Research projects

Aging as well as many psychiatric disorders are characterized by a decline in cognitive functions due to a lack of neural resources but these effects are difficult to isolate. Therefore, in this project we’ll use sleep deprivation in healthy young adults to induce a transient functional loss of resources. This model will be used to better understand how the cognitive control network deals with resource availability and to potentially identify approaches to improving cognitive performance when resources are reduced.

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Understanding the affective states (emotions and moods) of non-human animals is crucial to understand their needs, improve their welfare, and assess the effects of treatments for affective disorders in animals, be they preclinical models of human disorders, or patients in their own right. Existing knowledge regarding affective states across species is limited and fragmented. For example, it is unclear: (1) whether and to what extent different affective states occur in different species; (2) if these states are expressed and experienced in similar ways by different species; (3) which physiological mechanisms of affective states are shared across species; and (4) which indicators of affective states are valid across more than one species.
AFFECT-EVO brings together an interdisciplinary network of scholars in philosophy, psychology, humanities, social, computational, and natural sciences, with relevant stakeholders from industry, advocacy organizations, and governments. This network will apply an evolutionary framework to evaluate collaboratively and systematically what we know about affective states in non-human animals. This approach will (1) identify gaps in our knowledge, guiding future research; (2) provide a basis for developing strategies to reliably generalize knowledge about affective states across species; (3) develop better methods to assess affective states to improve animal welfare; and (4) develop better treatments for both animal and human affective disorders. We will also explore how the public and policy makers engage with the concept of affective states in animals and how this interacts with the implementation of new laws and policies that affect animals.

Action keywords
Evolution of Affective States - Comparative Psychology - Affective Science - Animal Welfare - Affective Disorders

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Our Research Training Group 2413 is an innovate research program funded by the DFG. We - 13 PhD students and their PIs - are dealing with the idea that cognitive decline in normal aging results from synaptic dysbalances. Hence, we are highly motivated to shed more light on altered synaptic proteostasis, dysfunctions of the immune system, altered functionality of the multipart synapse and changes in neuromodulation.

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THE ROLE OF THE MEDIAL FRONTAL CORTEX IN COGNITIVE CONTROL AND DECISION-MAKING: ANATOMY, CONNECTIONS, REPRESENTATIONS, CAUSALITY

Using cognitive control, people flexibly adapt their behaviour to achieve their goals of action in a changing world. Despite intensive research, there is still no overarching understanding of the mechanisms of cognitive control and its underlying main structure, the posterior medial frontal cortex (pMFC). This is due to the insufficient consideration of the neuroanatomy of the pMFC, its subregions and individual variability, the low sensitivity of group studies, the scarcity of causal evidence in humans, and the use of diverse research methods and paradigms in heterogeneous studies, which makes it difficult to differentiate general principles of cognitive control from study-specific idiosyncrasies. The project aims to solve these problems with two completely new approaches:

A) So-called dense sampling, the comprehensive collection of behavioural, imaging, EEG, eye movement and peripheral physiological data in multiple studies of the same subject as they perform cognitive control demanding tasks, allows variables of cognitive control to be quantified directly or via computer modelling. Multivariate analysis procedures are used to identify general as well as task- and modality-specific representations of these variables and to create a functional mapping of the subregions of the pMFC. The basic idea is that general principles of cognitive control over tasks and context should generalise and always be represented in a similar way.

B) The new non-invasive brain stimulation with transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) allows influencing neuronal activity with unprecedented spatial resolution. In combination with EEG and imaging, tFUS will reveal the necessity of sub-areas of the pMFC and some sub-cortical network partners for cognitive control.
In the medium term, this project will open new avenues for studying individual differences and pathological changes in cognitive control.

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 101018805).

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Im Projekt wird die Wirkung der tDCS anhand einer einzelnen Stimulationssitzung
gegenüber einer Sham-Stimulation (Placebo) überprüft. Es sollen gezielt etwaige
Plastizitätseffekte auf der Ebene neuropsychologischer Funktionen erfasst werden. Außerdem soll geprüft werden, inwiefern die Intervention sicher und akzeptiert in der
vulnerablen Gruppe der älteren, psychisch kranken Menschen umgesetzt werden kann und sich
dementsprechend für den klinischen und wiederholten Einsatz eignet.

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We provide a platform for the structured interdisciplinary scientific training of our doctoral as well as postdoctoral researchers within the proposed CRC to meet both individual career needs but also the transfer of knowledge form basic science into application, and the involvement of the public in research questions.

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The external environment is rich with multiple sources of sensory stimulation, and our ability to adapt
to our surroundings requires the efficient use of neural resources to process this dynamic input. Attendingto particular moments in time is a key cognitive capacity instrumental in all animals’ survival.
This requires associations between sensory systems and top-down executive control. How our senses
give us information about the environment changes as we age, often becoming compromised, and
resulting in drastic lifestyle changes, including problems with communicating and learning; ultimately
leading to isolation and further cognitive decline. While previous designs to prolong cognitive functioningacross the lifespan often rely on unisensory training programs, in the ‘real’ world, events often stimulate more than one sensory modality simultaneously and, therefore, may enhance the efficacy ofresource utilisation. The hidden potential underlying multisensory information processing within theseneurocognitive circuits during temporal attention, as well as the changes in these capacities acrossageing, remain unclear. Our project focuses on a key component that is instrumental in cognitive performanceand memory formation, the utilisation of temporal information in multisensory contexts; further, we will determine the potential to enhance these cognitive processes through interventionssuch as external feedback and multisensory training. We evaluate the potential for elevating cognitiveefficiency by manipulating expectations about the timing of sensorially cued events (WP1), testing thetransfer of information across modalities (WP2), and combining sensory categories (WP3) to ultimatelystabilise memory engrams. Across all three aims, we will relate behavioural readouts directly with neuronalactivity on the meso-scale and macro-scale level using functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI) in both humans and mice as well as micro-scale single-cell resolution two-photon (2P) Ca2+imaging and immediate early gene (IEG) expression in mice.

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When we look at a face, we carry out distinctive eye movements leading to gaze paths that can easily be discriminated from the gaze paths elicited by other objects. It is well-known that frontal and parietal areas support the planning and execution of such eye movements. However, we recently showed that face and house-specific gaze tracks can be decoded in the fusiform face area (FFA) and the parahippocampal place area (PPA) - even in the absence of a face or house to look at. We concluded that action (gaze) patterns are represented in high-level visual cortex, demonstrating a potential neural basis for close interactions of perception and action. While we think we have presented solid evidence for this counterintuitive mapping of complex gaze patterns in high-level perceptual areas, many questions as to their nature and function remain.
In the first experiment of the present proposal, we want to investigate the nature of this novel finding, specifically at what time the critical information is represented in a gaze track and if it is coded in the sequence or rather the location of fixations. In a second experiment, we want to learn if the gaze tracks elicited when identifying a face respectively identifying a facial emotion expression are represented in different perceptual brain areas. Finally, we plan to investigate if microsaccades elicited during face viewing are represented in a similar way as saccades in the FFA.

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Allocation of attention enables us to focus on the task at hand. However, in a constantly changing environment it is also necessary to explore the environment for the adaptive reallocation of resources. The anterior prefrontal cortex (aPFC) is regarded as a decisive part of a neurocognitive circuit for the neuronal realization of exploratory resource allocation in human and non-human primates. However, rodents (with their less differentiated frontal cortex) also show exploratory resource allocation. We plan to investigate the neural processes of exploratory attentional resource shifts on the macro-scale and meso-scale across humans and Mongolian gerbils. We utilize a novel, complementary foraging paradigm in both species based on exploitation / exploration trade-offs and record brain activity from the aPFC with respect to its local micro- and widespread macro-circuitry. Moreover, there is emerging evidence that exploratory attention is diminished in old age revealed by-sometimes perseverative- exploitative behaviour. Exploratory resource allocation is also likely to be a prerequisite for successful transfer of learning. This will be investigated in collaboration with other subprojects of the CRC.

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Many disorders as well as ageing cause a decline in cognitive functions, yet experimentally inducible
changes in neural resources are required to understand how these declines arise and how they are
counteracted by mechanisms mobilising remaining resources. Lack of sleep destabilises and impairs
cognitive performance and renders mistakes more likely, presumably by functionally depleting neural
resources. In this project we aim to establish and characterise sleep deprivation (SD) as a model to
test and simulate the effects of declining cognitive functions as a result of reduced availability of neural resources (a "functional loss of resources”) in humans. On the other hand, cognitive control may adaptively mobilise resources according to needs and availability. To probe neural resources and mechanisms maintaining cognitive functions in spite of SD effects, cognitive control is investigated using a task allowing us to disentangle contributions of the posterior medial frontal, lateral frontal, and occipital cortices which together form a neural network that facilitates behavioural adaptations. Employing model-based and multivariate pattern analyses (MVPA) to neuroimaging data in rested wakefulness (RW) and after SD, the contributions of individual regions and the network itself will be investigated. Structural predictors of resource vs. vulnerability to SD, such as intracortical myelination, will be explored using microstructural MRI. Orexin (OX) is a neuropeptide that, in interaction with the noradrenergic (NA) system, stabilises and adjusts arousal and may have the potential to revert SD effects. Therefore, its role of in stabilising and restoring neural resources will be studied in pharmacological challenge studies.

