P. Rotshtein | University of Haifa (original) (raw)

Papers by P. Rotshtein

European Neuropsychopharmacology, 2020

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 2019

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2017

This study investigated whether age-related sensitivity to self-relevance may benefit perspective... more This study investigated whether age-related sensitivity to self-relevance may benefit perspective taking, despite generally poorer perspective-taking capacity in older adults. In one perceptual matching task and two visual perspective-taking paradigms, we examined age differences in sensitivity to avatars representing self and other. In the matching task, older (60–83 years) and younger (18–20 years) adults were similarly biased toward the self- versus other-associated avatar. In the perspective-taking tasks, participants viewed these avatars within a virtual room. Task-relevant perspectives were either the same (i.e., congruent) or different (i.e., incongruent). In the 3PP–3PP task, both avatars were present, and participants adopted the perspective of one or the other. As in the matching task, young and old were similarly biased toward the self-associated avatar. However, age differences emerged in the 1PP–3PP task, which presented only one avatar per trial (varying between self a...

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2014

Deficits in the ability to draw objects, despite apparently intact perception and motor abilities... more Deficits in the ability to draw objects, despite apparently intact perception and motor abilities, are defined as constructional apraxia. Constructional deficits, often diagnosed based on performance on copying complex figures, have been reported in a range of pathologies, perhaps reflecting the contribution of several underlying factors to poor figure drawing. The current study provides a comprehensive analysis of brain–behavior relationships in drawing disorders based on data from a large cohort of subacute stroke patients (n = 358) using whole-brain voxel-wise statistical analyses linked to behavioral measures from a complex figure copy task. We found that (i) overall poor performance on figure copying was associated with subcortical lesions (BG and thalamus), (ii) lateralized deficits with respect to the midline of the viewer were associated with lesions within the posterior parietal lobule, and (iii) spatial positioning errors across the entire figure were associated with lesio...

Neuropsychologia, Jan 2, 2014

Spatial working memory problems are frequently reported following brain damage within both left a... more Spatial working memory problems are frequently reported following brain damage within both left and right hemispheres but with the severity often being grater in individuals with right hemisphere lesions. Clinically, deficits in spatial working memory have also been noted in patients with visuospatial disorders such as unilateral neglect. Here, we examined neural substrates of short-term memory for spatial locations based on the Corsi Block tapping task and the relationship with the visuospatial deficits of neglect and extinction in a group of chronic neuropsychological patients. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to distinguish shared and dissociate functional components. The neural substrates of spatial short-term memory deficits and the components identified by PCA were examined using whole brain voxel-based morphometry and tract-wise lesion deficits analyses. We found that bilateral lesions within occipital cortex (middle occipital gyrus) and right posterior parietal co...

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013

Prior social psychological studies show that newly assigned personal significance can modulate hi... more Prior social psychological studies show that newly assigned personal significance can modulate high-level cognitive processes, e.g., memory and social evaluation, with self- and other-related information processed in dissociated prefrontal structure: ventral vs. dorsal, respectively. Here, we demonstrate the impact of personal significance on perception and show the neural network that supports this effect. We used an associative learning procedure in which we “tag” a neutral shape with a self-relevant label. Participants were instructed to associate three neutral shapes with labels for themselves, their best friend, or an unfamiliar other. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired while participants judged whether the shape-label pairs were maintained or swapped. Behaviorally, participants rapidly tagged a neutral stimulus with self-relevance, showing a robust advantage for self-tagged stimuli. Self-tagging responses were associated with enhanced activity in brain re...

Journal of Vision, 2011

Abstract There is an ongoing debate about whether the contrast between efficient visual enumerati... more Abstract There is an ongoing debate about whether the contrast between efficient visual enumeration of small number (subitizing) and the relatively inefficient enumeration of larger numbers (counting) is subserved by separable processes. All the neuropsychological ...

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2012

Because of our limited processing capacity, different elements of the visual scene compete for th... more Because of our limited processing capacity, different elements of the visual scene compete for the allocation of processing resources. One of the most striking deficits in visual selection is simultanagnosia, a rare neuropsychological condition characterized by impaired spatial awareness of more than one object at time. To decompose the neuroanatomical substrates of the syndrome and to gain insights into the structural and functional organization of visuospatial attention, we performed a systematic evaluation of lesion patterns in a group of simultanagnosic patients compared with patients with either (i) unilateral visuospatial deficits (neglect and/or extinction) or (ii) bilateral posterior lesions without visuospatial deficits, using overlap/subtraction analyses, estimation of lesion volume, and a lesion laterality index. We next used voxel-based morphometry to assess the link between different visuospatial deficits and gray matter and white matter (WM) damage. Lesion overlap/subt...

