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Mckeown B, Strawson WH, Zhang M, Turnbull A, Konu D, Karapanagiotidis T, Wang HT, Leech R, Xu T, Hardikar S, Bernhardt B, Margulies D, Jefferies E, Wammes J, Smallwood J. Experience sampling reveals the role that covert goal states play in task-relevant behavior. Sci Rep 2023; 13:21710. [PMID: 38066069 PMCID: PMC10709616 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-48857-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Cognitive neuroscience has gained insight into covert states using experience sampling. Traditionally, this approach has focused on off-task states. However, task-relevant states are also maintained via covert processes. Our study examined whether experience sampling can also provide insights into covert goal-relevant states that support task performance. To address this question, we developed a neural state space, using dimensions of brain function variation, that allows neural correlates of overt and covert states to be examined in a common analytic space. We use this to describe brain activity during task performance, its relation to covert states identified via experience sampling, and links between individual variation in overt and covert states and task performance. Our study established deliberate task focus was linked to faster target detection, and brain states underlying this experience-and target detection-were associated with activity patterns emphasizing the fronto-parietal network. In contrast, brain states underlying off-task experiences-and vigilance periods-were linked to activity patterns emphasizing the default mode network. Our study shows experience sampling can not only describe covert states that are unrelated to the task at hand, but can also be used to highlight the role fronto-parietal regions play in the maintenance of covert task-relevant states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brontë Mckeown
- Psychology Department, Queen's University, Kingston, K7L 3N6, Canada.
| | - Will H Strawson
- Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9RH, UK
| | - Meichao Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioural Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Adam Turnbull
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Delali Konu
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
| | | | - Hao-Ting Wang
- Centre de Recherche de l'institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal (CRIUGM), Montreal, QC, H3W 1W5, Canada
| | - Robert Leech
- Centre for Neuroimaging Science, King's College, London, SE5 8AF, UK
| | - Ting Xu
- Center for the Developing Brain, Child Mind Institute, New York, 10022, USA
| | - Samyogita Hardikar
- Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Boris Bernhardt
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, H3A 2B4, Canada
| | - Daniel Margulies
- Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center (UMR 8002, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and Université de Paris, 75006, Paris, France
| | | | - Jeffrey Wammes
- Psychology Department, Queen's University, Kingston, K7L 3N6, Canada
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Mulholland B, Goodall-Halliwell I, Wallace R, Chitiz L, Mckeown B, Rastan A, Poerio GL, Leech R, Turnbull A, Klein A, Milham M, Wammes JD, Jefferies E, Smallwood J. Patterns of ongoing thought in the real world. Conscious Cogn 2023; 114:103530. [PMID: 37619452 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2023.103530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2022] [Revised: 04/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/08/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023]
Abstract
Health and well-being are impacted by our thoughts and the things we do. In the laboratory, studies suggest specific task contexts impact thought processes. More broadly, this suggests the people we are with, the places we are in, and the activities we perform may influence our thought patterns. In our study, participants completed experience sampling surveys for five days in daily life. Principal component analysis decomposed this data to identify common "patterns of thought," and linear mixed modelling related these patterns to the participants' activities. Our study replicated the influence of socializing on patterns of thought and established that this is part of a broader set of relationships linking activities to how thoughts are organized in daily life. Our study suggests sampling thinking in the real world may help map thoughts to activities, and these "thought-activity" mappings could be useful to researchers and health care professionals interested in health and well-being.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Raven Wallace
- Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Canada
| | - Louis Chitiz
- Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Canada
| | | | | | - Giulia L Poerio
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, England, United Kingdom
| | - Robert Leech
- Department of Neuroimaging, King's College, England, United Kingdom
| | - Adam Turnbull
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, USA; Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, USA
| | | | | | - Jeffrey D Wammes
- Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Canada; Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Canada
| | | | - Jonathan Smallwood
- Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Canada; Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Canada
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Cremona S, Joliot M, Mellet E. Cluster-based characterization of consistencies in individuals' thought profiles at rest in a cohort of 1779 French university students. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-022-04185-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
AbstractIs ongoing conscious thought spontaneous and situation-related, or is it recurrent and dependent on psychological dispositions? The answer is critical for resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) paradigms that seek to correlate neuroanatomical states with conscious mental states. The goal of the present study was to characterize individual resting state thought profiles (RSTPs) and identify the recurrent ones, i.e., that could both be predicted by personality traits and predict subsequent negative affective states. The 1779 participants had a mean age of 22.1 years, 71.8% were females, and 71.8% were undergraduates. We collected the form and content of their thoughts during a 15-min RSFC session with a computerized retrospective self-questionnaire (ReSQ 2.0). Subsamples of participants also completed online autoquestionnaires assessing their psychological maturity and trait negative affectivity (with a four-day gap on average, N = 1270) and subsequent depressive and anxious states (1.4 years later on average, N = 922). Based on the multiple correspondence and clustering analyses of the ReSQ 2.0 responses, we identified six RSTPs distinctive by their content scope, temporal orientation, empathetic concern, and emotional valence. Multivariate analyses revealed that the probability of experiencing five of the six RSTPs was predicted by trait negative affectivity interacting with psychological maturity. Among them, a negatively valenced RSTP also increased the likelihood of subsequent negative affective states, suggesting its stable and recurrent nature. Identifying recurrent RSTPs is helpful for the future understanding of RSTPs’ contribution to RSFC. Additionally, it will be relevant to test whether acting on psychological maturity can alter the relationship between ongoing conscious thought and negative affectivity.
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Turnbull A, Seitz A, Tadin D, Lin FV. Unifying framework for cognitive training interventions in brain aging. Ageing Res Rev 2022; 81:101724. [PMID: 36031055 PMCID: PMC10681332 DOI: 10.1016/j.arr.2022.101724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2022] [Revised: 07/29/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Cognitive training is a promising tool for slowing or preventing cognitive decline in older adults at-risk for dementia. Its success, however, has been limited by a lack of evidence showing that it reliably causes broad training effects: improvements in cognition across a range of domains that lead to real-world benefits. Here, we propose a framework for enhancing the effect of cognitive training interventions in brain aging. The focus is on (A) developing cognitive training task paradigms that are informed by population-level cognitive characteristics and pathophysiology, and (B) personalizing how these sets are presented to participants during training via feedback loops that aim to optimize "mismatch" between participant capacity and training demands using both adaptation and random variability. In this way, cognitive training can better alter whole-brain topology in a manner that supports broad training effects in the context of brain aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Turnbull
- University of Rochester, USA; Stanford University, USA
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