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The aim of our CBBS neuroscience graduate program (CBBS GP) is to connect students from the Otto von Guericke University (OVGU), the Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN) and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE). The CBBS graduate program is founded by the Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences CBBS, a central scientific institution of the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg.

Currently, more than 150 PhD students, MD students and postdocs are already registered. Under the umbrella of the Otto von Guericke Graduate Academy (OVG-GA), the CBBS GP offers assistance on arrival in Magdeburg / Germany, helps to overcome bureaucratic hurdles and gives students a guide how to shape their own career. In addition, the CBBS GP organizes German courses in various formats and creates the basis for a scientific exchange thanks to the study groups offered. In addition to the calendar, which now includes all events taking place on the medical campus, the CBBS GP tries to give an overview of the research taking place on that campus with the new ring lecture. The CBBS GP provides information about national and international job offers, including the black board with job advertisements for students, PhDs, MDs and postdocs.

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This project is part of the Research Training Group (RTG) 2413 "The aging synapse (SynAGE)"
Cf. http://gp.cbbs.eu/synage-tp13/
RTG 2413: The Aging Synapse - Molecular, Cellular and Behavioral Underpinnings of Cognitive Decline
Our aging society has benefitted in large from advances in modern medicine in the last century. By 2050 the global number of elderly dependent people will supposedly have reached 277 million (Prince et al., 2013) with approximately every fourth Western citizen being over the age of 65 (Cracknell, 2010). This demographic change poses an increasing burden with incurred economic, infrastructural, and last but not least large social expenses - especially if it comes down to decline of cognitive function in the elderly. Thus, there is an urgent need for a better understanding of such cognitive decline in order to develop strategies for maintaining and improving mental health and quality of life in the elderly population. Current research in this field focuses mainly on dementia and associated neurodegenerative diseases. Much less investigated and in many aspects neglected, however, are the consequences of normal aging as such for synaptic, cellular and neuronal network properties. Normal aging is associated with a decline in sensory, motor, and cognitive function, in particular working memory, cognitive flexibility and multi-tasking capacity, and although relatively mild as compared to dementia, this negatively impacts on health and life quality. In fact, there is cumulating evidence that not only genetic factors contribute to the course of aging but also individual lifestyle habits such as rich diet, little to no exercise, stress, provoked development of the metabolic syndrome, vascular alterations, all of which negatively impact on cognitive function in the elderly as well.
The innovative research program of RTG2413 SynAGE deals with the idea that cognitive decline in normal aging results from subtle synaptic alterations that impart an imbalance between stability and plastic properties of spine synapses and that is qualitatively different from neurodegeneration. This will further involve changes in the properties and functionality of the extracellular matrix, communication and interaction with glia cells and cells of the immune system, neuromodulation, and ultimately otherwise compensatory mechanisms. We aim to understand these processes of synaptic aging from a molecular, cellular as well as behavioral angle by jointly addressing transversal, intimately linked themes forming a comprehensive framework for inspiring thesis projects with high societal relevance.

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Cognitive control enables goal-oriented behavior and flexible adaptations to newly arising difficulties in actions as well as the compensation and future avoidance of own action errors. Over the last three decades, the implementation of this essential function in the human brain has been intensively researched, resulting in a rapid advance in the understanding of cognitive control. A large number of theories and models have been developed, but these are difficult to summarize or refute. It is extremely difficult to integrate the multiple parameters that appear to be represented in different study paradigms in the main cognitive control region of the cortex (specifically the posterior medial frontal cortex, pMFC), to discover possible subregional specificities and to recognize the similarities and differences in their underlying computational mechanisms. Causes include the strong heterogeneity and lack of standardization of paradigms and the frequent lack of mathematical/biophysical formalization in computational models.

The aim of the NovACoDe project is to develop and test prototypical research paradigms for the investigation and quantification of cognitive performance in cognitive control, action monitoring and decision-making. The paradigms should fulfill the following criteria:

1. Robustness, reliability and time efficiency. The paradigms should be structured in such a way that they demonstrate a high level of reliability with repeated testing, that they are robust in relation to the examination context (laboratory, clinic) and that they provide statistically reliable data in the shortest possible examination time. They should also be easy for patients to carry out
.
2. Relevant parameters of cognitive control and decisions should be quantifiable from the behavioral data directly or through computational modeling (see below)
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3. The paradigms should be adapted to imaging and electrophysiology in such a way that correlates of the parameters mentioned under 2 can be measured directly or decoded using multivariate pattern recognition methods
.

For these paradigms, computational models are to be developed or adapted that can reproduce the behavior of the test subjects and thus allow the determination of latent parameters. The applicability of the paradigms will be demonstrated in pilot studies with EEG. As a result, a battery of standardized examination paradigms focusing on cognitive control and decision-making will be developed, which will be used to investigate causal relationships, e.g. by means of brain stimulation in healthy individuals and for clinical and clinical- oriented studies in patients with neurological or psychiatric disorders.

The project was initially approved for the period July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022 with a total amount of 151,536 euros. In May 2022, the project period was extended until November 30, 2022 and the funding allocation was increased by 10,943.19 euros to a total of 162,479.19 euros. One research assistant, Dr. Lieneke Janssen, and two student assistants are currently being financed from the project funds. The project manager is Professor Dr. Markus Ullsperger, Chair of Neuropsychology at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg.

The project has already contributed significantly to the development of a learning paradigm in which various parameters, e.g. the amount of a reward and surprises irrelevant for learning, are manipulated and their representations in the brain waves can be broken down (Kirschner H, Fischer AG, Ullsperger M (2022) Feedback-related EEG dynamics separately reflect decision parameters, biases, and future choices. NeuroImage 259:119437. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119437).
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Autosuggestion is one form of self-suggestion and follows the idea that the constant, inner repetition of a thought can be converted into corresponding ideomotor, ideosensory, and ideoaffective states. This concept is certainly captivating, and nowadays used in many life and job coaching concepts. However, empirical evidence on how far and to what extent autosuggestion can indeed alter one’s own neurophysiological bodily states is so far scarce. Here, we use a combination of state-of-the-art neuroimaging technology (7 Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging, fMRI) together with psychophysical modelling techniques and electrophysiological recordings (EEG), to answer the question of how the inner repetition of an idea influences tactile sensations at the body on a phenomenological, behavioural, and neurophysiological level.

Project funded by the Bial Foundation Research Grants 2019.

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Data collected in the clinic is often less meaningful than doctors would like. This is not only due to the limited number of tests, but also to subjective influencing factors such as the doctor-patient relationship or the experience of the doctor. Quantitative data on the patient's behavior in the home is often not available, which is a problem, especially for the diagnosis of motor disorders. In this project, we plan to use the latest findings from basic research on real-life tracking of hand functions to develop a new medical device, the "Diagnostic Glove". This is intended to help doctors to diagnose pathologies of the upper extremities more easily, evaluate them over time and use them to classify motor disorders. For the initialization of the project, we are working on a common problem that is difficult to solve in everyday clinical practice: the differentiation between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), inclusion body myositis (IBM) and monomelic amyotrophy (MMA). All three diseases are characterized by upper limb involvement, which can be difficult to distinguish in early stages of the disease. The project proposed here aims to (i) demonstrate that the Diagnostic Glove can be used to classify clinically-relevant changes in hand motor function, (ii) develop algorithms that can reliably distinguish between ALS, IBM and MMA, and (iii) obtain a patent for the software as a first step towards commercialization of the product. This project follows a trend in medicine in which new products are being developed that allow patient behavior to be recorded in real life. This "medicine to go" promises new, automated therapy procedures based on big data and analysis algorithms to make medical diagnosis more evidence-based and quantitative.
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The goal of the original research project in the first application phase was to search genome-wide for associations between genetic polymorphisms and electrophysiological endo-/phenotypes of human action monitoring. A genetic approach with a broad focus across many hundreds of thousands of SNPs offered the advantage of systematically and comprehensively determining the contribution of different systems/components in action monitoring. The goal of the continuation application was to further validate and characterize the promising initial results regarding a genetic contribution in action monitoring. The sample collected in the first stage of the application was too small to reach definitive conclusions here. Another focus of the continuation application was the comparison of different methodological approaches to relate genetic information to electrophysiological data (classical association approach, parallel ICA, shape invariant modeling).

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Vision loss affects the ease with which we can explore the environment with eye movements. For instance, patients suffering from a central scotoma place saccade targets into the scotoma region until they have learned to use an extrafoveal retinal location as a saccadic reference point. This often takes months during which the patients suffer from inefficient exploration patterns with few saccades and abnormally wide attentional foci.

