Search

Both external motivational incentives (e.g., monetary reward) and internal motivational incentives (e.g., self-determined choice) have been found to promote memory, but much less is known about how these two types of incentives interact with each other to affect memory. The current study (N = 108) examined how performance-dependent monetary rewards affected the role of self-determined choice in memory performance, also known as the choice effect. Using a modified and better controlled version of the choice paradigm and manipulating levels of reward, we demonstrated an interactive effect between monetary reward and self-determined choice on 1-day delayed memory performance. Specifically, the choice effect on memory decreased when we introduced the performance-dependent external rewards. These results are discussed in terms of understanding how external and internal motivators interact to impact learning and memory.

Recent studies have revealed that memory performance is better when participants have the opportunity to make a choice regarding the experimental task (choice condition) than when they do not have such a choice (fixed condition). These studies, however, used intentional memory tasks, leaving open the question whether the choice effect also applies to incidental memory. In the current study, we first repeated the choice effect on the 24-h delayed intentional memory performance (experiment 1). Next, using an incidental paradigm in which participants were asked to judge the category of the items instead of intentionally memorizing them, we observed the choice effect on judgment during encoding and memory performance in a 24-h delayed surprise test (experiment 2). Participants judged more accurately and quickly and had better recognition memory for items in the choice condition than for items in the fixed condition. These results are discussed in terms of the role of choice in both intentional and incidental memory.

Mutual influences between anxiety and working memory (WM) have been extensively studied, and their curvilinear relationship resembles the classic Yerkes-Dodson law of arousal and performance. Given the genetic bases of both anxiety and WM, it is likely that the individual differences in the Yerkes-Dodson law of anxiety and WM may have genetic correlates. The current genome wide association study (GWAS) enrolled 1115 healthy subjects to search for genes that are potential moderators of the association between anxiety and WM. Results showed that CPNE3 rs10102229 had the strongest effect, p = 3.38E-6 at SNP level and p = 2.68E-06 at gene level. Anxiety and WM had a significant negative correlation (i.e., more anxious individuals performed worse on the WM tasks) for the TT genotype of rs10102229 (resulting in lower expression of CPNE3), whereas the correlation was positive (i.e., more anxious individuals performed better on the WM tasks) for the CC carriers. The same pattern of results was found at the gene level using gene score analysis. These effects were replicated in an independent sample (N = 330). The current study is the first to report a gene that moderates the relation between anxiety and WM and potentially provides a genetic explanation for the classic Yerkes-Dodson law.

Many studies have revealed that reward-associated features capture attention. Neurophysiological evidence further suggests that this reward-driven attention effect modulates visual processes by enhancing low-level visual salience. However, no behavioral study to date has directly examined whether reward-driven attention changes how people see. Combining the two-phase paradigm with a psychophysical method, the current study found that compared with nonsalient cues associated with lower reward, the nonsalient cues associated with higher reward captured more attention, and increased the perceived contrast of the subsequent stimuli. This is the first direct behavioral evidence of the effect of reward-driven attention on low-level visual perception.

Studies have revealed that rewards promote long-term memory, even in an incidental way. However, most previous studies using the incidental paradigm have included two reward levels, and it is still not clear how the reward magnitude influences memory. Adopting the incidental paradigm and three reward levels, the current study revealed that the reward magnitude impacted 1-d delayed episodic memory in a nonlinear, inverted U-shaped pattern. An additional experiment showed that there was no reward effect in immediate episodic memory. Our results support the dopaminergic memory consolidation theory and further imply that the reward magnitude needs to be considered in the theory.

Dual‐mode readout platforms with colorimetric and electrochemiluminescence (ECL) signal enhancement are proposed for the ultrasensitive and flexible detection of the monkeypox virus (MPXV) in different scenes. A new nanotag, Ru@U6‐Ru/Pt NPs is constructed for dual‐mode platforms by integrating double‐layered ECL luminophores and the nanozyme using Zr‐MOF (UiO‐66‐NH2) as the carrier, which not only generates enhanced ECL and colorimetric signals but also provide greater stability than that of commonly used nanotags. Dual‐mode platforms are used within 15 min from the "sample in" to the "result out" steps, without nucleic acid amplification. The colorimetric mode allows the screening of MPXV with the visual limit of detection (vLOD) of 0.1 pM (6 × 108 copies µL−1) and the ECL mode supports quantitative detection of MPXV with an LOD as low as 10 aM (6 copies·µL−1), resulting in a broad sensing range of 60 to 3 × 1011 copies·µL−1 (10 orders of magnitude). Validation is conducted using 50 clinical samples, which is 100% concordant to those of quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), indicating that Ru@U6‐Ru/Pt NPs‐based dual‐mode sensing platforms showed great promise as rapid, sensitive, and accurate tools for diagnosis of the nucleic acid of MPXV and other infectious pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]