Neurobiological influences on event perception: The role of catecholamines

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Background: Event segmentation, the cognitive process of parsing continuous experiences into discrete events, plays a fundamental role in how humans perceive and interact with their environment. Guided by Event Segmentation Theory, this study investigates the modulation of event segmentation by the catecholaminergic system by methylphenidate (MPH). Methods: Healthy adult participants (N= 52) engaged in a double-blind, counter-balanced, placebo-controlled experiment in which they watched a movie and identified event boundaries under placebo and MPH conditions. Results: With the same information given, MPH increased the likelihood that the information was considered meaningful. Crucially, the number of situational changes and participant's prior experience had an interactive effect on the probability of event segmentation. There was a stronger relationship between environmental information and segmentation probability when catecholaminergic levels were elevated by MPH in addition to previous experience. Conclusions: The catecholaminergic system modulates how incoming information is segmented to build meaningful episodes. Prior experience supports the effects of MPH to unfold. These findings underscore the complex interplay between neurochemical modulation and cognitive processes involved in event perception.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article numberpyaf008
JournalInternational journal of neuropsychopharmacology
Volume28
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2025
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 39981699
ORCID /0000-0003-4731-5125/work/187559666
ORCID /0000-0002-2989-9561/work/187562777
ORCID /0000-0003-3136-3296/work/187563267

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • catecholamines, event perception, event segmentation, methylphenidate