Other patients use retinal implants that provide them with residual vision in a small part of their visual field. Depending on the system used, the implants enable eye movements or only head movements to explore the environment. The impact of this limitation on visual search of the environment has only scarcely been investigated.

In the present project, we aim to investigate the impact of partial vision loss on visual search with eye-tracking and functional magnetic resonance imaging. Eye-tracking is used to simulate vision loss with gaze-contingent simulation of vision loss, e.g. with simulated scotomata. In combination with fMRI, we aim to investigate changes in visual search processes on the one hand and changes in the neural representation of the environment on the other hand.

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The ESF-funded international OVGU Graduate School (ESF-GS) Analysis, Imaging and Modeling of Neuronal and Inflammatory Processes (ABINEP) applied for here is intended to support and expand the training of international doctoral students in the particularly research-intensive profile lines of the Faculty of Medicine at Otto von Guericke University (OVGU). The OVGU profile lines funded by this ESF-GS are the Centers for Neurosciences (CBBS) and for Dynamic Systems (CDS, including Immunology/Molecular Medicine of Inflammation). The ESF-GS comprises 4 thematic modules with a total of 21 fellows, some of which are assigned to the above-mentioned focal points in parallel and which are to be combined organizationally under the central umbrella of the ABINEP ESF-GS. Each of the 4 thematic modules will have 5-6 scholarship holders. The modules, the allocation of the number of fellowships and the OVGU research structures supported by them are listed below. The non-university partners involved in the content are also named:

• 1. neuroinflammation ( 5; CBBS, CDS, OVGU, FME, LIN, DZNE)
• 2. modeling of neuronal networks ( 5; CBBS, OVGU, FME, LIN, DZNE)
• 3rd immunosenescence ( 6; CDS, FME, HZI)
• 4. imaging of human brain functions ( 5; CBBS, OVGU, FME, LIN, DZNE)

The CBBS-associated modules have strong links with the engineering sciences (especially the medical technology transfer focus), which are to be funded via an independently applied-for ESF-GS (MEMoRIAL). Close cooperation between these two ESF-GS is planned in order to achieve synergies both in the training of the scholarship holders and for innovative new research approaches in collaboration with the OVGU's medical technology transfer focus and the state project Autonomy in Old Age. Overall, the ESF-GS ABINEP promotes the internationalization of OVGU's recognized excellent medical research.
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As part of the international Graduate School on Analysis, Imaging, and Modeling of Neuronal and Inflammatory Processes (ABINEP), Module 4 "Human Brain Imaging for diagnosing neurocognitive disorders", mechanisms of value-based decisions and their deviations from the optimum are investigated in healthy individuals and in patients with mental disorders. The focus is particularly on mechanisms of relative learning. The investigations are carried out multimodally (EEG, MEG, fMRI).
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Ziel des Projektes ist es, herauszufinden, inwiefern elektrophysiologische Korrelate der Handlungsüberwachung nach einer Hirnschädigung bzw. einer psychischen Erkrankung im Vergleich zu einer Kontrollgruppe verändert erscheinen bzw. welchen prädiktiven Wert diese Veränderungen für die kognitive Wiederherstellung eines Patienten haben.

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Nonretinal vision is a term for visual experience in the absence of external stimulation (e.g., visual imagery, visual working memory, visual hallucination). Many previous studies have found that humans can use nonretinal vision to influence visual perceptual task performance (e.g., holding the identity of an upcoming target in mind prior to performing a search), but different studies have made vastly different conclusions about the extent of this influence. One issue is that individual differences in nonretinal vision are rarely taken into account, but they may greatly impact perception. For example, there is a wide spectrum of nonretinal visual vividness: on one end, there are people who cannot visualize even familiar concrete objects (aphantasia). On the other end, some people have such strong nonretinal vividness that it interferes with visual perception on a daily basis, as in the case of synaesthesia (e.g., uncontrollably imagining colors attached to letters of the alphabet).

The main goal of this project is to investigate the extent to which individual differences in nonretinal vividness and precision impact behavioral and cortical correlations with visual perception.

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The aim of the proposed study is to investigate in a genome wide fashion the association between genomic polymorphisms and endo- / phenotypes of human performance monitoring in terms of surface electroencephalogram (EEG), in order to investigate the genetic basis and genetic mechanisms of cognitive control processes. This is a continuation of project KL 2337 / 2-1 (term 2 years until 30.09.2012). To date, in a multicentric approach at the Radboud University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and at the Max Planck Institute for human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany, N = 1000 young, healthy subjects were characterized in terms of behavioral and EEG phenotypes and their genetic material collected. In 686 of these subjects, the genotyping has been completed. A preliminary genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) provided evidence of association between response time, post-error slowing (PES) and error-related negativity (ERN) amplitude with different genomic loci and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP). Furthermore, we were able to establish the feasibility of the analysis by means of parallel independent component analysis (parallel ICA). The proposed project is designed to complete the data collection or collection of a step-up cohort to secure the findings and to provide means for a more detailed analysis.

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Our previous work has shown that the deficits of contextual cueing in search with central vision loss are not due to a failure to learn repeatedly presented configurations, but due to a failure of memory-guided search that goes along with inefficient saccadic exploration of the search displays. In the current project, we want to address this issue with the aim to improve memory-guided search in individuals with central vision loss by improving saccadic exploration.
 
The main problem of eye movement control following central vision loss is that saccades lead to the foveation of peripheral saccade targets. While this is normally adaptive, bringing peripheral points of interest in full view, it is obviously maladaptive after central vision loss, requiring corrective saccades to bring the point of interest into view at a preferred retinal location (PRL) bordering the area of vision loss. What would be more adaptive in this case is to re-reference the saccade target location to an extrafoveal PRL. It is important to note that PRL-use is not the same as saccadic re-referencing to the PRL. In fact, SR has been found to develop only slowly - over months - in clinical populations suffering from foveal vison loss (von Noorden & Mackensen, 1962; White & Bedell, 1990; Whittaker, Cum­mings, & Swieson, 1991). However, recent experiments with central scotoma simulation (Barraza-Bernal et al., 2017; Kwon et al., 2013; Walsh and Liu, 2014; Liu and Kwon, 2016) have demonstrated ways to induce SR over hours rather than months, as reported in the patient studies. While these reports have shown the feasibility of successful SR training with simulated scotomata, they still leave many open questions, as outlined in the work program. Moreover, it took up to 25 hours of training for the fixations with the PRL to become comparably accurate as with the fovea (Kwon et al., 2013), so even a significant reduction of training hours with improved training techniques would be a considerable progress, making future training programs for patients more feasible. Furthermore, the usefulness of SR-training in AMD-patients (instead of study participants with simulated scotomata) still needs to be established.
Because of the slow spontaneous development of saccadic rereferencing and its importance for efficient visual search (including memory-driven search guidance), the main aim of this proposal is the development of an efficient method to train the fast and durable establishment of saccadic re-referencing (SR) to a PRL in the presence of foveal vision loss and to test effects on memory-guided search in the contextual cueing paradigm as well as its transfer to another important task - reading.

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Our daily decisions and behaviors are significantly influenced by how and where we direct our attention. The focus of attention is also a prerequisite for successful learning in many situations. For example, a child's learning success depends on whether they manage to focus their attention on content relevant to the lesson or whether they allow themselves to be distracted by their surroundings. These attention processes often take place unconsciously and are modulated not only by current environmental stimuli but also by previous learning experiences. Thus, individuals with addiction disorders are more likely to turn to stimuli that previously co-occurred with the addictive substance, which may contribute to the occurrence of relapse cases. The research of our group deals with this interplay of learning, attention and behavior and its change over the lifespan and in mental illness. To answer our questions, we use a combination of methods from behavioral experiments and neuroscientific imaging techniques. The results of our research will be used to develop tools that help patients in real-life situations to overcome attentional biases. This can be done, for example, via target group-specific cell phone apps that can be used in everyday life.
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This project investigates the perception and neural representation of primary rewards, i.e. tastes, of their visual correspondences (secondary rewards) and of their (mis)matched combination in the human brain. Aims of this project are: (1) to identify the motivational, hedonic and category-specific representations (sweet, sour etc.) of primary rewards, (2) to identify the influence of secondary reinforcers on these representations and (3) to identify the effects of overlearned and novel visuo-gustatory correspondences on these and their functional interplay by means of univariate fMRI-approaches, plus functional connectivity, classification analysis and functional hyperalignment.

