Greater naturally occurring expressive suppression is associated with poorer executive functioning and motor-sequence learning among older adults

Computerized assessment of executive functioning: Validation of the CNS Vital Signs executive functioning scores in a sample of community-dwelling older adults

Objective: Computerized assessment of cognitive functioning has gained significant popularity over recent years, yet options for clinical assessment of executive functioning (EF) are lacking. One computerized testing platform, CNS Vital Signs (CNS-VS), offers tests designed to measure EF but requires further validation. The goal of the present study was to validate CNS-VS executive scores against standard clinical measures of EF. We also sought to determine whether a modified CNS-VS composite score that included variables purported to measure inhibition, switching, and working memory would outperform the currently available CNS-VS Executive Function Index. Method: A sample of 73 cognitively healthy older adults completed four tests from the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System, the Digit Span subtest from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-fourth edition, and three CNS-VS tasks purported to measure inhibition, switching, and working memory. Results: Performances on the CNS-VS tests were predicted by performances on standard paper-and-pencil measures. Although the currently available CNS-VS Executive Function Index predicted unique variance in a well-validated paper-and-pencil EF composite score, our Modified CNS-VS EF composite accounted for unique variance above and beyond the original CNS-VS Executive Function Index, while the reverse was not true. Conclusions: The present results support the construct validity of CNS-VS EF tests but also suggest that modifications to their current composite scores would improve the prediction of EF performance.

Sensorimotor regulation of facial expression - An untouched frontier

Facial expression is a critical form of nonverbal social communication which promotes emotional exchange and affiliation among humans. Facial expressions are generated via precise contraction of the facial muscles, guided by sensory feedback. While the neural pathways underlying facial motor control are well characterized in humans and primates, it remains unknown how tactile and proprioceptive information reaches these pathways to guide facial muscle contraction. Thus, despite the importance of facial expressions for social functioning, little is known about how they are generated as a unique sensorimotor behavior. In this review, we highlight current knowledge about sensory feedback from the face and how it is distinct from other body regions. We describe connectivity between the facial sensory and motor brain systems, and call attention to the other brain systems which influence facial expression behavior, including vision, gustation, emotion, and interoception. Finally, we petition for more research on the sensory basis of facial expressions, asserting that incomplete understanding of sensorimotor mechanisms is a barrier to addressing atypical facial expressivity in clinical populations.

Engineering Virtuous health habits using Emotion and Neurocognition: Flexibility for Lifestyle Optimization and Weight management (EVEN FLOW)

Interventions to preserve functional independence in older adults are critically needed to optimize 'successful aging' among the large and increasing population of older adults in the United States. For most aging adults, the management of chronic diseases is the most common and impactful risk factor for loss of functional independence. Chronic disease management inherently involves the learning and adaptation of new behaviors, such as adopting or modifying physical activity habits and managing weight. Despite the importance of chronic disease management in older adults, vanishingly few individuals optimally manage their health behavior in the service of chronic disease stabilization to preserve functional independence. Contemporary conceptual models of chronic disease management and health habit theory suggest that this lack of optimal management may result from an underappreciated distinction within the health behavior literature: the behavioral domains critical for initiation of new behaviors (Initiation Phase) are largely distinct from those that facilitate their maintenance (Maintenance Phase). Psychological factors, particularly experiential acceptance and trait levels of openness are critical to engagement with new health behaviors, willingness to make difficult lifestyle changes, and the ability to tolerate aversive affective responses in the process. Cognitive factors, particularly executive function, are critical to learning new skills, using them effectively across different areas of life and contextual demands, and updating of skills to facilitate behavioral maintenance. Emerging data therefore suggests that individuals with greater executive function are better able to sustain behavior changes, which in turn protects against cognitive decline. In addition, social and structural supports of behavior change serve a critical buffering role across phases of behavior change. The present review attempts to address these gaps by proposing a novel biobehavioral intervention framework that incorporates both individual-level and social support system-level variables for the purpose of treatment tailoring. Our intervention framework triangulates on the central importance of self-regulatory functioning, proposing that both cognitive and psychological mechanisms ultimately influence an individuals' ability to engage in different aspects of self-management (individual level) in the service of maintaining independence. Importantly, the proposed linkages of cognitive and affective functioning align with emerging individual difference frameworks, suggesting that lower levels of cognitive and/or psychological flexibility represent an intermediate phenotype of risk. Individuals exhibiting self-regulatory lapses either due to the inability to regulate their emotional responses or due to the presence of executive functioning impairments are therefore the most likely to require assistance to preserve functional independence. In addition, these vulnerabilities will be more easily observable for individuals requiring greater complexity of self-management behavioral demands (e.g. complexity of medication regimen) and/or with lesser social support. Our proposed framework also intuits several distinct intervention pathways based on the profile of self-regulatory behaviors: we propose that individuals with intact affect regulation and impaired executive function will preferentially respond to 'top-down' training approaches (e.g., strategy and process work). Individuals with intact executive function and impaired affect regulation will respond to 'bottom-up' approaches (e.g., graded exposure). And individuals with impairments in both may require treatments targeting caregiving or structural supports, particularly in the context of elevated behavioral demands.

