Pub Date : 2026-02-01Epub Date: 2026-01-31DOI: 10.1016/S0010-9452(26)00024-9
Cover caption: Appearing alongside Lowe et al.'s registered report "Using EEG to detect lapses in sustained attention to moving stimuli" (this issue) is a photographic series by Eadweard Muybridge. His thousands of sequential photographs fundamentally changed our understanding of animal motion and paved the way for modern cinema.
{"title":"Cover figure","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/S0010-9452(26)00024-9","DOIUrl":"10.1016/S0010-9452(26)00024-9","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><strong>Cover caption:</strong> Appearing alongside Lowe et al.'s registered report \"Using EEG to detect lapses in sustained attention to moving stimuli\" (this issue) is a photographic series by Eadweard Muybridge. His thousands of sequential photographs fundamentally changed our understanding of animal motion and paved the way for modern cinema.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10758,"journal":{"name":"Cortex","volume":"195 ","pages":"Pages ii-iii"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146073579","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}
Pub Date : 2026-02-01Epub Date: 2025-12-17DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2025.12.004
Hannah Mechtenberg , Jamie Reilly , Jonathan E. Peelle , Emily B. Myers
Discourse comprehension requires simultaneous integration of local and global constituents. When hearing a narrative, for example, listeners must link the meaning of each incoming word to the preceding word (local context) while also assimilating its meaning into the broader gist of a story (global context). Thus, the brain simultaneously constructs meaning at different time scales and with different levels of granularity. Our understanding of the brain's division of labor in processing local versus global semantic distance relationships is limited. In this study we ask specifically how the semantic distance between a word and its prior context drives activity in the brain during naturalistic listening. We used fMRI data collected while participants (n = 79) listened to a podcast interview. Using a novel method for estimating semantic distance between a word and prior contexts computed at multiple grain sizes, we conducted an amplitude-modulated regression to identify brain regions that were sensitive to semantic distance. Results show that semantic distance drives activation in a broad frontotemporal network including the left and right superior and middle temporal gyrus and left inferior frontal gyrus, as well as the bilateral cerebellum. The right anterior superior temporal gyrus was particularly sensitive to the increase in context window size, consistent with a right hemisphere specialization for gist processing and for the anterior temporal lobes' purported role in semantic integration. This study demonstrates a promising method for investigating neural sensitivity to semantic movement in naturalistic language.
{"title":"Measuring brain sensitivity to semantic distance in spoken narrative comprehension","authors":"Hannah Mechtenberg , Jamie Reilly , Jonathan E. Peelle , Emily B. Myers","doi":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.12.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.12.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Discourse comprehension requires simultaneous integration of local and global constituents. When hearing a narrative, for example, listeners must link the meaning of each incoming word to the preceding word (local context) while also assimilating its meaning into the broader gist of a story (global context). Thus, the brain simultaneously constructs meaning at different time scales and with different levels of granularity. Our understanding of the brain's division of labor in processing local versus global semantic distance relationships is limited. In this study we ask specifically how the semantic distance between a word and its prior context drives activity in the brain during naturalistic listening. We used fMRI data collected while participants (<em>n</em> = 79) listened to a podcast interview. Using a novel method for estimating semantic distance between a word and prior contexts computed at multiple grain sizes, we conducted an amplitude-modulated regression to identify brain regions that were sensitive to semantic distance. Results show that semantic distance drives activation in a broad frontotemporal network including the left and right superior and middle temporal gyrus and left inferior frontal gyrus, as well as the bilateral cerebellum. The right anterior superior temporal gyrus was particularly sensitive to the increase in context window size, consistent with a right hemisphere specialization for gist processing and for the anterior temporal lobes' purported role in semantic integration. This study demonstrates a promising method for investigating neural sensitivity to semantic movement in naturalistic language.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10758,"journal":{"name":"Cortex","volume":"195 ","pages":"Pages 28-42"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145899434","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}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01Epub Date: 2025-11-26DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2025.11.007
Benjamin G. Lowe , Naohide Yamamoto , Jonathan Robinson , Patrick Johnston
Predictions concerning upcoming visual input play a key role in resolving percepts. Sometimes input is surprising, under which circumstances the brain must calibrate erroneous predictions so that perception is veridical. Despite the extensive literature investigating the nature of prediction error signalling, it is still unclear how this process interacts with the functionally segregated nature of the visual cortex, particularly within the temporal domain. Here, we recorded electroencephalography (EEG) from humans (N = 32) whilst they viewed static image trajectories containing a bound object that sequentially changed along different visual attribute dimensions (shape and colour). Crucially, the context of this change was designed to appear random (and unsurprising) or violate the established trajectory (and cause a surprise). Event-related potential analysis found no effects of surprise after controlling for cortical adaptation. However, multivariate pattern analyses found whole-scalp neural representations of visual surprise that overlapped between attributes, albeit at distinct, attribute-specific latencies. These findings suggest that visual surprise results in generalised (i.e., attribute-agnostic) prediction error responses that conform to an attribute-dependent temporal hierarchy.