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This project investigates the perception and neuronal representation of primary reinforcers (taste), their visual counterparts (secondary reinforcers) and their (in)congruent combination in the human brain. Aims are: (1) identification of motivational, hedonic and catego-riespecific (sweet, sour etc.) representations of primary reinforcers, (2) identification of the influence of secondary reinforcers on these representations and (3) identification of the effects of novel and overlearned visuogustatory combinations and their functional interplay with univariate fMRI analyses, connectivity, classification analyses and hyperalignment.
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In previous experiments, we have shown that structures of the dopaminergic system are not only involved in reward learning but also in visual learning processes that are either based only on cognitive feedback or even on internal confidence judgments in the absence of external feedback. In the coming application period, we would like to build on this by investigating the interaction of the ventral striatum and medial temporal lobe in complex visual learning processes. Based on animal experiments, we will use functional imaging to investigate how these structures interact in the representation of reward expectancy and prediction errors in spatial and temporal contexts. Building on our previous work, we will define these terms to include responses to external feedback about the correctness of task expectations on the one hand, and the confirmation or violation of implicitly learned contingencies on the other. To this end, we would like to conduct a series of experiments using high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging and link these to quantitative modeling. Based on findings from animal experiments, we first plan to investigate an explicit context conditioning paradigm in which the representation of motivational value of an action alternative and context is analyzed . Building on these findings, we would then like to proceed to the investigation of implicit learning processes. To this end, we plan to use the contextual cueing paradigm on the one hand and the serial reaction time paradigm on the other.
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Recent work in this subproject has demonstrated that both implicit and explicit rewards are involved in the incidental learning of repeated spatial configurations. Implicitly, reward signals were obtained from the putamen when a search target was found at a learnt location within a repeated spatial search context. Explicit monetary reward led to enhanced search guidance in repeated configurations. Medial frontal and retrosplenial cortex were core areas of the underlying neural architecture. For the next funding period, we propose to further investigate the nature of reward enhancement of spatial contextual cueing with respect to the role of relative reward value and with respect to the role of reward versus punishment (monetary gain versus loss). In addition, the specificity of the reward-related enhancement will be tested by contrasting context learning and target location probability learning as well as by investigating the contribution of visual working memory capacity. A new aspect will consist of developmental studies of reward modulation of contextual cueing over the lifespan. In particular, we will study age-related changes during learning, expression of learning and relearning of incidentally acquired contextual cues in visual search and examine how the implicit processes interact with motivational factors and working memory capacity.

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The project includes a pilot study in which the ability to defer rewards and risk aversion in the context of economic decision-making processes are examined. In addition, economic decision-making in old age is to be improved through training.
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This project addresses the role of the habenula (Hb) in motivated behaviour of humans. The Hb is an important relay on a major descending pathway from the forebrain to the brain stem with predominantly inhibitory influence on monoaminergic nuclei, thereby controlling release of dopamine and serotonin to the forebrain. The project aims at understanding the contribution of the Hb to active and passive avoidance and to learning from aversive events. This comprises studying habenular activity, its structural and functional embedding in pallido-habenulo-mesencephalo-striatal networks, and its neurochemical interactions. To this end, high-resolution structural, diffusion-weighted and functional MRI, pharmacological challenges, and in-vivo receptor density mapping using positron emission tomography will be performed in healthy volunteers. Understanding habenular functions is important not only for fundamental neurosciences but also for clinical neuropsychiatry, because dysfunction of the Hb has been suggested to contribute to the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders, such as affective disorders and addiction. Therefore, we will search for volume and connectivity aberrations of the Hb in patients with addiction.

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Implementation of data processing and security concepts at a level that meets the requirements of funding institutions (ERC, DFG) and scientific journals. Documentation of the analysis tools available in Magdeburg. Implementation of user interfaces that make these and external technologies available to Magdeburg scientists with significantly reduced technical requirements. The aim is to increase the efficiency of the technical aspects of research projects and improve the reproducibility of analyses. Among other things, a general data structure for magnetic resonance imaging studies will be established, which will make future analysis paths accessible across all groups.
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This is a long-running project that aims to built a unique resource for studying the brain's natural behavior. It combines brain imaging with other data acquisition techniques to capture a versatile recording of the human response to a prolonged complex natural stimulus, the motion picture "Forrest Gump".

We invite anyone and everyone to participate in this decentralized effort to explore the opportunities of open science in neuroimaging. One of our goals is to document how much (scientific) value can be generated - from the publication of scientific findings derived from this dataset, algorithms and methods evaluated on this dataset, and/or extensions of this dataset by the acquisition and incorporation of new data.

Since 2014, a number of datasets have been publicly released for unrestricted use, covering functional and structural brain imaging, eye tracking, physiological recordings, and numerous annotations of the structure of the movie stimulus. For up-to-date information on available data, funding, and our many collaborators, please see the project homepage.

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Retinal implants (RI) are photoelectric devices that enable otherwise blind patients residual vision due to electrical stimulation of the retina. The perception gained by retinal implants ( RI) is limited by the design of the implant on the one hand and by physiological factors on the other hand (for a recent review see Shepherd et al., 2013). Great progress has been made in the development of RI systems and surgical procedures, leading to certified medical products. In contrast, to our knowledge no scientifically validated perceptual learning programs exist that help the RI patients to make optimal use of their implants. The potential usefulness of perceptual learning regimes derives from the severe limitations of visual perception that current RI technology can offer. In this situation, patients may substantially benefit from learning to recognize objects and scenes in the degraded visual signals that RIs deliver.

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Retinal implants consist of electronic chips that are implanted in the eyes of blind patients to replace the function of the lost receptor cells and to stimulate preserved retinal nerve cells. In this way, a visual impression can be restored, but it is so limited that it is not easy to recognize objects or scenes. We would now like to develop a training program for these patients that will enable them to learn to recognize objects as quickly as possible using their reduced vision mediated by the retinal implant.
To this end, we are trying to optimize object representation for vision with retinal implants (RI) in various ways. Great importance is attached to ensuring that object recognition generalizes to new, previously unlearned object views in order to guarantee the transfer of learning to everyday situations. In order to minimize unnecessary stress for the patients, the training program is initially developed using visually healthy test subjects who attempt to recognize object images that simulate vision using retinal implants by means of reduced resolution and specific distortions.
The ultimate aim of the project is to develop a computer-assisted training program for RI patients that will help them to make the best possible use of their regained vision in everyday life following implantation.
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Over the past decade numerous studies have revealed alterations in performance monitoring and decision making in obsessive-compulsive disorder. The aims of the current project are: (1) to further investigate these changes to specify the underlying mechanism; and (2) to determine relationships with clinical phenotypes (such as obsession and compulsions) of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

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The present project is set out to investigate the role of the frontopolar cortex in tracking visual stimulus characteristics. Previous studies have shown that the frontopolar cortex is involved in flexible attention shift between different stimulus dimensions (see Pollmann, 2015, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, for discussion). The present project investigates to what extend (1) low-level stimulus characteristics that are necessary for the flexible shift of attention are represented in the frontopolar cortex and (2) frontopolar regions actively track the necessity for attention shifts and change their activation accordingly. These questions are tackled with two paradigm that reguire different levels of attention shift between stimulus diemensions and multivariate analysis of the resulting fMRI and EEG data.

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To err is human. While cognitive neuroscience has made substantial progress in understanding the brain s ability to detect errors and to adapt behavior accordingly, the neurobiological reasons and conditions for making mistakes are still poorly understood. Sleep deprivation leads to lower task performance and increased error rates. The proposed project aims at investigating the brain mechanisms that underlie the commission of errors in goal-directed behavior in rested wakefulness and after sleep deprivation. Using combined EEG and fMRI, we will investigate whether different types of errors can be distinguished and predicted based on specific spatiotemporal patterns of brain activity evolving before the error occurs. An interference task has been designed such that perceptual processing of task-relevant and distracting stimuli can be decoded separately by means of machine learning techniques thereby providing a tool to  investigate the effects of arousal and selective attention. Thus, general disengagement from task can be distinguished from distraction and maladaptive misallocation of selective attention. The planned study will help predicting errors based on brain activity patterns and understanding the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the performance deficits after sleep deprivation. It will furthermore be the starting point of a long-term collaboration of two laboratories providing complementary expertise with respect to performance monitoring, attention, cognitive changes induced by sleep deprivation and multimodal cognitive neuroscience methods.

