Experimental Cognitive Tasks Research Articles

Insights into attention and memory difficulties in post-COVID syndrome using standardized neuropsychological tests and experimental cognitive tasks

The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to post-acute cognitive symptoms, often described as ‘brain fog’. To comprehensively grasp the extent of these issues, we conducted a study integrating traditional neuropsychological assessments with experimental cognitive tasks targeting attention control, working memory, and long-term memory, three cognitive domains most commonly associated with ‘brain fog’. We enrolled 33 post-COVID patients, all self-reporting cognitive difficulties, and a matched control group (N = 27) for cognitive and psychological assessments. Our findings revealed significant attention deficits in post-COVID patients across both neuropsychological measurements and experimental cognitive tasks, evidencing reduced performance in tasks involving interference resolution and selective and sustained attention. Mild executive function and naming impairments also emerged from the neuropsychological assessment. Notably, 61% of patients reported significant prospective memory failures in daily life, aligning with our recruitment focus. Furthermore, our patient group showed significant alterations in the psycho-affective domain, indicating a complex interplay between cognitive and psychological factors, which could point to a non-cognitive determinant of subjectively experienced cognitive changes following COVID-19. In summary, our study offers valuable insights into attention challenges faced by individuals recovering from COVID-19, stressing the importance of comprehensive cognitive and psycho-affective evaluations for supporting post-COVID individuals.

Mindfulness and music interventions in the workplace: assessment of sustained attention and working memory using a crowdsourcing approach

BackgroundOccupational stress has huge financial as well as human costs. Application of crowdsourcing might be a way to strengthen the investigation of occupational mental health. Therefore, the aim of the study was to assess Danish employees’ stress and cognition by relying on a crowdsourcing approach, as well as investigating the effect of a 30-day mindfulness and music intervention.MethodsWe translated well-validated neuropsychological laboratory- and task-based paradigms into an app-based platform using cognitive games measuring sustained attention and working memory and measuring stress via. Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale. A total of 623 healthy volunteers from Danish companies participated in the study and were randomized into three groups, which consisted of a 30-day intervention of either mindfulness or music, or a non-intervention control group.ResultsParticipants in the mindfulness group showed a significant improvement in the coefficient of sustained attention, working memory capacity and perceived stress (p < .001). The music group showed a 38% decrease of self-perceived stress. The control group showed no difference from pre to post in the survey or cognitive outcome measures. Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between usage of the mindfulness and music app and elevated score on both the cognitive games and the perceived stress scale.ConclusionThe study supports the nascent field of crowdsourcing by being able to replicate data collected in previous well-controlled laboratory studies from a range of experimental cognitive tasks, making it an effective alternative. It also supports mindfulness as an effective intervention in improving mental health in the workplace.

Resting EEG spectral slopes are associated with age-related differences in information processing speed

BackgroundPrevious research has shown the slope of the EEG power spectrum differentiates between older and younger adults in various experimental cognitive tasks. We extend that work, assessing the relation between the EEG power spectrum and performance on the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS). MethodsTwenty-one younger and twenty-three older adults completed the RBANS with EEG data collected at rest. Using spectral parameterization, we tested the mediating effect of the spectral slope on differences in subsequent cognitive task performance. ResultsOlder adults performed reliably worse on the RBANS overall, and on the Attention and Delayed Memory domains specifically. However, evidence of mediation was only found for the Coding subtest. ConclusionsThe slope of the resting EEG power spectrum mediated age-related differences in cognition, but only in a task requiring speeded processing. Mediation was not statistically significant for delayed memory, even though age-related differences were present.

A Broader Application of the Detection Response Task to Cognitive Tasks and Online Environments.

