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Expyriment is an open-source and platform-independent lightweight Python library for designing and conducting timing-critical behavioral and neuroimaging experiments. The major goal is to provide a well-structured Python library for script-based experiment development, with a high priority being the readability of the resulting program code. Expyri...
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Identifying strategies for researchers has been a problem investigated from different perspectives, such as choosing research topics or the effect of partner selection. Its importance lies in the effect these choices have in the long term and the importance of taking them into account at the beginning of the scientific career. This study aims to id...
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... Domain-General Task: Stroop Test. The domain-general task was created using Expyriment (Krause & Lindemann, 2014) and was a computerised four-colour Stroop test based on those used by Chaparro et al. (2020); Labelle et al. (2013); Labelle et al. (2014); Mekari et al. (2015). Participants responded by using their thumbs to press one of the four buttons installed on the ergometer handlebars (see Figure 1 of supplemental material). ...
... The study consisted of two separate sessions: In session 1 participants carried out a monetary incentive delay task inside the scanner; in session 2, scheduled 24 h [± 2 h] later, they performed a surprise memory test. The monetary incentive delay task ( Figure 1A) was programmed in Python using Expyriment (Krause andLindemann 2014) andPsychopy2 (Peirce, 2007), and consisted of four runs of 64 trials each (256 trials in total). The trial sequence began with a fixation cross (duration 2-11 s, exponentially distributed with a mean of 5 s), followed by the presentation of a man-made or natural . ...
... The study consisted of two separate sessions: In session 1 participants carried out a monetary incentive delay task inside the scanner; in session 2, scheduled 24 h [± 2 h] later, they performed a surprise memory test. The monetary incentive delay task ( Figure 1A) was programmed in Python using Expyriment (Krause andLindemann 2014) andPsychopy2 (Peirce, 2007), and consisted of four runs of 64 trials each (256 trials in total). The trial sequence began with a fixation cross (duration 2-11 s, exponentially distributed with a mean of 5 s), followed by the presentation of a man-made or natural . ...
Subcortical nuclei of the ascending arousal system play an important role in regulating brain and cognition. However, functional MRI of these nuclei in humans involves unique challenges due to their size and location deep within the brain. Here, we used ultra-high-field MRI and other methodological advances to investigate the activity of six subcortical nuclei during reward anticipation and memory encoding: the locus coeruleus, basal forebrain, median and dorsal raphe nuclei, substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area. Participants performed a monetary incentive delay task, which successfully induced a state of reward anticipation, and a 24-hour delayed surprise memory test. Region-of-interest analyses revealed that activity in all subcortical nuclei increased in anticipation of potential rewards as opposed to neutral outcomes. In contrast, activity in none of the nuclei predicted memory performance 24 hours later. These findings provide new insights into the cognitive functions that are supported by the human ascending arousal system.
... 0.9.0) for Python (v. 2.7.10) [31]. Each trial started with a red cross signalling the rest period and the spoken word 'rest'. ...
This study explores the subjective evaluation of supplementary motor area (SMA) regulation performance in a real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging neurofeedback (fMRI-NF) task. In fMRI-NF, people learn how to self-regulate their brain activity by performing mental actions to achieve a certain target level (TL) of blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) activation. Here, we studied two types of self-evaluation: performance predictions and perceived confidence in the prediction judgement. Participants completed three sessions of SMA regulation in a 7 T fMRI scanner, performing a mental drawing task. During each trial, they modulated their imagery strategy to achieve one of two different levels of SMA activation and reported a performance prediction and their confidence in the prediction before receiving delayed BOLD-activation feedback. Results show that participants’ performance predictions improved with learning throughout the three sessions, and that these improvements were not driven exclusively by their knowledge of previous performance. Confidence reports on the other hand showed no change throughout training and did not correlate with better and worse predictions. In addition to shedding light on mechanisms of internal self-evaluation during neurofeedback training, these results also point to a dissociation between predictions of performance and confidence reports in the presence of feedback.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Neurofeedback: new territories and neurocognitive mechanisms of endogenous neuromodulation’.
... The experiment was programmed in Open Sesame 3.2 (Mathôt et al., 2012) and run on the Microsoft Windows 10 operating system with the Expyriment back end (Krause & Lindemann, 2014). During the experiment, participants were seated individually in a sound-attenuated cabin with dimmed lighting. ...