{"title":"The latency of a domain-general visual surprise signal is attribute dependent","authors":"Benjamin G. Lowe , Naohide Yamamoto , Jonathan Robinson , Patrick Johnston","doi":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.11.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.11.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Predictions concerning upcoming visual input play a key role in resolving percepts. Sometimes input is surprising, under which circumstances the brain must calibrate erroneous predictions so that perception is veridical. Despite the extensive literature investigating the nature of prediction error signalling, it is still unclear how this process interacts with the functionally segregated nature of the visual cortex, particularly within the temporal domain. Here, we recorded electroencephalography (EEG) from humans (<em>N</em> = 32) whilst they viewed static image trajectories containing a bound object that sequentially changed along different visual attribute dimensions (shape and colour). Crucially, the context of this change was designed to appear random (and unsurprising) or violate the established trajectory (and cause a surprise). Event-related potential analysis found no effects of surprise after controlling for cortical adaptation. However, multivariate pattern analyses found whole-scalp neural representations of visual surprise that overlapped between attributes, albeit at distinct, attribute-specific latencies. These findings suggest that visual surprise results in generalised (i.e., attribute-agnostic) prediction error responses that conform to an attribute-dependent temporal hierarchy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10758,"journal":{"name":"Cortex","volume":"194 ","pages":"Pages 96-106"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145721466","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}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01Epub Date: 2025-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2025.11.011
Marina A. Anwia , Mara Steinberg Lowe , Sophie Matis , James Carrick , Olivier Piguet , Ramon Landin-Romero , Kirrie J. Ballard
Background
Engaging in conversational and story-telling discourse involves an interplay of language and cognitive skills, including working memory, attention, and inference-making. Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) provides a model for exploring discourse, as both language and cognitive abilities change over time with changes in cortical atrophy. Here, associations between morphosyntactic discourse skills and patterns of cortical atrophy are measured over time in nonfluent (nfv), logopenic (lv) and semantic (sv) variants of PPA.
Method
Participants were 27 individuals with nfvPPA (M = 66.6 years ± 8.3), 30 lvPPA (M = 66.7 ± 7.3), 33 svPPA (M = 64.8 ± 6.7), and 36 healthy controls (HC; M = 65.5 ± 6.8). Picture descriptions were analysed for word density and diversity, sentence complexity, well-formedness, and fluency annually for up to three timepoints. Associations between language measures and cortical thickness on structural MRI scans were analysed.
Results
At timepoint 1, nfvPPA performed below other groups on most measures; lvPPA were differentiated from svPPA on fluency measures only. Longitudinally, utterance length declined in all variants. For nfvPPA, this was linked with reduced sentence complexity and cortical atrophy in regions engaged by higher attentional demand. For lvPPA, it was linked with increasing grammatical errors and atrophy extending into perisylvian language network. No associations were identified for svPPA.
Conclusions
Findings provide insight into how discourse production is underpinned by a network that extends beyond classic language regions, with morphosyntactic elements of discourse associated in part with regions involved in domain-general cognitive skills such as error-monitoring and elaborative encoding. Findings can also inform assessment, prognosis, and intervention for communication through the PPA disease course.
