Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (JoCN) jocn

Erratum In Adamian, N., & Andersen, S. K. (2024). Attentional modulation in early visual cortex: A focused reanalysis of steady-state visual evoked potential studies. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 36, 46–70.

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Electroencephalographic Biomarkers of Relaxation: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis AbstractAlpha oscillations (8–13 Hz), which are prominent in human EEG, have long been considered a neural marker of relaxation. However, the extent to which different frequency bands and electrode positions of the EEG reflect relaxation remains unclear. This systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the associations between EEG components and concurrently measured the reference indices of relaxation in healthy adults. A comprehensive database search and screening employing preset criteria identified 54 studies that involve 2569 participants published from January 1940 to March 2025 for qualitative synthesis. These studies utilized various reference relaxation measures, such as electrocardiographic (ECG) indices associated with parasympathetic nervous system activity and introspective indices obtained through questionnaires. Risks of bias were assessed based on the risk of bias assessment tool for nonrandomized studies. A meta-analysis of 31 studies employing a random-effects model revealed positive correlations between relaxation indices and the power of alpha oscillations in three specific combinations of EEG channel regions and reference index types: frontal channels with all reference indices, central channels with ECG-related indices, and occipital channels with questionnaire-based indices. No significant correlations were observed between relaxation indices and other EEG frequencies or channels. These findings indicate that alpha oscillations in different scalp regions may represent distinct aspects of the relaxation response based on the type of reference measure used.

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The Time Course of Attention Engagement in a Single-stream Rapid Serial Visual Presentation Design AbstractWhen two stimuli are presented at the same spatial location in close temporal proximity—typically less than 500 msec apart—the second stimulus is often not perceived, a phenomenon known as attentional blink (AB). This striking failure of visual awareness is thought to reflect limitations in the allocation of attention for the selection and consolidation of visual input. While existing models of the AB differ in their predictions regarding when and why attentional engagement is required, no direct neural correlate has yet been identified to track this process during the AB. Here, we propose that the bilateral N2 posterior contralateral (N2pcb) component of the ERP time-locked to the second stimulus may serve as such a marker. To test this hypothesis, we reanalyzed data from our prior study [Dell'Acqua, R., Dux, P. E., Wyble, B., Doro, M., Sessa, P., Meconi, F., et al. The attentional blink impairs detection and delays encoding of visual information: Evidence from human electrophysiology. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 27, 720–735, 2015], in which participants identified target letters embedded in rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) streams of distractor digits. Each RSVP stream ended with either an unmasked letter (target-present trials) or a digit (target-absent trials). Subtracting ERPs elicited in target-absent trials from ERPs elicited in target-present trials revealed that the N2pcb component persisted even during the AB. These findings suggest that attentional engagement for the second target is largely preserved during the blink, indicating that a disruption of attention is not necessary for the AB to occur, and that post-attentional processing limitations likely play a major role—a conclusion consistent with a specific subset of current AB models.

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Neural and Behavioral Dynamics of Predictive Speech Planning AbstractTiming and prediction are fundamental components of conversational dynamics, particularly in the estimation of turn-taking. While neural markers of predictive processing have been proposed in comprehension, their counterparts in speech production remain less well understood. In this study, we investigated these mechanisms using a combined EEG and behavioral approach with an oral sentence completion task. Participants viewed images that prompted them to produce a word completing a subsequently heard sentence. We systematically manipulated sentence repetition, length, and cloze probability to assess their effects on speech production timing and associated neural activity, focusing specifically on the readiness potential (RP) as an index of motor preparation. Our findings revealed that high-cloze-probability sentences elicited faster RTs, but only when participants had not yet formed predictions and when the sentences were relatively short. These faster RTs were also associated with a different RP amplitude. Moreover, RP dynamics were predictive of speech onset, suggesting that motor preparation plays an active role in response timing. Together, these results support a predictive decision-making framework for speech production, in which comprehension, prediction, and motor execution form a continuous, interactive process.

