Individual Differences In Frequency Research Articles

Individual differences in frequency and impact of daily memory lapses: results from a national lifespan sample

BackgroundEveryday memory problems are believed to increase with age, leading many researchers to focus on older ages when examining reports of memory lapses. However, real world memory lapses are ubiquitous across the adult lifespan, though less is known about the types of problems and their impacts at younger ages. The current study examined occurrence and impacts of memory lapses using daily diaries in a broad age range and whether characteristics of lapses varied across age, gender, or education level.MethodsUsing an 8-day daily diary protocol, 2,018 individuals (ages 25–91) provided reports of their experiences of two types of daily memory lapses (retrospective and prospective) as well as the impact those lapses had on their emotional and functional well-being that day. Using multilevel modeling, we examined the likelihood of reporting memory lapses and their impacts on daily life and whether these depended on age, gender, or education level.ResultsParticipants reported lapses on approximately 40% of days; retrospective memory lapses were significantly more likely than prospective lapses. Older ages and higher education level were related to greater likelihood of reporting retrospective lapses. Women (compared to men) were more likely to report prospective memory lapses. Women also tended to report greater impacts of their memory lapses. Lower education levels were related to greater impacts of memory lapses compared to higher education levels. Interestingly, age was not related to impacts of lapses.DiscussionOur results indicate that memory lapses are common across the lifespan and that those individuals more likely to report lapses are not necessarily those that experience the greatest impacts of those lapses on daily life. Additional work is needed to understand the daily experience of memory lapses and how they differentially affect individuals regardless of age, gender, and education.ConclusionsMemory lapses are an important aspect of daily life across the lifespan and require measurement in an individual’s real-world environments. Better measurement of these experiences will allow the development of more sensitive measures of changes in cognitive functioning that may impact an individual’s ability to live independently.

Individual Differences in Frequency and Topography of Slow and Fast Sleep Spindles.

Sleep spindles are transient oscillatory waveforms that occur during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep across widespread cortical areas. In humans, spindles can be classified as either slow or fast, but large individual differences in spindle frequency as well as methodological difficulties have hindered progress towards understanding their function. Using two nights of high-density electroencephalography recordings from 28 healthy individuals, we first characterize the individual variability of NREM spectra and demonstrate the difficulty of determining subject-specific spindle frequencies. We then introduce a novel spatial filtering approach that can reliably separate subject-specific spindle activity into slow and fast components that are stable across nights and across N2 and N3 sleep. We then proceed to provide detailed analyses of the topographical expression of individualized slow and fast spindle activity. Group-level analyses conform to known spatial properties of spindles, but also uncover novel differences between sleep stages and spindle classes. Moreover, subject-specific examinations reveal that individual topographies show considerable variability that is stable across nights. Finally, we demonstrate that topographical maps depend nontrivially on the spindle metric employed. In sum, our findings indicate that group-level approaches mask substantial individual variability of spindle dynamics, in both the spectral and spatial domains. We suggest that leveraging, rather than ignoring, such differences may prove useful to further our understanding of the physiology and functional role of sleep spindles.

Individual Differences in Frequency of Inner Speech: Differential Relations with Cognitive and Non-cognitive Factors.

Inner speech plays a crucial role in behavioral regulation and the use of inner speech is very common among adults. However, less is known about individual differences in the frequency of inner speech use and about the underlying processes that may explain why people exhibit individual differences in the frequency of inner speech use. This study was conducted to investigate how individual differences in the frequency of inner speech use are related to cognitive and non-cognitive factors. Four functions of inner speech including self-criticism, self-reinforcement, self-management, and social assessment measured by an adapted version of Brinthaupt's Self-Talk Scale were examined. The cognitive factors that were considered included executive functioning and complex reasoning and the non-cognitive factors consisted of trait anxiety and impulsivity. Data were collected from a large Chinese sample. Results revealed that anxiety and impulsivity were mainly related to the frequency of the affective function of inner speech (self-criticism and self-reinforcement) and executive functions and complex reasoning were mainly related to the frequency of the cognitive, self-regulatory function of inner speech (self-management).

Pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment of asthma: focusing on a chronic disease

Bronchial asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases. Its pathogenesis is still not fully understood and its progression is still not predictable. There are individual differences in frequency, severity and duration of symptoms and progression as well as in the response to therapy. The diagnosis is based on a detailed medical history and physical examination, on lung function tests and allergy tests. In recent years great improvements in medical treatment and patient care have been achieved. This article summarizes the pathogenesis, clinical picture, diagnosis and treatment of bronchial asthma.

Individual differences in frequency and saliency of speech-accompanying gestures: The role of cognitive abilities and empathy.

The present study concerns individual differences in gesture production. We used correlational and multiple regression analyses to examine the relationship between individuals’ cognitive abilities and empathy levels and their gesture frequency and saliency. We chose predictor variables according to experimental evidence of the functions of gesture in speech production and communication. We examined 3 types of gestures: representational gestures, conduit gestures, and palm-revealing gestures. Higher frequency of representational gestures was related to poorer visual and spatial working memory, spatial transformation ability, and conceptualization ability; higher frequency of conduit gestures was related to poorer visual working memory, conceptualization ability, and higher levels of empathy; and higher frequency of palm-revealing gestures was related to higher levels of empathy. The saliency of all gestures was positively related to level of empathy. These results demonstrate that cognitive abilities and empathy levels are related to individual differences in gesture frequency and saliency.

"Individual differences in frequency and saliency of speech-accompanying gestures: The role of cognitive abilities and empathy": Correction to Chu et al. (2013).

"Individual differences in frequency and saliency of speech-accompanying gestures: The role of cognitive abilities and empathy": Correction to Chu et al. (2013).

Supplemental Material for Individual Differences in Frequency and Saliency of Speech-Accompanying Gestures: The Role of Cognitive Abilities and Empathy

Supplemental Material for Individual Differences in Frequency and Saliency of Speech-Accompanying Gestures: The Role of Cognitive Abilities and Empathy

Intrinsic Default Mode Network Connectivity Predicts Spontaneous Verbal Descriptions of Autobiographical Memories during Social Processing

Neural systems activated in a coordinated way during rest, known as the default mode network (DMN), also support autobiographical memory (AM) retrieval and social processing/mentalizing. However, little is known about how individual variability in reliance on personal memories during social processing relates to individual differences in DMN functioning during rest (intrinsic functional connectivity). Here we examined 18 participants’ spontaneous descriptions of autobiographical memories during a 2 h, private, open-ended interview in which they reacted to a series of true stories about real people’s social situations and responded to the prompt, “how does this person’s story make you feel?” We classified these descriptions as either containing factual information (“semantic” AMs) or more elaborate descriptions of emotionally meaningful events (“episodic” AMs). We also collected resting state fMRI scans from the participants and related individual differences in frequency of described AMs to participants’ intrinsic functional connectivity within regions of the DMN. We found that producing more descriptions of either memory type correlated with stronger intrinsic connectivity in the parahippocampal and middle temporal gyri. Additionally, episodic AM descriptions correlated with connectivity in the bilateral hippocampi and medial prefrontal cortex, and semantic memory descriptions correlated with connectivity in right inferior lateral parietal cortex. These findings suggest that in individuals who naturally invoke more memories during social processing, brain regions involved in memory retrieval and self/social processing are more strongly coupled to the DMN during rest.

Genetic and Environmental Influences on Individual Differences in Frequency of Play with Pets among Middle-Aged Men: A Behavioral Genetic Analysis

ABSTRACTThere is growing evidence that pet ownership and human–animal interaction (HAI) have benefits for human physical and psychological well-being. However, there may be pre-existing characteristics related to patterns of pet ownership and interactions with pets that could potentially bias results of research on HAI. The present study uses a behavioral genetic design to estimate the degree to which genetic and environmental factors contribute to individual differences in frequency of play with pets among adult men. Participants were from the ongoing longitudinal Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging (VETSA), a population-based sample of 1,237 monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins aged 51–60 years. Results demonstrate that MZ twins have higher correlations than DZ twins on frequency of pet play, suggesting that genetic factors play a role in individual differences in interactions with pets. Structural equation modeling revealed that, according to the best model, genetic factors accounted for as much as 37% of the variance in pet play, although the majority of variance (63–71%) was due to environmental factors that are unique to each twin. Shared environmental factors, which would include childhood exposure to pets, overall accounted for <10% of the variance in adult frequency of pet play, and were not statistically significant. These results suggest that the effects of childhood exposure to pets on pet ownership and interaction patterns in adulthood may be mediated primarily by genetically-influenced characteristics.

