Biology subjects

Hoyer, R. S.

Publications and source records attributed to Hoyer, R. S..

8 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Sleep after Motor Sequence Learning Enhances Post-Movement Parietal Beta Synchronization

The neural substrates supporting the beneficial effect of sleep on motor memory consolidation are well described. However, less is known about the brain oscillatory dynamics underlying these processes. We characterized the oscillatory dynamics associated with motor sequence learning and their modulation by post-learning sleep using magnetoencephalography (MEG) in young healthy adults. After learning a motor sequence task while their brain activity was recorded with MEG, participants were distributed in two groups according to whether they slept or were totally sleep deprived during the first post-training night. Consolidation was assessed with a retest in the MEG three days after training. Behaviorally, performance improved over the consolidation interval irrespective of whether sleep was afforded during the first night. MEG results showed that initial motor sequence learning was characterized by a progressive decrease in beta Event Related Desynchronization (ERD, 18-25Hz) over bilateral motor areas. Interestingly, while these practice-related modulations of beta ERD were not influenced by the sleep status, post-learned-movement beta Event Related Synchronization (ERS) over bilateral parietal areas increased over the consolidation interval in the sleep, compared to the sleep deprived, group. These results extend current models of motor memory consolidation by identifying ERS as an oscillatory marker of sleep-dependent consolidation.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2025

Valence-dependent sensory-rhythmic neural entrainment modulates cortico-subcortical dynamics, attention, and memory

Sensory rhythmic stimulation enhances executive functions by entraining oscillations in higher- order cortical networks, but its effects on subcortical structures remain unclear. We propose that stimulus valence is a key feature to enable subcortical entrainment. Using intracranial EEG in epileptic patients, we first show that visual search is supported by cortico-subcortical theta (5Hz) activity. We then show that 5 Hz negative-valence visual stimulation entrains theta oscillations in a task-related network, including the ventral visual stream, hippocampus, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Finally, in a behavioral experiment in healthy individuals, we show that both neutral and negative valence 5 Hz stimulation improved visual search speed, but only negative valence stimulation enhanced target image recognition as assessed through an additional memory task. These findings highlight the role of stimulus valence in modulating subcortical brain activity and behaviors through rhythmic sensory stimulation and pave the way for further applications in clinical intervention.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Global and selective effects of auditory attention on arousal: insights from pupil dilation

Theoretical models of attention propose that norepinephrine (NE) can induce both a global boost of arousal and selective amplification of high-priority stimuli, yet few tasks have tested these dual effects in humans. Here, we used pupillometry in an auditory detection task, the Competitive Attention Test (CAT), previously performed in large cohort studies, to examine how task engagement (active vs. passive) and stimulus relevance (informative vs. uninformative cues) modulate arousal. Results showed that both relevant and irrelevant sounds elicited larger pupil dilation under active conditions, indicating a global arousal effect. Crucially, only relevant sounds benefited from an additional dilation when preceded by an informative cue, demonstrating a selective arousal mechanism associated to top-down attention. These findings illustrate the NEs dual role in boosting overall alertness while selectively enhancing high-priority stimuli. Beyond theoretical implications, this work highlights that the CAT captures measurable arousal components, reinforcing its utility for clinical assessments of attention-arousal clinical disruptions.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2023

Spectro-temporal acoustical markers differentiate speech from song across cultures

Humans produce two forms of cognitively complex vocalizations: speech and song. It is debated whether these differ based primarily on culturally specific, learned features, or if acoustical features can reliably distinguish them. We study the spectro-temporal modulation patterns of vocalizations produced by 369 people living in 21 urban, rural, and small-scale societies across six continents. Specific ranges of spectral and temporal modulations, overlapping within categories and across societies, significantly differentiate speech from song. Machine-learning classification shows that this effect is cross-culturally robust, vocalizations being reliably classified solely from their spectro-temporal features across all 21 societies. Listeners unfamiliar with the cultures classify these vocalizations using similar spectro-temporal cues as the machine learning algorithm. Finally, spectro-temporal features are better able to discriminate song from speech than a broad range of other acoustical variables, suggesting that spectro-temporal modulation--a key feature of auditory neuronal tuning--accounts for a fundamental difference between these categories. Two-Sentence SummaryWhat distinguishes singing from speaking? The authors show that consistent acoustical spectro-temporal features are sufficient to distinguish speech and song reliably across different societies throughout the world.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

When do we become more prone to distraction? Progressive evolution of the different components of distractibility from early to late adulthood.

