Pub Date : 2026-01-30Epub Date: 2025-11-17DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109320
Anna á V. Guttesen , Marcus O. Harrington , Melanie K. Fleming , M. Gareth Gaskell , Scott A. Cairney
Sleep plays a crucial role in consolidating recently acquired memories and preparing the brain for learning new ones, but the relationship between these two processes is currently unclear. According to the prominent Active Systems Consolidation model, memory representations that are initially reliant on the hippocampus are redistributed to neocortex during sleep for long-term storage. An indirect assumption of this model is that sleep-associated memory processing paves the way for next-day learning by freeing up hippocampal encoding resources. In this review, we evaluate two central tenets of this ‘resource reallocation hypothesis’: (i) sleep-associated memory consolidation reduces hippocampal engagement during retrieval, and (ii) this reduction in hippocampal burden enhances the brain's capacity for new learning. We then describe recent work that has directly tested the relationship between sleep-associated memory processing and next-day learning. In the absence of clear evidence supporting the resource reallocation hypothesis, we consider alternative accounts in which efficient learning is not contingent on prior overnight memory processing, but rather that sleep-associated consolidation and post-sleep learning rely on overlapping or independent mechanisms. We conclude by outlining how future research can rigorously test the resource reallocation hypothesis.
{"title":"Memory consolidation during sleep: a facilitator of new learning?","authors":"Anna á V. Guttesen , Marcus O. Harrington , Melanie K. Fleming , M. Gareth Gaskell , Scott A. Cairney","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109320","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109320","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sleep plays a crucial role in consolidating recently acquired memories and preparing the brain for learning new ones, but the relationship between these two processes is currently unclear. According to the prominent Active Systems Consolidation model, memory representations that are initially reliant on the hippocampus are redistributed to neocortex during sleep for long-term storage. An indirect assumption of this model is that sleep-associated memory processing paves the way for next-day learning by freeing up hippocampal encoding resources. In this review, we evaluate two central tenets of this ‘resource reallocation hypothesis’: (i) sleep-associated memory consolidation reduces hippocampal engagement during retrieval, and (ii) this reduction in hippocampal burden enhances the brain's capacity for new learning. We then describe recent work that has directly tested the relationship between sleep-associated memory processing and next-day learning. In the absence of clear evidence supporting the resource reallocation hypothesis, we consider alternative accounts in which efficient learning is not contingent on prior overnight memory processing, but rather that sleep-associated consolidation and post-sleep learning rely on overlapping or independent mechanisms. We conclude by outlining how future research can rigorously test the resource reallocation hypothesis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"221 ","pages":"Article 109320"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145557541","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 : 2026-01-30Epub Date: 2025-11-21DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109324
Abigail L. Cosgrove, Roger E. Beaty, Chaleece W. Sandberg, Allison Link, Michele T. Diaz
A hallmark of successful aging is increased life experiences and knowledge. Yet how this additional information is incorporated into semantic memory is unclear. Network science has proven to be a useful tool for modeling semantic memory networks in younger and older adults. Previous research suggests that although vocabulary and knowledge are largely stable across adulthood, older adults may have semantic memory networks that are less efficient, less interconnected, and more segregated. However, prior work, including our own, has largely focused on semantic memory networks derived from highly salient, physical concepts (e.g., animals). Though words essential for natural conversation vary greatly in terms of their psycholinguistic characteristics. In the present study, we examine age-related differences in semantic memory networks derived from a free association task, using both abstract and concrete cues that varied in semantic diversity - the number of unique contexts in which they could appear. Across several analytic approaches, we found that including abstract words in semantic memory networks minimized age-related differences: there were no age differences in network efficiency, but older adults had more interconnected and less segregated semantic memory networks compared to younger adults. Looking at word-level characteristics of the semantic memory networks suggested that for both younger and older adults, words that were high in semantic diversity and were more abstract had stronger connections to other words and were more interconnected. These results suggest that abstract and semantically diverse words are a cornerstone in maintaining older adults’ semantic memory networks.
