Image memorability, the likelihood that a person will remember a particular image, has been shown to be an intrinsic property of the image that is distinct from many other visual and cognitive ...features. Research thus far has not identified particular visual features that can sufficiently explain this intrinsic memorability, but one possibility is that more and less memorable images differ in their statistical regularity (i.e., how prototypical or distinctive they are). Statistical regularity is known to affect detection time for images, such that stimuli with higher statistical regularity can be detected with shorter presentation directions. Therefore, in the present study, we probed whether memorability affects how quickly an image can be detected. High- and low-memorability images were presented in an intact/scrambled task wherein participants were asked to indicate whether they saw an intact image or noise, and we estimated the presentation duration necessary for participants to reach 70.7% accuracy. Across two experiments using different stimulus materials, we observed and then replicated that more memorable images are associated with shorter detection thresholds than those for less memorable images. The results support the idea that memorable stimuli may better match stored templates used for image perception and/or recognition.
Public Significance StatementThe likelihood that a given image will be remembered has been found to be consistent across people for a variety of image types such as natural scenes, faces, and logos. The present study tested whether image memorability affects the time it takes for people to simply detect the presence of an intact image as opposed to noise. The results show that memorability is associated with enhanced detection, suggesting that more memorable images may also be more readily perceived, consistent with them better matching our stored knowledge of visual scenes and objects.
Chemical spaces of taste and odor Dunkel, Andreas; Hofmann, Thomas F.
Lebensmittelchemie,
2024, Letnik:
78, Številka:
S2
Journal Article
The thesis provides a draft map of the chemical space of chemosensory active molecules in foods and enables, by application of cheminformatics approaches, the deduction of general principles of raw ...material influence and processing on the sensory perception of complex food systems. The summarized data supports the development of analytical methods targeting the efficient quantitation of key compounds, provides a database for screening of chemosensory receptor agonists and facilitates the optimization of in‐silico tools for prediction of receptor activation determining sensory quality and biological function.
The last decade has seen dramatic technological and conceptual changes in research on episodic memory and the brain. New technologies, and increased use of more naturalistic observations, have ...enabled investigators to delve deeply into the structures that mediate episodic memory, particularly the hippocampus, and to track functional and structural interactions among brain regions that support it. Conceptually, episodic memory is increasingly being viewed as subject to lifelong transformations that are reflected in the neural substrates that mediate it. In keeping with this dynamic perspective, research on episodic memory (and the hippocampus) has infiltrated domains, from perception to language and from empathy to problem solving, that were once considered outside its boundaries. Using the component process model as a framework, and focusing on the hippocampus, its subfields, and specialization along its longitudinal axis, along with its interaction with other brain regions, we consider these new developments and their implications for the organization of episodic memory and its contribution to functions in other domains.
•An overview on the definitions and concepts of the quality of fruits and vegetables was provided.•Attempts at defining quality often discriminate between intrinsic and extrinsic ...characteristics.•Preharvest factors can have profound effects on quality of fruits and vegetables.
The quality of fruits and vegetables constitutes a dynamic composite of their physicochemical properties and consumer perception. Attempts at defining quality often discriminate between intrinsic characteristics inherent to the nature of the products, dictated by genotypic, agroenvironmental and postharvest factors, and extrinsic characteristics influenced by socioeconomic and marketing factors which condition consumer perception of the products and formulate quality standards. The current regulatory context for fruit and vegetable quality comprises crop-specific class standards based on key visual and limited compositional criteria and lays primary emphasis on visual attributes at the expense of flavour, nutritional and functional attributes related to phytonutrient content. The potential quality of fresh fruits and vegetables in the horticultural supply chain is defined in the period preceding harvest, however the full development of quality characteristics can be optimized through the use of appropriate postharvest technology. The current review provides a discourse on the relative significance of the various factors configuring quality in fruits and vegetables, with emphasis on intrinsic factors pertaining to the preharvest period, and also on extrinsic factors shaping quality for supply chain stakeholders and consumers. Preharvest factors discussed include: 1) optimization of stage-specific production inputs, 2) biofortification through targeted plant nutrition, 3) application of accurate crop- and cultivar-specific harvest maturity indices, 4) optimized application of controlled stress conditions that increase primary and secondary metabolites and improve organoleptic and functional aspects of quality, and 5) redirection of horticultural breeding towards improving flavour in horticultural products.
