Changes In Cognitive State Research Articles

Benzodiazepine Use Disorder and Cognitive Impairment in Older Patients: A Six-Month-Follow-Up Study in an Outpatient Unit in Barcelona

Adverse health effects including cognitive impairment have been described in older adults with benzodiazepine misuse, although the literature about this issue is scarce. The present study aimed to assess cognitive decline in older adults with benzodiazepine use disorder and changes in cognitive state at the 6-month follow-up, as well as whether patients achieved abstinence. A 6-month follow-up longitudinal study was conducted in an outpatient drug center in Barcelona in a sample of older adults (≥65 years old) who had benzodiazepine use disorder. The sample was compared with an equivalent control group. A neuropsychological protocol was performed at baseline and after 6-month follow-up covering the most important cognitive domains. The final sample comprised 33 patients with an average age of 73.5 years. At baseline, patients presented impairment in several domains compared with the control group: visual immediate recall (p < .001), visual delayed recall (p < .001), copy (p < .001), working memory (p < .003), immediate verbal learning (p < .002), total words learned (p < .009), set switching (p < .001), verbal fluency (p < .007), speed processing (p < .002), solving problems (p < .006), nonverbal fluency (p < .004), and sustained attention in all three areas omissions (p < .001), variability (p < .001), and perseverance (p < .005). At 6-month follow-up, patients achieving abstinence showed improvement compared with patients in active consumption in visual delayed recall (p < .006), total words learned (p < .010), and verbal fluency (p < .013). Benzodiazepine misuse in older adults may produce negative effects on cognitive skills. Recovery of some of these cognitive deficits may be possible with benzodiazepine abstinence.

Modeling brain dynamic state changes with adaptive mixture independent component analysis

There is a growing interest in neuroscience in assessing the continuous, endogenous, and nonstationary dynamics of brain network activity supporting the fluidity of human cognition and behavior. This non-stationarity may involve ever-changing formation and dissolution of active cortical sources and brain networks. However, unsupervised approaches to identify and model these changes in brain dynamics as continuous transitions between quasi-stable brain states using unlabeled, noninvasive recordings of brain activity have been limited. This study explores the use of adaptive mixture independent component analysis (AMICA) to model multichannel electroencephalographic (EEG) data with a set of ICA models, each of which decomposes an adaptively learned portion of the data into statistically independent sources. We first show that AMICA can segment simulated quasi-stationary EEG data and accurately identify ground-truth sources and source model transitions. Next, we demonstrate that AMICA decomposition, applied to 6–13 channel scalp recordings from the CAP Sleep Database, can characterize sleep stage dynamics, allowing 75% accuracy in identifying transitions between six sleep stages without use of EEG power spectra. Finally, applied to 30-channel data from subjects in a driving simulator, AMICA identifies models that account for EEG during faster and slower response to driving challenges, respectively. We show changes in relative probabilities of these models allow effective prediction of subject response speed and moment-by-moment characterization of state changes within single trials. AMICA thus provides a generic unsupervised approach to identifying and modeling changes in EEG dynamics. Applied to continuous, unlabeled multichannel data, AMICA may likely be used to detect and study any changes in cognitive states.

Unsupervised Discovery of Demixed, Low-Dimensional Neural Dynamics across Multiple Timescales through Tensor Component Analysis

Perceptions, thoughts, and actions unfold over millisecond timescales, while learned behaviors can require many days to mature. While recent experimental advances enable large-scale and long-term neural recordings with high temporal fidelity, it remains a formidable challenge to extract unbiased and interpretable descriptions of how rapid single-trial circuit dynamics change slowly over many trials to mediate learning. We demonstrate a simple tensor component analysis (TCA) can meet this challenge by extracting three interconnected, low-dimensional descriptions of neural data: neuron factors, reflecting cell assemblies; temporal factors, reflecting rapid circuit dynamics mediating perceptions, thoughts, and actions within each trial; and trial factors, describing both long-term learning and trial-to-trial changes in cognitive state. We demonstrate the broad applicability of TCA by revealing insights intodiverse datasets derived from artificial neural networks, large-scale calcium imaging of rodent prefrontal cortex during maze navigation, and multielectrode recordings of macaque motor cortex during brain machine interface learning.

S69. A CASE STUDY OF CLOZAPINE AND COGNITION: FRIEND OR FOE?

