The numerosity of small numbers of objects, up to about four, can be rapidly appraised without error, a phenomenon known as subitizing. Larger numbers can either be counted, accurately but slowly, or estimated, rapidly but with errors. There has been some debate as to whether subitizing uses the same or different mechanisms than those of higher numerical ranges and whether it requires attention...

【背景および目的】 ある課題の遂行中、意図していないにも関わらずその課題 と関係ないことを考えてしまう現象を、マインドワンダリン グ(mind wandering:MW)と呼ぶ(Smallwood & Schooler, 2006)。MWはしばしば円滑な課題遂行の妨げとなるため、 それが生起した際には、そのことに素早く気づき、課題無関 連思考を停止する必要がある。この気づきのメカニズムにつ いて Schooler(2002)は、利用可能な注意資源が多い状況で は、少ない状況に比べて MWの生起により多く気づくという 結果(Sayette et al., 2009; Smallwood et al., 2004)から、 思考の様子をモニタリングすることに注意資源(attentional resources)を割くことで、課題無関連思考を検出できると考 えた。しかし、これらの結果からは、...

Selective attention is the top-down mechanism to allocate neuronal processing resources to the most relevant subset of the information provided by an organism's sensors. Attentional selection of a spatial location modulates the spatial-tuning characteristics (i.e., the receptive fields of neurons in macaque visual cortex). These tuning changes include a shift of receptive field centers toward t...

Introduction: To investigate the effects of predictable and unpredictable external perturbations on cortical activity in healthy young and older adults. Methods: Twenty healthy older and 19 healthy young adults were exposed to predictable and unpredictable external perturbations, and their cortical activity upon postural recovery was measured using a 32-channel quantitative encephalography. Th...