Neuropsychological Function in Migraine Headaches: An Expanded Comprehensive Multidomain Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

A sizable literature has studied neuropsychologic function in persons with migraine (PwM), but despite this, few quantitative syntheses exist. These focused on circumscribed areas of the literature. In this study, we conducted an expanded comprehensive meta-analysis comparing performance on clinical measures of neuropsychological function both within and across domains, between samples of PwM and healthy controls (HCs).

METHODS

For this Meta-analyses Of Observational Studies in Epidemiology-compliant meta-analysis, a unified search strategy was applied to OneSearch (a comprehensive collection of electronic databases) to identify peer-reviewed original research published across all years up until August 1, 2023. Using random-effects modeling, we examined aggregated effect sizes (Hedges' g), between-study heterogeneity (Cochran Q and I2), moderating variables (meta-regression and subgroup analyses), and publication bias (Egger regression intercept and Duval and Tweedie Trim-and-Fill procedure). Study bias was also coded using the NIH Study Quality Assessment Tools.

RESULTS

Omnibus meta-analysis from the 58 studies included (PwM n = 5,452, HC n = 16,647; 612 effect sizes extracted) indicated lower overall cognitive performance in PwM vs HCs (g = -0.37; 95% CI -0.47 to -0.28; p < 0.001), and high between-study heterogeneity (Q = 311.25, I2 = 81.69). Significant domain-specific negative effects were observed in global cognition (g = -0.46, p < 0.001), executive function (g = -0.45, p < 0.001), processing speed (g = -0.42, p < 0.001), visuospatial/construction (g = -0.39, p = 0.006), simple/complex attention (g = -0.38, p < 0.001), learning/memory (g = -0.25, p < 0.001), and language (g = -0.24, p < 0.001). Orientation (p = 0.146), motor (p = 0.102), and intelligence (p = 0.899) were not significant. Moderator analyses indicated that age (particularly younger HCs), samples drawn from health care facility settings (e.g., tertiary headache centers) vs community-based populations, and higher attack duration were associated with larger (negative) effects and accounted for a significant proportion of between-study heterogeneity in effects. Notably, PwM without aura yielded stronger (negative) effects (omnibus g = -0.37) vs those with aura (omnibus g = -0.10), though aura status did not account for heterogeneity observed between studies.

DISCUSSION

Relative to HCs, PwM demonstrate worse neurocognition, as detected by neuropsychological tests, especially on cognitive screeners and tests within executive functioning and processing speed domains. Effects were generally small to moderate in magnitude and evident only in clinic (vs community) samples. Aura was not meaningfully associated with neurocognitive impairment.

Impact of Intermittent Fasting and/or Caloric Restriction on Aging-Related Outcomes in Adults: A Scoping Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Intermittent fasting (IF) and caloric restriction (CR) are dietary strategies to prevent and attenuate obesity associated with conditions and aging-related outcomes. This scoping review examined the cardiometabolic, cancer, and neurocognitive outcome differences between IF and CR interventions among adults. We applied a systematic approach to scope published randomized controlled trials (databases: PubMed, CINAHL Plus, PsychInfo, Scopus, and Google Scholar) from inception through August 2023. The initial search provided 389 unique articles which were critically appraised. Thirty articles met the eligibility criteria for inclusion: 12 were IF, 10 were CR, and 8 were combined IF and CR interventions. IF and CR were associated with weight loss; however, IF studies tended to report greater adherence compared with CR. Overall, IF and CR were equivalently effective across cardiometabolic, cancer, and neurocognitive outcomes. Our findings suggest that IF has health benefits in a variety of conditions and may be better accepted and tolerated than CR, but more comparative research is required.

Mechanisms of improved body composition among perimenopausal women practicing Meditative Movement: a proposed biobehavioral model

OBJECTIVES

Weight gain and unfavorable body composition are prevalent among midlife/older women throughout menopause. These shifts may negatively impact health, well-being, and longevity. Efforts to attenuate weight and body composition changes are traditionally driven by manipulation of diet and/or exercise; however, sustained results are limited, possibly because the full spectrum of biobehavioral systems is not addressed by diet and exercise alone. We propose a biobehavioral model detailing mechanisms of body composition decline among perimenopausal women and the associated components of Meditative Movement (ie, tai chi, qigong, yoga) that address each of these factors.

METHODS

Based on our previous work and extensive review of the literature, we developed a multifactorial and multidimensional biobehavioral model including factors that most directly relate to body composition among perimenopausal women: 1) psychological (ie, stress and mood, mindfulness and self-compassion, body awareness), 2) behavioral (ie, sleep, physical activity, eating behaviors), and 3) physiological (ie, cortisol, estrogen). Relationships between each factor, Meditative Movement practice components, and predicted effects on body composition were explored in detail.

RESULTS

Our model describes select psychological, behavioral, and physiological factors, and potential mechanistic pathways of Meditative Movement practice driving improved changes in body composition and weight outcomes for perimenopausal women.

CONCLUSIONS

The proposed model details a novel, evidence-supported means to reduce the risk of deleterious shifts in body composition throughout perimenopause and menopause thereafter. We suggest that these changes may occur directly and/or indirectly through psychological, behavioral, and physiological mechanisms that facilitate the desired changes in body composition.

B - 90 Need for Cognition Results in Greater Persistence on Fluid Intelligence Tests

OBJECTIVE

We evaluated reaction time (RT) as a mediator of the relation between the trait Need for Cognition (NFC) and Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM).

METHODS

174 undergraduate students (M = 20 years old, SD = 1.5; 74.1% female) completed the 18 item NFC questionnaire and RAPM as part of a larger battery. RAPM mean RT (RMRT) was calculated in msec.

RESULTS

Overall total effect between NFC and RAPM total score was significant [F(2,146) = 44.04; p < 0.001; r2 = 0.38; 95% CI = 0.05, 0.18] when not accounting for the effect of the mediator for RT. RMRT demonstrated a significant indirect effect on RAPM total score [B = 0.11; t(148) = 4.34; p < 0.001; 95% CI = 0.09, 0.24]. Results indicate that the direct effect of NFC and RAPM was significant [B = 0.23; t(148) = 3.42; p < 0.001; 95% CI = 0.03, 0.19] when controlling for the mediator of RT, which shows a partially mediated effect.

CONCLUSIONS

RT partially mediates the relationship between NFC and RAPM performance. This is the first demonstration that high NFC improves performance on fluid intelligence tests at least partly by high NFC individuals persevering longer on test items. As NFC and RAPM are still correlated after including RT as a mediator, test persistence is not solely responsible for this direct relationship. Future research needs to determine additional variables that account for the relation between NFC and RAPM.

A - 50 Examining NfL as a Moderator for APOE Status and Cognitive Dispersion

OBJECTIVE

Cognitive intra-individual variability (IIV) dispersion, a measure of variability across multiple tasks, has been associated with cognitive decline. Neurofilament light chain protein (NfL) is a known biomarker for several neurodegenerative diseases and reflects disease severity. Apolipoprotein E (APOE ε4) gene is a biomarker known to increase the risk of dementia. This study aimed to examine the relationship between cognitive IIV and biomarkers with established relationships to dementia in a diverse older sample.

METHOD

Data was collected as a part of the Health and Aging Brain Study: Health Disparities (HABS-HD) study, a project examining biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease across diverse populations within a health disparities framework. IIV on neuropsychological test performance was calculated for each participant (n = 1621) as the coefficient of variation (CoV). A moderation test employing Hayes' process model was run, with APOE ε4 status as the predictor, IIV as the dependent variable, and NfL as a moderator.

RESULTS

Hayes PROCESS model 1 evaluated the moderating role of APOE ε4 status on the relationships between NfL and IIV. There was a significant interaction found between NfL and APOE ε4 status, (p = 0.0005). The total model was significant but only accounted for approximately 0.74% of the variance in IIV (R^2 = 0.007, SE = 0.001, p < 0.001). A larger moderation effect was found in APOE ε4 carriers.

CONCLUSIONS

We found a small effect for biomarkers predicting cognitive IIV. The effect of NfL on IIV was partially moderated by APOE ε4 status. This relation between IIV and biomarkers should be examined in samples with greater symptom severity.

B - 89 The Association between Cognitive Ability and Performance Consistency on Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT)

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the relation between cognitive abilities and intra-individual variability (IIV) on the PASAT.

