The relationship between bilingualism and cognitive control remains a topic of ongoing debate, partly due to the reliance on solely behavioral measures of cognitive control (Bialystok, 2017), which may not always capture subtle individual differences (Draheim et al., 2019). Prior research has utilized electrophysiological measures to investigate the links between bilingualism and cognitive control; however, the results of these studies are mixed (Antoniou, 2023). Mixed evidence may stem from traditional approaches treating bilingualism as a categorical variable (i.e., bilinguals vs. monolinguals). However, a more nuanced, continuous measure of bilingualism is now advocated by many researchers (e.g., Backer & Bortfeld, 2021; DeLuca et al., 2020; Luk & Bialystok, 2013). To address this gap, we examined whether the degree of bilingualism was associated with an established event-related potential (ERP) index of cognitive control—the P3b. We used the Language Social Background Questionnaire to derive an aggregated bilingualism composite factor score, a proxy for a participant’s overall degree of bilingual language experience (Anderson et al., 2018). A discriminability index ( d′) was used to measure behavioral performance. We recorded ERP data from 70 adults during a visual oddball task to elicit the P3b. We examined whether composite scores corresponded with the P3b effect, indicative of cognitive control, while taking into consideration childhood family socioeconomic status (SES), specifically parent education, as it has been linked to cognitive control in adulthood (Isbell et al., 2024). We found a positive association between composite scores and the P3b effect, indicating that more bilingual language experience was associated with greater attention allocation and working memory updating, independent of childhood family SES. However, we found no links between composite scores and behavior. These findings underscore the importance of characterizing bilingualism along a continuum and acknowledging the variability in neural processing strategies among adults with diverse bilingual experience.

We present a novel methodology for analyzing electroencephalographic (EEG) event-related potentials (ERP) using massive univariate statistical methods combined with Bayesian inference. This data-driven approach automatically identifies clusters of electrodes and time windows showing potential effects, improving traditional methods that rely on a priori selection of regions of interest and null hypothesis significance testing (NHST). Our methodology addresses key limitations of NHST, including increased risk of type II errors and restrictive experimental design requirements. Through Bayesian inference, we evaluate and quantify the significance of the identified effects, providing a more flexible and interpretable framework for hypothesis testing. We applied this method to EEG data collected from ex-combatants, victims, and civilians involved in the Colombian armed conflict during a modified Implicit Association Test designed to measure implicit bias. Our approach demonstrated increased sensitivity compared to conventional NHST-based ERP analyses, with Bayesian inference offering robust evidence for group differences. This methodology enhances exploratory ERP research by mitigating issues related to multiple comparisons and integrating prior knowledge. It could also be applicable in experimental psychology and neuroscience studies where pre-selecting regions of interest is still challenging.

A certain level of stress is crucial for survival; however, prolonged exposure to stress may have negative health consequences. Smartwatches are a practical tool to monitor the body’s arousal state by measuring autonomic nervous system activity in daily life, commonly referred to as stress levels by the smartwatches. How these stress levels relate to emotional states, however, remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the association between the Garmin Stress Score and both negative and positive emotional states of varying intensity. Over 28 days, Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) data were collected five times a day for emotional states, and Garmin Stress Score data were collected continuously, in a sample of 95 (80F) healthy young adult university students in the Netherlands. Binary and linear multilevel models were used to associate the Garmin Stress Score with the presence of emotions, and a dose-response relationship, respectively. The Garmin Stress Score was associated with high- and moderate-intensity positive emotions but not with negative or low-intensity emotions. The emotions ”calm” and ”relaxed” showed a negative dose-response relationship with average Garmin Stress Score, and a positive trend was found for ”enthusiastic.” Since the Garmin Stress Score relies on parasympathetic activation, representing the rest-and-digest state, rather than fight-or-flight, it makes sense that it is associated with states of non-relaxation. However, it was not associated with states of high arousal negative affect. This makes the term ”Stress Score” incorrect and misleading to consumers. Our findings warrant further research into emotional states, particularly those associated with high arousal negative affect. We recommend stronger collaborations between commercial companies like Garmin and researchers to enhance the accuracy of feedback provided by wearable devices and mitigate any harmful effects on consumers.

