on working memory (WM). We therefore tested the effects of gaze cues from realistic human avatars on working memory across two experiments using dynamic head turns and more subtle eye gaze movements. We compared working memory for items looked at by the cue (congruent), looked away from by the cue (incongruent), and items shown when the cue looked down (neutral). Results demonstrated that for both older and younger adults, gaze cues influenced working memory processes, though there were some important differences related to the nature of the cue. When the cue made a dynamic head turn both younger and older adults showed an equivalent effect of gaze on attention. However, when only the eyes moved, while both the younger and older adults showed an effect of gaze on working memory, there appeared to be a difference in how the participants interpreted the neutral cue, with the older adults appearing to interpret the neutral cues in a similar way to the congruent cues. Overall, we provide important evidence that sharing attention benefits cognition across the life span. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

A dataset of EEG recordings from 47 participants collected during a virtual reality working memory task where attention was cued by a social avatar and non-social stick cue.

This data article describes electroencephalography (EEG) and behavioral data from 47 participants. Data was collected using a 64 channel eego™ sports mobile EEG system during a visual working memory task presented in virtual reality (VR) using Unity with an Oculus Rift S head-mounted display. In the memory task, participants had to remember the status of and details about objects presented on a table. Prior to object appearance a moving, 3D social avatar or non-social stick cue was presented which pointed to the left or right of the table. Items for encoding could appear in the valid, cued location or the invalid, un-cued location, with the cue being uninformative to the task. The cue type was presented within subjects, blocked, counterbalanced. The data (behavioral & EEG (raw and processed)), scripts and the full task are available. The data is set up to allow investigation of neural signals during attention cueing, and memory encoding, maintenance and retrieval. The main novelty of the dataset is the presentation of the social avatar and non-social stick cue in VR within subjects, thus, allowing comparison across time points, including a period of eye contact. The data is also of interest to researchers interested in the neural corelates of working memory. Further, it is of interest to researchers interested in combining VR and EEG.

EEG alpha and theta signatures of socially and non-socially cued working memory in virtual reality.

In this preregistered study (https://osf.io/s4rm9) we investigated the behavioural and neurological [electroencephalography; alpha (attention) and theta (effort)] effects of dynamic non-predictive social and non-social cues on working memory. In a virtual environment realistic human-avatars dynamically looked to the left or right side of a table. A moving stick served as a non-social control cue. Kitchen items were presented in the valid cued or invalid un-cued location for encoding. Behavioural findings showed a similar influence of the cues on working memory performance. Alpha power changes were equivalent for the cues during cueing and encoding, reflecting similar attentional processing. However, theta power changes revealed different patterns for the cues. Theta power increased more strongly for the non-social cue compared to the social cue during initial cueing. Furthermore, while for the non-social cue there was a significantly larger increase in theta power for valid compared to invalid conditions during encoding, this was reversed for the social cue, with a significantly larger increase in theta power for the invalid compared to valid conditions, indicating differences in the cues' effects on cognitive effort. Therefore, while social and non-social attention cues impact working memory performance in a similar fashion, the underlying neural mechanisms appear to differ.

Sources of Cognitive Conflict and Their Relevance to Theory-of-Mind Proficiency in Healthy Aging: A Preregistered Study.

Age-related decline in theory of mind (ToM) may be due to waning executive control, which is necessary for resolving conflict when reasoning about other individuals' mental states. We assessed how older (n = 50) and younger (n = 50) adults were affected by three theoretically relevant sources of conflict within ToM: competing self-other perspectives, competing cued locations, and outcome knowledge. We examined which best accounted for age-related difficulty with ToM. Our data show unexpected similarity between age groups when people are representing a belief incongruent with their own. Individual differences in attention and response speed best explained the degree of conflict experienced through incompatible self-other perspectives. However, older adults were disproportionately affected by managing conflict between cued locations. Age and spatial working memory were most relevant for predicting the magnitude of conflict elicited by conflicting cued locations. We suggest that previous studies may have underestimated older adults' ToM proficiency by including unnecessary conflict in ToM tasks.

Modeling a multidimensional model of memory performance in obsessive-compulsive disorder: A multilevel meta-analytic review.

