Inhibitory Control Training Research Articles

The malleability of executive function in early childhood: Effects of schooling and targeted training.

Executive function (EF), its importance for scholastic achievement and the question of whether or not EF is malleable, have become a topic of intense interest. Education or schooling is often seen as effective approaches to enhance EF due to the specific school-related requirements as compared to kindergarten or pre-school. However, no study to date has investigated whether targeted training focusing on those domains might be comparable with regular schooling in improving EF and fluid intelligence (Gf). The aim of the present study was to replicate and extend the previously demonstrated schooling effects on EF by using a school-cutoff design, and to further investigate whether a theoretically motivated intervention targeting specific EF, i.e., working memory (WM) or inhibitory control (IC), could achieve comparable effects with schooling in both, WM and IC, as well as Gf. 91 6-year-old kindergarteners and first-graders with similar chronological age participated the study. We compared the performance of a first-grade schooling group with that of two kindergarten training groups as well as a business-as-usual kindergarten control group. Participants were assessed in WM, IC and Gf at baseline, immediately after the intervention (posttest), as well as 3months after training completion (follow-up). The results showed that the schooling group indeed outperformed the kindergarten groups at baseline in several cognitive tasks. Furthermore, both the WM and IC training showed pronounced gains in the trained tasks, as well as varying degrees of improvement in non-trained outcome measures. Most importantly, both training groups achieved comparable performance with the schooling group, which was especially apparent in Gf at follow-up. Our findings provide further evidence for the malleability of EF demonstrating that both, long-term and short-term interventions can facilitate the acquisition of those important skills, and as such, our work has important implications for educational practice.

No effect of tDCS on food consumption or food craving when combined with inhibitory control training

No effect of tDCS on food consumption or food craving when combined with inhibitory control training

Brief, computerized inhibitory control training to leverage adolescent neural plasticity: A pilot effectiveness trial

Adolescence is a time of heightened neural plasticity. Many brain networks show protracted development through this period, such as those underlying inhibitory control (IC), a neurocognitive skill implicated in risk-taking and therefore relevant to public health. Although IC appears to be trainable in adults and young children, whether and how IC may be malleable during adolescence is not fully understood. In this pilot RCT, we tested the effects of a school-based IC training paradigm (versus active control) on IC performance and neural function in adolescents (N = 19) aged 15 to 17 recruited from a low-income school district. We also examined the extent to which training effects transferred to a nontrained IC task and real-world risk behavior, as well as potential moderation effects by early adversity exposure. Training altered brain function related to attention during IC preparation and implementation, though it did not alter IC performance in the training group compared to the control group. There was limited evidence of training transfer. Results have implications for translational neuroscience research in adolescents.

Beating uncontrolled eating: Training inhibitory control to reduce food intake and food cue sensitivity

In our food-rich environment we must constantly resist appealing food in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Previous studies have found that food-specific inhibition training can produce changes in eating behaviour, such as a reduction in snack consumption. However, the mechanisms that drive the effect of inhibition training on eating behaviour remain unknown. Identifying the mechanism underlying food-specific inhibition training could lead to more targeted training interventions increasing the potential efficacy of such interventions. In the current study, we investigated directly whether training-induced effects on inhibitory control might underlie the predicted change in eating behaviour. Healthy individuals who scored high on uncontrolled eating were randomly assigned to receive six online training sessions over six consecutive days of either food-specific response inhibition training (active group; n = 21) or response inhibition training without food stimuli (control group; n = 20). We measured pre- and post-training inhibitory control in the context of food and food cue sensitivity, as well as food consumption in a bogus taste test. As expected, food-specific inhibition training decreased snack consumption in the bogus taste test relative to control training. However, the active training did not improve inhibitory control towards food, nor did it reduce food cue sensitivity above and beyond the control training. Future studies are needed to investigate the potential underlying mechanism of food-specific inhibition training, as it remains unclear what drives the reliable effect on eating behaviour.

