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Snijder JP, Tang R, Bugg JM, Conway ARA, Braver TS. On the psychometric evaluation of cognitive control tasks: An Investigation with the Dual Mechanisms of Cognitive Control (DMCC) battery. Behav Res Methods 2024; 56:1604-1639. [PMID: 37040066 PMCID: PMC10088767 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-023-02111-7] [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] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 04/12/2023]
Abstract
The domain of cognitive control has been a major focus of experimental, neuroscience, and individual differences research. Currently, however, no theory of cognitive control successfully unifies both experimental and individual differences findings. Some perspectives deny that there even exists a unified psychometric cognitive control construct to be measured at all. These shortcomings of the current literature may reflect the fact that current cognitive control paradigms are optimized for the detection of within-subject experimental effects rather than individual differences. In the current study, we examine the psychometric properties of the Dual Mechanisms of Cognitive Control (DMCC) task battery, which was designed in accordance with a theoretical framework that postulates common sources of within-subject and individual differences variation. We evaluated both internal consistency and test-retest reliability, and for the latter, utilized both classical test theory measures (i.e., split-half methods, intraclass correlation) and newer hierarchical Bayesian estimation of generative models. Although traditional psychometric measures suggested poor reliability, the hierarchical Bayesian models indicated a different pattern, with good to excellent test-retest reliability in almost all tasks and conditions examined. Moreover, within-task, between-condition correlations were generally increased when using the Bayesian model-derived estimates, and these higher correlations appeared to be directly linked to the higher reliability of the measures. In contrast, between-task correlations remained low regardless of theoretical manipulations or estimation approach. Together, these findings highlight the advantages of Bayesian estimation methods, while also pointing to the important role of reliability in the search for a unified theory of cognitive control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Paul Snijder
- Department of Psychology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Rongxiang Tang
- Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Julie M Bugg
- Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Andrew R A Conway
- Division of Behavioral & Organizational Sciences, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA, USA
| | - Todd S Braver
- Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
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Li B, Liu C, Wang L, Jin W, Pan W, Wang W, Ren Y, Ma X, Tang Y. Cognitive control impairment in ax-continuous performance test in patients with schizophrenia: A pilot EEG study. Brain Behav 2023; 13:e3276. [PMID: 37817398 PMCID: PMC10726902 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.3276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2023] [Revised: 09/08/2023] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/12/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of cognitive control impairment in patients with schizophrenia (SPs) using electroencephalogram (EEG). METHODS A total of 17 SPs and 17 healthy controls (HCs) were included in this study. We measured the EEG activity, whereas they performed the AX-continuous performance test which consisted of the preparatory phase and the response phase. The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) was used for cognitive function, and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was used for clinical symptom assessment. A univariate linear regression model was used to explore the relationships among behavioral index, event-related potentials (ERPs), rhythmic oscillation power, and score of MCCB and PANSS. RESULTS A significant difference was found in response accuracy and reaction time (RT) during the preparatory phase between patients and HCs (p < .05). During the response phase, the SPs exhibited longer RT than the HCs (p < .05). Analysis of the ERPs revealed that the amplitude of P3a on BX clues was significantly smaller in SPs than in HCs (p < .05). Additionally, the midline frontal theta power of neural oscillation was significantly lower in the SPs than in NCs both during the preparatory and response phases. The accuracies on BX clues (r = .694, p = .002) and d'context (r = .698, p = .002) were positively correlated with MCCB scores. CONCLUSION The present study revealed that patients with schizophrenia have deficits both in proactive and reactive cognitive control, with a greater reliance on reactive control during conflict resolution. The neural mechanisms of the cognitive control impairment may involve the inability to engage additional neural resources for proactive control, and a reduction in frontal midline theta power during both proactive and reactive control. The severity of proactive control impairment is positively correlated with an increased tendency to rely on reactive control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bing Li
- Hebei Provincial Mental Health CenterBaodingChina
- Hebei Key Laboratory of Major Mental and Behavioral DisordersBaodingChina
- The Sixth Clinical Medical College of Hebei UniversityBaodingChina
| | - Chao‐meng Liu
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding HospitalCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
- Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain ProtectionCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Li‐na Wang
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding HospitalCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
- Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain ProtectionCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Wen‐qing Jin
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding HospitalCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
- Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain ProtectionCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Wei‐gang Pan
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding HospitalCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
- Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain ProtectionCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Wen Wang
