Correlates of implicit semantic processing as revealed by representational similarity analysis applied to EEG.

Most researchers agree that some stages of object recognition can proceed implicitly. Implicit recognition occurs when an object is automatically and unintentionally encoded and represented in the brain even though the object is irrelevant to the current task. No consensus has been reached as to what level of semantic abstraction processing can go implicitly.

Concept and location neurons in the human brain provide the 'what' and 'where' in memory formation.

Our brains create new memories by capturing the 'who/what', 'where' and 'when' of everyday experiences. On a neuronal level, mechanisms facilitating a successful transfer into episodic memory are still unclear. We investigated this by measuring single neuron activity in the human medial temporal lobe during encoding of item-location associations.

Side effects of monaural beat stimulation during sustained mental work on mind wandering and performance measures.

Excessive mind wandering (MW) contributes to the development and maintenance of psychiatric disorders. Previous studies have suggested that auditory beat stimulation may represent a method enabling a reduction of MW. However, little is known about how different auditory stimulation conditions are subjectively perceived and whether this perception is in turn related to changes in subjective states, behavioral measures of attention and MW.

Camera-based automated monitoring of flying insects (Camfi). I. Field and computational methods.

The ability to measure flying insect activity and abundance is important for ecologists, conservationists and agronomists alike. However, existing methods are laborious and produce data with low temporal resolution (e.g.

Camera-based automated monitoring of flying insects in the wild (Camfi). II. flight behaviour and long-term population monitoring of migratory Bogong moths in Alpine Australia.

Introduction: The Bogong moth is well known for its remarkable annual round-trip migration from its breeding grounds across eastern and southern Australia to its aestivation sites in the Australian Alps, to which it provides an important annual influx of nutrients. Over recent years, we have benefited from a growing understanding of the navigational abilities of the Bogong moth. Meanwhile, the population of Bogong moths has been shrinking.

Modulating prospective memory and attentional control with high-definition transcranial current stimulation: Study protocol of a randomized, double-blind, and sham-controlled trial in healthy older adults.

The ability to remember future intentions (i.e., prospective memory) is influenced by attentional control.

Single-neuron mechanisms of neural adaptation in the human temporal lobe.

A central function of the human brain is to adapt to new situations based on past experience. Adaptation is reflected behaviorally by shorter reaction times to repeating or similar stimuli, and neurophysiologically by reduced neural activity in bulk-tissue measurements with fMRI or EEG. Several potential single-neuron mechanisms have been hypothesized to cause this reduction of activity at the macroscopic level.

A Meta-Analysis on Mobile-Assisted Language Learning Applications: Benefits and Risks.

Mobile language learning applications are a pervasive facet of modern life, however evidence on their effectiveness on L2 learning outcomes is lacking. In the current work, we sought to determine the effect of mobile language learning applications on L2 proficiency between groups who used mobile language learning applications and control groups who learned with traditional methods on L2 achievement. We systematically searched journal articles and grey literature between 2007-2019 and performed a quantitative meta-analysis based on 23 synthesized effect sizes.

Modulation of Mind Wandering Using Monaural Beat Stimulation in Subjects With High Trait-Level Mind Wandering.

Mind wandering (MW) refers to a state when attention shifts from the task at hand or current situation toward thoughts, feelings, and imaginations. This state is often accompanied by a decline in mood, and patients suffering from major depression exhibit more perseverative MW. Hence, although the directionality of the relationship between mood and MW is still under investigation, it may be useful to explore possible avenues to reduce MW.

On the relationship between mind wandering and mindfulness.

Mind wandering (MW) and mindfulness have both been reported to be vital moderators of psychological wellbeing. Here, we aim to examine how closely associated these phenomena are and evaluate the psychometrics of measures often used to quantify them. We investigated two samples, one consisting of German-speaking unpaid participants (GUP, n [Formula: see text] 313) and one of English-speaking paid participants (EPP, n [Formula: see text] 228) recruited through MTurk.

Standardized database of 400 complex abstract fractals.

In experimental settings, characteristics of presented stimuli influence cognitive processes. Knowledge about stimulus features is important to manipulate or control the influence of stimuli. To date, there are a lack of standardized data incorporating such information for complex abstract stimuli.

Spacing, Feedback, and Testing Boost Vocabulary Learning in a Web Application.