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Shared and Unique Connectivity Signatures of Reading and Language Deficits AbstractReading ability depends on multiple cognitive skills, including decoding and language comprehension, which can vary widely across individuals—even among those with similarly low reading performance. To better understand the brain basis of this variability, we used connectome-based predictive modeling (CPM) to identify large-scale functional connectivity patterns associated with reading and language skills in a population-based sample. Cross-sectional CPM models were trained using functional connectivity data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development study (n = 6894) and tested in two independent cohorts: the New Haven Lexinome Project and the Genes, Reading, and Dyslexia study (combined n = 136). Functional connectivity measures included both resting- and task-based scans. Reading and language were measured with psychometric tests of word reading and vocabulary, respectively. CPM models significantly predicted reading (r = .24) and language (r = .28) scores in the discovery sample and generalized to an external sample (rs = .23 and .19). Anatomically, the reading and language models showed significant overlap, with the medial frontal network emerging as most predictive in both. However, these models exhibited distinct generalization patterns to children with decoding versus language comprehension difficulties—classified using 20th percentile cutoffs—highlighting their neural specificity. Reading and language models included distinct connectivity signatures and generalized differently to children with decoding versus language comprehension difficulties. These findings demonstrate that although reading and language abilities are behaviorally related, they are supported by partially distinct neural architectures. Integrating behavioral and neuroimaging data may clarify specific brain–behavior relationships and inform more tailored interventions for children with reading and language difficulties.

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The Experience of Deciding: An Electroencephalography Study AbstractHow free our actions are and how responsible we are for them partly depends on how well we are aware of what influences those actions. One way to investigate this is to compare what we are aware of and what happens in our brain before we act. Previous studies compared the onset of awareness of a decision to move with the onset of preceding brain activity. Their results have often been taken to suggest that we are unaware of some influences. We investigated the contents of awareness at the reported time of decision in more detail. Our results suggest that neural signals associated with spontaneous actions reflect something the agent is at least partly aware of. The EEG signal before actual movements was related to the reported clarity and vividness of the experience of deciding. The EEG signal before imagined movements was related to how active the imagining reportedly felt.

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Using Real-time Reporting to Investigate Visual Experiences in Dreams AbstractNeuroscientific investigations of human dreaming have been hampered by reliance on dream recall after awakening. For example, a challenge of associating EEG features with post-waking dream reports is that they are subject to distortion, forgetting, and poor temporal precision. In this study, we used real-time reporting to investigate whether one of the most robust features of the waking visual system, increased alpha oscillations upon closing one's eyes, also applies when people dream of closing their eyes. We studied 13 people, four with narcolepsy and nine without, who experienced many lucid dreams—they were aware they were dreaming while remaining asleep. They reported on both their dream experiences (visual percepts present/absent) and dream-eyelid status (open/closed) using a novel communication technique; they produced distinctive sniffing patterns according to presleep instructions. We observed these signals in respiration recordings from a nasal cannula. These physiological signals enabled analyses of time-locked neural activity during REM sleep. We recorded 150 signals over 19 sessions from 11 individuals. Robust increases in alpha power were not found after signaled dream-eye closure. Remarkably, the experience of eye closure while dreaming was associated with fading visual content only about half the time. Comparing the presence versus absence of visual content was possible only in three participants, who showed increased alpha power in association with a momentary lack of visual content. Enlisting dreamers to actively control and report on ongoing dream experiences in this way thus opens new avenues for dynamic investigations of dreams—the illusory perceptions that haunt our sleep.

02.02.2026 21:09 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Using Real-time Reporting to Investigate Visual Experiences in Dreams AbstractNeuroscientific investigations of human dreaming have been hampered by reliance on dream recall after awakening. For example, a challenge of associating EEG features with post-waking dream reports is that they are subject to distortion, forgetting, and poor temporal precision. In this study, we used real-time reporting to investigate whether one of the most robust features of the waking visual system, increased alpha oscillations upon closing one's eyes, also applies when people dream of closing their eyes. We studied 13 people, four with narcolepsy and nine without, who experienced many lucid dreams—they were aware they were dreaming while remaining asleep. They reported on both their dream experiences (visual percepts present/absent) and dream-eyelid status (open/closed) using a novel communication technique; they produced distinctive sniffing patterns according to presleep instructions. We observed these signals in respiration recordings from a nasal cannula. These physiological signals enabled analyses of time-locked neural activity during REM sleep. We recorded 150 signals over 19 sessions from 11 individuals. Robust increases in alpha power were not found after signaled dream-eye closure. Remarkably, the experience of eye closure while dreaming was associated with fading visual content only about half the time. Comparing the presence versus absence of visual content was possible only in three participants, who showed increased alpha power in association with a momentary lack of visual content. Enlisting dreamers to actively control and report on ongoing dream experiences in this way thus opens new avenues for dynamic investigations of dreams—the illusory perceptions that haunt our sleep.

