Associations between middle childhood executive control aspects and adolescent substance use and externalizing and internalizing problems

This study examines the degree to which two middle childhood executive control aspects, working memory and combined inhibitory control/flexible shifting, predict adolescent substance use and externalizing and internalizing problems. Participants were 301 children (ages 3-6 years; 48.2% male) recruited from a Midwestern city in the United States and followed into adolescence (ages 14-18 years). Working memory had a statistically significant unadjusted association with externalizing problems (r = -.30, p = .003) in a confirmatory factor analysis. Neither factor significantly predicted any of the adolescent outcomes in a structural equation model that adjusted for each EC aspect, sociodemographic covariates, and middle childhood externalizing and internalizing problems. Stronger prediction of EC aspects might not emerge until they become more fully differentiated later in development.

Threat priming diminishes the gaze cueing effect

Gaze cueing effect (GCE) refers to attention orienting towards the gazed-at location, characterised by faster responses to gazed-at than non-gazed-at stimuli. A previous study investigated the effects of affective priming on GCE and reported that threatening primes enhanced GCE. However, it remains unknown whether the threat or heightened arousal potentiated GCE. We investigated how highly arousing threatening and positive primes, compared to low arousing neutral primes modulate GCE. After a brief exposure to an affective prime (pictures of threat or erotica) or a neutral prime, participants detected an asterisk validly or invalidly cued by the gaze direction of a neutral face. The results showed that the threatening primes diminished the magnitude of GCE. The highly arousing positive primes did not have an effect on GCE. Further analyses showed that, as compared to neutral priming, the reaction times after threatening primes were shortened on invalid trials. This finding was interpreted to suggest that the threatening primes enhanced goal-directed target detection and attenuated attention orienting by irrelevant gaze cues via improving executive control. In sum, the present findings indicate that threat priming modulates GCE, not because of heightened arousal but because of the threat.

Compensatory brain activity pattern is not present in older adults during the n-back task performance-Findings based on EEG frequency analysis

Introduction

Cognitive ability is one of the most important enablers for successful aging. At the same time, cognitive decline is a well-documented phenomenon accompanying the aging process. Nevertheless, it is acknowledged that aging can also be related to positive processes that allow one to compensate for the decline. These processes include the compensatory brain activity of older adults primarily investigated using fMRI and PET. To strengthen the cognitive interpretation of compensatory brain activity in older adults, we searched for its indicators in brain activity measured by EEG.

Methods

The study sample comprised 110 volunteers, including 50 older adults (60-75 years old) and 60 young adults (20-35 years old) who performed 1-back, 2-back, and 3-back tasks while recording the EEG signal. The study analyzed (1) the level of cognitive performance, including sensitivity index, the percentage of correct answers to the target, and the percentage of false alarm errors; (2) theta and alpha power for electrodes located in the frontal-midline (Fz, AF3, AF4, F3, F4, FC1, and FC2) and the centro-parietal (CP1, CP2, P3, P4, and Pz) areas.

Results

Cognitive performance was worse in older adults than in young adults, which manifested in a significantly lower sensitivity index and a significantly higher false alarm error rate at all levels of the n-back task difficulty. Simultaneously, performance worsened with increasing task difficulty regardless of age. Significantly lower theta power in the older participants was observed at all difficulty levels, even at the lowest one, where compensatory activity was expected. At the same time, at this difficulty level, cognitive performance was worse in older adults than in young adults, which could reduce the chances of observing compensatory brain activity. The significant decrease in theta power observed in both age groups with rising task difficulty can reflect a declining capacity for efficient cognitive functioning under increasing demands rather than adapting to this increase. Moreover, in young adults, alpha power decreased to some extent with increasing cognitive demand, reflecting adaptation to them, while in older adults, no analogous pattern was observed.

Discussion

In conclusion, based on the results of the current study, the presence of compensatory activity in older adults cannot be inferred.

Dysexecutive difficulty and subtle everyday functional disabilities: the digital Trail Making Test

Background

Digital neuropsychological tests reliably capture real-time, process-based behavior that traditional paper/pencil tests cannot detect, enabling earlier detection of neurodegenerative illness. We assessed relations between informant-based subtle and mild functional decline and process-based features extracted from the digital Trail Making Test-Part B (dTMT-B).

Methods

A total of 321 community-dwelling participants (56.0% female) were assessed with the Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ) and the dTMT-B. Three FAQ groups were constructed: FAQ = 0 (unimpaired); FAQ = 1-4 (subtle impairment); FAQ = 5-8 (mild impairment).

Results

Compared to the FAQ-unimpaired group, other groups required longer pauses inside target circles (p < 0.050) and produced more total pen strokes to complete the test (p < 0.016). FAQ-subtle participants required more time to complete the entire test (p < 0.002) and drew individual lines connecting successive target circles slower (p < 0.001) than FAQ-unimpaired participants. Lines connecting successive circle targets were less straight among FAQ-mild, compared to FAQ-unimpaired participants (p < 0.044). Using stepwise nominal regression (reference group = FAQ-unimpaired), pauses inside target circles classified other participants into their respective groups (p < 0.015, respectively). Factor analysis using six dTMT-B variables (oblique rotation) yielded a two-factor solution related to impaired motor/cognitive operations (48.96% variance explained) and faster more efficient motor/cognitive operations (28.88% variance explained).

Conclusion

Digital assessment technology elegantly quantifies occult, nuanced behavior not previously appreciated, operationally defines critical underlying neurocognitive constructs related to functional abilities, and yields selected process-based scores that outperform traditional paper/pencil test scores for participant classification. When brought to scale, the dTMT-B test could be a sensitive tool to detect subtle-to-mild functional deficits in emergent neurodegenerative illnesses.

Arousal, Gray's theory of anxiety, and the etiology of psychopathy

This paper focuses on Jeffrey Gray's theory of anxiety from the perspective of Fowles' (1980) application of his work to theories of arousal, psychophysiology, and the etiology of psychopathy. Although highly influential, the concept of general arousal failed to find support in terms of between-individuals assessment with multiple physiological measures. Gray's constructs of a behavioral inhibition system (BIS) that mediates anxiety, a behavioral approach or activation system (BAS) that energizes behavior to approach rewards, and a nonspecific arousal system that energizes behavior captured aspects of arousal. Fowles (1980) proposed that the BIS elicits electrodermal activity in response to threats, the BAS increases heart rate in response to reward incentive cues, and psychopathy is associated with a weak BIS. The paper reviews Gray's impact on future research on these topics, including early proposals relevant to the National Institute of Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria. Finally, the paper summarizes the evolution of theories of the etiology of psychopathy since 1980, noting ways in which aspects of Gray's theory are still seen in psychopathy research. Patrick's triarchic model has emerged as a major theory of psychopathy. Beauchaine's trait impulsivity theory of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder also is relevant.

Impact of maternal depressive symptoms on offspring executive functions: a systematic review

OBJECTIVE

This systematic review aims to thoroughly examine the current understanding of the effect of maternal depression exposure on the executive functions of offspring.

METHODS

Following the PRISMA statement, a comprehensive search for peer-reviewed cohort studies was performed on Pubmed, ScienceDirect, LILACS, PsychINFO, and SciELO. Study quality was assessed using the NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-sectional studies. The evidence was evaluated using the Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation.

RESULTS

This review analyzed 33 cohort studies from different countries with a total of 38,981 participants. Twenty-four studies confirmed the hypothesis of the harmful effect of maternal depressive symptoms on the performance of children's executive functions. However, a high heterogeneity among studies was found, and meta-analysis was not feasible. Fetal programming, genetics, and parental practices have been identified as potential mechanisms that can affect the executive functions of children born to mothers who have experienced depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggest a negative association between maternal depressive symptoms and offspring executive functioning. Further studies on the effects of chronicity/severity of maternal symptoms and changes in executive functions in different sensitive periods are needed.