METHODS

205 participants (M = 19 years old, SD = 1.5; 55.1% female, 60% White, 24.4% Black, 6% Asian) completed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV (WAIS-IV), PASAT, Animal Naming, Trail-Making Test (TMT) Parts A and B, and CNS Vital Signs. Normed scores were used for analysis. IIV on PASAT was calculated as the standard deviation around their own mean across four rates of presentation (2.4, 2.0, 1.6, and 1.2 seconds).

RESULTS

Pearson r correlations revealed PASAT total score was correlated with FSIQ [r = 0.56; p < 0.001], Animal Naming [r = 0.27; p < 0.001], CNS psychomotor speed [r = 0.27; p < 0.001], CNS cognitive flexibility [r = 0.24; p < 0.001], Trails Part B [r = 0.28; p < 0.001] and CNS executive functioning [r = 0.22; p < 0.001]. PASAT IIV was negatively correlated with FSIQ [r = -0.46; p < 0.001] and Animal Naming [r = -0.15; p = 0.034]. There were no significant associations between PASAT IIV and CNS vital signs domains or TMT performance.

CONCLUSIONS

PASAT total score and performance variability were related to general intellectual ability. Individuals with higher IQ levels were more consistent for PASAT performance and performed better on the task. This is at odds with previous IIV research in health samples where IIV increases with global cognitive ability. Additionally, PASAT IIV was negatively related to Animal Naming performance but not other aspects of executive functioning. This unexpected finding requires further research.

Well-being predictors of body composition and associated behavioral risk factors in midlife/older women participating in a meditative movement intervention: an exploratory analysis

Introduction

Greater than 40% of women are obese, a key risk factor for cardiometabolic, neurocognitive disease, mood disorders, and certain cancers. Obesity and unfavorable body composition can compromise physical and psychological health and well-being. Preliminary evidence demonstrates Meditative Movement (i.e., Tai Chi Easy) improves health outcomes and body composition among midlife/older women. This single-group pilot study explored relationships between well-being predictors related to body composition and associated behavioral risk factors in midlife/older women pre-to-post Tai Chi Easy intervention.

Methods

Eligible women 45-75 years old, participated in once-weekly 30-minute Tai Chi Easy classes over 8-weeks. Pre/post-intervention data included self-report surveys and on-site body composition. Multivariate linear regression models were fitted with putative predictor variables having correlations p-values of 0.20 or less with sleep quality and eating behaviors.

Results

Participants (N = 36) (M age = 53.7) were White (80.4%) and attended ≥ 4 years of college (70.6%). Analyses resulted in one independent variable per model as a predictor of the dependent variables of sleep quality and emotional eating. Results indicated: (1) stress explained 13.4% sleep quality variance (F (2, 20) = 2.71, p = 0.09) and (2) self-compassion explained 42.1% emotional eating variance (F (2, 31) = 12.54, p < .01).

Conclusion

Findings suggest stress and self-compassion partially explain variance in the dependent variables of sleep quality and emotional eating, both associated behavioral risk factors of body composition. Additional research may guide interventions to test efficacy and examine mediators to improve well-being predictors, body composition, and associated behavioral risk factors among midlife/older women.

A-199 The Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale (BDEFS): Personality index or a measure of executive functioning?

Objective: The BDEFS was compared to objective executive functioning (EF) measures as well as five-factor model (FFM) personality traits.

Methods: One hundred sixty-five participants (M=19 years old, SD=1.3; 72.7% female, 55.2% White, 35.2% African American, 4.8% Asian) completed IPIP-NEO Personality Inventory, BDEFS-Long Form, Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB) EF module, and Trail-Making Test (TMT) Parts A and B.

Results: EF measures were reduced to a single-factor score using EFA (TMT A and B; NAB Mazes, Categories, and Word Generation subtests) accounting for 34% of the variance. Regression predicting BDEFS total score from the EF factor score was not significant [F(1,163)=.182; p =.67, r2=.001]. Stepwise multiple regression predicting BDEFS total score from FFM traits identified three significant predictors (neuroticism: β=.390, extraversion: β=.239, and conscientiousness: β=-.572) that accounted for 54% of the variance [F(5,159)=36.78; p&lt;.001, r2=.54]. Stepwise regression predicting the EF factor score from FFM traits was not significant [F(5,159)=.57; p=.721, r2=.018].

Conclusions: Performance-based EF measures were not related to BDEFS total score supporting that different constructs are being measured. Personality traits accounted for a majority of variance in BDEFS performance but minimal variance for performance-based EF performance. These results suggest that personality traits are strongly related to an individual’s appraisal of executive dysfunction.

A-162 Neuropsychological Functioning in Migraine: A Meta-Analysis

Objective: Migraine refers to recurrent, unilateral headache attacks, lasting 4-72 hours, that have a pulsating quality. A meta-analysis was conducted comparing cognition on clinical measures between individuals with migraine and healthy controls.

Data Selection: We searched the University of South Alabama Libraries’ OneSearch and PubMed using a uniform search-strategy to locate original research comparing cognition between migraine and control samples. Analyses were modeled under random effects. Hedge’s g was used as a bias-corrected estimate of effect size. We assessed between-study heterogeneity using Cochran’s Q and I2.

Data Synthesis: The initial search interval spanned inception–May 2021 and yielded 6692 results. Fifty-two studies were analyzed (migraine n=5324, control n=16540). Meta-analysis showed a significant combined effect size of migraine across all studies (g=-0.37, p&lt;.001), with high heterogeneity (Q=329.84, p&lt;.001, I2=84.54). Trim-and-fill procedure estimated 0 studies to be missing due to publication bias (adjusted g=-0.37, Q=329.84). Within-domain effects of migraine were: Executive Functioning=-0.40, Global Cognition/Orientation=-0.20, Language=-0.30, Learning/Memory=-0.24, Motor=-0.09, Processing Speed=-0.42, Screener=-0.50, Simple/Complex Attention=-0.35, and Visuospatial/Construction=-0.36. Heterogeneity was moderate to high within domains. Meta-regressions indicated education and disease duration were not related to effect sizes. Age and gender were related to effect sizes such that studies with older and higher percentage of female clinical participants yielded greater (negative) differences.

Conclusions: Individuals with migraine consistently demonstrated lower performances on neuropsychological tests compared to controls. Effect sizes were generally small in strength, with largest effects in Executive Functioning, Processing Speed, and Screeners. This quantitative summary indicates that, through use of neuropsychological tests, individuals with migraine experience difficulties in multiple aspects of cognition.

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Neurovascular Dysfunction in Diverse Communities With Health Disparities-Contributions to Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) are an expanding worldwide crisis. In the absence of scientific breakthroughs, the global prevalence of ADRD will continue to increase as more people are living longer. Racial or ethnic minority groups have an increased risk and incidence of ADRD and have often been neglected by the scientific research community. There is mounting evidence that vascular insults in the brain can initiate a series of biological events leading to neurodegeneration, cognitive impairment, and ADRD. We are a group of researchers interested in developing and expanding ADRD research, with an emphasis on vascular contributions to dementia, to serve our local diverse community. Toward this goal, the primary objective of this review was to investigate and better understand health disparities in Alabama and the contributions of the social determinants of health to those disparities, particularly in the context of vascular dysfunction in ADRD. Here, we explain the neurovascular dysfunction associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) as well as the intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors contributing to dysfunction of the neurovascular unit (NVU). Next, we ascertain ethnoregional health disparities of individuals living in Alabama, as well as relevant vascular risk factors linked to AD. We also discuss current pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical treatment options for neurovascular dysfunction, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD, including relevant studies and ongoing clinical trials. Overall, individuals in Alabama are adversely affected by social and structural determinants of health leading to health disparities, driven by rurality, ethnic minority status, and lower socioeconomic status (SES). In general, these communities have limited access to healthcare and healthy food and other amenities resulting in decreased opportunities for early diagnosis of and pharmaceutical treatments for ADRD. Although this review is focused on the current state of health disparities of ADRD patients in Alabama, future studies must include diversity of race, ethnicity, and region to best be able to treat all individuals affected by ADRD.

Neuropsychological Functioning in Primary Dystonia: Updated and Expanded Multidomain Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

Primary dystonia is conventionally considered as a motor disorder, though an emerging literature reports associated cognitive dysfunction.

OBJECTIVES

Here, we conducted meta-analyses on studies comparing clinical measures of cognition in persons with primary dystonia and healthy controls (HCs).

METHODS

We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and PsycINFO (January 2000-October 2020). Analyses were modeled under random effects. We used Hedge's g as a bias-corrected estimate of effect size, where negative values indicate lower performance in dystonia versus controls. Between-study heterogeneity and bias were primarily assessed with Cochran's Q, I² , and Egger's regression.

RESULTS

From 866 initial results, 20 studies met criteria for analysis (dystonia n = 739, controls n = 643; 254 effect sizes extracted). Meta-analysis showed a significant combined effect size of primary dystonia across all studies (g = -0.56, P < 0.001), with low heterogeneity (Q = 25.26, P = 0.15, I²  =  24.78). Within-domain effects of primary dystonia were motor speed = -0.84, nonmotor speed = -0.83, global cognition = -0.65, language = -0.54, executive functioning = -0.53, learning/memory = -0.46, visuospatial/construction = -0.44, and simple/complex attention = -0.37 (P-values <0.01). High heterogeneity was observed in the motor/nonmotor speed and learning/memory domains. There was no evidence of publication bias. Moderator analyses were mostly negative but possibly underpowered. Blepharospasm samples showed worse performance than other focal/cervical dystonias. Those with inherited (ie, genetic) disease etiology demonstrated worse performance than acquired.

CONCLUSIONS

Dystonia patients consistently demonstrated lower performances on neuropsychological tests versus HCs. Effect sizes were generally moderate in strength, clustering around -0.50 SD units. Within the speed domain, results suggested cognitive slowing beyond effects from motor symptoms. Overall, findings indicate dystonia patients experience multidomain cognitive difficulties, as detected by neuropsychological tests. © 2022 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

A-182 Development of a PTSD-Specific Embedded Validity Measure in the Personality Assessment Inventory

Objective/Background

The present study investigated the feasibility of developing a PTSD-specific malingering scale embedded within the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI).

Methods

Participants consisted of 489 individuals [mean age = 20.0 (SD = 3.29); 71% female; 73.0% Caucasian, 17.6% African American, 3.5%, 9.4% Other] who completed PAI. 274 individuals were in the control group and instructed to answer normally while 215 were instructed to simulate PTSD with intent to successfully feign PTSD in the context of a legal case. The following were identified as candidate PAI subscales for logistic regression to identify feigned PTSD: ARD-T, BOR-A, SCZ-T, ANX-P, and DEP-P.

Results

Logistic regression analysis was performed with known group as the dependent variable and PAI subtest normed T-scores as predictor variables. The final full model of five predictor variables significantly predicted group status (χ2 = 384.9, df = 5, N = 489, p &lt; 0.001). The model accounted for 54.5% to 73.0% of the variance (Cox and Snell R2 = 0.545; Nagelkerke R2 = 0.730) in performance classification with overall 89.4% of individuals correctly predicted to their known group. At a cut value of 0.65 the specificity was 94.9%, and the sensitivity was 82.3%. Within the model, the following variables were incrementally predictive of group membership: ARD-T (B = 0.05, p &lt; 0.001), BOR-A (B = 0.04, p &lt; 0.05), and ANX-P (B = 0.04, p &lt; 0.05).

Conclusions

Preliminary evidence for use of an embedded PAI malingering scale within the PAI was found. Further replication is needed in clinical populations prior to use in practice.

A-174 Diurnal Preference Relation to Need for Cognition and Cognitive Reflection

Objective

This study evaluated the effect of individual differences in diurnal preferences on a problem-solving test of intelligence and a measure of a personality trait of how much someone enjoys thinking.

Method

Archival data from 85 participants who had completed measures online were utilized in this study. The sample was 51.8% female, 71.8% Caucasian, and mean age was 19.5. Participants completed the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), Composite Morningness Questionnaire (CMQ), Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT), and Need for Cognition Scale-Short Form (NFC). Raw score totals were utilized. Diurnal preferences were later grouped for morning, evening, or in between based on published MEQ and CMQ cutoffs. Lower scores indicate evening types, and higher scores indicate morning types.

