A psychophysiological investigation of the interplay between orienting and executive control during stimulus conflict: A heart rate variability study

The neuroimmune pathway of high-altitude adaptation: influence of erythrocytes on attention networks through inflammation and the autonomic nervous system

Introduction

Many studies have shown that the functional adaptation of immigrants to high-altitude is closely related to oxygen transport, inflammatory response and autonomic nervous system. However, it remains unclear how human attention changes in response to hypoxia-induced neurophysiological activity during high-altitude exposure.

Methods

In the present study, we analyzed the relationship between hypoxic-induced neurophysiological responses and attention networks in 116 immigrants (3,680 m) using an attention network test to simultaneously record electroencephalogram and electrocardiogram in combination with specific routine blood markers.

Results

Our analysis revealed that red blood cells exert an indirect influence on the three attention networks, mediated through inflammatory processes and heart rate variability.

Discussion

The present study provides experimental evidence for the role of a neuroimmune pathway in determining human attention performance at high- altitude. Our findings have implications for understanding the complex interactions between physiological and neurocognitive processes in immigrants adapting to hypoxic environments.

Breathing Right… or Left! The Effects of Unilateral Nostril Breathing on Psychological and Cognitive Wellbeing: A Pilot Study

The impact of controlled breathing on cognitive and affective processing has been recognized since ancient times, giving rise to multiple practices aimed at achieving different psychophysical states, mostly related to mental clarity and focus, stress reduction, and relaxation. Previous scientific research explored the effects of forced unilateral nostril breathing (UNB) on brain activity and emotional and cognitive functions. Some evidence concluded that it had a contralateral effect, while other studies presented controversial results, making it difficult to come to an unambiguous interpretation. Also, a few studies specifically addressed wellbeing. In the present study, we invited a pilot sample of 20 participants to take part in an 8-day training program for breathing, and each person was assigned to either a unilateral right nostril (URNB) or left nostril breathing condition (ULNB). Then, each day, we assessed the participants' wellbeing indices using their moods and mind wandering scales. The results revealed that, after the daily practice, both groups reported improved wellbeing perception. However, the effect was specifically related to the nostril involved. URNB produced more benefits in terms of stress reduction and relaxation, while ULNB significantly and increasingly reduced mind-wandering occurrences over time. Our results suggest that UNB can be effectively used to increase wellbeing in the general population. Additionally, they support the idea that understanding the effects of unilateral breathing on wellbeing and cognition requires a complex interpretive model with multiple brain networks to address bottom-up and top-down processes.

The effect of considering eye movement time in evaluating the efficiency of attentional networks

The attention network test (ANT) is a tool for assessing the executive, alerting, and orienting components of attention. However, conflicting findings exist regarding the nature and correlation between attention networks. This study aims to investigate the influence of eye movement time on the assessment of attention network efficiency. Forty male students, with an average age of 20.8 ± 1.3 years, participated in the study. The revised attention network test was conducted concurrently with the recording of the electrooculogram signal. The electrooculogram signal was used to estimate eye placement time on target stimuli. Considering eye movement time for calculating the score of each network was proposed as a novel method. The study explored the nature of attention networks and their relationships, and revealed significant effects for attention networks with and without considering the eye movement time. Additionally, a significant correlation is observed between the alerting and orienting networks. However, no significant correlation is found between attention networks using the proposed method. Considering eye movement time alters the assessment of attention network efficiency and modifies the correlation among attention networks.

The effect of a single-session heart rate variability biofeedback on attentional control: does stress matter?

Introduction

Vagally mediated heart rate variability is an index of autonomic nervous system activity that is associated with a large variety of outcome variables including psychopathology and self-regulation. While practicing heart rate variability biofeedback over several weeks has been reliably associated with a number of positive outcomes, its acute effects are not well known. As the strongest association with vagally mediated heart rate variability has been found particularly within the attention-related subdomain of self-regulation, we investigated the acute effect of heart rate variability biofeedback on attentional control using the revised Attention Network Test.

