Intervention of Listening to Al-Qur'an Murottal to Improve Concentration on College Students

Dementia is characterized by the deterioration of working memory (WM). The backward digit span (DS) task and reading span test (RST) are measures of WM. DS task and RST have not been directly compared in assessing dementia. This study aimed to compare the performance of individuals with dementia in forward and backward DS tasks to that in RST. We investigated the ability of forward/backward DS tasks to discriminate dementia severity. Forward/backward DS tasks and RST were performed in 15 elderly Japanese individuals with dementia. Twenty-six and 20 elderly individuals for the DS task and RST, respectively, were included as controls. Clinical Dementia Rating scale (CDR) was used to evaluate dementia severity. DS task scores were significantly correlated with RST scores. Both types of DS tasks correlated with RST, only the RST distinguished dementia severity based on CDR. Our findings indicate that the backward DS task may detect WM decline in dementia, but the RST is more suitable for assessing dementia severity. The backward DS task may be an effective screening measure for dementia signs in the elderly and may be used to identify patients requiring further assessments such as the RST to evaluate dementia severity based on WM performance.

This study investigated the cognitive effect of a unified flag football program in young adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). Twelve participants practiced football drills with their typical peers for 50 min each session, twice a week for 15 weeks. Measures of three aspects of executive functions (e.g., verbal working memory, measured as digit span task; cognitive planning proficiency, measured as Tower of London task; and response inhibition, measured as Stroop color and word task) were tested before and after the program. Although the benefits in the digit span and Stroop tasks were not seen, participants with ID significantly improved performance in the Tower of London task. The cognitive benefits in executive function from this unified sport program were still evident. Our preliminary findings encourage individuals with ID to attend sport programs for mental health. In future studies, large sample size and additional supporting measures should be included to generalize the findings to the general population with ID.

BACKGROUND: Concentration difficulties are the most common among students in India, adversely impacting academic performance. Non-pharmacological interventions, particularly Pranayama (controlled breathing), have shown promise in enhancing cognitive functions and reducing stress. Specific techniques like Bhramari Pranayama (bee-humming breathing) and Nadishudhi Pranayama (alternate nostril breathing) are believed to improve mental clarity and focus. However, there is limited scientific evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing their efficacy. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of Bhramari Pranayama and Nadishudhi Pranayama in improving concentration levels among college students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This RCT involved 80 apparently healthy college students of either sex, aged 19–25 years, studying in and around Belgaum city who volunteered and met the eligibility criteria. Those meeting the selection criteria were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either group A (intervention) or group B (control). Participants in Group A practiced Bhramari Pranayama and Nadishudhi Pranayama five times per week for 30 days. Group B received no intervention during this period. Concentration levels were assessed at baseline (day 0) and after 30 days (day 30) using the Digit Letter Substitution Test (DLST) and the Six Letter Cancelation Test (SLCT), allowing for a comparative analysis of the effects of Pranayama on concentration. RESULTS: Group A exhibited significant improvements in concentration, with mean DLST scores increasing from 53.75 ± 3.41 at baseline to 64.63 ± 2.37 on day 30 ( P < 0.001). SLCT scores also showed a marked increase from 48.05 ± 9.40 to 55.72 ± 8.50 ( P < 0.001). In contrast, group B demonstrated no significant changes in either measure. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that Bhramari Pranayama and Nadishudhi Pranayama can effectively enhance concentration levels among college students. This study supports the integration of Pranayama techniques into daily routines to boost academic performance and cognitive function. Furthermore, research studies are recommended to explore the long-term benefits and wider applications of these practices in educational and professional settings. Trial registration: The trial registration number is CTRI/2022/11/047009, dated November 11, 2022.

