Changes In Attentional Processing Research Articles

How do mindfulness and compassion programs improve mental health and well-being? The role of attentional processing of emotional information

Background and objectivesAlthough the benefits of Meditation-Based Programs are well documented, the mechanisms underlying these benefits have not been fully elucidated. Therefore, we examined whether: (1) formal training in mindfulness and compassion meditation modifies the distribution of attentional resources towards emotional information; and (2) whether changes in attentional processing of emotional information after the meditation programs mediate the improvements in psychological distress, emotion regulation, and well-being. MethodsA sample of 103 participants enrolled in the study: 36 in the mindfulness program (MBSR), 30 in the compassion program (CCT), and 37 in the no-intervention comparison group (CG). The assessment before and after the programs included the completion of an emotional Attentional Blink task (AB) together with self-report measures of psychological distress, emotion regulation, and well-being. ResultsMBSR and CCT reduced similarly the AB deficit, whereas no changes occurred in the CG. This AB reduction was found for the different emotional and non-emotional stimuli (i.e., negative, positive, and neutral), showing a significant disengagement from first-target emotions and significant accessibility of second-target emotions to consciousness. The effects of both meditation programs on the psychological measures were mediated by changes in the AB and emotion regulation skills. LimitationsDue to our naturalistic design in a real-world community setting, random assignment of participants was not feasible. ConclusionsMeditation may promote more flexible and balanced attention to emotional information, which may be a key transdiagnostic mechanism underlying its benefits on emotional distress and well-being.

Eyes-closed versus eyes-open differences in spontaneous neural dynamics during development

BackgroundAssessing brain activity during rest has become a widely used approach in developmental neuroscience. Extant literature has measured resting brain activity both during eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions, but the difference between these conditions has not yet been well characterized. Studies, limited to fMRI and EEG, have suggested that eyes-open versus -closed conditions may differentially impact neural activity, especially in visual cortices. MethodsSpontaneous cortical activity was recorded using MEG from 108 typically developing youth (9-15 years-old; 55 female) during separate sessions of eyes-open and eyes-closed rest. MEG source images were computed, and the strength of spontaneous neural activity was estimated in the canonical delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma bands, respectively. Power spectral density maps for eyes-open were subtracted from eyes-closed rest, and then submitted to vertex-wise regression models to identify spatially specific differences between conditions and as a function of age and sex. ResultsRelative alpha power was weaker in the eyes-open compared to -closed condition, but otherwise eyes-open was stronger in all frequency bands, with differences concentrated in the occipital cortex. Relative theta power became stronger in the eyes-open compared to the eyes-closed condition with increasing age in frontal cortex. No differences were observed between males and females. ConclusionsThe differences in relative power from eyes-closed to -open conditions are consistent with changes observed in task-based visual sensory responses. Age differences occurred in relatively late developing frontal regions, consistent with canonical attention regions, suggesting that these differences could be reflective of developmental changes in attention processes during puberty. Taken together, resting-state paradigms using eyes-open versus -closed produce distinct results and, in fact, can help pinpoint sensory related brain activity.

Effect of Auditory Discrimination Therapy on Attentional Processes of Tinnitus Patients

Tinnitus is an auditory condition that causes humans to hear a sound anytime, anywhere. Chronic and refractory tinnitus is caused by an over synchronization of neurons. Sound has been applied as an alternative treatment to resynchronize neuronal activity. To date, various acoustic therapies have been proposed to treat tinnitus. However, the effect is not yet well understood. Therefore, the objective of this study is to establish an objective methodology using electroencephalography (EEG) signals to measure changes in attentional processes in patients with tinnitus treated with auditory discrimination therapy (ADT). To this aim, first, event-related (de-) synchronization (ERD/ERS) responses were mapped to extract the levels of synchronization related to the auditory recognition event. Second, the deep representations of the scalograms were extracted using a previously trained Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) architecture (MobileNet v2). Third, the deep spectrum features corresponding to the study datasets were analyzed to investigate performance in terms of attention and memory changes. The results proved strong evidence of the feasibility of ADT to treat tinnitus, which is possibly due to attentional redirection.

Therapeutic Effects of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Visuospatial Neglect Revealed With Event-Related Potentials.

