Diverse adaptive visual processing mechanisms allow us to complete visual search tasks in a wide visual photopic range (>0.6 cd/m2). Whether search strategies or mechanisms known from this range extend below, in the mesopic and scotopic luminance spectra (<0.6 cd/m2), has yet to be addressed. Based on a study that addressed simple target discrimination in luminance environments using contrast-dependent behavioral efficiency functions, we assessed visual search in more complex-feature and conjunction-search paradigms. The results verify the previously reported deficiency windows defined by an interaction of base luminance and luminance contrast for more complex visual-search tasks. Based on significant regression analyses, a more precise definition of the magnitude of contribution of different contrast parameters. Characterized feature search patterns had approximately a 2.5:1 ratio of contribution from the Michelson contrast property relative to Weber contrast, whereas the ratio was approximately 1:1 in a serial-search condition. The results implicate near-complete magnocellular isolation in a visual-search paradigm that has yet to be demonstrated. Our analyses provide a new method of characterizing visual search and the first insight in its underlying mechanisms in luminance environments in the low mesopic and scotopic spectra.

Event Abstract Back to Event Attenuation of visual search deficits through complimentary tactile stimulation in low luminance environments: evidence from ERP and eye tracking analyses. Mathew Hunter1*, Bettina Olk2 and Ben Godde1 1 Jacobs University, Germany 2 HSD Hochschule Döpfer, University of Applied Sciences, Germany Searching for a visual target among distractors is one of the most common yet complex tasks we are facing in our everyday lives. Despite the fact that our visual search mechanisms are quite adept, we are still subject to limitations of our visual processing which is particularly evident in environments of extremely low luminance (<0.5 cd/m2). Even with a thorough understanding of visual perception in low luminance environments, little is known regarding search processes within these conditions [1], and subsequently, the primary contributing factors to decreases in performance that are observed in these environments and if there are any mechanisms for attenuation. Hunter et al. [2] have provided contrast efficiency functions for simple visual search tasks within the low luminance spectrum, which specifically relate the cumulative effects of relative contrast luminance and the innate contrast of complex target stimuli to search performance. In an attempt to understand the mechanisms behind decreases in performance and how such decreases could be attenuated we have also demonstrated that different aspects of tactile stimulation, such as the predictive probability of a tactile stimulus, or type of tactile stimulation (spatial or frequency information regarding the location of a target), could be used to improve search performance and their fitting along an efficiency function [3]. We suggested a “gating window” providing the psychophysical boundaries pertaining to when in the visual search process tactile information can improve performance, and how this changes with respect to different tactile properties. We observed that coding of a tactile stimulus is only beneficial when a minimum mean response time of 500 ms is required in order to solve the task. The goal of the present study was to assess the neurophysiological mechanisms related to the reception of visual and complimentary tactile information and the visual scanning process. To this end we incorporated measurements of scan patterns (eye tracking) and of event related potentials (ERP). To isolate the temporal determinants of the “gating window”, we specifically focused on the early perceptual components that relate to the visual and tactile reception and integration spanning the first 500 ms of a trial. We targeted seven individual ERP components: P45, N80, P100, N140, N180, N2, and P300 and selected from the Fz, Cz, Pz, C3, C4, P3, P4, O1 and O2 electrodes. Eleven participants performed three different tactile-visual search (target present/absent) paradigms incorporating three different types of tactile encoding, i.e. frequency (20 Hz and 40 Hz stimulation), spatial (left vs right), and frequency and spatial, to provide information regarding the location of a target. We assessed in how far a given type of tactile stimulation was beneficial in improving visual search performance (adapted from [3]). Behavioural results replicated previous findings. The addition of a tactile stimulus designed to provide information about the target, improved performance (RT and d’) which is normally affected in low luminance environments; however, no differences were observed with respect to a specific tactile encoding type. Quantitative analyses of scan patterns measuring the number of saccades, fixation durations, search array dwell time and location were completed. Results revealed that the scan pattern variables were primarily influenced by tactile spatial coding (left vs right) with