Pub Date : 2025-11-10DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109315
Samuel R. Armstrong , Paola Escudero , David A. Copland , Anthony J. Angwin
Cross-situational word learning describes the process by which learners acquire new words by tracking statistical regularities obtained from ambiguous word-referent encoding encounters over time. This study measured event-related potentials and behavioural responses to assess the acquisition of written word meanings through cross-situational word learning, in which novel orthographic forms served as written names for familiar objects. During the learning phase, participants disambiguated mappings between novel written words (e.g., ‘ket’) and familiar objects (e.g., sword). After learning, participants performed a semantic relatedness judgement task, pairing newly learned words with familiar written words from either a related (e.g., dagger) or unrelated (e.g., harp) semantic category. To provide a control measure, the semantic judgement task also included a condition comprising semantically related and unrelated familiar word pairs. Analyses revealed an N400 effect for semantic judgements of word meaning relatedness, both for the novel–familiar and familiar–familiar word pair conditions. These findings suggest that novel written word meanings can be rapidly acquired through cross-situational learning, with neurophysiological responses that resemble those for familiar words, albeit showing a more left-hemisphere distribution for novel words and a more right-hemisphere distribution for familiar words.
{"title":"Mapping new names to known objects: ERP insights from cross-situational learning of novel written words","authors":"Samuel R. Armstrong , Paola Escudero , David A. Copland , Anthony J. Angwin","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109315","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109315","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cross-situational word learning describes the process by which learners acquire new words by tracking statistical regularities obtained from ambiguous word-referent encoding encounters over time. This study measured event-related potentials and behavioural responses to assess the acquisition of written word meanings through cross-situational word learning, in which novel orthographic forms served as written names for familiar objects. During the learning phase, participants disambiguated mappings between novel written words (e.g., ‘ket’) and familiar objects (e.g., sword). After learning, participants performed a semantic relatedness judgement task, pairing newly learned words with familiar written words from either a related (e.g., dagger) or unrelated (e.g., harp) semantic category. To provide a control measure, the semantic judgement task also included a condition comprising semantically related and unrelated familiar word pairs. Analyses revealed an N400 effect for semantic judgements of word meaning relatedness, both for the novel–familiar and familiar–familiar word pair conditions. These findings suggest that novel written word meanings can be rapidly acquired through cross-situational learning, with neurophysiological responses that resemble those for familiar words, albeit showing a more left-hemisphere distribution for novel words and a more right-hemisphere distribution for familiar words.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"221 ","pages":"Article 109315"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145505962","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 : 2025-11-05DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109299
Marlene Behrmann
Single case studies have long been used to provide insights into the mechanisms underlying normal cognition, including in the domains of memory, language and visuoperceptual function, and standardized testing has been a steadfast companion in such investigations. Experimental approaches designed to address specific hypotheses have also been conducted and analytic methods have been developed for the comparison of single subject data to a control group. However, a seismic shift has occurred in the last decade or two in which neuroimaging, primarily magnetic resonance imaging, has been added to the experimental toolbox. The question addressed in this article is whether, with these newer methodologies offering novel and previously unattainable evidence, single case studies have become obsolete. Here, in a single patient with integrative visual agnosia, tested repeatedly over three decades, behavioral, neuroimaging and joint behavioral-neuroimaging studies are described and their yield evaluated. Behavioral investigations have served to characterize the perceptual deficit well, and structural and functional neuroimaging data have furthered our understanding of the distributed circuit engaged in object recognition. However, imaging studies executed in concert with a behavioral task have offered more direct causal evidence, providing a more complete understanding of brain-behavior correspondences that goes beyond the sum of the parts. The conclusion reached is that the contribution of causal evidence from single cases remains a powerful methodology in advancing our knowledge of the neural basis of cognition.