Results

Scores on measures of diurnal preference were significantly positively related to NFC (MEQ r = 0.28, p = 0.011; CMQ r = 0.36, p = 0.001) meaning that morning types tend to enjoy effortful mentation more. Diurnal preferences were not significantly related to CRT performance. One-way ANOVA was performed with diurnal preferences as the group factor and NFC and CRT as dependent variables. Significant main effects were not found for MEQ and NFC nor MEQ and CRT. Significant main effects were found for CMQ and NFC F(2,77) = 5.33, p = 0.007, but not for CMQ and CRT.

Conclusion

These findings indicate that diurnal preference was not associated with performance on the problem-solving intelligence test used in this study. However, morning types appear to be higher for personality traits related to motivation to engage in thinking and would be expected to do better on some cognitive tests that demand more test engagement.

A-72 Neuropsychological Functioning in Primary Dystonia: A Multi-Domain Meta-Analysis

Objective

Primary dystonia is conventionally seen as a motor disorder, though growing literature indicates cognitive dysfunction among persons with primary dystonia (PWD). Here, we completed a meta-analysis comparing cognition on clinical measures between PWD and normal controls.

Method

We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and PsycINFO using a uniform search-strategy to locate original research comparing cognition between PWD and control samples. All analyses were modeled under random-effects. We used Hedge’s g as a bias-corrected estimate of effect size. Between-study heterogeneity was assessed using Cochran’s Q and I2.

Results

The initial search strategy yielded 866 results. Twenty studies were analyzed (PWD n = 739, control n = 865; 254 effect sizes extracted). Meta-analysis showed a significant combined effect size of primary dystonia across all studies (g = −0.55, p &lt; 0.001), with low heterogeneity (Q = 23.60, p = 0.21, I2 = 19.49). Trim-and-fill procedure estimated 6 studies missing due to publication bias (adjusted g = −0.47, Q = 44.58). Within-domain effects of primary dystonia were: Motor/Non-Motor Speed = −0.76, Global Cognition/Orientation = −0.65, Language = −0.62, Executive Functioning = −0.50, Learning/Memory = −0.46, Visuospatial/Construction = −0.44, and Simple/Complex Attention = −0.36. Heterogeneity was generally low within domains. Effects were comparable between Speed tasks with (g = −0.85) and without (g = −0.80) a motor component. Meta-regressions indicated age, education, gender, and disease duration were not related to effect sizes.

Conclusions

PWD consistently demonstrated lower performances on neuropsychological tests compared to controls. Effect sizes were generally moderate in strength, with smallest effects in Simple/Complex Attention, and largest in Motor/Non-Motor Speed. Within the Speed domain, results suggested cognitive slowing beyond effects from motor symptoms. This quantitative summary indicates that PWD experience difficulties in multiple aspects of cognition, as detected by neuropsychological tests.

A-175 Personality as a Proxy for Positive Effort: The Role of Grit, Need for Cognition, and Extraversion in Problem-Solving

Objective

This study aimed to examine the effect of personality traits on a simple problem-solving test of intelligence.

Method

The sample consisted of 82 undergraduates. Participants completed an online battery that included an open source Five Factor Model measure (IPIP FFM), Grit scale, Need for Cognition (NFC) scale, and the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT). CRT is a simple 3 question test of intelligence. An interaction variable for positive effort was created by multiplying the total raw scores for the Grit and NFC scales (Grit x NFC). Correlations were conducted between the Grit x NFC, IPIP FFM, and the CRT total score. Scales that significantly correlated with CRT total score were entered into a regression model.

Results

Pearson correlations revealed a significant positive association between Grit x NFC and CRT performance, (r = 0.240, p &lt; 0.05). A significant correlation was also found between IPIP FFM Extraversion factor and CRT performance (r = 0.230, p &lt; 0.05). A regression model found that Grit x NFC and IPIP FFM Extraversion accounted for 9.2% of the variance in CRT total scores, (R2 = 0.092, F(1,82) = 3.92, p = 0.024). When examined individually, no individual predictors were significant.

Conclusion

These findings suggest that personality traits that reflect positive effort such as Grit and NFC as well as other personality features influence performance on problem-solving bases measures of intelligence. Future research should examine these findings in a larger sample with a broader array of cognitive measures to quantify the role of positive effort in cognitive performance.