背景：参与对话和讲故事的话语涉及语言和认知技能的相互作用，包括工作记忆、注意力和推理。原发性进行性失语症（PPA）提供了一个探索话语的模型，因为语言和认知能力随着时间的推移而改变，随着皮质萎缩的变化。在这里，形态句法话语技巧和皮层萎缩模式之间的关联随着时间的推移被测量在非流利（nfv），语义（lv）和语义（sv）变体的PPA。方法：研究对象为nfvPPA患者27例（M = 66.6±8.3岁），lvPPA患者30例（M = 66.7±7.3岁），svPPA患者33例（M = 64.8±6.7），健康对照36例（HC, M = 65.5±6.8）。图片描述的单词密度和多样性、句子复杂性、格式良好性和流畅性每年最多分析三个时间点。语言测量和结构MRI扫描的皮层厚度之间的关联进行了分析。结果：在时间点1，nfvPPA在大多数指标上的表现低于其他组；lvPPA与svPPA仅在流畅性测量上有所区别。纵向上，所有变体的话语长度都在下降。对于nfvPPA，这与句子复杂性降低和高注意力需求区域的皮质萎缩有关。对于lvPPA来说，它与语法错误的增加和延伸到波斯语网络的萎缩有关。未发现与svPPA相关。结论：研究结果揭示了话语产生是如何由一个超越经典语言区域的网络支撑的，话语的形态句法元素部分与涉及领域一般认知技能的区域相关，如错误监控和详细编码。研究结果还可以为PPA病程的评估、预后和干预交流提供信息。
{"title":"Cognitive-linguistic skills in production of expository discourse: Insights from longitudinal changes and neural correlates in primary progressive aphasia","authors":"Marina A. Anwia , Mara Steinberg Lowe , Sophie Matis , James Carrick , Olivier Piguet , Ramon Landin-Romero , Kirrie J. Ballard","doi":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.11.011","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.11.011","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Engaging in conversational and story-telling discourse involves an interplay of language and cognitive skills, including working memory, attention, and inference-making. Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) provides a model for exploring discourse, as both language and cognitive abilities change over time with changes in cortical atrophy. Here, associations between morphosyntactic discourse skills and patterns of cortical atrophy are measured over time in nonfluent (nfv), logopenic (lv) and semantic (sv) variants of PPA.</div></div><div><h3>Method</h3><div>Participants were 27 individuals with nfvPPA (M = 66.6 years ± 8.3), 30 lvPPA (M = 66.7 ± 7.3), 33 svPPA (M = 64.8 ± 6.7), and 36 healthy controls (HC; M = 65.5 ± 6.8). Picture descriptions were analysed for word density and diversity, sentence complexity, well-formedness, and fluency annually for up to three timepoints. Associations between language measures and cortical thickness on structural MRI scans were analysed.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>At timepoint 1, nfvPPA performed below other groups on most measures; lvPPA were differentiated from svPPA on fluency measures only. Longitudinally, utterance length declined in all variants. For nfvPPA, this was linked with reduced sentence complexity and cortical atrophy in regions engaged by higher attentional demand. For lvPPA, it was linked with increasing grammatical errors and atrophy extending into perisylvian language network. No associations were identified for svPPA.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Findings provide insight into how discourse production is underpinned by a network that extends beyond classic language regions, with morphosyntactic elements of discourse associated in part with regions involved in domain-general cognitive skills such as error-monitoring and elaborative encoding. Findings can also inform assessment, prognosis, and intervention for communication through the PPA disease course.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10758,"journal":{"name":"Cortex","volume":"194 ","pages":"Pages 121-142"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145755552","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}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01Epub Date: 2025-11-27DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2025.11.010
M.R. Pasciucco , S. Nunziata , S. Iuliano , M.G. Perrucci , M. Costantini , G. Ruggiero , F. Ferri
Aging affects the ability to process sensory input from the body (interoception) and integrate information from multiple sensory modalities. Interoception, which involves perceiving and interpreting internal bodily signals, undergoes significant changes with age, reducing the ability to recognize and respond to internal needs. Additionally, deficits in multisensory integration are known to predict declines in gait and stability, increasing the risk of falls and mobility issues in older adults. These changes impact physical health and hinder action planning and execution, yet the combined influence of interoception and multisensory integration on physical functioning remains underexplored. This study investigated how interoception and multisensory integration predict physical functioning in older adults compared to younger adults. Twenty-five young and twenty-eight older participants completed tasks assessing interoceptive dimensions (accuracy, sensibility, and awareness) and multisensory integration dimensions (temporal resolution and tactile acuity). Physical functioning was