CortexPub Date : 2025-06-22DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2025.06.005
Yilin Li , Werner Sommer , Andrea Hildebrandt , Liang Tian , Changsong Zhou
{"title":"Relationships between classifier-quantified priming effects in ERPs and face cognition abilities: Contributions of task difficulty and latency variability","authors":"Yilin Li , Werner Sommer , Andrea Hildebrandt , Liang Tian , Changsong Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.06.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.06.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Previous research has consistently shown that individual differences in face cognition abilities correlate with repetition priming-induced amplitude changes in event-related potentials, known as the early repetition effect (or N250r). However, the association with subsequent priming effects (e.g., N400) remains unclear, although this is crucial for understanding the cognitive significance of these different effects. This gap in knowledge may be due to factors such as different paradigms or latency variability. In our recently published classifier-based analysis, we described the impact of latency variability across trials, conditions, and participants on priming effects. Building on these findings, the present analysis used the classification performance of deep neural networks for each participant as an indicator in structural equation models to explore the relationships between priming effects and face cognition abilities. We investigated how these relationships were affected by task difficulty and latency variability. Through our RIDE-based stepwise latency correction method, we found a substantial association between the N250r and face cognition speed, while the N400 was more closely associated with face memory accuracy. Notably, these relationships were significantly stronger in difficult than in easy ERP tasks. Correction for latency shifts between primed and unprimed conditions eliminated the associations between ERP amplitudes and face cognition abilities, indicating that latency shift is a major factor driving brain-behavior relationships. Our results suggest that classifier-quantified priming effects provide an advanced and useful measure for modeling brain-behavior relationships in face cognition.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10758,"journal":{"name":"Cortex","volume":"190 ","pages":"Pages 54-67"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144570796","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CortexPub Date : 2025-06-20DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2025.06.004
Nicola E. Burns, Vlad Grigoraș, James G. Barrie, Robert D. McIntosh
{"title":"Does pupillometry provide a valid measure of spatial attentional bias (pseudoneglect)?","authors":"Nicola E. Burns, Vlad Grigoraș, James G. Barrie, Robert D. McIntosh","doi":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.06.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.06.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Strauch et al. (2022) introduced a novel approach to assess biases of visual attention, by measuring pupillary constriction in response to split-field stimuli, in which a bright patch is presented to one visual field and a dark patch to the other. Their study suggested that pupillary constriction is more pronounced in response to bright stimuli in the left visual field compared to the right, consistent with a neurotypical attentional bias towards the left side (pseudoneglect). This pupillometric bias was also found to correlate with performance on the greyscales task, an established behavioural measure of pseudoneglect. The present study sought to replicate these findings, and investigated the influence of the eye of recording on the pupillary constriction bias measured by this split-field method (<em>n</em> = 80). There was a major influence of the eye of recording, whereby each pupil constricted more to light in the ipsilateral than the contralateral visual field (<em>d</em> = 1.67). Averaging across the eyes, we confirmed stronger pupillary constriction to bright stimuli in the left compared to the right visual field (pseudoneglect), but with a small effect size (<em>d</em> = −.31). While the split-field paradigm does detect pseudoneglect, it does not seem to be especially sensitive, and large sample sizes may be required to detect this subtle bias. However, the method may hold promise for studying stronger attentional biases, such as those seen in spatial neglect.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10758,"journal":{"name":"Cortex","volume":"190 ","pages":"Pages 21-37"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144534535","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CortexPub Date : 2025-06-19DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2025.06.003
Yifan Hao , Nicolas Münster , Bernhard Pastötter , Nasibeh Talebi , Tobias Bäumer , Alexander Münchau , Christian Frings , Christian Beste
