Biology subjects

Zantvoord, J. B.

Publications and source records attributed to Zantvoord, J. B..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Global nonequilibrium cortical dynamics tie mid-level pupil-linked arousal to optimal task performance in humans

Ongoing fluctuations in brain state, largely driven by neuromodulators of arousal, shape how sensory inputs are processed and decisions are made. Here, we combined pharmacological manipulations and pupillary proxies of arousal to examine how global cortical state dynamics relate to perceptual sensitivity. We applied the thermodynamics-inspired INSIDEOUT framework to electroencephalography (EEG) recordings from two visual discrimination tasks performed under placebo, atomoxetine (noradrenergic enhancer), and donepezil (cholinergic enhancer) challenges. INSIDEOUT quantifies the strength of functional hierarchies within the brain via the computation of temporal irreversibility in neural activity. Trial-wise global irreversibility increased linearly with pupil-indexed arousal and exhibited a nonlinear inverted-U relationship with perceptual sensitivity, while showing no differences across drug conditions. A nonlinear mediation analysis revealed that temporal irreversibility can account for a significant portion of the association between pupil-linked arousal and perceptual sensitivity. At lower arousal, increases in prestimulus irreversibility improved perceptual accuracy, whereas at higher arousal, pre- and poststimulus irreversibility had different effects. These results bridge intrinsic whole-brain dynamics with perceptual decision-making, demonstrating that neuromodulator-linked arousal tunes cortical states and, in turn, perceptual performance. More broadly, the results shed new light on how arousal may reconfigure neural global dynamics.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Effects of expectation, attention, and NMDA receptor blockade on feedforward and feedback processing

Perception is increasingly viewed as an inferential process wherein sensory inputs are integrated with prior expectations. We employed time-resolved decoding on electroencephalography (EEG) data (n = 30 male participants) to investigate how expectations modulate sensory processing across varying levels of stimulus complexity, and tested the effect of attention and NMDA receptor blockade. We designed a visual stimulus containing features of different complexity whose processing relies on distinct neural mechanisms: local contrast, collinearity, and the Kanizsa illusion, involving primarily feedforward, lateral, and feedback processes, respectively. EEG decoding revealed that expectations modulated lateral and feedback processing (better decoding for unexpected stimuli) but not feedforward processing. These expectation effects were confined to attended (task-relevant) features and were not observed for task-irrelevant features. The NMDA receptor antagonist memantine selectively enhanced decoding of the Kanizsa illusion, implicating NMDA-mediated feedback mechanisms in perceptual inference, but it did not modulate the effects of expectation or attention. These findings highlight the differential impact of expectations across different stages of sensory processing and reveal a distinct role of NMDA receptor-mediated feedback mechanisms. Significance statementPerception integrates sensory inputs with prior expectations. Using EEG decoding, we examined how expectations shape sensory processing at different levels of complexity and tested the effects of attention and NMDA receptor blockade. Our visual stimuli were designed to capture EEG markers of feedforward, lateral, and feedback mechanisms. Expectations influenced lateral and feedback processing (better decoding for unexpected stimuli) but not feedforward processing, and these effects were selective to task-relevant stimulus features. Memantine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, selectively improved decoding of the Kanizsa illusion, implicating NMDA-mediated feedback in perceptual inference, but it did not shape expectation or attention effects.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Adaptive arousal regulation: Pharmacologically shifting the peak of the Yerkes-Dodson curve by catecholaminergic enhancement of arousal

Performance typically peaks at moderate arousal levels, consistent with the Yerkes-Dodson law, as confirmed by recent human and mouse pupillometry studies. Arousal states are influenced by neuromodulators like catecholamines (noradrenaline; NA and dopamine; DA) and acetylcholine (ACh). To explore their causal roles in this law, we pharmacologically enhanced arousal while measuring human decision-making and spontaneous arousal fluctuations via pupil size. The catecholaminergic agent atomoxetine (ATX) increased overall arousal and shifted the entire arousal-performance curve, suggesting a relative arousal mechanism where performance adapts to arousal fluctuations within arousal states. In contrast, the cholinergic agent donepezil (DNP) did not affect arousal or the curve. We modeled these findings in a neurobiologically plausible computational framework, showing how catecholaminergic modulation alters a disinhibitory neural circuit that encodes sensory evidence for decision-making. This work suggests that performance adapts flexibly to arousal fluctuations, ensuring optimal performance in each and every arousal state.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

NMDA receptor antagonist memantine selectively affects recurrent processing during perceptual inference

Perceptual inference requires the integration of visual features through recurrent processing, the dynamic exchange of information between higher and lower level cortical regions. While animal research has demonstrated a crucial role of NMDA receptors in recurrent processing, establishing a causal link between NMDA receptors and recurrent processing in humans has remained challenging. Here, we report two pharmacological studies with randomized, double-blind, crossover designs in which we administered the NMDA antagonist memantine, while collecting human electroencephalography (EEG). We trained and tested EEG classifiers to reflect the processing of specific stimulus features with increasing levels of complexity, namely differences in stimulus contrast, collinearity between local line elements, and illusory surfaces of a Kanizsa triangle. In two experiments involving different participants and visual tasks, we found that memantine selectively improved decoding of the Kanizsa illusion, known to depend on recurrent processing, while leaving decoding of contrast and collinearity largely unaffected. Interestingly, the results from an attentional blink (experiment 1) and task-relevance manipulation (experiment 2) showed that memantine was only effective when the stimulus was attended and consciously accessed. These findings suggest that NMDA inhibition through memantine enhances recurrent processing, especially for attended objects, and thereby provide a crucial step toward bridging animal and human research, shedding light on the neural mechanisms underpinning perceptual inference and conscious perception. This research was supported by a grant from the H2020 European Research Council (ERC STG 715605, SVG).

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2020

Conscious perception and the modulatory role of dopamine: no effect of the dopamine D2 agonist cabergoline on visual masking, the attentional blink, and probabilistic discrimination

RationaleConscious perception is thought to depend on global amplification of sensory input. In recent years, striatal dopamine has been proposed to be involved in gating information and conscious access, due to its modulatory influence on thalamocortical connectivity. ObjectivesSince much of the evidence that implicates striatal dopamine is correlational, we conducted a double-blind crossover pharmacological study in which we administered cabergoline - a dopamine D2 agonist - and placebo to 30 healthy participants. Under both conditions, we subjected participants to several well-established experimental conscious-perception paradigms, such as backward masking and the attentional blink task. ResultsWe found no evidence in support of an effect of cabergoline on conscious perception: key behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) findings associated with each of these tasks were unaffected by cabergoline. ConclusionsOur results cast doubt on a causal role for dopamine in visual perception. It remains an open possibility that dopamine has causal effects in other tasks, perhaps where perceptual uncertainty is more prominent.

neuroscience↗