Human Electrophysiology Facility
Research Projects Currently Using the Facility
Capture of Visual Attention
Lead Investigator: Peggy Chen
Visuospatial attention refers to selection of stimuli that appear in the location to which attention is oriented. One way to allocate attention to a certain location (in the absence of eye movements) is to allow attention to be captured by a stimulus. This occurs when a salient, external event automatically summons attention, such as when attention is drawn to a bright, flashing light. The present study focuses on the question: Is attention captured by any and all salient stimuli, or only by stimuli that contain the attribute that defines the current target?
Event-related potentials (ERPs) were employed. An ERP component--N2pc, the negative difference that is observed over the posterior scalp region that is contralateral to the critical stimulus during the latency range of the N2 wave (200-300 ms)--is the index of attentional capture. However, all salient stimuli used in the experiment did not elicit N2pc at all. That is, the experiment did not succeed in answering the question. The current work also raises questions concerning the indexing function of this ERP component.
Changes in Functional Responsivity of Primary Visual Cortex in Visual Perceptual Learning
Lead investigator: Michael Wenger
This project is using a method of mapping regions of the primary visual cortex (using EEG) to examine changes in the responsivity of those regions as a function of experience and spatial attention.
EEG and ERP Approaches in the Study of Parenting and Emotion Regulation
Co-Principal Investigators: Doug Teti and Mark Feinberg
Co-Investigators: Sandra Azar, James Coan, Pamela Cole, Ginger Moore, William Ray, and Michael Wenger
Data Collection Team:
Graduate Students: Christine Fortunato, Lauren Killeen, Elizabeth Reitz, and Nissa Towe
Post-doctoral Fellow: Lara Robinson
Although parenting is regarded as a centrally important antecedent of child adjustment and as an intrinsically emotional experience, very little is understood of the role of parental emotion regulation in the act of parenting, and how patterns of regulation are predictive of parenting competence. Recent findings suggest that the tools of affective neuroscience may be particularly informative about emotion regulatory processes, and the present study makes use of these tools to identify patterns of parenting-based emotion regulation in mothers with sub-clinical and elevated levels of depressive symptoms. In particular, we are examining prefrontal cortical asymmetry (in the alpha bandwidth) and event-related potentials to assess mothers' capacities for regulating emotion in response to child-created emotional events. It is our hope that this study, and others that will develop from it, will contribute significantly to our understanding of the emotional basis of parenting and parenting-at-risk.
An ERP Examination of Cross-Cultural Mental State Attribution
Lead Investigators: Reginald Adams, Sarah Gervais, and Michael Stevenson
Our behavioral work has shown a marked intracultural advantage for mental state attribution. Using a modified version of our original paradigm, we are examining cortical activity associated with processing White and Japanese mental states. We expect to find modulation of the previously identified components of interest (specifically an N270-400 component) based on the culture of the target stimuli.
Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Visual and Motor Tasks
Co-Investigators: Frederick Brown and Cynthia LaJambe
Transportation accidents from fatigue caused by sleep loss are a serious problem. This summer 2007 a randomized cross-over study of sleep deprivation vs. control conditions will be conducted collaboratively by members of the Departments of Psychology and Communication Disorders, and engineers at the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute in order to study performance impairments by fatigue on perception, motor behavior, and verbal communication. During several test sessions across 36 hours of sleep deprivation and control conditions, high-density EEG will be collected while subjects perform visual-motor tasks and make voice recordings of standard clinical diagnostic scripts. The purpose is to look at where and how brain sites related to these tasks are affected with increasing levels of sleep deprivation, and the interaction of complexity of stimulus arrays and individual differences. Findings will be applied to airplane crews and military vehicle drivers through ongoing research with the federal National Transportation Safety Board and the U.S. Army.
Error-Related Negativity and Visual Perceptual Learning
Lead Investigator: Michael Wenger
This project is investigating the nature and function of circuits that are operative in the acquisition of high levels of visual perceptual skill. Of particular importance are the hypothesized roles of frontal structures in the coding and function of early portions of the visual system (e.g., primary visual cortex).
Exploring Visual Development Using Visual Evoked Potential
Lead Investigator: Rick Gilmore
Research in Rick Gilmore's lab focuses on visual development in infants, children and adults using steady-stated visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs). The measurement of SSVEPs involves the generation of time varying visual patterns and the analysis of evoked brain responses in both the frequency and time domains. The lab uses SSVEPs to study the development of visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and motion perception.
Identifying Emotions in Music
Lead Investigator: Andrea Halpern, Bucknell University
This study is investigating the link between music and emotions and the role that affective labels play in making judgments on different elements of music. Specifically, this study is making comparisons between behavioral data and ERP components elicited by both musicians and non-musicians who are given either musical labels or emotional labels to use in an auditorially presented music discrimination task.
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