Cognitive Stroop Task Research Articles

Embodimetrics: A Principal Component Analysis Study of the Combined Assessment of Cardiac, Cognitive and Mobility Parameters.

There is a growing body of literature investigating the relationship between the frequency domain analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) and cognitive Stroop task performance. We proposed a combined assessment integrating trunk mobility in 72 healthy women to investigate the relationship between cognitive, cardiac, and motor variables using principal component analysis (PCA). Additionally, we assessed changes in the relationships among these variables after a two-month intervention aimed at improving the perception-action link. At baseline, PCA correctly identified three components: one related to cardiac variables, one to trunk motion, and one to Stroop task performance. After the intervention, only two components were found, with trunk symmetry and range of motion, accuracy, time to complete the Stroop task, and low-frequency heart rate variability aggregated into a single component using PCA. Artificial neural network analysis confirmed the effects of both HRV and motor behavior on cognitive Stroop task performance. This analysis suggested that this protocol was effective in investigating embodied cognition, and we defined this approach as "embodimetrics".

Effects of dual-tasking on time-to-boundary during stance in people with PD: A preliminary study

BackgroundQuiet stance is impacted by Parkinson's disease and dual-tasking. Recently developed outcomes such as the time-to-boundary provide unique insight into balance by integrating center of pressure position with base of support. However, little is known about the effects of Parkinson's disease on time-to-boundary. In particular, the effects of distracting cognitive tasks, and how people with Parkinson's disease prioritize balance and cognitive tasks are poorly understood. Methods14 people with Parkinson's disease and 13 controls completed quiet standing and cognitive Stroop tasks separately (single-task) and together (dual-task). 2-dimentional, medio-lateral, and anterior-posterior time-to-boundary were calculated via force-plate data. Traditional sway outcomes, including sway area and path length, were also calculated. Cognitive performance was measured as the verbal reaction time after auditory stimulus delivery. Prioritization was assessed by taking the difference between cognitive and postural dual-task interference. FindingsTime-to-boundary was worse in Parkinson's disease compared to controls (2-dimentional: p = .019; anterior-posterior: p = .062; medio-lateral: p = .012). Medio-lateral time-to-boundary, but not anterior-posterior, was significantly worse during dual-tasking than single-tasking (p = .024). Neurotypical adults tended to prioritize cognition over medio-lateral postural outcomes. InterpretationPeople with Parkinson's disease exhibit worse time-to-boundary than their neurotypical peers, and medio-lateral outcomes were sensitive to single to dual-task performance changes. Further, participants generally showed cognitive prioritization, such that cognitive performance was less impacted than medio-lateral postural outcomes by dual-tasking.

Impact of acute partial-body cryostimulation on cognitive performance, cerebral oxygenation, and cardiac autonomic activity

We assessed the effects of a 3-min partial-body cryostimulation (PBC) exposure—where the whole body is exposed to extreme cold, except the head—on cognitive inhibition performance and the possible implications of parasympathetic cardiac control and cerebral oxygenation. In a randomized controlled counterbalanced cross-over design, eighteen healthy young adults (nine males and nine females) completed a cognitive Stroop task before and after one single session of PBC (3-min exposure at − 150 °C cold air) and a control condition (3 min at room temperature, 20 °C). During the cognitive task, heart rate variability (HRV) and cerebral oxygenation of the prefrontal cortex were measured using heart rate monitoring and near-infrared spectroscopy methods. We also recorded the cerebral oxygenation during the PBC session. Stroop performance after PBC exposure was enhanced (562.0 ± 40.2 ms) compared to pre-PBC (602.0 ± 56.4 ms; P < 0.042) in males only, accompanied by an increase (P < 0.05) in HRV indices of parasympathetic tone, in greater proportion in males compared to females. During PBC, cerebral oxygenation decreased in a similar proportion in males and females but the cerebral extraction (deoxyhemoglobin: ΔHHb) remained higher after exposure in males, only. These data demonstrate that a single PBC session enhances the cognitive inhibition performance on a Stroop task in males, partly mediated by a greater parasympathetic cardiac control and greater cerebral oxygenation. The effects of PBC on cognitive function seem different in females, possibly explained by a different sensitivity to cold stimulation.

Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation of Anterior Cingulate Cortex Modulates Subcortical Brain Regions Resulting in Cognitive Enhancement.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been widely utilized in research settings and modulates brain activity. The application of anodal tDCS on the prefrontal cortex has indicated improvement in cognitive functioning. The cingulate cortex, situated in the medial aspect of the prefrontal cortex, has been identified as a core region performing cognitive functions. Most of the previous studies investigating the impact of stimulation on the prefrontal cortex stimulated the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), however, the impact of stimulation on cingulate has not been explored. The current study investigates the effect of stimulation on the resting-state functional connectivity of the anterior cingulate cortex with other regions of the brain and changes in behavioral results in a color-word Stroop task, which has repeatedly elicited activation in different regions of the cingulate. Twenty subjects were randomly assigned to the experimental and sham group, and their medial prefrontal area was stimulated using MRI compatible tDCS. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and cognitive Stroop task were monitored before, during, and after the stimulation. Neuroimaging results indicated a significant decrease in resting-state functional connectivity in the experimental group during and after stimulation as compared to before stimulation in two clusters including right insular cortex, right central operculum cortex, right frontal operculum cortex and right planum polare with the left anterior cingulate cortex (L-ACC) selected as the seed. The behavioral results indicated a significant decrease in reaction time (RT) following stimulation in the experimental group compared to the sham group. Moreover, the change in functional connectivity in subcortical regions with L-ACC as the seed and change in RT was positively correlated. The results demonstrated that ACC has a close functional relationship with the subcortical regions, and stimulation of ACC can modulate these connections, which subsequently improves behavioral performance, thus, providing another potential target of stimulation for cognitive enhancement.Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04318522.

The Impact of Visual Art and High Affective Arousal on Heuristic Decision-Making in Consumers.

In marketing, the use of visual-art-based designs on products or packaging crucially impacts consumers’ decision-making when purchasing. While visual art in product packaging should be designed to induce consumer’s favorable evaluations, it should not evoke excessive affective arousal, because this may lead to the depletion of consumer’s cognitive resources. Thus, consumers may use heuristic decision-making and commit an inadvertent mistake while purchasing. Most existing studies on visual arts in marketing have focused on preference (i.e., affective valence) using subjective evaluations. To address this, we applied a neuroscientific measure, electroencephalogram (EEG) to increase experimental validity. Two successive tasks were designed to examine the effects of affective arousal and affective valence, evoked by visual artwork, on the consecutive cognitive decision-making. In task 1, to evaluate the effect of visual art, EEG of two independent groups of people was measured when they viewed abstract artwork. The abstract art of neoplasticism (AbNP) group (n = 20) was showing Mondrian’s artwork, while the abstract art of expressionism (AbEX) group (n = 18) viewed Kandinsky’s artwork. The neoplasticism movement strove to eliminate emotion in art and expressionism to express the feelings of the artist. Building on Gallese’s embodied simulation theory, AbNP and AbEX artworks were expected to induce lower and higher affect, respectively. In task 2, we investigated how the induced affect differentially influenced a succeeding cognitive Stroop task. We anticipated that the AbEX group would deplete more cognitive resources than AbNP group, based on capacity limitation theory. Significantly stronger affect was induced in the AbEX group in task 1 than in the AbNP group, especially in affective arousal. In task 2, the AbEX group showed a faster reaction time and higher error rate in the Stroop task. According to our hypotheses, the higher affective arousal state of the AbEX group might deplete more cognitive resources during task 1 and result in poorer performance in task 2 because affect impacted their cognitive resources. This is the first study using neuroscientific measures to prove that high affective arousal induced by visual arts on packaging may induce heuristic decision-making in consumers, thereby advancing our understanding of neuromarketing.

The relationship between functional status, physical fitness and cognitive performance in physically active older adults: A pilot study.

ObjectiveAgeing is associated with a progressive decline in physical function and cognitive performance which could result in a shift from an independent to a more dependent lifestyle. The aim of this research study was to assess the fitness, functional performance and cognitive ability in independently living older South Africans and to determine which fitness parameters and functional performance tests best explain the variance in cognitive function.DesignDescriptive observational study.ParticipantsOlder adults with a mean age 71±4.7 years (n = 70; 28 men and 42 women) were recruited. Sixty percent of the sample completed at least secondary schooling and more than two-thirds were taking medication for a chronic medical condition.MeasurementsSelf-reported physical activity was assessed using the Yale Physical Activity Survey. Fitness tests included the 6-minute walk test and Bicep Curls. The functional performance tests were; Static and Dynamic balance, Timed Up and Go, Sit to Stand, Grip strength and Functional Reach. The Stroop Task and 6-Item cognitive impairment test were used to measure cognitive performance. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted between performance on the novel cognitive Stroop Task and functional and cognitive tests.ResultsWe found significant relationships between the number of correct responses on the Stroop Task and scores on the 6-Item Cognitive Impairment test (-0.520, p < 0.01) and grip strength (r = 0.42, p< 0.01). The number of incorrect responses was inversely associated with functional reach (r = -0.445, p< 0.01). The final regression model included: age, dynamic balance, right arm grip strength and the score on the 6-item cognitive impairment test, and explained 44% of the variance in performance of the Stroop Task.ConclusionsThe results of this study showed that measures of physical function were associated with cognitive performance even in highly functioning older South African adults. Further research is needed to determine the extent to which exercise training can improve functional capacity and the effect on cognitive performance.

Compression garments and cerebral blood flow: Influence on cognitive and exercise performance

This study aimed to describe the effect of compression garments on middle cerebral artery blood flow velocity (MCAv) in relation to cognitive and exercise performance whilst cycling. In a randomised-controlled-cross-over design, 15 well-trained male cyclists were recruited to participate in three identical trials wearing loose fitting shorts (control), low-grade, or medium-grade compression garments. The protocol involved four 8 min increments of cycling at 30%, 50%, 70%, and 85% maximal power output and a 4 km time-trial. Participants undertook a cognitive Stroop task at baseline and at the midpoint of each increment. MCAv was monitored with Transcranial Doppler Ultrasonography. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) and partial pressure of end-tidal CO2 (PetCO2) were measured throughout. MCAv, MAP, PetCO2, and reaction time of the complex Stroop task were influenced by exercise intensity, but not compression garments. Compression garments significantly affected cognitive accuracy in the complex Stroop task such that low-grade compression appeared to enhance cognitive accuracy in comparison to the control condition at the highest intensity (p = .010). Time-trial performance did not differ between the control (338.0 ± 17.3 s), low-grade (338.7 ± 18.7 s), or medium-grade (342.2 ± 19.3 s) conditions (p = .114). Compression garments did not affect MCAv during exercise or time-trial performance, but compression may be beneficial for improved cognitive accuracy during high-intensity exercise. Further research is required to elucidate the potential impact on cognitive performance.

Electro-physiological changes in the brain induced by caffeine or glucose nasal spray.

A direct link between the mouth cavity and the brain for glucose (GLUC) and caffeine (CAF) has been established. The aim of this study is to determine whether a direct link for both substrates also exist between the nasal cavity and the brain. Ten healthy male subjects (age 22±1years) performed three experimental trials, separated by at least 2days. Each trial included a 20-s nasal spray (NAS) period in which solutions placebo (PLAC), GLUC, or CAF were provided in a double-blind, randomized order. During each trial, four cognitive Stroop tasks were performed: two familiarization trials and one pre- and one post-NAS trial. Reaction times and accuracy for different stimuli (neutral, NEUTR; congruent, CON; incongruent INCON) were determined. Electroencephalography was continuously measured throughout the trials. During the Stroop tasks pre- and post-NAS, the P300 was assessed and during NAS, source localization was performed using standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA). NAS activated the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). CAF-NAS also increased θ and β activity in frontal cortices. Furthermore, GLUC-NAS increased the β activity within the insula. GLUC-NAS also increased the P300 amplitude with INCON (P=0.046) and reduced P300 amplitude at F3-F4 and P300 latency at CP1-CP2-Cz with NEUTR (P=0.001 and P=0.016, respectively). The existence of nasal bitter and sweet taste receptors possibly induce these brain responses. Greater cognitive efficiency was observed with GLUC-NAS. CAF-NAS activated cingulate, insular, and sensorymotor cortices, whereas GLUC-NAS activated sensory, cingulate, and insular cortices. However, no effect on the Stroop task was found.

Anxiety and Stroop Performance

The study probed the effect of cognitive and emotional Stroop on the performance of students from different levels of anxiety. Anxiety is a normal and healthy reaction to perceived danger that triggers a variety of physical, mental and behavioral changes in order to facilitate a speedy response (WHO, 2004). Again, anxiety has also been found to have an important role to play in situations of cognitive conflict. The Stroop effect has often been widely used for assessing conflict (Stroop, 1935; MacLeod, 1991). In the present study, a mixed sample of 89 students from the Government schools of Chandigarh in the age range of 14-18 years (mean age= 15.9 years) was taken, for the purpose. The repeated measures ANOVA and other analysis of the data brought out performance differences with regard to how different groups of anxiety perform during cognitive and emotional Stroop task situations. The study revealed that anxiety significantly interacts with Stroop performance. Further, high anxiety damages emotional Stroop performance more than it damages the cognitive Stroop performance i.e., high anxiety individuals show more reactive control (Braver, 2012). On the other hand, low and moderate anxiety seems to lead to more errors on cognitive Stroop as compared to the emotional Stroop.

Distinctive amygdala subregions involved in emotion-modulated Stroop interference

Despite the well-known role of the amygdala in mediating emotional interference during tasks requiring cognitive resources, no definite conclusion has yet been reached regarding the differential roles of functionally and anatomically distinctive subcomponents of the amygdala in such processes. In this study, we examined female participants and attempted to separate the neural processes for the detection of emotional information from those for the regulation of cognitive interference from emotional distractors by adding a temporal gap between emotional stimuli and a subsequent cognitive Stroop task. Reaction time data showed a significantly increased Stroop interference effect following emotionally negative stimuli compared with neutral stimuli, and functional magnetic resonance imaging data revealed that the anterior ventral amygdala (avAMYG) showed greater responses to negative stimuli compared with neutral stimuli. In addition, individuals who scored high in neuroticism showed greater posterior dorsal amygdala (pdAMYG) responses to incongruent compared with congruent Stroop trials following negative stimuli, but not following neutral stimuli. Taken together, the findings of this study demonstrated functionally distinctive contributions of the avAMYG and pdAMYG to the emotion-modulated Stroop interference effect and suggested that the avAMYG encodes associative values of emotional stimuli whereas the pdAMYG resolves cognitive interference from emotional distractors.

Calibrated fMRI during a cognitive Stroop task reveals reduced metabolic response with increasing age

fMRI studies of aging have revealed increased blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) response to tasks of executive function with advancing age, which is generally interpreted as increased neural activity. However, changes in the cerebrovascular system with age can alter the BOLD signal, complicating this interpretation. Arterial spin labeling (ASL) allows simultaneous acquisition of BOLD and cerebral blood flow (CBF) information and can be used to quantify the component parts of the BOLD signal. We used this calibrated BOLD approach in 58 healthy participants over an age range of 18-71 years to determine the relative vascular and neuronal contributions to the age-related BOLD changes in response to a Stroop task. The percentage BOLD response increased significantly with increasing age but the percentage CBF response did not alter, such that the BOLD increase is attributed to a significant reduction in the oxygen metabolism response with increasing age. Hence, in this study, the BOLD increase with age should be interpreted as a reduction in neural activity. The greatest percentage BOLD increases with age were found in the left and right medial frontal gyri and the primary motor cortex and were again linked to a reduction in oxygen metabolism. On separating the participants into three groups (young, old high performers and old low performers), age-related differences in percentage BOLD response and oxygen metabolism response could be attributed to the low performing old group. This study demonstrates the need to take into account alterations in vascular-metabolic coupling and resting blood volume when interpreting changes in the BOLD response with aging.

Decoding emotional prosody in Parkinson's disease and its potential neuropsychological basis

Parkinson's disease patients may have difficulty decoding prosodic emotion cues. These data suggest that the basal ganglia are involved, but may reflect dorsolateral prefrontal cortex dysfunction. An auditory emotional n-back task and cognitive n-back task were administered to 33 patients and 33 older adult controls, as were an auditory emotional Stroop task and cognitive Stroop task. No deficit was observed on the emotion decoding tasks; this did not alter with increased frontal lobe load. However, on the cognitive tasks, patients performed worse than older adult controls, suggesting that cognitive deficits may be more prominent. The impact of frontal lobe dysfunction on prosodic emotion cue decoding may only become apparent once frontal lobe pathology rises above a threshold.

Quantitative fMRI using hyperoxia calibration: Reproducibility during a cognitive Stroop task

Arterial spin labelling allows simultaneous measurement of both the blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) and the cerebral blood flow (CBF) response to changes in neural activity. The addition of a hypercapnia or hyperoxia calibration allows additional quantification of changes in the cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2). In this study we test the reproducibility of measurements derived using the hyperoxia approach, during a cognitive Stroop task. A QUIPSSII sequence is used at 3 T to collect simultaneous CBF and BOLD signal during two 3 min periods of hyperoxia and an 8 min Stroop task. Hyperoxia was administered via an open system and end-tidal values were sampled via a nasal cannula; average end-tidal values of 60% were reached. This procedure is repeated to allow the reproducibility of the estimated parameters to be tested. The use of a cognitive Stroop task allows testing of the measurements in frontal and parietal regions as well as sensorimotor areas in which previous studies have been focussed. We find reduced reproducibility of the calculated parameters compared to the hypercapnia approach, thought to be attributable to lower absolute BOLD and CBF responses. In particular we do not find ‘n’ to have improved reproducibility compared to other parameters, as has been found in previous work using the hypercapnia approach. Across all brain areas we report a value of ΔCMRO2 of 12% and neurovascular coupling constant n of 2.5. Interestingly we find n to be higher in parietal and frontal areas in comparison to the primary motor cortex.

Investigating the benefits of multi-echo EPI for fMRI at 7 T

Functional MRI studies on humans with BOLD contrast are increasingly performed at high static magnetic field in order to exploit the increased sensitivity. The downside of high-field fMRI using the gradient-echo echo-planar imaging (GE-EPI) method is that images are typically very strongly affected by image distortion and signal loss. It has been demonstrated at 1.5 T and 3 T that image artifacts can be reduced and functional sensitivity simultaneously increased by the use of parallel-accelerated multi-echo EPI. Using sensitivity measurements and an activation study with a cognitive Stroop task experiment ( N = 7) we here investigate the potential of this method at 7 T. The main findings are: (a) image quality compared to a conventional acquisition scheme is drastically improved; (b) according to CNR estimations the average BOLD sensitivity increases by 6.1 ± 4.3% and 13.9 ± 5.5% for unweighted and CNR-weighted echo summation, respectively; (c) both functional signal changes and sensitivity in the multi-echo data do not exhibit a pronounced dependence on TE. The consequence is that (d) in practice the performance of simple echo summation at very high field is comparable to that based on a CNR filter. Finally, (e) temporal noise observed in the different echo time courses is not strongly correlated, thus explaining why echo summation is advantageous. The results at typical spatial resolution show that multi-echo EPI acquisition leads to considerable artifact reduction and sensitivity gains, making it superior to conventional GE-EPI for fMRI at 7 T.