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2012

There is considerable evidence that there are anatomically and functionally distinct pathways for... more There is considerable evidence that there are anatomically and functionally distinct pathways for action and object recognition. However, little is known about how information about action and objects is integrated. This study provides fMRI evidence for task-based selection of brain regions associated with action and object processing, and on how the congruency between the action and the object modulates neural response. Participants viewed videos of objects used in congruent or incongruent actions and attended either to the action or the object in a one-back procedure. Attending to the action led to increased responses in a fronto-parietal action-associated network. Attending to the object activated regions within a fronto-inferior temporal network. Stronger responses for congruent action–object clips occurred in bilateral parietal, inferior temporal, and putamen. Distinct cortical and thalamic regions were modulated by congruency in the different tasks. The results suggest that (i...

European Neuropsychopharmacology, 2003

Cortex, 2013

The present study examined the relations between the lesions linked to visual and tactile extinct... more The present study examined the relations between the lesions linked to visual and tactile extinction (VE and TE), and those related to visual field defects and spatial neglect. Continuous variations in patients' performance were used to assess the link between behavioural scores and integrity of both grey and white matter (GM and WM). We found both common and distinct neural substrates associated with extinction and neglect. Damage to angular and middle occipital gyri, superior temporal sulcus (STS) and insula were linked to VE. Lesions involving the supramarginal gyrus (SMG), intraparietal sulcus, middle frontal and superior temporal gyri (MFG and STG) were associated exclusively with spatial neglect. Lesions affecting the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), the middle temporal region, middle frontal area (BA46) as well as the insula and putamen were linked to both spatial neglect and VE. Analysis of the relations between VE and TE highlighted the TPJ as the common site for both modalities. These findings suggest that the TPJ plays a general role in identifying salient events in the sensory environment across multiple modalities. Furthermore, WM analyses pointed to superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) as critical for interconnecting components of the visuospatial attention network. We demonstrated that functional disconnections resulting from SLF damage contribute to altered performance on attention tasks measuring not only neglect but also VE and TE. We propose that the SLF supports interactions between functionally specialized regions involved in attentional control across multiple sensory modalities.

Cognitive Neuropsychology, 2010

Insights into the functional nature and neuroanatomy of spatial attention have come from research... more Insights into the functional nature and neuroanatomy of spatial attention have come from research in neglect patients but to date many conflicting results have been reported. The novelty of the current study is that we used voxel-wise analyses based on information from segmented grey and white matter tissue combined with diffusion tensor imaging to decompose neural substrates of different neglect symptoms. Allocentric neglect was associated with damage to posterior cortical regions (posterior superior temporal sulcus, angular, middle temporal and middle occipital gyri). In contrast, egocentric neglect was associated with more anterior cortical damage (middle frontal, postcentral, supramarginal, and superior temporal gyri) and damage within subcortical structures. Damage to intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) was associated with both forms of neglect. Importantly, we showed that both disorders were associated with white matter lesions suggesting damage within long association and projection pathways such as the superior longitudinal, superior fronto-occipital, inferior longitudinal, and inferior fronto-occipital fascicule, thalamic radiation, and corona radiata. We conclude that distinct cortical regions control attention (a) across space (using an egocentric frame of reference) and (b) within objects (using an allocentric frame of reference), while common cortical regions (TPJ, IPS) and common white matter pathways support interactions across the different cortical regions.

Brain and Cognition, 2011

NeuroImage, 2001

Introduction: Functional imaging studies demonstrated increased brain activity in the visual cort... more Introduction: Functional imaging studies demonstrated increased brain activity in the visual cortex and limbic areas in response to emotional visual stimuli( 1.2). However, differences in the visual features of these images could confound these results. In order to manipulate the valence of the stimuli while keeping the visual features largely unchanged, we took advantage of the “Thatcher Illusion”(3) which provides an “Expressional Transfiguration” (ET) effect of faces. Thus, inversion of eyes and mouth in a face (Original) elicits a marked change in the emotional valence of the face (ET). Two face types were used: upright-ET, upright-original. As a control there were two additional upturned face types: inverted-Original, inverted-ET. In addition, we used the repetition effect of fMRI (fMR-adaptation)(4) which enabled us to test more incisively the visual regions. In this study we addressed tree questions: 1) Will ET faces activate the visual system differently than Original faces? 2) Will visual cortex relate differently to ET face effect compared to the amygdala? 3) Will the ET effect on these regions relate to emotional load or emotional valence of faces?