measured using the SF-36 questionnaire. In the older adult group, regression analyses revealed that interoceptive sensibility, interoceptive awareness, and multisensory temporal resolution significantly predicted physical functioning. Higher interoceptive sensibility and awareness were associated with better physical functioning, while reduced temporal resolution was linked to poorer functioning. These factors also predicted role limitations due to physical health: higher interoceptive awareness and sensibility were related to fewer limitations, whereas temporal resolution and tactile acuity were associated with greater limitations. These findings emphasize the critical role of interoceptive and multisensory processing in supporting physical functioning and managing perceived limitations in older adults, highlighting the importance of preserving these sensory capacities to maintain well-being in aging populations.
{"title":"Impact of interoception and multisensory integration on functional and physical activities in aging","authors":"M.R. Pasciucco , S. Nunziata , S. Iuliano , M.G. Perrucci , M. Costantini , G. Ruggiero , F. Ferri","doi":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.11.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.11.010","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Aging affects the ability to process sensory input from the body (interoception) and integrate information from multiple sensory modalities. Interoception, which involves perceiving and interpreting internal bodily signals, undergoes significant changes with age, reducing the ability to recognize and respond to internal needs. Additionally, deficits in multisensory integration are known to predict declines in gait and stability, increasing the risk of falls and mobility issues in older adults. These changes impact physical health and hinder action planning and execution, yet the combined influence of interoception and multisensory integration on physical functioning remains underexplored. This study investigated how interoception and multisensory integration predict physical functioning in older adults compared to younger adults. Twenty-five young and twenty-eight older participants completed tasks assessing interoceptive dimensions (accuracy, sensibility, and awareness) and multisensory integration dimensions (temporal resolution and tactile acuity). Physical functioning was measured using the SF-36 questionnaire. In the older adult group, regression analyses revealed that interoceptive sensibility, interoceptive awareness, and multisensory temporal resolution significantly predicted physical functioning. Higher interoceptive sensibility and awareness were associated with better physical functioning, while reduced temporal resolution was linked to poorer functioning. These factors also predicted role limitations due to physical health: higher interoceptive awareness and sensibility were related to fewer limitations, whereas temporal resolution and tactile acuity were associated with greater limitations. These findings emphasize the critical role of interoceptive and multisensory processing in supporting physical functioning and managing perceived limitations in older adults, highlighting the importance of preserving these sensory capacities to maintain well-being in aging populations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10758,"journal":{"name":"Cortex","volume":"194 ","pages":"Pages 107-120"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145733578","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}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01Epub Date: 2025-11-15DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2025.11.002
Matthew R. Longo, Cleo Sakka
Hair is a salient feature of the bodies of humans and other mammals, which serves a variety of functions, including sensation. The sensory functions of hairs in humans, however, remain poorly understood. This study measured the ability to perceive the spatial location of stimulation of hairs without associated stimulation of the skin. We tested this ability body on the hand (Experiment 1) and the forearm (Experiment 2). Participants judged locations by clicking on a picture of their own hand/arm. We compared tactile localisation performance following hair stimulation to direct stimulation of the skin. Participants showed highly precise localisation of hair stimulation. The precision of localisation of hair stimulation is similar to that of stimulation of the skin. The results of this study show that human hairs provide rich spatial information which may complement tactile signals from the skin itself.