{"title":"Visual agnosia in the era of behavioral and neural investigations","authors":"Marlene Behrmann","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109299","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109299","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Single case studies have long been used to provide insights into the mechanisms underlying normal cognition, including in the domains of memory, language and visuoperceptual function, and standardized testing has been a steadfast companion in such investigations. Experimental approaches designed to address specific hypotheses have also been conducted and analytic methods have been developed for the comparison of single subject data to a control group. However, a seismic shift has occurred in the last decade or two in which neuroimaging, primarily magnetic resonance imaging, has been added to the experimental toolbox. The question addressed in this article is whether, with these newer methodologies offering novel and previously unattainable evidence, single case studies have become obsolete. Here, in a single patient with integrative visual agnosia, tested repeatedly over three decades, behavioral, neuroimaging and joint behavioral-neuroimaging studies are described and their yield evaluated. Behavioral investigations have served to characterize the perceptual deficit well, and structural and functional neuroimaging data have furthered our understanding of the distributed circuit engaged in object recognition. However, imaging studies executed in concert with a behavioral task have offered more direct causal evidence, providing a more complete understanding of brain-behavior correspondences that goes beyond the sum of the parts. The conclusion reached is that the contribution of causal evidence from single cases remains a powerful methodology in advancing our knowledge of the neural basis of cognition.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"221 ","pages":"Article 109299"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145471469","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 : 2025-11-03DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109313
Junchao Li , Ruiwang Huang , Ming Liu , Delong Zhang , Bishan Liang
Although numerous studies have primarily associated creativity with spontaneous thought and its corresponding neural networks, effective creativity entails much more than uninhibited ideation. It requires the capacity to filter out irrelevant information, maintain optimal attentional tuning, and strategically regulate and refine innovative outputs. We argue that a robust and adaptive executive control network (ECN), operating in concert with attentional networks, is essential for creativity. Accordingly, we hypothesized that high-creative individuals would exhibit enhanced top-down modulation from both the ECN and attention networks onto other brain networks. To test this hypothesis, we employed resting-state fMRI and Dependency Network Analysis (DEPNA) to examine differences in hierarchical influence patterns across multiple brain regions and networks between individuals with high and low creative abilities. Our analyses revealed that high-creative individuals, relative to their low-creative counterpart, exhibited increased influence of specific brain regions on inter-regional functional connectivity across multiple brain regions. These regions demonstrating augmented influence were predominantly localized within the ECN and ventral attention network (VAN), specifically the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), bilateral inferior frontal sulcus (IFS), and right middle frontal gyrus (MFG). Moreover, high-creative individuals displayed significantly greater influence of the ECN and the dorsal attention network (DAN) on other large-scale brain networks. These findings suggest top-down cognitive and attentional control may be crucial in facilitating creativity.
{"title":"Increased hierarchical influence of executive control and attention networks in the creative brain: A dependency network analysis","authors":"Junchao Li , Ruiwang Huang , Ming Liu , Delong Zhang , Bishan Liang","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109313","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109313","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although numerous studies have primarily associated creativity with spontaneous thought and its corresponding neural networks, effective creativity entails much more than uninhibited ideation. It requires the capacity to filter out irrelevant information, maintain optimal attentional tuning, and strategically regulate and refine innovative outputs. We argue that a robust and adaptive executive control network (ECN), operating in concert with attentional networks, is essential for creativity. Accordingly, we hypothesized that high-creative individuals would exhibit enhanced top-down modulation from both the ECN and attention networks onto other brain networks. To test this hypothesis, we employed resting-state fMRI and Dependency Network Analysis (D<sub>EP</sub>NA) to examine differences in hierarchical influence patterns across multiple brain regions and networks between individuals with high and low creative abilities. Our analyses revealed that high-creative individuals, relative to their low-creative counterpart, exhibited increased influence of specific brain regions on inter-regional functional connectivity across multiple brain regions. These regions demonstrating augmented influence were predominantly localized within the ECN and ventral attention network (VAN), specifically the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), bilateral inferior frontal sulcus (IFS), and right middle frontal gyrus (MFG). Moreover, high-creative individuals displayed significantly greater influence of the ECN and the dorsal attention network (DAN) on other large-scale brain networks. These findings suggest top-down cognitive and attentional control may be crucial in facilitating creativity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"220 ","pages":"Article 109313"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145452498","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 : 2025-11-02DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109312
