Background: The visual system may process spatial frequency information in a low-to-high, coarse-to-fine sequence. In particular, low and high spatial frequency information may be processed via different pathways during object recognition, with LSF information projected rapidly to frontal areas and HSF processed later in visual ventral areas. In an electroencephalographic study, we examined the time course of information processing for images filtered to contain different ranges of spatial frequencies. Participants viewed either high spatial frequency (HSF), low spatial frequency (LSF), or unfiltered, broadband (BB) images of objects or nonobject textures, classifying them as showing either man-made or natural objects, or nonobjects. Event-related potentials (ERPs) and evoked and total gamma band activity (eGBA and tGBA) recorded using the electroencephalogram were compared for object and nonobject images across the different spatial frequency ranges. Results: The visual P1 showed independent modulations by object and spatial frequency, while for the N1 these factors interacted. The P1 showed more positive amplitudes for objects than nonobjects, and more positive amplitudes for BB than for HSF images, which in turn evoked more positive amplitudes than LSF images. The peak-to-peak N1 showed that the N1 was much reduced for BB non-objects relative to all other images, while HSF and LSF nonobjects still elicited as negative an N1 as objects. In contrast, eGBA was influenced by spatial frequency and not objecthood, while tGBA showed a stronger response to objects than nonobjects. Conclusions: Different pathways are involved in the processing of low and high spatial frequencies during object recognition, as reflected in interactions between objecthood and spatial frequency in the visual N1 component. Total gamma band seems to be related to a late, probably highlevel representational process.

Die Beschreibung spontaner Berührungen des eigenen Körpers findet sich bereits in der psychologischen Forschungsliteratur der 1930er Jahre. Das spontane Berühren des eigenen Gesichts tritt Studien zufolge häufiger auf als das spontane Berühren anderer Körperteile. Trotz jahrzehntelanger Forschung sowie aktueller Präsenz des Themas im Zusammenhang mit der COVID-19-Pandemie, sind zentrale Fragen zu Auslösemechanismen und psychophysiologischen Funktionen von spontanen fazialen Selbstberührungen bislang unbeantwortet. Die vorliegende Dissertation liefert anhand neurophysiologischer sowie behavioraler Daten neue Erkenntnisse zu Funktionen von spontanen fazialen Selbstberührungen und trägt damit zur Weiterentwicklung der Theorie dieses Verhaltens bei.

Background: The visual system may process spatial frequency information in a low-to-high, coarse-to-fine sequence. In particular, low and high spatial frequency information may be processed via different pathways during object recognition, with LSF information projected rapidly to frontal areas and HSF processed later in visual ventral areas. In an electroencephalographic study, we examined the time course of information processing for images filtered to contain different ranges of spatial frequencies. Participants viewed either high spatial frequency (HSF), low spatial frequency (LSF), or unfiltered, broadband (BB) images of objects or nonobject textures, classifying them as showing either man-made or natural objects, or nonobjects. Event-related potentials (ERPs) and evoked and total gamma band activity (eGBA and tGBA) recorded using the electroencephalogram were compared for object and nonobject images across the different spatial frequency ranges. Results: The visual P1 showed independent modulations by object and spatial frequency, while for the N1 these factors interacted. The P1 showed more positive amplitudes for objects than nonobjects, and more positive amplitudes for BB than for HSF images, which in turn evoked more positive amplitudes than LSF images. The peak-to-peak N1 showed that the N1 was much reduced for BB non-objects relative to all other images, while HSF and LSF nonobjects still elicited as negative an N1 as objects. In contrast, eGBA was influenced by spatial frequency and not objecthood, while tGBA showed a stronger response to objects than nonobjects. Conclusions: Different pathways are involved in the processing of low and high spatial frequencies during object recognition, as reflected in interactions between objecthood and spatial frequency in the visual N1 component. Total gamma band seems to be related to a late, probably highlevel representational process.

Several lines of evidence suggest that asymmetric anterior brain activation is related to affective style, linking left hemisphere activation to positive affect and right hemisphere activation to negative affect. However, previous reports of left frontal hypoactivation in depressed patients were not confirmed in recent studies. This study evaluated additional characteristics of resting EEG alpha (8–13 Hz) asymmetry in 15 clinically depressed patients and 22 healthy adults by recording EEG activity on two separate occasions, 2–4 weeks apart. Across both sessions, group differences in anterior EEG asymmetry were compatible with the original hypothesis. However, groups differed in temporal stability of anterior EEG asymmetry, which was retest reliable in controls but not depressed patients. In contrast, temporal stability of posterior EEG asymmetry was acceptable in both groups. Increased variability of anterior EEG asymmetry may be a characteristic feature for depression, and, if so, this would challenge the notion that anterior EEG alpha asymmetry is a trait marker for depression. / Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.

Several lines of evidence suggest that asymmetric anterior brain activation is related to affective style, linking left hemisphere activation to positive affect and right hemisphere activation to negative affect. However, previous reports of left frontal hypoactivation in depressed patients were not confirmed in recent studies. This study evaluated additional characteristics of resting EEG alpha (8–13 Hz) asymmetry in 15 clinically depressed patients and 22 healthy adults by recording EEG activity on two separate occasions, 2–4 weeks apart. Across both sessions, group differences in anterior EEG asymmetry were compatible with the original hypothesis. However, groups differed in temporal stability of anterior EEG asymmetry, which was retest reliable in controls but not depressed patients. In contrast, temporal stability of posterior EEG asymmetry was acceptable in both groups. Increased variability of anterior EEG asymmetry may be a characteristic feature for depression, and, if so, this would challenge the notion that anterior EEG alpha asymmetry is a trait marker for depression. / Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.