{"title":"Directed transfer of information in theta networks: Timing and its role in managing distractions during action control","authors":"Yifan Hao , Nicolas Münster , Bernhard Pastötter , Nasibeh Talebi , Tobias Bäumer , Alexander Münchau , Christian Frings , Christian Beste","doi":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.06.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.06.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Goal-directed behavior seems to unfold effortlessly, but everyday experience tells us that goal-directed acting can become complicated when confronted with distracting information. Yet, the neural underpinnings of how distracting information affects response selection is still contentious, especially when taking the stance of theoretical frameworks on perception-action integration processes. We show that particularly theta band activity in a ventral stream-parietal network plays a key role in managing distracting information during response selection. While our findings demonstrate bidirectional interactions between these regions, they are consistent with the idea that theta-related communication may support the integration of distracting information across hierarchical processing levels. A decisive factor modulating this dynamic is the timing of distractor and response relevant information. It determines the patterning of cortical activity and how the information transfer between cortical regions is organized. The findings highlight the critical role of theta activity in the directed transfer of information between cortical regions for how distractions influence response selection, thereby offering new insights into the neural basis of perception-action integration.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10758,"journal":{"name":"Cortex","volume":"189 ","pages":"Pages 242-255"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144481657","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Brain-wide decoding of numbers and letters: Converging evidence from multivariate fMRI analysis and probabilistic meta-analysis","authors":"Ruizhe Liu , Hyesang Chang , Dawlat El-Said , Demian Wassermann , Yuan Zhang , Vinod Menon","doi":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.04.017","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.04.017","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Previous studies exploring category-sensitive representations of numbers and letters have predominantly focused on individual brain regions. This study expands upon this research through computationally rigorous whole-brain neural decoding using Elastic Net (ND-EN), facilitating the analysis of neural patterns across the entire brain with greater precision. To establish the robustness and generalizability of our results, we also conducted innovative probabilistic meta-analyses of the extant functional neuroimaging literature. The investigation comprised both an active task, requiring participants to distinguish between numbers and letters, and a passive task where they simply viewed these symbols. ND-EN revealed that, during the active task, a distributed network—including the ventral temporal-occipital cortex, intraparietal sulcus, middle frontal gyrus, and insula—actively differentiated between numbers and letters. This distinction was not evident in the passive task, indicating that the task engagement level plays a crucial role in such neural differentiation. Further, regional neural representational similarity analyses within the ventral temporal-occipital cortex revealed similar activation patterns for numbers and letters, indicating a lack of differentiation in regions previously linked to these visual symbols. Thus, our findings indicate that category-sensitive representations of numbers and letters are not confined to isolated regions but involve a broader network of brain areas, and are modulated by task demands. Supporting these empirical findings, probabilistic meta-analyses conducted with NeuroLang and the Neurosynth database reinforced our observations. Together, the convergence of evidence from multivariate neural pattern analysis and meta-analysis advances our understanding of how numbers and letters are represented in the human brain.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10758,"journal":{"name":"Cortex","volume":"189 ","pages":"Pages 256-274"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144489685","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Changes in memory function in adults following SARS-CoV-2 infection: Findings from the Covid and Cognition online study","authors":"Josefina Weinerova , Sabine Yeung , Panyuan Guo , Alice Yau , Connor Horne , Molly Ghinn , Lyn Curtis , Francess Adlard , Vidita Bhagat , Seraphina Zhang , Muzaffer Kaser , Mirjana Bozic , Denis Schluppeck , Andrew Reid , Roni Tibon , Lucy Cheke","doi":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.05.019","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.05.019","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic, has been shown to have an impact on cognitive function, but the specific aspects of cognition that are affected remain unclear. In this Registered Report, we analysed cognitive data collected online from 296 participants (209 who had experienced Covid-19 infection and 87 who did not). We have found previously reported effect of Covid status on accuracy in 2 long-term memory tasks (verbal item memory task and nonverbal associative memory task), but did not replicate previously reported effect on reaction times. Further, across 4 long-term memory tasks, we found consistent effect of Covid status on memory accuracy but not reaction times. Contrary to our predictions, we did not find an interaction with memory type (associative versus item) or stimulus type (verbal versus nonverbal). Moreover, we compared cognitive functioning amongst vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals to explore the role of vaccination status in cognitive symptoms associated with Covid-19. Using Bayesian analysis, we did not find conclusive evidence for either the null or alternative hypothesis. Overall, the study replicates and extends previously reported findings, thereby providing valuable insights into the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on cognitive functions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10758,"journal":{"name":"Cortex","volume":"189 ","pages":"Pages 205-225"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144338274","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CortexPub Date : 2025-06-11DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2025.06.001