Frequency of Truancy at High School: Evidence for Genetic and Twin Specific Shared Environmental Influences

The purpose of this study was to examine the relative influence of genetic and environmental factors on variation in truancy during high school. We examined the significance of genetic and shared and nonshared environmental influences. In addition, we tested for the presence of environmental factors specifically shared by twins, but not by their siblings. A threshold model was used to analyze data from 4,835 twins and their non-twin siblings. Results showed a higher prevalence of truancy for males (38% vs. 29%) and an increase in prevalence with age (beta = -.53). Individual differences in frequency of truancy were partly explained by genetic influences (h(2) = 45%); for twins, the environmental variance was partitioned into 25% shared by twins, and 30% nonshared, whereas for singletons all environmental variance was nonshared (i.e., 55%). Prevalence of truancy was higher for boys than for girls and it increased with age. Genetic and environmental influences accounted for the variance in frequency of truancy. Part of the shared environment represents influences that are shared by twins but not by non-twin siblings.

Semifree-ranging Tufted Capuchins (Cebus apella) Spontaneously Use Tools to Crack Open Nuts

Naturalistic studies on tool use by nonhuman primates have focused almost exclusively on Old World monkeys or hominoids. We studied the cracking of Syagrus nuts with the aid of stones by a group of semifree-ranging capuchins living in a reforested area (Tiete Ecological Park, Sao Paulo, Brazil). Our data are from direct observation and from mapping nut-cracking site utilization. All adults, subadults and juveniles (plus one infant) crack nuts, but individual differences in frequency and proficiency are marked. Juveniles do most of the nut-cracking, but adults are, on average, more efficient; the frequency of inept stone manipulation decreases with age. About 10% of the nut-cracking episodes were watched by other individuals—mostly infants and juveniles, suggesting a role for observational learning, even if restricted to stimulus enhancement.

Asymmetrical hand usage in infancy: An ethological approach

Observations of the motor behavior of 22 infants were made by 8-hour daily video recording of nursery school activity over 11 days. Recorded object-oriented manipulating or holding actions were scored as the number of movements made by each hand separately and together, by each child, each day, and the average duration of hand activity. For the group, the right hand made significantly more movements than the left, and the duration of right-hand use was longer than the left. Although individual differences in frequency of hand use were reliably consistent, they were not for movement duration. The results show that data from spontaneous object manipulation can be a highly reliable and valid means of assessing differences in hand usage.

Experimental cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage. Participation of adrenergic nerves in cerebral vessel wall.

Distribution and morphology of nerves in basilar-artery-induced vasospasm were investigated electronmicroscopically. Small cored vesicles were transformed, decreased and disappeared gradually after development of vasospasm induced by blood-CSF mixture incubated 5--10 days. These changes were not induced by fresh arterial blood, lysed platelets in saline and mechanical stimulation. In the portion with severe vasospasm induced by incubated blood-CSF mixture, nerve distribution was rich and uniform in all portions of the adventitia. In the portion with slight vasospasm, nerves were extremely scanty in the innermost area of the adventitia, within 10 mu from the outer edge of the media. The severity of experimental vasospasm became definitely lighter and the duration shorter after bilateral cervical sympathectomy. These findings indicate that nerves, especially the adrenergic axon in the innermost area of the adventitia, may play an important role on the genesis of late vasospasm. The difference in nerve distribution may be a factor influencing individual differences in frequency or severity of vasospasm.

Androgenic control of spontaneous seminal emission in hamsters

Eight male hamsters produced a total of 24 seminal plugs in 7 days while they were caged individually and prevented from genital grooming. In one week beginning 18 days after castration there were no emissions. Androgen treatment was initiated and in the week that followed 17 daily injections of Testosterone treatment the 8 males again delivered 24 plugs. Individual differences in frequency of emission before castration reappeared postoperatively under the influence of equal amounts of exogenous hormone.