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Annual Meeting - Cognitive Neuroscience Society March 7 – 10, 2026 Submit a Symposium Submit a Poster CNS 2026 Annual Meeting – March 7 – March 10, 2026 We invite you to join us at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) 2026 Annual Meeting, March...

2026 @jocn.bsky.social Travel Fellowship
@jocn.bsky.social and Cog. Neurosci. Soc. to offer a stipend of $3000, plus waived conf. reg. and waived poster submission fee to attend www.cogneurosociety.org/annual-meeti... , to one trainee based at an institution located in each of five regions:

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Task-dependent Modulation Masking of 4 Hz Envelope Following Responses Abstract The perception and recognition of natural sounds, like speech, rely on the processing of slow amplitude modulations. Perception can be hindered by interfering modulations at similar rates, a phenomenon known as modulation masking. Cortical envelope following responses (EFRs) are highly sensitive to these slow modulations, but it is unclear how modulation masking impacts these cortical envelope responses. To dissociate stimulus-driven and attention-driven effects, we recorded EEG responses to 4 Hz modulated noise in a two-way factorial design, varying the level of modulation masking and intermodal attention. Auditory stimuli contained one of three random masking bands in the stimulus envelope, at various proximities in modulation frequency to the 4 Hz target, or an unmasked reference condition. During EEG recordings, the same stimuli were presented while participants performed either an auditory or a visual change detection task. Attention to the auditory modality resulted in a general enhancement of sustained EFR responses to the 4 Hz target. In the visual task condition only, EFR 4 Hz power systematically decreased with increasing modulation masking, consistent with psychophysical masking patterns. However, during the auditory task, the 4 Hz EFRs were unaffected by masking and remained strong even with the highest degrees of masking. Rather than indicating a general bottom–up modulation selective process, these results indicate that the masking of cortical envelope responses interacts with attention. We propose that auditory attention allows robust tracking of masked envelopes, possibly through a form of glimpsing of the target, whereas envelope responses to task-irrelevant auditory stimuli reflect stimulus salience. © 2025 Massachusetts Institute of Technology You do not currently have access to this content.

21.05.2025 03:04 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Enhanced Delta Band Neural Tracking of Degraded Fundamental Frequency Speech in Noisy Environments Abstract Pitch variation of the fundamental frequency (F0) is critical to speech understanding, especially in noisy environments. Degrading the F0 contour reduces behaviorally measured speech intelligibility, posing greater challenges for tonal languages like Mandarin Chinese where the F0 pattern determines semantic meaning. However, neural tracking of Mandarin speech with degraded F0 information in noisy environments remains unclear. This study investigated neural envelope tracking of continuous Mandarin speech with three F0-flattening levels (original, flat-tone, and flat-all) under various signal-to-noise ratios (0, −9, and −12 dB). F0 contours were flattened at the word level for flat-tone and at the sentence level for flat-all Mandarin speech. Electroencephalography responses were indexed by the temporal response function in the delta (<4 Hz) and theta (4–8 Hz) frequency bands. Results show that delta-band envelope tracking is modulated by the degree of F0 flattening in a nonmonotonic manner. Notably, flat-tone Mandarin speech elicited the strongest envelope tracking compared with both original and flat-all speech, despite reduced F0 information. In contrast, the theta band, which primarily encodes speech signal-to-noise level, was not affected by F0 changes. In addition, listeners with better pitch-related music skills exhibited more efficient neural envelope speech tracking, despite being musically naive. These findings indicate that neural envelope tracking in the delta (but not theta) band is highly specific to F0 pitch variation and highlight the role of intrinsic musical skills for speech-in-noise benefits. © 2025 Massachusetts Institute of Technology You do not currently have access to this content.