Grace Edwards , Ryan Ruhde , Micaela B. Carroll , Chris I. Baker
{"title":"No facilitatory effects of transcranial random noise stimulation on motion processing: A registered report","authors":"Grace Edwards , Ryan Ruhde , Micaela B. Carroll , Chris I. Baker","doi":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.06.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.06.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques have the potential to demonstrate the causal impact of targeted brain regions on specific behaviors. Transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) is one form of transcranial electric stimulation in which an alternating current is passed between electrodes at random frequencies. High-frequency tRNS (hf-tRNS) is thought to enhance excitability and have facilitatory effects on behavior, demonstrated in healthy and clinical populations. Due to the potential application of tRNS, clear demonstrations of the efficacy and replicability of stimulation are critical. Here, we focused on replicating the facilitatory effect of hf-tRNS over the human middle temporal complex (hMT+) on contralateral motion processing, initially demonstrated by Ghin et al. (2018). In this prior study, the improvement in performance was specific to global motion processing in the visual field contralateral to stimulation. The motivation to replicate this effect was reinforced by the well-supported hypothesis that hMT+ is critical for contralateral global motion processing. However, our results indicated that hf-tRNS does not improve motion discrimination with <em>n</em> = 42. Specifically, we were unable to replicate a contralateral global motion processing facilitation following hf-tRNS to hMT+. In our within-subject controls, we also found no difference between hf-tRNS to hMT+ on contralateral global motion processing in comparison to sham stimulation, or in comparison to hf-tRNS to the forehead. Although our lack of replication could be due to minor changes in the protocol from the original study, for hf-tRNS to become a widely applied method, its modulatory effect should be robust to slight adjustments to the procedure.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10758,"journal":{"name":"Cortex","volume":"189 ","pages":"Pages 279-296"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144631620","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CortexPub Date : 2025-06-10DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2025.06.002
Marcos Moreno-Verdú, Baptiste M. Waltzing, Siobhán M. McAteer, Elise E. Van Caenegem, Gautier Hamoline, Robert M. Hardwick
{"title":"Information processing in the Hand Laterality Judgement Task: Fundamental differences between dorsal and palmar views revealed by a “forced response” paradigm","authors":"Marcos Moreno-Verdú, Baptiste M. Waltzing, Siobhán M. McAteer, Elise E. Van Caenegem, Gautier Hamoline, Robert M. Hardwick","doi":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.06.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.06.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Imagining performing movements (motor imagery) has broad applications from fundamental neuroscience to sports and rehabilitation. However, measuring motor imagery ability is challenging due to its covert nature. While the Hand Laterality Judgement Task (HLJT) has been investigated as a measure of implicit motor imagery ability, our understanding of mechanisms underlying performance of the task is limited. We used a ‘forced response’ paradigm to study the time-course of information processing in the HLJT. Participants (<em>N</em> = 54) performed a modified HLJT where the time they had to process the stimulus was manipulated on a trial-by-trial basis, allowing us to reconstruct the time-course of information processing. Generalised Additive Mixed Models assessed the relationship between processing time and accuracy, which varied across rotation angles (0°–180° in 45° steps), hand views (dorsal or palmar) or directions (medial or lateral). Stimulus rotation substantively increased the time needed to produce a correct response, although this effect was non-monotonic. Computational modelling confirmed a crucial interaction between hand view and rotation angle, identifying fundamental differences in processing for palmar stimuli with more extreme rotations (≥135°) compared to other stimuli. Finally, a ‘biomechanical constraints’ effect (i.e., faster processing of medial versus laterally rotated stimuli) was present in both views, but was only statistically significant in palmar views, again suggesting differences in processing palmar and dorsal stimuli. These results improve our understanding of the cognitive processes underlying the HLJT and may have broader importance for our understanding of mental processes implicated in motor imagery.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10758,"journal":{"name":"Cortex","volume":"189 ","pages":"Pages 226-241"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144366350","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CortexPub Date : 2025-06-07DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2025.05.018