Consequences of Receipt of a Psychiatric Diagnosis for Completion of College

The human brain has limited storage capacity often challenging the encoding and recall of a long series of multiple items. Different encoding strategies are therefore employed to optimize performance in memory processes such as chunking where particular items are ‘grouped’ to reduce the number of items to store artificially. Additionally, related to the position of an item within a series, there is a tendency to remember the first and last items on the list better than the middle ones, which calls the “serial position effect”. Although relatively well-established in behavioral research, the neuronal mechanisms underlying such encoding strategies and memory effects remain poorly understood. Here, we used event-related EEG oscillation analyses to unravel the neuronal substrates of serial encoding strategies and effects during the behaviorally controlled execution of the digit span task. We recorded EEG in forty-four healthy young-adult participants during a backward digit span (ds) task with two difficulty levels (i.e., 3-ds and 5-ds). Participants were asked to recall the digits in reverse order after the presentation of each set. We analyzed the pattern of event-related delta and theta oscillatory power in the time-frequency domain over fronto-central and parieto-occipital areas during the item (digit) list encoding, focusing on how these oscillatory responses changed with each subsequent digit being encoded in the series. Results showed that the development of event-related delta power evoked by digits in each series matched the ‘serial position curve’, with higher delta power being present during the first, and especially last, digits as compared to digits presented in the middle of a set, for both difficulty levels. Event-related theta power, in contrast, rather resembled a neural correlate of a chunking pattern where, during the 5-ds encoding, a clear change in event-related theta occurred around the third/fourth positions, with decreasing power values for later digits. This suggests that different oscillatory mechanisms linked to different frequency bands may code for the different encoding strategies and effects in serial item presentation. Furthermore, recall-EEG correlations suggested that participants with higher fronto-central delta responses during digit encoding showed also higher recall scores. The here presented findings contribute to our understanding of the neural oscillatory mechanisms underlying multiple item encoding, directly informing recent efforts towards memory enhancement through targeted oscillation-based neuromodulation.

The accident rate due to human errors in industrial fields has been consistently high over the past few decades, and noise has been emerging as one of the main causes of human errors. In recent years, auditory pre-stimulation has been considered as a means of preventing human errors by improving workers’ cognitive task performance. However, most previous studies demonstrated the effectiveness of the auditory pre-stimulation in a quiet environment. Accordingly, studies on the effects of pre-stimulation in a noisy environment are still lacking. Therefore, this study aimed to empirically investigate: (1) the effects of noisy environments on the performances of cognitive tasks related to different functions of working memory and (2) the effects of auditory pre-stimulation on the performances of cognitive tasks in a field-noise environment. To accomplish these research objectives, two major experiments were conducted. In the first experiment, a total of 24 participants performed each of three basic short-term/working memory (STM/WM) tasks under two different experimental conditions (quiet-noise environment and field-noise environment) depending on the presence or absence of field noise. In the second experiment, the participants performed each of the three basic STM/WM tasks in a field-noise environment after they were provided with one of four different auditory pre-stimulations (quiet noise, white noise, field noise, and mixed (white and field) noise). The three STM/WM tasks were the Corsi block-tapping, Digit span, and 3-back tasks, corresponding to the visuospatial sketchpad, the phonological loop, and the central executive of WM, respectively. The major findings were that: (1) the field-noise environment did not affect the scores of the Corsi block-tapping and 3-back tasks, significantly affecting only the Digit span task score (decreased by 15.2%, p < 0.01); and (2) the Digit span task performance in the field-noise environment was improved by 17.9% (p < 0.05) when mixed noise was provided as a type of auditory pre-stimulation. These findings may be useful for the work-space designs that prevent/minimize human errors and industrial accidents by improving the cognitive task performance of workers in field-noise environments.

The increasing prevalence of age-related cognitive decline, alongside the aging global population, underscores the urgent need for innovative and effective preventative strategies. While the advantages of combining physical and cognitive exercises have been recognized as a promising approach to address these socioeconomic challenges, the acute effects of such interventions on cognitive functions remain understudied. This study aimed to investigate whether simultaneous physical and cognitive exercise has a greater beneficial impact on the cognitive functions of older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) than physical exercise alone or reading activities. A total of 44 MCI patients (75% females aged between 65 and 75 years) were randomly assigned to one of three groups: aerobic exercise alone (EG group, n = 15), aerobic combined with cognitive exercises (CEG group, n = 15), or a reading task for controls (CG group, n = 14). Attention, memory, and problem solving were assessed before and after the acute intervention using the Tower of Hanoi, Digit Span, and Stroop tasks, respectively. Statistical analysis revealed that both of the experimental interventions appeared to enhance cognitive function scores (p < 0.05), except for the number of moves in the Tower of Hanoi task, where no improvement was noted. In contrast, no significant differences in any cognitive performance measures were observed following the reading session. Notably, the CEG group exhibited a more pronounced positive impact, especially on working memory. This advantage was specifically evident in the digit span tasks, where significantly greater percentage gains were found in the CEG than in the CG (p = 0.02), while no significant difference existed between the EG and CG. Simultaneous combined exercise has proven to be a more effective method than aerobic physical exercise alone for improving cognitive function. The results of this study are recommended for inclusion in clinical practice guidelines to maintain the mental health of older adults, as simultaneous exercise seems to offer a time-efficient strategy to enhance cognitive performance in adults with MCI.