The present research applied a well-established measure of cognitive workload in driving literature to an in-lab paradigm. We then extended this by comparing the in-lab version of the task to an online version. The accurate and objective measurement of cognitive workload is important in many aspects of psychological research. The detection response task (DRT) is a well-validated method for measuring cognitive workload that has been used extensively in applied tasks, for example, to investigate the effects of phone usage or passenger conversation on driving, but has been used sparingly outside of this field. The study investigated whether the DRT could be used to measure cognitive workload in tasks more commonly used in experimental cognitive psychology and whether this application could be extended to online environments. We had participants perform a multiple object tracking (MOT) task while simultaneously performing a DRT. We manipulated the cognitive load of the MOT task by changing the number of dots to be tracked. Measurements from the DRT were sensitive to changes in the cognitive load, establishing the efficacy of the DRT for experimental cognitive tasks in lab-based situations. This sensitivity continued when applied to an online environment (our code for the online DRT implementation is freely available at https://osf.io/dc39s/), though to a reduced extent compared to the in-lab situation. The MOT task provides an effective manipulation of cognitive workload. The DRT is sensitive to changes in workload across a range of settings and is suitable to use outside of driving scenarios, as well as via online delivery. Methodology shows how the DRT could be used to measure sources of cognitive workload in a range of human factors contexts.

Latent Variable Modeling and Adaptive Testing for Experimental Cognitive Psychopathology Research.

The adaptation of experimental cognitive tasks into measures that can be used to quantify neurocognitive outcomes in translational studies and clinical trials has become a key component of the strategy to address psychiatric and neurological disorders. Unfortunately, while most experimental cognitive tests have strong theoretical bases, they can have poor psychometric properties, leaving them vulnerable to measurement challenges that undermine their use in applied settings. Item response theory-based computerized adaptive testing has been proposed as a solution but has been limited in experimental and translational research due to its large sample requirements. We present a generalized latent variable model that, when combined with strong parametric assumptions based on mathematical cognitive models, permits the use of adaptive testing without large samples or the need to precalibrate item parameters. The approach is demonstrated using data from a common measure of working memory-the N-back task-collected across a diverse sample of participants. After evaluating dimensionality and model fit, we conducted a simulation study to compare adaptive versus nonadaptive testing. Computerized adaptive testing either made the task 36% more efficient or score estimates 23% more precise, when compared to nonadaptive testing. This proof-of-concept study demonstrates that latent variable modeling and adaptive testing can be used in experimental cognitive testing even with relatively small samples. Adaptive testing has the potential to improve the impact and replicability of findings from translational studies and clinical trials that use experimental cognitive tasks as outcome measures.

Abstract POSTER-CTRL-1205: Neurocognitive evaluation of a cognitive training intervention in ovarian and gynecologic cancer survivors

Abstract Purpose: Our prior work indicates that a group-based cognitive training intervention can improve memory and attention in cancer survivors. This study examined potential for training transfer on two cognitive tasks and corresponding changes in neural activation patterns as measured by fMRI prior to and following the cognitive training intervention. Methods: Seven gynecologic cancer (ovarian, breast, uterine) survivors (mean age: 64 years, mean time since primary treatment: 7.2 years) underwent a 7-week cognitive rehabilitation intervention delivered in group format. Participants were evaluated with a comprehensive cognitive battery and two experimental cognitive tasks prior to and following treatment. A word pair task required participants to learn pairs of words and later indicate whether words had been seen before (Item condition) or whether words had been paired together at learning (Relational condition). A verbal working memory task required participants to learn a set of 3, 5, or 7 letters and confirm or deny the presence of a probe letter. Participants also underwent fMRI scanning during word pair and verbal working memory tasks prior to and following treatment. Results: Participants showed significant improvement following intervention in accuracy in the Relational condition, in which strong associations between presented word pairs were required for successful performance, t(3)=5.21, p&amp;lt; .05. By contrast, accuracy did not increase significantly in the Item condition following intervention, t(3)=.48, p=.66). There was also a significant improvement in accuracy for the intermediate load (5-item) condition of the verbal working memory task following intervention, t(3)=4.17, p&amp;lt;.05. fMRI analyses revealed activation in a frontoparietal network during both the word pairs and verbal working memory tasks. Future analyses will investigate changes in recruitment of this network following intervention. Conclusions: Cancer survivors show evidence of specific transfer of memory skills following a group-based cognitive training intervention as demonstrated by improvement on the word memory task- relational item. In addition, there was a trend toward improvement on a working memory task. Neuroimaging results suggest frontoparietal network involvement for the cognitive task as well as some indication of a more efficient neural response following training. These results suggest that cognitive training may have a beneficial impact on both behavioral measures of cognition as well as neural activation markers. Citation Format: H. Gray, M. K. Askren Thomas, K. Anderson, D. David, A. Singh, K. Murphy, S. Willis, H. Mendoza, M.M. Cherrier. Neurocognitive evaluation of a cognitive training intervention in ovarian and gynecologic cancer survivors [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 10th Biennial Ovarian Cancer Research Symposium; Sep 8-9, 2014; Seattle, WA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2015;21(16 Suppl):Abstract nr POSTER-CTRL-1205.

Imaging and Cognitive Genetics: The Norwegian Cognitive NeuroGenetics Sample

Data collection for the Norwegian Cognitive NeuroGenetics sample (NCNG) was initiated in 2003 with a research grant (to Ivar Reinvang) to study cognitive aging, brain function, and genetic risk factors. The original focus was on the effects of aging (from middle age and up) and candidate genes (e.g., APOE, CHRNA4) in cross-sectional and longitudinal designs, with the cognitive and MRI-based data primarily being used for this purpose. However, as the main topic of the project broadened from cognitive aging to imaging and cognitive genetics more generally, the sample size, age range of the participants, and scope of available phenotypes and genotypes, have developed beyond the initial project. In 2009, a genome-wide association (GWA) study was undertaken, and the NCNG proper was established to study the genetics of cognitive and brain function more comprehensively. The NCNG is now controlled by the NCNG Study Group, which consists of the present authors. Prominent features of the NCNG are the adult life-span coverage of healthy participants with high-dimensional imaging, and cognitive data from a genetically homogenous sample. Another unique property is the large-scale (sample size 300-700) use of experimental cognitive tasks focusing on attention and working memory. The NCNG data is now used in numerous ongoing GWA-based studies and has contributed to several international consortia on imaging and cognitive genetics. The objective of the following presentation is to give other researchers the information necessary to evaluate possible contributions from the NCNG to various multi-sample data analyses.

Intraindividual variability in HIV infection: Evidence for greater neurocognitive dispersion in older HIV seropositive adults.

Both the prevalence and incidence of HIV infection among older adults are on the rise. Older adults are at increased risk of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders, which have historically been characterized as an inconsistent or "spotty" pattern of deficits. Dispersion is a form of intraindividual variability (IIV) that is defined as within-person variability in performance across domains and has been associated with poorer neurocognitive functioning and incipient decline among healthy older adults. To our knowledge, no studies have yet examined dispersion in an aging HIV-infected sample. For the current study we examined the hypothesis that age and HIV infection have synergistic effects on dispersion across a battery of clinical and experimental cognitive tasks. Our well-characterized sample comprised 126 HIV-seropositive individuals (HIV+) and 40 HIV-seronegative comparison individuals (HIV-), all of whom were administered a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. Consistent with our hypothesis, an age by HIV serostatus interaction was observed, with the older HIV+ group demonstrating a higher level of dispersion relative to older HIV- and younger HIV+ individuals, even when potentially confounding demographic and medical factors were controlled. Our results demonstrate that older HIV+ adults produce greater dispersion, or intraindividual variability in performance across a range of tests, which may be reflective of cognitive dyscontrol to which this population is vulnerable, perhaps driven by the combined effects of aging and HIV infection on prefrontostriatal systems.

Endogenous human brain dynamics recover slowly following cognitive effort

In functional magnetic resonance imaging, the brain's response to experimental cognitive tasks is usually assumed to be independent of endogenous oscillations. To test this assumption, we measured fractal scaling of fMRI time-series before and after a working memory task. Prolonged and task difficulty-related changes in post-task 'resting' data suggest that brain dynamics recover slowly from cognitive effort, contrary to the reflexive model that background oscillations are independent of task performance.

Endogenous human brain dynamics recover slowly following cognitive effort

AbstractIn functional magnetic resonance imaging, the brain's response to experimental cognitive tasks is usually assumed to be independent of endogenous oscillations. To test this assumption, we measured fractal scaling of fMRI time-series before and after a working memory task. Prolonged and task difficulty-related changes in post-task 'resting' data suggest that brain dynamics recover slowly from cognitive effort, contrary to the reflexive model that background oscillations are independent of task performance.