Adult norms for the decision-making MindPulse Digital Test

We present adult normalized data for MindPulse (MP), a new tool evaluating attentional and executive functioning (AEF) in decision-making. We recruited 722 neurotypical participants (18-80 years), with 149 retested. The MP test includes three tasks: Simple Reaction Time (SRT), Go/No-go, and complex Go/No-go, involving perceptual components, motor responses, and measurements of reaction time (RT) and correctness. We compare responses, evaluating 14 cognitive indices (including new composite indices to describe AEF: Executive Speed and Reaction to Difficulty). We adjust for age/sex effects, introduce a difficulty scale, and consider standard deviations, aberrant times, and Spearman Correlation for speed-accuracy balance. Wilcoxon unpaired rank test is used to assess sex effects, and linear regression is employed to assess the age linear dependency model on the normalized database. The study demonstrated age and sex effects on RTs, in all three subtests, and the ability to correct it for individual results. The test showed excellent validity (Cronbach Alpha for the three subtasks is 92, 87, 95%) and high internal consistency (p < 0.001 for each subtask significantly faster than the more complex subtask) of the MP across the wide age range. Results showed correlation within the three RT parts of the test (p < .001 for each) and the independence of SRT, RD, and ES indices. The Retest effect was lower than intersubject variance, showing consistency over time. This study highlights the MP test's strong validity on a homogeneous, large adult sample. It emphasizes assessing AEF and Reaction to Difficulty dynamically with high sensitivity.

Changes in the Networks of Attention across the Lifespan: A Graphical Meta-Analysis

Three Posnerian networks of attention (alerting, orienting, and executive control) have been distinguished on the bases of behavioural, neuropsychological, and neuroscientific evidence. Here, we examined the trajectories of these networks throughout the human lifespan using the various Attention Network Tests (ANTs), which were specifically developed to measure the efficacy of these networks. The ANT Database was used to identify relevant research, resulting in the inclusion of 36 publications. We conducted a graphical meta-analysis using network scores from each study, based on reaction time plotted as a function of age group. Evaluation of attentional networks from childhood to early adulthood suggests that the alerting network develops relatively quickly, and reaches near-adult level by the age of 12. The developmental pattern of the orienting network seems to depend on the information value of the spatial cues. Executive control network scores show a consistent decrease (improvement) with age in childhood. During adulthood (ages 19-75), changes in alerting depend on the modality of the warning signal, while a moderate increase in orienting scores was seen with increasing age. Whereas executive control scores, as measured in reaction time, increase (deterioration) from young adulthood into later adulthood an opposite trend is seen when scores are based on error rates.

No Impact of Tdcs on Stress-Induced State Rumination and no Influence of Executive Control and Trait Rumination: A Double-Blind Sham-Controlled Within-Subjects Study

Objective

Rumination is conceptualized as a critical transdiagnostic vulnerability and maintenance factor for affective dysregulation and related emotional disorders. Recent research has pointed to transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as a novel therapeutic tool for alleviating rumination, especially stress-induced rumination. However, the mechanisms of action underlying this effect remain unclear, particularly regarding the potential moderating role of executive control and trait-like rumination. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the impact of anodal tDCS on stress-induced rumination and the potential moderating influence of executive control and trait-like rumination on this efect.

Method

Forty participants from the general community (i.e., unselected sample) took part in a double-blind within-subjects design study wherein we compared anodal stimulation over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex(dlPFC) with a sham-stimulation procedure. Participants completed an N-back task, reflecting executive control, during tDCS stimulation, followed by a stress-induction protocol wherein we assessed stress-induced state rumination.

Results

We found no significant effect of tDCS on stress-induced state rumination and no modulation by executive control or trait rumination. Post-hoc Bayesian analyses corroborated these results and even supported the hypothesis that anodal tDCS does not impact stress-induced rumination.

Conclusions

From a clinical perspective, our results are at odds with the current outlook that tDCS is a viable tool for reducing rumination, particularly stress-induced rumination. However, we firmly believe that the results of null-finding studies, such as those from this study, are particularly valuable for future iterations and meta-researchon tDCS as a potential tool for targeting transdiagnostic processes, such as rumination. We also addressed methodological limitations and directions for future research in this area.

The Efficiency of Attentional Networks in Takostubo Syndrome: A Study With the Attentional Network Task for Interaction

INTRODUCTION

The role of cardiovascular risk factors in the occurrence and progression of cognitive impairment is relevant in aging studies. In this condition, attention is one of the processes less studied, but preliminary evidence suggests an association between cardiometabolic alterations and attentional decline. Attention is not a unitary process but a set of independent systems (Alerting, Orienting, Executive), which can interact in certain conditions to ensure maximum behavioral efficiency.

METHODS

We investigated attentive networks and their interactions in patients with Takostubo syndrome (TTS). In all, 20 participants with TTS and 20 individuals without cardiovascular pathologies performed an Attention-Network Task for Interaction, which assesses attentional networks and their interactions.

RESULTS

Patients with TTS showed an atypical orienting effect when compared to the control group. Moreover, only the control group exhibited an interaction between orienting and alerting.

CONCLUSION

These findings establish the relevance of brain-heart interaction in identifying attentional impairment as a prodrome of progressively severe cognitive impairment in TTS.

Bilingual Spatial Cognition: Spatial Cue Use in Bilinguals and Monolinguals

Structural plasticity changes and functional differences in executive control tasks have been reported in bilinguals compared to monolinguals, supporting a proposed bilingual 'advantage' in executive control functions (e.g., task switching) due to continual usage of control mechanisms that inhibit one of the coexisting languages. However, it remains unknown whether these differences are also apparent in the spatial domain. The present fMRI study explores the use of spatial cues in 15 bilinguals and 14 monolinguals while navigating in an open-field virtual environment. In each trial, participants had to navigate towards a target object that was visible during encoding but hidden in retrieval. An extensive network was activated in bilinguals compared to monolinguals in the encoding and retrieval phase. During encoding, bilinguals activated the right temporal and left parietal regions (object trials) and left inferior frontal, precentral, and lingual regions more than monolinguals. During retrieval, the same contrasts activated the left caudate nucleus and the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), the left parahippocampal gyrus, as well as caudate regions. These results suggest that bilinguals may recruit neural networks known to subserve not only executive control processes but also spatial strategies.

Associations between executive functions assessed in different contexts in a genetically informative sample

Executive functions (EFs) are cognitive functions that help direct goal-related behavior. EFs are usually measured via behavioral tasks assessed in highly controlled laboratory settings under the supervision of a research assistant. Online versions of EF tasks are an increasingly popular alternative to in-lab testing. However, researchers do not have the same control over the testing environment during online EF assessments. To assess the extent to which EFs assessed in-lab and online are related, we used data from the Colorado Online Twin Study (CoTwins; 887 individual twins aged 13.98-19.05) and constructed an Lab Common EF factor and an Online Common EF factor from four EF tasks assessed in-lab and online. The Lab Common and Online Common EF factors were genetically identical (rA = 1.00) but phenotypically separable (r = .77, 95% confidence interval [0.59, 0.94]) indicating that these EF factors have the same genetic underpinnings but may be differentially influenced by environmental factors. We examined phenotypic, genetic, and environmental correlations between the EF factors and a general cognitive ability factor (g) assessed in the lab and found similar relationships between Lab Common EF and g and Online Common EF and g. Overall, these results suggest that Common EF factors assessed in different contexts are highly related to each other and similarly related to other cognitive outcomes. These findings indicate that online task-based EF assessments could be a viable strategy for increasing sample sizes in large-scale studies, particularly genetically informed studies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Within-subject changes in methylome profile identify individual signatures of early-life adversity, with a potential to predict neuropsychiatric outcome

Background

Adverse early-life experiences (ELA), including poverty, trauma and neglect, affect a majority of the world's children. Whereas the impact of ELA on cognitive and emotional health throughout the lifespan is well-established, it is not clear how distinct types of ELA influence child development, and there are no tools to predict for an individual child their vulnerability or resilience to the consequences of ELAs. Epigenetic markers including DNA-methylation profiles of peripheral cells may encode ELA and provide a predictive outcome marker. However, the rapid dynamic changes in DNA methylation in childhood and the inter-individual variance of the human genome pose barriers to identifying profiles predicting outcomes of ELA exposure. Here, we examined the relation of several dimensions of ELA to changes of DNA methylation, using a longitudinal within-subject design and a high threshold for methylation changes in the hope of mitigating the above challenges.