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding HospitalCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
- Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain ProtectionCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Yan‐ping Ren
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding HospitalCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
- Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain ProtectionCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Xin Ma
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding HospitalCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
- Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain ProtectionCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Yi‐lang Tang
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral SciencesEmory University School of MedicineAtlantaGeorgiaUSA
- Mental Health Service LineAtlanta VA Medical CenterDecaturGeorgiaUSA
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Comparing the functional neuroanatomy of proactive and reactive control between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2023; 23:203-215. [PMID: 36418846 PMCID: PMC10166198 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-022-01036-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Cognitive control deficits are associated with impaired executive functioning in schizophrenia. The Dual Mechanisms of Control framework suggests that proactive control requires sustained dorsolateral prefrontal activity, whereas reactive control marshals a larger network. However, primate studies suggest these processes are maintained by dual-encoding regions. To distinguish between these theories, we compared the distinctiveness of proactive and reactive control functional neuroanatomy. In a reanalysis of data from a previous study, 47 adults with schizophrenia and 56 controls completed the Dot Pattern Expectancy task during an fMRI scan examining proactive and reactive control in frontoparietal and medial temporal regions. Areas suggesting specialized control or between-group differences were tested for association with symptoms and task performance. Elastic net models additionally explored these areas' predictive abilities regarding performance. Most regions were active in both reactive and proactive control. However, evidence of specialized proactive control was found in the left middle and superior frontal gyri. Control participants showed greater proactive control in the left middle and right inferior frontal gyri. Elastic net models moderately predicted task performance and implicated various frontal gyri regions in control participants, with additional involvement of anterior cingulate and posterior parietal regions for reactive control. Elastic nets for patient participants implicated the inferior and superior frontal gyri, and posterior parietal lobe. Specialized cognitive control was unassociated with either performance or schizophrenia symptomatology. Future work is needed to clarify the distinctiveness of proactive and reactive control, and its role in executive deficits in severe psychopathology.
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Tang R, Bugg JM, Snijder JP, Conway AR, Braver TS. The Dual Mechanisms of Cognitive Control (DMCC) project: Validation of an online behavioural task battery. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2022:17470218221114769. [PMID: 35815536 DOI: 10.1177/17470218221114769] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Cognitive control serves a crucial role in human higher mental functions. The Dual Mechanisms of Control theoretical framework provides a unifying account that decomposes cognitive control into two qualitatively distinct mechanisms-proactive control and reactive control. Here, we describe the Dual Mechanisms of Cognitive Control (DMCC) task battery, which was developed to probe cognitive control modes in a theoretically targeted manner, along with detailed descriptions of the experimental manipulations used to encourage shifts to proactive or reactive mode in each of four prototypical domains of cognition: selective attention, context processing, multitasking, and working memory. We present results from this task battery, conducted from a large (N > 100), online sample that rigorously evaluates the group effects of these manipulations in primary indices of proactive and reactive control, establishing the validity of the battery in providing dissociable yet convergent measures of the two cognitive control modes. The DMCC battery may be a useful tool for the research community to examine cognitive control in a theoretically targeted manner across different individuals and groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rongxiang Tang
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Julie M Bugg
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Jean-Paul Snijder
- Division of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA, USA
| | - Andrew Ra Conway
- Division of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA, USA
| | - Todd S Braver
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
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The Dual Mechanisms of Cognitive Control dataset, a theoretically-guided within-subject task fMRI battery. Sci Data 2022; 9:114. [PMID: 35351911 PMCID: PMC8964804 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-022-01226-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2021] [Accepted: 02/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Cognitive control is a critical higher mental function, which is subject to considerable individual variation, and is impaired in a range of mental health disorders. We describe here the initial release of Dual Mechanisms of Cognitive Control (DMCC) project data, the DMCC55B dataset, with 55 healthy unrelated young adult participants. Each participant performed four well-established cognitive control tasks (AX-CPT, Cued Task-Switching, Sternberg Working Memory, and Stroop) while undergoing functional MRI scanning. The dataset includes a range of state and trait self-report questionnaires, as well as behavioural tasks assessing individual differences in cognitive ability. The DMCC project is on-going and features additional components (e.g., related participants, manipulations of cognitive control mode, resting state fMRI, longitudinal testing) that will be publicly released following study completion. This DMCC55B subset is released early with the aim of encouraging wider use and greater benefit to the scientific community. The DMCC55B dataset is suitable for benchmarking and methods exploration, as well as analyses of task performance and individual differences.