This study aimed to investigate changes in attention processing after low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the left posterior parietal cortex to better understand its role in visuospatial neglect (VSN) rehabilitation. The current study included 10 subacute stroke patients with VSN consecutively recruited from the inpatient stroke rehabilitation center at Xuanwu Hospital (the teaching hospital affiliated with Capital Medical University) between March and November 2019. All patients performed a battery of tasks (including line bisection, line cancellation, and star cancellation tests) two weeks before treatment and at the beginning and end of treatment; the attentive components of the test results were analyzed. In addition, low-frequency rTMS was used to stimulate the left posterior parietal cortex for 14 days and event-related potential data were collected before and after the stimulation. Participants were evaluated using a target-cue paradigm and pencil-paper tests. No significant differences were detected on the battery of tasks before rTMS. However, we found that rTMS treatment significantly improved the response times and accuracy rates of patients with VSN. After rTMS, the treatment side (left) amplitude of P300 following an event-related potential was higher than that before treatment (left target, p = 0.002; right target, p = 0.047). Thus, our findings suggest that rTMS may be an effective treatment for VSN. The observed increase in event-related potential amplitude supports the hypothesized compensational role of the contralesional hemisphere in terms of residual performance. Our results provide electrophysiological evidence that may help determine the mechanisms mediating the therapeutic effects of rTMS.

Short-term effect of air pollution on attention function in adolescents (ATENC!Ó): A randomized controlled trial in high schools in Barcelona, Spain.

The recent evidence of the short-term impact of air pollution on youth cognitive functions is based primarily on observational studies. We conducted a randomized controlled trial to assess whether purifying the air of the classrooms produced short-term changes in attention processes of adolescents. We recruited a total of 2,123 adolescents (13-16years old) in 33 high schools in Barcelona metropolitan area (Spain). In each school, adolescents from each class were randomly split into two equal-sized groups and assigned to two different classrooms. A set of two air cleaner devices with the same appearance (one recirculating and filtrating the air and the other only recirculating the air) was used. Each one of the devices was placed at random at one of the two classrooms. Students were masked to intervention allocation and had to complete several computerized activities for 1.5h, including an attention test (Flanker task) to be performed at baseline and at the end of the intervention. The response speed consistency, expressed as hit reaction time standard error (HRT-SE, in ms), was measured as the primary outcome. Analyses were conducted using conditional linear regressions with classroom as strata, adjusted for variables that may differ from one class to another such as temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide concentration. Average levels of PM2.5 and black carbon throughout the 1.5h of experiment were 89% and 87%, respectively, lower in the classrooms with air cleaner than in the control classrooms. No differences were found in the median of HRT-SE between classrooms with cleaned air and normal air (percent change: 1.37%, 95% confidence interval: -2.81%, 5.56%). Sensitivity analyses with secondary attention outcomes resulted in similar findings. Cleaning the air of a classroom to reduce exposure to air pollutants for 1.5h did not have an impact on the attention function of adolescents. Still, in light of previous evidence suggesting an association between air pollution and attention, further experimental studies should explore other short-term timescales of exposure and age ranges.

An Absence of a Relationship between Overt Attention and Emotional Distortions to Time: an Eye Movement Study

Abstract Emotional distortions to time are consistently reported in laboratory studies; however, their underlying causes remain unclear. One suggestion is that emotion-induced changes in attentional processes may contribute to emotional distortions to time. The current study tested this possibility by examining the relationship between eye movement and perceptions of the duration of emotional events. Participants completed a verbal estimation task in which they estimated the duration of positively, negatively and neutrally valenced images from the International Affective Picture System images. Time to first fixation and dwell time were recorded throughout. The results showed no significant relationships between measures of eye movement and measures of emotional distortion to time, despite the emotion manipulation successfully influencing the time before the participants first fixated on the to-be-timed stimulus. This suggests that for suprasecond intervals emotion-induced changes in overt attention processing do not contribute towards emotional distortions to time.

Capturing longitudinal impacts on cognition following stroke in rodent models using touchscreen testing