Methods

We analyzed DNA methylation in buccal swab samples collected twice for each of 110 infants: neonatally and at 12 months. We identified CpGs differentially methylated across time, calculated methylation changes for each child, and determined whether several indicators of ELA associated with changes of DNA methylation for individual infants. We then correlated select dimensions of ELA with methylation changes as well as with measures of executive function at age 5 years. We examined for sex differences, and derived a sex-dependent 'impact score' based on sites that most contributed to the methylation changes.

Findings

Setting a high threshold for methylation changes, we discovered that changes in methylation between two samples of an individual child reflected age-related trends towards augmented methylation, and also correlated with executive function years later. Among the tested factors and ELA dimensions, including income to needs ratios, maternal sensitivity, body mass index and sex, unpredictability of parental and household signals was the strongest predictor of executive function. In girls, an interaction was observed between a measure of high early-life unpredictability and methylation changes, in presaging executive function.

Interpretation

These findings establish longitudinal, within-subject changes in methylation profiles as a signature of some types of ELA in an individual child. Notably, such changes are detectable beyond the age-associated DNA methylation dynamics. Future studies are required to determine if the methylation profile changes identified here provide a predictive marker of vulnerabilities to poorer cognitive and emotional outcomes.

Neural mechanisms for executive control of speed-accuracy trade-off

The medial frontal cortex (MFC) plays an important but disputed role in speed-accuracy trade-off (SAT). In samples of neural spiking in the supplementary eye field (SEF) in the MFC simultaneous with the visuomotor frontal eye field and superior colliculus in macaques performing a visual search with instructed SAT, during accuracy emphasis, most SEF neurons discharge less from before stimulus presentation until response generation. Discharge rates adjust immediately and simultaneously across structures upon SAT cue changes. SEF neurons signal choice errors with stronger and earlier activity during accuracy emphasis. Other neurons signal timing errors, covarying with adjusting response time. Spike correlations between neurons in the SEF and visuomotor areas did not appear, disappear, or change sign across SAT conditions or trial outcomes. These results clarify findings with noninvasive measures, complement previous neurophysiological findings, and endorse the role of the MFC as a critic for the actor instantiated in visuomotor structures.

Using digital assessment technology to detect neuropsychological problems in primary care settings

Introduction

Screening for neurocognitive impairment and psychological distress in ambulatory primary and specialty care medical settings is an increasing necessity. The Core Cognitive Evaluation™ (CCE) is administered/scored using an iPad, requires approximately 8 min, assesses 3- word free recall and clock drawing to command and copy, asks questions about lifestyle and health, and queries for psychological distress. This information is linked with patients' self- reported concerns about memory and their cardiovascular risks.

Methods

A total of 199 ambulatory patients were screened with the CCE as part of their routine medical care. The CCE provides several summary indices, and scores on 44 individual digital clock variables across command and copy tests conditions.

Results

Subjective memory concerns were endorsed by 41% of participants. Approximately 31% of participants reported psychological distress involving loneliness, anxiety, or depression. Patients with self-reported memory concerns scored lower on a combined delay 3- word/ clock drawing index (p < 0.016), the total summary clock drawing command/ copy score (p < 0.050), and clock drawing to command Drawing Efficiency (p < 0.036) and Simple and Complex Motor (p < 0.029) indices. Patients treated for diabetes and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) scored lower on selected CCE outcome measures (p < 0.035). Factor analyses suggest that approximately 10 underlying variables can explain digital clock drawing performance.

Discussion

The CCE is a powerful neurocognitive assessment tool that is sensitive to patient's subjective concerns about possible decline in memory, mood symptoms, possible cognitive impairment, and cardiovascular risk. iPad administration ensures total reliability for test administration and scoring. The CCE is easily deployable in outpatient ambulatory primary care settings.

Does preschool executive control mediate the impact of early environmental unpredictability and deprivation on the general factor of psychopathology a decade later?

BACKGROUND

Although deprivation has been consistently shown to increase risk for psychopathology through impaired executive control, the unique effects of other dimensions of early adversity, such as unpredictability, on executive control development are poorly understood. The current study evaluated whether deprivation and/or unpredictability early in life have unique effects on the general factor of psychopathology through impaired preschool executive control.

METHODS

Participants included 312 children (51% female) oversampled for greater sociodemographic risk. Preschool executive control was measured using a battery of nine developmentally appropriate executive control tasks. Dimensions of adversity were measured with observational and caregiver assessments, and psychopathology was measured with caregiver and child reports.

RESULTS

In separate models, both deprivation and unpredictability had significant indirect effects on the adolescent general factor of psychopathology through impaired preschool executive control. However, when both dimensions of adversity were included simultaneously, early life deprivation, but not unpredictability, was uniquely associated with the general factor of psychopathology in adolescence through impaired preschool executive control.

CONCLUSIONS

Preschool executive control appears to be a transdiagnostic mechanism through which deprivation, but not unpredictability, increases risk for the general factor of psychopathology in adolescence. Results elucidate potential transdiagnostic targets for intervention efforts aimed at reducing the development and maintenance of psychopathology across the life span.

Testing the effect of high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation of the insular cortex to modulate decision-making and executive control

Introduction

Previous neuroimaging evidence highlighted the role of the insular and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) in conflict monitoring and decision-making, thus supporting the translational implications of targeting these regions in neuro-stimulation treatments for clinical purposes. Recent advancements of targeting and modeling procedures for high-definition tDCS (HD-tDCS) provided methodological support for the stimulation of otherwise challenging targets, and a previous study confirmed that cathodal HD-tDCS of the dACC modulates executive control and decision-making metrics in healthy individuals. On the other hand, evidence on the effect of stimulating the insula is still needed.

Methods

We used a modeling/targeting procedure to investigate the effect of stimulating the posterior insula on Flanker and gambling tasks assessing, respectively, executive control and both loss and risk aversion in decision-making. HD-tDCS was applied through 6 small electrodes delivering anodal, cathodal or sham stimulation for 20 min in a within-subject offline design with three separate sessions.

Results

Bayesian statistical analyses on Flanker conflict effect, as well as loss and risk aversion, provided moderate evidence for the null model (i.e., absence of HD-tDCS modulation).

Discussion

These findings suggest that further research on the effect of HD-tDCS on different regions is required to define reliable targets for clinical applications. While modeling and targeting procedures for neuromodulation in clinical research could lead to innovative protocols for stand-alone treatment, or possibly in combination with cognitive training, assessing the effectiveness of insula stimulation might require sensitive metrics other than those investigated here.

Threat effects on cognitive systems: Testing links to aggression proneness

The biobehavioral study of aggression has implications for expanding our understanding of transdiagnostic processes that increase risk for disinhibited behaviors. Toward this end, our study tested tenets from the process model of aggression (Verona & Bresin, 2015). First, we expected that the predictability of threat would differentially alter cognitive networks, including attentional alerting and executive control. Second, we examined the moderating effects of self- and informant reports of aggression on threat-related changes in cognitive functioning. Using event-related potential (ERP) measures of cognitive-attentional processes, 143 community individuals participated in a well-validated and translational threat manipulation (NPU) task (Schmitz & Grillon, 2012) while completing the Attention Network Test (Fan et al., 2002). Analyses revealed that relatively unpredictable threat quickened alerting-related reaction time, whereas predictable threat interfered with processing of flanker task stimuli. The results, however, failed to show reliable relationships between aggression proneness and threat-related cognitive alterations. The findings fit with a broader literature on cognitive and behavioral outputs of threat activation and provide fruitful avenues for better understanding threat-related aggression. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The Insidious Influence of Stress: An Integrated Model of Stress, Executive Control, and Psychopathology

Although exposure to acute stress undoubtedly contributes to psychopathology, most individuals do not develop psychopathology following stress exposure. To explain this, biological, emotional, and cognitive responses to stress have been implicated, but individual differences in executive control (i.e., top-down control of cognition and behavior) measured in response to stress has only recently emerged as a potential factor contributing to psychopathology. In this review, we introduce a model-the integrated model of stress, executive control, and psychopathology-positing how the impairing effects of acute stress on executive control can contribute to psychopathology. We link to research on biological, emotional, and cognitive processes, all of which can be impacted by executive control, to propose a framework for how poorer executive control under conditions of acute stress can contribute to psychopathology. This integrated model is intended to further our understanding of who is more susceptible to the negative consequences of stress.

Disrupted dynamic network reconfiguration of the executive and reward networks in internet gaming disorder

BACKGROUND

Studies have shown that people with internet gaming disorder (IGD) exhibit impaired executive control of gaming cravings; however, the neural mechanisms underlying this process remain unknown. In addition, these conclusions were based on the hypothesis that brain networks are temporally static, neglecting dynamic changes in cognitive processes.

METHODS

Resting-state fMRI data were collected from 402 subjects [162 subjects with IGD and 240 recreational game users (RGUs)]. The community structure (recruitment and integration) of the executive control network (ECN) and the basal ganglia network (BGN), which represents the reward network, of patients with IGD and RGUs were compared. Mediation effects among the different networks were analyzed.

RESULTS

Compared to RGUs, subjects with IGD had a lower recruitment coefficient within the right ECN. Further analysis showed that only male subjects had a lower recruitment coefficient. Mediation analysis showed that the integration coefficient of the right ECN mediated the relationship between the recruitment coefficients of both the right ECN and the BGN in RGUs.

CONCLUSIONS

Male subjects with IGD had a lower recruitment coefficient than RGUs, which impairing their impulse control. The mediation results suggest that top-down executive control of the ECN is absent in subjects with IGD. Together, these findings could explain why subjects with IGD exhibit impaired executive control of gaming cravings; these results have important therapeutic implications for developing effective interventions for IGD.

Instrumental activities of daily living and mild cognitive impairment

BACKGROUND

Functional impairments are a necessary requirement for the diagnosis of a dementia along with observed cognitive impairment. Comparatively, functional abilities are often relatively intact in those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

OBJECTIVE

The current research examined the associations between memory clinic participants classified as cognitively intact, amnestic MCI, and mixed/dysexecutive MCI, using Jak-Bondi criteria, and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living - Compensation Scale (IADL-C) abilities, an informant-based questionnaire that quantifies functional abilities. The associations between functional abilities as assessed with the IADL-C and performance on neuropsychological tests were also investigated.

METHODS

IADLC scores were obtained along with a comprehensive neuropsychological protocol on memory clinic participants (n = 100) classified as cognitively normal (CN), amnestic MCI (aMCI), or a combined mixed/dysexecutive (mixed/dys) MCI. Regression analyses were employed to determine how the IADLC related to neuropsychological test performance.

RESULTS

On the IADLC, greater functional impairment was commonly observed in the mixed/dys MCI group compared to CN participants. Furthermore, the mixed/dys MCI group had lower scores on activities such as Money and Self-Management, Travel and Event Memory subscales compared to the CN group. Linear regression analyses found greater functional impairment in relation to lower scores on executive and episodic memory tests.

CONCLUSIONS

Greater functional impairment as assessed with the IADL-C appears to be disproportionately associated with dysexecutive difficulty, and to a lesser degree, episodic memory.

Contextualizing the Neural Vulnerabilities Model of Obesity

In recent years, investigators have focused on neural vulnerability factors that increase the risk of unhealthy weight gain, which has provided a useful organizing structure for obesity neuroscience research. However, this framework, and much of the research it has informed, has given limited attention to contextual factors that may interact with key vulnerabilities to impact eating behaviors and weight gain. To fill this gap, we propose a Contextualized Neural Vulnerabilities Model of Obesity, extending the existing theory to more intentionally incorporate contextual factors that are hypothesized to interact with neural vulnerabilities in shaping eating behaviors and weight trajectories. We begin by providing an overview of the Neural Vulnerabilities Model of Obesity, and briefly review supporting evidence. Next, we suggest opportunities to add contextual considerations to the model, including incorporating environmental and developmental context, emphasizing how contextual factors may interact with neural vulnerabilities to impact eating and weight. We then synthesize earlier models and new extensions to describe a Contextualized Neural Vulnerabilities Model of Obesity with three interacting components-food reward sensitivity, top-down regulation, and environmental factors-all within a developmental framework that highlights adolescence as a key period. Finally, we propose critical research questions arising from the framework, as well as opportunities to inform novel interventions.

Complex cognition and individual variability: a mixed methods study of the relationship between creativity and executive control

One of the methodological challenges of educational neuroscience is understanding real world cognition in the multifaceted environment of the classroom. Complex cognition does not simplify to processes (which might be satisfactorily measured in the lab) but to sets of activities, likely to vary between individuals, which involve the iterative use of multiple processes, as well as the environment, over an extended period of time. As such, studying complex cognition requires methodological flexibility; any single method is unlikely to provide complete answers. We illustrate this idea with our research exploring the relationship between executive control (EC) and creativity in primary school age children; in it, we used both qualitative and quantitative tools and a novel approach to bringing both sets of findings together. Quantitative findings helped inform 'how much' a participant could deploy EC or creative thinking, while qualitative findings told us more about 'how' they deployed EC in their creativity. Through triangulating findings, we gained insights which would have remained obscure using either approach alone; namely, first, that wide variation in how children deploy EC in creativity means that the same creative results can be achieved with very different levels of EC involvement, and second, that high levels of EC can limit creativity. We argue that, beyond the specific findings of this study, there might be useful broader methodological lessons for educational neuroscience. We also attempt to demystify mixed methods by showing that a multi-pronged approach is more feasible than many assume; for example, by using existing, familiar tools in novel ways. In our work, we redeployed well-established quantitative tests used in creativity research as stimuli for qualitative investigation. For educational neuroscience to evolve its understanding of complex cognition, we suggest it might benefit from being innovative, open-minded and ambitious in how it exploits the diversity of methodological tools available.

Altered hemispheric asymmetry of attentional networks in patients with pituitary adenoma: an event-related potential study

Background

Emerging evidence has been reported of attentional dysfunction in pituitary adenoma patients. However, the effect of pituitary adenomas on lateralized attention network efficiency remained to be clear. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the impairment of lateralized attention networks in patients with pituitary adenoma.

Methods

Eighteen pituitary adenoma patients (PA group) and 20 healthy controls (HCs) were included in this study. Both behavioral results and event-related potentials (ERPs) were acquired while subjects performed the Lateralized Attention Network Test (LANT).

Results

Behavioral performances indicated the PA group had a slower reaction time and a similar error rate relative to the HCs group. Meanwhile, significantly increased executive control network efficiency suggested the dysfunction of inhibition control in PA patients. Regarding ERP results, there were no group differences in the alerting and orienting networks. The target-related P3 was significantly reduced in the PA group, suggesting an impairment of executive control function and attentional resources allocation. Moreover, the mean amplitude of P3 was significantly lateralized to the right hemisphere, and interacted with the visual field, exhibiting that the right hemisphere dominated the bilateral visual field, whereas the left hemisphere dominated the left visual field. In the specific high-conflict condition, the pattern of hemispheric asymmetry in the PA group was altered due to a mixed effect resulting from the compensatory recruitment of attentional resources in the left central parietal area and the destructive effects of hyperprolactinemia.

Conclusion

These findings suggested that, in the lateralized condition, the decreased P3 in the right central parietal area and the diminished hemispheric asymmetry under high conflict load, may serve as the potential biomarkers of attentional dysfunction in patients with pituitary adenoma.

The cognitive tenacity of self-directed ageism

Ageism refers to prejudice or discrimination based on a person's age. When ageism is directed at older people, it is unique in two ways: it is socially condoned in a manner that other types of prejudice are not, and the animus is eventually self-directed. Of central interest here is why ageism becomes self-directed in late adulthood, despite its potentially harmful personal costs. We present a cognitive model in which negative ageist beliefs become increasingly accessible and difficult to eliminate owing to broader developmental shifts in mentation. Given that these effects are contingent on our social environment, systemic changes in societal conceptions of age and aging are needed if we are to reduce vulnerability to self-directed ageism.

Initiative apathy trait underlies individual differences in the ability to anticipate and expend cognitive effort in cost-benefit decision-making tasks

Initiative apathy is the most disabling form of apathy, prevalent both in neuropsychiatric pathologies and in the healthy population. This apathy has been specifically associated with functional abnormalities of the anterior cingulate cortex, a key structure underlying Effort-based Decision-Making (EDM). The main aim of the present study was to explore, for the first time, the cognitive and neural effort mechanisms of initiative apathy, by distinguishing the steps of effort anticipation and effort expenditure and the potential modulating effect of motivation. We conducted an EEG study in 23 subjects with specific subclinical initiative apathy and 24 healthy subjects with no apathy. The subjects had to complete two effort tasks. The analysis of behavioral choices, CNV, and mPFC theta power highlighted that initiative apathy is associated with effort avoidance and impairments of effort anticipation and effort expenditure that suggest EDM deficits. Better knowledge of these impairments should aid the development of new, more targeted therapeutic interventions necessary for reducing the debilitating consequences of initiative apathy.

Executive Control of Sequence Behavior in Pigeons Involves Two Distinct Brain Regions

Executive functions arise from multiple regions of the brain acting in concert. To facilitate such cross-regional computations, the brain is organized into distinct executive networks, like the frontoparietal network. Despite similar cognitive abilities across many domains, little is known about such executive networks in birds. Recent advances in avian fMRI have shown a possible subset of regions, including the nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL) and the lateral part of medial intermediate nidopallium (NIML), that may contribute to complex cognition, forming an action control system of pigeons. We investigated the neuronal activity of NCL and NIML. Single-cell recordings were obtained during the execution of a complex sequential motor task that required executive control to stop executing one behavior and continue with a different one. We compared the neuronal activity of NIML to NCL and found that both regions fully processed the ongoing sequential execution of the task. Differences arose from how behavioral outcome was processed. Our results indicate that NCL takes on a role in evaluating outcome, while NIML is more tightly associated with ongoing sequential steps. Importantly, both regions seem to contribute to overall behavioral output as parts of a possible avian executive network, crucial for behavioral flexibility and decision-making.

[Features of the reward-based decision-making in patients with alcohol use disorders]

Foreign studies increasingly emphasize the role of reward-based cognitive decision-making and its contribution to alcohol and drug abuse. Unfortunately, such studies are extremely few in Russia. Given the importance of the insufficiency of cognitive functions, primarily the decision-making process based on reward, among the risk factors of addictive pathology, increasing the severity of alcoholism, reducing the effectiveness of its therapy and rehabilitation, research in this direction is extremely relevant. This review summarizes and systematizes current data on the features of the cognitive decision-making process based on reward in patients with alcohol dependence. An analysis of the literature has shown that reward-based decision making is an important component of addictive behavior. Patients with alcohol dependence, as well as people, who abuse alcohol, demonstrate clear impairment of this cognitive function. Thus, the relative value of diagnosing disorders in decision-making in modern psychiatry is beyond doubt. It is recommended to include the above tests in the diagnostic complex of a psychiatrist, along with standard psychometric tools.

Restart errors reaction time of a two-step inhibition process account for the violation of the race model's independence in multi-effector selective stop signal task

Goal-oriented actions often require the coordinated movement of two or more effectors. Sometimes multi-effector movements need to be adjusted according to a continuously changing environment, requiring stopping an effector without interrupting the movement of the others. This form of control has been investigated by the selective Stop Signal Task (SST), requiring the inhibition of an effector of a multicomponent action. This form of selective inhibition has been hypothesized to act through a two-step process, where a temporary global inhibition deactivating all the ongoing motor responses is followed by a restarting process that reactivates only the moving effector. When this form of inhibition takes place, the reaction time (RT) of the moving effector pays the cost of the previous global inhibition. However, it is poorly investigated if and how this cost delays the RT of the effector that was required to be stopped but was erroneously moved (Stop Error trials). Here we measure the Stop Error RT in a group of participants instructed to simultaneously rotate the wrist and lift the foot when a Go Signal occurred, and interrupt both movements (non-selective Stop version) or only one of them (selective Stop version) when a Stop Signal was presented. We presented this task in two experimental conditions to evaluate how different contexts can influence a possible proactive inhibition on the RT of the moving effector in the selective Stop versions. In one context, we provided the foreknowledge of the effector to be inhibited by presenting the same selective or non-selective Stop versions in the same block of trials. In a different context, while providing no foreknowledge of the effector(s) to be stopped, the selective and non-selective Stop versions were intermingled, and the information on the effector to be stopped was delivered at the time of the Stop Signal presentation. We detected a cost in both Correct and Error selective Stop RTs that was influenced by the different task conditions. Results are discussed within the framework of the race model related to the SST, and its relationship with a restart model developed for selective versions of this paradigm.

A Comparison of Task-Based and Questionnaire Assessments of Executive Control Aspects in Relation to Adolescent Marijuana Initiation

Prior research has linked deficits in executive control (EC) to marijuana use in adolescents but has relied either primarily on adolescent self-report of EC or tasked-based EC, and focused on limited aspects of EC, usually inhibitory control. We examined unique associations of three established aspects of EC (inhibitory control, working memory, and flexible shifting) assessed with both performance on laboratory tasks and self-report in relation to marijuana initiation. Participants were 260 youth (ages 14-18 years) from a small Midwestern city in the United States enrolled in the adolescent phase (beginning in 2017) of an ongoing study of EC development recruited originally between 2006 and 2012 (46% male, 72% European American). The three aspects of executive control were measured in a laboratory setting with well-established performance-based measures and with a psychometrically-sound self-report survey instrument. Youth also provided self-report of marijuana initiation in a phone survey administered during their laboratory visit. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that flexible shifting as measured by a performance-based task was negatively and uniquely associated with marijuana initiation (AOR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.48 - 0.91), and self-reported deficits in inhibitory control were positively associated with marijuana initiation (AOR = 1.92, 95% CI = 1.15 - 3.21). Although larger-scale longitudinal research is needed, findings of this study suggest that screening efforts to identify youth at risk of marijuana initiation might rely on more cost-effective self-report assessment of inhibitory control, but further valuable information can come from more resource-intensive but sensitive performance-based assessment of flexible shifting.

Greater prefrontal activation during sitting toe tapping predicts severer freezing of gait in Parkinson's disease: an fNIRS study

OBJECTIVE

Previous studies have revealed that, compared with Parkinson's disease (PD) patients without freezing of gait (FoG), the ones with FoG showed greater prefrontal activation while doing lower-limb movements involving standing, walking and turning, which require both locomotor and balance control. However, the relation between FoG and pure locomotor control as well as its underlying mechanism remain unclear.

METHODS

A total of 56 PD subjects were recruited and allocated to PD-FoG and PD-noFoG subgroups, and 34 age-matched heathy adults were included as heathy control (HC). Functional near-infrared spectroscopy was used to measure their prefrontal activation in a sitting lower-limb movement task, wherein subjects were asked to sit and tap their right toes as big and as fast as possible.

RESULTS

Result of one-way ANOVA (Group: PD-FoG vs. PD-noFoG vs. HC) revealed greater activation in the right prefrontal cortex in the PD-FoG group than in the other 2 groups. Linear mixed-effects model showed consistent result. Furthermore, the right prefrontal activation positively correlated with the severity of FoG symptoms in PD-FoG patients.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggested that PD patients with FoG require additional cognitive resources to compensate their damaged automaticity in locomotor control, which is more pronounced in severe FoG patients than milder ones.

Turkish Adaptation of the Executive Functions and Occupational Routines Scale: Validity and Reliability Among Children with Dyslexia

The purpose of the present study was to provide a Turkish cultural adaptation (EFORTS-T) of the Executive Functions and Occupational Routines Scale (EFORTS) and to investigate its psychometric quality in children with dyslexia. We culturally adapted the original English version of this instrument with internationally suggested methods. Participants included the mothers of either randomly selected children with dyslexia (study group, n = 158) or age and sex-matched typically developing children (control group, n = 167). These participants completed a demographic form, the EFORTS-T, and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Parent form (BRIEF-P). For internal consistency, the alpha coefficient of the new instrument was excellent (.93), and it showed satisfactory test-retest reliability over a 14-day interval (.91). The criterion-related validity between the EFORTS-T and the BRIEF-P was moderate (.73). Fit indices of the model supported its factor structure. In conclusion, our findings support the validity and reliability of the new Turkish version of EFORTS for evaluating EF and contributing to the daily occupational routines of children with dyslexia for Turkish respondents. Further studies are needed to apply this instrument to children of different age groups and psychiatric conditions.