{"title":"Precise tactile localisation of hair stimulation in humans","authors":"Matthew R. Longo, Cleo Sakka","doi":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.11.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.11.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Hair is a salient feature of the bodies of humans and other mammals, which serves a variety of functions, including sensation. The sensory functions of hairs in humans, however, remain poorly understood. This study measured the ability to perceive the spatial location of stimulation of hairs without associated stimulation of the skin. We tested this ability body on the hand (Experiment 1) and the forearm (Experiment 2). Participants judged locations by clicking on a picture of their own hand/arm. We compared tactile localisation performance following hair stimulation to direct stimulation of the skin. Participants showed highly precise localisation of hair stimulation. The precision of localisation of hair stimulation is similar to that of stimulation of the skin. The results of this study show that human hairs provide rich spatial information which may complement tactile signals from the skin itself.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10758,"journal":{"name":"Cortex","volume":"194 ","pages":"Pages 1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145622896","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}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01Epub Date: 2025-11-20DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2025.11.006
Gyula Kovács , Lisa Göschel , Sophie Magdalena Pawlik , Antonella Tramacere
Setting apart the neural properties of familiarity for both self and others' faces helps deepen our understanding of the cognitive, developmental, and theoretical dimensions of social dynamics and human identity. Motivated by this goal, we conducted a multivariate cross-classification EEG experiment where we tested whether individuals represent their own face as similar to other highly familiar faces or code self-faces through different familiarity processes. We compare the representational dynamics for self and other faces in both their current and past versions. Participants were presented highly variable faces of four familiarity categories (self, parent, close-friend and unknown) in two versions across lifespan: current and past images, which were taken 10 years ago. Linear discriminant classifiers were trained and tested on EEG patterns to discriminate familiar and unfamiliar faces. Time-resolved classification revealed that the neural representations of familiarity emerge before 200 msec post-stimulus onset and remains significant until 600 msec, independently of familiarity level and age. Further, our findings show that the temporal dynamics of familiarity is similar for self-faces and other highly familiar faces. Our study provides new insights into how the brain represents self-identity and suggest that important aspects of self-recognition, such as the familiarity of self-face, is supported by learning processes rather than privilege introspective mechanisms.
{"title":"The neural dynamics of current and past self-face perception: Challenging the privilege access hypothesis","authors":"Gyula Kovács , Lisa Göschel , Sophie Magdalena Pawlik , Antonella Tramacere","doi":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.11.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.11.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Setting apart the neural properties of familiarity for both self and others' faces helps deepen our understanding of the cognitive, developmental, and theoretical dimensions of social dynamics and human identity. Motivated by this goal, we conducted a multivariate cross-classification EEG experiment where we tested whether individuals represent their own face as similar to other highly familiar faces or code self-faces through different familiarity processes. We compare the representational dynamics for self and other faces in both their current and past versions. Participants were presented highly variable faces of four familiarity categories (self, parent, close-friend and unknown) in two versions across lifespan: current and past images, which were taken 10 years ago. Linear discriminant classifiers were trained and tested on EEG patterns to discriminate familiar and unfamiliar faces. Time-resolved classification revealed that the neural representations of familiarity emerge before 200 msec post-stimulus onset and remains significant until 600 msec, independently of familiarity level and age. Further, our findings show that the temporal dynamics of familiarity is similar for self-faces and other highly familiar faces. Our study provides new insights into how the brain represents self-identity and suggest that important aspects of self-recognition, such as the familiarity of self-face, is supported by learning processes rather than privilege introspective mechanisms.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10758,"journal":{"name":"Cortex","volume":"194 ","pages":"Pages 77-90"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145682674","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}
Peripersonal space mediates animals' interactions with the environment and is thus critical for the implementation of appropriate behaviors. Integrating multisensory information located in peripersonal space induces enhanced behavioral responses and reflects the relevance of external stimuli for the organism's survival. To date, modifications of reaction time related to peripersonal space have mostly been studied using stimuli presented in the frontal space, and limited data are available on other dimensions of peripersonal space. Here, we investigated rear and front defensive peripersonal space by testing whether the distance-dependent behavioral effect of audio-tactile integration varies around the body. Healthy human participants had to detect a tactile stimulation on their hand while an irrelevant sound was approaching them from different parts of space. We used sound spatialization techniques (3D sound) to create sound stimuli looming towards participants' bodies from the front-right, front-left, rear-right, and rear-left quadrants. In the front hemifield, sounds approaching from the left had to be closer to facilitate tactile detection compared to those from the right. In contrast, in the rear hemifield, tactile detection was enhanced at similar distances regardless of whether the sound approached from the left or right. This indicates that human auditory defensive peripersonal space is not homogeneous around the body, showing a lateral asymmetry in the front but not in the rear space. This suggests that perceptual coding of space takes into account action abilities which, in humans, are driven by a front/back organization of the biomechanic skeletal system and of the sensory organs.