Xiaojun Sun , Yingjie Jiang
In episodic memory, emotional items often can be remembered better than neutral ones, whereas this emotional salience effect is not observed in source memory (neutral extrinsic or contextual details). However, it remains unclear whether this dissociation is evident in subjective metamemory judgments—specifically judgments of learning (JOLs) and judgments of sources (JOSs). To reveal the effects of emotions on these two types of metamemory judgments and their neural mechanisms, we used different emotion (negative, positive, and neutral) pictures with neutral contextual details. Results revealed that both JOLs and JOSs showed emotional salience effects, supporting the universal role of emotion as a metamemory cue. Event-related potential (ERP) results revealed shared neural mechanisms underlying both judgment types: early automatic processing (evidenced by enhanced P200 and reduced N400) and late controlled processing (late positive components). Crucially, the neural activity within this shared subjective pathway was functionally dissociated from the encoding processes diagnostic of subsequent memory success. Both judgment types exhibited right-hemisphere lateralization for high versus low metamemory ratings. Nevertheless, JOLs elicited more widespread and sustained neural activity patterns than JOSs in both emotion-neutral contrasts and high-low rating differences. These findings support the Dual-basis theory of metamemory (experience-belief interaction) and suggest that item and source metamemory judgments rely on partially distinct neural mechanisms. This provides neurophysiological insights for optimizing metacognitive training strategies.
{"title":"Emotion enhances metamemory judgments: An event-related potential comparison of judgments of learning and judgments of source","authors":"Xiaojun Sun , Yingjie Jiang","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109312","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109312","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In episodic memory, emotional items often can be remembered better than neutral ones, whereas this emotional salience effect is not observed in source memory (neutral extrinsic or contextual details). However, it remains unclear whether this dissociation is evident in subjective metamemory judgments—specifically judgments of learning (JOLs) and judgments of sources (JOSs). To reveal the effects of emotions on these two types of metamemory judgments and their neural mechanisms, we used different emotion (negative, positive, and neutral) pictures with neutral contextual details. Results revealed that both JOLs and JOSs showed emotional salience effects, supporting the universal role of emotion as a metamemory cue. Event-related potential (ERP) results revealed shared neural mechanisms underlying both judgment types: early automatic processing (evidenced by enhanced P200 and reduced N400) and late controlled processing (late positive components). Crucially, the neural activity within this shared subjective pathway was functionally dissociated from the encoding processes diagnostic of subsequent memory success. Both judgment types exhibited right-hemisphere lateralization for high versus low metamemory ratings. Nevertheless, JOLs elicited more widespread and sustained neural activity patterns than JOSs in both emotion-neutral contrasts and high-low rating differences. These findings support the Dual-basis theory of metamemory (experience-belief interaction) and suggest that item and source metamemory judgments rely on partially distinct neural mechanisms. This provides neurophysiological insights for optimizing metacognitive training strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"221 ","pages":"Article 109312"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145445584","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 : 2025-10-30DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109311
Sandrine Baselgia, Björn Rasch
Psychosocial stress induces stress responses at physiological and cognitive levels which disrupt subsequent sleep. A recent study from our group has shown that stress-induced changes are dynamic: stress before sleep led to prolonged sleep latency and changes in the early sleep period, while anticipated post-sleep stress resulted in changes in the late sleep period. A possible explanation is that anticipated stress is spontaneously reactivated during sleep in a dynamic fashion. As reactivations might be linked to dream content, we investigated the influence of anticipated stress vs. pre-sleep stress on dream content in early and late sleep periods. One group of participants performed either a stress or a relaxation task before sleep (pre-sleep group); while another group was informed before sleep that the stress or relaxation task will occur in the morning (post-sleep group). During sleep, they were regularly woken up in the early and late sleep periods and asked about their cognitive activity, while polysomnographic data was recorded. Fifty-five subjects participated and a total of 668 dreams was collected. While there was no difference in the incorporation of threat- and stress-related elements in the dreams, we did find a temporal difference in their emotionality. The threat intensity was influenced in a dynamic manner, with higher impact on early dreams when stress occurred before sleep and higher threat intensity in late dreams when stress was anticipated after sleep. Our results speak for a reactivation of mental activity in temporal proximity to the stressor for some parameters, mainly with impacts on the dream emotionality and length.