Happy and sad music acutely modulate different types of attention in older adults

Of the three subtypes of attention outlined by the attentional subsystems model, alerting (vigilance or arousal needed for task completion) and executive control (the ability to inhibit distracting information while completing a goal) are susceptible to age-related decline, while orienting remains relatively stable. Yet, few studies have investigated strategies that may acutely maintain or promote attention in typically aging older adults. Music listening may be one potential strategy for attentional maintenance as past research shows that listening to happy music characterized by a fast tempo and major mode increases cognitive task performance, likely by increasing cognitive arousal. The present study sought to investigate whether listening to happy music (fast tempo, major mode) impacts alerting, orienting, and executive control attention in 57 middle and older-aged adults (M = 61.09 years, SD = 7.16). Participants completed the Attention Network Test (ANT) before and after listening to music rated as happy or sad (slow tempo, minor mode), or no music (i.e., silence) for 10 min. Our results demonstrate that happy music increased alerting attention, particularly when relevant and irrelevant information conflicted within a trial. Contrary to what was predicted, sad music modulated executive control performance. Overall, our findings indicate that music written in the major mode with a fast tempo (happy) and minor mode with a slow tempo (sad) modulate different aspects of attention in the short-term.

Impairment of attention network function in posterior circulation ischemia-evidence from the Attention Network Test

Objective

This study aimed to investigate the effect of posterior circulation ischemia (PCI) on attention network function and to determine whether PCI is holistic or selective attention network deficit and which attention network is affected.

Methods

Thirty-six PCI patients aged 30 to 75 were assessed using the Attention Network Test and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). There were no significant differences in age, sex, and education between PCI group and the control group (n = 32). All data were statistically analyzed by SPSS 23.0 software.

Result

There were no significant difference in the MMSE scores between the two groups. Compared with the control group, the PCI group had significantly shorter response time for alerting and orienting network. The executive control network response time was significantly longer in PCI group than in the control group. The overall mean response time was also significantly longer in PCI group than in normal control group. There was no significant difference in mean accuracy between the two groups.

Conclusion

The alerting, orienting, and executive control networks were significantly less efficient in PCI group than in the control group (P < 0.01). This indicates impaired attention network in PCI patients. Since transient nerve seizures caused by vertebrobasilar ischemia may precede posterior circulation stroke, early assessment of cognitive function in patients with PCI is particularly important, and ANT is an excellent tool for this assessment.

Negative relationship between brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and attention: A possible elevation in BDNF level among high-altitude migrants

Objective

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a member of the neurotrophic family that plays a vital role in regulating neuronal activity and synaptic plasticity in the brain, affects attention. However, studies investigating the association between BDNF and attention in long-term high-altitude (HA) migrants are limited in the literature. As HA affects both BDNF and attention, the relationship between these factors becomes more complex. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the relationship between peripheral blood concentrations of BDNF and the three attentional networks in both behavioral and electrical aspects of the brain in long-term HA migrants.

Materials and methods

Ninety-eight Han adults (mean age: 34.74 ± 3.48 years, 51 females and 47 males, all have lived at Lhasa for 11.30 ± 3.82 years) were recruited in this study. For all participants, the serum BDNF levels were assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; event-related potentials (N1, P1, and P3) were recorded during the Attentional Networks Test, which was used as the measure of three attentional networks.

Results

Executive control scores were negatively correlated with P3 amplitude (r = -0.20, p = 0.044), and serum BDNF levels were positively correlated with executive control scores (r = 0.24, p = 0.019) and negatively correlated with P3 amplitude (r = -0.22, p = 0.027). Through grouping of BDNF levels and three attentional networks, executive control was found to be significantly higher in the high BDNF group than in the low BDNF group (p = 0.010). Different BDNF levels were associated with both orienting scores (χ² = 6.99, p = 0.030) and executive control scores (χ² = 9.03, p = 0.011). The higher the BDNF level, the worse was the executive function and the lower was the average P3 amplitude and vice versa. Females were found to have higher alerting scores than males (p = 0.023).

Conclusion

This study presented the relationship between BDNF and attention under HA. The higher the BDNF level, the worse was the executive control, suggesting that after long-term exposure to HA, hypoxia injury of the brain may occur in individuals with relatively higher BDNF levels, and this higher BDNF level may be the result of self-rehabilitation tackling the adverse effects brought by the HA environment.

Neurocognitive Operations Underlying Working Memory Abilities: An Analysis of Latency and Time-Based Parameters

BACKGROUND

The theory of executive attention (Fuster, 2015) suggests considerable plasticity regarding when specific neurocognitive operations are recruited to bring executive tasks to fruition.

OBJECTIVE

We tested the hypothesis that differing neurocognitive operations are recruited upon the initiation of a response, but that other distinct neurocognitive operations are recruited towards the middle or end of a response.

METHODS

The Backward Digit Span Test (BDST) was administered to 58 memory clinic patients (MCI, n = 22; no-MCI, n = 36). Latency to generate all correct 5-span responses was obtained. Statistical analyses found that optimal group classification was achieved using the first and third digit backward. First and third response latencies were analyzed in relation to verbal working memory (WM), visual WM, processing speed, visuospatial operations, naming/lexical access, and verbal episodic memory tests.

RESULTS

For the first response, slower latencies were associated with better performance in relation to verbal WM and visuospatial test performance. For the third response, faster latencies were associated with better processing speed and visuospatial test performance.

CONCLUSION

Consistent with the theory of executive attention, these data show that the neurocognitive operations underlying successful executive test performance are not monolithic but can be quite nuanced with differing neurocognitive operations associated with specific time epochs. Results support the efficacy of obtaining time-based latency parameters to help disambiguate successful executive neurocognitive operations in memory clinic patients.

Switching between emotions in the twenty-first century attention economy

The use of naturalistic stimuli in cognitive neuroscience experiments inspires and requires theoretical foundations that bring together different cognitive domains, such as emotion, language, and morality. By zooming in on the digital environments in which we often perceive emotional messages today, and inspired by the Mixed and Ambiguous Emotions and Morality model, we here argue that successfully processing emotional information in the twenty-first century will often have to rely not only on simulation and/or mentalizing, but also on executive control and attention regulation.

An Integrative Model for Understanding Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Merging Cognitive Behavioral Theory with Insights from Clinical Neuroscience

Several models have been proposed for the emergence and maintenance of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Although these models have provided important insights and inspired treatment development, no single model has yet sufficiently accounted for the complexed phenotype of the disorder. In the current paper, we propose a novel model that integrates elements from cognitive behavioral models of OCD with neurocognitive approaches to the disorder. This Reciprocal Interaction Model (RIM) for OCD is based on two assumptions: (a) similar observed symptoms can stem from different etiological processes; and (b) neuropsychological deficits (such as reduced response inhibition and overreliance on the habit formation system) and cognitive behavioral processes (such as temporary reduction in anxiety after engaging in compulsive behaviors) mutually affect each other such that abnormalities in one system influence the second system and vice-versa-creating a vicious cycle of pathological processes. Indeed, the bidirectional inhibitory connection between anxiety/obsessions and executive control is at the heart of the model. We begin by briefly reviewing the current models for OCD. We then move on to describe the RIM, the supporting evidence for the model, the model's predictions, and potential clinical implications.

Acute improvement in the attention network with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in Parkinson's disease

PURPOSE

To investigate the effect of two weeks of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on the attention network in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Sixty PD patients were randomly divided into equal-sized active- and sham-rTMS groups. Executive function was assessed by neuropsychological tests including the Trail-Making Test (TMT), word fluency test, digit span, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and Stroop test. The attention network was evaluated by the attention network test (ANT). rTMS (5 Hz) was applied over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in the active-rTMS group, and the sham-rTMS group underwent sham stimulation, both for two weeks. All tests were performed before and after rTMS.

