The Role of Attention in Category Representation.

Numerous studies have found that selective attention affects category learning. However, previous research did not distinguish between the contribution of focusing and filtering components of selective attention. This study addresses this issue by examining how components of selective attention affect category representation. Participants first learned a rule-plus-similarity category structure, and then were presented with category priming followed by categorization and recognition tests. Additionally, to evaluate the involvement of focusing and filtering, we fit models with different attentional mechanisms to the data. In Experiment 1, participants received rule-based category training, with specific emphasis on a single deterministic feature (D feature). Experiment 2 added a recognition test to examine participants' memory for features. Both experiments indicated that participants categorized items based solely on the D feature, showed greater memory for the D feature, were primed exclusively by the D feature without interference from probabilistic features (P features), and were better fit by models with focusing and at least one type of filtering mechanism. The results indicated that selective attention distorted category representation by highlighting the D feature and attenuating P features. To examine whether the distorted representation was specific to rule-based training, Experiment 3 introduced training, emphasizing all features. Under such training, participants were no longer primed by the D feature, they remembered all features well, and they were better fit by the model assuming only focusing but no filtering process. The results coupled with modeling provide novel evidence that while both focusing and filtering contribute to category representation, filtering can also result in representational distortion.

Plant disease recognition using residual convolutional enlightened Swin transformer networks.

Agriculture plays a pivotal role in the economic development of a nation, but, growth of agriculture is affected badly by the many factors one such is plant diseases. Early stage prediction of these disease is crucial role for global health and even for game changers the farmer's life. Recently, adoption of modern technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and deep learning concepts has given the brighter light of inventing the intelligent machines to predict the plant diseases before it is deep-rooted in the farmlands. But, precise prediction of plant diseases is a complex job due to the presence of noise, changes in the intensities, similar resemblance between healthy and diseased plants and finally dimension of plant leaves. To tackle this problem, high-accurate and intelligently tuned deep learning algorithms are mandatorily needed. In this research article, novel ensemble of Swin transformers and residual convolutional networks are proposed. Swin transformers (ST) are hierarchical structures with linearly scalable computing complexity that offer performance and flexibility at various scales. In order to extract the best deep key-point features, the Swin transformers and residual networks has been combined, followed by Feed forward networks for better prediction. Extended experimentation is conducted using Plant Village Kaggle datasets, and performance metrics, including accuracy, precision, recall, specificity, and F1-rating, are evaluated and analysed. Existing structure along with FCN-8s, CED-Net, SegNet, DeepLabv3, Dense nets, and Central nets are used to demonstrate the superiority of the suggested version. The experimental results show that in terms of accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-rating, the introduced version shown better performances than the other state-of-art hybrid learning models.

Stochastic attractor models of visual working memory.

This paper investigates models of working memory in which memory traces evolve according to stochastic attractor dynamics. These models have previously been shown to account for response-biases that are manifest across multiple trials of a visual working memory task. Here we adapt this approach by making the stable fixed points correspond to the multiple items to be remembered within a single-trial, in accordance with standard dynamical perspectives of memory, and find evidence that this multi-item model can provide a better account of behavioural data from continuous-report tasks. Additionally, the multi-item model proposes a simple mechanism by which swap-errors arise: memory traces diffuse away from their initial state and are captured by the attractors of other items. Swap-error curves reveal the evolution of this process as a continuous function of time throughout the maintenance interval and can be inferred from experimental data. Consistent with previous findings, we find that empirical memory performance is not well characterised by a purely-diffusive process but rather by a stochastic process that also embodies error-correcting dynamics.

Effect of PTSD treatment on cardiovascular reactivity during trauma memory recall and correspondence with symptom improvement.

ABSTRACTBackground: Prior research has shown PTSD treatment leads to reductions in cardiovascular reactivity during trauma recall, but the extent to which such reductions are associated with changes in PTSD symptoms is less clear. Moreover, such relationships have not been investigated in a cognitively focused PTSD treatment.Objective: To examine changes in cardiovascular reactivity to the trauma memory in patients receiving cognitive processing therapy (CPT), CPT with a written trauma account, and a written account only condition. We also examined the association of such changes with symptom improvement.Method: 118 women with PTSD secondary to interpersonal violence completed pre- and post-treatment assessments of PTSD symptoms and cardiovascular reactivity during a script-driven imagery task.Results: Results indicated a significant but modest reduction in cardiovascular reactivity in CPT conditions. Changes in cardiovascular reactivity and reexperiencing symptoms were significantly associated among the whole sample. Among individuals with the greatest reactivity to the trauma memory at pretreatment, associations were also seen with changes in total PTSD, numbing, and trauma-related guilt.Conclusions: Results indicate that previous findings on the effect of PTSD treatment on cardiovascular reactivity during trauma recall extend to cognitively oriented treatment. Baseline cardiovascular reactivity may influence the extent to which reductions in PTSD symptoms and reactivity during trauma recall are related.