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Dissociation of Proactive and Reactive Cognitive Control in Individuals with Schizotypy: An Event-Related Potential Study. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2021; 27:981-991. [PMID: 33509315 DOI: 10.1017/s135561772000137x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Patients with schizophrenia and individuals with schizotypy, a subclinical group at risk for schizophrenia, have been found to have impairments in cognitive control. The Dual Mechanisms of Cognitive Control (DMC) framework hypothesises that cognitive control can be divided into proactive and reactive control. However, it is unclear whether individuals with schizotypy have differential behavioural impairments and neural correlates underlying these two types of cognitive control. METHOD Twenty-five individuals with schizotypy and 26 matched healthy controls (HCs) completed both reactive and proactive control tasks with electroencephalographic data recorded. The proportion of congruent and incongruent trials was manipulated in a classic colour-word Stroop task to induce proactive or reactive control. Proactive control was induced in a context with mostly incongruent (MI) trials and reactive control in a context with mostly congruent (MC) trials. Two event-related potential (ERP) components, medial frontal negativity (MFN, associated with conflict detection) and conflict sustained potential (conflict SP, associated with conflict resolution) were examined. RESULTS There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of behavioural results. In terms of ERP results, in the MC context, HC exhibited significantly larger MFN (360-530 ms) and conflict SP (600-1000 ms) amplitudes than individuals with schizotypy. The two groups did not show any significant difference in MFN or conflict SP in the MI context. CONCLUSIONS The present findings provide initial evidence for dissociation of neural activation between proactive and reactive cognitive control in individuals with schizotypy. These findings help us understand cognitive control deficits in the schizophrenia spectrum.
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Tang R, Etzel JA, Kizhner A, Braver TS. Frontoparietal pattern similarity analyses of cognitive control in monozygotic twins. Neuroimage 2021; 241:118415. [PMID: 34298081 PMCID: PMC8958982 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2021] [Revised: 06/24/2021] [Accepted: 07/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to flexibly adapt thoughts and actions in a goal-directed manner appears to rely on cognitive control mechanisms that are strongly impacted by individual differences. A powerful research strategy for investigating the nature of individual variation is to study monozygotic (identical) twins. Evidence of twin effects have been observed in prior behavioral and neuroimaging studies, yet within the domain of cognitive control, it remains to be demonstrated that the neural underpinnings of such effects are specific and reliable. Here, we utilize a multi-task, within-subjects event-related neuroimaging design with functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate twin effects through multivariate pattern similarity analyses. We focus on fronto-parietal brain regions exhibiting consistently increased activation associated with cognitive control demands across four task domains: selective attention, context processing, multi-tasking, and working memory. Healthy young adult monozygotic twin pairs exhibited increased similarity of within- and cross-task activation patterns in these fronto-parietal regions, relative to unrelated pairs. Twin activation pattern similarity effects were clearest under high control demands, were not present in a set of task-unrelated parcels or due to anatomic similarity, and were primarily observed during the within-trial timepoints in which the control demands peaked. Together, these results indicate that twin similarity in the neural representation of cognitive control may be domain-general but also functionally and temporally specific in relation to the level of control demand. The findings suggest a genetic and/or environmental basis for individual variation in cognitive control function, and highlight the potential of twin-based neuroimaging designs for exploring heritability questions within this domain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rongxiang Tang
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1125, Saint Louis, Missouri 63130, USA.