The amplitude of the error-related negativity (ERN) is known to be correlated with attention to task and general cognitive control abilities. Yet, previous research has struggled to consistently link ERN amplitude with behavioral accuracy or reaction time in the task from which the ERN is being measured. This lack of relationship could be due to many factors that are difficult to control for, so explorations of other converging measures to understand error processing and subsequent behavior adjustment are warranted. The current study examines how two other physiological markers of error processing—the phasic pupillary response (PDR) and the positivity following an error (Pe)— relate to post-error behavior. Additionally, we also examine relationships between the three physiological indices of error-processing. In the study, EEG and pupillometry were simultaneously recorded while participants completed 12 blocks (50 trials each) of an Erickson Flanker task. For post-error accuracy, we found that on a single trial level, the amplitude all three physiological error processing indices for error trials predicted whether participants made a correct response on the following trials. At the subject level, only the PDR predicted average post-error accuracy. For post-error slowing, at the single trial level, only the Pe predicted post-error slowing, whereas only the ERN predicted post-error slowing at the subject level. This suggests that the PDR and Pe might represent promising indicators of post-error behavior adjustment, and also highlights the need to examine relationships at multiple levels of analysis. We also found that both the ERN and Pe correlated with PDR amplitude. Results are discussed.

This study examines the effectiveness of Rhythmic Acoustic Emotional Stimulation (RAES) in modulating Heart Rate Variability (HRV) compared to Rhythmic Visual Emotional Stimulation (RVES) at the resonant frequency of the arterial baroreflex (0.1 Hz). HRV is a reliable indicator of chronic stress, and its optimization holds potential therapeutic benefits for stress reduction. RVES, pioneered by Evgeny Vaschillo in 2008, utilizes emotionally charged images to induce high-amplitude HRV oscillations. This research aims to determine whether RAES, employing sounds of equivalent emotional valence, can achieve similar HRV enhancements. A cohort of 30 participants underwent a series of experiments involving both RVES and RAES protocols. Vaschillo’s RVES protocol was replicated using visual stimuli to establish baseline effectiveness, followed by RAES experiments using acoustic stimuli of comparable emotional valence. Respiration and heart rate were monitored, with baseline HRV measurements taken before and after each intervention to evaluate their effects. Results showed significant differences in how participants responded to the two interventions. During RVES, SDNN showed significant variability across stimuli (p=0.018p = 0.018p=0.018), indicating its effectiveness in enhancing overall HRV, while RMSSD changes were not statistically significant. RAES elicited a significant interaction between RMSSD and sex (p=0.003p = 0.003p=0.003), with females demonstrating more pronounced RMSSD responses compared to males. However, SDNN responses to RAES were minimal and consistent across stimuli and sexes. In conclusion, RVES appears more effective than RAES in enhancing HRV, particularly in terms of SDNN variability. The significant sex-based interaction in RAES highlights its potential for tailored stress reduction therapies, especially for female populations. These findings emphasize the importance of considering gender-specific responses and individual variability when designing HRV-based interventions.

Expectancy theory of hypnosis posits that any procedure can serve as a hypnotic induction provided it is labelled as “hypnosis”. The present study explored this hypothesis by contrasting the effects of two conventional and two unconventional (sham) hypnotic inductions on hypnotic experiences and electrophysiological correlates. In a 2x2 balanced placebo design, all participants were exposed to four conditions: conventional induction labeled as “hypnosis”, conventional induction labeled as “control”, unconventional induction labeled as “hypnosis”, and unconventional induction labeled as “control”. EEG was recorded from 128 channels. We computed EEG features that were identified in previous studies as correlates of hypnosis or hypnotizability. Consistent with the predictions of expectancy theory, we found that one of the unconventional (sham) inductions, “white noise hypnosis”, evoked comparable hypnosis depth to the conventional hypnotic inductions. However, contrary to its predictions, “embedded hypnosis”, another unconventional induction, evoked smaller hypnosis depth reports than the other three inductions. Most EEG features we explored did not differ between conventional and unconventional induction conditions. A possible exception is frontal theta activity, which appeared to increase more in conventional induction trials. The change in frontal gamma power negatively correlated with hypnosis depth, and occipital theta activity positively correlated with hypnotizability in both conventional and unconventional inductions. Overall, our results provide partial support for the expectancy theory of hypnosis. However, our findings should be considered exploratory. Confirmatory research is required to strengthen our confidence in these effects.