BackgroundCognitive dysfunction is as a hallmark feature of schizophrenia. Antipsychotic medication is effective for treating the positive symptoms of psychosis, but their potential for therapeutic effects on cognition continues to divide researchers.Improvements in clinical symptoms can occur independently of cognitive functioning, whereby typical antipsychotics improve different clinical domains, but have little or no efficacy for improving primary cognitive functions. However, it has been suggested that the second-generation antipsychotic clozapine can improve cognition in schizophrenia. Unusual cases, such as remitted patients who decide to stop taking clozapine, thus represent a unique opportunity to understand the effect of antipsychotic medication on cognition, as described in the case study below.MethodsA 38-year old man suffered severe psychotic episodes at age 19, leading to a diagnosis of treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Clozapine was initiated at age 21, with excellent treatment response and complete remission of positive, negative and depressive symptoms. For the following 16 years, he had a full-time paid job, lived independently and had an ample social circle. For the last five years, he was stable and compliant taking 175 mg of clozapine, with clozapine levels in sub-therapeutic range (between 0.17 and 0.26 mg/L). He had no metabolic syndrome and no oversedation, but complained of hypersalivation and persistent memory problems. He decided, against advice, that medication was no longer needed and requested support for waning off clozapine.A five-month program was subsequently implemented, with 25 mg reductions of clozapine every six weeks. Four enhanced assessments were scheduled after two weeks on stable doses of 125, 75, 25 and 0 mg, respectively, which included the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) and the Clinical Global Impression-Schizophrenia scale (CGI-SCH).ResultsAt each level of clozapine dose, the patient continued to be stable. However, the patient showed impaired cognitive performance at the highest dose of clozapine titration (see T-scores from Table and figure), with improvements then shown at each level of dose reduction (75 and 25 mg). The final assessment was done after 6 weeks of not taking medication. At this time, he was admitted to hospital for psychotic relapse. Unfortunately, the patient refused to re-initiate clozapine and has remained floridly psychotic for 18 months.Our case suggests that cognitive impairment is dose-dependent with clozapine. As presented, the t-score of the patient at 125 mg was worse than normative data reported for healthy controls (z-score=0.50) and patients with schizophrenia treated with other first-or second generation antipsychotics (z-score=-1.42). However, cognitive performance of the patient was most notably impaired when medication-free.DiscussionThe longterm effects of high-dose antipsychotic medication on cognition in patients with schizophrenia are largely unknown. It is also possible that changes in cognitive states are either domain-specific with clozapine. Nonetheless, daily antipsychotic dose and polypharmacy have been shown to predict poor cognitive functioning.The present case is also a reminder that the appropriate long-term maintenance dose of clozapine is poorly understood. As this case suggests, the current recommended therapeutic levels of clozapine (0.35 to 0.50 mg/L) might be unnecessarily high for patients in full remission. Controlled studies are therefore needed to evaluate the potential for cognitive improvements in schizophrenia as a function of reduced clozapine dose, to ensure the optimal delivery needed not just for good clinical but also good cognitive outcome.

Alcohol use disorder and cognitive impairment in old age patients: A 6 months follow-up study in an outpatient unit in Barcelona

There has been little research about deleterious effects, including cognitive impairment, related to hazardous long-term alcohol use in old adults. This study aims to assess cognitive decline in old patients with alcohol use disorder and changes in cognitive state at 6 months follow-up, achieving or not abstinence. A six-month follow-up study was conducted in an outpatient center in Barcelona on a sample of old adults (≥65 years old) who had hazardous alcohol use. The sample was compared with healthy volunteers adjusted for age, sex and years of education. A neuropsychological protocol was performed at baseline and after 6 months follow-up covering four cognitive domains: attention, visuospatial abilities, memory and executive functions. Several domains were significant impaired at baseline: visual immediate and delayed recall, working memory, immediate verbal learning, total words learned, set switching and sustained attention. At 6 months reassessment, alcohol abstinence was achieved in 93.5% of patients and it was detected a trend towards improvement in direct mean scores of all cognitive areas, although it was not significant. The current study points out a cognitive impairment in many areas secondary to alcohol long-term hazardous use in old adults. A trend towards cognitive improvement after recovery was detected in most patients.