| | - Joset A Etzel
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1125, Saint Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
| | - Alexander Kizhner
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1125, Saint Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
| | - Todd S Braver
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1125, Saint Louis, Missouri 63130, USA; Department of Radiology, Washington University in St. Louis, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis 63130, Missouri, USA
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8
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Polner B, Faiola E, Urquijo MF, Meyhöfer I, Steffens M, Rónai L, Koutsouleris N, Ettinger U. The network structure of schizotypy in the general population. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2021; 271:635-645. [PMID: 31646383 PMCID: PMC8119252 DOI: 10.1007/s00406-019-01078-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2019] [Accepted: 10/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Schizotypal personality traits show similarity with schizophrenia at various levels of analysis. It is generally agreed that schizotypal personality is multidimensional; however, it is still debated whether impulsive nonconformity should be incorporated into theories and measurement of schizotypy. In addition, relatively little is known about the network structure of the four-dimensional model of schizotypal personality. To estimate the network structure of schizotypy, we used data from participants recruited from the community (N = 11,807) who completed the short version of the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences, a widespread self-report instrument that assesses the positive, negative, disorganised and impulsive domains of schizotypy. We performed community detection, then examined differences between communities in terms of centralities and compared the strength of edges within and between communities. We found communities that almost perfectly corresponded to the a priori-defined subscales (93% overlap, normalised mutual information = 0.74). Items in the disorganisation community had higher closeness centrality relative to items in the other communities (Cliff's Δs ranged from 0.55 to 0.83) and weights of edges within the disorganisation community were stronger as compared to the negative schizotypy and impulsive nonconformity communities (Cliff's Δs = 0.33). Our findings imply that the inclusion of impulsive nonconformity items does not dilute the classical three-factor structure of positive, negative and disorganised schizotypy. The high closeness centrality of disorganisation concurs with theories positing that cognitive slippage and associative loosening are core features of the schizophrenic phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bertalan Polner
- Department of Cognitive Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Egry József utca 1., T épület, V. emelet 506, Budapest, 1111, Hungary.
| | - Eliana Faiola
- Department of Psychology, University of Bonn, Kaiser-Karl-Ring 9, 53111, Bonn, Germany
| | - Maria F Urquijo
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Munich, Nussbaumstr. 7, 80336, Munich, Germany
| | - Inga Meyhöfer
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Münster University Hospital, Westfälische Wilhelms-University, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, 48149, Münster, Germany
| | - Maria Steffens
- Department of Psychology, University of Bonn, Kaiser-Karl-Ring 9, 53111, Bonn, Germany
| | - Levente Rónai
- Department of Cognitive Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Egry József utca 1., T épület, V. emelet 506, Budapest, 1111, Hungary
- Institute of Psychology, University of Szeged, Egyetem u. 2, Szeged, 6722, Hungary
| | - Nikolaos Koutsouleris
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Munich, Nussbaumstr. 7, 80336, Munich, Germany
| | - Ulrich Ettinger
- Department of Psychology, University of Bonn, Kaiser-Karl-Ring 9, 53111, Bonn, Germany
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Calvin OL, Redish AD. Global disruption in excitation-inhibition balance can cause localized network dysfunction and Schizophrenia-like context-integration deficits. PLoS Comput Biol 2021; 17:e1008985. [PMID: 34033641 PMCID: PMC8184155 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2020] [Revised: 06/07/2021] [Accepted: 04/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Poor context integration, the process of incorporating both previous and current information in decision making, is a cognitive symptom of schizophrenia. The maintenance of the contextual information has been shown to be sensitive to changes in excitation-inhibition (EI) balance. Many regions of the brain are sensitive to EI imbalances, however, so it is unknown how systemic manipulations affect the specific regions that are important to context integration. We constructed a multi-structure, biophysically-realistic agent that could perform context-integration as is assessed by the dot pattern expectancy task. The agent included a perceptual network, a memory network, and a decision making system and was capable of successfully performing the dot pattern expectancy task. Systemic manipulation of the agent’s EI balance produced localized dysfunction of the memory structure, which resulted in schizophrenia-like deficits at context integration. When the agent’s pyramidal cells were less excitatory, the agent fixated upon the cue and initiated responding later than the default agent, which were like the deficits one would predict that individuals on the autistic spectrum would make. This modelling suggests that it may be possible to parse between different types of context integration deficits by adding distractors to context integration tasks and by closely examining a participant’s reaction times. Schizophrenia is a debilitating mental health disorder and its underlying etiology is currently unknown. Neural imbalances in the neural excitation and inhibition of specific regions of the brain