Executive Function

This study evaluated the effect of a multidisciplinary treatment program for children with obesity (OB) on motor competence, executive functioning (EF), and brain structure. Nineteen children with OB (7–11 years), who attended a multidisciplinary treatment program consisting of diet restriction, cognitive behavioral therapy, and physical activity, were compared with an age‐matched control group of 24 children with a healthy weight (HW), who did not follow any treatment. For both groups, anthropometric measurements and tests of motor competence and EF were administered twice, with 5 months between pretest and posttest. Additionally, children’s brain structure was assessed by performing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan at the pretest and posttest, which included a T1 anatomical scan, diffusion MRI scan, and magnetization transfer imaging scan. Compared to HW controls, children with OB lost a considerable amount of their body mass (p ≤ .001) and significantly improved their bala...

We report the findings from an ongoing study on the relationship between bilinguals' language experience and cognitive control. Previous research suggests that early bilingualism exerts an advantage on executive control, possibly due to the cognitive requirements involved in the daily juggling of two languages (Adesope, Lavin, Thompson, & Ungerleider, 2010). However, other researchers also have argued against a cognitive control advantage in bilinguals (Hilchey & Klein, 2011). It remains unclear whether cognitive benefits hold true for bilinguals across different contexts, given differences in sociolinguistic and socioeducational settings that shape individual bilingualism. In the current study, following Costa, Hernández and Sebastián-Gallés (2008) who tested Catalan-Spanish bilinguals, young adult simultaneous heritage bilinguals and late classroom emerging bilinguals of Spanish in the U.S. completed three blocks of the Attentional Network Task (ANT) (Fan, McCandliss, Sommer, Raz, & Posner, 2002) to gauge executive control abilities. Results for the executive network component of the ANT reveal no significant differences between the two bilingual groups, although the descriptive data trend suggests that HL bilinguals experienced less difficulty in solving conflicting information and demonstrated fewer switching costs between trials. These first findings imply that the bilingual advantage is not replicated across contexts, and that socioeducational practices determine individual patterns of language use, which in turn leads to variation in cognitive outcomes.

La función ejecutiva es el constructo que reúne el conjunto de habilidades cognoscitivas que permiten anticipar, iniciar, retroalimentar el comportamiento y tener flexibilidad cognoscitiva. Una de las pruebas útiles para evaluar esta función es el Test de Fluidez de diseños de Ruff que mide la programación visomotora y se asocia con la actividad frontal derecha. En Colombia no se ha validado en adultos y, dada la utilidad del instrumento en población con lesión neurológica, se planteó la necesidad de realizar el estudio para analizar la viabilidad de utilizar esta prueba tanto en la investigación como en la práctica clínica. El objetivo general fue realizar un análisis psicométrico del “Test de fluidez de diseños de Ruff” en población universitaria bogotana. El estudio fue descriptivo, de tipo instrumental. Se contó con la participación de 492 estudiantes universitarios, hombres y mujeres, con edades comprendidas entre 18 y 28 años, de siete universidades de la ciudad de Bogotá. El ...

Background: Recent literature on traumatic brain injury (TBI), though mixed when reporting outcomes, seems collectively to suggest possible gender advantage for women in postinjury recovery, especially in executive functions. Hormonal neuroprotection, through female reproductive hormones, is often proposed as an underlying factor in these results. We explored potential gender differences in an aspect of executive functions, selfawareness (SA), which is often impaired after TBI, limits patient effort in critical rehabilitation, and increases caregiver burden. Methods: Within a prospective survey, repeated-measures design, 121 patients with moderate or severe TBI undergoing acute rehabilitation in a Level 1 trauma center, a family member or caregiver informant, and a treating clinician were asked to complete the Patient Competency Rating Scale (PCRS) and the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe) at admission and discharge. Results: Although overall, women and men with TBI showed generally similar levels of SA, women had significantly better awareness of their injury-related deficits at acute rehabilitation discharge, even when controlling for age, education, and injury severity. Conclusions: Mixed findings in this study mirror the pattern of results that dominate the published literature on gender and TBI. Gender differences in executive dysfunction may not be as large or robust as some researchers argue. In addition, complex interplays of socialization, gender-role expectations, naturally occurring male and female ability differences, and differences in access to postinjury rehabilitation are understudied potential moderators.

Much controversy exists and many questions remain unanswered about the effects of hormone therapy (HT) on cognition in postmenopausal women. There is growing evidence suggesting that HT compounds containing conjugated equine estrogen (CEE) have negative effects on cognition whereas 17β-estradiol (17β-E) either has positive or neutral effects. The present study sought to further examine this issue in a sample of postmenopausal women with risk factors for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Cross-sectional neuropsychological evaluation. Academic research clinic. 68 healthy postmenopausal women (aged 49-68) receiving either 17β-E or CEE for at least one year with increased risk for AD. Neuropsychological test battery of the cognitive domains of attention/working memory/processing speed, verbal memory, visual memory, and executive functioning. Multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) showed significantly better verbal memory performance in women receiving 17β-E compared to women receiving C...

