Enhanced executive attention efficiency after adaptive force control training: Behavioural and physiological results

Down-regulation of theta amplitude through neurofeedback improves executive control network efficiency in healthy children

Despite extensive clinical research on neurofeedback (NF) in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), few studies targeted the optimization of attention performance in healthy children. As a crucial component of attention networks, the executive control network, involved in resolving response conflicts and allocating cognitive resources, is closely linked to theta activity. Here, we aimed to answer whether theta down-regulating NF can enhance healthy children's attention performance, especially the executive control network. Sixty children aged 6-12 years were randomly assigned to the NF and waitlist control groups. The NF group received theta down-regulation NF training for five days (a total of 100 mins), and the attention performance of both groups was measured by the attention network test (ANT) in the pre, post-NF, and 7-day follow-up. The electroencephalographic (EEG) results demonstrated a significant decrease in resting-state theta amplitude within sessions. For the behavioral results, the NF group exhibited significant improvements in overall attention performance and the efficiency of the executive control network relative to the control group in the post-NF and follow-up assessment, whereas the alerting and orienting networks remained unchanged. These findings proved the feasibility of theta down-regulating NF and its positive effect on attention in the healthy children population. In particular, the facilitation of the efficiency of the executive control network and the unaltered performance of the other two attention networks in the NF group may support the causality between theta rhythm and the executive control network.

Brain structure and function in the fourth decade of life after extremely low birth weight: An MRI and EEG study

OBJECTIVE

To examine potential long-term effects of extremely low birth weight (ELBW; ≤ 1000 g) on adult brain structure, brain function, and cognitive-behavioral performance.

METHODS

A subset of survivors from the prospectively-followed McMaster ELBW Cohort (n = 23, MBW = 816 g) and their peers born at normal birth weight (NBW; ≥ 2500 g; n = 14, MBW = 3361 g) provided T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans, resting electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings, and behavioral responses to a face-processing task in their early thirties.

RESULTS

Visual discrimination accuracy for human faces, resting EEG alpha power, and long-distance alpha coherence were lower in ELBW survivors than NBW adults, and volumes of white matter hypointensities (WMH) were higher. Across groups, face-processing performance was correlated positively with posterior EEG spectral power and long-distance alpha and theta coherence, and negatively with WMH. The associations between face-processing scores and parietal alpha power and theta coherence were reduced after adjustment for WMH.

CONCLUSIONS

Electrocortical activity, brain functional connectivity, and higher-order processing ability may be negatively affected by WMH burden, which is greater in adults born extremely preterm.

SIGNIFICANCE

Decrements in electrocortical activity and behavioral performance in adult ELBW survivors may be partly explained by increased WMH volumes in this vulnerable population.

The causal mechanisms underlying analogical reasoning performance improvement by executive attention intervention

Analogical reasoning is important for human. We have found that a short executive attention intervention improved analogical reasoning performance in healthy young adults. Nevertheless, previous electrophysiological evidence was limited for comprehensively characterizing the neural mechanisms underlying the improvement. And although we hypothesized that the intervention improved active inhibitory control and attention shift first and then relation integration, it is still unclear whether there are two sequential cognitive neural activities were indeed changed during analogical reasoning. In the present study, we combined hypothesis with multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) to explore the effects of the intervention on electrophysiology. Results showed that in the resting state after the intervention, alpha and high gamma power and the functional connectivity between the anterior and middle in the alpha band could discriminate the experimental group from the active control group, respectively. These indicated that the intervention influenced the activity of multiple bands and the interaction of frontal and parietal regions. In the analogical reasoning, alpha, theta, and gamma activities could also fulfill such discrimination, and furthermore, they were sequential (alpha first, theta, and gamma later). These results directly supported our previous hypothesis. The present study deepens our understanding about how executive attention contributes to higher-order cognition.

Comparing executive functions in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with or without reading disability: A resting-state EEG study

INTRODUCTION

As numerous studies have shown, executive dysfunction is the main impairment in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. According to recent neuroimaging studies, the frontoparietal coherence plays a key role in overall cognitive functions. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare executive functions during resting-state EEG by monitoring brain connectivity (coherence) patterns in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with or without reading disability (RD).

METHODS

The statistical sample of the study consisted of 32 children with ADHD aged between 8 and 12 years old with or without specific RD. Each group consisted of 11 boys and 5 girls that were matched on chronological age and gender. EEG was recorded during eyes-opened condition and brain connectivity within and between frontal and parietal regions was analyzed within theta, alpha, and beta bands.

