Urgency Promotes Affective Disengagement: Effects From Bivalent Cues on Preference Formation for Abstract Images.

Although previous research has characterized the important role for spatial and affective pre-cues in the control of visual attention, less is known about the impact of pre-cues on preference formation. In preference formation, the gaze cascade phenomenon suggests that the gaze serves both to enhance and express "liking" during value-based decision-making. This phenomenon has been interpreted as a type of Pavlovian approach toward preferred objects.

Auditory White Noise Affects Left/Right Visual Working Memory in an Opposite Pattern.

Adding auditory white noise (WN) to the environment has been considered to be a promising way to enhance the memory performance of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) but disrupt that of non-ADHD children. To explore the exact mechanism behind WN benefits, we did a bilateral color-memory task with different WN conditions. A bilateral color-square array was displayed on one display.

Consistency and dynamical changes of directional information flow in different brain states: A comparison of working memory and resting-state using EEG.

Several recent studies have reported a frequency-dependent directional information flow loop in resting-state networks by phase transfer entropy, comprising an anterior-to-posterior information flow in the theta band and a posterior-to-anterior information flow in the alpha band. However, the functional roles of this information flow loop remain unclear. In the current study, we compared information flow patterns in four different brain states using electroencephalography: resting-state, fixation, working memory (WM) encoding and WM maintenance.

A gaze bias with coarse spatial indexing during a gambling task.

Researchers have used eye-tracking methods to infer cognitive processes during decision making in choice tasks involving visual materials. Gaze likelihood analysis has shown a cascading effect, suggestive of a causal role for the gaze in preference formation during evaluative decision making. According to the gaze bias hypothesis, the gaze serves to build commitment gradually towards a choice.

Influence of multiple action-outcome associations on the transition dynamics toward an optimal choice in rats.

When faced with familiar versus novel options, animals may exploit the acquired action-outcome associations or attempt to form new associations. Little is known about which factors determine the strategy of choice behavior in partially comprehended environments. Here we examine the influence of multiple action-outcome associations on choice behavior in the context of rewarding outcomes (food) and aversive outcomes (electric foot-shock).