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The aim of this project is to overcome the technical difficulties involved in the distribution and reuse of original scientific data in order to improve collaboration between independent working groups in the step-by-step research process. To this end, the successful model of software distribution is being adapted for use in data sharing. Analogous to the software counterpart, all components of a "data distribution" are developed: Data package manager, package archive, interfaces for automated and interactive use. The work is based on two basic principles: 1) Use of existing, independent data hosting service providers as the foundation for a decentralized data-sharing platform. 2) Use of an already established software for data management and transport logistics: git-annex, which in turn is based on the widely used Git version control system. The finished "DataGit" system will make it possible to access a wide range of data with a single interface - from a single file on a working group's web server to large data collections on portals such as openfmri.org. DataGit is compatible with all operating systems and presents users with data access according to familiar concepts such as files and directories, while user authorization and data transport are handled transparently.
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Adaptive perception requires the prioritization of relevant over irrelevant information. When we are looking for a specific book of which we only remember the color of its cover, we can limit our search to mainly that color. The mental representation of what we are looking for is called the attentional template (also target template, search template, attentional set; e.g., Folk et al., 1992). An attentional template is a flexible representation reflecting current selection preferences, as derived from continuously changing task demands and prior selection history. Even though attentional templates are essential for shaping and controlling perception and action in everyday life, surprisingly little is known about their nature. For example, when you look for your car keys, do you look for their shape, their color, or both? In case of the latter, are shape and color integrated in a single representation, or are they independently represented? Can you look for your wallet at the same time, without affecting your key-template? Furthermore, it is often assumed that visual attention is guided by visual templates, but it is perfectly possible that non-visual types of representation (e.g., semantic codes) are also involved. Finally, the nature of the template may change fundamentally in the course of learning, as a result of selection history.AimThe aim of our joint research proposal is to answer the fundamental question of what kind of representation the attentional template is, in terms of function (how it affects our behaviour), physiology (how it is implemented in the brain), and time (how it is affected by learning/selection history). How we flexibly set up new attentional preferences remains one of the great mysteries in cognitive neuroscience, and any reference to templates involves some residual appeal to a homunculus. Although we will not be able to completely banish this homunculus in our research, ourultimate aim is to do the next best thing, to seek fundamental new insights into the nature of this homunculus. To this end, in several other projects we have focused on questions like the number of templates that can be maintained simultaneously, the dynamics of controlling the template, and the influence of different memory systems. In this collaboration we focus on the fundamental question of representation: What is the nature of the attentional template? Specifically, what types of preference can it hold, how do these change as a function of experience, and what are the neural codes underlying these representations? A thorough understanding of the representational properties of attentional templates is a major step on the way towards a neuro cognitive model of attention which will eventually replace the homunculus with a scientific theory of goal-directed perception and action.

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The consortium will develop computational models of learning and decision making and test them in two biological systems, humans and macaques. The models shall account for the use of different sources of information on action outcomes to guide future behavior: feedback on real outcomes, fictive feedback on outcomes that would have been obtained had a different action been chosen, and observational feedback on action outcomes seen in other actors in social situations. We expect that the same computational principles apply for all information sources but that the learning parameters differ quantitatively between feedback type and species. Model fits to behavior and model-based analyses of neural data will reveal brain correlates of the computational variables. We expect to find anatomical and functional dissociations during monitoring of the different sources of feedback information and later convergence on a single mechanism implementing changes to future behavior. Using complementary methods in two primate species will lead to better generalizability of the models, better understanding of underlying neural mechanisms, and mutually informed choice of recording sites and analysis.

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Decision making in a dynamically changing world often depends on beliefs about the current state of the world. Some states may be constant but noisy and this stochasticity is reflected in expected uncertainty. In contrast, when states change significantly, unexpected uncertainty, i.e., uncertainty about the state itself is induced. Furthermore, different sources of information may sometimes converge, but in other cases diverge, and decisions should optimally be based on the most reliable source of information available or a weighted integration of discrepant observations.

Prior studies have found that activity in visual areas covaries with the degree of surprise which drives the speed of learning representable as a learning rate, yet it is unknown whether this is a flexible process. Learning itself is implemented by a network of higher cortical regions including parietal and anterior prefrontal cortex, yet how these networks dynamically relate and where the information itself converges is unknown.
In this project, we will develop a task that is suited to investigate dynamically weighted learning and decode its informational content. It will allow to directly and parametrically quantify how much humans base their decisions on different sources of information while also allowing to measure updates in the beliefs of the validity of each source and compare these to the performance of a Bayes optimal learner.

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Emotions are considered by most authors in psychology as discrete categories (in contrast to the classification of emotional states on the dimensions of valence and arousal), each with a specific pattern of experience, expression, physiological reactivity and neuronal activity. In view of this assumption, one of the major problems in emotion psychology today is the frequent lack of coherence between the different aspects of emotions, such as self-report (experience), facial expression and psychophysiological reactivity (e.g. ECG, electrodermal activity (EDA)). Looking at emotion induction tests, despite the self-report of emotions, there are usually only very low frequencies of complete prototypical facial expressions of an emotion and low frequencies of associated individual movements (so-called action units) at the same time.

There are various possible causes for the lack of coherence of the emotion elements. On the one hand, it could be a problem with the self-report measurement instrument. For this reason, the rating dial will be used to try to replicate the findings of Mauss et al. (2005) for sadness, but also to extend them to fear. The measurement of facial expression can of course also be incorrect or incomplete, so that relevant movements are not recorded if, for example, only EMG measurements of individual muscles are taken. This can be remedied by FACS, which classifies all facial movements, including eye and head movements, into categories.
In the planned pilot study, in addition to sadness, fear will also be induced using film material (a neutral film will be used as a control condition). Self-report, facial expressions and physiological reactions are to be recorded as dependent variables. 70 test subjects will be examined.
The aim of the study is to examine the coherence of self-report, facial expression and psychophysiological response (ECG, EDA) for grief and fear, as well as to find out whether fear is possibly expressed by facial movements other than those previously assumed. Two variants of coherence calculations will be compared. On the one hand, the coherence calculation based on the prototypical facial expressions assumed by Ekman (EMFACS). On the other hand, action unit combinations that occur more frequently during one of the emotion inductions than in the neutral condition should be considered indicative of the respective emotion and used for the coherence calculation. A higher coherence of one or the other method would indicate that the respective AUs belong to the respective emotion. If the coherence from the study by Mauss et al. (2005) is achieved with one of the methods, this would also speak for the basic unity (entity) of emotions.
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Emotional experience is based upon the interplay between the instantaneous appraisal of salient stimuli, provided by limbic brain areas, on the one hand, and prefrontal control mechanisms to adequately regulate the initial emotional response, on the other hand. In psychiatric disorders that are characterized by emotional hyperarousal, an imbalance of these two processes has been assumed. Models of emotional (dys)regulation may contribute to a better understanding of pathological anxiety experienced by patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Initial evidence suggests that OCD is characterized by emotion regulation difficulties as indicated by self-report measures. Further, OCD appears to be linked to functional changes in brain areas implicated in emotion processing and emotion regulation. Thus, neuroimaging findings have demonstrated increased activity in both limbic and frontal brain areas during symptom provocation in OCD, suggesting altered cortico-limbic interactions, when OCD-relevant stimuli are being processed. However, emotion regulation strategies have not yet been directly examined in OCD. Therefore, this project aims at investigating cognitive emotion regulation in OCD by using event-related potentials and examining whether emotion regulation deficits can be compensated when emotion regulation is guided externally.

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In this research project, we want to investigate the influence of psychological characteristics (e.g. Big Five, motivational strengths, emotion traits) of a person on their information behavior during a fact search or exploratory search. This study supplements the previous work in B4 with usage data on interactive dialogs during specific information search tasks. The user's behavior will be analyzed based on the above-mentioned user characteristics and the emotional-motivational state of the user in various stimulus situations (reference norms). Unfortunately, the user models created in B4 based on the previous studies do not yet allow for reliable user modelling due to the small number of test subjects, but have proven (Kotzyba et al., 2015) that modelling is possible with a suitable characterization of the users and a sufficiently large user sample.
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This project investigates the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying the perception of audiovisual synchrony. Behavioural and psychophysical measures are combined with both high temporal resolution (Magnetoencephalography) and high spatial resolution (functional magnetic resonance) brain imaging techniques. First we attempt to identify the temporal neural dynamics and neuroanatomical substrates of the cognitive processes underlying audiovisual integration. Second, we will investigate the functional properties of these areas, determining those which compute audiovisual synchrony automatically, and those which can be modulated by adaptation. Third, we attempt to determine how the manipulation of simple stimulus parameters (e.g. brightness) modifies the neural processes underlying audiovisual integration. For example, since brightness changes alter the arrival times of visual information in the isocortex, brightness manipulations may reveal how the brain integrates information across the senses despite changing cortical arrival times. Together, the results of this project will significantly broaden our understanding of the cognitive and neural mechanisms of multisensory temporal integration.

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In this effort we seek to identify the nature of attentional preferences of cognitive behavior, in terms of function (how it affects our behavior), physiology (how it is implemented in the brain), and time (how it is affected by learning/selection history). Specifically, what preferences can it hold, how do these change as a function of experience, and what are the neural codes underlying these representations?

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Retinal damage affecting the macula leads to loss of high-resolution vision. Patients learn to use peripheral parts of their retina to replace foveal vision. Because of the lesser receptor density in the retinal periphery, this means a loss of spatial resolution. In the present project, we want to explore whether macular damage entails deficits in visual selective attention and visual long-term memory. From investigations in normal-sighted observers we know of a close link between selective attention and exploration of the environment by means of eye movements. When exploration is impaired by loss of foveal fixation, deficits of attentional selection may be a consequence. Since attentional selection of an object is known to be an important precondition for later retrieval from long-term memory, macular damage may also entail deficits in visual long term memory. We intend to investigate these topics in a series of experiments in which we measure guidance of visual search by implicit learning as well as visual object memory. Speed and accuracy of search and memory will be related to eye movement patterns as well as brain activation. Patient data will further be compared to data from normal-sighted individuals, in whom scotomata will be simulated via gaze-contingent displays.