Background: Recent literature on traumatic brain injury (TBI), though mixed when reporting outcomes, seems collectively to suggest possible gender advantage for women in postinjury recovery, especially in executive functions. Hormonal neuroprotection, through female reproductive hormones, is often proposed as an underlying factor in these results. We explored potential gender differences in an aspect of executive functions, selfawareness (SA), which is often impaired after TBI, limits patient effort in critical rehabilitation, and increases caregiver burden. Methods: Within a prospective survey, repeated-measures design, 121 patients with moderate or severe TBI undergoing acute rehabilitation in a Level 1 trauma center, a family member or caregiver informant, and a treating clinician were asked to complete the Patient Competency Rating Scale (PCRS) and the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe) at admission and discharge. Results: Although overall, women and men with TBI showed generally similar levels of SA, women had significantly better awareness of their injury-related deficits at acute rehabilitation discharge, even when controlling for age, education, and injury severity. Conclusions: Mixed findings in this study mirror the pattern of results that dominate the published literature on gender and TBI. Gender differences in executive dysfunction may not be as large or robust as some researchers argue. In addition, complex interplays of socialization, gender-role expectations, naturally occurring male and female ability differences, and differences in access to postinjury rehabilitation are understudied potential moderators.

Objective-Recent research has identified specific cognitive deficits in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN), including impairment in executive functioning and attention. Another such cognitive process, implicit category learning has been less studied in AN. This study examined whether implicit category learning is impaired in AN. Method-Twenty-one women diagnosed with AN and 19 control women (CW) were administered an implicit category learning task in which they were asked to categorize simple perceptual stimuli (Gabor patches) into one of two categories. Category membership was based on a linear integration (i.e., an implicit task) of two stimulus dimensions (orientation and spatial frequency of the stimulus). Results-AN individuals were less accurate on implicit category learning relative to agematched CW. Model-based analyses indicated that, even when AN individuals used the appropriate (i.e., implicit) strategy they were still impaired relative to CW who also used the same strategy. In addition, task performance in AN patients was worse the higher they were in selfreported novelty seeking and the lower they were in sensitivity to punishment. Conclusions-These results indicate that AN patients have implicit category learning deficits, and given this type of learning is thought to be mediated by striatal dopamine pathways, AN patients may have deficits in these neural systems. The finding of significant correlations with novelty seeking and sensitivity to punishment suggests that feedback sensitivity is related to implicit learning in AN.

Multiple cross-sectional imaging studies have identified structural abnormalities in prefrontal, temporal and limbic regions related to conduct problems (CPs). However, the relationship between development of such neurobiological deficits and developmental pathways of CPs has remained unclear. The current study investigated distinct trajectories of CP and related trajectories of cortical thickness within a community-based sample of adolescents (n = 239), age range 12-19, to address this gap. Three trajectory classes were revealed using latent class growth analyses (LCGAs), comprising a 'desisting' CP group, an 'intermediate' CP group and a 'stable low' CP group. Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were collected with a subgroup of 171 adolescents at three waves throughout adolescence (ages 12, 16 and 19). Generalized estimating equation (GEE) analysis-comparing longitudinal changes in cortical thickness and subcortical volume between CP groups for several regions of interest (ROIs)-showed that these CP groups had differential trajectories of cortical thickness in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dl-PFC), and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and volume of the hippocampus. Adolescents in the desisting CP group showed an attenuation of the typical pattern of cortical thinning as present in the intermediate and stable low CP groups, in addition to an exaggeration of the typical pattern of hippocampal volume increase. These findings suggest that a deviant cortical thickness trajectory was related to a desisting CP pathway across adolescence. Such deviant neurodevelopmental growth trajectories may act as an underlying mechanism for developmental CP pathways, and possibly distinguish desisting antisocial adolescents.

Objective: Investigate neurodevelopmental trajectories related to attention/hyperactivity problems (AP) in a community sample of adolescents and whether these trajectories predict later-emerging health risk behaviors. Method: One hundred sixty-six participants underwent up to three magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans (n = 367) between 11 and 20 years of age. AP were measured during early adolescence using the Child Behaviour Checklist, and engagement in risk behaviors was measured during late adolescence using the "DRIVE" survey (i.e., driving risks) and items assessing alcohol-harms. Results: Greater AP scores during early adolescence were related to less reduction over time of left dorsal prefrontal, left ventrolateral prefrontal, and right orbitofrontal thickness. Less thinning of the orbitofrontal cortex was related to greater driving-related risk behaviors at late adolescence. Conclusion: Findings highlight altered neurodevelopmental trajectories in adolescents with AP. Furthermore, altered orbitofrontal development was related to later-emerging driving-related risk, and this neurobiological change mediated the association between attention problems and risk behaviors. (J. of Att. Dis. XXXX; XX(X) XX-XX

Epidemiological evidence suggests that consumption of flavonoids (usually via fruits and vegetables) is associated with decreased risk of developing depression. One plausible explanation for this association is the well-documented beneficial effects of flavonoids on executive function (EF). Impaired EF is linked to cognitive processes (e.g., rumination) that maintain depression and low mood; therefore, improved EF may reduce depressionogenic cognitive processes and improve mood. Study 1: 21 young adults (18-21 years old) consumed a flavonoid-rich blueberry drink and a matched placebo in a counterbalanced cross-over design. Study 2: 50 children (7-10 years old) were randomly assigned to a flavonoid-rich blueberry drink or a matched placebo. In both studies, participants and researchers were blind to the experimental condition, and mood was assessed using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule before and 2 h after consumption of the drinks. In both studies, the blueberry interventi...

The prefrontal cortex encodes and stores numerous, often disparate, schemas and flexibly switches between them. Recent research on artificial neural networks trained by reinforcement learning has made it possible to model fundamental processes underlying schema encoding and storage. Yet how the brain is able to create new schemas while preserving and utilizing old schemas remains unclear. Here we propose a simple neural network framework based on a modification of the mixture of experts architecture to model the prefrontal cortex’s ability to flexibly encode and use multiple disparate schemas. We show how incorporation of gating naturally leads to transfer learning and robust memory savings. We then show how phenotypic impairments observed in patients with prefrontal damage are mimicked by lesions of our network. Our architecture, which we call DynaMoE, provides a fundamental framework for how the prefrontal cortex may handle the abundance of schemas necessary to navigate the real w...

Cognitive ability of minor depressed patients (N = 28), major depressed patients (N = 26) and healthy elderly (N = 38) was examined cross-sectionally to determine if cognitive abilities of patients with late-onset depression decrease with increasing severity of disease and if cognitive scores for minor depressed patients fall between those of healthy elderly and major depressed patients. A pooled within-group principal component analysis of cognitive test scores identified five components, three of which showed significant group differences. Verbal Recall and Maintenance of Set separated controls from major depressed patients and minor from major depressed patients. Executive Functioning separated controls from minor depressed patients, and Working Memory was borderline for separating controls from major depressed patients. The component representing Nonverbal Recognition was not statistically significant. Partial correlations controlling for age and education indicate that cognitive performance does decrease as severity of depression increases, and the magnitude of the change varies

The aim of this study was to identify characteristics of neuropsychological functioning among type 2 diabetic adults with and without major depression. Twenty type 2 diabetics with major depression, 20 non-depressed type 2 diabetics and 34 controls without diabetes or depression were compared. A mixed effects repeated measures analysis of covariance indicated significant differences in overall cognitive functioning between diagnostic groups, specifically depressed diabetics demonstrated greater cognitive dysfunction than controls. Further comparisons indicated that depressed diabetics performed significantly worse than non-depressed diabetics in attention/information processing speed. Relative to controls, depressed diabetics performed significantly worse in attention/information processing speed and executive functioning, while there was a trend for non-depressed diabetics to perform worse in executive functioning. These findings suggest that depression negatively impacts cognitive performance among adults with type 2 diabetes, which may have implications for neural circuitry underlying cognitive and mood changes in diabetic patients.

We investigated neuro-cognitive mechanisms involved with coordination of attention between current task performance and future action plans in prospective memory. We developed a novel task paradigm with continuous performance of a prospective memory task, where trial intervals of prospective memory targets were systematically manipulated in a periodic cycle of expanding and contracting target intervals. We found that subjects' behaviour was significantly modulated without awareness of this temporal sequence of the targets: remembering to perform a prospective memory response to target events was more successful and faster in the expanding target interval phase, at the cost of lower and slower performance of ongoing tasks, while an opposite direction of this trade-off effect was observed in the contracting target interval phase. By using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we identified the similar trade-off effect in activations in the anterior medial prefrontal corti...

Background:  Both performance‐based and rating measures are commonly used to index executive function in clinical and neuropsychological assessments. They are intended to index the same broad underlying mental construct of executive function. The association between these two types of measures was investigated in the current article.Method and Results:  We examined the association between performance‐based and rating measures of executive function in 20 studies. These studies included 13 child and 7 adult samples, which were derived from 7 clinical, 2 nonclinical, and 11 combined clinical and nonclinical samples. Only 68 (24%) of the 286 relevant correlations reported in these studies were statistically significant, and the overall median correlation was only .19.Conclusions:  It was concluded that performance‐based and rating measures of executive function assess different underlying mental constructs. We discuss how these two types of measures appear to capture different levels of...

Context: Obesity in midlife is a risk factor for dementia, but it is unknown if caloric restrictioninduced weight loss could prevent cognitive decline and therefore dementia in elderly patients with cognitive impairment. Objective: To evaluate the cognitive effect of intentional weight loss in obese elderly patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), considering the influence of age, apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype, physical activity, biochemical markers, and diet. Design: Single-center, prospective controlled trial. Setting: Academic medical center. Participants: Eighty obese patients with MCI, aged 60 or older (68.1 Ϯ 4.9 y, body mass index [BMI] 35.5 Ϯ 4.4 kg/m 2 , 83.7% women, 26.3% APOE allele ⑀4 carriers). Intervention: Random allocation to conventional medical care alone (n ϭ 40) or together with nutritional counselling (n ϭ 40) in group meetings aiming to promote weight loss through caloric restriction for 12 months. Outcome Measurements: clinical data, body composition, neuropsychological tests (main outcome), serum biomarkers, APOE genotype, physical performance, dietary recalls. Results: Seventy-five patients completed the follow-up. BMI, on average, decreased 1.7 Ϯ 1.8 kg/m 2 (P ϭ .021), and most of the cognitive tests improved, without difference between the groups. In analysis with linear generalized models, the BMI decrease was associated with improvements in verbal memory, verbal fluency, executive function, and global cognition, after adjustment for education, gender, physical activity, and baseline tests. This association was strongest in younger seniors (for memory and fluency) and in APOE allele ⑀4 carriers (for executive function). Changes in homeostasis model assessment-estimated insulin resistance, C-reactive protein, leptin and intake of energy, carbohydrates, and fats were associated with improvement in cognitive tests. Conclusions: Intentional weight loss through diet was associated with cognitive improvement in patients with MCI. (J Clin Endocrinol Metab 101: 1104 -1112, 2016) D ementia is a syndrome characterized mainly by dete- rioration in cognitive function and is one of the major causes of disability and dependency among older peo-ple. Nearly 50 million people worldwide have dementia, and it is caused by a variety of conditions that affect the brain, of which the most common is Alzheimer's disease