RESULTS

After active rTMS, nonparametric analysis revealed significant improvements in categories completed (CC) (p < 0.001) in the WCST and reaction times (RTs) in part 3 (p = 0.002) and the Stroop interference effect (SIE) (p < 0.001) in the Stroop test. Regarding the ANT, the RTs of the executive control network were significantly reduced (p < 0.001). There was no significant change after sham rTMS.

CONCLUSIONS

In the short term, in PD patients, rTMS improved the executive control network involved in resolving conflicting information. However, it showed milder effects on neuropsychological test outcomes assessing executive function, which may involve different neuromechanisms.Implications for rehabilitationCognitive impairment is common in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), and it is related to functional disability and reduced quality of life.Attention is a main component of the cognitive system, and attention deficits are responsible for disability.This study demonstrates that rTMS is beneficial for cognitive rehabilitation in PD, as patients showed improved performance on the attention network test and neuropsychological tests.

Moderating effect of cognitive reserve on brain integrity and cognitive performance

Background

Dementia syndrome is one of the most devastating conditions in older adults. As treatments to stop neurodegeneration become available, accurate and timely diagnosis will increase in importance. One issue is that cognitive performance sometimes does not match the corresponding level of neuropathology, affecting diagnostic accuracy. Cognitive reserve (CR), which can preserve cognitive function despite underlying neuropathology, explains at least some variability in cognitive performance. We examined the influence of CR proxies (education and occupational position) on the relationship between hippocampal or total gray matter volume and cognition.

Methods

We used data from the Czech Brain Aging Study. Participants were clinically confirmed to be without dementia (n = 457, including subjective cognitive decline and amnestic mild cognitive impairment) or with dementia syndrome (n = 113).

Results

For participants without dementia, higher education magnified the associations between (a) hippocampal volume and executive control (b = 0.09, p = 0.033), (b) total gray matter volume and language (b = 0.12, p < 0.001), and (c) total gray matter volume and memory (b = 0.08, p = 0.018). Similarly, higher occupational position magnified the association between total gray matter volume and (a) attention/working memory (b = 0.09, p = 0.009), (b) language (b = 0.13, p = 0.002), and (c) memory (b = 0.10, p = 0.013). For participants with dementia, the associations between hippocampal (b = -0.26, p = 0.024) and total gray matter (b = -0.28, p = 0.024) volume and visuospatial skills decreased in magnitude with higher education.

Conclusion

We found that the association between brain volume and cognitive performance varies based on CR, with greater CR related to a stronger link between brain volume and cognition before, and a weaker link after, dementia diagnosis.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation over posterior parietal cortex modulates alerting and executive control processes in attention

Attention includes three different functional components: generating and maintaining an alert state (alerting), orienting to sensory events (orienting), and resolving conflicts between alternative actions (executive control). Neuroimaging and patient studies suggest that the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) is involved in all three attention components. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has repeatedly been applied over the PPC to study its functional role for shifts and maintenance of visuospatial attention. Most TMS-PPC studies used only detection tasks or orienting paradigms to investigate TMS-PPC effects on attention processes, neglecting the alerting and executive control components of attention. The objective of the present study was to investigate the role of PPC in all three functional components of attention: alerting, orienting, and executive control. To this end, we disrupted PPC with TMS (continuous theta-burst stimulation), to modulate subsequent performance on the Lateralized-Attention Network Test, used to assess the three attention components separately. Our results revealed hemifield-specific effects on alerting and executive control functions, but we did not find stimulation effects on orienting performance. While this field of research and associated clinical development have been predominantly focused on orienting performance, our results suggest that parietal cortex and its modulation may affect other aspects of attention as well.

Assessment of executive functions in school-aged children: A narrative review

Introduction

In the past three decades, there has been increasing interest in assessing children's Executive Functions (EF). However, studies on the conceptualization and operationalization of this construct are incongruent and guidance for clinicians and researchers aiming to assess EF is insufficient due to measurement variability.

Aims

The purpose of this article was to examine current theories and models of EF in children, identify their assessment instruments, issues, and challenges, and discuss their impact on children's cognitive, behavioral, social and/or emotional development.

Methods

This narrative review reflected on English and French scholarly articles on EF assessment in children. References were identified through searches of PubMed, Medline, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and APA PsychNet throughout the last two decades up to June 2022.

Results

There are commonalities despite divergence in the definition and operationalization of EF. Assessment of EF requires psychometric tests as well as rating scales that must be integrated and interpreted considering the child's biological makeup, environmental background, and cultural specificities.

Conclusion

Current EF theories, assessment tools, issues, and challenges were discussed in addition to the impact of their components' dysfunctions on children's development. Further studies should be conducted to develop new measurement methods and technologies to improve the ecological and ethological validity of youth assessment, treatment, and interventions.

Preserved Executive Control in Ageing: The Role of Literacy Experience

Healthy ageing is commonly accompanied by cognitive decline affecting several domains such as executive control, whereas certain verbal skills remain relatively preserved. Interestingly, recent scientific research has shown that some intellectual activities may be linked to beneficial effects, delaying or even alleviating cognitive decline in the elderly. Thirty young (age: M = 23) and thirty old (age: M = 66) adults were assessed in executive control (switching) and literacy experience (print exposure). First, we tried to confirm whether healthy ageing was generally associated with deficits in switching by looking at mixing cost effects, to then investigate if individual differences in print exposure explained variation in that age-related mixing costs. Both accuracy and reaction times mixing cost indexes demonstrated larger cost in old (but not in young) adults when switching from local to global information. More importantly, this cost effect was not present in old adults with higher print exposure (reaction times). Our findings suggest literacy experience accumulated across the life-span may act as a cognitive reserve proxy to prevent executive control decline.

The functional connectivity and neuropsychology underlying mental planning operations: data from the digital clock drawing test

We examined the construct of mental planning by quantifying digital clock drawing digit placement accuracy in command and copy conditions, and by investigating its underlying neuropsychological correlates and functional connectivity. We hypothesized greater digit misplacement would associate with attention, abstract reasoning, and visuospatial function, as well as functional connectivity from a major source of acetylcholine throughout the brain: the basal nucleus of Meynert (BNM). Participants (n = 201) included non-demented older adults who completed all metrics within 24 h of one another. A participant subset met research criteria for mild cognitive impairment (MCI; n = 28) and was compared to non-MCI participants on digit misplacement accuracy and expected functional connectivity differences. Digit misplacement and a comparison dissociate variable of total completion time were acquired for command and copy conditions. a priori fMRI seeds were the bilateral BNM. Command digit misplacement is negatively associated with semantics, visuospatial, visuoconstructional, and reasoning (p's < 0.01) and negatively associated with connectivity from the BNM to the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC; p = 0.001). Individuals with MCI had more misplacement and less BNM-ACC connectivity (p = 0.007). Total completion time involved posterior and cerebellar associations only. Findings suggest clock drawing digit placement accuracy may be a unique metric of mental planning and provide insight into neurodegenerative disease.

Bidirectional prediction between weight status and executive function in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies

This study examined the predictability of child weight status on executive function (EF) and vice versa. We searched PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, and EMBASE for longitudinal studies conducted in children and adolescents on October 31, 2021. A pairwise meta-analysis was performed using a frequentist random-effects approach. The quality of all included studies was evaluated using Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and GRADE assessments. This study included 18 longitudinal studies (N = 30,101). Overall executive functioning was a significant negative predictor of child weight status (pooled beta coefficient = -0.14; 95% confidence interval [CI] [-0.22 to -0.07]; I²  = 97%). The pooled odds ratio also revealed that high EF children had a significant lower risk for developing overweight/obesity (odds ratio [OR] = 0.72; 95% CI [0.59 to 0.87]; I²  = 72%). Conversely, child weight status was a significant negative predictor of overall executive functioning (pooled beta coefficient = -0.06; 95% CI [-0.12 to -0.01]; I²  = 81%). These results suggest a bidirectional prediction between child weight status and EF. These predictabilities are low but potentially beneficial for implementation in childcare systems.