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The IGF scenario is an experiment or data recording scenario as part of the CRC-TRR 62 Companion technology. Test subjects interacted with a technical system that helped them to complete a gait course. The purpose of the gait course is to train the gait. However, several emotion inductions were built into the scenario. Both anger/frustration and speech anxiety were to be evoked.
Facial expressions are categorized with the help of the Facial Action Coding System (Ekman & Friesen, 1978). Emotions are then derived from this. The categories of emotions are then used by cooperation partners from electrical engineering/computer science to train their automatic recognition programs.
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Multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) of functional magnetic resonance imaging data has recently become widespread in the neurosciences. MVPA is associated with the hope of obtaining spatially high-resolution information about brain functions. Recently, however, controversial results have been published about the information content of fMRI signals of different resolutions and their contributions to the classification of perceptual content using MVPA. In the present project, we want to systematically investigate to what extent the higher spatial resolution and sensitivity enabled by high magnetic field strength contribute to an improvement in the classification of activation patterns. To this end, we vary the field strength (3T and 7T), compare different spatial resolutions, analyze the influence of sensitivity and investigate these factors under stimulation conditions that cause differences in the neuronal excitation pattern in the submillimeter or millimeter range. The aim of the investigations is to better characterize the factors influencing multivariate pattern analyses and, associated with this, to optimize future MVPA designs with regard to recording and evaluation.
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This project is being carried out together with Dr. Jordi Navarra (P.I.) from the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain. It is funded by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (funding amount 87,750 euros). In this project, the neuronal basis of movements in the auditory area is being investigated in humans using fMRI.
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In previous experiments, we have shown that structures of the dopaminergic system are not only involved in reward learning but also in visual learning processes that are either based only on cognitive feedback or even on internal confidence judgments in the absence of external feedback. In the coming application period, we would like to build on this by investigating the interaction of the ventral striatum and medial temporal lobe in complex visual learning processes. Based on animal experiments, we will use functional imaging to investigate how these structures interact in the representation of reward expectancy and prediction errors in spatial and temporal contexts. Building on our previous work, we will define these terms to include responses to external feedback about the correctness of task expectations on the one hand and the confirmation or violation of implicitly learned contingencies on the other. To this end, we would like to conduct a series of experiments using high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging and link these to quantitative modeling. Based on findings from animal experiments, we first plan to investigate an explicit context conditioning paradigm in which the representation of motivational value of an action alternative and context is analyzed. Building on these findings, we would then like to proceed to the investigation of implicit learning processes. To this end, we plan to use the contextual cueing paradigm on the one hand and the serial reaction time paradigm on the other.
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In a changeable, uncertain environment it is necessary for goal-directed, motivated behavior to flexibly react to appetitive and aversive events and to learn from them in order to approach favorable situations and to avoid unfavorable ones. The neuromodulators dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) have been implicated in appetitive and aversive Pavlovian and instrumental learning and the associated behavioral responses. In the present proposal we focus on the habenula, a small epithalamic brain structure, which controls a major descending pathway from the forebrain to the mesencephalon thereby exerting strong influence on dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) release in the telencephalon. In primates it has been implicated in performance monitoring and value-based decision making, particularly in learning to avoid actions entailing losses or aversive outcomes. In humans, habenular dysfunction seems associated with psychiatric diseases, particularly major depressive disorder (MDD). However, knowledge about habenular function and connectivity in humans is sparse, because previous research has often neglected this small structure. The proposed project capitalizes on the increased accessibility of the human habenula due to advances in neuroimaging leading to higher signal-to-noise ratio at higher spatial resolution. It aims at understanding the role of the habenula in decision making with a focus on avoiding negative action outcomes. A converging methods approach will be applied to access the functional activity of the habenula and to unravel its anatomical and functional interaction with other brain regions implicated in motivated behavior: Using high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging in healthy volunteers, habenular activity and functional connectivity will be studied during rest, Pavlovian conditioning of rewarding and aversive events and during an instrumental probabilistic learning task allowing to disentangle approach- and avoidance-learning. By means of diffusion-weighted imaging (dwMRI) and probabilistic tractography individual connectivity profiles of the habenula with subcortical and cortical structures will be established. These connectivity profiles and other connectivity measures will be correlated with behavioral and neuroimaging data. In addition, the goal of this project phase is to establish behavioral and imaging protocols enabling a long-term research focus of the habenula in pathological states and in close relation to the neurochemistry orchestrated by this brain region.

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In my doctoral thesis, I am investigating genetic and pharmacologically induced changes in the human action monitoring system at the behavioral level and their electrophysiological correlates in the EEG.
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Today, it is possible to decode information from brain activation patterns using multivariate analysis methods. Nevertheless, little is known about the extent to which neuronal codes differ between individuals. The disadvantage of previous methods is that decoding models have to be created separately for each individual brain, as the functional fine structure of two brains in particular cannot be brought into congruence sufficiently. In this project, methods are being developed that make it possible to discover and describe commonalities in the neuronal representation of information by projecting individual brain activity patterns into a common high-dimensional space in order to create models of the representational spaces of different brain areas that are valid for a wide range of environmental stimuli and individuals. This includes complex cortical networks that do not respond consistently to external stimulation (e.g. for social cognition).
The algorithms "Hyperalignment" and "Hyperalignment for functional connectivity" are developed, which are optimized for application to functional brain activation profiles and connectivity patterns between brain areas, respectively. For validation, data is collected with functional magnetic resonance imaging during complex visual and auditory stimulation to analyze the underlying representational spaces.
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How do we change from performing a monotonous task on automatic pilot to controlled behaviour? A network of brain regions is important for this type of adaptive behaviour by signalling the need for controlled behaviour, implementing a cautious response strategy, and facilitating more controlled behaviour. However, although we know which brain regions are involved in these processes, how all these separate regions of the brain work together to produce adaptive behaviour remains a mystery. The current project aims to use a combination of brain stimulation techniques to study how this feat is
achieved in the healthy human brain.

The goal of the proposed project is to investigate how the frontal cortex causally interacts with posterior brain areas to produce proactive and reactive control over behavior.

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The association of features with objects is a classic topic in visual neuroscience. Evidence for the involvement of the posterior parietal cortex comes primarily from lesion studies, while imaging experiments have so far remained equivocal. While previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies compared visual search for feature associations with simple feature search, we would like to take an alternative approach. Combining high-resolution fMRI and multivariate analysis methods, we plan to directly compare activation patterns induced by feature or conjunction changes in order to draw conclusions about the representation of feature associations in the posterior parietal cortex via their dissimilarity. Particular attention will be paid to the representation of feature associations between visual dimensions (such as orientation and color) and within a dimension, because the aforementioned lesion studies provide initial evidence that the posterior parietal cortex may be particularly involved in the processing of transdimensional feature associations.
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In 2013, a comprehensive data set for the investigation of auditory perception was recorded in collaboration with several CBBS working groups. This data set is unique worldwide in its combination of scope and paradigm. Subjects listened to an auditory version of the movie "Forrest Gump" while their brain activity and a number of physiological parameters were continuously recorded for the entire duration of two hours - in one of the most powerful magnetic resonance imaging systems. These functional measurements were supplemented by numerous images of the brain structure.

This dataset was made fully accessible to the public in 2014 and published in the Nature Publishing Group's new open access journal "Scientific Data". Directly with the publication, the "real-life cognition challenge" competition was announced to reward the best use of this dataset by an independent working group, thus bringing Magdeburg into the public eye with regard to the ever-increasing open-access and open-data movement in all scientific fields.
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To respond to a touch, it is often necessary to localize it in space, and not just on the skin. The computation of this external spatial location involves the integration of somatosensation with visual and proprioceptive information about current body posture. Failures in the encoding of this external mapping would prevent us from retrieving the correct location of tactile events, impairing normal interactions with the environment. It would be like feeling the tickle of an insect on the skin, without knowing where to reach out to swat it away. The aim of the current project is to elucidate the mechanisms whereby self-generated movements and preceding tactile information is used by the remapping system to improve tactile localization.

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Dieses europaweite Netzwerk (17 teilnehmende EU-Länder plus Australien, Kanada und Japan) untersucht die philosophischen Konstrukte, linguistische Beschreibungen, psychologische Mechanismen und neuronalen Korrelate von Zeitwahrnehmung

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Da gerade die Auseinandersetzung mit mathematischen Inhalten zu einem gelungenen Start ins Schulleben sowie einer erfolgreichen Schulkarriere beiträgt, möchten wir im Projekt "Früh übt sich . - gewusst wie" Bedingungen für eine positive Entwicklung mathematischer Fähigkeiten von Vorschulkindern identifizieren. Hierbei werden wir die Faktoren Elternhaus und Kindergarten sowie Merkmale des Kindes selbst näher betrachten. Das Projekt leistet einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Beantwortung folgender Forschungsfragen:

• Was sind optimale Voraussetzungen für frühkindliche Entwicklungsprozesse?
• Wodurch lassen sich Entwicklungsunterschiede im Bereich mathematischer Fähigkeiten am besten vorhersagen?
• Welchen Einfluss haben familiäre Sozialisationsfaktoren auf die Entwicklung mathematischer Fähigkeiten?
• Welche Möglichkeiten bietet eine ganzheitliche Betrachtung von Frühförderung?

