Pub Date : 2025-12-15Epub Date: 2025-10-08DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109277
Zahide Pamir , Huseyin Boyaci
Identifying a visual stimulus and sensitivity to changes in its features have different requirements. Thus, it is possible that different mechanisms underlie appearance and sensitivity judgments of visual stimuli. Here, we tested this possibility using a complex scene where two patches with physically identical luminances appeared to have different lightness. Human participants first judged the perceived contrast of incremental and decremental gratings superimposed on the patches. Next, we measured detection thresholds. Finally, fMRI activity was recorded in response to gratings on these patches. We found that incremental, but not the decremental gratings, appeared to have higher contrast when superimposed on the perceptually lighter patch compared to the darker. However, the thresholds were lower for both types of gratings superimposed on the lighter patch compared to the darker. Finally, using fMRI, we found that the activity in the primary visual cortex (V1) aligns well with the results of the detection task. These results suggest that partly distinct mechanisms underlie sensitivity and appearance and, further, that V1 plays an important role in sensitivity judgments.
{"title":"Visual appearance and sensitivity are mediated by distinct mechanisms","authors":"Zahide Pamir , Huseyin Boyaci","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109277","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109277","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Identifying a visual stimulus and sensitivity to changes in its features have different requirements. Thus, it is possible that different mechanisms underlie appearance and sensitivity judgments of visual stimuli. Here, we tested this possibility using a complex scene where two patches with physically identical luminances appeared to have different lightness. Human participants first judged the perceived contrast of incremental and decremental gratings superimposed on the patches. Next, we measured detection thresholds. Finally, fMRI activity was recorded in response to gratings on these patches. We found that incremental, but not the decremental gratings, appeared to have higher contrast when superimposed on the perceptually lighter patch compared to the darker. However, the thresholds were lower for both types of gratings superimposed on the lighter patch compared to the darker. Finally, using fMRI, we found that the activity in the primary visual cortex (V1) aligns well with the results of the detection task. These results suggest that partly distinct mechanisms underlie sensitivity and appearance and, further, that V1 plays an important role in sensitivity judgments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 109277"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145266151","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-15Epub Date: 2025-09-22DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109276
Paolo Bartolomeo
{"title":"Mapping the imageless mind: Towards a taxonomy of aphantasia","authors":"Paolo Bartolomeo","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109276","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109276","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 109276"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145138078","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-15Epub Date: 2025-09-15DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109272
Wenyue Gao , Yoko Nagai , Juha Silvanto
Aphantasia (the inability to voluntarily generate mental imagery) has traditionally been studied as a congenital or neurological condition. However, historical and clinical reports also implicate affective and stress-related factors in the onset of imagery loss, which are themselves associated with disrupted interoception and autonomic nervous system dysfunction. To investigate these links, we surveyed individuals with self-identified acquired aphantasia (N = 59) using structured questions and validated questionnaires assessing early adversity (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire), anxiety symptoms (GAD-7), autonomic reactivity (Body Perception Questionnaire–Short Form; Atrial Fibrillation Symptoms Questionnaire), and neurodevelopmental traits (AQ-10, ASRS-6). 62 % of participants reported psychological triggers for their aphantasia, 41 % cited neurological or physiological events, and 30 % identified pharmacological factors. Nearly half of the participants described a combination of these influences, with psychological factors frequently co-occurring with medication use or physical events, suggesting that acquired aphantasia may oftenhave multifactorial origins rather than a single isolated cause. Compared to typical imagers, individuals with acquired aphantasia reported significantly higher levels of childhood trauma and increased supra-diaphragmatic autonomic reactivity, as well as significantly elevated scores on measures of ADHD and autism. These findings suggest that acquired aphantasia may not only follow neurological injury but can also emerge in the context of affective conditions shaped by early adversity and neurodevelopmental vulnerability. Affective disturbances may contribute to imagery loss by altering the subjective experience of autonomic signals and disrupting the integration of bodily, emotional, and cognitive information required to generate vivid mental representations. In conclusion, these results support an affective-autonomic pathway to acquired aphantasia.