Life expectancy has steadily increased for over a century; we thus live longer and are more likely to experience cognitive difficulties such as increased distractibility which can hamper autonomy. This cross-sectional behavioral study aimed to characterize the decline of the cognitive components of distractibility during typical aging, and the onset of this decline. 191 participants from 21 to 86 years old, distributed within seven age groups, were tested using the Competitive Attention Test. Results indicate that cognitive components contributing to distractibility follow different trajectories with aging: voluntary orienting remains stable from 21 to 86 years old, sustained attention decreases while distraction increases between 26 and 86 years old, finally, impulsivity is lower in older compared to younger adults. Increased distractibility in older adults thus seems to result from a dominance of involuntary over voluntary attention processes, whose detrimental effect on performance is partly compensated by enhanced recruitment of motor control.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2021

Increase of both bottom-up and top-down attentional processes in high dream recallers

Event-related potentials (ERPs) associated with the involuntary orientation of (bottom-up) attention towards an unexpected sound are of larger amplitude in high dream recallers (HR) than in low dream recallers (LR) during passive listening, suggesting different attentional functioning. We measured bottom-up and top-down attentional performance and their cerebral correlates in 18 HR (11 women, age = 22.7 {+/-} 4.1 years, dream recall frequency = 5.3 {+/-} 1.3 days with a dream recall per week) and 19 LR (10 women, age = 22.3, DRF = 0.2 {+/-}0.2) using EEG and the Competitive Attention Task. Between-group differences were found in ERPs but not in behavior. The results confirm that HR present larger ERPs to distracting sounds than LR during active listening, suggesting enhanced bottom-up processing of irrelevant sounds. HR also presented a larger contingent negative variation during target expectancy and a larger P3b response to target sounds than LR, speaking for an enhanced recruitment of top-down attention. Enhancement of both top-down and bottom-up processes in HR leads to an apparently preserved attentional balance since similar performance were observed in the two groups. Therefore, different neurophysiological profiles can result in similar cognitive performance, with some profiles possibly costlier in term of resource/energy consumption.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2021

The development of attention and distractibility in preschool children from higher and lower socioeconomic status backgrounds

In children, the ability to listen to relevant auditory information and suppress distracting information is a foundational skill for learning and educational achievement. Distractibility is supported by multiple cognitive components (voluntary attention orienting, sustained attention, distraction, phasic arousal, as well as impulsivity and motor control) that may mature at different ages. Here we used the Competitive Attention Test (CAT) to measure these components in 71 4- and 5-year-old children. The goal of this study was to characterize the changes in efficiency of attention during the preschool period, and to explore differences in distractibility in preschool children that could be related to the socioeconomic status (SES) background of the childs family. We found that sustained attention improves from age 4 to 5, while voluntary attention orienting is still immature during the preschool period. In addition, independent of age, task-irrelevant sounds induced distraction, phasic arousal, and impulsivity. Children from lower SES backgrounds showed reduced sustained attention abilities and increased impulsivity. However, 3-year-old children and a minority of 4- and 5-year-olds did not manage to perform the task according to the instructions; the CAT thus seems suitable to assess distractibility only in preschoolers with sufficiently developed sustained attention skills to efficiently complete the task. Taken together, the present findings suggest that distractibility is still developing during the preschool period and is likely to vary depending on the SES background of a childs family.

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bioRxiv2019

Why are children so distractible? Development of attentional capacities and phasic arousal from childhood to adulthood.

Distractibility is the propensity to behaviorally react to irrelevant information. Though children are more distractible the younger they are, the precise contribution of attentional and motor components to distractibility and their developmental trajectories have not been characterized yet. We used a new behavioral paradigm to identify the developmental dynamics of components contributing to distractibility in a large cohort of French participants balanced, between age groups, in gender and socio-economic status (N=352; age: 6-25). Results reveal that each measure of these components, namely voluntary attention, distraction, impulsivity and motor control, present a distinct maturational timeline. In young children, increased distractibility is mostly the result of reduced sustained attention capacities and enhanced distraction, while in teenagers, it is the result of decreased motor control and increased impulsivity.

neuroscience↗