A new EEG technique to assess object visual processing speed in younger and older adults.
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Glasgow
Department Name: School of Psychology
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Publications
Bieniek MM
(2016)
A robust and representative lower bound on object processing speed in humans.
in The European journal of neuroscience
Gaspar CM
(2011)
Reliability of ERP and single-trial analyses.
in NeuroImage
Rousselet GA
(2009)
Age-related delay in information accrual for faces: evidence from a parametric, single-trial EEG approach.
in BMC neuroscience
Rousselet GA
(2011)
Modeling Single-Trial ERP Reveals Modulation of Bottom-Up Face Visual Processing by Top-Down Task Constraints (in Some Subjects).
in Frontiers in psychology
Rousselet GA
(2010)
Healthy aging delays scalp EEG sensitivity to noise in a face discrimination task.
in Frontiers in psychology
| Description | Research has shown that it takes only a fraction of a second for our brain to interpret our visual environment. However, some elderly persons complain about the subjective feeling of a slowing down of visual perception, a deficit that could have critical consequences in everyday life. So far, there is evidence that ageing affects many visual processing tasks in humans. Whether these deficits are due to age-related changes in processing speed is still debated. In animals, age-related slowing of information processing has been observed in the visual brain, suggesting that senescence might affect visual processing speed in humans. Our project tested this prediction, by using the electro- encephalography technique, which allows a millisecond-by-millisecond analysis of how the brain responds to visual information. Healthy participants ranging from age 19 to 98 performed a well- characterised face recognition task, while brain activity was measured. We have developed a technique that allows us to determine precisely when the visual system is sensitive to information that is necessary to recognise a face. Our results demonstrate that indeed the time course of the brain sensitivity to task-related information is delayed with senescence, with an estimated trend of 1 millisecond per year, or 50 ms between 20 and 70 - a lot of processing time for neurons! These results will be important for the development of new techniques for evaluating age-related visual deteriorations. These results were published in international neuroscience journals, and presented at conferences and in lectures. |
| Exploitation Route | The success of the project relied on the development of new tools and an unusual approach to ERP analysis / ageing research. The tools have been incorporated into a freely available Matlab toolbox, thus ensuring wider dissemination of the research findings: https://gforge.dcn.ed.ac.uk/gf/project/limo_eeg/ The philosophy behind the approach has been publicised in talks, papers and workshops, and I hope has helped improve the research quality in fields beyond those of my original research project. |
| Sectors | Healthcare |
| Description | I'm not sure my work has had much impact beyond academic research. Certainly, some non-researchers have heard of the work. I've given public lecturers, and all our subjects were debriefed at the end of the experiments, thus exposing dozens of members of the community to research on aging and cognitive neuroscience. The results from the aging experiments were included in teaching lectures, small group teaching, and workshops, drawing strong interest from students. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2009 |
| Description | basic science grant |
| Amount | £116,899 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | F/00 179/BD |
| Organisation | The Leverhulme Trust |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2010 |
| End | 08/2013 |
| Title | BA-ESRC-Leverhulme dryad data package |
| Description | The data package contains single-trial ERPs from 120 participants, 74 of whom were tested twice. Stimuli were images of faces and noise textures. Data were high-pass filtered using a causal filter and low-pass filtered using a non-causal filter. This procedure guarantees that onsets were not distorted. An example code is provided to perform t-tests and to correct for multiple comparisons using cluster based statistics in conjunction with a percentile-t bootstrap procedure. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | None yet. The data package has been downloaded 11 times as of 3 Feb 2016. |
| URL | http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.46786 |
| Title | BA-ESRC-Leverhulme figshare data package |
| Description | This data package contains ERP onsets estimated from 120 participants, 74 of whom were tested twice. Stimuli were face images and noise textures. Onsets were estimated using ERP data low-pass filtered or not, using t-tests on means or 20% trimmed-means. We corrected for multiple comparisons using cluster based statistics in conjunction with a percentile-t bootstrap procedure. The results were reported in this paper accepted for publication: A robust and representative lower bound on object processing speed in humans Magdalena Bieniek, Patrick Bennett, Allison Sekuler & Guillaume Rousselet European Journal of Neuroscience |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | None yet. 5 downloads as of 3 Feb 2016. |
| URL | https://figshare.com/articles/Face_noise_ERP_onsets_from_194_recording_sessions/1588513 |
| Description | 3Ls French club |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Discussions about positive and negative effects of ageing on cognition. After my talk, members of the audience expressed interest in learning more about cognitive ageing and participating in my research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | ERP studies of face processing : stimulus space, task constraints and data modelling |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Two invited talks at Psychology and fMRI group research meeting, supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas, "Face perception and recognition" by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan. After my two talks, there was an increase in views of my paper from Japanese labs, and an increase in request for advise on data analysis. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Franco-Scottish society talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Lively discussions about what it's like to get older, covering both positive and negative aspects on cognition. After my talk, members of the audience expressed interest in learning more about cognitive ageing and participating in my research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Glasgow Caledonian University talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Lively discussions about vision ageing and ERP analysis. Several researchers expressed interests in learning more about my approach and ERP analysis tools. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | Toulouse talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Many questions about vision and cognitive ageing, as well as ERP data analysis. NA |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | University of Edinburgh talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Many questions about vision and cognitive ageing, as well as ERP data analysis. NA |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | VSS talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Got a few questions after my talk. none i can remember |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |