Availability Of Cognitive Resources Research Articles

Mood-induced changes in the cortical processing of food images in bulimia nervosa

BackgroundNegative mood often triggers binge eating in bulimia nervosa (BN). We investigated motivational salience as a possible underlying mechanism using event-related potentials (ERPs) as indicators of motivated attention allocation (P300) and sustained processing (LPP). MethodsWe collected ERPs (P300: 350–400 ms; LPP: 600–1000 ms) from 21 women with full-syndrome or partially remitted BN and 21 healthy women (HC), matched for age and body mass index. Idiosyncratic negative and neutral situations were used to induce corresponding mood states (counterbalanced), before participants viewed images of high- and low-calorie foods and neutral objects, and provided ratings for pleasantness and desire to eat. ResultsP300 was larger for foods than objects; LPP was largest for high-calorie foods, followed by low-calorie foods, then objects. The BN group showed an increased desire to eat high-calorie foods under negative mood and stronger mood induction effects on ERPs than the HC group, with generally reduced P300 and a small increase in LPP for high-calorie foods. Effects were limited to circumscribed electrode positions. Exploratory analyses showed clearer effects when comparing high vs. low emotional eaters. ConclusionWe argue that negative mood decreased the availability of cognitive resources (decreased P300) in BN, thereby facilitating disinhibition and food cravings (increased desire-to-eat ratings). Increased sustained processing might be linked to emotional eating tendencies rather than BN pathology per se, and reflect approach motivation, conflict, or regulatory processes. Negative mood appears to induce complex changes in food image processing, whose understanding may contribute to the development of tailored interventions in the future.

Individual differences impact memory for a crime: A study on executive functions resources.

Previous studies demonstrated that memory accuracy is affected by the availability of the individual's cognitive resources. A predominant role in complex cognition has been postulated for executive functions (EF). The aim of the present study was to verify if there are differences in remembering a crime with respect to the individual's EF availability (i.e., Shifting, Inhibition, and Updating). We showed participants a video of a violent crime. Next, they were requested to imagine to be an eyewitness of the crime and report a testimony as detailed as possible. A subsequent memory test was run after ten days. EF resources were assessed in a third session through three neuropsychological tasks. Findings showed that high EF individuals reported more correct details and fewer memory distortions (i.e., omissions and commissions) than low EF individuals. Our results underline that individual EF resources are implicated in the recalling of an event.

Pupillary Responses Indicate Working Memory Processing Differences: Implications For Healthy And Clinical Populations

Task-evoked pupillary responses (PR) are established psychophysiological measures for neural resource allocation. During working memory tasks, pupils dilate proportional to increasing cognitive demands and constrict when demands exceed resource availability. PRs have demonstrated greater sensitivity to load-dependent processing differences in clinical populations, beyond performance accuracy, under high cognitive demands. Few studies have examined concussion history, sex, and performance accuracy effects on PRs across varying cognitive load levels. PURPOSE: To examine effects of concussion history, sex, and performance accuracy on PR in healthy individuals during a digit-span task. METHODS: Participants self-reported sex (female vs. male) and concussion history (yes vs. no), and completed a backwards digit-span task in a single testing session. A virtual reality headset with 60Hz infrared eye tracking displayed the task and recorded pupil size fluctuations. Pupil size (diameter in mm) was recorded before each trial (baseline=3sec) and following randomly presented digit sequences between 4 and 14 digits long (retention=2sec). PR was calculated as the mean size during retention, normalized to mean baseline. Accuracy was calculated as the proportion of correctly recalled digits by serial position. A mixed effects model examined concussion history, sex, and accuracy effects on PR across sequence-lengths (a priori α=0.05). RESULTS: 40 participants were included [age=21.9±2.1years; males=50%; 17 (43%) with concussion history]. There were significant effects of sex (F1,36=15.66, p<0.001) and accuracy (F1,2588=4.70, p<0.03) on overall relative PR controlling for all other model predictors and interactions. Specifically, females exhibited smaller mean PRs compared to males. Smaller mean PRs were also associated with higher average task accuracy. CONCLUSION: In our study, females exhibited smaller overall pupillary responses during a digit-span working memory task compared to males, indicating potential sex-dependent processing differences. The association between better task accuracy and smaller PRs may further support PR meauress to better inform neurocognitive processing differences in healthy and clinical populations, when demands exceed cognitive resource availability.

Association of Early-Life Cognitive Enrichment With Alzheimer Disease Pathological Changes and Cognitive Decline

Indicators of early-life cognitive enrichment (ELCE) have been associated with slower cognitive decline and decreased dementia in late life. However, the mechanisms underlying this association have not been elucidated. To examine the association of ELCE with late-life Alzheimer disease (AD) and other common dementia-related pathological changes. This clinical-pathological community-based cohort study, the Rush Memory and Aging Project, followed up participants before death for a mean (SD) of 7.0 (3.8) years with annual cognitive and clinical assessments. From January 1, 1997, through June 30, 2019, 2044 participants enrolled, of whom 1018 died. Postmortem data were leveraged from 813 participants. Data were analyzed from April 12, 2019, to February 20, 2020. Four indicators of ELCE (early-life socioeconomic status, availability of cognitive resources at 12 years of age, frequency of participation in cognitively stimulating activities, and early-life foreign language instruction) were obtained by self-report at the study baseline, from which a composite measure of ELCE was derived. A continuous global AD pathology score derived from counts of diffuse plaques, neuritic plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles. The 813 participants included in the analysis had a mean (SD) age of 90.1 (6.3) years at the time of death, and 562 (69%) were women. In a linear regression model controlled for age at death, sex, and educational level, a higher level of ELCE was associated with a lower global AD pathology score (estimate, -0.057; standard error, 0.022; P = .01). However, ELCE was not associated with any other dementia-related pathological changes. In addition, a higher level of ELCE was associated with less cognitive decline (mean [SD], -0.13 [0.19] units per year; range, -1.74 to 0.85). An indirect effect through AD pathological changes constituted 20% of the association between ELCE and the rate of late-life cognitive decline, and 80% was a direct association. These findings suggest that ELCE was associated with better late-life cognitive health, in part through an association with fewer AD pathological changes.

Choose Quickly! The Influence of Cognitive Resource Availability on the Preference between the Intuitive and Externally Recommended Options

The issue addressed by this research is when does a decision-maker select his or her intuitive, default, option and when the option suggested by someone else? We introduce the idea that cognitive resource availability is a key to this question. When there are limited cognitive resources available either due to knowledge deficiencies or, perhaps, time pressure then the default option is more likely to be selected. When there is plenty of cognitive resource available, then it is more likely that a decision favoring a recommended option is made. We support this hypothesis with three experiments; within the context of buying a digital camera, in the Ultimatum Game, and in a decoy choice situation. The findings have significance in that they support and explicate current theory, and also to practice in that there are public services, as well as competitive business situations, when a particular choice outcome is socially beneficial.

Relationship between decline in cognitive resources and physical activity.

This study aimed to test whether the level of cognitive resources explains engagement in physical activity across aging and whether the age-related decline of cognitive resources precede the decline in physical activity. Data from 105,206 adults aged 50 to 90 years from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) were used in adjusted linear mixed models to examine whether the engagement in moderate physical activity and its evolution across aging were dependent on cognitive resources. Cognitive resources and physical activity were measured 5 times over a 12-year period. Delayed recall, verbal fluency, and the level of education were used as indicators of cognitive resources. The frequency of engagement in moderate physical activity was self-reported. Dynamic structural equation models (SEM) were used to assess the temporal precedence of changes in cognitive resources and physical activity. Lower cognitive resources were associated with lower levels and steeper decreases in moderate physical activity across aging. Results further revealed a time-ordered effect with a stronger influence of cognitive resources (delayed recall and verbal fluency) on subsequent changes in moderate physical activity than the opposite. These findings suggest that, after age 50, the level of engagement in moderate physical activity and its trajectory depend on the availability of cognitive resources. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of working memory training on emotion regulation: Transdiagnostic review.

Working memory training is widely used transdiagnostically to improve cognition. However, more recently, studies using working memory training packages have targeted emotion-regulation outcomes to determine whether far transfer effects can be achieved. A narrative review is conducted of studies that have used standardized computerized working memory training packages across healthy volunteers, affect, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and eating disordered populations with emotion-regulation outcomes. Working memory training has been used in children, adolescents, and adults to improve emotion regulation. Many studies have reported gains in mood as well as emotion-regulation strategies following working memory training, regardless of clinical indication and whether near transfer gains were achieved in cognitive domains. Significant emotion-regulation outcomes include: state and trait anxiety, rumination, brooding, positive appraisal, decreasing maladaptive emotion-regulation strategies, and decreasing intrusive thoughts. It is speculated that these far transfer outcomes from working memory training are possible due to the cognitive and neural overlap between cognitive and affective working memory, and emotion regulation. Working memory training could improve cognitive efficiency, which, in turn, increases the availability of cognitive resources during times when emotion regulation is taxed. Future studies need to consider the role of participant expectancy in predicting outcome measure performance, and including subjective and objective outcomes is paramount to study design. Furthermore, sample sizes require additional attention, given that the current review highlights that individual differences in non-clinical and clinical populations influence the outcomes from working memory training. Working memory training offers a possibility for improving emotion regulation transdiagnostically.

Listening Effort Among Adults With and Without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

Purpose Few studies have assessed listening effort (LE)-the cognitive resources required to perceive speech-among populations with intact hearing but reduced availability of cognitive resources. Attention/deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is theorized to restrict attention span, possibly making speech perception in adverse conditions more challenging. This study examined the effect of ADHD on LE among adults using a behavioral dual-task paradigm (DTP). Method Thirty-nine normal-hearing adults (aged 21-27 years) participated: 19 with ADHD (ADHD group) and 20 without ADHD (control group). Baseline group differences were measured in visual and auditory attention as well as speech perception. LE using DTP was assessed as the performance difference on a visual-motor task versus a simultaneous auditory and visual-motor task. Results Group differences in attention were confirmed by differences in visual attention (larger reaction times between congruent and incongruent conditions) and auditory attention (lower accuracy in the presence of distractors) among the ADHD group, compared to the controls. LE was greater among the ADHD group than the control group. Nevertheless, no group differences were found in speech perception. Conclusions LE is increased among those with ADHD. As a DTP assumes limited cognitive capacity to allocate attentional resources, LE among those with ADHD may be increased because higher level cognitive processes are more taxed in this population. Studies on LE using a DTP should take into consideration mechanisms of selective and divided attention. Among young adults who need to continuously process great volumes of auditory and visual information, much more effort may be expended by those with ADHD than those without it. As a result, those with ADHD may be more prone to fatigue and irritability, similar to those who are engaged in more outwardly demanding tasks.

Tracking intentionalism and the phenomenology of mental effort

Most of us are familiar with the phenomenology of mental effort accompanying cognitively demanding tasks, like focusing on the next chess move or performing lengthy mental arithmetic. In this paper, I argue that phenomenology of mental effort poses a novel counterexample to tracking intentionalism, the view that phenomenal consciousness is a matter of tracking features of one’s environment in a certain way. I argue that an increase in the phenomenology of mental effort does not accompany a change in any of the following candidate representational contents: (a) representation of externally presented features, e.g. brightness, contrast, and so on (b) representation of task difficulty, (c) representation of the possibility of error, (d) representation of trying to achieve some state of affairs, (e) representation of bodily changes like muscle tension, or (f) representation of change in cognitive resource availability and lost opportunity cost. While tracking intentionalism about some phenomenal experiences like pains might obtain, it does not seem to obtain for all phenomenal experiences. This puts the intentionalist into an uncomfortable position of trying to explain why some phenomenal experiences have representational content and not others. Since many believe that tracking intentionalism or something like it provides the best chance of naturalizing consciousness, these arguments deserve detailed consideration.

Recording mobile EEG in an outdoor environment reveals cognitive-motor interference dependent on movement complexity

Oftentimes we find ourselves in situations in which we need to perform concurrent motor and cognitive tasks like simple locomotion while being cognitively involved. In the present study, we investigated in how far cognitive and motor functioning interfere in an outdoor environment. Our participants performed an auditory oddball task while concurrently completing various motor tasks on the outside premises of our institute. Beside behavioural responses and subjective workload ratings, we also analysed electrophysiological data recorded with a 30-channel mobile EEG montage. We observed an increase of subjective workload and decrease of performance with increasing movement complexity. Accordingly, we also found a decrease in the parietal P3 amplitude as well as in frontal midline Theta power with higher motor load. These results indicate that an increased movement complexity imposes a higher workload to the cognitive system, which, in turn, effectively reduces the availability of cognitive resources for the cognitive task. Overall this experiment demonstrates the feasibility of transferring classical paradigms of cognitive research to real-world settings. The findings support the notion of shared resources for motor and cognitive functions by demonstrating distinct modulations of correlates of cognitive processes across different motor tasks.

Should we control? The interplay between cognitive control and information integration in the resolution of the exploration-exploitation dilemma.

In their daily decisions, humans and animals are often confronted with the conflicting choice of opting either for a rewarding familiar option (i.e., exploitation) or for a novel, uncertain option that may, however, yield a better reward in the near future (i.e., exploration). Despite extensive research, the cognitive mechanisms that subtend the manner in which humans solve this exploration-exploitation dilemma are still poorly understood. In this study, we challenge the popular assumption that exploitation is a global default strategy that must be suppressed by means of cognitive control mechanisms so as to enable exploratory strategies. To do so, we asked participants to engage in a challenging working memory task while performing repeated choices in a gambling task. Results showed that manipulating cognitive control resources exclusively hindered participants' ability to explore the environment in a directed, intentional manner. Moreover, under certain scenarios, adopting exploitative strategies was also dependent on the availability of cognitive control resources. Additional analyses using a recent computational model of information integration suggests that increasing cognitive load specifically interferes with the ability to combine reward and information in order to inform choices. Our results shed light on the cognitive mechanisms that underpin the resolution of the dilemma and provide a formal foundation through which to explore pathologies of goal-directed behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Individual differences in basic cognitive processes and self-regulated learning: Their interaction effects on math performance

The study analyzes the relationships between working memory capacity, executive attention, and self-regulated learning (SRL) on math performance (MP), and more specifically on items with different levels of complexity and difficulty. Sample: 575 university students (female: 47.5%; 18–25 years old), first academic year. Instruments: Attention Network Test; Automated Operation Span; Mathematics Test; On-line Motivation Questionnaire, and Learning Strategies Questionnaire. Results confirm the crucial role of individual differences in WMC that impact directly on MP, mediated by subjective competence. Affective SRL contribute significantly as mediating variables but their positive effect depends on the availability of cognitive resources. Findings partially confirmed the differential contribution of cognitive processes in the prediction of performance in complex vs difficult items. We found support for a complex pattern of interactions between cognitive processes and components of SRL model at the strategy level, in their effect on MP, and given specific item characteristics.

Cognitive Load Theory and Human Movement: Towards an Integrated Model of Working Memory

Cognitive load theory (CLT) applies what is known about human cognitive architecture to the study of learning and instruction, to generate insights into the characteristics and conditions of effective instruction and learning. Recent developments in CLT suggest that the human motor system plays an important role in cognition and learning; however, it is unclear whether models of working memory (WM) that are typically espoused by CLT researchers can reconcile these novel findings. For instance, often-cited WM models envision separate information processing systems—such as Baddeley and Hitch’s (1974) multicomponent model of WM—as a means to interpret modality-specific findings, although possible interactions with the human motor system remain under-explained. In this article, we examine the viability of these models to theoretically integrate recent research findings regarding the human motor system, as well as their ability to explain established CLT effects and other findings. We argue, it is important to explore alternate models of WM that focus on a single and integrated control of attention system that is applied to visual, phonological, embodied, and other sensory and nonsensory information. An integrated model such as this may better account for individual differences in experience and expertise and, parsimoniously, explain both recent and historical CLT findings across domains. To advance this aim, we propose an integrated model of WM that envisions a common and finite attentional resource that can be distributed across multiple modalities. How attention is mobilized and distributed across domains is interdependent, co-reinforcing, and ever-changing based on learners’ prior experience and their immediate cognitive demands. As a consequence, the distribution of attentional focus and WM resources will vary across individuals and tasks, depending on the nature of the specific task being performed; the neurological, developmental, and experiential abilities of the individual; and the current availability of internal and external cognitive resources.

Behavioral conservatism is linked to complexity of behavior in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): Implications for cognition and cumulative culture.

Cumulative culture is rare, if not altogether absent in nonhuman species. At the foundation of cumulative learning is the ability to modify, relinquish, or build upon previous behaviors flexibly to make them more productive or efficient. Within the primate literature, a failure to optimize solutions in this way is often proposed to derive from low-fidelity copying of witnessed behaviors, suboptimal social learning heuristics, or a lack of relevant sociocognitive adaptations. However, humans can also be markedly inflexible in their behaviors, perseverating with, or becoming fixated on, outdated or inappropriate responses. Humans show differential patterns of flexibility as a function of cognitive load, exhibiting difficulties with inhibiting suboptimal behaviors when there are high demands on working memory. We present a series of studies on captive chimpanzees that indicate that behavioral conservatism in apes may be underlain by similar constraints: Chimpanzees showed relatively little conservatism when behavioral optimization involved the inhibition of a well-established but simple solution, or the addition of a simple modification to a well-established but complex solution. In contrast, when behavioral optimization involved the inhibition of a well-established but complex solution, chimpanzees showed evidence of conservatism. We propose that conservatism is linked to behavioral complexity, potentially mediated by cognitive resource availability, and may be an important factor in the evolution of cumulative culture. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Female rats express habitual behavior earlier in operant training than males.

Habitual behavior can be advantageous by increasing the availability of cognitive resources for use in other tasks. However, habitual behaviors are problematic when they are coopted to prolong the maladaptive responding present in several psychopathologies such as substance abuse, dysregulated fear responding in posttraumatic stress disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Although sex differences exist in the occurrence or progression of these psychopathologies, there are no studies that compare the development of habitual behavior systematically in male and female animals. In the present study, male and female rats were identically trained on a variable interval 30-s (VI 30-s) schedule of reinforcement to nose-poke for sucrose pellet reinforcers. Subsequently, the sucrose was devalued in one half of the animals by pairing its presentation with injections of lithium chloride (LiCl) to induce nausea, thus conditioning a taste aversion. Habitual behavior was operationalized as continued operant responding in an extinction test following devaluation of the sucrose reinforcer. Successful devaluation was confirmed with both a consumption and reacquisition test. Given identical training to 240 sucrose pellets, female rats demonstrate habitual behavior whereas male rats remain goal-directed. Additionally, females are habitual after 200 or 160 reinforcers earned on a VI 30-s schedule, but remain goal-directed at 120 and 80 reinforcers on this schedule. These data suggest that behavioral flexibility may be compromised in female rats compared to males due to accelerated habit formation in females. These results are important because sex differences are present in several psychopathologies, which may be related to differences in the development of habitual behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of circadian misalignment on cognition in chronic shift workers

Shift work is associated with increased human operational errors, presumably due to the circadian timing system that inhibits optimal cognitive function during the night. Circadian misalignment, which is the misalignment between the circadian pacemaker and behavioral/environmental cycles, impairs cognitive performance in non-shift workers. However, it remains uncertain whether the adverse cognitive consequences of circadian misalignment are also observed in chronic shift workers. Thus, we investigated the effects of circadian misalignment on cognitive performance in chronic shift workers. Using a randomized, cross-over design that simulated day shift work (circadian alignment) and night shift work (circadian misalignment), we show that circadian misalignment increases cognitive vulnerability on sustained attention, information processing and visual-motor performance, particularly after more than 10 hours of scheduled wakefulness. Furthermore, their increased levels of subjective sleepiness and their decreased sleep efficiency were significantly associated with impaired sustained attention and visual-motor performance. Our data suggest that circadian misalignment dramatically deteriorates cognitive performance in chronic shift workers under circadian misalignment. This increased cognitive vulnerability may have important safety consequences, given the increasing number of nighttime jobs that crucially rely on the availability of cognitive resources.

No Evidence That Distracted People are Easier to Nudge. An Experiment on the Interaction of Cognitive Scarcity and Defaults in a Public Goods Game

Policymakers discuss nudges as instruments to foster individual public good contributions. Contrary to the original aim of nudges, which is to improve decision outcomes for the individual, pro-social nudges aim to improve the social outcomes of individual behavior. This can potentially result in personal costs. Because the question of responsibility to contribute to public goods on an individual level is a tricky one, it is important to investigate whether vulnerable people are more susceptible to the influence of this type of nudges. We report evidence from a laboratory public goods experiment testing whether the effects of pro-individual, resp. pro-social defaults on behavior vary based on cognitive resource availability. Findings based on 476 independent observations do not show an interaction effect. Our findings inform public policy-making by shedding light on heterogeneous impacts of behavioral policies imposing individual costs to foster social benefits. This is important for the discussion on who should contribute to public good provision and how nudges may affect this. Thus, findings add to the debate on the ethics of nudges, as well as to the scientific understanding of the various nuances of libertarian paternalistic policies.

Can sustained attention adapt to prior cognitive effort? An evidence from experimental study

According to the limited resources paradigm, prior cognitive effort should result in a temporary depletion of available cognitive resources (Kahneman, 1973). Some recent evidence however has proved an opposite effect of increment in the availability of cognitive resources as a function of prior cognitive effort. In the current study the follow-up effect of cognitive effort on sustained attention was examined. Eighty-nine participants took part in the experiment. The cognitive load was manipulated between subjects using three versions of the DIVA Task (intensive warming-up condition, moderate warming-up condition and the control one). Following the experimental manipulation, the availability of cognitive resources during vigilance task was checked. Some significant effects of experimental manipulation were observed. First, in the context of overall task performance, subjects from the intensive warming-up condition obtained lower total errors rate than subjects from the control one. Some moderate effect of cognitive warming-up on time-on-task performance was also observed, although it was isolated to false alarms rate. Those results, tentatively suggesting the occurrence of the cognitive warming-up effect in vigilance performance, are then discussed. PsycINFO classification categories and codes2300 Human Experimental Psychology: 2346 Attention

Meaning-based attentional guidance as a function of foveal and task-related cognitive loads

ABSTRACTThe depth of parafoveal word processing depends on the amount of cognitive resources available. Whether this principle applies to the parafoveal semantic processing of multiple words remains, however, controversial. This study therefore aimed at testing the impact of the amount of cognitive resources available on the parafoveal semantic processing of words, by manipulating the foveal and task-related cognitive loads. Participants searched for words in displays of three semantically related or unrelated words, one of which was presented in the centre of the screen and two within the parafovea. The nature of the task and the characteristics of the centred word were manipulated to vary respectively the load associated to the task and to the foveal load. Analyses revealed more first saccades toward the parafoveal semantic distractors when both loads were low. These results indicate that fast parafoveal semantic word processing is constrained by the availability of cognitive resources.

Does mood help or hinder executive functions? Reactivity may be the key

Our ability to utilize executive functioning (EF) in day-to-day life is influenced by our mood, which consists of two fundamental dimensions reflecting positive and negative affect. It remains unclear, however, what impact these affective experiences have on our executive skills and whether this association may be influenced by individual differences in emotional reactivity. Our study investigated the interplay of emotional reactivity, naturally occurring variations in affective dimensions underlying mood, and latent constructs of response inhibition and working memory in an undergraduate sample. Reactivity moderated an association between negative affect and EF, such that high-reactive individuals performed better on EF tasks when experiencing high levels of negative affect whereas low-reactive individuals showed the converse pattern. These results are discussed through the lens of mood-related effects on information processing styles and the availability of cognitive resources to cope with current situational demands. An implication of this work is that emotional reactivity is an important factor in understanding how affective experiences influence executive skills and, by extension, everyday function.