Got chocolate? Bilateral prefrontal cortex stimulation augments chocolate consumption

BackgroundUnderstanding the mechanisms behind exerting self-control may reveal why health behaviors are resistant to change. Activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) plays a role in self-control processes and may be modulated using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). ObjectiveIn this early phase behavioral research study, we investigated whether anodal stimulation over the rIFG with cathodal stimulation over the left IFG (versus sham) reduced chocolate consumption. MethodsTwenty-three healthy females (ages 18–35) completed two tDCS sessions (2.0 mA vs. sham; order counterbalanced) in a within-subject, double-blind, randomized design with a 4-week washout. Participants were self-reported “chocolate cravers” and restrained eaters. Self-report assessments on disinhibited eating were completed at intake. Delay discounting and inhibitory control were assessed at the remaining visits. During stimulation, participants completed an inhibitory control training task (chocolate go/no-go task) and were randomized to the chocolate no-go condition (inhibit all responses to chocolate cues) or the control condition (inhibit responses to chocolate cues on half the trials). Following stimulation, participants completed a 15-min chocolate “taste test” with chocolate rating forms. Afterwards, staff measured the remaining chocolate to determine total consumption. ResultsContrary to our hypotheses, active tDCS significantly increased chocolate consumption vs. sham (mean = 43.2 vs. 32.2, p=0.005) in both task conditions, but had no effect on chocolate ratings (ps > 0.05). Higher delay discounting and self-reported disinhibited eating predicted greater consumption (ps < 0.05). ConclusionsThe results suggest widespread activation of the prefrontal cortex may reduce the ability to resist chocolate. Our data highlights important methodological considerations for conducting tDCS studies to target health behaviors.

Effects of task repetition but no transfer of inhibitory control training in healthy adults

Executive functions (EFs) comprise the updating, shifting and inhibition dimensions. According to the Unity and Diversity Model, the inhibition dimension is fully accounted for by a general EFs factor. This suggests that training of inhibition should transfer, in part, to updating and shifting. Therefore, we tested the effectiveness of a three-week inhibition training (high-conflict Stroop task) and explored near transfer effects to an untrained inhibition task (antisaccade task) and far transfer effects to untrained tasks demanding task-set shifting (number-letter-task), working memory updating (n-back task) and planning abilities (Stockings of Cambridge task). We employed a randomized pretest/treatment/posttest study design in n = 102 healthy young adults, assigned to an intensive Stroop training (n = 38), an active control condition (n = 34) or no training intervention (n = 30). In the Stroop training group, Stroop performance improved with practice, while performance in the active control group remained unchanged. The Stroop training group showed improvements in overall Stroop task performance from pretest to posttest, but we observed neither near nor far transfer effects. Additionally, specifically stronger gains on incongruent Stroop trials compared to congruent trials were observed in the Stroop training group when color bar trials were excluded from the pretest-posttest-analysis. Generally, there were substantial improvements from pretest to posttest independent of training condition in all transfer tasks. In sum, our data do not support the existence of transfer effects from inhibition training in healthy young adults.

Supplemental Material for A Randomized Controlled Trial of Inhibitory Control Training for the Reduction of Alcohol Consumption in Problem Drinkers

Supplemental Material for A Randomized Controlled Trial of Inhibitory Control Training for the Reduction of Alcohol Consumption in Problem Drinkers

음식단서 억제통제훈련이 섭식억제자의 섭식 태도와 행동에 미치는 영향

음식단서 억제통제훈련이 섭식억제자의 섭식 태도와 행동에 미치는 영향

To Go or Not to Go: A Proof of Concept Study Testing Food-Specific Inhibition Training for Women with Eating and Weight Disorders.

Inefficient food-specific inhibitory control is a potential mechanism that underlies binge eating in bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. Go/no-go training tools have been developed to increase inhibitory control over eating impulses. Using a within-subjects design, this study examined whether one session of food-specific go/no-go training, versus general inhibitory control training, modifies eating behaviour. The primary outcome measure was food consumption on a taste test following each training session. Women with bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder had small non-significant reductions in high-calorie food consumption on the taste test following the food-specific compared with the general training. There were no effects on eating disorder symptomatic behaviour (i.e. binge eating/purging) in the 24h post-training. The training task was found to be acceptable by the clinical groups. More research is needed with larger sample sizes to determine the effectiveness of this training approach for clinical populations. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

Alcohol Preferences and Event-Related Potentials to Alcohol Images in College Students.