Prolonged loneliness can be detrimental to both mental and physical health. However, variability in how individuals respond to loneliness can shape health outcomes. Here, we explored whether loneliness is related to perceptions of support and strain given in family and friend relationships. Specifically, we assessed whether resting parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity, a marker of emotion regulation and flexible adaptation, moderates self-evaluation of support and strain given. Participants were from the Midlife Development in the US (MIDUS) dataset who had measures of loneliness, perceived support given and perceived strain given in relationships, and resting PNS activity. Loneliness was associated with decreased support and increased strain given in both family and friend relationships. Resting parasympathetic activity moderated the relationship between loneliness and strain given to family, with lower PNS activity associated with a stronger relationship. These findings contribute to our understanding of how loneliness shapes social perception.

Interpersonal trust decisions are guided by reputation. However, it remains unclear how positive and negative prior reputations that are inconsistent with a partner’s behavior are integrated at the behavioral and neural levels and how this informs daily trust decisions. In this two-part study, 54 subjects first played an iterated 20-trial Trust Game with four anonymous partners introduced as “cooperative” or “individualistic” while EEG was recorded. The partners’ behavior then either confirmed or contradicted this prior reputation. Subsequently, the subjects completed a three-day ecological assessment measuring trust in daily interactions. According to the results, negative prior reputations were associated with less trust decisions, even after being contradicted by cooperative behavior. The frequency of trust decisions remained high if positive prior reputations were confirmed, and decreased if they were contradicted. Trial-by-trial analyses showed that negative priors were still related to a lower trust choice probability, even if they were contradicted in the previous trial, paralleled by a decrease in fronto-lateral theta. Mean trust levels across laboratory conditions were descriptively associated with mean trust levels in daily interactions. In sum, these findings indicate that a person with a negative prior reputation is less trusted, even if this person behaves in a positive way.

Spatial visual attention prioritizes specific locations while disregarding others. The location of spatial attention can be deployed without overt movements (covertly). Spatial dynamics of covert attention is exceptionally difficult to measure due to its hidden nature. One way to implicitly index the location of covert attention is via pupillary light responses (PLR), as the strength of PLR is modulated by where attention is allocated. However, this method has so-far necessitated simplistic stimuli. Here we report on a novel pupillometric method that allows to track covert attention even with highly complex stimuli. Participants (n = 36) watched movie clips while they either passively viewed the movie, or they top-down shifted covert attention to targets in the left, right, or both sides of the visual field. Using a recent toolbox (Open-DPSM), we evaluated whether luminance changes in regions presumably receiving more attention contribute more strongly to the pupillary responses – and thereby reveal covert attention. Three independent and established effects of covert attention on pupil responses were found: (1) a bottom-up effect suggesting more attention drawn to more dynamic regions in the movie, (2) a top-down effect suggesting more attention towards the instructed direction, and (3) an overall tendency to attend the left side (i.e., pseudoneglect). These findings show that pupil responses can physiologically index covert attention with our approach, even in highly dynamic and complex environments. We see considerable potential in measuring covert attention with our method in many real-life scenarios that were impossible to study before.

This study investigates how expectancy and plausibility influence behavioral and neural measures of language processing during naturalistic reading comprehension. Prior event-related potential (ERP) studies show evidence of distinct post-N400 positivities to violations of semantic expectancy and plausibility using artificial serial presentation but have yet to establish these phenomena during naturalistic reading. Therefore, we recorded simultaneous eye-movements and EEG while participants read highly-constraining sentences with expected, unexpected (but plausible), and anomalous target words. Time-locked to the pre-target word, we observed a contextually-graded parafoveal N400 effect. The N400 was facilitated (i.e., reduced) when the word was subsequently fixated, suggesting trans-saccadic integration of semantic features. At target fixation, we also observed a late anteriorly-distributed positivity to unexpected target words and a posteriorly-distributed positivity to anomalous target words, effects that were not present when time-locked to the pre-target word. Eye tracking measures show that readers were sensitive to both expectancy and plausibility at target fixation. In conclusion, we show that readers can begin accessing semantic information in parafoveal vision, but higher-level semantic processing may require the orchestration of both parafoveal and foveal representations.