RESULTS

The results revealed that across the frontal regions, the comorbid group showed a significant reduction in the left intrahemispheric coherence in the alpha and beta bands. The ADHD-alone group exhibited increased theta and decreased alpha and beta coherence in frontal regions. In the frontoparietal regions, children in the comorbid group showed lower coherence between frontal and parietal networks compared to children without comorbid RD.

CONCLUSION

The findings indicate that brain connectivity (coherence) patterns of children with ADHD with comorbid RD were more abnormal and lend support to more disrupted cortical connectivity in the comorbid group. Thus, these findings can be a useful marker for better recognizing ADHD and comorbid disabilities.

Attention impairment in patients with cervical dystonia: An attention network test study

Objective

The purpose of this study was to investigate attentional network functional characteristics in patients with cervical dystonia (CD).

Methods

A total of 29 patients with CD and 26 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. All subjects participated in the study and underwent the Attention Network Test (ANT), which evaluated the efficiencies of three independent attention networks (alerting, orienting, and executive control), as well as reaction time (RT) and accuracy.

Results

Significant differences between CD patients (9.86 ± 27.95 ms) and HCs (33.62 ± 23.41 ms) were observed in the alerting network (t = −3.40, p < 0.05). In contrast, the orienting network (t = 0.26, p = 0.79), executive control network (Z = −0.55, p = 0.58), total mean reaction time (t = −2.6, p = 0.79), and total accuracy rate (Z = −1.67, p = 0.09) showed no significant differences between the two groups.

Conclusion

Patients with CD showed a significant deficit in the alerting network. However, they did not show any deficits in the orienting or executive control network. In addition, the alerting, orienting, and executive control network functions of CD patients were all affected by the severity of torticollis, especially the alerting network function.

EEG-Based Closed-Loop Neurofeedback for Attention Monitoring and Training in Young Adults

Attention is an important mechanism for young adults, whose lives largely involve interacting with media and performing technology multitasking. Nevertheless, the existing studies related to attention are characterized by low accuracy and poor attention levels in terms of attention monitoring and inefficiency during attention training. In this paper, we propose an improved random forest- (IRF-) algorithm-based attention monitoring and training method with closed-loop neurofeedback. For attention monitoring, an IRF classifier that uses grid search optimization and multiple cross-validation to improve monitoring accuracy and performance is utilized, and five attention levels are proposed. For attention training, we develop three training modes with neurofeedback corresponding to sustained attention, selective attention, and focus attention and apply a self-control method with four indicators to validate the resulting training effect. An offline experiment based on the Personal EEG Concentration Tasks dataset and an online experiment involving 10 young adults are conducted. The results show that our proposed IRF-algorithm-based attention monitoring approach achieves an average accuracy of 79.34%, thereby outperforming the current state-of-the-art algorithms. Furthermore, when excluding familiarity with the game environment, statistically significant performance improvements (p < 0.05) are achieved by the 10 young adults after attention training, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed serious games. Our work involving the proposed method of attention monitoring and training proves to be reliable and efficient.

An Evaluation of Executive Control Function and Its Relationship with Driving Performance

The driver's attentional state is a significant human factor in traffic safety. The executive control process is a crucial sub-function of attention. To explore the relationship between the driver's driving performance and executive control function, a total of 35 healthy subjects were invited to take part in a simulated driving experiment and a task-cuing experiment. The subjects were divided into three groups according to their driving performance (aberrant driving behaviors, including lapses and errors) by the clustering method. Then the performance efficiency and electroencephalogram (EEG) data acquired in the task-cuing experiment were compared among the three groups. The effect of group, task transition types and cue-stimulus intervals (CSIs) were statistically analyzed by using the repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the post hoc simple effect analysis. The subjects with lower driving error rates had better executive control efficiency as indicated by the reaction time (RT) and error rate in the task-cuing experiment, which was related with their better capability to allocate the available attentional resources, to express the external stimuli and to process the information in the nervous system, especially the fronto-parietal network. The activation degree of the frontal area fluctuated, and of the parietal area gradually increased along with the increase of CSI, which implied the role of the frontal area in task setting reconstruction and working memory maintaining, and of the parietal area in stimulus-Response (S-R) mapping expression. This research presented evidence of the close relationship between executive control functions and driving performance.