{"title":"Temporal dynamics of the influence of pre- or anticipated post-sleep stress on dream content","authors":"Sandrine Baselgia, Björn Rasch","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109311","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109311","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Psychosocial stress induces stress responses at physiological and cognitive levels which disrupt subsequent sleep. A recent study from our group has shown that stress-induced changes are dynamic: stress before sleep led to prolonged sleep latency and changes in the early sleep period, while anticipated post-sleep stress resulted in changes in the late sleep period. A possible explanation is that anticipated stress is spontaneously reactivated during sleep in a dynamic fashion. As reactivations might be linked to dream content, we investigated the influence of anticipated stress vs. pre-sleep stress on dream content in early and late sleep periods. One group of participants performed either a stress or a relaxation task before sleep (pre-sleep group); while another group was informed before sleep that the stress or relaxation task will occur in the morning (post-sleep group). During sleep, they were regularly woken up in the early and late sleep periods and asked about their cognitive activity, while polysomnographic data was recorded. Fifty-five subjects participated and a total of 668 dreams was collected. While there was no difference in the incorporation of threat- and stress-related elements in the dreams, we did find a temporal difference in their emotionality. The threat intensity was influenced in a dynamic manner, with higher impact on early dreams when stress occurred before sleep and higher threat intensity in late dreams when stress was anticipated after sleep. Our results speak for a reactivation of mental activity in temporal proximity to the stressor for some parameters, mainly with impacts on the dream emotionality and length.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"220 ","pages":"Article 109311"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145418271","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 : 2025-10-30DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109309
Yunxiao Ma , Zhengkai Niu , Xuliang Zhang , Yan Zhang , Zhengyuan Liu , Keke Yu , Ruiming Wang
Human voices carry rich information, including identity and linguistic information. The question of whether voice identity information affects linguistic information processing has long been debated among different scientific schools. Among the various factors that contribute to this debate, the effect of voice familiarity on linguistic information has been a critical pathway. The present study differentiated the physically from psychologically familiar voices and investigated how these two types of familiar voices affect spoken word processing. We conducted two experiments with event-related potentials (ERPs) and time-frequency analyses. Experiment 1 employed a lexical decision task with the emotional words spoken by unfamiliar, physically, and psychologically familiar speakers. The N100 and P200 results showed that participants could distinguish between physically and psychologically familiar voices and the voice familiarity would affect linguistic information processing at an early time window. The results of the Alpha frequency band indicated that linguistic information, in turn, affects the processing of different speakers in an later time window. Experiment 2 utilized a valence rating task that required more depth of semantic processing. The N100 and P200 results indicated similar findings to Experiment 1. The N400 results suggested that voice familiarity also affects the linguistic information processing at the semantic processing stage. Moreover, the Theta frequency band results suggested that linguistic information affects the processing of different speakers in an middle-later time window. Token together, these findings revealed that voice familiarity affects spoken word processing differently with regard to the time course of processing and task demands. We proposed a dynamic model of spoken word processing that incorporates voice familiarity, enhancing our understanding of the role of voice identity in linguistic information processing.