Cognitive Processing Therapy leads to reduced heart rate reactivity when recalling a trauma memory.Decreases in heart rate reactivity are associated with reduced reexperiencing symptoms.Changes in heart rate reactivity and PTSD symptoms are more closely related among patients with greater pretreatment reactivity.

Memory Wars: A Solution to the Conflict / Las Guerras de la Memoria: una Solución al Conflicto

Se discute la validez de la memoria disociativa en contextos forenses y las causas de las llamadas “guerras de la memoria”. Conceptos erróneos entre la psicología clínica y la psicología forense, una definición deficiente de la amnesia y las dificultades inherentes en el estudio de recuerdos traumáticos contribuyen a la persistencia de esta controversia. Particularmente en el campo de la psicología forense, el debate podría atribuirse a la falta de consenso sobre la evidencia científica. Los psicólogos necesitan establecer una base empírica para comprender mejor los mecanismos de la memoria involucrados en recordar y olvidar recuerdos traumáticos. Se esboza el Modelo de Accesibilidad Continua de la Memoria para explicar la recuperación de los diferentes grados de accesibilidad a los recuerdos autobiográficos basados en diferentes factores.(AU)

The validity of dissociative memory in forensic contexts and the causes of the so-called “memory wars” arediscussed. Misconceptions between clinical and forensic psychology, a deficient definition of amnesia, and the difficulties inherent in studying traumatic memories contribute to the persistence of this controversy. Particularly in the field of forensic psychology, the debate could be attributed to the lack of consensus on scientific evidence. Psychologists need to establish an empirical foundation to understand better the mechanisms of memory involved in remembering and forgetting traumatic memories. The Continuous Accessibility Model of Memory is outlined to explain the retrieval of the different degrees of accessibility to autobiographical memories based on different factors.(AU)

Two inhibitory neuronal classes govern acquisition and recall of spinal sensorimotor adaptation.

Spinal circuits are central to movement adaptation, yet the mechanisms within the spinal cord responsible for acquiring and retaining behavior upon experience remain unclear. Using a simple conditioning paradigm, we found that dorsal inhibitory neurons are indispensable for adapting protective limb-withdrawal behavior by regulating the transmission of a specific set of somatosensory information to enhance the saliency of conditioning cues associated with limb position. By contrast, maintaining previously acquired motor adaptation required the ventral inhibitory Renshaw cells. Manipulating Renshaw cells does not affect the adaptation itself but flexibly alters the expression of adaptive behavior. These findings identify a circuit basis involving two distinct populations of spinal inhibitory neurons, which enables lasting sensorimotor adaptation independently from the brain.

Transferable non-invasive modal fusion-transformer (NIMFT) for end-to-end hand gesture recognition.

Objective.Recent studies have shown that integrating inertial measurement unit (IMU) signals with surface electromyographic (sEMG) can greatly improve hand gesture recognition (HGR) performance in applications such as prosthetic control and rehabilitation training. However, current deep learning models for multimodal HGR encounter difficulties in invasive modal fusion, complex feature extraction from heterogeneous signals, and limited inter-subject model generalization. To address these challenges, this study aims to develop an end-to-end and inter-subject transferable model that utilizes non-invasively fused sEMG and acceleration (ACC) data.Approach.The proposed non-invasive modal fusion-transformer (NIMFT) model utilizes 1D-convolutional neural networks-based patch embedding for local information extraction and employs a multi-head cross-attention (MCA) mechanism to non-invasively integrate sEMG and ACC signals, stabilizing the variability induced by sEMG. The proposed architecture undergoes detailed ablation studies after hyperparameter tuning. Transfer learning is employed by fine-tuning a pre-trained model on new subject and a comparative analysis is performed between the fine-tuning and subject-specific model. Additionally, the performance of NIMFT is compared to state-of-the-art fusion models.Main results.The NIMFT model achieved recognition accuracies of 93.91%, 91.02%, and 95.56% on the three action sets in the Ninapro DB2 dataset. The proposed embedding method and MCA outperformed the traditional invasive modal fusion transformer by 2.01% (embedding) and 1.23% (fusion), respectively. In comparison to subject-specific models, the fine-tuning model exhibited the highest average accuracy improvement of 2.26%, achieving a final accuracy of 96.13%. Moreover, the NIMFT model demonstrated superiority in terms of accuracy, recall, precision, and F1-score compared to the latest modal fusion models with similar model scale.Significance.The NIMFT is a novel end-to-end HGR model, utilizes a non-invasive MCA mechanism to integrate long-range intermodal information effectively. Compared to recent modal fusion models, it demonstrates superior performance in inter-subject experiments and offers higher training efficiency and accuracy levels through transfer learning than subject-specific approaches.