Intra-individual variability identifies individuals vulnerable to contextually induced executive lapses

Contextual stressors, such as engagement in burdensome emotion regulation known as expressive suppression (ES), can result in transient but clinically meaningful decrement in performance on measures of executive functioning (EF). The goal of the present investigation was to examine whether intra-individual variability (IIV-I), which has been identified as an indicator of cognitive weakness, could serve as a marker of vulnerability to EF decrements due to both naturally-occurring and experimentally-manipulated ES.

In Study 1, 180 cognitively healthy older adults completed the Push-Turn-Taptap (PTT) task to assess IIV-I, four Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) subtests to assess EF, and the Burden of State Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (B-SERQ) to assess naturally-occurring ES. In Study 2, a subset (n = 81) of participants underwent experimental manipulation to induce ES, followed by second administration of the D-KEFS to examine ES-induced decrements in EF.

In Study 1, hierarchical linear regression yielded a significant interaction between ES and IIV-I as predictors of EF performance, demonstrating that high ES was associated with low EF only among individuals with high IIV-I. In Study 2, repeated measures ANOVA demonstrated an interaction between time (pre- vs. post- manipulation), group (ES vs. control), and IIV-I (high vs. low), such that only individuals who exhibited high IIV-I were negatively impacted by the ES manipulation.

IIV-I moderates the association between ES and EF, such that only individuals with high IIV-I exhibit vulnerability to the impact of ES. Thus, IIV-I may act as a marker of vulnerability to temporary EF depletion.

Executive function and effortful control-Similar and different evidence from big data analysis

Introduction

The current study explored commonalities and similarities between executive function (EF) and effortful control (EC).

Methods

The major empirical studies published between 2013 and 2022 in the World of Science (WoS) was collected. The bibliographic information was systematically analyzed.

Results and discussion

(1) EC is the efficiency of executive attention that incorporates inhibitory control (IC), attentional control, activation mainly related to temperament. On the other hand, EF is the efficiency of self-directed action that encompasses IC, working memory (WM), and shifting/cognitive flexibility in particular focuses on the cognitive aspect. (2) EF research has overwhelmingly outnumbered EC research (2,000 EF studies vs. 50 EC studies per year). (3) According to a co-word analysis with keyword co-occurrences, the subject of preschool students and individual differences co-occurred in EF studies. (4) EC usually occurs with working memory and early childhood. In the more detailed analysis of the articles, the EF and EC studies used younger subject groups than older subject groups. EC studies were especially likely to use subjects in early childhood. (5) The Delis-Kaplan Tests of Executive Functioning System (D-KEFS) was the most commonly used test for EF. In contrast, the EC used self-report surveys such as the Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire (ATQ). This research illustrates and discusses key findings in the EC and EF data and provides suggestions for future study directions.

Cognitive reappraisal, emotional suppression, and depressive and anxiety symptoms in later life: The moderating role of gender

OBJECTIVES

Although socioemotional selectivity (SST) suggests that people experience more positive affect as they age, symptoms of anxiety and depression persist and are often greater in older women than men. Coping strategies may influence the extent to which older adults experience these symptoms. The purpose of the current study is to examine possible gender differences in the use of an adaptive (cognitive reappraisal (CR) and a maladaptive (emotive suppression (ES) emotion regulation strategy in relation to depressive and anxiety symptoms.

METHOD

Our study uses cross-sectional data drawn from a community sample of older adults (60+; n = 906). We used OLS regression and moderation analyses to test our study hypotheses.

RESULTS

Gender moderated the association between CR in both depressive and anxiety symptoms. Women reported greater use of CR relative to men. Further, CR use was negatively related to symptoms of anxiety and depression in women, but not men. In contrast, men used ES more frequently than women, though older men and women's use of ES was unrelated to anxiety or depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSION

Our findings provide initial evidence that greater CR use in older women is related to lower symptoms of both anxiety and depression relative to older men. Age-related increases in CR use (e.g. SST) among women may serve to decrease anxiety and depression symptoms. Findings suggest decreasing anxiety and depressive symptoms via CR may benefit older women more than older men. Future research is needed to identify the coping strategies that are most beneficial for men.

