NEURAL REGULATION DURING SACCADE TASKS ASBIOMARKERS FOR PSYCHOSIS

Brett A Clementz, & Jennifer E McDowellUniversity of Georgia

Psychosis is characterized by cognitive control deficits manifest in multiple domains.Among healthy (nonpsychotic) persons, variation in cognitive control also can yield defi-cits in executive functioning. Healthy low cognitive control (LCC) persons provide anintriguing comparison in studies of cognitive control deviations in psychosis because theyhave similar performance outcomes without the complications associated with a chronicand serious medical illness. We study the effectiveness of variations in neural activationsduring saccadic tasks requiring cognitive control for indexing psychosis in comparison toLCC and high cognitive control (HCC) healthy subjects using multimodal neuroimaging(EEG, MEG, fMRI). Data come from two independent projects that vary cognitive controlrequirements during antisaccade tasks, one is a large project investigating the neuralcorrelates of psychosis and the other uses LCC as an important comparison group forschizophrenia. These data address critical issues for understanding in psychosis associa-tions between intrinsic neural activity, cognitive control, regulation of sensory systems, andbehavioral performance. First, variation in intrinsic neural activity is an important deter-minant of behavioral performance. Second, healthy and psychosis subjects alter intrinsicactivity differentially as a function of cognitive load, which helps determine success incognitive control paradigms. Third, top down regulation of sensory cortex from PFC alsoshow differential patterns between healthy, psychosis, and LCC subjects.

SACCADE-DRIVEN VERSUS FIXATION-DRIVEN OSCILLATORYACTIVITY DURING TARGET DETECTION UNDER COMPETITION:

CONCEPTUAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS

Andreas Keil, Mari Feldhaus, Jessica Oschwald, & Klaus OberauerUniversity of Zurich

The classical approach in psychophysiological research on perception and attention regardsstimulus onset as the critical reference point in time. In many of these studies, saccades areregarded as nuisance variables and/or artifacts. Accumulating evidence from animal studiessuggests that perceptual processes are tightly linked to active planning of informationsampling through saccades. This raises conceptual and methodological issues for planningand interpreting studies of perception and attention. In this presentation, we examine therole of fixation instruction versus free viewing instructions on oculomotor and sensorycortical processes, employing frequency tagging of steady-state visual evoked potentials.Specifically, studies are presented in which measures of oscillatory power and inter-sitecoupling are related to saccade onset versus stimulus onset. Results suggest heightenedhigh-frequency oscillatory power as well as amplified oscillatory coupling subsequent to asaccade towards a target stimulus, compared to averaging with respect to target onset. Themethodological challenges of this approach will be discussed. Overall, this work supportsa conceptualization of perception as a continuous Bayesian loop, in which saccades markthe onset of a new sampling episode, informed by information accumulated previously.

EYE MOVEMENTS IN ATTENTION AND MEMORY EXPERIMENTSINVOLVING N2PC AND SPCN: NOT AS PROBLEMATIC AS ONE

MIGHT SUPPOSE?

Brandi Lee Drisdelle, Sebrina Aubin, & Pierre JolicoeurUniversity of Montreal

Experiments examining visual spatial attention and visual memory using electrophysi-ological measures such as the N2pc and/or the SPCN (sustained posterior contralateralnegativity) typically involve the presentation of lateral targets and distractors along withinstructions to maintain fixation at the center of the display for the entire duration of eachtrial. The traditional analysis methods involve the rejection of trials in which the subjectmay have displaced their gaze towards targets based on relatively strict criteria designed tominimize the potential electrophysiological contamination of eye movements. We exam-ined these issues by comparing results using the usual gaze fixation and rejection methodsagainst a condition in which subjects were instructed to fixate each target, along with‘correction’ of the EEG based on independent component analysis (ICA) methods for thecorrection of ocular artefacts. In this paradigm, even without EEG correction, very largeeye movements had only subtle effects on N2pc, but added a clear broad contralateralnegativity at posterior electrode sites in the SPCN time range, presumably from volumeconduction of the ocular potential. Much of this ocular potential could be removed from theEEG using ICA, however. More detailed evaluation of the results along with theoretical andpragmatic considerations will be discussed.