have been hypothesized to cause symptoms of schizophrenia. Most regions of the brain have specific excitation-inhibition balances that permit their functioning in the processing of information. How systemic changes in the excitation-inhibition balance cause specific deficits and dysfunction within neural circuits is unknown. A common cognitive deficit in schizophrenia is difficulty with context integration, which is the ability to successfully use previous and current information when making decisions. We assessed how this symptom could be caused by an imbalance in neural excitation and inhibition by simulating the effects of potential imbalances in a model agent. Global imbalances in the agent’s neural excitation and inhibition led to impairment of specific circuits. These dysfunctional circuits produced behavioral deficits that were like those observed in individuals with schizophrenia. These simulations suggested how specific neural circuits may be disrupted by global changes in excitation or inhibition, ways to improve the assessment of context integration, new approaches to analyzing behavior, and why it may be beneficial to assess context integration in autism spectrum disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivia L. Calvin
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United State of America
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United State of America
| | - A. David Redish
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United State of America
- * E-mail:
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Jia LX, Qin XJ, Cui JF, Zheng Q, Yang TX, Wang Y, Chan RCK. An ERP study on proactive and reactive response inhibition in individuals with schizotypy. Sci Rep 2021; 11:8394. [PMID: 33863942 PMCID: PMC8052443 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-87735-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2020] [Accepted: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Schizotypy, a subclinical group at risk for schizophrenia, has been found to show impairments in response inhibition. However, it remains unclear whether this impairment is accompanied by outright stopping (reactive inhibition) or preparation for stopping (proactive inhibition). We recruited 20 schizotypy and 24 non-schizotypy individuals to perform a modified stop-signal task with electroencephalographic (EEG) data recorded. This task consists of three conditions based on the probability of stop signal: 0% (no stop trials, only go trials), 17% (17% stop trials), and 33% (33% stop trials), the conditions were indicated by the colour of go stimuli. For proactive inhibition (go trials), individuals with schizotypy exhibited significantly lesser increase in go response time (RT) as the stop signal probability increasing compared to non-schizotypy individuals. Individuals with schizotypy also exhibited significantly increased N1 amplitude on all levels of stop signal probability and increased P3 amplitude in the 17% stop condition compared with non-schizotypy individuals. For reactive inhibition (stop trials), individuals with schizotypy exhibited significantly longer stop signal reaction time (SSRT) in both 17% and 33% stop conditions and smaller N2 amplitude on stop trials in the 17% stop condition than non-schizotypy individuals. These findings suggest that individuals with schizotypy were impaired in both proactive and reactive response inhibition at behavioural and neural levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lu-Xia Jia
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xiao-Jing Qin
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Ji-Fang Cui
- Research Center for Information and Statistics, National Institute of Education Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Qi Zheng
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Tian-Xiao Yang
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Ya Wang
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China. .,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
| | - Raymond C K Chan
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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Bora E. Theory of mind and schizotypy: A meta-analysis. Schizophr Res 2020; 222:97-103. [PMID: 32461089 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2020.04.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2019] [Revised: 01/26/2020] [Accepted: 04/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Schizotypy is a multi-dimensional personality construct that putatively indicates an individual's liability to psychosis. Schizophrenia is associated with significant deficits in theory of mind (ToM). However, previous studies investigating the relationship between schizotypy and ToM provided inconsistent findings. Following the systematic review of all relevant schizotypy studies between January 1, 1980 and June 30, 2019, a meta-analysis of the relationship between ToM and schizotypy was conducted. Current meta-analysis included 24 studies consisting of 4162 healthy individuals. Overall, there was a significant but a small negative relationship between ToM and schizotypy (d = -0.23, CI = -0.14-0.33). Schizotypy scores were negatively associated with both reasoning (d = -0.24, CI = -0.11-0.38) and decoding (d = -0.21, CI = -0.09-0.32) aspects of ToM. The relationship between ToM and schizotypy was more significant in the studies using extreme-group design (d = -0.31, CI = -0.17-0.45) than non-extreme-group design (d = -0.17, CI = -0.04-0.29). ToM abnormalities were significantly related to both positive and negative schizotypy. Current findings support the continuum between schizotpy and schizophrenia. ToM abnormalities might be vulnerability markers for psychosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emre Bora
- Department of Psychiatry, Dokuz Eylul University Medical School, Izmir 35340, Turkey; Department of Neuroscience, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir 35340, Turkey; Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Carlton South, Victoria 3053, Australia.
