A-157 How Important Is Sustained Attention in Reversal Learning and Visual Task Shifting Abilities: A Canonical Correlation Analysis in Adults

Abstract

Abstract Objective We used canonical correlation analysis (CCA) to examine the relationship between performance on cognitive neuroscience measures of sustained attention, deterministic reversal learning (DRLT), and visual task-shifting (VTS). We evaluated whether DRLT and VTS predicted performance on the Continuous Performance Test-II (CPT-II). Method Participants were 1011 adults from the Consortium for Neuropsychiatric Phenomics. The first CCA was conducted between four VST variables (set 1) and three CPT-II variables (set 2). The second CCA was conducted using eight Reversal Learning variables (set 1) and three CPT-II variables (set 2). Results Our first CCA suggests that accuracy of performance in VTS predicts CPT-II measures, Rc = 0.33, Wilks’s λ = 0.86, F(12, 2646) = 1.92, p < .001. The analysis revealed a positive relationship with Hits (=0.87) and a negative relationship with FA (= − 0.76), consistent with sustained attention. The second CCA revealed that acquisition trials and RT on reversal trials significantly predicted less FA and more hits on the CPT-II, Rc = 0.23, Wilks’s λ = 0.90, F(24, 1273) = 1.92, p = .005. Conclusion Our multivariate findings confirm that attention is significantly involved in executive and mnemonic processes. To our knowledge, we are the first neuroscientific group to report multivariate evidence from a large data set that confirms sustained attention plays a significant role in reversal learning and task-shifting. Our results show that the CPT-II FA and mean RT variables specifically are important predictors of reversal learning and task-shifting, strengthening the concurrent validity of our experimental measures.