Daily Assessment of Executive Functioning and Expressive Suppression Predict Daily Functioning among Community-Dwelling Older Adults

OBJECTIVE

Executive functioning (EF) is known to be associated with performance of instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). However, prior research has found that the degree to which EF fluctuates was more predictive of self-reported cognitive and IADL lapses than was average EF performance. One source of such EF fluctuations is engagement in an emotion regulation strategy known as expressive suppression (ES). Importantly, ES has also been shown to relate to IADL performance, presumably due to its impact on EF. However, past research is limited due to assessing IADLs only in the laboratory or via self-report. The present study examined (a) the association of daily EF and ES fluctuations with performance of actual IADL tasks in participants' homes, and (b) whether any significant association between ES fluctuations and daily IADLs would be mediated by daily EF variability.

METHOD

Participants were 52 older adults aged 60 to 95. Over the course of 18 days while at home, participants completed daily IADL tasks as well as daily measures of EF and ES via ecological momentary assessment.

RESULTS

Contrary to our hypothesis, average EF across days predicted at-home IADLs above and beyond daily EF variability, which itself was also predictive. ES variability also predicted daily IADLs, and this association was fully mediated by average daily EF.

CONCLUSIONS

Daily fluctuations in ES appear to have a deleterious impact on performance of IADLs at home, likely due to the impact of such fluctuations on EF, although the average level of EF capacity is also important.

Reappraising cognitive reappraisal: The taxing impact of emotion regulation on executive functioning in older adults

OBJECTIVE

Cognitive reappraisal (CR) and expressive suppression (ES) are two common emotion regulation strategies that share similar cognitive and neural underpinnings. Prior research has consistently shown that recent engagement in ES (both self-reported and experimentally manipulated) is associated with subsequent temporary decrements in executive functioning (EF). Thus far, only one study has examined the association between CR and EF, with null results. However, that study was limited by examining only zero-order correlations and by assessing only the speed, not accuracy, of EF performance. The present study examined multivariate relationships among recent CR, recent ES, and EF (both speed and accuracy), as well as the potential impacts of more chronic engagements in, and trait-level preferences between, the two emotion regulation strategies.

METHOD

Participants were 201 community-dwelling older adults aged 60 to 93 who had participated in three separate studies examining the relationship between self-reported emotion regulation and EF.

RESULTS

Recent CR was associated with EF performance accuracy above and beyond chronic CR. Both recent CR and ES contributed to EF performance accuracy uniquely beyond each other and beyond chronic and preferred emotion regulation.

CONCLUSIONS

Both recent ES and CR appear to have a deleterious impact on EF performance accuracy, potentially due to utilization of similar resources; both should be accounted for when assessing emotion regulation and its impacts on EF.

Upper Limb Motor Planning in Individuals with Cerebral Palsy Aged between 3 and 21 Years Old: A Systematic Review

Individuals with cerebral palsy have difficulties performing activities of daily living. Beyond motor execution impairments, they exhibit motor planning deficits contributing to their difficulties. The objective of this review is to synthesize the behavioral evidence of motor planning deficits during an upper limb motor task in children, adolescents and young adults with cerebral palsy aged between 3 and 21 years. Methods: The inclusion criteria were: (1) including individuals with cerebral palsy from 3 to 21 years old; (2) assessing upper limb motor planning. Six databases were screened. The quality assessment of the studies was performed. Results: Forty-six studies and 686 participants were included. Five articles have been identified as very high quality, 12 as high, 20 as moderate, six as low, three as very low. Force planning studies reported a deficit for the more affected hand but adequate performances for the less affected hand. Object-manipulation studies reported hand posture planning deficits irrespectively of the hand assessed. Conclusions: Motor planning deficits has been shown in the more affected hand for force scaling, while the results for other variables showed overall deficits. Hence, variables affected by motor planning deficits in both hands should be considered in children with cerebral palsy to optimize intervention.

Expressive suppression to pain in others reduces negative emotion but not vicarious pain in the observer

Although there are situations where it may be appropriate to reduce one's emotional response to the pain of others, the impact of an observer's emotional expressivity on their response to pain in others is still not well understood. In the present study, we examined how the emotion regulation strategy expressive suppression influences responses to pain in others. Based on prior research findings on expressive suppression and pain empathy, we hypothesized that expressive suppression to pain expression faces would reduce neural representations of negative emotion, vicarious pain, or both. To test this, we applied two multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA)-derived neural signatures to our data, the Picture Induced Negative Emotion Signature (PINES; Chang, Gianaros, Manuck, Krishnan, and Wager (2015)) and a neural signature of facial expression induced vicarious pain (Zhou et al., 2020). In a sample of 60 healthy individuals, we found that viewing pain expression faces increased neural representations of negative emotion and vicarious pain. However, expressive suppression to pain faces reduced neural representations of negative emotion only. Providing support for a connection between neural representations of negative emotion and pain empathy, PINES responses to pain faces were associated with participants' trait-level empathy and the perceived unpleasantness of pain faces. Findings suggest that a consequence of suppressing one's facial expressions in response to the pain of others may be a reduction in the affective aspect of empathy but not the experience of vicarious pain itself.