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Investigations of multisensory spatial integration with electroenzephalography (EEG), Magnetenzephalography(MEG) and functional magnetresonaztomography (fMRI) in humans

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Die Mehrfamilientherapie (MFT) ist ein evidenzbasiertes Verfahren zur Behandlung von psychischen Störungen, psychiatrischen Symptomen und körperlichen Erkrankungen bei Kindern, Jugendlichen und Erwachsenen. Hierbei werden Patienten und deren Familien direkt und aktiv in den therapeutischen Prozess einbezogen. Die MFT nutzt dabei nicht nur die Ressourcen der einzelnen Familienmitglieder und deren Beziehungen, sondern fokussiert zentral auf den Austausch der Familien untereinander. Dabei wird handlungsorientiert mit szenischen Arbeitsformen gearbeitet. In einer Vielzahl von Wirksamkeitsstudien konnten die positiven Effekte dieser Therapieform bestätigt und für einzelne Krankheitsbilder wie z.B. Schizophrenie, Essstörungen und körperlichen Erkrankungen genauer spezifiziert werden. In der Magdeburger Tagesklinik der Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie ist die Mehrfamilientherapie ein wesentlicher Behandlungsbaustein. Es werden Kinder und Jugendliche im Alter von 3 bis 18 Jahren in unterschiedlichen Altersgruppen behandelt. Eine Besonderheit in Magdeburg ist die Anwendung der MFT altersgruppenspezifisch mit unterschiedlichen Krankheitsbildern. Die Gemeinsamkeit dieser Gruppen ist die Altergruppe und nicht das Störungsbild, wobei gleiche und ähnliche Krankheitsbilder in den Gruppen vorkommen. Bisher existieren kaum Studien, die systematisch untersucht haben, was die Teilnehmer von Mehrfamiliengruppen als hilfreich erleben, wovon sie am meisten profitieren und was sich durch die Teilnahme für sie verändert. Dies untersuchen wir unter Verwendung einer Zeitreihenanalyse für die verschiedenen Altersgruppen in unserer Tagesklinik. Neben einer Prä- und Posttestmessung vor und nach der Behandlung eines Patienten liegt der Schwerpunkt der Studie in der Befragung der Patienten, ihrer Familien und der Therapeuten nach jeder Mehrfamilientherapiesitzung. Die Ergebnisse der Befragungen über mehrere Messzeitpunkte werden verglichen und spezifische Wirkmechanismen dieses Behandlungsansatzes in den verschiedenen Altersbereichen überprüft.

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Retinal damage affecting the macula leads to loss of high-resolution vision. Patients learn to use peripheral parts of their retina to replace foveal vision. Because of the lesser receptor density in the retinal periphery, this means a loss of spatial resolution. In the present project, we want to explore whether macular damage entails deficits in visual selective attention and visual long-term memory. From investigations in normal-sighted observers we know of a close link between selective attention and exploration of the environment by means of eye movements. When exploration is impaired by loss of foveal fixation, deficits of attentional selection may be a consequence. Since attentional selection of an object is known to be an important precondition for later retrieval from long-term memory, macular damage may also entail deficits in visual long term memory. We intend to investigate these topics in a series of experiments in which we measure guidance of visual search by implicit learning as well as visual object memory. Speed and accuracy of search and memory will be related to eye movement patterns as well as brain activation. Patient data will further be compared to data from normal-sighted individuals, in whom scotomata will be simulated via gaze-contingent displays.

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This project investigates the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying the perception of audiovisual synchrony. Behavioural and psychophysical measures are combined with both high temporal resolution (Magnetoencephalography) and high spatial resolution (functional magnetic resonance) brain imaging techniques. First we attempt to identify the temporal neural dynamics and neuroanatomical substrates of the cognitive processes underlying audiovisual integration. Second, we will investigate the functional properties of these areas, determining those which compute audiovisual synchrony automatically, and those which can be modulated by adaptation. Third, we attempt to determine how the manipulation of simple stimulus parameters (e.g. brightness) modifies the neural processes underlying audiovisual integration. For example, since brightness changes alter the arrival times of visual information in the isocortex, brightness manipulations may reveal how the brain integrates information across the senses despite changing cortical arrival times. Together, the results of this project will significantly broaden our understanding of the cognitive and neural mechanisms of multisensory temporal integration.

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Aufmerksamkeit kann implizit, durch Regelhaftigkeiten in der Außenwelt, gesteuert werden. Diese müssen dabei gar nicht bewußt wahrgenommen werden. Solche Regelhaftigkeiten zu entdecken, ermöglicht uns eine effizientere visuelle Suche. Ein experimentelles Paradigma, in dem sich eine solche implizite Aufmerksamkeitssteuerung zeigt, ist das kontextuelle Cueing-Paradigma (Chun & Jiang, 1998), welches auf inzidentellem Lernen der räumlichen Anordnung von Items in einem Suchdisplay beruht. Kontextuelles Cueing ist verhaltensseitig gut untersucht. Weniger bekannt ist hingegen die neuronale Basis diese Effekts. Einzig die Beteiligung medial temporaler Strukturen wird, mit widersprüchlichen Befunden, diskutiert (Chun & Phelps, 1999; Manns & Squire, 2001). Die geplanten funktionellen Bildgebungsexperimente haben drei Schwerpunkte. Zum einen soll untersucht werden, welche Prozesse und kortikale Strukturen das inzidentelle Lernen wiederholter räumlicher Anordnungen in der visuellen Suche unterstützen. Zweitens soll die neuronale Basis des inzidentellen Lernens selbst von den neuronalen Korrelaten der Expression des Lernens abgegrenzt werden. Drittens soll untersucht werden, welche neuronalen Strukturen auf Änderungen der räumlichen Regelhaftigkeiten reagieren, um eine Neuausrichtung der Aufmerksamkeit zu ermöglichen.

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Primary and secondary reinforcers motivate the behavior of humans. Reward prediction is important as differences between predicted and actual outcome of an event are used as a learning signal. Delayed or improbable rewards are discounted but discounting functions differ markedly between subjects. We are seeking to pinpoint the neural correlates of reward during learning in healthy and pathological states

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In diesem Projekt wollen wir untersuchen, inwieweit das mesocorticale dopaminerge Belohnungssystem neben der Vermittlung von Konditionierungsphänomenen auch in visuelles Kategorielernen involviert ist. Am Paradigma des Informations-Integrations-Lernens, bei dem Kategoriezugehörigkeit in Abwesenheit einer leicht verbalisierbaren Zuordnungsregel erlernt wird, wollen wir untersuchen, inwieweit das Belohnungssystem an diesen Lernprozessen beteiligt ist, wenn Lernen durch (1) positive Verstärkung (Belohnung), (2) Rückmeldung ohne explizite Verstärkung oder (3) ohne explizite Rückmeldung erfolgt. Aktivierung in Strukturen des mesocorticalen dopaminergen Systems werden zu corticalen Arealen in Beziehung gesetzt. Dies betrifft einerseits Areale, die visuelle Suche und Aufmerksamkeitssteuerung unterstützen sowie andererseits visuelle Areale im Occipitotemporalcortex, die in die Verarbeitung visueller Merkmale und Objekte eingebunden sind. Multivariate voxelbasierte Klassifikationsverfahren werden dabei, teils in Kombination mit räumlich hochaufgelöster fMRT bei hoher Feldstärke (7T) eingesetzt, um die Kodierung von Gewinnerwartung, Gewinn-/Rückmeldungsunsicherheit und Gewinn/Rückmeldung in den Arealen des dopaminergen Systems zu analysieren. Die Kombination dieser Verfahren mit ereigniskorrelierter fMRT-Analyse erlaubt die Analyse von Teilaspekten wie Gewinnerwartung und Vorhersagefehler innerhalb eines Versuchsdurchgangs sowie von Lernprozessen über Versuchsdurchgänge hinweg.

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Aufmerksamkeit kann implizit, durch Regelhaftigkeiten in der Außenwelt, gesteuert werden. Diese müssen dabei gar nicht bewußt wahrgenommen werden. Solche Regelhaftigkeiten zu entdecken, ermöglicht uns eine effizientere visuelle Suche. Ein experimentelles Paradigma, in dem sich eine solche implizite Aufmerksamkeitssteuerung zeigt, ist das kontextuelle Cueing-Paradigma (Chun & Jiang, 1998), welches auf inzidentellem Lernen der räumlichen Anordnung von Items in einem Suchdisplay beruht. Kontextuelles Cueing ist verhaltensseitig gut untersucht. Weniger bekannt ist hingegen die neuronale Basis diese Effekts. Einzig die Beteiligung medial temporaler Strukturen wird, mit widersprüchlichen Befunden, diskutiert (Chun & Phelps, 1999; Manns & Squire, 2001). Die geplanten funktionellen Bildgebungsexperimente haben drei Schwerpunkte. Zum einen soll untersucht werden, welche Prozesse und kortikale Strukturen das inzidentelle Lernen wiederholter räumlicher Anordnungen in der visuellen Suche unterstützen. Zweitens soll die neuronale Basis des inzidentellen Lernens selbst von den neuronalen Korrelaten der Expression des Lernens abgegrenzt werden. Drittens soll untersucht werden, welche neuronalen Strukturen auf Änderungen der räumlichen Regelhaftigkeiten reagieren, um eine Neuausrichtung der Aufmerksamkeit zu ermöglichen.