AbstractBackgroundUp to two thirds of ischaemic stroke survivors develop cognitive impairment, predominantly impacting executive and attentional processing. Animal models are essential for effective translation and development of therapies. However, accurately modelling cognitive dysfunction in animal models of stroke has been limited. To address this, we aimed to longitudinally examine changes in attentional processing, spatial working memory and processing speed using two rodent ischemic injury models: the middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in C57BL/6J mice and the endothelin‐1 injury in Long Evans rats.MethodUsing the rodent touchscreen cognitive platform, we assessed attention in mice and rats employing the Continuous Performance Task (CPT) paradigm, and spatial working memory in mice using the trial unique non‐matching to location (TUNL) paradigm. Cognitive performance in adult mice and rats was assessed before inducing stroke, and at 4, 12, 24, 36 and 48 weeks post‐injury.ResultMice exposed to MCAO showed robust, long‐lasting deficits in attentional processing and spatial working memory post‐stroke. In comparison, we observed no changes in attentional processing following endothelin‐1 injury to the motor cortex in rats.ConclusionOur findings provide the first evidence for longitudinal cognitive changes in a rodent model of stroke, recapitulating that observed in the clinic. Our results identify a valuable model and behavioural approach to advance mechanistic understandings of the trajectory of cognitive dysfunction following stroke, and provide a platform with which to identify novel therapies. Moreover, our work further strengthen the need for preclinical animal studies to assess different species and injury models that are critically needed for better modelling clinical stroke and truly enabling the translation of research targeting cognitive symptoms.

Changes in attentional processing following neurofeedback in patients with persistent post-concussive symptoms: a pilot study

ABSTRACT Objective Persistent post-concussive symptoms (PPCS) often include attention deficits, particularly orienting and executive attention. Research in other clinical populations has demonstrated that neurofeedback therapy (NFT) is effective at improving orienting and executive attention, although its effects on attentional networks in patients with PPCS are unknown. Method In this single-group pilot study, we examined attention-related event-related potentials (ERPs) – N1 and P3 – and cognitive outcomes following Live Z-score training (LZT), a variant of NFT. Results No changes in early selective attention, as indexed by N1 amplitude, were observed; however, P3 amplitude, which indexes neural resource allocation, increased following LZT and returned to baseline by 3 months. Cognitive performance improved following treatment, which was sustained at 3 months. The magnitude of change in P3 and ANT performance did not differ between orienting or executive attention, suggesting LZT improved general attentional processing efficiency. Conclusion Our results suggest that LZT may positively affect attention globally, but does not target specific attention networks. These pilot data warrant the initiation of a clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness of LZT for treating attention deficits in patients with PPCS.

Spontaneous age-related changes of attention in unmedicated boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Objective Neuropsychological, neuroanatomical, and electrophysiological studies have reported a steady increase in the different attention types until the age of 10 years. Moreover, differences between healthy control (HC) boys and those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) become nonsignificant in late childhood. This cross-sectional study aimed to perform a comparative analysis of attentional processing in boys with ADHD and HC in the 6:00-10:11 years age range. Methods: Age-related changes in attentional processing were compared between Caucasian Turkic boys (72-131 months of age) with ADHD (n = 144) and HC (n = 112). Selective, focused, and inhibitory attention were measured using the Stroop Test (5 scores); sustained attention was measured using the Cancellation Test (3 scores); and attention span was measured using the Visual Aural Digit Span Test-Revised (6 scores). Results: At the age of 6 years, the ADHD group had a significantly lower performance for all attention types. By the age of 10 years, there were no significant between-group differences. However, the component structure of the neuropsychological test scores in the ADHD group differed from that in the HC group and previous studies. Conclusions: Attentional processing in boys with ADHD changes within the age-range of 6:00-10:00 years where it finally becomes similar to that in HC boys. This delayed maturation is consistent with the maturational lag model of ADHD. However, there was a between-group difference in the component structure of attentional processing, which is consistent with the maturational deviance model of ADHD.

Changes in visual attention towards food cues after obesity surgery: An eye-tracking study

Research documented the effectiveness of obesity surgery (OS) for long-term weight loss and improvements in medical and psychosocial sequelae, and general cognitive functioning. However, there is only preliminary evidence for changes in attentional processing of food cues after OS. This study longitudinally investigated visual attention towards food cues from pre- to 1-year post-surgery. Using eye tracking (ET) and a Visual Search Task (VST), attentional processing of food versus non-food cues was assessed in n = 32 patients with OS and n = 31 matched controls without weight-loss treatment at baseline and 1-year follow-up. Associations with experimentally assessed impulsivity and eating disorder psychopathology and the predictive value of changes in visual attention towards food cues for weight loss and eating behaviors were determined. During ET, both groups showed significant gaze duration biases to non-food cues without differences and changes over time. No attentional biases over group and time were found by the VST. Correlations between attentional data and clinical variables were sparse and not robust over time. Changes in visual attention did not predict weight loss and eating disorder psychopathology after OS. The present study provides support for a top-down regulation of visual attention to non-food cues in individuals with severe obesity. No changes in attentional processing of food cues were detected 1-year post-surgery. Further studies are needed with comparable methodology and longer follow-ups to clarify the role of biased visual attention towards food cues for long-term weight outcomes and eating behaviors after OS.