minimal effects observed in the frequency coding condition. The ERP results primarily implicated the N2 component at Fz, Cz and Pz electrodes as a contributing factor to performance demonstrated by a significant positive correlation with RT (0.87 p < 0.01) and a negative correlation (0.83 p < 0.01) for d’. More specifically, increased peak latencies reflected slower RTs and decreased performance. These correlations remained consistent independent of the type of tactile stimulation. With respect to scanning behavior, the N2 component over the C4 (0.75, p < 0.05) electrode correlated positively with the total number of fixations and negatively with the peak amplitude over the Cz electrode (Cz = -0.67, p < 0.005). The N2 component has been previously implicated in visual tactile cross-modal congruency paradigms [4], where incongruency reflects greater negative potential amplitudes. Consistent with our results, a greater incongruency or conflict would reflect poorer performance (slower RTs and poorer d’ score). Our results provide preliminary evidence with respect to the distinct integration gating component reported by Hunter et al. [3] and ultimately insight into the interactions of multi-sensory integration and performance. The individual components allowed verification of the gating, but more neural processing post this gating process that we did not examine with our study will contribute to response execution. References [1] Zele AJ, Cao D. Vision under mesopic and scotopic illumination. Front Psychol. 2015 Jan 22; 5:1594 [2] Hunter M, Godde B, Olk, B (Under Revision) Effects of Absolute Luminance and Luminance Contrast on Visual Discrimination Task in Low Mesopic Stimuli. [3] Hunter M, Godde B, Olk B. Effect of complimentary tactile information in visual search performance in low luminance environments. (In preparation) [4] Forster B and Pavone EF. (2008) Electrophysiological correlates of crossmodal visual distractor congruency effects: evidence for response conflict. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 8(1) 65-73. Keywords: Visual tactile integration, N2 ERP, visual search, cross-modal integration, luminance contrast Conference: SAN2016 Meeting, Corfu, Greece, 6 Oct - 9 Oct, 2016. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation in SAN 2016 Conference Topic: Oral Presentations Citation: Hunter M, Olk B and Godde B (2016). Attenuation of visual search deficits through complimentary tactile stimulation in low luminance environments: evidence from ERP and eye tracking analyses.. Conference Abstract: SAN2016 Meeting. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2016.220.00020 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 29 Jul 2016; Published Online: 30 Jul 2016. * Correspondence: Mr. Mathew Hunter, Jacobs University, Bremen, Germany, m.hunter@jacobs-university.de Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Mathew Hunter Bettina Olk Ben Godde Google Mathew Hunter Bettina Olk Ben Godde Google Scholar Mathew Hunter Bettina Olk Ben Godde PubMed Mathew Hunter Bettina Olk Ben Godde Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Visual attention and eye movement are important subjects of investigation with a wide area of application scenarios. The analysis of eye tracking data comprises examinations of differences between subjects and groups of subjects and identification of patterns and outliers within and between groups. To allow for such complex queries in an intuitive way, we present an interactive visual analysis tool using coordinated views. The views display areas of interest, statistical graphics of fixation times and time series and comprise novel visual encodings for spatiotemporal analysis and subject similarities. Interaction mechanisms allow for a refined analysis that takes into account all aspects of the data. We apply our approach to eye tracking data from psychological experiments and conduct a case study to demonstrate its effectiveness and intuitiveness.

People who report objects moving in their presence, unusual sounds, glows around other people, and multiple sensed presences but do not meet the criteria for psychiatric disorders have been shown to exhibit electrical anomalies over the right temporal lobes. This article reports the striking quantitative electroencephalography, sLORETA results, and experimental elicitation of similar subjective experiences in a middle-aged woman who has been distressed by these classic phenomena that began after a head injury. She exhibited a chronic electrical anomaly over the right temporoinsular region. The rotation of a small pinwheel near her while she ‘concentrated’ upon it was associated with increased coherence between the left and right temporal lobes and concurrent activation of the left prefrontal region. The occurrence of the unusual phenomena and marked ‘sadness’ was associated with increased geomagnetic activity; she reported a similar mood when these variations were simulated experimentally. Our quantitative measurements suggest people displaying these experiences and possible anomalous energies can be viewed clinically and potentially treated.