Research on attentional biases to alcohol images has used heterogeneous sets of stimuli (e.g., an isolated beer can or a group of people drinking). However, alcoholic beverage preferences play an important part in determining an individual's alcohol use pattern and may influence attentional biases, especially for inexperienced drinkers. The current study examined whether alcoholic beverage preferences affect event-related potential (ERP) indices of cue reactivity to different types of alcohol images (e.g., beer, wine, and distilled spirits) in heavy episodic drinkers. ERPs were recorded in 14 heavy episodic drinkers (7 male) who completed a Go/No-Go task using preferred and nonpreferred alcohol images with nonalcoholic beverage images as controls. Larger N2 amplitudes for preferred alcohol images were observed relative to control images and to nonpreferred alcohol images, indicating increased attentional capture by preferred beverages. P3 amplitudes and latencies were not sensitive to preferences, but latencies were delayed and amplitudes were enhanced on No-Go trials (i.e., trials requiring response inhibition). These results suggest that alcoholic beverage preference is a factor influencing alcohol cue reactivity in heavy-episodic-drinking college students. This information has methodological significance and may also be applied to improve treatment and prevention programs that focus on attentional bias modification and inhibitory control training.

Improving Inhibitory Control Abilities (ImpulsE)-A Promising Approach to Treat Impulsive Eating?

Although there is preliminary evidence that inhibitory control training improves impulsive eating, less is known about the effects on eating behaviour and weight loss in clinical samples. Sixty-nine treatment-seeking adults with obesity (binge-eating disorder 33.3%; other specific feeding and eating disorders 40.6%) were randomly blockwise allocated to ImpulsE, an intervention to improve inhibitory control and emotion regulation abilities or a guideline-appropriate cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)-based treatment as usual. Self-reported and performance-based impulsivity, eating disorder pathology and BMI were compared at baseline (T1), post-treatment (T2) and 1- or 3-month follow-up. ImpulsE led to better food-specific inhibition performance (p = .004), but groups did not differ regarding improvements in global Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) score at T2. At 3-month follow-up, binge eaters benefited most from ImpulsE (p = .028) and completers of ImpulsE demonstrated a significantly greater weight reduction (p = .030). The current findings propose ImpulsE as a promising approach to treat obesity, illustrating acceptability and additional benefits for course of weight. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

Resisting the urge to smoke: inhibitory control training in cigarette smokers.

Impaired response inhibition is an important factor in tobacco dependence. We examined the effects of inhibitory control training (ICT) on inhibition, smoking resistance and cigarette use. Smokers (n = 55) abstained from smoking for 12 h prior to testing. On the test day, participants recorded cigarette use and completed pre-training measures of global and cue-specific (smoking-related) response inhibition. Participants were randomized to either an active or a control ICT group. The active group was required to repeatedly inhibit a response towards smoking cues (100%), while the control group was required to inhibit a response towards smoking and neutral cues with equal frequency (50%). Participants performed post-training measures of response inhibition, smoking resistance and cigarette use. Inhibition data did not indicate time (pre-training, post-training) × group (active training, control training) or time × group × cue (smoking, neutral) interactions. There was weak evidence that smokers in the active group were more likely to resist smoking than those in the control group. Cigarette use data did not indicate a time × group interaction. Our data suggest that ICT may enhance the ability to resist smoking, indicating that training may be a promising adjunct to smoking pharmacotherapy.

Cue avoidance training and inhibitory control training for the reduction of alcohol consumption: a comparison of effectiveness and investigation of their mechanisms of action

RationaleBoth cue avoidance training (CAT) and inhibitory control training (ICT) reduce alcohol consumption in the laboratory. However, these interventions have never been directly compared and their mechanisms of action are poorly understood.ObjectivesWe compared the effects of both types of training on alcohol consumption and investigated if they led to theoretically predicted changes in alcohol avoidance (CAT) or alcohol inhibition (ICT) associations and changes in evaluation of alcohol cues.MethodsHeavy drinking young adults (N = 120) were randomly assigned to one of four groups: (1) CAT (repeatedly pushing alcohol cues away with a joystick), (2) sham (control) CAT; (3) ICT (repeatedly inhibiting behaviour in response to alcohol cues); or (4) sham (control) ICT. Changes in reaction times and automatic evaluations of alcohol cues were assessed before and after training using assessment versions of tasks used in training and the implicit association test (IAT), respectively. Finally, participants completed a bogus taste test as a measure of ad libitum alcohol consumption.ResultsCompared to sham conditions, CAT and ICT both led to reduced alcohol consumption although there was no difference between the two. Neither intervention affected performance on the IAT, and changes in reaction time did not suggest the formation of robust alcohol avoidance (CAT) or alcohol inhibition (ICT) associations after training.ConclusionsCAT and ICT yielded equivalent reductions in alcohol consumption in the laboratory. However, these behavioural effects were not accompanied by devaluation of stimuli or the formation of alcohol avoidance or alcohol inhibition associations.