Germán A. Cipriani , Dominique Kessel, Fátima Álvarez, Uxía Fernández-Folgueiras, Manuel Tapia, Luis Carretié
{"title":"Emotional distractors modulate event-related potentials even at very low contrast levels","authors":"Germán A. Cipriani , Dominique Kessel, Fátima Álvarez, Uxía Fernández-Folgueiras, Manuel Tapia, Luis Carretié","doi":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.05.018","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.05.018","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Emotional visual stimuli, whether appealing or aversive, preferentially capture exogenous attention due to their evolutionary significance. This study assessed whether such capacity persists at low contrast levels, where stimuli are minimally perceived. To this end, we recorded behavioral and electrophysiological (event-related potentials, ERPs) indices of attentional capture from 38 participants who were exposed to negative, neutral, and positive scenes, each presented at four distinct contrast levels. These contrast levels had previously resulted in a correct recognition rate of 49%, 52%, 58%, and 66% (chance = 50%) in a previous sample of 144 participants. Participants were presented with these scenes as distractors while simultaneously performing a perceptual task involving line orientation discrimination. ERP results revealed an emotional effect persistent across all contrast levels. Specifically, occipito-parietal P1 (88–119 msec) was larger for negative than for positive distractors, more intensely for the lowest contrast, while in a broadly spatially distributed N2 component, positive distractors elicited larger amplitudes relative to both negative (213–354 msec) and neutral (213–525 msec) images. While emotional valence did not influence behavioural measures, overall performance deteriorated as contrast increased. These findings suggest stimuli captured exogenous attention, and reinforce the advantage of emotional distractors in accessing neural processing automatically and highlight the existence of a temporal negativity bias. Importantly, our novel findings emphasize the robustness of this pattern, present even under limited perceptual conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10758,"journal":{"name":"Cortex","volume":"189 ","pages":"Pages 191-204"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144471776","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CortexPub Date : 2025-06-06DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2025.05.013
Tina Iachini , Michela Candini , Francesco Ruotolo , Gennaro Ruggiero , Francesca Frassinetti
{"title":"The self in motion: The advantage for one’s own movements at an implicit but not explicit level","authors":"Tina Iachini , Michela Candini , Francesco Ruotolo , Gennaro Ruggiero , Francesca Frassinetti","doi":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.05.013","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.05.013","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigated the possible dissociation between implicit and explicit self-motion recognition. Converging evidence suggests that the distinction between self and other in the corporeal domain might rely on the integration of visual and sensorimotor representations of the body. Notably, previous studies have demonstrated that individuals are faster and more accurate in discriminating pictures depicting their own body effectors compared to those of others, the so-called self-advantage effect. Such facilitation has been found when participants had to recognize the bodily self in implicit but not explicit tasks. We hypothesized a similar advantage for implicit discrimination of one’s own body movements relative to those of others, due to underlying sensorimotor mechanisms. Participants were presented with pairs of schematic movements (i.e., motion patterns of one’s own skeleton and those of other bodies). In the Implicit task, they judged whether the movements were the same or different. In the Explicit task, they judged whether there was or not their own movement. Results showed facilitation in terms of accuracy and response time with movements belonging to the self than to other people in the Implicit task, indicating a self-advantage effect. Such a facilitation did not emerge in the Explicit task. Overall, the present findings disclose the contribution of motor information in self-awareness and body representation, supporting the role of sensorimotor mechanisms in implicit recognition of bodily self.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10758,"journal":{"name":"Cortex","volume":"189 ","pages":"Pages 131-139"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144279233","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CortexPub Date : 2025-06-06DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2025.05.011
Veronica Diveica , Emiko J. Muraki , Richard J. Binney , Penny M. Pexman
{"title":"Special Issue: The multidimensionality, variability and flexibility of concepts. Editorial","authors":"Veronica Diveica , Emiko J. Muraki , Richard J. Binney , Penny M. Pexman","doi":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.05.011","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.05.011","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":10758,"journal":{"name":"Cortex","volume":"188 ","pages":"Pages A7-A14"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144230006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}