Previous researchers have studied meditation practices as a means to understand consciousness as well as altered states of consciousness. Various meditation techniques, such as Transcendental Meditation (TM) and Qigong, have been explored with source localization tools; however, the concentrative meditation technique has yet to be fully studied in this manner. The current study demonstrates findings, which outline differential activation in a self-referential default network during meditation in participants who espouse themselves as regular concentrative meditation practitioners, as well as comparisons with a control group practicing a modified version of the relaxation response. The results are compared with other putative experimental findings employing other meditation techniques, and the findings outlined in the current study are discussed with respect to changes in perceptual awareness often reported by meditators.

The attribution of unobservable cognitive states to others, a component of the Theory of Mind, involves activity within the right temporoparietal region. We tested an exceptional subject, Sean Harribance, who displayed a reliable, consistent configuration of QEEG activity over this region that was confirmed through source localization software. The blind-rated accuracies of the histories of 40 people shown in 40 different photographs were strongly correlated with the quantitative occurrence of this conspicuous QEEG pattern displayed during Mr. Harribance’s “intuitive state”. The proportions of specific microstates were also strongly correlated with his accuracy of discerning the historical characteristics of the people in the photographs. Compared to the normal population his microstates were half the duration and his sense of “now” was about twice as fast as the average person. During his intuitive states there was strong congruence of activity between the left temporal lobes of participants who sat near Mr. Harribance and the activity over his temporal (primarily right) lobes within the theta and 19-20 Hz band. Reversible increases in photon emissions and small alterations in the intensity within the nearby (up to a 1 meter) geomagnetic field along the right side of his head were equivalent to energies of about 10 -11 Joules with amplitude modulations in the 0.2 to 0.6 Hz range. The results indicate even exceptional skills previously attributed to aberrant sources are variations of normal cerebral dynamics associated with intuition and may involve small but discrete changes in proximal energy.

Researchers have tracked eye movement in order to determine focal attention for the last hundred years. As technology has advanced the tools and equipment utilized has led to greater insights into the psychology and physiology associated with scanning patterns which are not solely limited to attention processes. This research expands upon this by incorporating neurophysiological techniques to assess cognitive processing associated with directional scan paths and the potential associations of task dependent neural networks when interacting with the interface. It is hypothesized that the scan path direction reflects a user's cognitive processing. The results of this study indicate that the cognitive processing involved with the direction of the scan path differ with increased activity in networks involved with encoding, spatial attention, short term memory and error processing when eye scanning is towards the right. These results may be utilized to understand perceptual limitations within an interface which may be utilized for design purposes.

This study replicates and extends the observations by Babayev and Allahveriyeva that changes in right hemispheric electroencephalographic activity are correlated with increases in geomagnetic activity. During the geomagnetically quiet interface between solar cycle 23 and 24 quantitative electroencephalographic (QEEG) measurements were completed for normal young adults in three separate experiments involving about 120 samples over 1.5 years. The most consistent, moderate strength correlations occurred for the changes in power within the gamma and theta ranges over the right frontal lobe. Real-time measures of atmospheric power obtained from polar orbiting satellites showed similar effects. The preferential involvement of the right frontal lobe and the regions subject to its inhibition with environmental energetic changes are consistent with the behavioural correlations historically associated with these conditions. They include increased incidence of emotional lability, erroneous reconstruction of experiences, social confrontations, and unusual perceptions.

Studying eye movement has proven to be useful in the study of users and interfaces. Cognitive processing can be inferred by the length of time a user fixates on certain elements of the screen as well as the number of fixations on each element of the display. Our research looks to expand on this with the addition of neurophysiological measurements to quantify cognitive processing and ascertain whether increased fixations on differential element placements on a display alter cognitive processing. Results indicate that placements of the main and secondary menus do alter the number of fixations required for task completion. The number of fixations were also shown to be related to sustained attentional processes. Our preliminary results indicate that the addition of neurophysiological measurements corroborate and expand on theories of fixation counts.