{"title":"Autonomic, neurodevelopmental, and early adversity correlates of acquired aphantasia","authors":"Wenyue Gao , Yoko Nagai , Juha Silvanto","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109272","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109272","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Aphantasia (the inability to voluntarily generate mental imagery) has traditionally been studied as a congenital or neurological condition. However, historical and clinical reports also implicate affective and stress-related factors in the onset of imagery loss, which are themselves associated with disrupted interoception and autonomic nervous system dysfunction. To investigate these links, we surveyed individuals with self-identified acquired aphantasia (N = 59) using structured questions and validated questionnaires assessing early adversity (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire), anxiety symptoms (GAD-7), autonomic reactivity (Body Perception Questionnaire–Short Form; Atrial Fibrillation Symptoms Questionnaire), and neurodevelopmental traits (AQ-10, ASRS-6). 62 % of participants reported psychological triggers for their aphantasia, 41 % cited neurological or physiological events, and 30 % identified pharmacological factors. Nearly half of the participants described a combination of these influences, with psychological factors frequently co-occurring with medication use or physical events, suggesting that acquired aphantasia may oftenhave multifactorial origins rather than a single isolated cause. Compared to typical imagers, individuals with acquired aphantasia reported significantly higher levels of childhood trauma and increased supra-diaphragmatic autonomic reactivity, as well as significantly elevated scores on measures of ADHD and autism. These findings suggest that acquired aphantasia may not only follow neurological injury but can also emerge in the context of affective conditions shaped by early adversity and neurodevelopmental vulnerability. Affective disturbances may contribute to imagery loss by altering the subjective experience of autonomic signals and disrupting the integration of bodily, emotional, and cognitive information required to generate vivid mental representations. In conclusion, these results support an affective-autonomic pathway to acquired aphantasia.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 109272"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145081269","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-15Epub Date: 2025-09-23DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109278
Adam Zeman
Aphantasia, a term coined in 2015, refers to the lack of wakeful visual imagery. Research since then has clarified the nature of this intriguing variation in human experience. I review several unanswered questions which are currently under investigation. First, it appears unlikely that aphantasia is a single entity. If not, what are its subtypes? I consider 5 dimensions of variation that may be relevant. Second, given that people with aphantasia manage so well in everyday life, is it possible that they benefit from ‘unconscious imagery’? Third, what light does aphantasia shed on the functions of imagery? Finally, I emphasise the need to keep an open mind in this young area of research and point to its relevance to the debate surrounding introspection.
{"title":"A decade of aphantasia research – and still going!","authors":"Adam Zeman","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109278","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109278","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Aphantasia, a term coined in 2015, refers to the lack of wakeful visual imagery. Research since then has clarified the nature of this intriguing variation in human experience. I review several unanswered questions which are currently under investigation. First, it appears unlikely that aphantasia is a single entity. If not, what are its subtypes? I consider 5 dimensions of variation that may be relevant. Second, given that people with aphantasia manage so well in everyday life, is it possible that they benefit from ‘unconscious imagery’? Third, what light does aphantasia shed on the functions of imagery? Finally, I emphasise the need to keep an open mind in this young area of research and point to its relevance to the debate surrounding introspection.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 109278"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145138020","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-15Epub Date: 2025-09-05DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109268
Brent Pitchford , Hélène Devillez , Heida Maria Sigurdardottir
Developmental dyslexia is a disorder marked by difficulties in reading, spelling, and connecting sounds to written language. The high-level visual dysfunction hypothesis suggests these difficulties may partially arise from abnormalities in high-level visual cognition such as the ability to integrate visual input for higher-order cognitive functions such as reading. Here we examined adult (mean age = 35) dyslexic readers’ neural functioning as they recognized identities of nonlinguistic visual objects, specifically houses and faces. We measured two event-related potential (ERP) components, the N170 and N250, which are linked to face and object processing – N170 with early structural encoding and N250 with familiarity and identification. In this study, dyslexic readers consistently showed reduced N250 amplitude, potentially suggesting abnormal neural processes relating to the individuation or subordinate-level representation of visual objects. This was despite similar behavioral performance for dyslexic readers. Early neural processes in dyslexic readers were largely intact as shown by their N170. These results highlight the distinct underlying neural processes that contribute to high-level visual cognition in dyslexia and help to further our understanding of how these neural processes might contribute to reading challenges that are characteristic of the disorder.