Guest Editors Commentary on the Special Issue of Cognition

Guest Editors Commentary on the Special Issue of Cognition

The bilingual brain as revealed by functional neuroimaging

Functional neuroimaging, used in conjunction with experimental cognitive tasks, has been extremely successful in establishing functional specialization as a principle of brain organization in man. Positron emission tomography activation techniques and functional magnetic resonance imaging assess localized increases in cerebral blood flow associated with mental processes. The advent of these noninvasive neuroimaging techniques opened a “new era” in the investigation of language organization in healthy individuals. Neuroimaging studies of bilinguals and polyglots have highlighted the potential role of variables, such as age of acquisition, degree of proficiency, level of exposure, dominance/maternality on functional brain mapping of multiple languages. Consistent results indicate that attained proficiency, and maybe language exposure, are more important than the age of acquisition as a determinant of the cerebral representation of languages in bilinguals/polyglots. Indeed, increasing language proficiency appears to be associated at the neural level with the engagement of a common network within the dedicated language areas. Here we have reviewed the functional imaging literature on bilingualism.

Regional cortical thinning of the aging brain

Brain atrophy has been reported in a number of MR studies of aging leg ‘) *’ Importantly, age-related alterations in regional volumes . have been correlated with performance on neuropsychological and experimental cognitive tasks ‘3, 41. Thus, changes in cortical morphology may have clinical significance. Similarly, understanding patterns of regional degeneration in the brain may aid in distinguishing between normal aging and preclinical dementia. Volumetric studies have provided valuable information on changes in the brain associated with aging “I. Still, few studies have examined changes over the entire cortex due to the labor-intensive nature of such measurements. We employed measurements of cortical thickness “’ based on accurate, automated reconstmctions of the brain from MR scans 16. ‘I allowing visualization of change across the complete cortical surface. Methods Structural MR scans were obtained from younger (YP; n = 19; mean age = 23.6, 18-31; 9MllOF) and older participants (OP; n = 10; mean age = 75.9.66-89; 3M/7F). All participants were nondemented (CDR = 0). YP were recruited from the Washington University community. OP were recruited through the Washington University Alzheimer’s Disease Center. OP were excluded if they had a history of neurologic, psychiatric, or medical illness that could contribute to dementia. Two to four MP-RAGE scans were averaged per participant (Siemens 1.5-T Vision System, resolution 1 X 1 X 1.25 mm, TR = 9.7ms, TE = 4ms, FA = lo”, TI = 20ms, TD = 500ms). Thickness measurements were obtained by reconstructing representations of the gray/white matter boundary and the cortical surface and then calculating the minimal distance between those two surfaces for each point on the gray/white matter boundary “I. Thickness maps were averaged across participants using a spherical morph to align cortical folding “I. ReSUltS Preliminary results suggested OP had significantly thinner cortex bilaterally in regions including the prefrontal cortex (near Brodmann Area [BA] 44), pre/postcentral regions (near BA 4/6), parietal (near BA 40/39), and occipital cortex (near BA 17/18) with a relative sparing of superior prefrontal cortex (e.g. near BA 8/9) and temporal lobes. The figure shows regions of statistically thinner cortex in OP with red to yellow indicating less to greater significance, respectively). Differences were preliminarily estimated between -0.25 to 0.50 mm. Aging is accompanied by thickness changes in prefrontal, somatosensory and occipital cortex. These conclusions must be considered with caution as there are potential confounds. Importantly, changes in tissue signal properties in aging and disease may contaminate measures of thickness. Additionally, larger groups of matched subjects should be examined. Nonetheless, these preliminary results suggest great promise for using cortical thickness measures to detect preclinical dementia and anatomic changes associated with cognitive decline [91.

Cognitive function outcomes after traumatic brain injury.

Investigations of cognitive recovery from traumatic brain injury have utilized experimental cognitive tasks, including measures of executive function and discourse processing, to elucidate specific sequelae. The scope of research, which includes brain imaging and pharmacologic intervention, could potentially enhance rehabilitation of patients with brain injury.