Differential effects of social isolation rearing on glutamate- and GABA-stimulated noradrenaline release in the rat prefrontal cortex and hippocampus

Social isolation rearing (SIR) provides an excellent model of early life adversity to investigate alterations in brain function. Few studies have investigated the effects of SIR on noradrenaline (NE) projections which arise from the locus coeruleus (LC), a system which regulates arousal and attentional processes, including the processing of novelty. In addition, there is a paucity of information on the effects of SIR in females. In this study we investigated the behavioural response to attentional processing of novelty and glutamate- and GABA-stimulated release of noradrenaline in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus (HC) of male and female rats. Sprague Dawley pups were reared in isolated or socialised housing conditions from weaning on postnatal day 21 (P21). At P78-83 animal behaviour was recorded from the three phases of the novel object recognition (NOR) task. Then at P90-94, NE release was measured in the PFC and HC after stimulating the tissue in vitro with either glutamate or GABA. Behaviourally SIR decreased novelty-related behaviour, male isolates showed effects of SIR during the NOR Test phase while female isolates showed effects of SIR during the Habituation phase. SIR PFC NE release was decreased when glutamate stimulation followed GABA stimulation and tended to increase when GABA stimulation followed glutamate stimulation, differences were predominantly due to male isolates. No SIR differences were found for HC. Early life adversity differentially affects the function of the LCNE system in males and females, evidenced by changes in attentional processing of novelty and stimulated noradrenaline release in the PFC.

PREREGISTRATION TO FACILITATE A REPLICABLE SCIENCE OF AGING

Psychology and other sciences have been in the midst of a replication crisis. One proposal to address this crisis is the preregistration of studies, including study hypotheses, methods, measures, and analysis approaches to reduce false positive findings resulting from “experimenter degrees of freedom.” This talk will explore the benefits, and also the challenges, of preregistration, along with common misconceptions about preregistration. A preregistration case study will be presented involving a series of experiments exploring different hypotheses regarding the mechanism behind changes in attentional processing associated with aging (http://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.26). This talk will present a brief tutorial of how to preregister studies and where to preregister them. The importance of preregistration for intervention studies will be emphasized.

Phase of the menstrual cycle affects engagement of attention with emotional images

Changes that occur during the menstrual cycle affect various aspects of behavior, cognition, and emotion. Here, we focused on potential differences between early follicular and midluteal phases in the way women process images of behaviorally relevant content categories: children, threat, disgust, erotic scenes, low- and high-calorie food. Using eye-tracking, we examined women’s engagement of attention in the key region of each image in a free-viewing condition. Specifically, we tested how quickly attention was attracted to these regions and for how long it was held there. Participants took part in two experimental sessions, one in the early follicular and one in the midluteal phase. The results showed that in the midluteal phase attention was attracted to the key region earlier than in the early follicular phase: the first fixation more often fell within the key region and there were fewer fixations preceding it. While the effect of the phase in terms of the capture of attention did not depend on the image category, the effect regarding the hold of attention was category-specific, concerning the disgust category only. Specifically, in the midluteal phase the duration of the exploration of the key region between reaching it for the first time and first exiting it was shorter, which might be due to heightened sensitivity to disgusting stimuli in this period. Overall, our results indicate the occurrence of changes in attentional processing of emotional scenes related to the menstrual cycle, which seem to differ depending on the aspect of attention deployment: in the midluteal phase the effect of enhancing orienting was general and concerned any important visual information, whereas the effect of the shortened hold of attention appeared to be limited to specific content.

Home-delivered attention bias modification training via smartphone to improve attention control in sub-clinical generalized anxiety disorder: A randomized, controlled multi-session experiment.

Mogg and Bradley (2016) proposed that attentional bias (to threat stimuli) among patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) may be associated with the top-down attention control process. Additionally, some scholars (e.g., Enock & McNally, 2013) have designed mobile applications to enable patients to engage in home-delivered attentional bias modification (HD-ABM); however, many problems related to these training systems have not yet been addressed. A total of 82 participants (61 women, mean age = 21.47 y) who received GAD diagnoses were randomly assigned to an HD-ABM (n = 30), placebo training (n = 30), or waiting list (n = 22) group. Both the HD-ABM and placebo groups were trained with the attention training application (through Android phones three times a day for four weeks). (1) All measures of participants' self-reported symptoms (except for trait anxiety) were significantly lower in Week 4 and in the follow-up. (2) Attentional network test (ANT) results demonstrated that all participants' alerting scores significantly increased by Week 4. (3) Participants in the HD-ABM and placebo groups demonstrated significant increases in their self-reported attention control scores, decreases in their attention bias index (ABI) scores, and progress in their executive control abilities. Self-report scales may have been insufficient for measuring effectiveness in the present study. This study helps to elucidate the mechanism underlying changes in attention processes after HD-ABM training implemented through a mobile application in GAD.