The perceptual system must integrate information from various points in time and space to interpret continuous sensory input into meaningful units, such as visual objects or events. To explore the relationship between the perception of spatial objects and temporal events, we modified the missing element task, a typical temporal integration task, by inserting a simple spatial object. The aim was to determine whether the perceptual processing of the object would have an impact on the frequency of temporal integration and segregation. Temporal integration was most successful when the missing element was located within the object, less successful when there was no object, and least successful when the missing element appeared outside the object. The advantage of the location of the missing element within the object was observed at display durations from 30 ms to 150 ms. Interestingly, the object provided the same benefit for integration and segregation despite their opposing perceptual demands. This study demonstrates the relationship that exists between the processing of temporal events and spatial objects, and shows how such spatial information can facilitate temporal integration.
... Sound files were delivered binaurally via headphones (Sennheiser HD 201) at a volume that participants found suitable. The experiment was presented using OpenSesame (Mathôt et al., 2012) with the Xpyriment back-end (Krause and Lindemann, 2014). The inter-trial interval was 500 ms throughout the experiment. ...
This study investigates the role of statistical learning in the learning of lexical tones by non-tone language speakers. Over two experiments, participants were exposed to tone-syllable combinations with conditioned patterns. Experiment 1 used a typical statistical learning paradigm without feedback to assess participants' ability to discriminate tone-syllable combinations. The results revealed significant syllable learning but not tone learning. Experiment 2 controlled for syllable occurrence to isolate the learning of tonal patterns and demonstrated above-chance learning accuracy from the first training day, indicating successful lexical tone learning through the statistical learning mechanisms. The findings suggest that statistical learning without feedback facilitates lexical tone learning. Our study not only supports the universality of statistical learning in language acquisition but also prompts further research into its application in educational settings for teaching tonal languages.
... Experimental setup. Experiment 1 was implemented in Python with the expyriment package (Krause & Lindemann, 2014) and run on an ASUS UX31 laptop. The program presented the audio stimuli binaurally at a comfortable hearing level via headphones (Sennheiser HD 250 linear) and recorded the participants' written responses. ...
Speech is a multiplexed signal displaying levels of complexity, organizational principles and perceptual units of analysis at distinct timescales. This critical acoustic signal for human communication is thus characterized at distinct representational and temporal scales, related to distinct linguistic features, from acoustic to supra-lexical. This chapter presents an overview of experimental work devoted to the characterization of the speech signal at different timescales, beyond its acoustic properties. The functional relevance of these different levels of analysis for speech processing is discussed. We advocate that studying speech perception through the prism of multi-time scale representations effectively integrates work from various research areas into a coherent picture and contributes significantly to increase our knowledge on the topic. Finally, we discuss how these experimental results fit with neural data and current dynamical models of speech perception.
... The experiment was carried out on a laptop computer with OpenSesame (version 3.2.6; Mathôt et al., 2012) with the 'Expyriment' backend (Krause and Lindemann, 2014). Participants heard the stimuli on studio over-ear headphones and were asked to hit a marked button on the keyboard as soon as they heard the word to; another button was to be pressed if to was absent from the sentence. ...
The cognitive entrenchment of frequent sequences comes as ‘chunking’ (holistic storage) and as ‘procedure strengthening’ (predicting elements in a sequence). A growing body of research shows effects of entrenchment of multi-word sequences in the native language, which is learned and shaped continuously and intuitively. But how do they affect second language (L2) speakers, whose language acquisition is more analytic but who nonetheless also learn through usage? The present study tests advanced English learners’ receptive processing of multi-word sequences with a word-monitoring experiment. Recognition of to in the construction V to V inf was tested for full and reduced forms ([tʊ] vs. [ɾə]), conditioned by the general frequency of the V- to sequence and the transitional probability (TP) of to given the verb (V > to). The results are compared with those previously obtained from native speakers. Results show that recognition profits from surface frequency, but not from TP. Reduced forms delay recognition, but this is mitigated in high-frequency sequences. Unlike native speakers, advanced learners do not exhibit a chunking effect of high-frequency reduced forms, and no facilitating effect of TP. We attribute these findings to learners’ lesser experience with spontaneous speech and phonetic reduction. They recognize reduced forms less easily, show weaker entrenchment of holistic representations, and do not draw on the full range of probabilistic cues available to native speakers.
... The timeline for the fNIRS measurement procedure is schematized in Figure 1. Stimulation events were sent using software triggering to synchronize the experimental paradigm with the NIRS signals accurately (14). The paintings were part of the same Baroque collection. ...