{"title":"Functional organization of distance-dependent audio-tactile integration is different in rear and front spaces","authors":"Augustin Amiel , Lise Hobeika , Isabelle Viaud-Delmon , Marine Taffou","doi":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.11.015","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.11.015","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Peripersonal space mediates animals' interactions with the environment and is thus critical for the implementation of appropriate behaviors. Integrating multisensory information located in peripersonal space induces enhanced behavioral responses and reflects the relevance of external stimuli for the organism's survival. To date, modifications of reaction time related to peripersonal space have mostly been studied using stimuli presented in the frontal space, and limited data are available on other dimensions of peripersonal space. Here, we investigated rear and front defensive peripersonal space by testing whether the distance-dependent behavioral effect of audio-tactile integration varies around the body. Healthy human participants had to detect a tactile stimulation on their hand while an irrelevant sound was approaching them from different parts of space. We used sound spatialization techniques (3D sound) to create sound stimuli looming towards participants' bodies from the front-right, front-left, rear-right, and rear-left quadrants. In the front hemifield, sounds approaching from the left had to be closer to facilitate tactile detection compared to those from the right. In contrast, in the rear hemifield, tactile detection was enhanced at similar distances regardless of whether the sound approached from the left or right. This indicates that human auditory defensive peripersonal space is not homogeneous around the body, showing a lateral asymmetry in the front but not in the rear space. This suggests that perceptual coding of space takes into account action abilities which, in humans, are driven by a front/back organization of the biomechanic skeletal system and of the sensory organs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10758,"journal":{"name":"Cortex","volume":"194 ","pages":"Pages 220-238"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145787297","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}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01Epub Date: 2025-11-15DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2025.10.011
Chen Feng , Mingjun Zhai , Qingqing Qu
Long-term semantic systems are specialized for taxonomic and thematic relations. In the present study, we investigated the influence of taxonomic and thematic relations on object naming. Leveraging the existing dataset (N = 32) and expanding the sample (total N = 48). Using a blocked cyclic naming paradigm, we explored semantic effects within both taxonomic and thematic contexts, using an identical set of stimuli. A set of sixteen objects was categorized into either a taxonomic context or a thematic context. Our results show that both contexts trigger semantic interference, with a more pronounced interference in the taxonomic context than in the thematic context. The taxonomic context modulated event-related potentials (ERPs) within the time windows of 134–456 msec after picture onset, while the thematic context modulated ERPs in 230–362 msec after picture onset. These results reveal larger and earlier effects of taxonomic relations compared to thematic relations, indicating that taxonomic relation prevails in object naming.