The mechanisms by which obesity alters the cerebral function and the effect of weight loss on the brain have not been completely clarified. The objective of the study was to assess the effect of bariatric surgery on the cognitive function and cerebral metabolism. Design: Seventeen obese women were studied prior to and 24 weeks after bariatric surgery using neuropsychological tests and positron emission tomography. The study was conducted in a reference center for the treatment of obesity of a Brazilian public university. Participants: Thirty-three women paired by age and level of education made up two groups: 17 severely obese patients and 16 lean patients. They did not have diabetes mellitus or a family history of dementia. Comparison of performance in neuropsychological tests and cerebral metabolism of the obese women before and after bariatric surgery was measured. The results found at the two moments were compared with those of the women of normal weight. Results: Women with a mean age of 40.5 years and mean body mass index of 50.1 kg/m 2 when compared with women with mean body mass index of 22.3 kg/m 2 showed increased cerebral metabolism, especially in the posterior cingulate gyrus (P Ͻ .004). No difference was found between the groups for the neuropsychological tests. After 24 weeks the cerebral metabolism of the obese women was lower, similar to the lean women, and there was an improvement of executive function, accompanying changes of metabolic and inflammatory parameters. Obese women may have increased cerebral metabolism when compared with women of normal weight, and this appears to reverse after weight loss induced by bariatric surgery, accompanied by improved executive function. (

Cognitive control, a set of functions that develop throughout adolescence, is important in the pathogenesis of psychotic disorders. Whether cognitive control has a role in conferring vulnerability for the development of psychotic illness is still unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the neural systems supporting cognitive control in individuals deemed to be potentially prodromal for psychotic illness. We recruited 56 participants at clinical high-risk (CHR) for psychosis based on the Structured Interview for Psychosis-Risk Syndromes (SIPS) and 49 healthy controls. Twelve of the CHR participants eventually developed psychosis. We compared functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) BOLD signal during the performance of the Simon task. We tested for differences between CHR individuals and controls in conflict-related functional activity. In the CHR group when compared with controls, we detected smaller conflictrelated activations in several cortical areas, including the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC). Furthermore, conflict-related activations in the DLPFC of those CHR individuals who ultimately developed psychosis (CHR converters) were smaller than in non-converters (CHR non-converters). Higher levels of conflict-related activation were associated with better social and role outcome. Risk for psychosis was associated at the neural level with reduced conflict-related brain activity. This neural phenotype appears correlated within the DLPFC with the development of psychosis and with functional outcome.

The study aimed to determine the clinical and neuropsychological predictors of responsiveness to cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis (CBTp). Sixty patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 25 healthy individuals took part in the study. Thirty patients (25 protocol completers) received CBTp in addition to standard care (SC); 30 patients (18 protocol completers) received SC only. All patients were assessed on symptoms using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and clinical and neuropsychological function before and after CBTp. Symptoms and self-esteem improved to a greater extent in the CBTp+SC than SC control group. Greater pre-therapy coping ability and the self-reflectiveness dimension of cognitive insight at baseline predicted improvement in symptoms in the CBTp+SC group, but not the SC control group, explaining up to 21% of the variance in symptom improvement. Pre-therapy neuropsychological function, duration of illness, clinical insight and ...

The Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology (JSEP) is a peer-reviewed publication designed to stimulate and communicate research theory in all areas of sport and exercise psychology. The Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology emphasizes original research reports that advance our understanding of human behavior as it relates to sport and exercise. Comprehensive reviews employing both qualitative and quantitative methods are also encouraged as well as brief reports of soundly designed research studies that are of special interest or importance. Areas of interest include research in social, clinical, developmental, and experimental psychology, as well as psychobiology and personality. Moreover, the terms sport and exercise may pertain to either the independent or dependent variables. Generally speaking, work on motor control processes, studies of sport as a social institution, or broader social issues are beyond the scope of JSEP. A wide variety of methods are acceptable for studying sport and exercise psychology topics. In addition to original research reports and theoretical papers, JSEP publishes a digest of recent sport and exercise publications; book reviews; a commentary section with short articles on methodological advances; innovative pilot or replication research; dialogue on published articles or theoretical issues; and occasional position papers that present innovative ideas of general interest to the field, heuristic observations, or important points on controversial issues.

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common inherited form of intellectual disability in males and the most common genetic cause of autism. Although executive dysfunction is consistently found in humans with FXS, evidence of executive dysfunction in Fmr1 KO mice, a mouse model of FXS, has been inconsistent. One possible explanation for this is that executive dysfunction in Fmr1 KO mice, similar to humans with FXS, is only evident when cognitive demands are high. Using touchscreen operant conditioning chambers, male Fmr1 KO mice and their male wildtype littermates were tested on the acquisition of a pairwise visual discrimination followed by four serial reversals of the response rule. We assessed reversal learning performance under two different conditions. In the first, the correct stimulus was salient and the incorrect stimulus was non-salient. In the second and more challenging condition, the incorrect stimulus was salient and the correct stimulus was non-salient; this increased cognitive load by introducing conflict between sensory-driven (i.e., bottom-up) and task-dependent (i.e., top-down) signals. Fmr1 KOs displayed two distinct impairments relative to wildtype littermates. First, Fmr1 KOs committed significantly more learning-type errors during the second reversal stage, but only under high cognitive load. Second, during the first reversal stage, Fmr1 KOs committed significantly more attempts to collect a reward during the timeout following an incorrect response. These findings indicate that Fmr1 KO mice display executive dysfunction that, in some cases, is only evident under high cognitive load.

Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) evidence an array of structural brain abnormalities and neurocognitive deficits. Furthermore, previous research suggests that deficits in executive functioning (EF) may be associated with significant difficulties in the formation of positive peer relationships in this population. The purpose of the current study was to examine the role of EF as a predictor of treatment response to a controlled social skills intervention for children with FASDs. A total of 100 children between the ages of 6 and 12 received Children's Friendship Training (CFT). Prior to treatment, parents completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning (BRIEF). Treatment outcome was measured using parent report on the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS). The results demonstrated that behavioral regulation as measured on the BRIEF predicted the effectiveness of CFT for children with FASDs, regardless of general intellectual functioning. Specifically, the ability to control impulses, solve problems flexibly, and monitor emotional responses significantly predicted improvement in social skills and reduction in problem behaviors following CFT.

Recent attempts to identify a neurocognitive profile of children with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) have led to an emerging "generalized deficit" conceptualization marked by diffuse information processing and integration difficulties as opposed to a specific profile. This study examines whether this conceptualization can be extended to higher functioning children with PAE who are without intellectual disability and addresses several limitations of previous research. One hundred twenty-five children aged 6-12 years with social skills deficits, 97 of whom met diagnostic criteria for a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), underwent a comprehensive, multi-informant assessment of neurocognitive, emotional, social, behavioral, and adaptive functioning. Multivariate analyses of variance examined differences in functioning between the PAE group and a nonexposed comparison group with and without controlling for child IQ. Results indicated that the PAE group returned significantly poorer scores than the nonexposed group on every construct assessed, including executive functioning, attention, working/visuospatial memory, linguistic abstraction, adaptive behavior, emotional/behavioral functioning, and social cognition. These differences largely maintained after controlling for IQ and were similar regardless of informant, although teachers reported somewhat fewer group differences. Within the PAE group, no differences were found across FASD subtypes. These results provide evidence extending the emerging generalized deficit conceptualization of children with PAE to those higher functioning individuals without global intellectual disability.

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and bipolar disorder (BD) share DSM-IV criteria in adults and cause problems in decision-making. Nevertheless, no previous report has assessed a decision-making task that includes the examination of the neural correlates of reward and gambling in adults with ADHD and those with BD. Methodology/Principal Findings: We used the Iowa gambling task (IGT), a task of rational decision-making under risk (RDMUR) and a rapid-decision gambling task (RDGT) which elicits behavioral measures as well as event-related potentials (ERPs: fERN and P3) in connection to the motivational impact of events. We did not observe between-group differences for decision-making under risk or ambiguity (RDMUR and IGT); however, there were significant differences for the ERP-assessed RDGT. Compared to controls, the ADHD group showed a pattern of impaired learning by feedback (fERN) and insensitivity to reward magnitude (P3). This ERP pattern (fERN and P3) was associated with impulsivity, hyperactivity, executive function and working memory. Compared to controls, the BD group showed fERN-and P3-enhanced responses to reward magnitude regardless of valence. This ERP pattern (fERN and P3) was associated with mood and inhibitory control. Consistent with the ERP findings, an analysis of source location revealed reduced responses of the cingulate cortex to the valence and magnitude of rewards in patients with ADHD and BD. Conclusions/Significance: Our data suggest that neurophysiological (ERPs) paradigms such as the RDGT are well suited to assess subclinical decision-making processes in patients with ADHD and BD as well as for linking the cingulate cortex with action monitoring systems.

Although it has been shown that adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have impaired social cognition, no previous study has reported the brain correlates of face valence processing. This study looked for behavioral, neuropsychological, and electrophysiological markers of emotion processing for faces (N170) in adult ADHD compared to controls matched by age, gender, educational level, and handedness. We designed an event-related potential (ERP) study based on a dual valence task (DVT), in which faces and words were presented to test the effects of stimulus type (faces, words, or face-word stimuli) and valence (positive versus negative). Individual signatures of cognitive functioning in participants with ADHD and controls were assessed with a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation, including executive functioning (EF) and theory of mind (ToM). Compared to controls, the adult ADHD group showed deficits in N170 emotion modulation for facial stimuli. These N170 impairments were observed in the absence of any deficit in facial structural processing, suggesting a specific ADHD impairment in early facial emotion modulation. The cortical current density mapping of N170 yielded a main neural source of N170 at posterior section of fusiform gyrus (maximum at left hemisphere for words and right hemisphere for faces and simultaneous stimuli). Neural generators of N170 (fusiform gyrus) were reduced in ADHD. In those patients, N170 emotion processing was associated with performance on an emotional inference ToM task, and N170 from simultaneous stimuli was associated with EF, especially working memory. This is the first report to reveal an adult ADHD-specific impairment in the cortical modulation of emotion for faces and an association between N170 cortical measures and ToM and EF.

Bipolar disorder (BD) and adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) usually manifest with shared clinical symptoms, proving quite challenging to thoroughly differentiate one from another. Previous research has characterized these two disorders independently, but no study compared both pathologies from a neuropsychological perspective. The aim of this study was to compare the neuropsychological profile of adult ADHD and BD with each other and against a control group, in order to understand the way in which comprehensive cognitive assessment can contribute to their discrimination as distinct clinical entities as well as their differential diagnosis. All groups were successfully matched for age, sex, years of education, and premorbid IQ. Participants were assessed with an extensive neuropsychological battery evaluating multiple domains. Compared to controls, BD patients had a poorer performance on immediate verbal memory tasks. Both clinical groups exhibited significantly lower scores than controls on the recognition phase of verbal and non-verbal memory tasks, as well as on a task of executive functioning with high working memory demand. Noticeably, however, ADHD had significantly better performance than BD on the recognition phase of both the Rey list memory task and the Rey Figure . The better performance of ADHD patients over BD may reflect the crucial role of the executive component on their memory deficits and gives empirical support to further differentiate the neuropsychological profile of BD and adult ADHD patients in clinical practice.