Even though memory performance is a commonly researched aspect of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a coherent and unified explanation of the role of specific cognitive factors has remained elusive. To address this, the present meta-analysis examined the predictive validity of Harkin and Kessler's (2011b) executive function, binding complexity, and memory load (EBL) Classification System concerning affected versus unaffected memory performance in OCD. We employed a multilevel meta-analytic approach (Viechtbauer, 2010) to accommodate the interdependent nature of the EBL model and interdependency of effect sizes (305 effect sizes from 144 studies, including 4,424 OCD patients). Results revealed that the EBL model predicted memory performance; that is, as EBL demand increases, those with OCD performed progressively worse on memory tasks. Executive function was the driving mechanism behind the EBL's impact on OCD memory performance, as it negated binding complexity, memory load, and visual or verbal task differences. Comparisons of subtask effect sizes were also generally in accord with the cognitive parameters of the EBL taxonomy. We conclude that standardized coding of tasks along individual cognitive dimensions and multilevel meta-analyses provides a new approach to examine multidimensional models of memory and cognitive performance in OCD and other disorders. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Changes in theta and alpha oscillatory signatures of attentional control in older and middle age.

BACKGROUND: Recent behavioural research has reported age-related changes in the costs of refocusing attention from a temporal (rapid serial visual presentation) to a spatial (visual search) task. Using magnetoencephalography, we have now compared the neural signatures of attention refocusing between three age groups (19-30, 40-49 and 60+ years) and found differences in task-related modulation and cortical localisation of alpha and theta oscillations. Efficient, faster refocusing in the youngest group compared to both middle age and older groups was reflected in parietal theta effects that were significantly reduced in the older groups. Residual parietal theta activity in older individuals was beneficial to attentional refocusing and could reflect preserved attention mechanisms. Slowed refocusing of attention, especially when a target required consolidation, in the older and middle-aged adults was accompanied by a posterior theta deficit and increased recruitment of frontal (middle-aged and older groups) and temporal (older group only) areas, demonstrating a posterior to anterior processing shift. Theta but not alpha modulation correlated with task performance, suggesting that older adults' stronger and more widely distributed alpha power modulation could reflect decreased neural precision or dedifferentiation but requires further investigation. Our results demonstrate that older adults present with different alpha and theta oscillatory signatures during attentional control, reflecting cognitive decline and, potentially, also different cognitive strategies in an attempt to compensate for decline.

Erratum: Huizeling, E.; et al. Age-Related Changes in Attentional Refocusing during Simulated Driving. Brain Sci. 2020, 10, 530.

The authors would like to submit the following corrections to the published paper [...].

Age-Related Changes in Attentional Refocusing during Simulated Driving.

We recently reported that refocusing attention between temporal and spatial tasks becomes more difficult with increasing age, which could impair daily activities such as driving (Callaghan et al., 2017). Here, we investigated the extent to which difficulties in refocusing attention extend to naturalistic settings such as simulated driving. A total of 118 participants in five age groups (18-30; 40-49; 50-59; 60-69; 70-91 years) were compared during continuous simulated driving, where they repeatedly switched from braking due to traffic ahead (a spatially focal yet temporally complex task) to reading a motorway road sign (a spatially more distributed task). Sequential-Task (switching) performance was compared to Single-Task performance (road sign only) to calculate age-related switch-costs. Electroencephalography was recorded in 34 participants (17 in the 18-30 and 17 in the 60+ years groups) to explore age-related changes in the neural oscillatory signatures of refocusing attention while driving. We indeed observed age-related impairments in attentional refocusing, evidenced by increased switch-costs in response times and by deficient modulation of theta and alpha frequencies. Our findings highlight virtual reality (VR) and Neuro-VR as important methodologies for future psychological and gerontological research.

The Right Temporoparietal Junction Is Causally Associated with Embodied Perspective-taking.