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Brébion G, Stephan-Otto C, Cuevas-Esteban J, Usall J, Ochoa S. Impaired memory for temporal context in schizophrenia patients with hallucinations and thought disorganisation. Schizophr Res 2020; 220:225-231. [PMID: 32220501 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2020.03.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2019] [Revised: 03/06/2020] [Accepted: 03/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Context processing deficiencies have been established in patients with schizophrenia and it has been proposed that these deficiencies are involved in the formation of positive symptoms. METHOD We administered a temporal context discrimination task to 60 schizophrenia patients and 60 healthy individuals. Pictures were presented in two sessions separated by half an hour and the participants were required to remember afterwards whether the pictures had been presented in the first or the second session. RESULTS The number of temporal context errors was significantly increased in the patient group. More specifically, it was highly significantly increased in a subgroup of patients presenting hallucinations, while the patients without hallucinations were equivalent to the healthy individuals. Regression analyses revealed that, independently of memory of the pictures themselves, verbal and visual hallucinations, as well as thought disorganisation, were associated with more temporal context errors. In contrast, affective flattening and anhedonia were associated with fewer of these errors. CONCLUSION Inability to process or remember the temporal context of production of events might be a mechanism underlying both hallucinations and thought disorganisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gildas Brébion
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain; Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain.
| | - Christian Stephan-Otto
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain; Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain
| | - Jorge Cuevas-Esteban
- Servei de Psiquiatria, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain
| | - Judith Usall
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain; Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain
| | - Susana Ochoa
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain; Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain
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Aberrant salience predicts psychotic-like experiences in daily life: An experience sampling study. Schizophr Res 2020; 220:218-224. [PMID: 32249121 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2020.03.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2019] [Revised: 02/28/2020] [Accepted: 03/08/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Individuals at risk for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders tend to make atypical attributions of significance to unimportant stimuli. This experience of heightened significance, known as aberrant salience, is thought to contribute to psychotic symptoms. The Aberrant Salience Inventory (ASI) was designed to capture subclinical and clinical manifestations of the construct, and scores on the scale are associated with schizophrenia-like symptoms and behaviors in laboratory studies. Experience sampling methodology (ESM) studies have assessed momentary experiences of aberrant salience in daily life, but to our knowledge no study has examined real-world outcomes using the ASI as a trait measure of aberrant salience. The current study assessed the expression of aberrant salience in undergraduates oversampled for positive and negative schizotypy using ESM. Overall, findings of the expression of aberrant salience in daily life were similar to previous findings with positive schizotypy. Aberrant salience was associated with psychotic-like and disorganized symptoms, suspiciousness, and social impairment in daily life. It was unassociated with negative symptoms, stress, or affect in the moment. Aberrant salience did not moderate daily life associations of stress with schizotypic symptoms. The ASI subscales showed differential patterns of associations in daily life. These findings support the construct validity of the ASI and suggest that aberrant salience traits are relevant for real-world outcomes in schizotypy-spectrum psychopathology.