EEG decoders track memory dynamics.

Encoding- and retrieval-related neural activity jointly determine mnemonic success. We ask whether electroencephalographic activity can reliably predict encoding and retrieval success on individual trials. Each of 98 participants performed a delayed recall task on 576 lists across 24 experimental sessions. Logistic regression classifiers trained on spectral features measured immediately preceding spoken recall of individual words successfully predict whether or not those words belonged to the target list. Classifiers trained on features measured during word encoding also reliably predict whether those words will be subsequently recalled and further predict the temporal and semantic organization of the recalled items. These findings link neural variability predictive of successful memory with item-to-context binding, a key cognitive process thought to underlie episodic memory function.

Post-hypnotic suggestion improves confidence and speed of memory access with long-lasting effects.

In our study, we use the post-hypnotic suggestion of easy remembering to improve memory with long-lasting effects. We tested 24 highly suggestible participants in an online study. Participants learned word lists and recalled them later in a recognition memory task. At the beginning of the study, participants were hypnotized and the post-hypnotic suggestion to remember easily was associated with a cue that participants used during the recognition memory task. In a control condition, the same participants used a neutral cue. One week later, participants repeated both conditions with new word lists. Participants were significantly faster and more confident in their recognition ratings in the easy-remembering condition compared to the control condition, and this effect persisted over one week. Crucially, the increased speed and confidence in the easy-remembering condition did not affect memory accuracy. That makes our hypnosis intervention promising for patients experiencing subjective memory impairments. APA PSYCINFO CODES: 2343 (Learning and Memory), 2380 (Consciousness States), 3351 (Clinical Hypnosis).

Legal actors' and laypersons' utility judgments of eyewitness lineup procedures and outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: Recent attempts to model the relative performances of eyewitness lineup procedures necessarily include theoretical assumptions about the various costs/benefits, or utilities, of different identification outcomes. We collected data to incorporate empirically derived utilities into such modeling as well as data on various stakeholders' views of lineup procedures as tertiary objectives. HYPOTHESES: This research was exploratory; therefore, we did not have a priori hypotheses. METHOD: We surveyed judges' (n = 70), prosecutors' (n = 28), police officers' (n = 82), and laypersons' (n = 191) opinions about eyewitness identification procedures and the utilities of outcomes of eyewitness identification procedures. We incorporated the utility judgments into models comparing the desirability of various lineup reforms and compared policy preferences between our samples. RESULTS: All samples frequently mentioned estimator and system variables in open-ended evaluations of lineup procedures, but legal samples mentioned system variables more often than did laypersons. Reflector variables (e.g., confidence) were mentioned less often across the board, as was the scientific basis/standardization of identification policy (especially among laypersons). Utility judgments of various identification outcomes indicated that judges adopt values more closely aligned with normative legal ethics (i.e., the Blackstone ratio), whereas other stakeholders (especially laypersons) depart significantly from those standards. Utility models indicated general agreement among samples in lineup procedure preferences, which varied as a function of culprit-presence base rates. CONCLUSION: Although legal stakeholders vary in how they value eyewitness identification outcomes, their values imply relatively consistent policy preferences that sometimes depart from scientific recommendations. Nonetheless, all samples expressed support for using scientific research to inform legal policy regarding eyewitness evidence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Event-related theta and gamma band oscillatory dynamics during visuo-spatial sequence memory in younger and older adults.