Test Your Memory is sensitive to cognitive change but lacks prospective validity

ObjectiveTo determine the prospective validity of Test Your Memory (TYM) and its sensitivity to change in cognitive state. Type of studyLongitudinal prospective. MethodsThis longitudinal prospective study followed 71 patients with subjective cognitive symptoms and 48 with mild cognitive impairment for a mean time period of 35.2±15 months. Subjects did not have dementia or depression at the beginning of follow-up and each participant was given the TYM at least two times. A psychometric threshold was established to determine presence of a cognitive deficit (z-score≤1.5 on at least one cognitive domain) and the Disability Assessment for Dementia scale was used to ensure full functional ability. The criterion for deterioration was a change in the stage on the Global Deterioration Scale. ResultsSixty-one patients remained cognitively stable and 58 worsened. There were no differences between them with respect to sex, educational attainment, the initial stage on the GDS, or the score on the first TYM. Subjects who worsened were older than those who did not. The TYM increased an average of 0.04 points per month in patients who remained stable or improved (95% CI, −0.01 to 0.08) and decreased an average of 0.14 points per month in those whose condition worsened (95% CI, −0.19 to −0.09). Subjects with mild cognitive impairment who worsened displayed a sharper loss of TYM points than did subjects with subjective cognitive symptoms. ConclusionsWhile the TYM lacks prospective validity, it is sensitive to changes in cognitive state.

Reveal Consistent Spatial-Temporal Patterns from Dynamic Functional Connectivity for Autism Spectrum Disorder Identification.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) provides a non-invasive way to investigate brain activity. Recently, convergent evidence shows that the correlations of spontaneous fluctuations between two distinct brain regions dynamically change even in resting state, due to the condition-dependent nature of brain activity. Thus, quantifying the patterns of functional connectivity (FC) in a short time period and changes of FC over time can potentially provide valuable insight into both individual-based diagnosis and group comparison. In light of this, we propose a novel computational method to robustly estimate both static and dynamic spatial-temporal connectivity patterns from the observed noisy signals of individual subject. We achieve this goal in two folds: (1) Construct static functional connectivity across brain regions. Due to low signal-to-noise ratio induced by possible non-neural noise, the estimated FC strength is very sensitive and it is hard to define a good threshold to distinguish between real and spurious connections. To alleviate this issue, we propose to optimize FC which is in consensus with not only the low level region-to-region signal correlations but also the similarity of high level principal connection patterns learned from the estimated link-to-link connections. Since brain network is intrinsically sparse, we also encourage sparsity during FC optimization. (2) Characterize dynamic functional connectivity along time. It is hard to synchronize the estimated dynamic FC patterns and the real cognitive state changes, even using learning-based methods. To address these limitations, we further extend above FC optimization method into the spatial-temporal domain by arranging the FC estimations along a set of overlapped sliding windows into a tensor structure as the window slides. Then we employ low rank constraint in the temporal domain assuming there are likely a small number of discrete states that the brain transverses during a short period of time. We applied the learned spatial-temporal patterns from fMRI images to identify autism subjects. Promising classification results have been achieved, suggesting high discrimination power and great potentials in computer assisted diagnosis.

State and Trait Components of Functional Connectivity: Individual Differences Vary with Mental State

Resting-state functional connectivity, as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), is often treated as a trait, used, for example, to draw inferences about individual differences in cognitive function, or differences between healthy or diseased populations. However, functional connectivity can also depend on the individual's mental state. In the present study, we examined the relative contribution of state and trait components in shaping an individual's functional architecture. We used fMRI data from a large, population-based human sample (N = 587, age 18-88 years), as part of the Cambridge Centre for Aging and Neuroscience (Cam-CAN), which were collected in three mental states: resting, performing a sensorimotor task, and watching a movie. Whereas previous studies have shown commonalities across mental states in the average functional connectivity across individuals, we focused on the effects of states on the pattern of individual differences in functional connectivity. We found that state effects were as important as trait effects in shaping individual functional connectivity patterns, each explaining an approximately equal amount of variance. This was true when we looked at aging, as one specific dimension of individual differences, as well as when we looked at generic aspects of individual variation. These results show that individual differences in functional connectivity consist of state-dependent aspects, as well as more stable, trait-like characteristics. Studying individual differences in functional connectivity across a wider range of mental states will therefore provide a more complete picture of the mechanisms underlying factors such as cognitive ability, aging, and disease. The brain's functional architecture is remarkably similar across different individuals and across different mental states, which is why many studies use functional connectivity as a trait measure. Despite these trait-like aspects, functional connectivity varies over time and with changes in cognitive state. We measured connectivity in three different states to quantify the size of the trait-like component of functional connectivity, compared with the state-dependent component. Our results show that studying individual differences within one state (such as resting) uncovers only part of the relevant individual differences in brain function, and that the study of functional connectivity under multiple mental states is essential to disentangle connectivity differences that are transient versus those that represent more stable, trait-like characteristics of an individual.

El Test Your Memory es sensible al cambio cognitivo pero carece de validez prospectiva

ObjectiveTo determine the prospective validity of Test Your Memory (TYM) and its sensitivity to change in cognitive state. MethodsThis longitudinal prospective study followed 71 patients with subjective cognitive symptoms and 48 with mild cognitive impairment for a mean time period of 35.2±15 months. Subjects did not have dementia or depression at the beginning of follow-up and each participant was given the TYM at least two times. A psychometric threshold was established to determine presence of a cognitive deficit (z-score≤1.5 on at least one cognitive domain) and the Disability Assessment for Dementia scale was used to ensure full functional ability. The criterion for deterioration was a change in the stage on the Global Deterioration Scale. ResultsSixty-one patients remained cognitively stable and 58 worsened. There were no differences between them with respect to sex, educational attainment, the initial stage on the GDS, or the score on the first TYM. Subjects who worsened were older than those who did not. The TYM increased an average of 0.04 points per month in patients who remained stable or improved (95% CI, -0.01 to 0.08) and decreased an average of 0.14 points per month in those whose condition worsened (95% CI, -0.19 to -0.09). Subjects with mild cognitive impairment who worsened displayed a sharper loss of TYM points than did subjects with subjective cognitive symptoms. ConclusionsWhile the TYM lacks prospective validity, it is sensitive to changes in cognitive state.

Knowledge Structure Measures of Reader’s Situation Models Across Languages: Translation Engenders Richer Structure

In order to further validate and extend the application of recent knowledge structure (KS) measures to second language settings, this investigation explores how second language (L2, English) situation models are influenced by first language (L1, Korean) translation tasks. Fifty Korean low proficient English language learners were asked to read an L2 story and then complete L2 concept map and summary writing tasks, with or without an intervening L1 production tasks (Translated versus Directed conditions). Posttest comprehension was measured using the TOEFL multiple-choice items associated with the story (both in L2). KS elicited as concept maps and as text summaries were used to represent the situation models before, during, and after writing. For analysis, all of the participants’ maps and writing artifacts were converted into Pathfinder Networks (PFNets) that were analyzed using two distinctly different approaches, correlation of the raw proximity data and also degree centrality of the PFNets, in order to analyze the PFNets statistically and to visually describe KS cognitive state changes over time. The correlation results showed that the Translated Writing participants’ L2 KS relative to the Directed Writing condition are more similar to that of an expert and are significantly correlated with comprehension posttest scores. Including L1 tasks substantially improved the qualities of the L2 KS artifacts and underlying mental structures related to reading comprehension. In addition, the average centrality results showed that the KS ‘form’ of the participants’ PFNets who translated were relational network structures relative to the Directed Writing group’s (English only) PFNets that had a more linear structure that matched the text surface structure, suggesting a fundamental way that L1 and L2 cognitive processing differs.

Efficacy and tolerability of low-dose oral prolonged-release oxycodone/naloxone for chronic nononcological pain in older patients.

PurposeChronic pain is highly prevalent in older adults. Increasing evidence indicates strong opioids as a valid option for chronic pain management in geriatrics. The aim of this study was to evaluate efficacy and safety of low-dose oral prolonged-release oxycodone–naloxone (OXN-PR) in patients aged ≥70 years.MethodsThis open-label prospective study assessed older patients naïve to strong opioids presenting with moderate-to-severe chronic pain. Patients were prescribed OXN-PR at an initial dose of 10/5 mg/day for 28 days. In case of insufficient analgesia, the initial daily dose could be increased gradually. The primary efficacy measure was change in pain intensity from baseline, assessed by a ten-point Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) at day 28 (T28). Changes in cognitive state, daily functioning, quality of life, constipation, and other adverse events were assessed.ResultsOf 53 patients enrolled (mean 81.7±6.2 years [range 70–92 years]), 52 (98.1%) completed the 28-day observation. At T28, the primary end point (≥30% reduction in mean pain from baseline in the absence of bowel function deterioration) was achieved in 38 patients (71.7%). OXN-PR significantly relieved pain (NRS score –3.26; P<0.0001), as well as daily need for rescue paracetamol (from 86.8% at baseline to 40.4% at T28; P<0.001), and reduced impact of pain on daily activities (Brief Pain Inventory Short Form from 6.2±1.5 to 3.4±2.1; P<0.0001). OXN-PR was also associated with significant improvement in daily functioning (Barthel Index from 53.3±14.1 to 61.3±14.3; P<0.01). No changes were observed in cognitive status and bowel function. OXN-PR was well tolerated; only one patient (1.9%) prematurely withdrew from treatment, due to drowsiness.ConclusionFindings from this open-label prospective study suggest that low-dose OXN-PR may be effective and well tolerated for treatment of moderate-to-severe chronic pain in older patients. Besides its effectiveness, these data indicate that low-dose OXN-PR may be considered a safe analgesic option in this fragile population and warrants further investigation in randomized controlled studies.

Modeling temporal sequences of cognitive state changes based on a combination of EEG-engagement, EEG-workload, and heart rate metrics.

The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility of physiological metrics such as ECG-derived heart rate and EEG-derived cognitive workload and engagement as potential predictors of performance on different training tasks. An unsupervised approach based on self-organizing neural network (NN) was utilized to model cognitive state changes over time. The feature vector comprised EEG-engagement, EEG-workload, and heart rate metrics, all self-normalized to account for individual differences. During the competitive training process, a linear topology was developed where the feature vectors similar to each other activated the same NN nodes. The NN model was trained and auto-validated on combat marksmanship training data from 51 participants that were required to make “deadly force decisions” in challenging combat scenarios. The trained NN model was cross validated using 10-fold cross-validation. It was also validated on a golf study in which additional 22 participants were asked to complete 10 sessions of 10 putts each. Temporal sequences of the activated nodes for both studies followed the same pattern of changes, demonstrating the generalization capabilities of the approach. Most node transition changes were local, but important events typically caused significant changes in the physiological metrics, as evidenced by larger state changes. This was investigated by calculating a transition score as the sum of subsequent state transitions between the activated NN nodes. Correlation analysis demonstrated statistically significant correlations between the transition scores and subjects' performances in both studies. This paper explored the hypothesis that temporal sequences of physiological changes comprise the discriminative patterns for performance prediction. These physiological markers could be utilized in future training improvement systems (e.g., through neurofeedback), and applied across a variety of training environments.

P458-1: Preventing gastrointestinal damage by monitoring patients with high risk medication

Materials and Methods: This prospective study analyzed the data of 53 older patients naive to strong opioids, and presenting with chronic pain of moderate to severe intensity. Patients were prescribed a 28-day treatment with PR OXN. In case of insufficient analgesia, the initial daily dose of PR OXN (10/5mg) could be gradually increased. The primary efficacy measure was the change in pain intensity, assessed by a 10-point NRS, from baseline to 28 days (T28). Changes in cognitive state, daily functioning, quality of life and constipation were also analyzed. Tolerability was assessed by recording adverse events (AEs). Results: 52 enrolled patients, whose median age was 81.7±6.2 years, completed the 28-day treatment. PR OXN significantly relieved pain symptoms, with a clinically relevant decrease of the mean NRS score from 6.68 to 3.41. PR OXN was also associated with significant improvements in daily functioning, mood and quality of life. No changes were observed in cognitive status and bowel function. Conclusions: Low-dose PR OXN appears as an effective and welltolerated alternative to traditional analgesics for the treatment of moderate-to-severe chronic pain, even in geriatric patients. Besides its effectiveness, PR OXN should be intended a safe treatment in the elderly.

P458-2: Pharmaceutical care of renally-impaired patients during hospitalization

Materials and Methods: This prospective study analyzed the data of 53 older patients naive to strong opioids, and presenting with chronic pain of moderate to severe intensity. Patients were prescribed a 28-day treatment with PR OXN. In case of insufficient analgesia, the initial daily dose of PR OXN (10/5mg) could be gradually increased. The primary efficacy measure was the change in pain intensity, assessed by a 10-point NRS, from baseline to 28 days (T28). Changes in cognitive state, daily functioning, quality of life and constipation were also analyzed. Tolerability was assessed by recording adverse events (AEs). Results: 52 enrolled patients, whose median age was 81.7±6.2 years, completed the 28-day treatment. PR OXN significantly relieved pain symptoms, with a clinically relevant decrease of the mean NRS score from 6.68 to 3.41. PR OXN was also associated with significant improvements in daily functioning, mood and quality of life. No changes were observed in cognitive status and bowel function. Conclusions: Low-dose PR OXN appears as an effective and welltolerated alternative to traditional analgesics for the treatment of moderate-to-severe chronic pain, even in geriatric patients. Besides its effectiveness, PR OXN should be intended a safe treatment in the elderly.

Extraterrestrial contact: Creating xenolinguistic sonic messages for extraterrestrial communication – Ether Ship electronic music orchestrations in the Anza-Borrego Desert

Abstract Communication with other life forms in our universe has been an ongoing effort most notably conducted by the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Project (SETI). Whereas SETI uses a network of radio telescopes to search for frequencies that may indicate intelligent design, there are also attempts to communicate with extraterrestrials by using different ways to listen for messages as well as send messages. This article outlines a phenomenological approach that includes changes in cognition due to the creation of electronic sounds mixed with stellar acoustics, radio frequencies, and natural and manmade sounds as a way of experiencing changes in cognitive states. These cognitive states may be related to a conscious contact with other life forms not from our world. In this sense it is a galactic approach to interspecies communication.

Combined neurostimulation and neuroimaging in cognitive neuroscience: past, present, and future

Modern neurostimulation approaches in humans provide controlled inputs into the operations of cortical regions, with highly specific behavioral consequences. This enables causal structure–function inferences, and in combination with neuroimaging, has provided novel insights into the basic mechanisms of action of neurostimulation on distributed networks. For example, more recent work has established the capacity of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to probe causal interregional influences, and their interaction with cognitive state changes. Combinations of neurostimulation and neuroimaging now face the challenge of integrating the known physiological effects of neurostimulation with theoretical and biological models of cognition, for example, when theoretical stalemates between opposing cognitive theories need to be resolved. This will be driven by novel developments, including biologically informed computational network analyses for predicting the impact of neurostimulation on brain networks, as well as novel neuroimaging and neurostimulation techniques. Such future developments may offer an expanded set of tools with which to investigate structure–function relationships, and to formulate and reconceptualize testable hypotheses about complex neural network interactions and their causal roles in cognition.

The embodiment of focus: Investigating the impact of leaning behavior on our cognitive state and other's perception of our cognitive state.

The emerging literature on embodied cognition highlights the role that the body plays in cognitive and affective processes. We investigated whether different body postures, specifically leaning postures thought to reflect different states of cognitive focus, can impact cognitive focus and task performance. In three experiments we confirmed that different postures are perceived reliably by others to convey distinct and different states of cognitive focus. However, the individuals who actually adopted the postures did not experience any subjective change in cognitive focus nor demonstrate any influence of leaning posture on performance across a range of tasks that varied in their naturalness and complexity. Only by instructing participants to adopt a posture associated with a focused or unfocused cognitive state did an association between performance and posture emerge. These data indicate that changes in one's body do not necessarily yield a reliable change in one's cognitive state, even when (a) those changes in body are reliably perceived by others as inducing a change in cognitive state, and (b) changes in cognitive state lead to robust changes in the body. In light of these findings, we propose two related accounts that point to leaning behavior as being the result of one's increasing need to focus. Thus, rather than influencing cognitive state, leaning behavior may instead reflect the embodiment of one's cognitive state of focus.

ON THE OFFENSE: USING CYBER WEAPONS TO INFLUENCE COGNITIVE BEHAVIOR

There is an increasing recognition that cyber warfare is an important area of development for targeting and weaponeering, with far-reaching effects in national defense and economic security. The ability to conduct effective operations in cyberspace relies on a robust situational awareness of events occurring in both the physical and information domains, with an understanding of how they affect the cognitive domain of friendly, neutral, and adversary population sets. The dynamic nature of the battlefield complicates efforts to understand shifting adversary motivations and intentions. There are very few approaches, to date, that systematically evaluate the effects of the repertoire of cyber weapons on the cognitive, perceptual, and behavioral characteristics of the adversary. In this paper, we describe a software environment called Cognitive Cyber Weapon Selection Tool (CCWST) that simulates a scenario involving cyber weaponry. This tool provides the capabilities to test weapons which may induce behavioral state changes in the adversaries. CCWST provides the required situational awareness to the Cyber Information Operations (IO) planner to conduct intelligent weapon selection during weapon activation in order to induce the desired behavioral change in the perception of the adversary. Weapons designed to induce the cognitive state changes of deception, distraction, distrust and confusion were then tested empirically to evaluate the capabilities and expected cognitive state changes induced by these weapons. The results demonstrated that CCWST is a powerful environment within which to test and evaluate the impact of cyber weapons on influencing cognitive behavioral states during information processing. To cite this document: Preethi Vinayak Ponangi, Phani Kidambi, Dhananjai Rao, Narasimha Edala, Mary Fendley, Michael W. Haas, and S. Narayanan, On the offense: Using cyber weapons to influence cognitive behavior, International Journal of Cyber Society and Education, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 127-150, 2012. Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.7903/ijcse.1101

Cooperating Triangle? Incidental Learning Gloss Types and Motivation

Lexical competence is one of the core elements of communicative competence (Coady &amp; Huckin, 1997). The present study is an attempt to investigate the role of two types of glosses and their influences on lexical competence, especially their relationships with incidental vocabulary learning. In addition, this study tries to examine the influence of motivation and its effect on/or relationship to incidental vocabulary acquisition. Fifty-eight university students of English as a foreign language took part in this study. A list of twenty L1 and L2 glosses, were administered among the participants and they were required to read the passage by the help of these glosses. After each session of treatment, a version of State Rating Task was used to show the participants’ change of cognitive state. After the last session of treatment, participants were required to fill out a motivation questionnaire to find the relationship between incidental vocabulary learning and their motivation. The findings indicate that incidental process of learning vocabulary in the form of glosses have contribution to a change in participants’ cognitive state, but regarding the type of glosses, this contribution varies. The analysis of motivation questionnaire showed that learners involved in incidental vocabulary learning were instrumentally motivated.

Modelling Cognitive Decline in the Hypertension in the Very Elderly Trial [HYVET] and Proposed Risk Tables for Population Use

IntroductionAlthough, on average, cognition declines with age, cognition in older adults is a dynamic process. Hypertension is associated with greater decline in cognition with age, but whether treatment of hypertension affects this is uncertain. Here, we modelled dynamics of cognition in relation to the treatment of hypertension, to see if treatment effects might better be discerned by a model that included baseline measures of cognition and consequent mortalityMethodology/Principal FindingsThis is a secondary analysis of the Hypertension in the Very Elderly Trial (HYVET), a double blind, placebo controlled trial of indapamide, with or without perindopril, in people aged 80+ years at enrollment. Cognitive states were defined in relation to errors on the Mini-Mental State Examination, with more errors signifying worse cognition. Change in cognitive state was evaluated using a dynamic model of cognitive transition. In the model, the probabilities of transitions between cognitive states is represented by a Poisson distribution, with the Poisson mean dependent on the baseline cognitive state.The dynamic model of cognitive transition was good (R2 = 0.74) both for those on placebo and (0.86) for those on active treatment. The probability of maintaining cognitive function, based on baseline function, was slightly higher in the actively treated group (e.g., for those with the fewest baseline errors, the chance of staying in that state was 63% for those on treatment, compared with 60% for those on placebo). Outcomes at two and four years could be predicted based on the initial state and treatment.Conclusions/SignificanceA dynamic model of cognition that allows all outcomes (cognitive worsening, stability improvement or death) to be categorized simultaneously detected small but consistent differences between treatment and control groups (in favour of treatment) amongst very elderly people treated for hypertension. The model showed good fit, and suggests that most change in cognition in very elderly people is small, and depends on their baseline state and on treatment. Additional work is needed to understand whether this modelling approach is well suited to the valuation of small effects, especially in the face of mortality differences between treatment groups.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT0012281