From cookies to carrots; the effect of inhibitory control training on children's snack selections

Children consume too much sugar and not enough fruit and vegetables, increasing their risk of adverse health outcomes. Inhibitory control training (ICT) reduces children's and adults' intake of energy-dense foods in both laboratory and real-life settings. However, no studies have yet examined whether ICT can increase healthy food choice when energy-dense options are also available. We investigated whether a food-specific Go/No-Go task could influence the food choices of children aged 4–11, as measured by a hypothetical food choice task using healthy and unhealthy food images printed on cards. Participants played either an active game (healthy foods = 100% go, unhealthy foods = 100% no-go; Studies 1 & 2), a food control game (both healthy and unhealthy foods = 50% go, 50% no-go; Studies 1 & 2) or a non-food control game (sports equipment = 100% go, technology = 100% no-go; Study 2 only) followed by the choice task. In Study 2, food card choices were also measured before training to examine change in choices. A post-training real food choice task was added to check that choices made in the card-based task were representative of choices made when faced with real healthy and unhealthy foods. Overall, the active group chose the greatest number of healthy food cards. Study 2 confirmed that this was due to increases in healthy food card choice in this group only. Active group participants chose a greater number of healthy foods in the real food choice task compared to children in the non-food control group only. The results are discussed with reference to methodological issues and the development of future healthy eating interventions.

A pilot investigation of acute inhibitory control training in cocaine users

BackgroundDisrupted response inhibition and presence of drug-cue attentional bias in cocaine-using individuals have predicted poor treatment outcomes. Inhibitory control training could help improve treatment outcomes by strengthening cognitive control. This pilot study assessed the effects of acute inhibitory control training to drug- and non-drug-related cues on response inhibition performance and cocaine-cue attentional bias in cocaine-using individuals. MethodsParticipants who met criteria for a cocaine-use disorder underwent five sessions of inhibitory control training to either non-drug-related cues (i.e., rectangles) or cocaine cues (n=10/condition) in a single day. Response inhibition and attentional bias were assessed prior to and following training using the stop-signal task and visual-probe task with eye tracking, respectively. ResultsTraining condition groups did not differ on demographics, inhibitory control training performance, response inhibition, or cocaine-cue attentional bias. Response inhibition performance improved as a function of inhibitory control training in both conditions. Cocaine-cue attentional bias was observed, but did not change as a function of inhibitory control training in either condition. ConclusionsResponse inhibition in cocaine-using individuals was augmented by acute inhibitory control training, which may improve treatment outcomes through better behavioral inhibition. Future studies should investigate longer-term implementation of inhibitory control training, as well as combining inhibitory control training with other treatment modalities.

Game-based combined cognitive and neurofeedback training using Focus Pocus reduces symptom severity in children with diagnosed AD/HD and subclinical AD/HD

Previous studies report reductions in symptom severity after combined working memory (WM) and inhibitory control (IC) training in children with AD/HD. Based on theoretical accounts of the role of arousal/attention modulation problems in AD/HD, the current study examined the efficacy of combined WM, IC, and neurofeedback training in children with AD/HD and subclinical AD/HD. Using a randomized waitlist control design, 85 children were randomly allocated to a training or waitlist condition and completed pre- and post-training assessments of overt behavior, trained and untrained cognitive task performance, and resting and task-related EEG activity. The training group completed twenty-five sessions of training using Focus Pocus software at home over a 7 to 8-week period. Trainees improved at the trained tasks, while enjoyment and engagement declined across sessions. After training, AD/HD symptom severity was reduced in the AD/HD and subclinical groups according to parents, and in the former group only according to blinded teachers and significant-others. There were minor improvements in two of six near-transfer tasks, and evidence of far-transfer of training effects in four of five far-transfer tasks. Frontal region changes indicated normalization of atypical EEG features with reduced delta and increased alpha activity. It is concluded that technology developments provide an interesting a vehicle for delivering interventions and that, while further research is needed, combined WM, IC, and neurofeedback training can reduce AD/HD symptom severity in children with AD/HD and may also be beneficial to children with subclinical AD/HD.