Effortful cognitive control enhances performance but often incurs cognitive costs, leading to increased subjective negative emotions. Both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation can modulate cognitive control; however, their interplay is complex, and little is known about the underlying mechanism or subjective willingness to engage effortful control processes. The present electroencephalography (EEG) study sought to elucidate underlying mechanisms through which extrinsic and intrinsic motivation synergistically modulate effortful cognitive control during conflict processing. To this end, we employed two variants of the Stroop task (Stroop-Feedback and Stroop-Choice). Extrinsic motivation was induced by evaluative feedback and intrinsic motivation was measured using the Need for Cognition (NFC). Behavioral results showed faster RTs in evaluative compared to neutral feedback, as well as in participants with high NFC relative to low NFC. In addition, after receiving evaluative feedback, participants’ subjective willingness to engage in high-control tasks (70% incongruent trials) was linked to subjective feelings of conflict, which mediated by NFC. At the ERP level, improvements in cognitive control driven by either evaluative feedback or NFC were captured at the conflict SP level. While for feedback-related motivational significance, high-NFC participants exhibited the decreased P3 compared to low-NFC ones. Moreover, the P3, which captured the processing of previous evaluative (negative) feedback, facilitated subsequent behavioral responses in low-NFC participants selectively. These findings suggest that extrinsic and intrinsic motivation independently, rather than interactively, enhance effortful cognitive control, while jointly influencing subjective willingness to allocate effort toward control processes—a process closely linked to negative feelings during prior conflict processing.

jabbrv-ltwa-all.ldf jabbrv-ltwa-en.ldf Everyday sounds can elicit a range of emotional and physiological responses. For individuals with misophonia, some sounds can produce strong feelings of disgust, annoyance, and anger, often accompanied by increased perspiration and heart rate. Presently, methods of diagnosing misophonia rely on clinical interviews and self-assessment scales. Our study asks whether pupillometry can be an objective measure that correlates with self-reported misophonia severity. Previous studies show that both unpleasant and pleasant sounds increase pupil diameter (Partala and Surakka, 2003; Nakakoga et al., 2020); however, these have not compared pupil responses to disgust versus other emotions. Given prior indications that the response to visually disgusting stimuli is pupil constriction (Ayzenberg et al., 2018), we asked whether the pupil dilation to auditorily disgusting stimuli would be smaller than for other emotional sounds. In our listening task, we monitored pupil size changes while participants listened to positive and negative emotional sounds from the IADS database (Bradley and Lang, 2007) along with “triggers” known to be especially aversive to misophonics. Participants reported the intensity of their emotional reactions (disgust, anger, annoyance, happiness, sadness, fear) as well as valence and arousal. Misophonic listeners reported greater emotion intensity for emotions associated with triggers (disgust, anger, annoyance) as well as for fear. For all listeners, there was a positive association between changes in pupil diameter and emotion intensity. Overall, misophonics had greater pupil dilation than non-misophonics, but after equating for emotion category of the sounds, misophonic pupil dilation was only larger for trigger sounds (and marginally, disgusting sounds).

Emotion regulation is pivotal in human interactions and well-being. Modulating one’s emotional state is intricately linked with psychological, behavioral, and physiological responses. Extensive research has explored how individuals with varying attachment orientations manage emotions, predominantly through self-report measures and behavioral assessments. However, the influence of attachment orientations on temporal electrophysiological dynamics during emotion regulation tasks remains underexplored. Here, 90 adults’ EEG brain activity was recorded while they engaged in tasks of attending to, reappraising, or suppressing emotions elicited by unpleasant images. Their attachment orientations were assessed using the Experiences in Close Relationships-12 (ECR-12) questionnaire to explore the association between Late Positive Potential (LPP) and attachment anxiety and avoidance amidst the deployment of emotion regulation strategies. Using Linear Mixed-Effects Model analysis our results revealed a lower amplitude of the LPP during cognitive reappraisal, suggesting the efficacy of this strategy in diminishing emotional intensity. Moreover, higher attachment anxiety exhibited increased LPP amplitude during both Reappraisal and Suppression, as well as during the negative natural condition, indicating heightened emotional responses. This study provides novel insights into the relationship between attachment orientations and emotion regulation, as evidenced by EEG-based measurements of the LPP. The findings indicate that individuals with higher attachment anxiety display distinct electrophysiological responses, particularly in emotional scenarios.

The Complex Trial Protocol (CTP), a P300-based Concealed Information Test (CIT) is an innovative tool that can be used to identify individuals who possess crime-related information. We tested the CTP in a mock terrorism scenario with three different probes. Forty-one undergraduate participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups, Innocent Control (IC), Simply Guilty (SG), and Guilty Countermeasure (GCM). Individuals in the SG and GCM groups underwent a mock terrorism scenario and were exposed to three pictorial probes, the face of an accomplice, the crime scene, and the mock explosive device. Additionally, the GCM group performed a memory suppression countermeasure. Based on the AUCs generated, the CTP showed a good to very good predictive ability ranging from .63 to .94 depending on the probe presented. The aggregated scores led to an AUC of .79 for the SG participants and of .90 for the GCM, indicating that it may be advantageous to use multiple probes. Overall, hit rates ranged from 54-78% (bomb), 64-93% (crime scene), and 71-93% (male accomplice). Attempting to suppress information had the opposite effect of generating slightly higher P300 amplitudes than in SG individuals. Stimuli quality and ecological issues are discussed.