{"title":"Differentiation of physically and psychologically familiar voices and their roles in spoken word processing: Evidence from ERPs and neural oscillation","authors":"Yunxiao Ma , Zhengkai Niu , Xuliang Zhang , Yan Zhang , Zhengyuan Liu , Keke Yu , Ruiming Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109309","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109309","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Human voices carry rich information, including identity and linguistic information. The question of whether voice identity information affects linguistic information processing has long been debated among different scientific schools. Among the various factors that contribute to this debate, the effect of voice familiarity on linguistic information has been a critical pathway. The present study differentiated the physically from psychologically familiar voices and investigated how these two types of familiar voices affect spoken word processing. We conducted two experiments with event-related potentials (ERPs) and time-frequency analyses. Experiment 1 employed a lexical decision task with the emotional words spoken by unfamiliar, physically, and psychologically familiar speakers. The N100 and P200 results showed that participants could distinguish between physically and psychologically familiar voices and the voice familiarity would affect linguistic information processing at an early time window. The results of the Alpha frequency band indicated that linguistic information, in turn, affects the processing of different speakers in an later time window. Experiment 2 utilized a valence rating task that required more depth of semantic processing. The N100 and P200 results indicated similar findings to Experiment 1. The N400 results suggested that voice familiarity also affects the linguistic information processing at the semantic processing stage. Moreover, the Theta frequency band results suggested that linguistic information affects the processing of different speakers in an middle-later time window. Token together, these findings revealed that voice familiarity affects spoken word processing differently with regard to the time course of processing and task demands. We proposed a dynamic model of spoken word processing that incorporates voice familiarity, enhancing our understanding of the role of voice identity in linguistic information processing.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"221 ","pages":"Article 109309"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145422191","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 : 2025-10-30DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109310
Luke Chi , Michael J. Starrett , Yiwen Rao , Elizabeth R. Chrastil
Cognitive maps, traditionally considered metrically accurate mental representations of space, have been central to navigation research. However, recent studies suggest human navigation often deviates from the predictions of cognitive maps. Instead, cognitive graphs - spatial representations based on landmarks (nodes) connected by routes (edges) with relative distances, angles and limited metric information - may more accurately describe mental spatial representation. Unlike cognitive maps, cognitive graphs emphasize structural relationships over precise details. We designed a two-alternative forced-choice navigational task where participants explored and navigated virtual environments with three ways to a target: left, middle, and right. Critically, the left and right routes were always identical in length but varied in structural features like the number of turns, length of the first path of the route, or the size of unpaved areas. After exploring, the middle route was blocked and participants chose the left or right route to navigate to the target. Across two experiments, participants completed the task using an immersive walking virtual reality interface or a desktop computer to view top-down images. Participants in both experiments preferred routes with fewer turns and larger inner and outer areas despite being metrically identical, but showed no preference for routes with a shorter initial path. These findings suggest that participants did not rely on metrically precise cognitive maps when deciding which route to take to a navigational goal. We interpret this as evidence for the use of topological or labeled graph representations and discuss heuristics that are compatible with or may drive reliance on cognitive graphs over cognitive maps. These findings build on prior evidence for cognitive graphs in physically impossible environments (e.g., wormholes) by showing a bias in the absence of route length differences.
{"title":"Graph properties drive navigational selection between equidistant routes","authors":"Luke Chi , Michael J. Starrett , Yiwen Rao , Elizabeth R. Chrastil","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109310","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109310","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cognitive maps, traditionally considered metrically accurate mental representations of space, have been central to navigation research. However, recent studies suggest human navigation often deviates from the predictions of cognitive maps. Instead, <em>cognitive graphs</em> - spatial representations based on landmarks (nodes) connected by routes (edges) with relative distances, angles and limited metric information - may more accurately describe mental spatial representation. Unlike cognitive maps, cognitive graphs emphasize structural relationships over precise details. We designed a two-alternative forced-choice navigational task where participants explored and navigated virtual environments with three ways to a target: left, middle, and right. Critically, the left and right routes were always identical in length but varied in structural features like the number of turns, length of the first path of the route, or the size of unpaved areas. After exploring, the middle route was blocked and participants chose the left or right route to navigate to the target. Across two experiments, participants completed the task using an immersive walking virtual reality interface or a desktop computer to view top-down images. Participants in both experiments preferred routes with fewer turns and larger inner and outer areas despite being metrically identical, but showed no preference for routes with a shorter initial path. These findings suggest that participants did not rely on metrically precise cognitive maps when deciding which route to take to a navigational goal. We interpret this as evidence for the use of topological or labeled graph representations and discuss heuristics that are compatible with or may drive reliance on cognitive graphs over cognitive maps. These findings build on prior evidence for cognitive graphs in physically impossible environments (e.g., wormholes) by showing a bias in the absence of route length differences.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"221 ","pages":"Article 109310"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145426959","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 : 2025-10-29DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109308