A prominent theory claims that the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) is especially associated with embodied processes relevant to perspective-taking. In the present study, we use high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation to provide evidence that the rTPJ is causally associated with the embodied processes underpinning perspective-taking. Eighty-eight young human adults were stratified to receive either rTPJ or dorsomedial PFC anodal high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation in a sham-controlled, double-blind, repeated-measures design. Perspective-tracking (line-of-sight) and perspective-taking (embodied rotation) were assessed using a visuo-spatial perspective-taking task that required understanding what another person could see or how they see it, respectively. Embodied processing was manipulated by positioning the participant in a manner congruent or incongruent with the orientation of an avatar on the screen. As perspective-taking, but not perspective-tracking, is influenced by bodily position, this allows the investigation of the specific causal role for the rTPJ in embodied processing. Crucially, anodal stimulation to the rTPJ increased the effect of bodily position during perspective-taking, whereas no such effects were identified during perspective-tracking, thereby providing evidence for a causal role for the rTPJ in the embodied component of perspective-taking. Stimulation to the dorsomedial PFC had no effect on perspective-tracking or taking. Therefore, the present study provides support for theories postulating that the rTPJ is causally involved in embodied cognitive processing relevant to social functioning.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The ability to understand another's perspective is a fundamental component of social functioning. Adopting another perspective is thought to involve both embodied and nonembodied processes. The present study used high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) and provided causal evidence that the right temporoparietal junction is involved specifically in the embodied component of perspective-taking. Specifically, HD-tDCS to the right temporoparietal junction, but not another hub of the social brain (dorsomedial PFC), increased the effect of body position during perspective-taking, but not tracking. This is the first causal evidence that HD-tDCS can modulate social embodied processing in a site-specific and task-specific manner.

Dysregulated oscillatory connectivity in the visual system in autism spectrum disorder.

Autism spectrum disorder is increasingly associated with atypical perceptual and sensory symptoms. Here we explore the hypothesis that aberrant sensory processing in autism spectrum disorder could be linked to atypical intra- (local) and interregional (global) brain connectivity. To elucidate oscillatory dynamics and connectivity in the visual domain we used magnetoencephalography and a simple visual grating paradigm with a group of 18 adolescent autistic participants and 18 typically developing control subjects. Both groups showed similar increases in gamma (40-80 Hz) and decreases in alpha (8-13 Hz) frequency power in occipital cortex. However, systematic group differences emerged when analysing intra- and interregional connectivity in detail. First, directed connectivity was estimated using non-parametric Granger causality between visual areas V1 and V4. Feedforward V1-to-V4 connectivity, mediated by gamma oscillations, was equivalent between autism spectrum disorder and control groups, but importantly, feedback V4-to-V1 connectivity, mediated by alpha (8-13 Hz) oscillations, was significantly reduced in the autism spectrum disorder group. This reduction was positively correlated with autistic quotient scores, consistent with an atypical visual hierarchy in autism, characterized by reduced top-down modulation of visual input via alpha-band oscillations. Second, at the local level in V1, coupling of alpha-phase to gamma amplitude (alpha-gamma phase amplitude coupling) was reduced in the autism spectrum disorder group. This implies dysregulated local visual processing, with gamma oscillations decoupled from patterns of wider alpha-band phase synchrony (i.e. reduced phase amplitude coupling), possibly due to an excitation-inhibition imbalance. More generally, these results are in agreement with predictive coding accounts of neurotypical perception and indicate that visual processes in autism are less modulated by contextual feedback information.

Towards OPM-MEG in a virtual reality environment.

Virtual reality (VR) provides an immersive environment in which a participant can experience a feeling of presence in a virtual world. Such environments generate strong emotional and physical responses and have been used for wide-ranging applications. The ability to collect functional neuroimaging data whilst a participant is immersed in VR would represent a step change for experimental paradigms; unfortunately, traditional brain imaging requires participants to remain still, limiting the scope of naturalistic interaction within VR. Recently however, a new type of magnetoencephalography (MEG) device has been developed, that employs scalp-mounted optically-pumped magnetometers (OPMs) to measure brain electrophysiology. Lightweight OPMs, coupled with precise control of the background magnetic field, enables participant movement during data acquisition. Here, we exploit this technology to acquire MEG data whilst a participant uses a virtual reality head-mounted display (VRHMD). We show that, despite increased magnetic interference from the VRHMD, we were able to measure modulation of alpha-band oscillations, and the visual evoked field. Moreover, in a VR experiment in which a participant had to move their head to look around a virtual wall and view a visual stimulus, we showed that the measured MEG signals map spatially in accordance with the known organisation of primary visual cortex. This technique could transform the type of neuroscientific experiment that can be undertaken using functional neuroimaging.