Symposium 5.1

THE PRESENT AS THE PAST’S FUTURE: PASTPRESIDENTS PANEL

Chair: Emanuel DonchinUniversity of South Florida

This “Past Presidents Symposium” continues a tradition launched at the 2008 AnnualMeeting. We are again presenting a panel in which 3 Past Presidents are invited to reflect

on their Presidential Address from the perspective of the present. The specific topicsdiscussed will be presented by the individual abstracts. The participants this year will beJohn JB Allen, Margaret Bradley, Gabriele Gratton and Keith Berg. Past President KeithBerg was asked to discuss the legacy of the late Past President Frances Graham.

STOP ME IF I’M REPEATING MYSELF: BEYOND ORIENTINGTO REPETITION

Margaret M BradleyUniversity of Florida

Repetition is a necessary experimental manipulation in the study of orienting: By defini-tion, what is novel has not been repeated and what has been repeated is not novel. In my2002 presidential address, I focused on understanding orienting to novel events by repeat-ing emotional and neutral stimuli and measuring classical orienting responses, includingelectrodermal reactions, cardiac deceleration and event-related potentials. However, byvarying the number and spacing of repetitions, much can be learned not only aboutorienting, but also about learning and memory. Here, I report data from new studies ofrepetition and emotion that measure startle reflexes, pupil changes, eye movements, andimportantly, BOLD activity measured using fMRI. In some of these studies, the focus is onthe spacing effect – the classical finding that repetitions distributed in time benefit learningand memory more than massed repetitions. Neuroimaging data suggest specific differencesin neural activation that might mediate the spacing effect, and other dependent measuresresult in surprisingly different effects of repetition for emotionally engaging and neutralevents. Taken together, a simple experimental manipulation – repetition – prompts modu-lation of a diverse and complex array of psychophysiological measures that may elucidateorienting, memory, and emotion.

BRAIN REFLECTIONS: A PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGIST’S VIEW OFBRAIN FUNCTION

Gabriele GrattonUniversity of Illinois

Brain science has greatly advanced during the last fifty years permitting elaboration ofgeneral ideas about how the brain works. Using broad views of data and theoreticalspeculations, I will briefly overview some of these principles emphasizing those which aremost relevant to psychophysiologists. I will start from general ideas, largely shared in thefield, about the relationships between general psychological concepts such as conscious-ness, attention, and memory and brain phenomena and events. I will then introduce novelconsiderations about how non-invasive measures of brain activity, such as the electroen-cephalogram, event-related brain potentials, fast optical signals, and hemodynamic brainsignals reflect different forms of dynamic changes in cortical and subcortical excitability,which occur at different frequencies and spatial scale and relate to different types of braincircuits. I will conclude my talk by considering how a developmental approach may be usedto illuminate how the brain may have evolved to support complex cognitive functions, usingthe example of language processing.

NEURAL SYSTEMS UNDERLYING RISK FOR DEPRESSION:TOWARDS A NEURALLY-INFORMED TREATMENT APPROACH

John JB AllenUniversity of Arizona

An integrative account of neural mechanisms that give rise to risk for Major DepressiveDisorder (MDD) can pave the way for new treatments and preventative interventions.Focusing on new research since my presidential address 5 years ago, I will review our workexamining frontal brain electrical asymmetries, resting-state fMRI (RSfMRI) connectivity,and noninvasive brain stimulation approaches. Although resting frontal EEG alpha asym-metry has been linked to emotion and emotional disorders, knowledge concerning theneurophysiological systems that give rise to the asymmetry is impoverished. A comparisonof simultaneously-acquired EEG and RSfMRI data reveal that less relative left frontalactivity (indexed by EEG) is related to increased connectivity of left inferior frontal gyrus(IFG) to two RS networks. These findings are consistent with findings of hyper-connectivity in RSfMRI emotion networks in MDD and with frontal EEG asymmetryfindings of less relative left frontal activity in risk for MDD. These findings provide theimpetus for ongoing work stimulating IFG with a relatively novel method of brain stimu-lation, transcranial ultrasound, that may hold promise to positively influence mood.

A FOND FAREWELL TO AN AFFAIR OF THE HEART:FRANCES K. GRAHAM, 1918–2013

Keith W BergUniversity of Florida

Frances K. Graham, who died on April 16, 2013, was a member of SPR since the inceptionof the society. Fran was widely respected and recognized for her scientific research in infantcognitive development, and in developmental and adult psychophysiology not only by oursociety but by APA, APS, and many other societies and entities as well. But Fran had a

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wider impact than just her scientific research and she left lasting memories among manystudents and colleagues. In my presentation I hope to exemplify this by presenting thepersonal words and thoughts of many of the individuals touched by her dedication andvision. In this way perhaps both those who did and did not know Fran will have anopportunity to better understand her contributions to and her legacy for SPR and all ofpsychological science.