ABSTRACTThere is a growing number of students on college campuses with mental health problems and college counseling services are reporting significant increases in student demand for counseling. Depression, a mental illness consisting of profound sadness, fatigue, and irritability, as well as low motivation, poor academic performance, and suicidal behaviors, is one of the top presenting concerns for students who seek help. This study investigates the effectiveness of light therapy in a sample of 79 college students who suffer from depression. This study examines changes in overall depression scores and also assesses changes in sleep, appetite, pain, and concentration levels. Results showed significant improvements in overall depression scores as well as improved sleeping behaviors and decreases in somatic aches and pains, concentration difficulties, and appetite problems. These promising results suggest light therapy may be an effective and inexpensive means for reducing symptoms of young adult depression.

Summary Individuals seem to differ in their ability to maintain consistent performance. This is obviously an important attribute of behavior that has been largely neglected by researchers. There is, however, some evidence to suggest that, in certain types of situations, the behaviors of the mental retardate are characterized by a relatively high degree of variability. Two studies are reported here that deal with some of the developmental implications of intraindividual variability. In one study, involving retardates, reliability and generality of response consistency were examined in reaction time, time estimation, and digit span tasks. It was shown that individual differences in consistency are reliable and that these generalize across tasks. A second experiment was concerned with the developmental aspects of variability. First-, third-, and fifth-grade pupils and college students were given many trials on a reaction-time task. A variety of measures, reflecting typical performance, limit of performance, and variability, were computed for each subject. The ability to react quickly shows a developmental trend not only with respect to overall performance, but also in the efficiency with whichthe individual maintains his optimal level of responding.

Beyond the Guise of Saturation: Rigor and Qualitative Interview Data

Memory deficits in late-onset schizophrenia

IntroductionMajor depressive disorder is a common and severe mental disorder among college students. Meanwhile, depressive symptoms and ambivalence over emotional expression are closely related, while little research explores their bidirectional relationship. To address this gap, the current study employed a network approach to identify the interrelation between depressive symptoms and ambivalence over emotional expression among college students.MethodsInitially, 2,103 college students were recruited and completed the patient health questionnaire (PHQ) -9 and the ambivalence over emotional expression questionnaire (AEQ). In the final analysis, 1,362 college students passed the attention check and were included (674 females; age: Mean = 18.61, SD = 0.84). The symptom network approach was employed to explore the interrelation between depressive symptoms and ambivalence over emotional expression, as well as to explore the gender difference between symptom networks.ResultsThe strongest edges between depression and ambivalence over emotional expression were observed between “concentration difficulties” (PHQ7) and “emotional rumination” (AEQ1), as well as between “guilt” (PHQ6) and “regret expressing” (AEQ5) in the overall sample. The edge between “inhibit positive emotion expression” (AEQ3) and “inhibit negative emotion expression” (AEQ4) was the strongest edge weight in male and female networks. For bridging symptoms, “concentration difficulties” (PHQ7), “emotional rumination” (AEQ1), “guilt” (PHQ6), and “regret expressing” (AEQ5) were the biggest bridging symptoms (Z score above 1) that linked depression symptoms and ambivalence over emotional expression. Between gender networks, “guilt” (PHQ6) was the common and strongest bridging symptom (Z score above 1) in both male and female networks. Network robustness and stability were also estimated.ConclusionThe current study provides a new perspective on the interrelation between depressive symptoms and ambivalence over emotional expression, as well as examines the gender difference. In light of the findings, further intervention, such as cognitive control training or mindfulness-based interventions that focus on bridging symptoms, may disassociate the interrelation between depression and ambivalence over emotional expression.