It has been hypothesized that a Theory of Mind (ToM) deficit could be a vulnerability marker for psychosis. Recent studies, however, have shown ToM deficits in affective relapses of bipolar disorder as well as in the euthymic phase. This study analyzes the relationship between ToM and a previous history of psychotic symptoms in bipolar disorder. ToM, sustained attention and executive functions were analyzed in 75 bipolar euthymic patients with three or more previous relapses (42 of them had a history of psychotic symptoms and 33 did not) and 48 healthy subjects. ToM was assessed with the Advanced Test by Happé. ToM performance was similar in bipolar patients with or without a history of psychotic symptoms, and in both cases it was significantly reduced as compared with the healthy control group. Similarly, both bipolar groups showed impaired sustained attention and executive functions. This general cognitive deficit partially explains the differences obtained in ToM. The ToM instrument used shows low sensitivity for assessing ToM in bipolar patients and it could partially reflect general cognitive functioning rather than a specific deficit in psychosis. ToM deficit is not a trait marker for psychosis, given that it is present in bipolar disorder regardless of a previous history of psychotic symptoms.

GARCIA VALENCIA, Jenny et al. Validation of the Reasons for Living Inventory (Rfl) in subjects with suicidal behavior in Colombia. rev. colomb. psiquiatr.[online]. 2009, vol. 38, n. 1, pp. 66-84. ISSN 0034-7450. Objective: To evaluate the factor structure, reliability, and ...

Few studies have compared neurocognitive performance in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder (BD), stabilized patients with schizophrenia (SC) and normal controls (NC) using a comprehensive neuropsychological battery, and those that have been conducted have yielded discrepant results. We evaluated the neurocognitive profile shown by 73 euthymic patients with BD, 89 stabilized patients with SC and 67 NC. All participants completed a cognitive battery in which the domains evaluated were executive functioning, sustained attention, and verbal and visual memory. Individuals with BD were administered the Quality of Life Scale (QLS). Patients with BD manifested dysfunction in executive functioning (moderate-to-large effect size), sustained attention (moderate effect size) and verbal/visual memory (large effect size) compared with NC. Verbal memory deficit in patients with BD was related to poor functional outcome on the QLS and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF). Patients with BD performed significantly better than patients with SC on the Trail Making Test (TMT) part B, backward digit span, and California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) learning trials. Other neuropsychological measures showed no significant differences between the two patient groups. These findings support the notion that euthymic BD patients suffer from an extensive neurocognitive deficit that affects all cognitive domains and is qualitatively similar to that in SC patients. Persistent verbal memory impairment in BD has clinical relevance because it is associated with poor psychosocial function.

The present study is the first to examine emotional intelligence in persons with schizotypy. Over 2100 undergraduates were screened for schizotypy with the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire -Brief Version. Forty participants identified as persons with high schizotypy and 56 participants identified as persons with low schizotypy completed assessments of emotional intelligence (Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test), social functioning (Social Adjustment Scale -Self Report), verbal episodic (secondary) memory (California Verbal Learning Test), and executive functioning (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test). Persons high in schizotypy were impaired in overall emotional intelligence and two aspects of emotional intelligence, the ability to perceive emotions and the ability to manage emotions. Persons high in schizotypy were also impaired in three aspects of social functioning: peer relationships, family relationships, and academic functioning. Group differences in verbal episodic (secondary) memory and executive functioning were not observed. For persons with high schizotypy, overall emotional intelligence and two aspects of emotional intelligence, the ability to perceive emotions and the ability to manage emotions, were associated with peer relationship functioning. Overall emotional intelligence was associated with verbal episodic (secondary) memory, but not executive functioning, in persons with high schizotypy. The current findings suggest that emotional intelligence is impaired in persons with schizotypy and that these impairments affect their social functioning.

The present study is the first to examine emotional intelligence in persons with schizotypy. Over 2100 undergraduates were screened for schizotypy with the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire -Brief Version. Forty participants identified as persons with high schizotypy and 56 participants identified as persons with low schizotypy completed assessments of emotional intelligence (Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test), social functioning (Social Adjustment Scale -Self Report), verbal episodic (secondary) memory (California Verbal Learning Test), and executive functioning (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test). Persons high in schizotypy were impaired in overall emotional intelligence and two aspects of emotional intelligence, the ability to perceive emotions and the ability to manage emotions. Persons high in schizotypy were also impaired in three aspects of social functioning: peer relationships, family relationships, and academic functioning. Group differences in verbal episodic (secondary) memory and executive functioning were not observed. For persons with high schizotypy, overall emotional intelligence and two aspects of emotional intelligence, the ability to perceive emotions and the ability to manage emotions, were associated with peer relationship functioning. Overall emotional intelligence was associated with verbal episodic (secondary) memory, but not executive functioning, in persons with high schizotypy. The current findings suggest that emotional intelligence is impaired in persons with schizotypy and that these impairments affect their social functioning.