Methods

Fifty-six participants were tested in two sessions. In one session each participant received a heart rate variability biofeedback intervention, and in the other session a control intervention of paced breathing at a normal ventilation rate. After the biofeedback or control intervention, participants completed the Attention Network Test using the Orienting Score as a measure of attentional control.

Results

Mixed models revealed that higher resting baseline vagally mediated heart rate variability was associated with better performance in attentional control, which suggests more efficient direction of attention to target stimuli. There was no significant main effect of the intervention on attentional control. However, an interaction effect indicated better performance in attentional control after biofeedback in individuals who reported higher current stress levels.

Discussion

The results point to acute beneficial effects of heart rate variability biofeedback on cognitive performance in highly stressed individuals. Although promising, the results need to be replicated in larger or more targeted samples in order to reach stronger conclusions about the effects.

Effects of a Randomised Trial of 5-Week Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Intervention on Cognitive Function: Possible Benefits for Inhibitory Control

Previous research suggests that higher heart rate variability (HRV) is associated with better cognitive function. However, since most previous findings on the relationship between HRV and cognitive function were correlational in nature, it is unclear whether individual differences in HRV play a causal role in cognitive performance. To investigate whether there are causal relationships, we used a simple breathing manipulation that increases HRV through a 5-week HRV biofeedback intervention and examined whether this manipulation improves cognitive performance in younger and older adults (N = 165). The 5-week HRV biofeedback intervention did not significantly improve inhibitory control, working memory and processing speed across age groups. However, improvement in the Flanker score (a measure of inhibition) was associated with the amplitude of heart rate oscillations during practice sessions in the younger and older intervention groups. Our results suggest that daily practice to increase heart rate oscillations may improve inhibitory control, but future studies using longer intervention periods are warranted to replicate the present finding.

Heart Rate Complexity and Autonomic Modulation Are Associated with Psychological Response Inhibition in Healthy Subjects

BACKGROUND

the ability to suppress/regulate impulsive reactions has been identified as common factor underlying the performance in all executive function tasks. We analyzed the HRV signals (power of high (HF) and low (LF) frequency, Sample Entropy (SampEn), and Complexity Index (CI)) during the execution of cognitive tests to assess flexibility, inhibition abilities, and rule learning.

METHODS

we enrolled thirty-six healthy subjects, recording five minutes of resting state and two tasks of increasing complexity based on 220 visual stimuli with 12 × 12 cm red and white squares on a black background.

RESULTS

at baseline, CI was negatively correlated with age, and LF was negatively correlated with SampEn. In Task 1, the CI and LF/HF were negatively correlated with errors. In Task 2, the reaction time positively correlated with the CI and the LF/HF ratio errors. Using a binary logistic regression model, age, CI, and LF/HF ratio classified performance groups with a sensitivity and specificity of 73 and 71%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

this study performed an important initial exploration in defining the complex relationship between CI, sympathovagal balance, and age in regulating impulsive reactions during cognitive tests. Our approach could be applied in assessing cognitive decline, providing additional information on the brain-heart interaction.

Goal management training improves executive control in adults with ADHD: an open trial employing attention network theory to examine effects on attention

Background

Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) typically experience poorer attentional control. According to the attention network theory, attentional control relies on three interacting networks of alerting, orienting, and executive control. In ADHD, it is mainly the alerting and executive control networks that are suggested and found to be compromised.

Methods

In the current study, we investigated if a group-based metacognitive remediation program (Goal Management Training [GMT]) in adults with ADHD would enhance attentional control using an experimental measure of the attention network theory. We expected that GMT would specifically enhance the executive control and alerting networks.

Results

Data from post- and follow up-assessments of 21 adults (age: 39.05 [11.93]) with ADHD who had completed GMT were included. Linear mixed-effects modeling revealed significant improvements in the functioning of the executive control network for the majority of the participants, although a small subset of participants showed a negative development following the intervention. Results also showed an improvement in the orienting network at follow up, but no change in the alerting network.