Current conventional cognitive assessments are limited in their efficiency and sensitivity, often relying on a single score such as the total correct items. Typically, multiple features of response go uncaptured. We aim to explore a new set of automatically derived features from the Digit Span (DS) task that address some of the drawbacks in the conventional scoring and are also useful for distinguishing subjects with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) from those with intact cognition. Audio-recordings of the DS tests administered to 85 subjects (22 MCI and 63 healthy controls, mean age 90.2 years) were transcribed using an Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) system. Next, five correctness measures were generated from Levenshtein distance analysis of responses: number correct, incorrect, deleted, inserted, and substituted words compared to the test item. These per-item features were aggregated across all test items for both Forward Digit Span (FDS) and Backward Digit Span (BDS) tasks using summary statistical functions, constructing a global feature vector representing the detailed assessment of each subject's response. A support vector machine classifier distinguished MCI from cognitively intact participants. Conventional DS scores did not differentiate MCI participants from controls. The automated multi-feature DS-derived metric achieved 73% on AUC-ROC of the SVM classifier, independent of additional clinical features (77% when combined with demographic features of subjects); well above chance, 50%. Our analysis verifies the effectiveness of introduced measures, solely derived from the DS task, in the context of differentiating subjects with MCI from those with intact cognition.

This work-in-progress poster reports on the preliminary findings regarding college students’ value structure of how to choose and utilize mobile health/wellness applications. We have conducted surveys and follow-up interviews with college students who have been using mobile health/wellness applications. In this poster, we analyzed the survey data from sixteen participants and the interview data from five participants (three females and two males). The analysis showed that the most important purposes of using mobile health/wellness applications for college students were recording and managing personal health information/records and keeping up with their fitness plans. For selection criteria, easy to navigate, easy to use, quality of content, customizability, and ratings from other users seemed to play the most important role in college students’ choices of certain mobile applications among alternatives.

Introduction Substantial individual differences exist in cognitive deficits due to sleep restriction (SR) and total sleep deprivation (TSD), but the best approach to define such resilience and vulnerability remains a critical question. We compared multiple approaches and cutoff thresholds to define resilience and vulnerability using the Digit Symbol Substitution Task (DSST) and the Digit Span Task (DST). Methods Forty-one healthy adults (mean±SD ages,33.9±8.9y) participated in a 13-night experiment [two baseline nights (10h-12h time-in-bed, TIB), 5 SR nights (4h TIB), 4 recovery nights (12h TIB), and 36h TSD]. The DSST [measuring cognitive throughput] and DST [measuring working memory] were administered every 2h during wakefulness. Resilient/vulnerable groups were defined by average performance (DSST: number correct; DST: total correct from forward and backward versions) during SR1-5, average performance change from baseline during SR1-5, and variance in performance during SR1-5. Within each approach, groups were defined by +/-1 standard deviation (SD) and the top and bottom 12.5%, 20%, 25%, 33%, 50%. Bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrapped t-tests compared performance between resilient and vulnerable groups during baseline and SR1-5. Kendall’s tau correlations compared the ranking of individuals in each group. Results T-tests showed significant differences between resilient/vulnerable groups at all raw score cutoffs for DSST and DST performance during SR and at baseline. Change from baseline t-tests showed significant differences during SR between the DSST groups only at 12.5%, 20%, and SD whereas DST t-tests showed significant differences at all cutoffs. Variance t-tests revealed a significant difference between the DSST groups only at 25% during SR. For the DSST, the variance vs. change from baseline comparison at all cutoffs and between raw score vs. change from baseline for the SD cutoff showed moderate correlations, and for the DST, the raw score vs. change from baseline correlation was moderate for 25% and 33%. Conclusion The resilient/vulnerable groups defined by raw score were more consistent than those defined by change from baseline or variance, and raw score did not track these approaches well. As such, raw score is the optimal approach to define cognitive throughput and working memory performance resiliency/vulnerability during sleep loss. Support (if any) ONR Award No. N00014-11-1-0361;NIH UL1TR000003;NASA NNX14AN49G and 80NSSC20K0243;NIH R01DK117488