Human cognitive neuroscience seminar
Speakers: Dr Moreno Coco (University of Edinburgh)
Topic: Attention as a window into healthy and neuro‐degenerate memory processes
Abstract: In this talk, I present novel evidence that attention and memory share resources and processes, and may be viewed as the same cognitive component. I will show data from healthy young and old adults, and from Mild Cognitive Impaired (MCI) patients performing visual short-term (change detection) and long-term (recognition) memory tasks. I will demonstrate that: (a) changes on objects are better detected when the objects are fixated closer to the centre, but MCI patients do not benefit from it when the semantics of objects is changed, (b) the fixation-related potential associated with a correctly detected change displays a positive distribution over central and frontal area, especially in young adults; and (c) semantic interference in long-term memory - operationalized as the number of scenes of the same semantic category to which participants are exposed to - impairs recognition in control participants (i.e., the more the interference the worst the recognition); but this effect does not emerge in the MCI group. This work suggests that attentional responses and high-level processing of semantic information are proxies to the formation and access to visual memories, and to discriminate between healthy and pathological ageing.
Contact
The seminars are organised by the Human Cognitive Neuroscience research group. For further information, or if you would like to join the e-mail list for these seminars, please email Ed Silson.
Human cognitive neuroscience seminar
Room S37, Psychology Building, 7 George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9JZ