In three different experiments pairs of unrelated people sitting in two different rooms were exposed simultaneously to different rates of circumcerebral rotations of weak, complex magnetic fields in order to produce "dynamic similarity". Quantitative electroencephalographic (QEEG) measurements were taken for one member of each pair in one room while the other sat in a closed chamber in another room and intermittently observed 5Hz, 8Hz, 10Hz, or 15Hz flashing lights. Reliable increases in QEEG power within specific frequencies over the right parietal region were observed during the similar-frequency light flashes when the shared temporal-spatial complexity of the circumcerebral rotating fields was based on 100ms, the average duration of normal microstates. The development of this experimental procedure could facilitate rational understanding of this class of "coincidence" phenomena.

This study replicates and extends the observations by Babayev and Allahveriyeva that changes in right hemispheric electroencephalographic activity are correlated with increases in geomagnetic activity. During the geomagnetically quiet interface between solar cycle 23 and 24 quantitative electroencephalographic (QEEG) measurements were completed for normal young adults in three separate experiments involving about 120 samples over 1.5years. The most consistent, moderate strength correlations occurred for the changes in power within the gamma and theta ranges over the right frontal lobe. Real-time measures of atmospheric power obtained from polar orbiting satellites showed similar effects. The preferential involvement of the right frontal lobe and the regions subject to its inhibition with environmental energetic changes are consistent with the behavioural correlations historically associated with these conditions. They include increased incidence of emotional lability, erroneous reconstruction of experiences, social confrontations, and unusual perceptions.

Objective: The current study examines the changes in functional connectivity that occurs when expert users adapt to an alternate mapping. Background: Research has indicated that interfaces that are similar will result in more errors and may contribute to confusion. Methods: Six volunteers were recruited to determine the neurophysiological changes that occur when users are exposed to an alternate mapping once an internal mental model is formed. Results: The results indicated a change in synchronization after alterations to the button mappings occurred. By altering the layout or order of the task, a difference in the activation pattern was observed. New areas became synchronized while synchronized activity that was present in the developed internal model became desynchronized. Altering the complexity of the task resulted in different patterns of activation recorded on the quantitative electroencephalogram (QEEG). Conclusion: Users often form a schema when learning a device and subsequent interactions are compared to the mental model formed during the initial learning phase. If the newer interface differs significantly a new schema is formed, resulting in a different pattern of synchronization recorded on the QEEG. Application: The use of this knowledge can assist in the development of new interfaces. If the intent is to create a similar interface design, the activation pattern should remain the same indicating that the old schema can be applied. An interface that displays a different cognitive pattern will indicate that a new schema was developed.

One indication of entanglement between two particles is a change in parity or spin in one when the other is changed in order to maintain constancy of the system. Our experiment was designed to discern if this phenomenon occurred at the macroscopic level between the electroencephalographic activities of brains of pairs of people, separated by about 75 m, with various degrees of "entanglement". About 50% of the variance of the "simultaneous" electroencephalographic power was shared between pairs of brains. Pairs of strangers were positively correlated within alpha and gamma bands within the temporal and frontal lobes. However the power levels within the alpha and theta bands were negatively correlated for pairs of people who had a protracted history of interaction. The latter result might be considered support for the hypothesis of macroscopic entanglement.

Prenatal or perinatal exposure to physiologically-patterned magnetic fields (MFs) affects behaviour in weanling (22d) and young adult (90d) rats.However, the long-term (120d-730d) biological effects of these MFs have not been examined.In the current study, the long-term effects of developmental exposure to a physiologically-patterned MF, and their dependence on nitric oxide (NO) activity, were investigated.Pregnant dams were exposed from 2d before to 14d after parturition to square wave, 7 Hz MF and to either water or nitric oxide (NO) modulation in tap water with NO precursor 1.0 g/L L-arginine or 0.5 g/L NO inhibitor n-methylarginine.To assess the possibility of intensity-windowing of any effects, MF intensities of <1, 1, 5, 10, 50 and 500 nT were employed.Male offspring were euthanized for post-mortem examination and wet organ weights were then taken.Analysis showed increased brain weight in 10 and 50 nT-treated groups, increased bodyweight in 50 nT-treated groups and suggested increased testicular weight in 5, 10 and 50 nT-treated groups.Few effects of NO modulation were evident in these rats, reinforcing the idea that these are short-term and reversible.These findings suggest that subtle long-term changes in organ structure can arise from developmental exposure to physiologically-patterned MFs.