{"title":"Reduced age differences in semantic memory networks: Evidence from semantically diverse free associations","authors":"Abigail L. Cosgrove, Roger E. Beaty, Chaleece W. Sandberg, Allison Link, Michele T. Diaz","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109324","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109324","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A hallmark of successful aging is increased life experiences and knowledge. Yet how this additional information is incorporated into semantic memory is unclear. Network science has proven to be a useful tool for modeling semantic memory networks in younger and older adults. Previous research suggests that although vocabulary and knowledge are largely stable across adulthood, older adults may have semantic memory networks that are less efficient, less interconnected, and more segregated. However, prior work, including our own, has largely focused on semantic memory networks derived from highly salient, physical concepts (e.g., animals). Though words essential for natural conversation vary greatly in terms of their psycholinguistic characteristics. In the present study, we examine age-related differences in semantic memory networks derived from a free association task, using both abstract and concrete cues that varied in semantic diversity - the number of unique contexts in which they could appear. Across several analytic approaches, we found that including abstract words in semantic memory networks minimized age-related differences: there were no age differences in network efficiency, but older adults had more interconnected and less segregated semantic memory networks compared to younger adults. Looking at word-level characteristics of the semantic memory networks suggested that for both younger and older adults, words that were high in semantic diversity and were more abstract had stronger connections to other words and were more interconnected. These results suggest that abstract and semantically diverse words are a cornerstone in maintaining older adults’ semantic memory networks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"221 ","pages":"Article 109324"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145588370","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 : 2026-01-30Epub 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":"2026-01-30","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 : 2026-01-30Epub Date: 2025-11-24DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109329
Luiza P. Volpi , R. Nathan Spreng , Reza Farivar
Despite hundreds of neuroimaging studies examining the neural correlates of 3D shape perception (as opposed to 2D), there is no consensus because of the diversity of stimuli and depth cues used. We addressed this problem through an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) coordinate-based meta-analysis, pooling together studies that examined the 3D vs 2D shape contrast across multiple depth cues used to render the 3D shapes. A systematic review was performed using Medline, PsychInfo and Embase databases and yielded 25 empirical studies after screening. Articles were split into cue types—disparity (11), motion (10), mental rotation (1), shading (2) and texture (2). We performed three sets of ALE-based coordinate analysis—full-sample ALE analysis, sub-analyses testing individual depth cues separately, and a contrast analysis between disparity-defined 3D shapes and monocularly-defined 3D shapes. Results for the full-sample analysis showed that 3D shape perception is widespread throughout the high-level visual cortex regardless of depth cue. Although cue-specific analyses were underpowered, some trends were observed. Disparity-defined 3D shapes seem to engage higher-level dorsal stream areas, including bilateral intraparietal sulcus (IPS). Motion-defined 3D shape recruited ventral stream regions associated with object recognition processes. Monocularly-defined 3D shapes recruited ventral stream areas, mainly the bilateral inferior lateral cortex and dorsal stream IPS for the right hemisphere. W et al.hen contrasted with disparity, monocularly-defined 3D shapes recruited the left lateral occipital cortex. The results suggest laterality in 3D versus 2D shape representations and that 3D shape representations occur in both ventral and dorsal pathways regardless of the depth cues that define them.
{"title":"Neural correlates of 3D versus 2D perception: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis","authors":"Luiza P. Volpi , R. Nathan Spreng , Reza Farivar","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109329","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109329","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite hundreds of neuroimaging studies examining the neural correlates of 3D shape perception (as opposed to 2D), there is no consensus because of the diversity of stimuli and depth cues used. We addressed this problem through an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) coordinate-based meta-analysis, pooling together studies that examined the 3D vs 2D shape contrast across multiple depth cues used to render the 3D shapes. A systematic review was performed using Medline, PsychInfo and Embase databases and yielded 25 empirical studies after screening. Articles were split into cue types—disparity (11), motion (10), mental rotation (1), shading (2) and texture (2). We performed three sets of ALE-based coordinate analysis—full-sample ALE analysis, sub-analyses testing individual depth cues separately, and a contrast analysis between disparity-defined 3D shapes and monocularly-defined 3D shapes. Results for the full-sample analysis showed that 3D shape perception is widespread throughout the high-level visual cortex regardless of depth cue. Although cue-specific analyses were underpowered, some trends were observed. Disparity-defined 3D shapes seem to engage higher-level dorsal stream areas, including bilateral intraparietal sulcus (IPS). Motion-defined 3D shape recruited ventral stream regions associated with object recognition processes. Monocularly-defined 3D shapes recruited ventral stream areas, mainly the bilateral inferior lateral cortex and dorsal stream IPS for the right hemisphere. W et al.hen contrasted with disparity, monocularly-defined 3D shapes recruited the left lateral occipital cortex. The results suggest laterality in 3D versus 2D shape representations and that 3D shape representations occur in both ventral and dorsal pathways regardless of the depth cues that define them.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"221 ","pages":"Article 109329"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145636807","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 : 2026-01-30Epub 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":"2026-01-30","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 : 2026-01-30Epub 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":"2026-01-30","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 : 2026-01-30Epub Date: 2025-11-20DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109322