Psychopathic traits are associated with reduced attention to the eyes of emotional faces among ad... more Psychopathic traits are associated with reduced attention to the eyes of emotional faces among adult male non-offenders. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 9:552. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00552 Psychopathic traits are associated with reduced attention to the eyes of emotional faces among adult male non-offenders

European Neuropsychopharmacology, 2020

IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, 2015

European Neuropsychopharmacology, 2020

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 2019

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2017

This study investigated whether age-related sensitivity to self-relevance may benefit perspective... more This study investigated whether age-related sensitivity to self-relevance may benefit perspective taking, despite generally poorer perspective-taking capacity in older adults. In one perceptual matching task and two visual perspective-taking paradigms, we examined age differences in sensitivity to avatars representing self and other. In the matching task, older (60–83 years) and younger (18–20 years) adults were similarly biased toward the self- versus other-associated avatar. In the perspective-taking tasks, participants viewed these avatars within a virtual room. Task-relevant perspectives were either the same (i.e., congruent) or different (i.e., incongruent). In the 3PP–3PP task, both avatars were present, and participants adopted the perspective of one or the other. As in the matching task, young and old were similarly biased toward the self-associated avatar. However, age differences emerged in the 1PP–3PP task, which presented only one avatar per trial (varying between self a...

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2014

Deficits in the ability to draw objects, despite apparently intact perception and motor abilities... more Deficits in the ability to draw objects, despite apparently intact perception and motor abilities, are defined as constructional apraxia. Constructional deficits, often diagnosed based on performance on copying complex figures, have been reported in a range of pathologies, perhaps reflecting the contribution of several underlying factors to poor figure drawing. The current study provides a comprehensive analysis of brain–behavior relationships in drawing disorders based on data from a large cohort of subacute stroke patients (n = 358) using whole-brain voxel-wise statistical analyses linked to behavioral measures from a complex figure copy task. We found that (i) overall poor performance on figure copying was associated with subcortical lesions (BG and thalamus), (ii) lateralized deficits with respect to the midline of the viewer were associated with lesions within the posterior parietal lobule, and (iii) spatial positioning errors across the entire figure were associated with lesio...

Neuropsychologia, Jan 2, 2014

Spatial working memory problems are frequently reported following brain damage within both left a... more Spatial working memory problems are frequently reported following brain damage within both left and right hemispheres but with the severity often being grater in individuals with right hemisphere lesions. Clinically, deficits in spatial working memory have also been noted in patients with visuospatial disorders such as unilateral neglect. Here, we examined neural substrates of short-term memory for spatial locations based on the Corsi Block tapping task and the relationship with the visuospatial deficits of neglect and extinction in a group of chronic neuropsychological patients. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to distinguish shared and dissociate functional components. The neural substrates of spatial short-term memory deficits and the components identified by PCA were examined using whole brain voxel-based morphometry and tract-wise lesion deficits analyses. We found that bilateral lesions within occipital cortex (middle occipital gyrus) and right posterior parietal co...

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013

Prior social psychological studies show that newly assigned personal significance can modulate hi... more Prior social psychological studies show that newly assigned personal significance can modulate high-level cognitive processes, e.g., memory and social evaluation, with self- and other-related information processed in dissociated prefrontal structure: ventral vs. dorsal, respectively. Here, we demonstrate the impact of personal significance on perception and show the neural network that supports this effect. We used an associative learning procedure in which we “tag” a neutral shape with a self-relevant label. Participants were instructed to associate three neutral shapes with labels for themselves, their best friend, or an unfamiliar other. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired while participants judged whether the shape-label pairs were maintained or swapped. Behaviorally, participants rapidly tagged a neutral stimulus with self-relevance, showing a robust advantage for self-tagged stimuli. Self-tagging responses were associated with enhanced activity in brain re...

Journal of Vision, 2011

Abstract There is an ongoing debate about whether the contrast between efficient visual enumerati... more Abstract There is an ongoing debate about whether the contrast between efficient visual enumeration of small number (subitizing) and the relatively inefficient enumeration of larger numbers (counting) is subserved by separable processes. All the neuropsychological ...

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2012

Because of our limited processing capacity, different elements of the visual scene compete for th... more Because of our limited processing capacity, different elements of the visual scene compete for the allocation of processing resources. One of the most striking deficits in visual selection is simultanagnosia, a rare neuropsychological condition characterized by impaired spatial awareness of more than one object at time. To decompose the neuroanatomical substrates of the syndrome and to gain insights into the structural and functional organization of visuospatial attention, we performed a systematic evaluation of lesion patterns in a group of simultanagnosic patients compared with patients with either (i) unilateral visuospatial deficits (neglect and/or extinction) or (ii) bilateral posterior lesions without visuospatial deficits, using overlap/subtraction analyses, estimation of lesion volume, and a lesion laterality index. We next used voxel-based morphometry to assess the link between different visuospatial deficits and gray matter and white matter (WM) damage. Lesion overlap/subt...