Anna Bengtson , Ida Nordin , Joel Parthemore , Antti Revonsuo
The human relationship with mortality has been widely studied in psychology, with extensive studies suggesting that death-related stimuli impact behavior even without reflective awareness. In recent decades, neuroimaging studies have yielded various contenders for brain regions underlying the online processing of death-related stimuli. To the best of our knowledge, we present here the first systematic review of these findings. We conducted a comprehensive search for studies where participants were presented with death-related and death-unrelated but negatively valenced (unpleasant) stimuli while undergoing functional brain imaging. We found seven functional magnetic resonance imaging studies with a total of 204 participants. Five of six within-group studies found that unpleasant stimuli consistently elicited increased insular activity, but only when it was unrelated to mortality. This novel finding—that insular deactivation alone marks the processing of death-related stimuli—suggests a critical difference between the neural processing of death-related and non-death related, unpleasant stimuli. We argue that preexisting explanatory frameworks fail to unite our results with findings on threat processing mechanisms in the insula or lack evolutionary plausibility. We present an alternative explanation: death might be unique in that it evades the insula's typical threat-assessment mechanisms.
Further research is needed to determine whether this neural signature is robust and what its function and consequences may be. A better understanding of how individuals process death-related information promises deeper insight into the human relationship with mortality, with significant implications for individuals and society, not least for mental health interventions and end-of-life care.
{"title":"Minding mortality: A systematic review of the neural processing of death-related stimuli","authors":"Anna Bengtson , Ida Nordin , Joel Parthemore , Antti Revonsuo","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109308","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109308","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The human relationship with mortality has been widely studied in psychology, with extensive studies suggesting that death-related stimuli impact behavior even without reflective awareness. In recent decades, neuroimaging studies have yielded various contenders for brain regions underlying the online processing of death-related stimuli. To the best of our knowledge, we present here the first systematic review of these findings. We conducted a comprehensive search for studies where participants were presented with death-related and death-unrelated but negatively valenced (unpleasant) stimuli while undergoing functional brain imaging. We found seven functional magnetic resonance imaging studies with a total of 204 participants. Five of six within-group studies found that unpleasant stimuli consistently elicited increased insular activity, but only when it was unrelated to mortality. This novel finding—that insular deactivation alone marks the processing of death-related stimuli—suggests a critical difference between the neural processing of death-related and non-death related, unpleasant stimuli. We argue that preexisting explanatory frameworks fail to unite our results with findings on threat processing mechanisms in the insula or lack evolutionary plausibility. We present an alternative explanation: death might be unique in that it evades the insula's typical threat-assessment mechanisms.</div><div>Further research is needed to determine whether this neural signature is robust and what its function and consequences may be. A better understanding of how individuals process death-related information promises deeper insight into the human relationship with mortality, with significant implications for individuals and society, not least for mental health interventions and end-of-life care.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"221 ","pages":"Article 109308"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145422260","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 : 2025-10-29DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109307
Adriana R. Miller , Danielle S. Dickson , Rafał Jończyk , Daisy Lei , Gül E. Kremer , Zahed Siddique , Roger E. Beaty , Janet G. van Hell
Creative thinking is a vital skill for engineers. Prior work suggests that social dynamics—such as critical feedback from a high-authority figure—can influence the ideation process. Yet little is known about the neurocognitive mechanisms through which feedback shapes creative thinking. In this study, engineering students completed a creative ideation task while EEG was recorded. Midway through the experiment, a professor gave the participant either supportive or unsupportive critical feedback on their performance. Supportive feedback was expected to positively influence creativity compared to unsupportive feedback: participants in the supportive feedback condition were predicted to show greater idea originality and fluency after receiving feedback, as well as a greater EEG power increase in the alpha frequency band (8–12 Hz) that is robustly associated with creativity. We found that after receiving feedback—whether supportive or unsupportive—participants produced fewer but more highly original responses and showed increased alpha power. These results indicate that feedback can cause engineers to generate fewer but more original ideas by driving alpha-band activity in the brain. In further analyses, we found decreased beta-band activity before feedback only in the unsupportive condition, possibly reflecting increased cognitive stress and internally directed attention required to adjust performance in the post-feedback phase.