Auditory rhythm perception involves bottom-up encoding of timing information and top-down maintenance of a particular interpretation. Beats in musical rhythms can be grouped to form metres, such as duple (two-beat groupings) or triple (three-beat groupings). Subjective (top-down) metre perception can be measured using electroencephalographic responses like mismatch negativity (MMN), P3a, and Steady-State Evoked Potentials (SSEPs). Previously we showed infants could be primed to perceive an ambiguous 6-beat rhythm as either duple or triple by adding loudness accents to every second, or third beat, respectively. For the subsequently presented unaccented rhythm, infants exhibited larger mismatch responses for pitch deviants on primed strong beats, particularly after duple priming (Flaten et al., 2022). Here we applied the same protocol to adults in two experiments. In Experiment 1, adults were passively primed to perceive the rhythm as duple or triple identically as the infants in the previous study. In Experiment 2, participants actively imagined the accents. Results showed that MMN and P3a were not enhanced for strong beats; however, P3a showed significant enhancement for duple beats regardless of priming or attention, driven mainly by musically experienced participants. SSEPs were enhanced at the primed frequency but only when participants actively imagined the metre. As with infants, effects were stronger in the duple group. These results suggest a strong bias toward duple metre in adults that requires attention to overcome, and which likely relates to enculturation to Western music as it was enhanced by music and dance experience.

Touch has an affective dimension, conveyed through low-threshold mechanoreceptors known as C-tactile (CT) afferents, which are activated by gentle, caress-like contact. While there is evidence that these fibers modulate nociceptive input, their influence in the processing of other somatosensory afferent activity remains largely unknown. In this study, we explored how slow brushing (CT-optimal stimulation) modulates somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) compared to vibration and no touch in 30 healthy participants. Our results did not show differences across conditions in the amplitude of early SEPs recorded over the somatosensory cortex (N20, P25, N30, and P45). However, a reduced frontocentral P150 SEP component was observed during slow brushing compared to the other conditions. This suggests that early cortical processing of somatosensory information is not affected by brushing. Nonetheless, the reduced P150 amplitude indicates that CT-optimal touch may influence both nociceptive afferents and somatosensory input through the lemniscal system, possibly engaging brain areas involved in attentional and cognitive processing.

This study investigated the relationship between relational integration and semantic processing in numerical inductive reasoning using event-related potentials (ERPs). Participants were required to identify hidden rules in three-digit sequences and judged whether fourth probes were congruent with these rules. The experiment manipulated relational complexity: simple and hierarchical rules (e.g., ”12, 13, 14, 15” or ”12, 13, 15, 18”) shared identical first two numbers but differed in the third, in order to isolate the relational integration process. The type of cue was also manipulated: the no-cue condition presented only a fixation point, providing no rule information; the part-cue condition introduced operands (such as “+” or “–”) to ensure rules could be identified after presenting second numbers and confirmed after the onset of third numbers. Both the time domain and mass univariate ERP results locked to the third numbers revealed independent main effects of relational complexity and cue type on both the Late Negative Component (LNC) . The independent effects especially on the LNC implies that high-order numerical reasoning distinct from semantic processing.

Body leaning (indicating directional movements of approach or avoidance) and sway (indicating reduced mobility or freezing) are often used to assess respectively approach/avoidance and freezing in response to emotional stimuli. These responses are typically quantified using force plates that monitor the displacement of the Center of Pressure. In this article, meta-analytical analyses were conducted to synthesize findings from 44 studies (total N participants = 1756) identified from 5 databases, that manipulated the valence of stimuli displayed —pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant—and measured corresponding body sway and leaning. The analyses revealed significant heterogeneity in the reported effects across the studies. Overall, only contrasting pleasant to unpleasant conditions (vs contrasting pleasant to neutral, or unpleasant to neutral conditions) resulted in a small meta-analytical effect size. Moderating variables such as the type of design used and the duration of exposure to stimuli question the nature of the effects reported in the literature and indicate a risk of potential confounding variables. Recommendations for future studies, with an emphasis on mitigating false negative rate by ensuring a large enough sample size, are discussed.