To understand visual consciousness, we must understand how the brain represents ensembles of objects at many levels of perceptual analysis. Ensemble perception refers to the visual system's ability ...to extract summary statistical information from groups of similar objects-often in a brief glance. It defines foundational limits on cognition, memory, and behavior. In this review, we provide an operational definition of ensemble perception and demonstrate that ensemble perception spans across multiple levels of visual analysis, incorporating both low-level visual features and high-level social information. Further, we investigate the functional usefulness of ensemble perception and its efficiency, and we consider possible physiological and cognitive mechanisms that underlie an individual's ability to make accurate and rapid assessments of crowds of objects.
Though it has long been known that animal communication is complex, recent years have seen growing interest in understanding the extent to which animals give multicomponent signals in multiple ...modalities, and how the different types of information extracted by receivers are interpreted and integrated in animal decision-making. This interest has culminated in the production of the present special issue on multimodal communication, which features both theoretical and empirical studies from leading researchers in the field. Reviews, comparative analyses, and species-specific empirical studies include manuscripts on taxa as diverse as spiders, primates, birds, lizards, frogs, and humans. The present manuscript serves as both an introduction to this special issue, as well as an introduction to multimodal communication more generally. We discuss the history of the study of complexity in animal communication, issues relating to defining and classifying multimodal signals, and particular issues to consider with multimodal (as opposed to multicomponent unimodal) communication. We go on to discuss the current state of the field, and outline the contributions contained within the issue. We finish by discussing future avenues for research, in particular emphasizing that 'multimodal' is more than just 'bimodal', and that more integrative frameworks are needed that incorporate more elements of efficacy, such as receiver sensory ecology and the environment.
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•Sensory touch control (vs. voice control) leads to higher willingness-to-pay.•The process is mediated via reduced mental intangibility that in turn increases decision comfort.•We ...identify an assessment orientation as a consumer boundary condition.•Congruent auditory feedback positively moderates the effect of touch control on decision comfort.
Mental intangibility during product evaluation remains one of the greatest drawbacks for online purchasing. However, emerging multi-sensory Augmented Reality (m-AR) applications offer a potential solution for this online retailing problem. Drawing on active inference theory, this article proposes a conceptual framework to assess how sensory control and feedback modalities affect consumer value judgements by reducing mental intangibility. We show how touch control, compared to voice control, positively affects consumers’ willingness-to-pay. The underlying mechanism is a sequential process of reduced mental intangibility and increased feeling of decision comfort. In addition, we highlight a positive moderating effect of congruent auditory feedback on decision comfort. We also demonstrate a novel consumer boundary condition. Consumers high in assessment orientation experience a stronger reduction in mental intangibility. The results are consistently replicated across three experiments implying theoretical and managerial contributions for m-AR in the context of online retailing.
Understanding how the structure of cognition arises from the topographical organization of the cortex is a primary goal in neuroscience. Previous work has described local functional gradients ...extending from perceptual and motor regions to cortical areas representing more abstract functions, but an overarching framework for the association between structure and function is still lacking. Here, we show that the principal gradient revealed by the decomposition of connectivity data in humans and the macaque monkey is anchored by, at one end, regions serving primary sensory/motor functions and at the other end, transmodal regions that, in humans, are known as the default-mode network (DMN). These DMN regions exhibit the greatest geodesic distance along the cortical surface—and are precisely equidistant—from primary sensory/motor morphological landmarks. The principal gradient also provides an organizing spatial framework for multiple large-scale networks and characterizes a spectrum from unimodal to heteromodal activity in a functional metaanalysis. Together, these observations provide a characterization of the topographical organization of cortex and indicate that the role of the DMN in cognition might arise from its position at one extreme of a hierarchy, allowing it to process transmodal information that is unrelated to immediate sensory input.
Mosquitoes are vectors for multiple infectious human diseases and use a variety of sensory cues (olfactory, temperature, humidity and visual) to locate a human host. A comprehensive understanding of ...the circuitry underlying sensory signalling in the mosquito brain is lacking. Here we used the Q-system of binary gene expression to develop transgenic lines of Anopheles gambiae in which olfactory receptor neurons expressing the odorant receptor co-receptor (Orco) gene are labelled with GFP. These neurons project from the antennae and maxillary palps to the antennal lobe (AL) and from the labella on the proboscis to the suboesophageal zone (SEZ), suggesting integration of olfactory and gustatory signals occurs in this brain region. We present detailed anatomical maps of olfactory innervations in the AL and the SEZ, identifying glomeruli that may respond to human body odours or carbon dioxide. Our results pave the way for anatomical and functional neurogenetic studies of sensory processing in mosquitoes.
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