Acute inhibitory control training in cocaine users

Acute inhibitory control training in cocaine users

Stop overeating: The effect of training inhibition on eating behavior

More and more people in the world are getting fatter and are having trouble to lose weight. When people lack inhibitory control, they are more prone to indulge in highcaloric food. In this study, the effect of training inhibitory control on eating behavior was investigated. Expected was that inhibition training would increase inhibition ability and would lead to less food intake. To investigate the effect of training inhibitory control on eating behavior, participants were divided into three training conditions: The first group of participants had to inhibit a response for neutral stimuli and only responded to foodrelated stimuli, the second group consistently responded to neutral stimuli and inhibited a response for food-related stimuli. The third group never inhibited a response. Food intake was measured using a food diary and a taste test. The Restraint scale was used to measure restrained eating behavior, which could have influenced the results of the study. Results showed that the three groups of participants in the different training conditions did not differ significantly after the training on inhibitory control and food-intake. In conclusion, the inhibition training did not have an effect on inhibitory control neither on the food intake of the participants. A possible explanation for the lack of effect of the training could be that using non-specific food pictures and not consistently having to stop for a food item does not lead to better inhibitory control concerning food, because no association will then be learned between the stopping goal and different kinds of food.

Training on Working Memory and Inhibitory Control in Young Adults.

Different types of interventions have focused on trying to improve Executive Functions (EFs) due to their essential role in human cognition and behavior regulation. Although EFs are thought to be diverse, most training studies have targeted cognitive processes related to working memory (WM), and fewer have focused on training other control mechanisms, such as inhibitory control (IC). In the present study, we aimed to investigate the differential impact of training WM and IC as compared with control conditions performing non-executive control activities. Young adults were divided into two training (WM/IC) and two (active/passive) control conditions. Over six sessions, the training groups engaged in three different computer-based adaptive activities (WM or IC), whereas the active control group completed a program with low control-demanding activities that mainly involved processing speed. In addition, motivation and engagement were monitored through the training. The WM-training activities required maintenance, updating and memory search processes, while those from the IC group engaged response inhibition and interference control. All participants were pre- and post-tested in criterion tasks (n-back and Stroop), near transfer measures of WM (Operation Span) and IC (Stop-Signal). Non-trained far transfer outcome measures included an abstract reasoning test (Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices) and a well-validated experimental task (AX-CPT) that provides indices of cognitive flexibility considering proactive/reactive control. Training results revealed that strongly motivated participants reached higher levels of training improvements. Regarding transfer effects, results showed specific patterns of near transfer effects depending on the type of training. Interestingly, it was only the IC training group that showed far transfer to reasoning. Finally, all trained participants showed a shift toward a more proactive mode of cognitive control, highlighting a general effect of training on cognitive flexibility. The present results reveal specific and general modulations of executive control mechanisms after brief training intervention targeting either WM or IC.

Training Attentional Control Improves Cognitive and Motor Task Performance

Attentional control is a necessary function for the regulation of goal-directed behavior. In three experiments we investigated whether training inhibitory control using a visual search task could improve task-specific measures of attentional control and performance. In Experiment 1 results revealed that training elicited a near-transfer effect, improving performance on a cognitive (antisaccade) task assessing inhibitory control. In Experiment 2 an initial far-transfer effect of training was observed on an index of attentional control validated for tennis. The principal aim of Experiment 3 was to expand on these findings by assessing objective gaze measures of inhibitory control during the performance of a tennis task. Training improved inhibitory control and performance when pressure was elevated, confirming the mechanisms by which cognitive anxiety impacts performance. These results suggest that attentional control training can improve inhibition and reduce taskspecific distractibility with promise of transfer to more efficient sporting performance in competitive contexts.