{"title":"Distinct neural processing underlying visual face and object perception in dyslexia","authors":"Brent Pitchford , Hélène Devillez , Heida Maria Sigurdardottir","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109268","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109268","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Developmental dyslexia is a disorder marked by difficulties in reading, spelling, and connecting sounds to written language. The high-level visual dysfunction hypothesis suggests these difficulties may partially arise from abnormalities in high-level visual cognition such as the ability to integrate visual input for higher-order cognitive functions such as reading. Here we examined adult (mean age = 35) dyslexic readers’ neural functioning as they recognized identities of nonlinguistic visual objects, specifically houses and faces. We measured two event-related potential (ERP) components, the N170 and N250, which are linked to face and object processing – N170 with early structural encoding and N250 with familiarity and identification. In this study, dyslexic readers consistently showed reduced N250 amplitude, potentially suggesting abnormal neural processes relating to the individuation or subordinate-level representation of visual objects. This was despite similar behavioral performance for dyslexic readers. Early neural processes in dyslexic readers were largely intact as shown by their N170. These results highlight the distinct underlying neural processes that contribute to high-level visual cognition in dyslexia and help to further our understanding of how these neural processes might contribute to reading challenges that are characteristic of the disorder.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 109268"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145016002","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-15Epub Date: 2025-09-30DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109288
Stephan Frederic Dahm , Robert Michael Hardwick
Action-Imagery-Practice describes the repetitive imagination and Action-Observation-Practice the repetitive observation of an action. Both Action-Imagery-Practice and Action-Observation-Practice are assumed to involve similar motor mechanisms as Action-Execution-Practice, resulting in motor learning. To investigate whether these practice styles differ in the acquired representation types, we compared performance of the practice and transfer hand for same, mirrored, and random sequences in pre- and post-tests. All participants practiced a serial reaction time task to auditory stimuli in ten practice sessions. Five separate groups either physically executed the responses (Action-Execution-Practice), imagined the responses (Action-Imagery-Practice), observed keypresses with an animated hand (Action-Observation-Practice), observed animated keys (Observation-Without-Action), or completed a control condition in which they listened to the stimuli (Auditory-Control). Evidence for effector-dependent representations was obtained after Action-Execution-Practice and Action-Imagery-Practice, but not after Action-Observation-Practice and Observation-Without-Action. Although all groups acquired partial sequence knowledge, sequence recognition was more strongly related to kinesthesis than to the tones alone after Action-Execution-Practice and Action-Imagery-Practice. It is concluded that effector-dependent representations can be acquired via Action-Imagery-Practice even though actual feedback is not available. Conceivably, effector-dependent learning might have been provoked by forward models that predict the action consequences in Action-Imagery-Practice, but not in Action-Observation-Practice, where the action consequences were externally presented on screen.