Information and communication technology (ICT) becomes more prevalent in education but its general efficacy and that of specific learning applications are not fully established yet. One way to further improve learning applications could be to use insights from fundamental memory research. We here assess whether four established learning principles (spacing, corrective feedback, testing, and multimodality) can be translated into an applied ICT context to facilitate vocabulary learning in a self-developed web application.

Concept neurons in the human medial temporal lobe flexibly represent abstract relations between concepts.

Concept neurons in the medial temporal lobe respond to semantic features of presented stimuli. Analyzing 61 concept neurons recorded from twelve patients who underwent surgery to treat epilepsy, we show that firing patterns of concept neurons encode relations between concepts during a picture comparison task. Thirty-three of these responded to non-preferred stimuli with a delayed but well-defined onset whenever the task required a comparison to a response-eliciting concept, but not otherwise.

Auditory Beat Stimulation Modulates Memory-Related Single-Neuron Activity in the Human Medial Temporal Lobe.

Auditory beats are amplitude-modulated signals (monaural beats) or signals that subjectively cause the perception of an amplitude modulation (binaural beats). We investigated the effects of monaural and binaural 5 Hz beat stimulation on neural activity and memory performance in neurosurgical patients performing an associative recognition task. Previously, we had reported that these beat stimulation conditions modulated memory performance in opposite directions.

Does a smartphone on the desk drain our brain? No evidence of cognitive costs due to smartphone presence in a short-term and prospective memory task.

It has recently been shown that the mere presence of one's own smartphone on the desk impairs working memory performance. The aim of this study was to follow up on this important finding by assessing the effect of smartphone presence (present on the desk vs. absent from the desk) on different memory functions (short-term memory and prospective memory), and by further examining the moderating role of individual differences in smartphone dependency and impulsiveness.

Patterns of single-neuron activity during associative recognition memory in the human medial temporal lobe.

Electrophysiological activity in medial temporal lobe (MTL) structures is pivotal for declarative long-term memory. Single-neuron and microcircuit findings capitalizing on human microwire recordings from the medial temporal lobe are still fragmentary. In particular, it is an open question whether identical or different groups of neurons participate in different memory functions.

Correction: Representation of abstract semantic knowledge in populations of human single neurons in the medial temporal lobe.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.

A unified form of low-energy nodal electronic interactions in hole-doped cuprate superconductors.

Using angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements of BiSrCaCuO over a wide range of doping levels, we present a universal form for the non-Fermi liquid electronic interactions in the nodal direction in the exotic normal state phase. It is described by a continuously varying power law exponent versus energy and temperature (hence named a Power Law Liquid or PLL), which with doping varies smoothly from a quadratic Fermi Liquid in the overdoped regime, to a linear Marginal Fermi Liquid at optimal doping, to a non-quasiparticle non-Fermi Liquid in the underdoped regime. The coupling strength is essentially constant across all regimes and is consistent with Planckian dissipation.

Representation of abstract semantic knowledge in populations of human single neurons in the medial temporal lobe.

Sensory experience elicits complex activity patterns throughout the neocortex. Projections from the neocortex converge onto the medial temporal lobe (MTL), in which distributed neocortical firing patterns are distilled into sparse representations. The precise nature of these neuronal representations is still unknown.

TV vs. YouTube: TV Advertisements Capture More Visual Attention, Create More Positive Emotions and Have a Stronger Impact on Implicit Long-Term Memory.

In an experiment, effects of commercials that are either shown within a TV program or embedded in YouTube videos were compared. These two media environments have not yet been compared empirically in terms of their advertising impact. A within-subjects design and a multi-method approach were used ( = 36).

Recollection in the human hippocampal-entorhinal cell circuitry.

Imagine how flicking through your photo album and seeing a picture of a beach sunset brings back fond memories of a tasty cocktail you had that night. Computational models suggest that upon receiving a partial memory cue ('beach'), neurons in the hippocampus coordinate reinstatement of associated memories ('cocktail') in cortical target sites. Here, using human single neuron recordings, we show that hippocampal firing rates are elevated from ~ 500-1500 ms after cue onset during successful associative retrieval.

Cue discriminability predicts instrumental conditioning.

Charting mental acts that succeed or fail under unconscious instances of cognition informs debates on the nature and potential functions of consciousness. A prominent method to exclude conscious contributions to cognition is to render visual stimuli unconscious by short and pattern-masked presentations. Here, we explore a combination of visual masking and pixel noise added to visual stimuli as a method to adapt discriminability in a fine-grained fashion to subject- and stimulus-specific estimates of perceptual thresholds.