Linking Cognitive Measures of Response Inhibition and Reward Sensitivity to Trait Impulsivity.

Impulsivity is regarded as a multifaceted construct that comprises two dimensions: rapid-response impulsivity and reward-delay impulsivity. It is unclear, however, which aspects of trait impulsivity, as assessed by self-report measures are related to rapid-response impulsivity and/or to reward-delay impulsivity, as different results have been reported in studies using both self-report and cognitive measures. This study aimed to directly relate self-report measures of impulsivity to cognitive measures of impulsivity in individuals at low- or high-levels on two impulsivity dimensions, specifically rapid-response impulsivity and reward-delay impulsivity. Participants were classified into high- or low-impulsivity groups based on (1) level of rapid-response impulsivity (determined by BIS-11 Motor subscale scores); (2) level of reward-delay impulsivity (determined by BIS/BAS subscale scores); and (3) a combination of rapid-response impulsivity and reward-delay impulsivity levels. Impulsivity was assessed using Go/No-Go, Stop-Signal and Delay-Discounting tasks and self-report measures. The high rapid-response impulsivity group showed significantly higher reward-delay impulsivity on both, the Delay-Discounting tasks and on self-report measures assessing reward-delay impulsivity, than the low-risk group. Based on the level of reward-delay impulsivity, the high reward-delay impulsivity group scored significantly higher on task-based (cognitive) and self-report measures assessing rapid-response inhibition than the low reward-delay impulsivity group. Combining both dimensions of impulsivity showed that the high-impulsivity group performed significantly worse in rapid-response paradigms and temporally discounted significantly more impulsively than the low-impulsivity group. Thus, combined impulsivity factors provide better assessment of impulsivity than each dimension alone. In conclusion, robust differences in impulsivity can be identified in non-clinical young adults.

The depersonalized brain: New evidence supporting a distinction between depersonalization and derealization from discrete patterns of autonomic suppression observed in a non-clinical sample.

Depersonalization and Derealization are characterised by feelings of detachment from one's bodily self/surroundings and a general emotional numbness. We explored predisposition to trait-based experiences of depersonalization/derealization-type experiences and autonomic arousal toward simulated body-threats, which were delivered to the participant's own body (i.e. Self) and when observed being delivered to another individual (i.e. Other). Ninety participants took part in an "Implied Body-Threat Illusion" task (Dewe, Watson, & Braithwaite, 2016) and autonomic arousal was recorded via standardised skin conductance responses and finger temperature. Autonomic suppression in response to threats delivered to the Self correlated with increases in trait-based depersonalization-type experiences. In contrast, autonomic suppression for threats delivered to Others correlated with trait-based derealization-like experiences. Body-temperature and anticipatory arousal did not correlate reliably with predisposition to depersonalization- or derealization-type experiences. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed in terms of a fronto-limbic autonomic suppression mechanism.

The Detection of Phase Amplitude Coupling during Sensory Processing.

There is increasing interest in understanding how the phase and amplitude of distinct neural oscillations might interact to support dynamic communication within the brain. In particular, previous work has demonstrated a coupling between the phase of low frequency oscillations and the amplitude (or power) of high frequency oscillations during certain tasks, termed phase amplitude coupling (PAC). For instance, during visual processing in humans, PAC has been reliably observed between ongoing alpha (8-13 Hz) and gamma-band (>40 Hz) activity. However, the application of PAC metrics to electrophysiological data can be challenging due to numerous methodological issues and lack of coherent approaches within the field. Therefore, in this article we outline the various analysis steps involved in detecting PAC, using an openly available MEG dataset from 16 participants performing an interactive visual task. Firstly, we localized gamma and alpha-band power using the Fieldtrip toolbox, and extracted time courses from area V1, defined using a multimodal parcelation scheme. These V1 responses were analyzed for changes in alpha-gamma PAC, using four common algorithms. Results showed an increase in alpha (7-13 Hz)-gamma (40-100 Hz) PAC in response to the visual grating stimulus, though specific patterns of coupling were somewhat dependent upon the algorithm employed. Additionally, post-hoc analyses showed that these results were not driven by the presence of non-sinusoidal oscillations, and that trial length was sufficient to obtain reliable PAC estimates. Finally, throughout the article, methodological issues and practical guidelines for ongoing PAC research will be discussed.