{"title":"Critical feedback impacts creative ideation and brain oscillations","authors":"Adriana R. Miller , Danielle S. Dickson , Rafał Jończyk , Daisy Lei , Gül E. Kremer , Zahed Siddique , Roger E. Beaty , Janet G. van Hell","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109307","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109307","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Creative thinking is a vital skill for engineers. Prior work suggests that social dynamics—such as critical feedback from a high-authority figure—can influence the ideation process. Yet little is known about the neurocognitive mechanisms through which feedback shapes creative thinking. In this study, engineering students completed a creative ideation task while EEG was recorded. Midway through the experiment, a professor gave the participant either supportive or unsupportive critical feedback on their performance. Supportive feedback was expected to positively influence creativity compared to unsupportive feedback: participants in the supportive feedback condition were predicted to show greater idea originality and fluency after receiving feedback, as well as a greater EEG power increase in the alpha frequency band (8–12 Hz) that is robustly associated with creativity. We found that after receiving feedback—whether supportive or unsupportive—participants produced fewer but more highly original responses and showed increased alpha power. These results indicate that feedback can cause engineers to generate fewer but more original ideas by driving alpha-band activity in the brain. In further analyses, we found decreased beta-band activity before feedback only in the unsupportive condition, possibly reflecting increased cognitive stress and internally directed attention required to adjust performance in the post-feedback phase.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"220 ","pages":"Article 109307"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145418272","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 : 2025-10-25DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109298
Alexis N. Chargo , Nora E. Fritz , Ana M. Daugherty
Spatial navigation is a complex behavior that depends on cognitive wayfinding ability and mobility function, which are vulnerable to decline in aging and neurodegenerative disease. Extant research has largely focused on the cognitive basis of navigation, including exploration of the environment and the subsequent creation of a “cognitive map”. Current theoretical accounts of human spatial navigation ability typically feature mobility function implicit to enacted locomotion, and do not consider the potential for mobility function to modify cognitive wayfinding processes that support navigation. We provide an integrative review of growing evidence that suggests a role of mobility to modify wayfinding that goes beyond locomotion alone. We provide a hypothesized model that includes components of mobility contributing to the development of a cognitive map through exploration and prospective selection of detail based on egocentric cue preference and perceived mobility constraint. In addition, motor planning may inform goal selection, route planning, monitoring and adaptation. We conclude with recommendations on intentional study design with assessments that can be completed in most laboratory settings that have potential for clinical translation with the goal to understand vulnerabilities of real-world navigation and its profound impact on day-to-day living in aging and clinical populations.
{"title":"Spatial maps in the mind: An integrative review of mobility’s role in wayfinding","authors":"Alexis N. Chargo , Nora E. Fritz , Ana M. Daugherty","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109298","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109298","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Spatial navigation is a complex behavior that depends on cognitive wayfinding ability and mobility function, which are vulnerable to decline in aging and neurodegenerative disease. Extant research has largely focused on the cognitive basis of navigation, including exploration of the environment and the subsequent creation of a “cognitive map”. Current theoretical accounts of human spatial navigation ability typically feature mobility function implicit to enacted locomotion, and do not consider the potential for mobility function to modify cognitive wayfinding processes that support navigation. We provide an integrative review of growing evidence that suggests a role of mobility to modify wayfinding that goes beyond locomotion alone. We provide a hypothesized model that includes components of mobility contributing to the development of a cognitive map through exploration and prospective selection of detail based on egocentric cue preference and perceived mobility constraint. In addition, motor planning may inform goal selection, route planning, monitoring and adaptation. We conclude with recommendations on intentional study design with assessments that can be completed in most laboratory settings that have potential for clinical translation with the goal to understand vulnerabilities of real-world navigation and its profound impact on day-to-day living in aging and clinical populations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"220 ","pages":"Article 109298"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145418869","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}