{"title":"Prediction processes in the acquisition of sequence representations","authors":"Stephan Frederic Dahm , Robert Michael Hardwick","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109288","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109288","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Action-Imagery-Practice describes the repetitive imagination and Action-Observation-Practice the repetitive observation of an action. Both Action-Imagery-Practice and Action-Observation-Practice are assumed to involve similar motor mechanisms as Action-Execution-Practice, resulting in motor learning. To investigate whether these practice styles differ in the acquired representation types, we compared performance of the practice and transfer hand for same, mirrored, and random sequences in pre- and post-tests. All participants practiced a serial reaction time task to auditory stimuli in ten practice sessions. Five separate groups either physically executed the responses (Action-Execution-Practice), imagined the responses (Action-Imagery-Practice), observed keypresses with an animated hand (Action-Observation-Practice), observed animated keys (Observation-Without-Action), or completed a control condition in which they listened to the stimuli (Auditory-Control). Evidence for effector-dependent representations was obtained after Action-Execution-Practice and Action-Imagery-Practice, but not after Action-Observation-Practice and Observation-Without-Action. Although all groups acquired partial sequence knowledge, sequence recognition was more strongly related to kinesthesis than to the tones alone after Action-Execution-Practice and Action-Imagery-Practice. It is concluded that effector-dependent representations can be acquired via Action-Imagery-Practice even though actual feedback is not available. Conceivably, effector-dependent learning might have been provoked by forward models that predict the action consequences in Action-Imagery-Practice, but not in Action-Observation-Practice, where the action consequences were externally presented on screen.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 109288"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145213246","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-15Epub Date: 2025-09-26DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109289
David Garnica-Agudelo , Stuart D.W. Smith , Daniel van de Velden , Christina Stier , Knut Brockmann , Sascha Schroeder , Nicole E. Neef , Niels K. Focke
Developmental dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in reading and spelling. Despite lacking routine neuroimaging markers for dyslexia, recent resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) studies have detected atypical functional connectivity (FC) at the sensor-level in children with dyslexia compared to controls. It remains unclear if routine clinical resting-state EEG can be used to detect source-level differences between children with dyslexia and controls. Using retrospective data, we investigated 70 children with dyslexia and 50 typically developing controls. We analyzed 50 s of awake resting-state routine clinical EEG, calculating power and two FC metrics after source-reconstruction. Additionally, correlations between power or FC and IQ, reading, and spelling performance were analyzed. Children with dyslexia had a decrease in theta FC in left temporo-parieto-occipital regions and an increase in alpha FC in left fronto-temporo-parietal regions. Decreased theta FC was observed for right parieto-occipital regions and an increase of alpha FC in right inferior fronto-temporal regions. Furthermore, children with dyslexia demonstrated lower power in delta and theta within the left parieto-occipital regions. No significant correlations were found between the EEG metrics and cognitive performance scores. Nevertheless, our findings contribute evidence of neurophysiological abnormalities at rest in regions relevant for visual attention and orthographic processing in dyslexia, reinforcing the possible role of oscillatory dynamics in reading and spelling development, and suggest the feasibility of source-reconstructed clinical routine EEG data to inform clinicians about oscillatory alterations in children with dyslexia.
{"title":"Source reconstruction of clinical resting-state EEG reveals differences in power and functional connectivity in children with developmental dyslexia","authors":"David Garnica-Agudelo , Stuart D.W. Smith , Daniel van de Velden , Christina Stier , Knut Brockmann , Sascha Schroeder , Nicole E. Neef , Niels K. Focke","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109289","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109289","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Developmental dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in reading and spelling. Despite lacking routine neuroimaging markers for dyslexia, recent resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) studies have detected atypical functional connectivity (FC) at the sensor-level in children with dyslexia compared to controls. It remains unclear if routine clinical resting-state EEG can be used to detect source-level differences between children with dyslexia and controls. Using retrospective data, we investigated 70 children with dyslexia and 50 typically developing controls. We analyzed 50 s of awake resting-state routine clinical EEG, calculating power and two FC metrics after source-reconstruction. Additionally, correlations between power or FC and IQ, reading, and spelling performance were analyzed. Children with dyslexia had a decrease in theta FC in left temporo-parieto-occipital regions and an increase in alpha FC in left fronto-temporo-parietal regions. Decreased theta FC was observed for right parieto-occipital regions and an increase of alpha FC in right inferior fronto-temporal regions. Furthermore, children with dyslexia demonstrated lower power in delta and theta within the left parieto-occipital regions. No significant correlations were found between the EEG metrics and cognitive performance scores. Nevertheless, our findings contribute evidence of neurophysiological abnormalities at rest in regions relevant for visual attention and orthographic processing in dyslexia, reinforcing the possible role of oscillatory dynamics in reading and spelling development, and suggest the feasibility of source-reconstructed clinical routine EEG data to inform clinicians about oscillatory alterations in children with dyslexia.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 109289"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145186361","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-15Epub Date: 2025-08-28DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109263
Zinia Pervin , Dathan Gleichmann , Isabel Solis , Yu-Ping Wang , Vince D. Calhoun , Tony W. Wilson , Julia M. Stephen
It is well recognized that adults with exposure to childhood traumas are at risk of developing psychopathology and executive dysfunction. However, how these executive function deficits emerge following trauma exposure has not been widely examined. We hypothesized that children exposed to a higher number of early childhood traumas would show reduced amplitude and longer latency in cortical response in executive brain regions during tasks requiring sustained attention and inhibition, compared to children with fewer or no such experiences. We report data from sixty-five typically developing youths 9–15 years of age who self-reported exposure to childhood traumatic events, not including abuse. Brain signals were recorded with magnetoencephalography (MEG) while the sustained attention-to-response task (SART) task was performed. Task-activated sources were localized, and we investigated brain function by measuring amplitude and latency of task-evoked cortical response in frontal and parietal cortices with repeated-measures analysis of variance. A significant (p < 0.05) main effect revealed higher amplitude in low-trauma compared to high-trauma groups in ventral anterior cingulate cortex and superior parietal cortex. Further, significant three-way interactions (trauma/hemisphere/peaks) were found in amplitude of superior parietal cortex and response latency of precentral cortex during the correct No-Go condition, and simple effect analysis showed significantly shorter latency in the high-trauma group in right precentral cortex at P1. Significant interactions of trauma with sex and hemisphere were revealed in multiple pre-selected regions, such that high exposure to trauma affected cortical processing in male and female groups differently. The results may explain sex-specific vulnerability and risks of exposure to childhood trauma with increased susceptibility to psychopathology in adulthood.
{"title":"Neural activity is altered by childhood trauma exposure and varied by sex in typically developing youths during sustained attention-to-response tasks (SART)","authors":"Zinia Pervin , Dathan Gleichmann , Isabel Solis , Yu-Ping Wang , Vince D. Calhoun , Tony W. Wilson , Julia M. Stephen","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109263","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109263","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>It is well recognized that adults with exposure to childhood traumas are at risk of developing psychopathology and executive dysfunction. However, how these executive function deficits emerge following trauma exposure has not been widely examined. We hypothesized that children exposed to a higher number of early childhood traumas would show reduced amplitude and longer latency in cortical response in executive brain regions during tasks requiring sustained attention and inhibition, compared to children with fewer or no such experiences. We report data from sixty-five typically developing youths 9–15 years of age who self-reported exposure to childhood traumatic events, not including abuse. Brain signals were recorded with magnetoencephalography (MEG) while the sustained attention-to-response task (SART) task was performed. Task-activated sources were localized, and we investigated brain function by measuring amplitude and latency of task-evoked cortical response in frontal and parietal cortices with repeated-measures analysis of variance. A significant (<em>p</em> < 0.05) main effect revealed higher amplitude in low-trauma compared to high-trauma groups in ventral anterior cingulate cortex and superior parietal cortex. Further, significant three-way interactions (trauma/hemisphere/peaks) were found in amplitude of superior parietal cortex and response latency of precentral cortex during the correct No-Go condition, and simple effect analysis showed significantly shorter latency in the high-trauma group in right precentral cortex at P1. Significant interactions of trauma with sex and hemisphere were revealed in multiple pre-selected regions, such that high exposure to trauma affected cortical processing in male and female groups differently. The results may explain sex-specific vulnerability and risks of exposure to childhood trauma with increased susceptibility to psychopathology in adulthood.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 109263"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144926754","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-15Epub Date: 2025-09-04DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109267