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Die neuronale Basis von Aufmerksamkeitskontrollprozessen soll mit der funktionellen Magnetresonanztomographie untersucht werden. Insbesondere dient das Projekt der Entwicklung neuartiger Analysemethoden, die die multivariate Analyse von Hirnaktivationsmustern erlauben. Zu diesem Zweck kooperieren wir mit dem Department of Psychology der Princeton University (insbes. Prof. Jim Haxby, Ph.D.), die auf diesem Gebiet eine der weltweit führenden Institutionen sind.

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Modulatorische Aufmerksamkeitseffekte in sensorischen Großhirnarealen sind gut bekannt. In dieser Studie untersuchen wir, inwieweit solche Aufmerksamkeitseffekte auch im Motorkortex zu beobachten sind. Dazu wird ein räumliches Hinweisreizverfahren verwendet, um Aufmerksamkeitsausrichtungen auf Punkte in der linken und rechten Raumhälfte zu generieren. Mittels funktioneller Magnetresonanztomographie untersuchen wir, inwieweit die Aktivität des primären motorischen Kortex durch die Aufmerksamkeitsausrichtung moduliert wird. Weiterhin untersuchen wir mittels trankranieller Magnetstimulation (TMS) und Elektromyographie, inwieweit diese Aktivierung in eine beschleunigte motorische Antwort mündet.

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Bei hohen Aufgabenanforderungen kann die Bearbeitung dadurch effizienter werden, daß Ressourcen beider Hemisphären gemeinsam genutzt werden. Diese Annahme wird durch Experimente zum bilateralen Verteilungsvorteil nahegelegt. Bei diesen Experimenten wurde beobachtet, daß manche Aufgaben schneller bearbeitet werden, wenn die zu verarbeitenden Reize über beide Gesichtsfeldhälften verteilt dargeboten werden, im Vergleich zur Darbietung in einer Gesichtsfeldhälfte. Dieser Verteilungsvorteil tritt insbesondere bei komplexeren Aufgaben auf, während er bei einfachen Aufgaben eher nicht auftritt, ja sogar hier die Bearbeitung von Reizen innerhalb einer Gesichtsfeldhälfte effizienter sein kann. Während dieser Effekt in einer Reihe verschiedener Aufgaben gezeigt wurde, so ist doch noch weitgehend unklar, was die Komplexität einer Aufgabe ausmacht, die dann zu einem bilateralen Verteilungsvorteil führt. Diese Frage wollen wir mit Verhaltensexperimenten und funktioneller Magnetresonanztomographie an hirngesunden Probanden untersuchen. Mittels einer Patientenstichprobe mit Teilläsionen des Corpus callosum wollen wir darüberhinaus untersuchen, welche Kommissuren an der interhemisphärischen Ressourcenteilung beteiligt sind.

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Wir untersuchen die Wirksamkeit der Prismaadaptationsmethode und einer neuen "Kognitiven" Adaptation in der Behandlung des Neglectsyndroms. Das Projekt dient zum einen der Überprüfung der Nutzbarkeit der Prismaadaptation in der Behandlung des Neglect und zum anderen der Aufklärung der zugrundeliegenden Prozesse.

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Ziel des Projektes ist es, ein Programm zur Förderung intellektueller, insbesondere mathematische Fähigkeiten im Kindergarten zu entwickeln und zu evaluieren. Damit soll gleichzeitig einen Beitrag zur Begabungsförderung im Vorschulalter geleistet werden. Das Training besteht aus 16 Übungseinheiten und umfasst die acht kognitiven Bereiche: Visuelle Differenzierungsfähigkeit, Räumliches Vorstellen und Visualisieren, Zahlbegriff, Mengenauffassung, Einfache Rechenoperationen, Umgang mit Symbolen, Erfassen abstrakt-logischer Zusammenhänge, Ursache-Wirkungs-Beziehungen. Die Effektivität des Förderprogramms wird mit Hilfe eines Pre-Post-Test-Designs mit Kontrollgruppe bestimmt. Teilnehmer/-innen sind 5- bis 6-jährige Vorschulkinder aus verschiedenen Kindertagesstätten der Stadt Magdeburg.Das Projekt ist am Diagnostik-, Interventions- und Evaluationszentrum am Institut für Psychologie der Otto-von-Guericke-Universität angesiedelt

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Das Ziel der bisher durchgeführten Untersuchungen bestand darin, die neuronalen Korrelate perzeptuellen Lernens mittels funktioneller Magnet-Resonanz-Tomographie (fMRT) abzubilden. Dazu wurden zwei Experimentalreihen zum Lernen einer Orientierungsunterscheidung (Ahissar & Hochstein, 2002) und zum Lernen der Krümmungsdiskrimination von Scheinkanten (Rubin, Nakayama & Shapley, 2002) durchgeführt, um sie auf ihre Eignung für die Implementierung in einem Kern-Spin-Design zu testen. Das letztgenannte Paradigma erwies sich insofern als geeigneter, als der zeitliche Verlauf der Lerneffekte besser vorhersagbar war und das neuronale Korrelat der lernbedingten Veränderungen eindeutig bestimmt werden konnte. Wir haben eine Gruppe von 24 Personen in der Aufgabe trainiert und ihre Hirnaktivität mittels fMRT gemessen. Personen, die signifikante lerninduzierte Verbesserungen zeigten, unterschieden sich von Personen, die nicht gelernt hatten vor allem darin, dass eine Zunahme der neuronalen Aktivität, erschlossen aus dem BOLD-Signal, in den retinotop organisierten frühen visuellen Arealen (V1,V2) zu beobachten war. In einem behavioralen Nachfolgeexperiment haben wir bei 15 Probanden die Langzeittrainingseffekte sowie deren Spezifität untersucht. Es zeigte sich, dass die Wahrnehmungsverbesserungen über einen Zeitraum von 10 Monaten stabil waren. Allerdings waren die Leistungsverbesserungen auf den trainierten Ort im Gesichtsfeld beschränkt, d.h. es war keine Übertragung der verbesserten Wahrnehmungsleistungen auf andere als die trainierten Gesichtsfeldpositionen möglich. Wir haben ein zweites FMRI-Experiment durchgeführt, in dem wir die technischen Parameter verändert haben, um die räumliche Genauigkeit der Aktivierungslokalisation zu verbessern. Trotz der, infolge der erhöhten Auflösung, verringerten Sensitivität des Signals, zeigen erste Ergebnisse, dass die räumliche Lokalisation tatsächlich exakter gelungen ist. Die Ergebnisse bezüglich der neuronalen Aktivität in Reaktion auf Scheinkanten werden zur Zeit analysiert.

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Investigation on neural substrates of exogenous and endogenous induced covert shifts of attention by means of behavioural, event-related potential and functional magnetic resonance recordings in healthy and brain-damaged patients with attentional disorders.

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Bei hohen Aufgabenanforderungen kann die Bearbeitung dadurch effizienter werden, daß Ressourcen beider Hemisphären gemeinsam genutzt werden. Diese Annahme wird durch Experimente zum bilateralen Verteilungsvorteil nahegelegt. Bei diesen Experimenten wurde beobachtet, daß manche Aufgaben schneller bearbeitet werden, wenn die zu verarbeitenden Reize über beide Gesichtsfeldhälften verteilt dargeboten werden, im Vergleich zur Darbietung in einer Gesichtsfeldhälfte. Dieser Verteilungsvorteil tritt insbesondere bei komplexeren Aufgaben auf, während er bei einfachen Aufgaben eher nicht auftritt, ja sogar hier die Bearbeitung von Reizen innerhalb einer Gesichtsfeldhälfte effizienter sein kann. Während dieser Effekt in einer Reihe verschiedener Aufgaben gezeigt wurde, so ist doch noch weitgehend unklar, was die Komplexität einer Aufgabe ausmacht, die dann zu einem bilateralen Verteilungsvorteil führt. Diese Frage wollen wir mit Verhaltensexperimenten und funktioneller Magnetresonanztomographie an hirngesunden Probanden untersuchen. Mittels einer Patientenstichprobe mit Teilläsionen des Corpus callosum wollen wir darüberhinaus untersuchen, welche Kommissuren an der interhemisphärischen Ressourcenteilung beteiligt sind.

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