EXPRESS: Self-Relevance and the Activation of Attentional Networks

Recent theoretical accounts maintain that core components of attentional functioning are preferentially tuned to self-relevant information. Evidence in support of this viewpoint is equivocal, however, with research overly reliant on personally significant (i.e., familiar) stimulus inputs (e.g., faces, forenames) and a diverse range of methodologies. Addressing these limitations, here we utilized arbitrary items (i.e., geometric shapes) and administered the Attention Network Test (ANT) to establish the extent to which self-relevance (vs. friend-relevance) moderates the three subsystems of attentional functioning - alerting, orienting, and executive control. The results revealed that only executive control was sensitive to the meaning of the stimuli, such that conflict resolution was enhanced following the presentation of self-associated compared to friend-associated shapes (i.e., cues). Probing the origin of this effect, a further computational analysis (i.e., Shrinking Spotlight Diffusion Model analysis) indicated that self-relevance facilitated the narrowing of visual attention. These findings highlight when and how the personal significance of otherwise trivial material modulates attentional processing.

The Multifaceted Nature of Bilingualism and Attention

Attention has recently been proposed as the mechanism underlying the cognitive effects associated with bilingualism. However, similar to bilingualism, the term attention is complex, dynamic, and can vary from one activity to another. Throughout our daily lives, we use different types of attention that differ in complexity: sustained attention, selective attention, alternating attention, divided attention, and disengagement of attention. The present paper is a focused review summarizing the results from studies that explore the link between bilingualism and attention. For each level of attention, a brief overview of relevant theoretical models will be discussed along with a spotlight on paradigms and tasks used to measure these forms of attention. The findings illustrate that different types and levels of attention are modified by the variety of bilingual experiences. Future studies wishing to examine the effects of bilingualism on attention are encouraged to embrace the complexity and diversity of both constructs rather than making global claims about bilingualism and attention.

Language Entropy Relates to Behavioral and Pupil Indices of Executive Control in Young Adult Bilinguals

Introduction

It has been proposed that bilinguals' language use patterns are differentially associated with executive control. To further examine this, the present study relates the social diversity of bilingual language use to performance on a color-shape switching task (CSST) in a group of bilingual university students with diverse linguistic backgrounds. Crucially, this study used language entropy as a measure of bilinguals' language use patterns. This continuous measure reflects a spectrum of language use in a variety of social contexts, ranging from compartmentalized use to fully integrated use.

Methods

Language entropy for university and non-university contexts was calculated from questionnaire data on language use. Reaction times (RTs) were measured to calculate global RT and switching and mixing costs on the CSST, representing conflict monitoring, mental set shifting, and goal maintenance, respectively. In addition, this study innovatively recorded a potentially more sensitive measure of set shifting abilities, namely, pupil size during task performance.

Results

Higher university entropy was related to slower global RT. Neither university entropy nor non-university entropy were associated with switching costs as manifested in RTs. However, bilinguals with more compartmentalized language use in non-university contexts showed a larger difference in pupil dilation for switch trials in comparison with non-switch trials. Mixing costs in RTs were reduced for bilinguals with higher diversity of language use in non-university contexts. No such effects were found for university entropy.

Discussion

These results point to the social diversity of bilinguals' language use as being associated with executive control, but the direction of the effects may depend on social context (university vs. non-university). Importantly, the results also suggest that some of these effects may only be detected by using more sensitive measures, such as pupil dilation. The paper discusses theoretical and practical implications regarding the language entropy measure and the cognitive effects of bilingual experiences more generally, as well as how methodological choices can advance our understanding of these effects.

Does Cognitive Training Improve Mobility, Enhance Cognition, and Promote Neural Activation?

A close inter-relationship between mobility and cognition is reported in older adults, with improvements in gait performance noticeable after cognitive remediation in frail individuals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of computerized cognitive training (CCT) on mobility in healthy, independently living older adults, and to determine whether CCT is associated with changes in neural activation for mobility-related brain processes. Using a randomized single-blind control design, sixty-three non-demented adults age 60 y and older (mean age = 67 y; 76% female, mean Montreal Cognitive Assessment [MoCA] score = 27) were recruited from a local Senior Activity Center. Participants were randomly assigned to either a 2-month CCT program (8 weeks, 3x/week, 40 min/session) or a wait-list control group. Primary outcome was self-selected gait speed during single- and dual-task walking. Secondary outcome was executive function on Trail Making Test (TMT), Part B. Neural activity was assessed via electroencephalography/event-related potentials (EEG/ERPs) targeting lower-limb performance. Results from a linear mixed effect model, adjusted for baseline MoCA score, age, gender, and study completion revealed that compared to controls, CCT improved gait speed during the dual-task (p = 0.008) but not during the single-task walking condition (p = 0.057). CCT also improved executive function (p = 0.024). Further, shorter foot reaction time responses (p = 0.019) were found with enhanced neural activation over sensorimotor areas, with shorter ERP latencies during the P2 component (p = 0.008) and enhanced motor responses (p = 0.009) also evident in the CCT group after the intervention. Overall, the electrophysiological findings suggest possible neural adaptations that could explain improvements in mobility and executive functions associated with CCT in healthy older adults.

Verbal fluency difficulties in aphasia: A combination of lexical and executive control deficits

BACKGROUND

Verbal fluency tasks are routinely used in clinical assessment and research studies of aphasia. People with aphasia produce fewer items in verbal fluency tasks. It remains unclear if their output is limited solely by their lexical difficulties and/or has a basis in their executive control abilities. Recent research has illustrated that detailed characterization of verbal fluency performance using temporal characteristics of words retrieved, clustering and switching, and pause durations, along with separate measures of executive control stands to inform our understanding of the lexical and cognitive underpinnings of verbal fluency in aphasia.

AIMS

To determine the locus of the verbal fluency difficulties in aphasia, we compared semantic and letter fluency trials between people with aphasia and healthy control participants using a wide range of variables to capture the performance between the two groups. The groups were also tested on separate measures of executive control to determine the relationship amongst these tasks and fluency performance.

METHODS & PROCEDURES

Semantic (animal) and letter (F, A, S) fluency data for 60s trials were collected from 14 people with aphasia (PWA) and 24 healthy adult controls (HC). Variables, such as number of correct responses, clustering and switching analyses, were performed along with temporal measures of the retrieved words (response latencies) and pause durations. Participants performed executive control tasks to measure inhibitory control, mental-set shifting and memory span.

OUTCOMES & RESULTS

Compared with HC, PWA produced fewer correct responses, showed greater difficulty with the letter fluency condition, were slower in getting started with the trials, showed slower retrieval times as noted in within- and between-cluster pause durations, and switched less often. Despite these retrieval difficulties, PWA showed a similar decline in the rate of recall to HC, and had similar cluster size. Executive control measures correlated primarily with the letter fluency variables: mostly for PWA and in one instance for HC.

CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS

Poorer performance for PWA is a combination of difficulties in both the lexical and executive components of the verbal fluency task. Our findings highlight the importance of detailed characterization of fluency performance in deciphering the underlying mechanism of retrieval difficulties in aphasia, and illustrate the importance of using letter fluency trials to tap into executive control processes.

WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS

What is already known on the subject PWA typically show impaired performance in verbal fluency tasks. It is debated whether this impaired performance is a result of their lexical difficulties or executive control difficulties, or a combination of both. This debate continues because previous studies have mostly used semantic fluency condition without including letter fluency condition; used a limited range of variables (e.g., number of correct responses); and not included separate executive control measures to explain the performance pattern in aphasia. This research addresses these outstanding issues to determine the specific contribution of lexical and executive control processes in verbal fluency in aphasia by including: both semantic and letter fluency conditions; a wide range of variables to identify the relative contribution of lexical and executive control mechanisms; and independent measures of executive control. What this paper adds to existing knowledge Using the multidimensional analysis approach for verbal fluency performance from both semantic and letter fluency conditions, this is the first study to systematically demonstrate that PWA had difficulties in both lexical and executive control components of the task. At the individual level, PWA had greater difficulty on the letter fluency condition compared with semantic fluency. We observed significant correlations between the executive control measures and verbal fluency measures primarily for the letter fluency condition. This research makes a significant contribution to our understanding of lexical and executive control aspects in word production in aphasia. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? From a clinical perspective, this research highlights the importance of using a full range of verbal fluency and executive control measures to tap into the lexical as well as executive control abilities of PWA, and also the utility of using letter fluency to tap into the executive control processes in PWA.