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Le TP, Fedechko TL, Cohen AS, Allred S, Pham C, Lewis S, Barkus E. Stress and cognitive biases in schizotypy: A two-site study of bias
against disconfirmatory evidence and jumping to conclusions. Eur Psychiatry 2020; 62:20-27. [DOI: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2019.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2019] [Revised: 08/17/2019] [Accepted: 08/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
The dysfunctional cognitive and reasoning biases which underpin
psychotic symptoms are likely to present prior to the onset of a diagnosable
disorder and should therefore be detectable along the psychosis continuum in
individuals with schizotypal traits. Two reasoning biases, Bias Against
Disconfirmatory Evidence (BADE) and Jumping to Conclusions (JTC), describe
how information is selected and weighed under conditions of uncertainty
during decision making. It is likely that states such as elevated stress
exacerbates JTC and BADE in individuals with high schizotypal traits
vulnerable to displaying these information gathering styles. Therefore, we
evaluated whether stress and schizotypy interacted to predict these
reasoning biases using separate samples from the US (JTC) and England
(BADE). Generally speaking, schizotypal traits and stress were not
independently associated with dysfunctional reasoning biases. However,
across both studies, the interaction between schizotypy traits and stress
significantly predicted reasoning biases such that increased stress was
associated with increased reasoning biases, but only for individuals low in
schizotypal traits. These patterns were observed for positive schizotypal
traits (in both samples), for negative traits (in the England sample only),
but not for disorganization traits. For both samples, our findings suggest
that the presence of states such as stress is associated with, though not
necessarily dysfunctional, reasoning biases in individuals with low
schizotypy. These reasoning biases seemed, in some ways, relatively
immutable to stress in individuals endorsing high levels of positive
schizotypal traits.
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15
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Kraus MS, Gold JM, Barch DM, Walker TM, Chun CA, Buchanan RW, Csernansky JG, Goff DC, Green MF, Jarskog LF, Javitt DC, Kimhy D, Lieberman JA, McEvoy JP, Mesholam-Gately RI, Seidman LJ, Ball MP, Kern RS, McMahon RP, Robinson J, Marder SR, Keefe RSE. The characteristics of cognitive neuroscience tests in a schizophrenia cognition clinical trial: Psychometric properties and correlations with standard measures. SCHIZOPHRENIA RESEARCH-COGNITION 2019; 19:100161. [PMID: 31832342 PMCID: PMC6889798 DOI: 10.1016/j.scog.2019.100161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2018] [Revised: 07/24/2019] [Accepted: 08/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
In comparison to batteries of standard neuropsychological tests, cognitive neuroscience tests may offer a more specific assessment of discrete neurobiological processes that may be aberrant in schizophrenia. However, more information regarding psychometric properties and correlations with standard neuropsychological tests and functional measures is warranted to establish their validity as treatment outcome measures. The N-back and AX-Continuous Performance Task (AX-CPT) are two promising cognitive neuroscience tests designed to measure specific components of working memory and contextual processing respectively. In the current study, we report the psychometric properties of multiple outcome measures from these two tests as well as their correlations with standard neuropsychological measures and functional capacity measures. The results suggest that while the AX-CPT and N-back display favorable psychometric properties, they do not exhibit greater sensitivity or specificity with functional measures than standard neurocognitive tests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael S Kraus
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States of America
| | - James M Gold
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States of America
| | - Deanna M Barch
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States of America
| | - Trina M Walker
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States of America
| | | | - Robert W Buchanan
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States of America
| | - John G Csernansky
- Department of Psychiatry, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States of America
| | - Donald C Goff
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, United States of America
| | - Michael F Green
- UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, United States of America.,VA VISN 22 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America
| | - L Fredrik Jarskog
- North Carolina Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States of America
| | - Daniel C Javitt
- Department of Psychiatry, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States of America
| | - David Kimhy
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States of America
| | - Jeffrey A Lieberman
- Department of Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute and College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, United States of America
| | - Joseph P McEvoy
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States of America
| | - Raquelle I Mesholam-Gately
- Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Larry J Seidman
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, United States of America.,Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - M Patricia Ball
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States of America
| | - Robert S Kern
- UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, United States of America.,VA VISN 22 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America
| | - Robert P McMahon
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States of America
| | - James Robinson
- Department of Psychiatry, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States of America
| | - Stephen R Marder
- UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, United States of America.,VA VISN 22 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America
| | - Richard S E Keefe
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States of America
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