Chanelle Noble , Natasha L. Taylor , Fraser Milton , Jon Fulford , Joshua B. Tan , Claire O'Callaghan , Adam Zeman , James M. Shine
Aphantasia is the inability to experience mental imagery during full wakefulness without any prominent perceptual deficits. Visual aphantasia is associated with differences in distributed brain networks, but its neurobiological underpinnings remain a mystery. In particular, aphantasia may arise due to impairments in the top-down control over visual imagination. We predicted that this in turn would prevent the brains of aphantasic participants from differentiating neural activity encoding the contents of imagination from the background noise of resting activity, particularly within the ventral temporal lobes. To test this hypothesis, we re-analysed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data collected from aphantasics (n = 21), hyperphantasics (those with “photographic imagery”; n = 20), and controls (n = 17) during a simple perception and imagery task. We used two measures of informational complexity to quantify the complexity of the spatial pattern of thresholded BOLD signals in the participants’ temporal lobes during visual perception and imagery. Both measures of spatial complexity showed significant correlations with imagery vividness. We then performed dynamic functional connectivity analyses on the same data revealing that the higher-order networks of aphantasics were abnormally coupled with the temporal lobes during imagery (p < 0.05). These results provide a novel perspective, reframing aphantasia as an inability of the visual system to selectively activate regions encoding object-specific visual categories above background levels of noise.
{"title":"Seeing through the static: Reduced imagery vividness in aphantasia is associated with impaired temporal lobe signal complexity","authors":"Chanelle Noble , Natasha L. Taylor , Fraser Milton , Jon Fulford , Joshua B. Tan , Claire O'Callaghan , Adam Zeman , James M. Shine","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109322","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109322","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Aphantasia is the inability to experience mental imagery during full wakefulness without any prominent perceptual deficits. Visual aphantasia is associated with differences in distributed brain networks, but its neurobiological underpinnings remain a mystery. In particular, aphantasia may arise due to impairments in the top-down control over visual imagination. We predicted that this in turn would prevent the brains of aphantasic participants from differentiating neural activity encoding the contents of imagination from the background noise of resting activity, particularly within the ventral temporal lobes. To test this hypothesis, we re-analysed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data collected from aphantasics (<em>n</em> = 21), hyperphantasics (those with “photographic imagery”; <em>n</em> = 20), and controls (<em>n =</em> 17) during a simple perception and imagery task. We used two measures of informational complexity to quantify the complexity of the spatial pattern of thresholded BOLD signals in the participants’ temporal lobes during visual perception and imagery. Both measures of spatial complexity showed significant correlations with imagery vividness. We then performed dynamic functional connectivity analyses on the same data revealing that the higher-order networks of aphantasics were abnormally coupled with the temporal lobes during imagery (<em>p <</em> 0.05). These results provide a novel perspective, reframing aphantasia as an inability of the visual system to selectively activate regions encoding object-specific visual categories above background levels of noise.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"221 ","pages":"Article 109322"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145582431","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 : 2026-01-30Epub Date: 2025-12-03DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109343
G. Agostoni , S. Zago , F. Repaci , M. Bechi , F. Pacchioni , M. Spangaro , J. Sapienza , Michele Francesco D'Incalci , A. Rosini , M. Ceresi , M. Buonocore , F. Martini , F. Cuoco , C. Guglielmino , F. Cocchi , R. Cavallaro , V. Bambini , G. Arcara , M. Bosia
Language disruption, especially at the pragmatic level, is a hallmark of schizophrenia, impacting functional outcome. While still poorly explored, electrophysiological (EEG) underpinnings of language in schizophrenia may disclose novel treatment targets, as well as insights on etiopathogenetic mechanisms. Furthermore, combining electrophysiological and linguistic markers could refine clinical stratification of patients within the same diagnostic category to guide customized treatment. In this study, we first explored the interplay between neurophysiological markers – i.e., mismatch Negativity (MMN) and the aperiodic component of the power spectrum (offset and exponent) – and pragmatics. Then we combined these features to identify electrophysiological and linguistic profiles and test their associations with symptom severity and functional impairment. Fifty patients with schizophrenia were assessed for pragmatics, vocabulary, symptoms, functioning and well-being. Their EEG was recorded during a resting state condition, to capture aperiodic activity, and a passive odd-ball task to evoke MMN. Correlation analyses showed significant associations between pragmatics and both MMN and aperiodic offset. A two-step cluster analysis including aperiodic offset, MMN, and pragmatic measures revealed two profiles, with Cluster 2 showing alteration in EEG indexes and pragmatics skills, as well as a more disrupted clinical and functional outcome. Overall, this study not only expands our knowledge of the electrophysiological correlates of pragmatic language impairment in schizophrenia, showing for the first time a meaningful link with MMN and the aperiodic component, but also highlights the utility of combining EEG and linguistic data to distinguish patients’ profiles, paving the way to more personalized treatment strategies, tailored to individual specificities.