Conclusion

The results may indicate that improvements in the functioning of the executive control network are central to the positive effects of GMT reported in disorders characterized by impaired attentional control.

Trial registration: The study was retrospectively registered in the ISRCTN (Identifier: ISRCTN91988877) on the 18/01/2021.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40359-022-00902-9.

The Effect of Expertise during Simulated Flight Emergencies on the Autonomic Response and Operative Performance in Military Pilots

Heart rate variability (HRV) and performance response during emergency flight maneuvers were analyzed. Two expert pilots (ages 35 and 33) and two rookie pilots (ages 25) from the Portuguese Air Force participated in this case-control report study. Participants had to complete the following emergency protocols in a flight simulator: (1) take-off engine failure, (2) flight engine failure close to the base, (3) flight engine failure far away from the base, and (4) alternator failure. The HRV was collected during all these maneuvers, as well as the performance data (the time it took to go through the emergency protocol and the subjective information from the flight simulator operator). Results regarding autonomic modulation showed a higher sympathetic response during the emergency maneuvers when compared to baseline. In some cases, there was also a higher sympathetic response during the emergency maneuvers when compared with the take-off protocol. Regarding performance data, the expert pilots accomplished the missions in less time than the rookie pilots. Autonomic modulation measured from HRV through portable devices can easily relay important information. This information is relevant since characterizing these maneuvers can provide helpful information to design training strategies to improve those psychophysiological responses.

Heart Rate Variability Modulates Interoceptive Accuracy

Our emotional experiences depend on our interoceptive ability to perceive and interpret changes in our autonomous nervous system. An inaccurate perception and interpretation of autonomic changes impairs our ability to understand and regulate our emotional reactions. Impairments in emotion understanding and emotion regulation increase our risk for mental disorders, indicating that interoceptive deficits play an important role in the etiology and pathogenesis of mental disorders. We, thus, need measures to identify those of us whose interoceptive deficits impair their emotion understanding and emotion regulation. Here, we used cardiac measures to investigate how our ability to engage prefrontal and (para-)limbic brain region regions affects our ability to perceive and interpret cardiac changes. We administered a heartbeat detection task to a sample of healthy individuals (n = 113) whose prefrontal-(para-) limbic engagement had been determined on basis of a heart rate variability recording. We found a positive association between heartbeat detection and heart rate variability, implying that individuals with higher heart rate variability were more accurate in heartbeat detection than individuals with lower heart rate variability. These findings suggest that our interoceptive accuracy depends on our prefrontal-(para-)limbic engagement during the perception and interpretation of cardiac changes. Our findings also show that cardiac measures may be useful to investigate the association between interoceptive accuracy and prefrontal-(para-)limbic engagement in a time- and cost-efficient manner.

Is Dispositional Self-Compassion Associated With Psychophysiological Flexibility Beyond Mindfulness? An Exploratory Pilot Study

BACKGROUND

Dispositional mindfulness and self-compassion are shown to associate with less self-reported emotional distress. However, previous studies have indicated that dispositional self-compassion may be an even more important buffer against such distress than dispositional mindfulness. To our knowledge, no study has yet disentangled the relationship between dispositional self-compassion and mindfulness and level of psychophysiological flexibility as measured with vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV). The aim was thus to provide a first exploratory effort to expand previous research relying on self-report measures by including a psychophysiological measure indicative of emotional stress reactivity.

METHODS

Fifty-three university students filled out the "Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire" (FFMQ) and the "Self-Compassion Scale" (SCS), and their heart rate was measured during a 5 min resting electrocardiogram. Linear hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine the common and unique variance explained by the total scores of the FFMQ and the SCS on level of resting vmHRV.

RESULTS

Higher SCS total scores associated significantly with higher levels of vmHRV also when controlling for the FFMQ total scores. The SCS uniquely explained 7% of the vmHRV. The FFMQ total scores did not associate with level of vmHRV.

CONCLUSION

These results offer preliminary support that dispositional self-compassion associates with better psychophysiological regulation of emotional arousal above and beyond mindfulness.