Recent research suggests that museum visits can benefit psychological well-being by reducing symptoms of stress and anxiety. However, these reported relaxing effects remain inconsistent between studies. Shedding light on the underlying cerebral mechanisms of museum visits might support a better understanding of how it affects psychological well-being. This study aimed to investigate the prefrontal engagement evoked by artwork analysis during a museum visit and to determine if these prefrontal substrates are associated with the museum’s effect on psychological well-being in older adults. Nineteen adults aged between 65 and 79, toured a Baroque-style exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts for approximately 20 minutes while equipped with a near-infrared spectroscopy system measuring the prefrontal cortex’s hemodynamic activity. For each painting, participants received the instruction to either (1): analyze the painting and produce a personal interpretation of its signification (analytic condition) or (2) visualize the painting without any specific thoughts (visualization condition). Questionnaires measuring stress, anxiety, and well-being were administered before and after the visit. Sixteen older women (71.5 ± 4 years) were included in the analyses. Results showed that, at the group level, the analytic condition was associated with an increased activation pattern in the left ventrolateral prefrontal region, typically related to attentional processes (not observed in the visualization condition). The activation associated with the analytic condition predicted pre-/post-visit reductions in self-reported anxiety and stress in the sample of older women. These observations suggest that the level of engagement of attentional processes during artwork analysis may play a major role in the effect of a museum’s visit on self-reported symptoms of anxiety.
... The task was programmed in the Expyriment Python package 55 . The to-be-remembered stimuli were made up of 146 items obtained from a published stimulus set 56 and by using Google Image Search. ...
Moment-to-moment fluctuations in arousal can have large effects on learning and memory. For example, when neutral items are predictive of a later reward, they are often remembered better than neutral items without a reward association. This reward anticipation manipulation is thought to induce a heightened state of arousal, resulting in stronger encoding. It is unclear, however, whether these arousal-induced effects on encoding are ‘all-or-none’, or whether encoding precision varies from trial to trial with degree of arousal. Here, we examined whether trial-to-trial variability in reward-related pupil-linked arousal might correspond to variability in participants’ long-term memory encoding precision. We tested this using a location memory paradigm in which half of the to-be-encoded neutral items were linked to later monetary reward, while the other half had no reward association. After the encoding phase, we measured immediate item location memory on a continuous scale, allowing us to assess both memory success and memory precision. We found that pre-item baseline pupil size and pupil size during item encoding were not related to subsequent memory performance. In contrast, the anticipation of instrumental reward increased pupil size, and a smaller anticipatory increase in pupil size was linked to greater subsequent memory success but not memory precision.
... The fixation cross was shown using Expyriment in Python (version 3.7.16; Krause and Lindemann, 2014). ...
... The experiment was executed using Expyriment in Python using an adjusted script from Linda de Voogd (version 3.7.16; Krause and Lindemann, 2014). ...
... The experiment was executed using Expyriment in Python using a script adjusted from Linda de Voogd (version 3.7.16; Krause and Lindemann, 2014). ...
Introduction
The connectivity between the spinal cord and the brain is an important pathway for motor and sensory processing. Sensory and motor preparatory processing is particularly relevant under threat when fast defensive responses such as freezing are generated and motor inhibition, as well as sensory upregulation, have to be orchestrated.
Objective
This study aims to investigate the role of corticospinal networks during threat.
Methods
We administered a resting-state scan and three threat-related tasks, while spinal cord and brain activity were measured simultaneously using a special functional magnetic resonance imaging sequence. This thesis specifically focused on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to validate the newly implemented sequence and replicate earlier work by Vahdat et al. (2020).
Results
Analysis among the first 16 participants, revealed connectivity patterns between the dorsal spinal cord horn and brain areas such as the primary sensory cortex and posterior cingulate cortex, whereas the ventral spinal cord horn was connected to frontal areas and the thalamus. However, a convincing dorsoventral segmentation to sensory and motor-related brain areas was lacking. Contralateral properties could partly be observed as the left spinal cord hemicord was preferably connected to the right brain hemisphere, but the right spinal cord hemicord also showed a preference for the right brain hemisphere. Moreover, 10 out of 40
independent components showed significant activation in the spinal cord and brain, mainly the midbrain and cerebellum, but large sensory or motor resting-state networks remained absent.
Discussion.
In general, the data partly conform to the functional skeleton between the brain and spinal cord. The new dedicated sequence can therefore be partly validated and the research of Vahdat et al. (2020) can be partly replicated. Means to improve data quality, normalization, and co-registration are discussed.