{"title":"Profiling electrophysiological and linguistic markers: implications for clinical and functional outcome in schizophrenia","authors":"G. Agostoni , S. Zago , F. Repaci , M. Bechi , F. Pacchioni , M. Spangaro , J. Sapienza , Michele Francesco D'Incalci , A. Rosini , M. Ceresi , M. Buonocore , F. Martini , F. Cuoco , C. Guglielmino , F. Cocchi , R. Cavallaro , V. Bambini , G. Arcara , M. Bosia","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109343","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109343","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Language disruption, especially at the pragmatic level, is a hallmark of schizophrenia, impacting functional outcome. While still poorly explored, electrophysiological (EEG) underpinnings of language in schizophrenia may disclose novel treatment targets, as well as insights on etiopathogenetic mechanisms. Furthermore, combining electrophysiological and linguistic markers could refine clinical stratification of patients within the same diagnostic category to guide customized treatment. In this study, we first explored the interplay between neurophysiological markers – i.e., mismatch Negativity (MMN) and the aperiodic component of the power spectrum (offset and exponent) – and pragmatics. Then we combined these features to identify electrophysiological and linguistic profiles and test their associations with symptom severity and functional impairment. Fifty patients with schizophrenia were assessed for pragmatics, vocabulary, symptoms, functioning and well-being. Their EEG was recorded during a resting state condition, to capture aperiodic activity, and a passive odd-ball task to evoke MMN. Correlation analyses showed significant associations between pragmatics and both MMN and aperiodic offset. A two-step cluster analysis including aperiodic offset, MMN, and pragmatic measures revealed two profiles, with Cluster 2 showing alteration in EEG indexes and pragmatics skills, as well as a more disrupted clinical and functional outcome. Overall, this study not only expands our knowledge of the electrophysiological correlates of pragmatic language impairment in schizophrenia, showing for the first time a meaningful link with MMN and the aperiodic component, but also highlights the utility of combining EEG and linguistic data to distinguish patients’ profiles, paving the way to more personalized treatment strategies, tailored to individual specificities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"221 ","pages":"Article 109343"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145681340","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 : 2026-01-30Epub Date: 2025-11-15DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109317
Shezeen Abdul Gafoor , Ajith Kumar Uppunda
Successful speech perception in noise likely involves inhibition of the background noise in order to improve the signal-to-noise ratio, and thereby, the perception. However, the nature and extent of the contributions of the inhibitory mechanisms to speech perception in noise and the interactions among them are currently unclear. The current study investigated the contribution of auditory inhibitory measures mediated by olivocochlear and cortico-cortical processes and working memory (closely associated with cognitive inhibition) on speech perception in noise using structural equation models. For this purpose, a group of 72 neurotypical adults over a wide age range (20–65 years) who were homogenous in terms of their socioeconomic and educational status and quality of life were recruited. The results revealed a strong and significant association between speech perception in noise and the working memory capacity. The brainstem inhibitory measure – the medial olivocochlear reflex - also contributed to speech perception in noise. There was no evidence of a direct contribution by the cortico-cortical inhibitory measures (auditory sensory gating and context-dependent cortical encoding of speech) on speech perception in noise. However, the auditory brainstem and cortico-cortical processes demonstrated a trend of an inverse relationship. An additional finding was that age significantly influenced working memory but not speech perception in noise. Overall, the study demonstrated the relationships among the different inhibitory mechanisms and their contributions to speech perception in noise. It was found that individuals with higher working memory capacity and higher strength of the medial olivocochlear reflex had better speech perception in noise. The findings suggest potential considerations for refining rehabilitation protocols for speech perception in noise deficits and pave path for future studies, which may be conducted using ecologically more valid stimulus paradigms.