Symposium 6.1

THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY: LEVERAGING PHYSIOLOGICALINDICES OF REWARD AND THREAT SENSITIVITY TO IMPROVE

MEASUREMENT OF CLINICAL PHENOMENA

Chairs: Anna EF Weinberg1, & Dan J Foti2

1Stony Brook University, 2Purdue UniversityDiscussant: Christopher J Patrick

Florida State University

The ability to effectively process and respond to environmental threats and rewards is keyto successful adaptation to a changing environment. Moreover, abnormal sensitivity torewards and/ or threats is implicated in multiple mental disorder categories, suggestingmeasurement of these phenomena will be helpful in a) transdiagnostic assessment ofpsychopathology and b) improved ability to identify boundaries between clinical phenom-ena. The four presentations included here encompass event-related potential (ERP), startle,and behavioral measures, relating threat and reward sensitivity to a broad range of psy-chopathology. First, Dan Foti will present ERP data from depressed subjects indicatingdeficits in the processing of both threat and reward. Next, Anna Weinberg will present datademonstrating how ERP indices of motivated attention to threatening and rewarding visualstimuli might help to identify processes unique to anxiety and depression. James Yanceywill then discuss a psychoneurometrics approach to capturing threat sensitivity multi-modally, demonstrating that this approach better predicts pathological fear respondingacross diagnostic categories. And finally Edelyn Verona will present data linking aggres-sive behaviors to individual differences in threat sensitivity, as well as subsequent diffi-culty regulating those responses. Chris Patrick will discuss. In considering threat andreward multi-modally and across multiple populations, data from this symposium willcontribute to ongoing discussions of new ways of understanding and classifying mentaldisorders.

THE SPECIFICITY OF AFFECTIVE AND REWARD-RELATED NEURALDEFICITS IN DEPRESSION

Dan J Foti1, & Daniel G Dillon2

1Purdue University, 2McLean Hospital

Depression is associated with abnormal processing of affective stimuli and monetaryreward, yet results have not always been consistent across studies and have at times beencontradictory. For neural measures to be clinically useful, the specificity of observeddeficits requires further clarification: what is impaired, for whom, and when. This talk willpresent data from two studies examining the conditions under which affective and rewardprocessing are impaired in depression. First, we examined the processing of threateningand other unpleasant images during a cognitive reappraisal task. Compared to healthycontrols, individuals with a diagnosis of current depression exhibited a blunted late posi-tive potential (LPP) while passively viewing unpleasant images. When instructed toengage in effortful emotion regulation, however, the LPP normalized within the depressedgroup. In a second study, we sought to disentangle the effects of depression and impul-sivity on the anticipatory and consummatory phases of reward processing. Current depres-sive symptom severity was associated with a reduced feedback negativity to monetaryreward outcomes, whereas impulsivity was associated with an increased contingent nega-tive variation during reward anticipation. Together, these results indicate context speci-ficity of deficits in depression: Reduced reactivity to unpleasant stimuli is unique toconditions of passive viewing, indicating a deficit in motivated attention. Reduced sensi-tivity to reward, meanwhile, is unique to the outcome phase, indicating a deficit inhedonic impact.

ATTENTION TO THREAT AND REWARD IN ANXIETYAND DEPRESSION

Anna EF Weinberg, & Greg Hajcak ProudfitStony Brook University

Anxiety and depression are among the most common and costly forms of disease and injuryworldwide. Despite the burden they impose on society and individuals, the development ofeffective treatments for these disorder classes has been slow, due in part to difficulties inaccurately identifying boundaries between them. This talk will present evidence thatattention to threatening and rewarding visual stimuli – measured via event-related poten-tials – might be useful in the differentiation of anxiety and depression. In the first studyI will discuss, the roles of threat predictability and anticipation of threatening stimuliwere examined in individuals with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) alone, or GADwith comorbid depression. Whereas individuals with GAD alone were characterized by

increased anticipation of predictable threat, as well as increased processing of unpredict-able threat, this was not the case for individuals with a comorbid diagnosis of depression.Instead, individuals with depression showed evidence for blunted processing of threateningvisual stimuli. The second study employed both rewarding and threatening visual stimuli,and demonstrated that a diagnosis of depression was uniquely associated with bluntedprocessing of rewarding visual stimuli. Moreover, this blunting effect was strongest in asubgroup of individuals with early-onset depression. Combined, these studies suggest thatneural markers of attention to threat and reward can effectively identify distinct processesin anxiety and depression.