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2012

There is considerable evidence that there are anatomically and functionally distinct pathways for... more There is considerable evidence that there are anatomically and functionally distinct pathways for action and object recognition. However, little is known about how information about action and objects is integrated. This study provides fMRI evidence for task-based selection of brain regions associated with action and object processing, and on how the congruency between the action and the object modulates neural response. Participants viewed videos of objects used in congruent or incongruent actions and attended either to the action or the object in a one-back procedure. Attending to the action led to increased responses in a fronto-parietal action-associated network. Attending to the object activated regions within a fronto-inferior temporal network. Stronger responses for congruent action–object clips occurred in bilateral parietal, inferior temporal, and putamen. Distinct cortical and thalamic regions were modulated by congruency in the different tasks. The results suggest that (i...

European Neuropsychopharmacology, 2003

Cortex, 2013

The present study examined the relations between the lesions linked to visual and tactile extinct... more The present study examined the relations between the lesions linked to visual and tactile extinction (VE and TE), and those related to visual field defects and spatial neglect. Continuous variations in patients' performance were used to assess the link between behavioural scores and integrity of both grey and white matter (GM and WM). We found both common and distinct neural substrates associated with extinction and neglect. Damage to angular and middle occipital gyri, superior temporal sulcus (STS) and insula were linked to VE. Lesions involving the supramarginal gyrus (SMG), intraparietal sulcus, middle frontal and superior temporal gyri (MFG and STG) were associated exclusively with spatial neglect. Lesions affecting the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), the middle temporal region, middle frontal area (BA46) as well as the insula and putamen were linked to both spatial neglect and VE. Analysis of the relations between VE and TE highlighted the TPJ as the common site for both modalities. These findings suggest that the TPJ plays a general role in identifying salient events in the sensory environment across multiple modalities. Furthermore, WM analyses pointed to superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) as critical for interconnecting components of the visuospatial attention network. We demonstrated that functional disconnections resulting from SLF damage contribute to altered performance on attention tasks measuring not only neglect but also VE and TE. We propose that the SLF supports interactions between functionally specialized regions involved in attentional control across multiple sensory modalities.

Cognitive Neuropsychology, 2010

Insights into the functional nature and neuroanatomy of spatial attention have come from research... more Insights into the functional nature and neuroanatomy of spatial attention have come from research in neglect patients but to date many conflicting results have been reported. The novelty of the current study is that we used voxel-wise analyses based on information from segmented grey and white matter tissue combined with diffusion tensor imaging to decompose neural substrates of different neglect symptoms. Allocentric neglect was associated with damage to posterior cortical regions (posterior superior temporal sulcus, angular, middle temporal and middle occipital gyri). In contrast, egocentric neglect was associated with more anterior cortical damage (middle frontal, postcentral, supramarginal, and superior temporal gyri) and damage within subcortical structures. Damage to intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) was associated with both forms of neglect. Importantly, we showed that both disorders were associated with white matter lesions suggesting damage within long association and projection pathways such as the superior longitudinal, superior fronto-occipital, inferior longitudinal, and inferior fronto-occipital fascicule, thalamic radiation, and corona radiata. We conclude that distinct cortical regions control attention (a) across space (using an egocentric frame of reference) and (b) within objects (using an allocentric frame of reference), while common cortical regions (TPJ, IPS) and common white matter pathways support interactions across the different cortical regions.

Brain and Cognition, 2011

NeuroImage, 2001

Introduction: Functional imaging studies demonstrated increased brain activity in the visual cort... more Introduction: Functional imaging studies demonstrated increased brain activity in the visual cortex and limbic areas in response to emotional visual stimuli( 1.2). However, differences in the visual features of these images could confound these results. In order to manipulate the valence of the stimuli while keeping the visual features largely unchanged, we took advantage of the “Thatcher Illusion”(3) which provides an “Expressional Transfiguration” (ET) effect of faces. Thus, inversion of eyes and mouth in a face (Original) elicits a marked change in the emotional valence of the face (ET). Two face types were used: upright-ET, upright-original. As a control there were two additional upturned face types: inverted-Original, inverted-ET. In addition, we used the repetition effect of fMRI (fMR-adaptation)(4) which enabled us to test more incisively the visual regions. In this study we addressed tree questions: 1) Will ET faces activate the visual system differently than Original faces? 2) Will visual cortex relate differently to ET face effect compared to the amygdala? 3) Will the ET effect on these regions relate to emotional load or emotional valence of faces?

Psychopathic traits are associated with reduced attention to the eyes of emotional faces among ad... more Psychopathic traits are associated with reduced attention to the eyes of emotional faces among adult male non-offenders. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 9:552. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00552 Psychopathic traits are associated with reduced attention to the eyes of emotional faces among adult male non-offenders

European Neuropsychopharmacology, 2020

IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, 2015