Improvement of Attention in Elementary School Students through Fixation Focus Training Activity

The attentional problems of school children are a crucial topic due to abundant information in this digital era. There are five attention dimensions for children: focused attention, sustained attention, selective attention, alternating attention, and divided attention. Focused training is a traditional method of improving attention ability. Subjects are required to focus on a fixed point for an extensive period without blinking and to perceive small objects as large. This study investigates which types of attention indicators are influenced by focus training. Eighty-two grade five and six elementary school students (45 experiment group, 37 control group) were involved. The experiment group underwent focus training for 12 weeks. The training was conducted once per week, and the Attention Scales for Elementary School Children were used before and after the training to examine the children's attention. The percentile rank scores of five attention dimensions and the total attention scale were evaluated. The results gave difference data, defined as post-test results minus the pretest results, where significant differences occurred for the total scale (p < 0.05), focused attention (p < 0.05), and selective attention (p < 0.01). Participants also noted that the training helped them improve concentration during school lessons (54.15%), fall asleep (29.1%), and relax the body (8.4%).

The Implications of Motor and Cognitive Inhibition for Hot and Cool Executive Functions: The Case of Quadrato Motor Training

Enabling the ceasing of ongoing or prepotent responses and the controlling of interference, motor inhibition facilitates the development of executive functions (EFs) such as thought before action, decision-making, self-regulation of affect, motivation, and arousal. In the current paper, a characterization is offered of the relationship between motor inhibition and the executive functioning system, in the context of a proposed division into predominantly affective (hot) and cognitive (cool) components corresponding to neural trajectories originating in the prefrontal cortex. This division is central to understanding the effects of a specifically-structured sensorimotor movement training practice, known as Quadrato Motor Training (QMT), on hot and cool EFs. QMT's effects on crucial mechanisms of integrating different EF components are discussed.

EEG-Based Brain Functional Connectivity in First-Episode Schizophrenia Patients, Ultra-High-Risk Individuals, and Healthy Controls During P50 Suppression

Dysfunctional processing of auditory sensory gating has generally been found in schizophrenic patients and ultra-high-risk (UHR) individuals. The aim of the study was to investigate the differences of functional interaction between brain regions and performance during the P50 sensory gating in UHR group compared with those in first-episode schizophrenia patients (FESZ) and healthy controls (HC) groups. The study included 128-channel scalp Electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings during the P50 auditory paradigm for 35 unmedicated FESZ, 30 drug-free UHR, and 40 HC. Cortical sources of scalp electrical activity were recomputed using exact low-resolution electromagnetic tomography (eLORETA), and functional brain networks were built at the source level and compared between the groups (FESZ, UHR, HC). A classifier using decision tree was designed for differentiating the three groups, which uses demographic characteristics, MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery parameters, behavioral features in P50 paradigm, and the measures of functional brain networks based on graph theory during P50 sensory gating. The results showed that very few brain connectivities were significantly different between FESZ and UHR groups during P50 sensory gating, and that a large number of brain connectivities were significantly different between FESZ and HC groups and between UHR and HC groups. Furthermore, the FESZ group had a stronger connection in the right superior frontal gyrus and right insula than the HC group. And the UHR group had an enhanced connection in the paracentral lobule and the middle temporal gyrus compared with the HC group. Moreover, comparison of classification analysis results showed that brain network metrics during P50 sensory gating can improve the accuracy of the classification for FESZ, UHR and HC groups. Our findings provide insight into the mechanisms of P50 suppression in schizophrenia and could potentially improve the performance of early identification and diagnosis of schizophrenia for the earliest intervention.

EEG coherence in theta, alpha, and beta bands in frontal regions and executive functions

Executive functions are higdevel cognitive processes that make possible the formation of flexible and adaptive goal-directed behaviors and the frontal lobes regulate these functions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between frontal EEG coherence in theta, alpha, and beta bands and executive functions in adults. A sample of 168 students (M_age = 25.44 years, SD = 4.52) were included in this study. EEG records were recorded at the psychology laboratory of Mohaghegh Ardabili University (Iran), then intrahemispheric and interhemispheric coherence of frontal regions were analyzed using the NeuroGuide software. The participants were asked to fill in the Adult Executive Skills Questionnaire. Correlational results showed that there is a positive relationship between executive functions and EEG coherence in theta, alpha, and beta bands in frontal regions of the left hemisphere, EEG coherence of alpha and beta bands in frontal regions of the right hemisphere and EEG coherence of alpha band between frontal regions of the two hemispheres. The results of the regression analysis also revealed that coherence of alpha, beta, and theta bands between left and right frontal regions and coherence of beta and theta bands in the left frontal regions predict executive functions. These results indicate that the common activity of frontal cortex, especially the left hemisphere, is associated with executive functions and cognitive control.