A PSYCHONEUROMETRIC APPROACH TO OPERATIONALIZINGTHREAT SENSITIVITY

James R Yancey, Noah C Venables, & Christopher J PatrickFlorida State University

Recent initiatives at NIMH have called for the incorporation of neurobiologicalapproaches and findings into conceptions of psychological problems. One crucial obsta-cle to this endeavor is that neurobiological and psychopathology indices often exist indiffering measurement domains (e.g. EEG vs. self-report/interview). Due to method vari-ance, measures reflecting the same construct across different measurement domains areexpected to correlate only modestly (Campbell & Fiske, 1959). In ongoing work, we areusing a construct-oriented psychoneurometric approach to bridge the divide betweenthese measurement domains. Utilizing a sample of approximately 500 twins, we dem-onstrate empirically that: 1) a well-validated self-report index of threat sensitivity pre-dicts effectively to relevant clinical problems (i.e., fear psychopathology), 2) this self-report index shows reliable associations with physiological variables reflecting enhancedactivation during affective processing and resting states, and 3) covariance between self-report and physiological indicators of threat sensitivity reflects a latent dispositionalfactor that predicts to both physiological and clinical criterion measures. Results illus-trate how the psychoneurometric approach provides for creation of a dimensionalindex of threat sensitivity with clear referents in neurobiology that effectively predicts tofear related problems. Implications and future directions for this approach will bediscussed.

AGGRESSION AND VIOLENCE: TRANSDIAGNOSTIC PROCESSESINVOLVING NEGATIVE VALENCE AND COGNITIVE SYSTEMS

Edelyn Verona1,2, & Konrad Bresin1

1University of Illinois, 2University of South Florida

Aggressive behavior and violence, along with related tendencies (e.g., anger, alienation,dominance), are observed in persons with various mental health problems and have beenstudied from perspectives of neuroscience and psychophysiology. As such, we can lev-erage the extant research literature to clarify the neural circuitry involved in distinctmanifestations of psychopathology that involve aggression proneness. First, we present amodel of aggression proneness that implicates sensitivity to acute threat as impactingattentional systems and weakening top-down cognitive control. Second, we report find-ings from an ERP study using an emotional-linguistic go/no-go task to identify neuro-physiological indices of systems activation that map on to traits relevant to aggression-proneness, particularly of the reactive type. Results provide evidence that tendenciestoward angry and aggressive behavior relate to reduced inhibitory control processing(frontal no-go P3) during threat-relevant word blocks in particular, and that certainaspects of aggression-proneness (anger, alienation, physical aggressivity) are differen-tially related to attentional bias toward threat versus reduced response inhibition underthreat conditions. These findings highlight the value of ERP methodologies for clari-fying the interplay of Negative Valence and Cognitive systems processes in aggressionproneness.

Symposium 6.2

USING EEG/ERP METHODS TO DISENTANGLE THE IMPACT OFNOVEL EXPERIMENTAL MANIPULATIONS ON ANXIETY-RELATED

PROCESSES

Chairs: Laura J O’Toole, & Tracy A DennisHunter College, The City University of New York

Discussant: Greg J SiegleUniversity of Pittsburgh

Cognitive processing biases and anticipation of threatening events play key roles in anxietydisorders. The present symposium includes talks from three laboratories that use electro-encephalography (EEG) and event-related potential (ERP) methods to assess the effects ofnovel experimental manipulations on these anxiety-related processes in children and adults.Gibb will discuss the effects of associative learning on non-anxious children’s neuralreactivity to emotional faces using the late positive potential. Crowley will discuss a noveltask designed to assess event-related EEG oscillations associated with anticipatory anxietyin children. O’Toole will discuss a series of studies using ERPs to assess changes inattentional orienting and control following attention bias modification in highly traitanxious adults. By integrating several training-related and novel assessments of anxiety-related processes, this symposium will highlight the importance of EEG and ERP measures

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S10 SPR Abstracts 2014