Chronic versus recent expressive suppression burdens are differentially associated with cognitive performance among older adults

Introduction: Expressive suppression (ES; suppression of affective behavior) has been shown to have a deleterious impact on subsequently administered tests of executive functions (EF), threatening validity, and reliability of EF assessment. Past research has shown that recent ES (i.e., across 24 hours prior to testing) and chronic ES (i.e., across 2 weeks prior to testing) have differential impact on test performance. The present study compared the association of chronic vs. recent ES with speed vs. accuracy of performance on tests of EF and tests of lower-order processes.

METHOD

Participants were 255 community-dwelling older adults aged 60 and older. Participants completed timed subtests of the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System and the Burden of State Emotion Regulation Questionnaire.

RESULTS

Hierarchical linear regressions examined the contributions of chronic vs. recent ES to test performance. Recent ES was related to scores of both speed and accuracy on EF tests. The association between recent ES and EF errors held beyond covariates (i.e., chronic ES, demographics, depression, and general cognitive status). In contrast, the association between recent ES and EF speed was fully explained by EF error scores. Chronic ES was associated only with speed of performance and only on lower-order tasks, but this relationship did not survive correction for cognitive, psychiatric, and demographic factors.

CONCLUSIONS

Recent ES appears to be a risk factor for EF lapses. Chronic ES, while related to performance speed, seems to also relate to several other cognitive, psychiatric, and demographic factors, which themselves explain slower information processing.

Naturally Occurring Expressive Suppression is Associated with Lapses in Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults

OBJECTIVES

Expressive suppression (i.e., effortful regulation of overt affect) has a deleterious impact on executive functioning (EF). This relationship has potential ramifications for daily functioning, especially among older adults, because a close relationship exists between EF and functional independence. However, past research has not directly examined whether expressive suppression impacts instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). The present study examined this association among older adults.

METHODS

One hundred ten community-dwelling older adults completed a self-report measure of acute (past 24 hr) and chronic (past 2 weeks) expressive suppression, a timed test of IADL, and the Behavioral Dyscontrol Scale as a measure of EF.

RESULTS

High chronic expressive suppression was related to slow IADL performance beyond covariates (age, IQ, depression), but only for individuals with low EF. High acute expressive suppression was associated with lower accuracy on IADL tasks beyond covariates (IQ, depression), but this association was fully explained by EF.

CONCLUSIONS

The current results suggest that expressive suppression is associated with less efficient and more error-prone IADL performance. EF fully accounted for the relationship between acute expressive suppression and IADL performance, showing that suppression is a risk factor for both poorer EF performance and functional lapses in daily life. Furthermore, individuals with weaker EF may be particularly vulnerable to the effect of chronic expressive suppression. (JINS, 2019, 25, 718-728).

Deleterious Impact of Expressive Suppression on Test Performance Persists at One-Year Follow-Up in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

OBJECTIVES

Expressive suppression (ES) is an emotion-regulation strategy that is associated with poorer performance on subsequently administered tests of executive functioning (EF). It is not known, however, how far into the future ES interferes with EF. This study examined whether (a) ES negatively affects performance on EF tests repeated 1 year after the initial administration (presumably through interference with learning, leading to a reduced practice effect), and (b) whether such an effect, if seen, is unique to EF or whether it also affects lower-order cognitive processes needed for EF test performance.

METHODS

Sixty-six non-demented community-dwelling older adults were randomly assigned to either an ES group or control group. Executive and non-executive tests were administered before and immediately following the exposure to an emotionally evocative video, and then again at 1-year follow-up. Groups were compared at 1-year follow-up on tests of EF and lower-order processes, to examine whether the previously demonstrated impact of ES on EF is evident only immediately following the experimental manipulation (Franchow & Suchy, 2017), or also at 1-year follow-up.

RESULTS

The results showed that participants who engaged in ES continued to exhibit poorer performance on EF tests 1 year later. This effect was not present for performance on tests of lower-order processes.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that the use of ES before an EF task can interfere with the ability to benefit from exposure to that task, thereby negatively affecting future performance. (JINS, 2019, 25, 29-38).