Altered Neural Dynamics during a Flanker Attention Task in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes

Background: Patients with type 1 diabetes appear to have deficits in specific cognitive domains, particularly in attention and executive function (1). In this study, we used magnetoencephalography (MEG; 2), a noninvasive functional neuroimaging method, to identify neuronal changes in attention processing in otherwise healthy young adults with type 1 diabetes during euglycemia. Methods: Adults with type 1 diabetes and no micro- or macro-vascular complications (N = 38) completed a visual selective attention task during MEG. A demographically-matched control group without type 1 diabetes was used for comparison. Each trial began with a fixation cross presented centrally, followed by a row of 5 arrows. Participants were asked to respond regarding the direction of the middle arrow (right index finger for left, right middle finger for right) and ignore the flanking arrows that were presented in either the same (congruent condition) or opposite direction (incongruent condition). All MEG data was processed following standard protocols (3), and the resulting images of functional brain activity were examined statistically. Results: While no differences in reaction time or accuracy were found between groups, patients recruited a more widespread network of task relevant brain regions compared to controls, particularly the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate. Patients had a greater alpha increase from baseline in the anterior cingulate (p < .01), an important brain region in attention, and in the prefrontal cortex (p < .01) as compared to controls, likely reflecting compensatory mechanisms at play. Conclusions: These results indicate that type 1 diabetes affects neural activity in attention networks of patients who are otherwise healthy and without major comorbidities, reflecting the recruitment of compensatory neural responses to complete task goals. Disclosure C.M. Embury: None. T.J. McDermott: None. A.I. Wiesman: None. K. Brau: None. C. Desouza: Consultant; Self; Novo Nordisk A/S, Sanofi. Research Support; Self; Merck & Co., Inc.. Advisory Panel; Self; Medscape. A. Drincic: None. T.W. Wilson: None.

Changes in neural activation underlying attention processing of emotional stimuli following treatment with positive search training in anxious children

Prior research indicates that positive search training (PST) may be a promising home-based computerised treatment for childhood anxiety disorders. It explicitly trains anxious individuals in adaptive, goal-directed attention-search strategies to search for positive and calm information and ignore goal-irrelevant negative cues. Although PST reduces anxiety symptoms, its neural effects are unknown. The main aim of this study was to examine changes in neural activation associated with changes in attention processing of positive and negative stimuli from pre- to post-treatment with PST in children with anxiety disorders. Children’s neural activation was assessed with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a visual-probe task indexing attention allocation to threat-neutral and positive-neutral pairs. Results showed pre- to post-treatment reductions in anxiety symptoms and neural reactivity to emotional faces (angry and happy faces, relative to neutral faces) within a broad neural network linking frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital regions. Changes in neural reactivity were highly inter-correlated across regions. Neural reactivity to the threat-bias contrast reduced from pre- to post-treatment in the mid/posterior cingulate cortex. Results are considered in relation to prior research linking anxiety disorders and treatment effects with functioning of a broad limbic-cortical network involved in emotion reactivity and regulation, and integrative functions linking emotion, memory, sensory and motor processes and attention control.

Alterations of attention and impulsivity in the rat following a transgenerational decrease in dietary omega-3 fatty acids

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), particularly the omega-3 PUFAs, are thought to be involved in neuronal processes, to play a role in neurodevelopmental disorders and to be important for the integrity of central nervous system functioning. The present study investigated the effects of nutritional omega-3 PUFAs on attentional functions and impulsive behavior in Wistar rats. For this purpose, female Wistar rats were fed an omega-3 deficient diet over several generations, and the dams of the seventh generation were randomly assigned to two diet groups and fed an omega-3 deficient or an omega-3 sufficient diet. In addition, a group of previously untreated dams was fed an omega-3 sufficient diet. The male offspring of these three diet groups were tested using an established paradigm for the assessment of attention and impulsive behavior, i.e. a modified version of the five-choice-serial-reaction-time task (5CSRTT). The present data show that the deficiency of omega-3 PUFAs over generations led to substantial changes in attentional processes and impulsive behaviors. The impairments associated with an omega-3 deficiency were partly corrected by treatment with the omega-3 sufficient diet in the last generation of the omega-3 deficient group which showed substantial improvements in attention parameters. While there were no significant effects of dietary modifications on psychomotor activity levels, there was some evidence for changes in impulsive behavior. In conclusion, transgenerational dietary changes in the availability of omega-3 PUFAs led to changes in attentional processes and impulsive behavior in rats, supporting the hypothesis that omega-3 PUFAs play a role in cognitive and behavioral processes. The present findings offer a promising approach in the investigation of the role of omega-3 PUFAs in a variety of cognitive and behavioral domains.