{"title":"Relationship among speech perception in noise, auditory inhibitory measures and working memory in neurotypical adults","authors":"Shezeen Abdul Gafoor , Ajith Kumar Uppunda","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109317","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109317","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Successful speech perception in noise likely involves inhibition of the background noise in order to improve the signal-to-noise ratio, and thereby, the perception. However, the nature and extent of the contributions of the inhibitory mechanisms to speech perception in noise and the interactions among them are currently unclear. The current study investigated the contribution of auditory inhibitory measures mediated by olivocochlear and cortico-cortical processes and working memory (closely associated with cognitive inhibition) on speech perception in noise using structural equation models. For this purpose, a group of 72 neurotypical adults over a wide age range (20–65 years) who were homogenous in terms of their socioeconomic and educational status and quality of life were recruited. The results revealed a strong and significant association between speech perception in noise and the working memory capacity. The brainstem inhibitory measure – the medial olivocochlear reflex - also contributed to speech perception in noise. There was no evidence of a direct contribution by the cortico-cortical inhibitory measures (auditory sensory gating and context-dependent cortical encoding of speech) on speech perception in noise. However, the auditory brainstem and cortico-cortical processes demonstrated a trend of an inverse relationship. An additional finding was that age significantly influenced working memory but not speech perception in noise. Overall, the study demonstrated the relationships among the different inhibitory mechanisms and their contributions to speech perception in noise. It was found that individuals with higher working memory capacity and higher strength of the medial olivocochlear reflex had better speech perception in noise. The findings suggest potential considerations for refining rehabilitation protocols for speech perception in noise deficits and pave path for future studies, which may be conducted using ecologically more valid stimulus paradigms.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"221 ","pages":"Article 109317"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145534503","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 : 2026-01-30Epub Date: 2025-11-25DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109332
J.T. West , L. Dubec , R.L. Wagner, N.A. Dennis
Falsely remembering never-before-seen information can have significant negative consequences during everyday life, and can occur when novel information is semantically or perceptually similar to previously encoded experiences. The aim of the current research was to investigate the extent to which semantic and perceptual false memory are associated with overlapping vs distinct neural processes. To investigate this question, 30 younger adults encoded lists of images and words. At retrieval, participants underwent fMRI scanning and made memory judgments for items seen at encoding (targets) and new items that were perceptually or semantically similar to targets (lures). Consistent with our previous work showing that domain-general cognitive processes predict individual differences in false memory production (West et al., 2025) and consistent with past behavioral and neuroimaging false memory research, false memory activity, irrespective of domain, was associated with overlapping activity within the medial prefrontal cortex and inferior parietal cortex. At the same time, unique domain-specific activation was observed in frontal (e.g., middle and inferior frontal gyri) and parietal (e.g., superior and inferior parietal lobes) regions for semantic false memory and in frontal (e.g., middle and inferior frontal gyri) and occipital (e.g., middle occipital gyrus) regions for perceptual false memory. Multivariate analyses examining the neural patterns associated with falsely remembered and novel, yet related information indicated that semantic and perceptual items were represented as distinct and discriminable within frontoparietal regions commonly active during both semantic and perceptual false memory. Taken together, these results suggest that false memory formation is associated with both domain-general and domain-specific neural processes at retrieval.
{"title":"Exploring the neural underpinnings of semantic and perceptual false memory formation","authors":"J.T. West , L. Dubec , R.L. Wagner, N.A. Dennis","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109332","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109332","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Falsely remembering never-before-seen information can have significant negative consequences during everyday life, and can occur when novel information is semantically or perceptually similar to previously encoded experiences. The aim of the current research was to investigate the extent to which semantic and perceptual false memory are associated with overlapping vs distinct neural processes. To investigate this question, 30 younger adults encoded lists of images and words. At retrieval, participants underwent fMRI scanning and made memory judgments for items seen at encoding (targets) and new items that were perceptually or semantically similar to targets (lures). Consistent with our previous work showing that domain-general cognitive processes predict individual differences in false memory production (West et al., 2025) and consistent with past behavioral and neuroimaging false memory research, false memory activity, irrespective of domain, was associated with overlapping activity within the medial prefrontal cortex and inferior parietal cortex. At the same time, unique domain-specific activation was observed in frontal (e.g., middle and inferior frontal gyri) and parietal (e.g., superior and inferior parietal lobes) regions for semantic false memory and in frontal (e.g., middle and inferior frontal gyri) and occipital (e.g., middle occipital gyrus) regions for perceptual false memory. Multivariate analyses examining the neural patterns associated with falsely remembered and novel, yet related information indicated that semantic and perceptual items were represented as distinct and discriminable within frontoparietal regions commonly active during both semantic and perceptual false memory. Taken together, these results suggest that false memory formation is associated with both domain-general and domain-specific neural processes at retrieval.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"221 ","pages":"Article 109332"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145615948","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}
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