21.05.2025 03:04 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Bilingualism Is Associated with Significant Structural and Connectivity Alterations in the Thalamus in Adulthood Abstract Language is a sophisticated cognitive skill that relies on the coordinated activity of cerebral cortex. Acquiring a second language creates intricate modifications in brain connectivity. Although considerable studies have evaluated the impact of second language acquisition on brain networks in adulthood, the results regarding the ultimate form of adaptive plasticity remain inconsistent within the adult population. Furthermore, due to the assumption that subcortical regions are not significantly involved in language-related tasks, the thalamus has rarely been analyzed in relation to other language-relevant cortical regions. Given these limitations, we aimed to evaluate the functional connectivity and volume modifications of thalamic subfields using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) modalities following the acquisition of a second language. Structural MRI and fMRI data from 51 participants were collected from the OpenNeuro database. The participants were divided into three groups: monolingual (ML), early bilingual (EB), and late bilingual (LB). The EB group consisted of individuals proficient in both English and Spanish, with exposure to these languages before the age of 10 years. The LB group consisted of individuals proficient in both English and Spanish, but with exposure to these languages after the age of 14 years. The ML group included participants proficient only in English. Our results revealed that the ML group exhibited increased functional connectivity in all thalamic subfields (anterior, intralaminar-medial, lateral, ventral, and pulvinar) compared with the EB and LB groups. In addition, a significantly decreased volume of the left suprageniculate nucleus was found in the bilingual groups compared with the ML group. This study provides valuable evidence suggesting that acquiring a second language may be protective against dementia, due to its high plasticity potential, which acts synergistically with cognitive functions to slow the degenerative process. © 2025 Massachusetts Institute of Technology You do not currently have access to this content.

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Temporal Unfolding of Spelling-to-Sound Mappings in Visual (Pseudo)word Recognition Abstract Behavioral research has shown that inconsistency in spelling-to-sound mappings slows visual word recognition and word naming. However, the time course of this effect remains underexplored. To address this, we asked skilled adult readers to perform a 1-back repetition detection task that did not explicitly involve phonological coding, in which we manipulated lexicality (high-frequency words vs. pseudowords) and sublexical spelling-to-sound consistency (treated as a dichotomous—consistent vs. inconsistent—and continuous dimension), while recording their brain electrical activity. The ERP results showed that the adult brain distinguishes between real and nonexistent words within 119–172 msec after stimulus onset (early N170), likely reflecting initial, rapid access to a primitive visuo-orthographic representation. The consistency of spelling-to-sound mappings exerted an effect shortly after the lexicality effect (172–270 msec; late N170), which percolated to the 353- to 475-msec range but only for real words. This suggests that, in expert readers, orthographic and phonological codes become available automatically and nearly simultaneously within the first 200 msec of the recognition process. We conclude that the early coupling of orthographic and phonological information plays a core role in visual word recognition by mature readers. Our findings support “quasiparallel” processing rather than strict cognitive seriality in early visual word recognition. © 2025 Massachusetts Institute of Technology You do not currently have access to this content.

21.05.2025 03:03 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Distinguishing Neural Correlates of Prediction Errors on Perceptual Content and Detection of Content Abstract Accounting for why discrimination between different perceptual contents is not always accompanied by conscious detection of that content remains a challenge for predictive processing theories of perception. Here, we test a hypothesis that detection is supported by a distinct inference within generative models of perceptual content. We develop a novel visual perception paradigm that probes such inferences by manipulating both expectations about stimulus content (stimulus identity) and detection of content (stimulus presence). In line with model simulations, we show that both content and detection expectations influence RTs on a categorization task. By combining a no-report version of our task with functional neuroimaging, we reveal that violations of expectations (prediction errors [PEs]) about perceptual content and detection are supported by visual cortex and pFC in qualitatively different ways: Within visual cortex, activity patterns diverge only on trials with a content PE, but within these trials, further divergence is seen for detection PEs. In contrast, within pFC, activity patterns diverge only on trials with a detection PE, but within these trials, further divergence is seen for content PEs. These results suggest rich encoding of both content and detection PEs and highlight a distributed neural basis for inference on content and detection of content in the human brain. © 2024 Massachusetts Institute of Technology You do not currently have access to this content.

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