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■ pFC is proposed to implement cognitive control via di- rected "top-down" influence over behavior. But how is this feat achieved? The virtue of such a descriptive model is contingent on a mechanistic understanding of how motor execution is altered in specific circumstances. In this report, we provide evidence that the well-known phenomenon of slowed RTs following mistakes (post-error slowing) is directly influenced by the degree of subthalamic nucleus (STN) activity. The STN is proposed to act as a brake on motor execution following conflict or errors, buying time so a more cautious response can be made on the next trial. STN local field potentials from nine Parkinson disease patients undergoing deep brain stimulation surgery were recorded while they performed a response conflict task. In a 2.5-to 5-Hz frequency range previously associated with conflict and error processing, the degree phase consistency preceding the response was associated with increasingly slower RTs specifically following errors. These findings provide compelling evidence that post-error slowing is in part mediated by a corticosubthalamic "hyperdirect" pathway for increased response caution. ■

Al parecer las alteraciones en el ciclo normal del sueño, tienen a producir efectos sobre el rendimiento cognitivo. Sin embargo, no es claro si en el largo plazo los efectos de cambiar los patrones de sueño-vigilia producen cambios cognitivos significativos. El objetivo presente estudio fue comparar el rendimiento cognitivo en atención, memoria y función ejecutiva de un grupo de trabajadores que laboran realizando turnos rotativos con otro grupo que labora solo en turno fijo diurno. En su desarrollo participaron 60 adultos de sexo masculino, con edades entre 20 y 60 años. Ambos grupos se equipararon por edad, escolaridad y estrato socioeconómico. Se aplicó una batería neuropsicológica para evaluar atención, memoria y función ejecutiva en ambos grupos.  Los resultados obtenidos sugieren que las funciones cognitivas no se ven afectadas en la modalidad de turnos rotativos ni a corto ni a largo plazo las funciones cognitivas en atención, memoria y función ejecutiva, excepto en el puntaj...

The prevalence of cigarette smoking in patients with different psychiatric disorders is higher than that in the general population, which is partly explained by the pro-cognitive effect of smoking on cognitive functions. In subjects with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), the prevalence of smokers is lower than that in other psychiatric disorders. We hypothesized that cigarette smoking does not provide benefits and even worsen cognitive performance in OCD. We compared different executive function subdomains in 20 smoking and 20 non-smoking inpatients with OCD. At the beginning of hospitalization, we assessed visuo-spatial working memory, planning and set-shifting abilities (Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery), smoking habits (standardized personal interviews), and the severity of obsessive-compulsive symptoms (Dimensional Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale). The performance of smokers and non-smokers did not differ significantly in any cognitive subdomain. The ...

Background/Objectives-Older adults do not take medication as prescribed, diminishing the benefits of treatment and increasing costs to individuals and society. A multifaceted prospective memory intervention for improving adherence to antihypertensive medication was tested and assessed if executive function/working memory processes moderated intervention effects. Design-A two group longitudinal randomized control trial was used. Setting and Participants and Measurements-The sample consisted of community-based older adults (≥ 65 years of age) without signs of dementia or symptoms of severe depression who were self-managing prescribed medication. Following four weeks of initial adherence monitoring using a medication event monitoring system (MEMS®), individuals with 90% or less adherence were randomly assigned to groups. Intervention-The prospective memory intervention was designed to provide strategies that switch older adults from relying on executive function/working memory processes (that show effects of cognitive aging) to mostly automatic associative processes (that are relatively spared with normal aging) for remembering to take one's medications. Strategies included establishing a routine, establishing cues strongly associated with medication taking actions, performing the action immediately upon thinking about it, using a medication organizer, and imagining medication taking to enhance encoding and improve cuing.

One approach to hypnosis suggests that for hypnotic experience to occur frontal lobe activity must be attenuated. For example, cold control theory posits that a lack of awareness of intentions is responsible for the experience of involuntariness and/or the subjective reality of hypnotic suggestions. The mid-dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex and the ACC are candidate regions for such awareness. Alcohol impairs frontal lobe executive function. This study examined whether alcohol affects hypnotisability. We administered 0.8 mg/kg of alcohol or a placebo to 32 medium susceptible participants. They were subsequently hypnotised and given hypnotic suggestions. All participants believed they had received some alcohol. Participants in the alcohol condition were more susceptible to hypnotic suggestions than participants in the placebo condition. Impaired frontal lobe activity facilitates hypnotic responding, which supports theories postulating that attenuation of executive function facilitates hypnotic response, and contradicts theories postulating that hypnotic response involves enhanced inhibitory, attentional or other executive function.

Inhibition is a key executive function in adults and children for the acquisition and expression of cognitive abilities. Using event-related potentials in a priming adaptation of a Piaget-like numerical task taken from developmental psychology, we report a negative priming effect in adults measured just after the cognitive inhibition of a misleading strategy, the visuospatial length-equals-number bias. This effect was determined in the N200 information processing stage through increased N200 amplitude. We show here that for accuracy in numerical quantification, the adult brain still had to control the childlike cognition biases that are stored in a kind of “developmental memory.”

Technology and digital tools increasingly exist in children’s lives today, yet they yield diverse opinions in the education community regarding the importance of integrating them into early education (Hartle, 2020). Most children today demonstrate adeptness in navigating digital tools. This pushes preschools to integrate digital devices into classrooms and incorporate them into the curriculum (ABC News, 2016). Although digital tools are recommended in early years settings, they pose some dilemmas. Educators like Jane struggle with the dilemma of how digital tools can be used to support children’s learning in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) while simultaneously being required to create meaningful learning activities. While this presents a very complex situation in utilising digital tools, as they surround children, our knowledge as teachers is often inadequate to optimise their use. This essay will explore how educators like Jane and I can use digital tools to support STEAM learning in early childhood.