Effects of attention bias modification with short and long stimulus-duration: A randomized experiment with individuals with subclinical social anxiety

This study investigated the differential effects of two attention bias modification (ABM) with different stimulus durations. Seventy-two undergraduates with subclinical social anxiety were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: an ABM condition with either a 100-ms or a 500-ms stimulus duration (ABM-100/ ABM-500) or an attention placebo (AP) condition with either a 100-ms or a 500-ms stimulus duration (AP-100/ AP-500). Participants completed the pre-assessments, eight attentional training sessions, and post-assessments. A modified Posner paradigm was used to assess changes in attentional processing. After completion of attentional training, the ABM-100 group significantly speeded up their responses to 100-ms invalid trials, regardless of the word type. The ABM-100 group also exhibited significant reduced latencies to 500-ms invalid social threat trials and a marginally significant reduced latencies to 500-ms invalid neutral trials. The ABM-500 group showed significant reduced latencies to 500-ms invalid social threat trials. Both ABMs significantly reduced participants’ fear of negative evaluations and interactional anxiousness relative to their comparative AP. The effects on social anxiety did not differ between the two ABMs. This study suggests that although both ABMs using short and long stimulus durations reduce some aspects of social anxiety, they influence participants’ attentional disengagement in different ways.

Can't Look Away: An Eye-Tracking Based Attentional Disengagement Training for Depression.

To address shortcomings of purely reaction-time based attentional bias modification (ABM) paradigms, we developed an ABM task that is controlled by eye-tracking. This task allows to assess and train both disengagement from negative pictures and maintained attention to positive pictures. As a proof-of-principle study with an unselected student sample, this positive training (PT; N = 44) was compared to a negative training (NT; N = 42), which reinforced the opposite attentional pattern. Importantly, training trials were completed only if participants performed the correct gaze patterns. Results showed that higher depression levels were associated with slower disengagement from negative stimuli at baseline. As expected, the PT induced longer fixations on positive pictures and faster disengagement from negative pictures. The NT showed no changes in attentional processes. The groups did not differ in mood reactivity and recovery from a stressor. Advantages of using eye-tracking in ABM and potential applications of the training are discussed.

The effect of a single dose of multivitamin and mineral combinations with and without guaraná on functional brain activity during a continuous performance task

Objectives: Relatively few studies have explored the possibility of acute cognitive effects of multivitamin ingestion. This report explores the acute brain electrophysiological changes associated with multivitamin and mineral supplementation, with and without guaraná, using the steady-state visually evoked potential (SSVEP).Methods: Based on the known SSVEP correlates of A-X continuous performance task (CPT) performance, and sensitivity to acute psychopharmacological manipulations, the A-X CPT was adopted as a task paradigm to explore treatment-related neurophysiological changes in attentional processing. Twenty healthy non-smoking adults aged 21–39 years (mean age = 28.35 years, SD = 5.52) took part in this double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, balanced crossover design study.Results: The study demonstrated both transient and tonic changes in the SSVEP response during completion of the A-X CPT following multivitamin and mineral treatment both with and without guaraná. Transient changes in SSVEP response in prefrontal regions were observed after a single dose of a multivitamin and mineral preparation indicative of enhanced activity within brain regions engaged by the attentional demands of the task. This pattern of change in frontal regions was correlated with improved behavioural performance after treatment with the multivitamin and mineral combination. Where tonic shifts in SSVEP response were investigated, multivitamin and mineral treatment was associated with a pattern of increased inhibition across posterior regions, with enhanced excitatory processing in prefrontal regions. In contrast, multivitamin and mineral treatment with additional guaraná showed a tonic shift towards greater excitatory processes after a single treatment, consistent with the caffeine content of this treatment.Discussion: While preliminary in nature, these findings suggest a single multivitamin/mineral dose is sufficient to impact on functional brain activity in task-related brain regions.