Simon Faghel-Soubeyrand, Polina Perzich, Bernhard P. Staresina
Models of memory consolidation propose that newly acquired memory traces undergo reorganisation during sleep. To test this idea, we recorded high-density electroencephalography (EEG) during an evening session of word-image learning followed by immediate (pre-sleep) and delayed (post-sleep) recall. Polysomnography was employed throughout the intervening night, capturing time spent in different sleep stages. Using source-reconstructed time-frequency analysis, we first replicated the effect of alpha power decreases for successful relative to unsuccessful recall, emerging between 700 and 1500 ms after cue onset and spanning medial and lateral temporal lobe regions as well as posterior parietal cortex. Directly contrasting successful post-sleep vs. pre-sleep recall revealed a shift of alpha power decrease from parietal towards anterior temporal lobe (ATL) after sleep. Critically, time spent in slow wave sleep (SWS) during the intervening night not only predicted the extent of memory retention, but also correlated with the shift to ATL recall effects. Finally, brain-wide functional connectivity profiles during successful recall was associated with a marked overnight reorganisation of memory networks, with the extent of reorganisation again predicted by time spent in SWS. Together, these findings suggest a link between SWS and the consolidation and functional reorganisation of episodic memory networks.
{"title":"Slow wave sleep is associated with a reorganisation of episodic memory networks","authors":"Simon Faghel-Soubeyrand, Polina Perzich, Bernhard P. Staresina","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109267","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109267","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Models of memory consolidation propose that newly acquired memory traces undergo reorganisation during sleep. To test this idea, we recorded high-density electroencephalography (EEG) during an evening session of word-image learning followed by immediate (pre-sleep) and delayed (post-sleep) recall. Polysomnography was employed throughout the intervening night, capturing time spent in different sleep stages. Using source-reconstructed time-frequency analysis, we first replicated the effect of alpha power decreases for successful relative to unsuccessful recall, emerging between 700 and 1500 ms after cue onset and spanning medial and lateral temporal lobe regions as well as posterior parietal cortex. Directly contrasting successful post-sleep vs. pre-sleep recall revealed a shift of alpha power decrease from parietal towards anterior temporal lobe (ATL) after sleep. Critically, time spent in slow wave sleep (SWS) during the intervening night not only predicted the extent of memory retention, but also correlated with the shift to ATL recall effects. Finally, brain-wide functional connectivity profiles during successful recall was associated with a marked overnight reorganisation of memory networks, with the extent of reorganisation again predicted by time spent in SWS. Together, these findings suggest a link between SWS and the consolidation and functional reorganisation of episodic memory networks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 109267"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145008332","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-15Epub Date: 2025-09-20DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109275
Matthew Cho, Sandhya Murugavel, Alison S. Thiha, Eitan Schechtman
During sleep, memory traces are reactivated and consolidated into long-term memory. Discrete reactivation events involve coordinated activity between the hippocampus and neocortex. In this study, we examined whether the number of reactivation events directly translates to benefits to memory. To test this, we used targeted memory reactivation, a technique to selectively bias reactivation for certain memories by presenting non-invasive sensory cues. Participants (N = 31) completed a computerized object-location task, in which 60 images were presented along with related sounds. During non-REM sleep, 40 of these sounds were presented either once (20 sounds) or five times (20 sounds) in an interleaved fashion. Participants then completed another task designed to interfere with the previously encoded spatial memories, before being tested again on the initial object positions. The results showed no significant performance benefits for cued objects regardless of the number of sound presentations. This may be due to the interference task, which substantially increased error rates. Nevertheless, we found differences between the electrophysiological profiles linked with multiple vs. single sound presentation during sleep. Sigma spectral power predicted improvements in performance for the objects cued five times, but not for those cued once. For sounds presented once, benefits from sleep were predicted by post-sound power in the delta band. Although our results did not fully resolve the question of the relationship between the number of reactivation events and subsequent memory benefits, they inform future research using targeted memory reactivation to selectively bias memory during sleep.
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