The Driving Observation Schedule (eDOS) was developed for use in the Candrive/Ozcandrive five-year prospective study of older drivers to observe their driving behaviour. The aim of this study was to describe whether participants’ looking behaviour when turning at intersections during the eDOS driving task was related to factors such as age, cognitive ability and complexity of the driving environment. One hundred and fifty-five Ozcandrive participants (Male: 71.4%; Age: M = 80.86 years, SD = 3.60 years) completed a cognitive and functional ability assessment from the Year 2 Candrive/Ozcandrive protocol, as well as the eDOS driving task that commenced from the participant’s home and was conducted in their own vehicle on roads familiar to and chosen by them. Observations of participants’ looking and driving behaviours during the eDOS driving task were captured from two cameras that were installed in participants’ vehicle, which provided images of the driver and the forward road scene. ...

Gross motor skills (GMS) are a vital component of a child's development. Monitoring levels and correlates of GMS is important to ensure appropriate strategies are put in place to promote these skills in young children. The aim of this study was to describe the current level of GMS development of children aged 11-29months and how these levels differ by age, sex, BMI and socio-economic status. Cross-sectional study. This study involved children from 30 childcare services in NSW, Australia. GMS were assessed using the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales Second Edition. Prevalence was reported using the gross motor quotient and both raw and standard scores for locomotor, object manipulation and stationary subtests. Socio-demographics were collected via parent questionnaires. Analyses included t-tests, chi-square tests, one-way ANOVA and linear regression models. This study included 335 children (mean age=19.80±4.08months, 53.9% boys). For the gross motor quotient, 23.3% of the childr...

Introduction: Interventions using ‘hybrid’ remediation/compensatory cognitive interventions may be beneficial to improving the socio-cognitive functioning of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Previous studies have shown that neurocognitive impairments in executive function (EF) and theory of mind (TOM) are specifically associated with ASD. The primary objective of the study is to determine the impact of the remediation and compensatory cognitive intervention on EFs and TOM abilities. The secondary objective is to evaluate TOM and EF behavioral domains due to the remediation and compensatory cognitive intervention.
Methods: A total of 75 children aged 4 to 7 years diagnosed with high-functioning autism and their parents will be recruited to this double-blind, multicenter, multi-arm randomized controlled trial. The primary outcomes are EFs and TOM as measured by the shape school, shape span test, TOM scale, TOM story books, TOM assessment checklist, and EFs assessment checklist. The secondary outcome is EFs and TOM behavioral domains as measured by the TOM behavior checklist and brief-preschool version at baseline (T0), post-test (T1), 1-month follow-up (T2), and 3-month follow-up (T3). Primary and secondary outcomes will be analyzed using repeated measures, such as an analysis of variance and a mixed model.
Conclusion: This study will assess whether the cognitive intervention program affects not only the neuropsychological functioning of children with ASD but also daily functioning. If the current trial shows that either the remediation or compensatory approaches effectively improve socio-cognitive functioning, the trial would reveal a ‘hybrid’ remediation/compensatory approach.

Repetitive thought (RT) involves frequent or prolonged thoughts about oneself and one's world, encompassing discrete forms such as trait worry, rumination, processing, and reminiscing. These forms of RT can be described using 3 basic, underlying qualities: total propensity for RT of all types, valence (positive vs. negative content), and purpose (searching or uncertainty vs. solving or certainty). The adaptiveness of discrete forms with regard to health is likely to be related to these qualities, particularly valence and total propensity. The present study confirmed the model and identified the relationship of these qualities of RT to subjective psychological, physical, and cognitive health in older adults aged 60-94 (N = 179). As predicted, more negatively valenced trait RT was associated with worse psychological, physical, and cognitive health. More total propensity for RT was associated only with worse psychological health. Searching purpose was associated only with worse cog...

El bajo desempeno de los pacientes con traumatismo craneoencefalico (TCE) en las pruebas neuropsicologicas, se asocia mas a su estado emocional, que al tipo de TCE (Rodriguez, 2006). Para estudiarlos, se propuso identificar y caracterizar la ansiedad y depresion en afectados con TCE, se definieron metodos, e incluyeron en la muestra 154 pacientes voluntarios, entre 14-24 anos de edad, ingresados incidentalmente, entre julio y diciembre del 2012 en el Hospital Central de Huambo, Angola. El procesamiento estadistico se realizo con el paquete informatico SPSS version 20. Se empleo el inventario de ansiedad y depresion de rasgo y estado (IDARE) version en espanol. Se encontro alto nivel de ansiedad y depresion como estados emocionales, asociados de manera relevante a los TCE.

The aim of the study was to perform a detailed assessment of cognitive abilities and behaviour in a series of epileptic patients with Dravet syndrome (DS) in order to establish a possible cerebellar-like pattern. Methods: Nine children with DS without major behavioural disturbances and with cognitive abilities compatible with the assessment of specific cognitive skills (IQ > 45) were enrolled in the study, in parallel with another group of nine epileptic patients (cryptogenic or symptomatic with minor brain injuries) consecutively admitted into the hospital matched for chronological age and IQ. All cases underwent neurological examination, long term EEG monitoring, neuroimaging and genetic analysis as well as a neuropsychological assessment including specific cognitive skills. Results: On neurological examination 8 of the 9 DS patients had cerebellar signs, which were mild in six and more severe in the other two cases. DS patients had a constant discrepancy between verbal and performance items scales (verbal better than visual-spatial) that was not found in the control group. As to specific cognitive competence, the DS patients differ from the control group in the pattern of cognitive defects involving four main areas of cognitive abilities (a) expressive language with relatively spared comprehension, (b) visual-spatial organization, (c) executive function defects, (d) behavioural disorders. Cunclusions: The pattern of cognitive difficulties found in DS patients is consistent with what is reported in literature as cerebellar cognitive syndrome and may account for a possible