{"title":"Taxonomic semantic relation prevails in object naming: Larger and earlier effects of taxonomic relation compared to thematic relation","authors":"Chen Feng , Mingjun Zhai , Qingqing Qu","doi":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.10.011","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.10.011","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Long-term semantic systems are specialized for taxonomic and thematic relations. In the present study, we investigated the influence of taxonomic and thematic relations on object naming. Leveraging the existing dataset (N = 32) and expanding the sample (total N = 48). Using a blocked cyclic naming paradigm, we explored semantic effects within both taxonomic and thematic contexts, using an identical set of stimuli. A set of sixteen objects was categorized into either a taxonomic context or a thematic context. Our results show that both contexts trigger semantic interference, with a more pronounced interference in the taxonomic context than in the thematic context. The taxonomic context modulated event-related potentials (ERPs) within the time windows of 134–456 msec after picture onset, while the thematic context modulated ERPs in 230–362 msec after picture onset. These results reveal larger and earlier effects of taxonomic relations compared to thematic relations, indicating that taxonomic relation prevails in object naming.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10758,"journal":{"name":"Cortex","volume":"194 ","pages":"Pages 22-34"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145622895","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}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01Epub Date: 2025-12-11DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2025.12.001
Jie Ma , Brian W.L. Wong , Kelvin F.H. Lui , Jason C.M. Lo , Shuting Huo , Catherine McBride , Urs Maurer
Although reading and arithmetic abilities are considered distinct academic skills, evidence of shared cognitive structures suggests that they may also involve shared brain functions. This study investigated neural incongruency effects between sentence reading and simple addition in primary school children using event-related potentials (ERPs). Sixty children from grades 1, 2 and 3 judged whether the meanings of Chinese sentences and arithmetic additions were correct or not. ERP maps including all electrodes were analysed using timepoint-to-timepoint TANOVA analysis with factors of incongruency, task and age. Behavioural responses were faster in the congruent than incongruent condition, especially for younger children; the age-related reduction in the incongruency effect was more pronounced in the arithmetic than the reading task. TANOVA showed incongruency main effects for the N400 (306–476 msec) that were similar for reading and arithmetic. Importantly, interaction effects of task and incongruency in the early N400 (242–326 msec) time range reflected faster incongruency effects for arithmetic compared to reading. Age did not modulate any of these effects, nor had a significant main effect on ERP. Microstate findings revealed that the N400 effect differed between reading and arithmetic in latency and topographic distribution. Taken together, the results suggest that incorrectness in both reading and arithmetic is reflected by N400 effects that indicate incongruency processing, but this activity differs between reading and arithmetic and starts earlier for arithmetic than reading. Overall, the present study underscores the need for a cross-domain approach to understanding the shared and distinct neurocognitive patterns of academic skills.
{"title":"Comparing developmental neural incongruency effects in reading and arithmetic among children: An ERP study","authors":"Jie Ma , Brian W.L. Wong , Kelvin F.H. Lui , Jason C.M. Lo , Shuting Huo , Catherine McBride , Urs Maurer","doi":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.12.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.12.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although reading and arithmetic abilities are considered distinct academic skills, evidence of shared cognitive structures suggests that they may also involve shared brain functions. This study investigated neural incongruency effects between sentence reading and simple addition in primary school children using event-related potentials (ERPs). Sixty children from grades 1, 2 and 3 judged whether the meanings of Chinese sentences and arithmetic additions were correct or not. ERP maps including all electrodes were analysed using timepoint-to-timepoint TANOVA analysis with factors of incongruency, task and age. Behavioural responses were faster in the congruent than incongruent condition, especially for younger children; the age-related reduction in the incongruency effect was more pronounced in the arithmetic than the reading task. TANOVA showed incongruency main effects for the N400 (306–476 msec) that were similar for reading and arithmetic. Importantly, interaction effects of task and incongruency in the early N400 (242–326 msec) time range reflected faster incongruency effects for arithmetic compared to reading. Age did not modulate any of these effects, nor had a significant main effect on ERP. Microstate findings revealed that the N400 effect differed between reading and arithmetic in latency and topographic distribution. Taken together, the results suggest that incorrectness in both reading and arithmetic is reflected by N400 effects that indicate incongruency processing, but this activity differs between reading and arithmetic and starts earlier for arithmetic than reading. Overall, the present study underscores the need for a cross-domain approach to understanding the shared and distinct neurocognitive patterns of academic skills.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10758,"journal":{"name":"Cortex","volume":"194 ","pages":"Pages 239-252"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145818377","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}
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