Visuo-spatial working memory (VSWM) for sequences is thought to be crucial for daily behaviors. Decades of research indicate that oscillations in the gamma and theta bands play important functional roles in the support of visuo-spatial working memory, but the vast majority of that research emphasizes measures of neural activity during memory retention. The primary aims of the present study were (1) to determine whether oscillatory dynamics in the Theta and Gamma ranges would reflect item-level sequence encoding during a computerized spatial span task, (2) to determine whether item-level sequence recall is also related to these neural oscillations, and (3) to determine the nature of potential changes to these processes in healthy cognitive aging. Results indicate that VSWM sequence encoding is related to later (∼700 ms) gamma band oscillatory dynamics and may be preserved in healthy older adults; high gamma power over midline frontal and posterior sites increased monotonically as items were added to the spatial sequence in both age groups. Item-level oscillatory dynamics during the recall of VSWM sequences were related only to theta-gamma phase amplitude coupling (PAC), which increased monotonically with serial position in both age groups. Results suggest that, despite a general decrease in frontal theta power during VSWM sequence recall in older adults, gamma band dynamics during encoding and theta-gamma PAC during retrieval play unique roles in VSWM and that the processes they reflect may be spared in healthy aging.

Increases in pre-stimulus theta and alpha oscillations precede successful encoding of crossmodal associations.

A central aspect of episodic memory is the formation of associations between stimuli from different modalities. Current theoretical approaches assume a functional role of ongoing oscillatory power and phase in the theta band (3-7 Hz) for the encoding of crossmodal associations. Furthermore, ongoing activity in the theta range as well as alpha (8-12 Hz) and low beta activity (13-20 Hz) before the presentation of a stimulus is thought to modulate subsequent cognitive processing, including processes that are related to memory. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that pre-stimulus characteristics of low frequency activity are relevant for the successful formation of crossmodal memory. The experimental design that was used specifically allowed for the investigation of associative memory independent from individual item memory. Participants (n = 51) were required to memorize associations between audiovisual stimulus pairs and distinguish them from newly arranged ones consisting of the same single stimuli in the subsequent recognition task. Our results show significant differences in the state of pre-stimulus theta and alpha power between remembered and not remembered crossmodal associations, clearly relating increased power to successful recognition. These differences were positively correlated with memory performance, suggesting functional relevance for behavioral measures of associative memory. Further analysis revealed similar effects in the low beta frequency ranges, indicating the involvement of different pre-stimulus-related cognitive processes. Phase-based connectivity measures in the theta band did not differ between remembered and not remembered stimulus pairs. The findings support the assumed functional relevance of theta band oscillations for the formation of associative memory and demonstrate that an increase of theta as well as alpha band oscillations in the pre-stimulus period is beneficial for the establishment of crossmodal memory.

The influence of the precuneus on the medial temporal cortex determines the subjective quality of memory during the retrieval of naturalistic episodes.

Memory retrieval entails dynamic interactions between the medial temporal lobe and areas in the parietal and frontal cortices. Here, we tested the hypothesis that effective connectivity between the precuneus, in the medial parietal cortex, and the medial temporal cortex contributes to the subjective quality of remembering objects together with information about their rich spatio-temporal encoding context. During a 45 min encoding session, the participants were presented with pictures of objects while they actively explored a virtual town. The following day, under fMRI, participants were presented with images of objects and had to report whether: they recognized the object and could remember the place/time of encoding, the object was familiar only, or the object was new. The hippocampus/parahippocampus, the precuneus and the ventro-medial prefrontal cortex activated when the participants successfully recognized objects they had seen in the virtual town and reported that they could remember the place/time of these events. Analyses of effective connectivity showed that the influence exerted by the precuneus on the medial temporal cortex mediates this effect of episodic recollection. Our findings demonstrate the role of the inter-regional connectivity in mediating the subjective experience of remembering and underline the relevance of studying memory in contextually-rich conditions.

Association of Physical Activity with Phenotypic Age among Populations with Different Breakfast Habits.

BACKGROUND: The global aging situation has reached a serious stage, and healthy lifestyles, like regular physical activity and eating breakfast, could slow the process. Phenotypic age (PhenoAge) is regarded as a novel measure of aging. Therefore, our study aimed to quantify the impact of physical activity and eating breakfast on aging via PhenoAge and phenotypic age acceleration (PhenoAgeAccel). METHODS: A total of 3719 adults who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were involved in this study. Physical activity was divided into an active group and an inactive group. According to the number of reported breakfast recalls, eating breakfast was divided into the no recalls group, one recall group, and both recalls group. Sensitivity analysis was performed by stratified analysis. RESULTS: Active physical activity was a protective factor for PhenoAge and PhenoAgeAccel. Compared to the inactive group, the ß values of the active group were -8.36 (-10.09, -6.62) for PhenoAge and -1.67 (-2.21, -1.14) for PhenoAgeAccel. The stratified analysis results showed that in the groups reporting breakfast in both recalls, one recall, and no recalls, the ß values of the active group were -8.84 (-10.70, -6.98), -8.17 (-12.34, -4.00), and -3.46 (-7.74, 0.82), respectively, compared to the inactive group. CONCLUSIONS: Active physical activity was strongly correlated with lower values of PhenoAge and PhenoAgeAccel, but the association was no longer statistically significant when combined with not regularly eating breakfast.

Using unsupervised capsule neural network reveal spatial representations in the human brain.

Humans can extract high-level spatial features from visual signals, but spatial representations in the brain are complex and remain unclear. The unsupervised capsule neural network (U-CapsNet) is sensitive to the spatial location and relationship of the object, contains a special recurrent mechanism and uses a self-supervised generation strategy to represent images, which is similar to the computational principle in the human brain. Therefore, we hypothesized that U-CapsNet can help us understand how the human brain processes spatial information. First, brain activities were studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging during spatial working memory in which participants had to remember the locations of circles for a short time. Then, U-CapsNet served as a computational model of the brain to perform tasks that are identical to those performed by humans. Finally, the representational models were used to compare the U-CapsNet with the brain. The results showed that some human-defined spatial features naturally emerged in the latent space of U-CapsNet. Moreover, representations in U-CapsNet captured the response structure of two types of brain regions during different activity patterns, as well as important factors associated with human behavior. Together, our study not only provides a computationally feasible framework for modeling how the human brain encodes spatial features but also provides insights into the representational format and goals of the human brain.

Stimulus-elicited involuntary autobiographical memories.

The reflexive imagery task (RIT) has been used to investigate stimulus-elicited involuntary mental processes. The task has been successful in eliciting involuntary perceptual experiences, urges, and even higher-order cognitions, but it has never been used to elicit autobiographical memories, even though in everyday life these memories are often activated involuntarily by external stimuli. These memories are different in interesting ways from the kinds of mental representations that have been activated involuntarily in the RIT. The memories have properties which might make them insusceptible to such a form of external influence. Perhaps substantive effects will not arise because the mental representations associated with autobiographical memories are complex, poly-sensory, and rich in terms of content. To investigate this matter, we developed a variant of the RIT in which participants were presented with external stimuli (line drawings of everyday objects) and instructed not to recall any autobiographical memories. We investigated whether the nature of the involuntary memories was influenced by the nature of the stimulus. In two experiments, the involuntary memories were associated to the stimulus on a majority of the trials (∼80%). We discuss theoretical implications of this finding and of identifying the conditions in which such involuntary effects will not arise. The boundary conditions of the RIT effect illuminate the limits of unconscious processing and also the role of conscious processing in nervous function.

Retracted memories in the general population: are there differences between eastern and western countries?

The main purpose of the current studies was to examine retracted experiences in the general population from various cultural backgrounds. More specifically, in two studies, we examined the details of memory retraction experiences, the reasons for retraction, and the outcomes of retraction in participants from China and other countries, mainly the United States of America. It was found that memory retraction experiences appeared to be quite common. In the sample of Chinese participants (Study 1: N = 1380), 50.58% reported at least one such an experience, whereas in respondents from other countries (Study 2; N = 425), a significantly lower but still substantial prevalence rate of 35% was found. In general, the retracted memories predominantly involved positive events and some respondents experienced pressure during the withdrawal. Social feedback and event plausibility were the two main reasons for the withdrawal. Compared to recollection scores, belief scores decreased significantly after withdrawal, and some respondents even formed nonbelieved memories. After retracting the memories, most respondents felt they gained benefits (e.g., they had resolved a psychological problem that had bothered them for years). These studies give us a more general understanding of retracted memory experiences in the general population.